Going Native: Eyes on the Prize (Patreon)

“Rahhhhh!” I screamed, launching the ball of purple ki at the Green Lantern. The Lantern glowed with a deep green light, its jaw clenched as it raised a fist, the deep green ring on its finger glowing as a construct emerged from it. A giant hand that simply cupped the ball of ki before diverting its path to the side. Snarling, I tried to bring it back on path, but the ki ball was too heavy, for lack of a better word. The damn thing sailed off into the distance, exploding when it hit the ground-

Huh. That explosion would have taken out a lot more than a city. Neat. 

“Alet all Frieza-forces, we have a Green Lantern planetside. I repeat, we have a Green Lantern planetside at my location,” Bardock shouted in my ear. His voice was annoying as all hell, so I grabbed my scouter and crushed it as I glared in absolute fury at the Green Lantern that interrupted my fight. 

“Enough,” it said, its giant hand retracting as it clenched its jaw. Its gaze swept over the carcass of the city below us, something in its gaze hardening. “First, the Reach takes over my home and now Frieza wants to destroy it?” It wasn’t rage that filled it, but the glowing around it grew more intense. 

I didn’t care enough to listen to it. I shot forward as it clenched its hand into a fist so that the ring was facing the sky. Even through the thick haze of rage that filled my mind, I recognized the expression of pure determination as it turned to face the ring at me as I closed the distance between us in a blink of an eye. 

“No. I won’t allow it,” it said, a wall forming between us. I fist slammed into it hard enough that I felt a knuckle busted, but my attack was stopped cold. I punched it again to get the same result. Snarling, I coated my hands in ki, forming a blade and thrust it against the wall of green light. This time, I managed to break my fingers. 

“Your kind has taken enough from me. From this galaxy. I don’t care what the Guardians say, I’m putting an end to it,” It declared, pushing me back so suddenly my head nearly face planted on the wall. I kicked off of it, forming a ki blast in my hands as I snarled down at the Lantern. The wall condensed into a whip that lashed out at me. I flipped out of the way, gritting my teeth as I fought back against the growing rage that seemed to boil in my chest. 

“Taken enough from you?!” I shouted as I threw the ki ball at it, forcing it to dodge as I kept launching them at it. “Are you kidding me?!” I followed after the Lantern, seeing her dodge and weave out of the way from plasma fire from the ground forces. The drones up above started to drift down, turning their attention to the highest threat. The rage in my chest boiled over as they fired upon my enemy. 

“Done get involved in my fights!” I roared at them, firing machine gun blasts of ki that ripped through Reach and Frieza-force drones alike. Explosions lit up the sky, the Lantern turning around to face me, the whip that emerged from its ring lashed out towards me, coiling to subdue me. 

“Tarble, disengage, we need back up-” Bardock yelled from down below, having turned into his oozaru form so his voice easily reached me over the explosions. I clenched my fist as I dodged out of the way of the whip, forming another ki blast in my hands as I looked down at him. 

“I said don’t get involved!” I yelled at him, launching a ki blast at him. A warning shot. The only one he would get. 

“You truly are a savage species. Does your kind crave anything other than death and destruction?” The Lantern asked, making me round on it as my attack washed over Bardock. I blasted off towards it, ki coating my hands as I tried to get in close. Lanterns, all they had was their rings, without them then they were whatever weak species they happened to be, so pathetic that they couldn’t rely on their own power. I’d like to see it use that ring after I cut off its hands. 

The whip split off into two twin beams of light, both of them moving independently to entangle me. They were little more than blurs, crashing through buildings, rubble raining down- all of a sudden they stopped when the Lantern shot down so fast I could barely see it, a scoop of green light catching the rubble below. Where they would have crashed was a squad of Frieza-force soldiers. They repaid its kindness by firing at it, the glow around it protected it from the lasers. 

It tossed the rubble to the side, firing off a half dozen shots of green light. The entire squad went down in a half-second. It just saved those soldiers. It’s enemy. That was...that was…

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I snarled, cupping my hands as something beyond rage pushed me to go even further. Something beyond hate. My wounds ached, blood still spilling from me, from a dozen different places, but whatever the feeling that filled me was, it pushed me beyond the point of caring. 

“KamehameHA!” I shouted, firing off the attack, a torrent of purple rushing down towards the Lantern. It looked up, I couldn’t see its face, but I can’t imagine that it would be surprised. If the Reach had managed to crack out scouter tech, then undoubtedly the Lanterns had too. As I expected, the Lantern rushed out of the way, a half dozen cocoons trailing behind her, protecting the squad from the blast. 

The Lantern turned towards me, settling down on a ruined street, a cloud of dust unable to hide the green glow that surrounded it. “Y- They are your comrades!” It screamed at me, something other than grim determination in its voice. It sounded horrified. It dropped the Frieza-force squad- it was the aliens from before, the ones that I borrowed the scouter from a couple of days ago. 

“So?!” Shout back at her, firing ki blast after ki blast at her, peppering the street below with explosions. More dust kicked up, but I still saw the bubble shield that it erected around it and the squad. “They knew the risks. They knew what they were getting into when they signed up! It’s their choice to fight and kill, so they have no right to complain if they get killed!” I screamed, cupping my hands above my head as I formed another massive ki blast. 

For years, that was my justification for...everything. When I fought, I only killed soldiers. They fought back. They made the choice to pick up a gun instead of fleeing for their lives. At the very least, I could respect that and kill them with a clean conscious. Civilians? The ones that fled their home planets in fear, that relied on those soldiers to fight and die so they could escape? They…-

This wasn’t the time for introspection. 

“You-” whatever it was about to respond with was cut off as a blast of plasma raced towards me. I barely managed to get out of the way in time, twisting in the air, feeling the heat wash over the back of my neck. I didn’t need my scouter to know who it was. 

“You’re not dead? Good!” I shouted, darting towards the source. The vanguard scarab entrenched itself into a half-collapsed building that looked like it was neatly cut in half, one section still standing while the other fell. It fired another shot as I flew towards it, “Riot Javelin!” It seemed that it had learned its lesson because that’s all I had to do to make it abandon the stream of plasma, despite never forming the attack. 

It realized its mistake too late. I closed the distance between us in a moment, it tried to form a sword, but it wasn’t quick enough. Ki coated my hand as I got in close, driving my fist into its gut, the liquid metal unable to keep me out. Red blood splashed onto my hand, and a wild smile found its way onto my face. “Hurts don’t it?” I asked, copying what it did and sending spikes of ki in every direction. 

“Ugh-!” The vanguard grunted in pain as its insides were skewered, I could feel nanites flooding over my hand, biting at it to break it down to repair the damage. I doubt this tactic would work on everyone -- the scarab itself was what provided the strength, beneath the armor, a weak species merely served as a convenient host. 

I yanked my hand out, blood erupting from the wound that the liquid metal already started to flood the wound, capping off intestines and blood vessels. I didn’t know the science behind it, but scarabs needed a living host. That armor got noticeably thinner to plug up the damage, less liquid metal to go around for armor, which was why it was getting so easy to punch through. It was getting weaker. 

I raised a hand to finish it off, only to be cut off when a green blast hit me in the back, sending me flying. The breath was knocked from my lungs, my armor cracked and chipped, but I was fine. It...it was using nonlethal attacks. 

The Green Lantern shot forward as the vanguard got rid of its artificial arm and leg, the metal pumping into a single plasma gun on its one arm. “Kaylark! Double strike!” The vanguard shouted a split second before it fired a massive blast of plasma. The Green Lantern looked back, faltering in her single-minded pursuit of me to look back, but still managing to dodge the blast. It still pressed forward, clinging to the attack close enough that an inch more it would get hit by it. 

Three tendrils of light erupted from its ring, telling me what the tactic was. Dodge and get wrapped up, stay and get hit by plasma and a Green Lantern. 

“Fine then, I’ll take you both on then!” I roared defiantly, forming a Riot Javelin in my hand that I launched at the plasma blast as I rushed forward to meet them halfway. The Riot Javelin was absorbed into the plasma, the stream warping as it traveled upstream, bulging just enough that it hit the Green Lantern. It jerked away, its attention faltering for a split second, and that was enough. 

I aimed myself towards her, speeding off like a bullet, ki coating my hands. Tendrils of light lashed out at me, forcing me to dodge- Another tendril split off from one that nearly grabbed me, wrapping around my ankle. My eyes widened, feeling the wind against my face as it sent me flying, crashing through a building.

Gritting my teeth, I grabbed at the tendril, trying to tear it, only for it to split apart again, stretching out to my other ankle. I couldn’t break it, I was going to have to cut my foot off. Raising my hand, I brought it down to sever my foot at the shin, only for another tendril to catch my wrist before I could complete the motion. 

“Shivalik?” The Green Lantern asked, its voice faint. It wasn’t even paying any attention to me, even as it wrapped another tendril around my free wrist. I pulled and struggled, thrashing against the restraints, but I couldn’t do anything. I couldn’t even rip my hands off to escape. A wordless roar of rage escaped me, my efforts to escape growing more intense. “Is that you? But you’re-”

The fucking vanguard lowered its helmet, revealing a similar-looking alien with curly black hair. They almost looked like saiyans. “I had to do it!” The alien defended tears in its eyes. “The Frieza-force was coming, and we weren’t done evacuating civilians. They needed volunteers to buy time for them to escape.”

The Green Lantern looked stricken, opening its mouth to say something, only to close it a moment later. I continued to thrash in my restraints, making her look at me, but she kept me restrained with no visible effort. Fucking power rings.

When it didn’t continue, the scarab did. “But, the evacuation ships-! Those savages opened fire on them! They’re gone. Sharee, Mavalick -- they’re all gone, Kaylark. Because of them,” it jabbed a finger in my direction, but the Green Lantern stared at the scarab, its expression betraying nothing. “At the very least, I want vengeance! For my family. For your family! Please, help-”

“Where,” the Green Lantern interrupted slowly, turning its attention back to the scarab. “Did we hide when the Reach stopped pretending to be our saviors and enslaved our kind?” It asked, its tone carefully blank- Ah. Scarabs couldn’t access long term memories. They could emulate a person perfectly if stuck on the same host for a long period of time, but it couldn’t access memories. 

And, just like that, the tearful expression vanished. The scarab turned its canon to the Green Lantern, “you are in direct violation of the treaty, Green Lantern by entering Reach controlled space. This breach has already been recorded and sent to the highest authorities,” it informed, its voice emotionless. “However, this unit has been authorized to offer the temporary agreement of assistance in removing the Frieza-force presence on planet D’xe, in exchange, the Reach will not declare the treaty violated, thus null and void.”

For a long moment, the battlefield seemed to go quiet as the Green Lantern seemed to think on the offer, all except for my screaming as I thrashed in the restraints.

“I’m a Green Lantern,” the alien chose to answer, setting its jaw. “For what little time I still wear this ring, I will hold true to everything that the Green Lanterns stand for. Truth, justice -- we are the shield of the galaxy against evil, and I will not falter because of Guardians have gone back on that oath.” 

That was answer enough. 

A blast of plasma formed in the cannon, aimed at the Green Lantern. The Lantern glared down at the scarab that possessed its friend, a silent challenge. If it would have shot, I would never know. A yellow laser hit the scarab in the side of the head, without its armor, it went straight through. Instantly, the scarab began to drop, falling to the ground. 

“No!” The Lantern cried, her concentration failing at the sight. It was enough that the tendrils that held me vanished, fading into nothing as it rushed to catch its dead friend. I looked over to see it was Bardock that had fired the shot, an energy rifle in his hands. He tossed the weapon to the side, a look of disgust on his face before he glanced over at me despite the distance between us. 

‘Stay. Down.’ He pulled off his mask to mouth the words at me. 

Stay down? I pushed myself up again, blood seeping from me so there was already a fair bit of it where I fell. My organs...had a lot more in common with a pincushion than I ever wanted them to. But that was fine. I could walk it off. More importantly, I had a fight to win. 

I drew upon my ki, pushing my strength to its absolute limit -- I had taken some damage, sure, but I wasn’t out of this fight! Stay down?! Like hell I would! Instead of listening to Bardock, I blasted off towards the Green Lantern, who caught the corpse of its friend. It was distracted, giving me the perfect chance to finish it off. 

Ki gathered in my hands, a ball of light forming between them, “ka...me…” This one didn’t feel as strong as the one before when I was pushing back the scarab. I was losing steam. I had to finish this fast. “Ha...me...HA!” I yelled, firing off the attack. I knew she blocked my attack when it blasted outwards like it was washing over something a lot bigger than a 5’5 alien. Seeing as my surprise attack failed, I cut off the attack to see that it formed a protective bubble around the Green Lantern. 

I swallowed a mouth full of blood, my head feeling light. Did my time-out for a minute or two killed the adrenaline rush? It didn’t matter. I just had to get another one. 

"Do you really believe any of that crap?" I spat at her, darting towards it. The Lantern clenched it's jaw, hiding behind the bubble as I punched it hard enough that it went flying through a building, my already broken fingers were pulverized from the blow. I followed it through the tunnel it made, punching it again. Not so much as a crack. "The shield that protects the galaxy from evil? Then where in the hell has your order been?!" I roared, punching the bubble again, this time hard enough that my wrist broke. 

It hurt. But I was used to pain. I was used to pushing through it, digging deep, and pulling a win out of my ass. Scrambled organs or not, I wasn't going to lose this fight. 

The Lantern’s eyes narrowed, telling me I had hit a nerve. "For years, the Reach has been begging for help as we butchered our way across their empire and the Green Lanterns refused to answer the call!" I punched the shield again, letting my rage fuel me. The haze that covered my mind like a thick fog seemed to get thicker -- I welcomed it. The rage helped with the pain. 

"The Guardians didn't want to break the treaty!" the Lantern started to answer, but I didn't care to hear its excuses. I was absolutely sick and tired of hearing excuses. Especially my own. 

"They wanted their enemies to soften each other up!" I roared at it, punching it so hard my arm snapped under the force of my blow. That was fine. My muscles were powerful enough to keep the broken bones in place. I could still fight. "And how many died for it?! How many billions are dead? How many species have been eradicated because your order decided to stand back and fucking watch?!"

The Green Lantern glared at me, it's lips pressing together into a thin line as I punched the shield again, sending it crashing into another building. "That's why I'm here! I couldn't bear to watch this slaughter anymore," it argued, this time it flew out of the way of my next punch. Was I making progress then? I had to be! With renewed vigor, I gave chase to the Lantern. 

"Liar!" I spat, spotting another excuse for what it was. "You only came because this is your planet! You were happy to stay fucked off when it was other species getting butchered to the last," I accused, forming a ki blast in my hands, throwing it at the bloodstain. No damage. "It's always easy to ignore it when it's someone else staring genocide in the face." 

"That's not-" It started to argue, doubt appearing on its face as it retreated through the building, flying up into the air. 

"You're a liar. And a hypocrite! I bet you fucking patted yourself on the back when you decided to come here against orders, huh?!" I snarled, follow after it. "Like you hadn't stood by for years like the Guardians did. And why didn't you help? Why didn't you save anyone?! Because they were enslaved by the Reach? That's a reason good enough for the defenders of the fucking galaxy to twiddle their fucking thumbs and let billions of people die?" 

The Green Lantern's eyes widened as I neared, my eyes blurry from the wind shear. I slammed a fist into the bloodstain, and still not seeing so much as a crack. "You-" 

This wasn't an argument. I could care less about her excuses, "and now you come here, saving both sides, refusing to use lethal force because of some holier than thou bullshit! Don't fuck with me with your half-assed resolve-" the rest of my rant was interrupted by blood erupting from my mouth. My mask filled up, forcing me to come to a stop to lift it up so it could all drain out. My vision swam, my head felt so light it could float off my shoulders, but more blood coming up my throat kept me grounded. 

My strength was fading. The power of the oozaru form was seeping out of with every drop of blood. And I was bleeding rivers. It soaked my legs, covered my armor -- I think it was only slowing because I was running out of blood to bleed. 

"You're crying," the Green Lantern noted, stopping some distance away. I looked up, a hand going to my eyes to feel a wetness that wasn't blood. Tears streamed down my face, over my mask, the sorrow I felt stabbing the one organ the scarab had missed -- my heart. 

How much of that applied to me? I refused to kill civilians and patted myself on the back for it even as those same civilians died by the hands of another while I did nothing to stop it. I slaughtered soldiers, telling myself that it was different because they chose to fight back. I've watched hundreds of millions die, maybe billions after four years -- how many of them could I saved had I tried? If I did anything other than look away and pretend my hands were clean of innocent blood because I wasn't the one snuffing out their life?

"No, I'm not!" I shouted, swallowing more blood as I fired rapid ki blasts at the Green Lantern. Its expression was something worse than from determination. Its eyes were filled with pity. "Shut up!" The bluish balls of ki that impacted against the bubble offered up a smokescreen to hide that the others didn’t go flying off into the distance but hovered around it.  

“Hellzone Gre-nade!” I coughed, more blood coming up my throat, but it wasn’t as much this time. That...was probably really bad, wasn’t it? The explosions that lit up the sky forced me away, unable to withstand the force of them. I covered my eyes, squinting and my heart falling when I saw a green glow that moved through the clouds of dust. 

I...wasn’t able to put so much as a scratch on its shield. With the power of the oozaru, my strength multiplied by ten. I couldn’t do a thing. About any of it. 

“Ring...scan him,” the Lantern ordered, clearing the smoke, its voice soft. Its eyes were filled to the brim with pity, but not even that could hide the resolve in them. Despite being an alien, I couldn’t help but think that it looked like a saiyan. 

-Scan complete. Saiyan child, four years old due to cultural practice of growing children in gestation tanks for first three years of life. Identified as Tarble, second son to Vegeta the Third, king of the saiyan race. Currently has a bounty of fifty million credits placed by the Reach for participating in the first strike that instigated the Reach-Trade Organization war.- The ring answered. 

Wait, wait, wait. Those three years I spent in the gestation tank didn’t count? I was four years old again? And I had a bounty?!

“Four years old, huh?” The Lantern asked, the pity melting away from her eyes, replaced by firm resolve. “That’s pretty young for a saiyan, isn’t it? For my race, you would still be a baby...you were a baby by your own people’s standards when you destroyed Rockoroad.” 

“And you’ve only ever known war since then,” It noted as the green glow intensified. It set its jaw, narrowing its eyes as it took in a deep breath. “But you’re right. I was coming here with half-assed resolve. Even as they took my ring after I kicked you all off this planet, I was going to be satisfied with my choice. I was going to spend the rest of my life thinking it was the right choice.”

The Lantern expanded its bubble, letting the corpse floating with it fall. “And it is the right choice. I just made it four years too late.” Its ring glowed with a piercing light.

-Extreme willpower detected- the ring beeped as she started to fly forward. A calm pace towards me. I blinked to clear my vision, trying to ready myself for a fight, but I felt my newfound strength slip between my fingers. 

“Disengage safety lock,” it ordered calmly. 

- Error, the first law of the Green Lantern crops: lethal force is not- the ring started to protest before cutting itself off with -error, extreme willpower has been detected-

“Disengage. The. Safety lock,” the Lantern repeated, clenching its hand into a fist. Now the bubble was so close that I could touch it if I reached out. The ring sputtered for a moment, trying to deny the order but, after a moment, it caved. 

-Safety lock has been disengaged. Lethal force has been enabled.- The ring said, making the Lantern blink slowly, taking in a deep breath before it was released in a long sigh. 

“Thank you,” it said, sounding like it meant it. “Now I know what I must do. I won’t meekly hand over my ring when this planet has been liberated. Not when there are so many suffering the same fate. If the Guardians want my ring, then they can pry it from my cold dead finger.” The alien stood tall, striking an impressive figure with the green suit clinging to its curves. 

“I won’t stand idle any longer, and I will not take half measures to ensure the galaxy’s safety. I won’t flinch at the cost that must be paid. No matter how bloody. From this moment on, no matter what race they might be, or to what empire they serve, whenever an innocent cries out for help, I. Will. Answer!” It declared resolutely, pointing its fist at me. Without the bubble, I would probably be able to touch it. 

“Do you have any final words, Tarble?” It asked, its voice sounding far away despite being so close. 

“Stop wasting my time and get on with it,” I answered with as much dignity as I could muster. My breathing was even, my heart wasn’t pounding at my chest anymore. Everything pointed towards me accepting my death. I might have, I don’t know anymore. I didn’t so much as blink, staring up at the Lantern with just as much resolve that shone in its. 

“I am Kaylark, princess of planet D’xe,” Kaylark said, a light building in its ring. “In spite of your savage race, you have shown wisdom Tarble. It does not forgive the countless murders you have committed, but know that your death lays the foundation for peace.” 

I took in a slow breath, watching the light build. The battle for the city still raged beneath us, but it all sounded so far away. 

Move. 

I jerked my head to the side the same moment the beam of light leaped from the ring, a thin needle-like point that would have gone through the center of my forehead. I summoned up a weak ki blast to lob at her, it did exactly nothing to the bubble, but that wasn’t the point. I fought tooth and nail to live nearly every single day of my life, I didn’t have it in me to not die fighting at this point. 

“Tarble! Don’t you die, because I’m going to kill you when this is done!” I heard Bardock roared in his oozaru formed, light escaping his gaping maw. He fired the blast at the Green Lantern, ki enveloping it. I don’t think it would do anything to it, but it gave me time to put some distance between us. 

“I...ah...whatever, he can’t hear me,” I started, flying back as I blinked to clear my hazy vision. The power I felt earlier was all but gone, leaving bone-deep exhaustion in its place. The light faded as Bardock let the attack end, revealing that the Green Lantern was untouched. Its bubble protected it from the blast. 

There were no real lessons about the Green Lanterns from the tank. For the most part, I knew what everyone else knew. Power rings, batteries, bobbleheads for bosses and so on. However, I recalled something as Kaylark took aim at Bardock. Not so much a memory or a lesson, so I couldn’t tell if I learned it before the tank or not. 

The biggest handicap that the Lanterns had was that they couldn’t kill. Kaylark just removed that handicap. 

“Bardock, she can kill!” I screamed, my voice hoarse. Bardock didn’t move, summoning upon another ki breath attack as he crouched low, ready for a counter-attack. If he heard me, then I couldn’t tell. I had to assume that he didn’t. If I was wrong, and he couldn’t hear me, then he was going to die. He was going to get himself killed. I...I couldn’t let that happen. 

But I couldn’t break through that bubble. The Riot Javelin hadn’t worked, a Kamehameha didn’t have the piercing power. A Special Beam Cannon? No, that wouldn’t work either -- it wasn’t that much stronger than a Kamehameha, and its piercing power was less than a Riot Javelin. I needed…! 

I needed something new. 

I might- it was probably the lightheadedness, feeling dizzy as I floated in the air behind the Green Lantern as it moved to attack Bardock, his ki attack washing over its shield like water. An idea formed for a new technique, or, rather, combining a bunch of ideas to hopefully make it more powerful. 

The compressed power of a Kamehameha. The piercing power of a Riot Javelin. The coils of the Special Beam Cannon to enhance both. How it would look appeared in my mind, this time it was based on no memories or lessons. I cupped my hands to my side, drawing upon the last dregs of my ki, tapping out whatever was left of the oozaru power and funneling it to my hands. My hands almost mirrored each other, my broken fingers bent, a deep blue light forming. 

I compressed the ki, spinning it, letting beads of it form on the tips of my fingers which would increase the rotation. The tip would be pointed instead of a flat ball, but still wide enough to have some stopping power. 

Like I did so many times before, I pictured myself using the technique a thousand times. On the thousandth and first, I thrust my hands out and unleashed it. It looked exactly how I pictured it, a pillar of dark blue ki, wrapped around it was coils of white from my fingers that extended all the way to the tip.

The Green Lantern turned around even as it weathered Bardock’s attack, stopping to raise its fist at me. In its eyes glowed the symbol on its chest, the symbol of the Green Lantern Corps. My nameless attack slammed into the bubble, grinding against the surface. Gritting my teeth, I pumped more power into it, even as Bardock’s attack came to an end. 

It forced the Lantern back, still grinding away at the bubble, trying to find purchase but finding none. The Lantern’s ring glowed again, getting ready to fire off another attack, this one I doubt I could dodge. It was do or die again, and I wouldn’t die here. I poured whatever I had left into the attack, straining to so much as fly at the same time. 

Then my attack lurched forward. The bubble didn’t break, it didn’t shatter into a million pieces, my attack didn’t grind away at it until it forced its way through. The bubble simply vanished, winked out like a light being flipped off. 

My attack punched through the Lanterns chest, right where its symbol was, nearly fitting the white space perfectly. It pierced it through completely, carving a tunnel through a few buildings behind it before I let the attack end. The Lanterns corpse fell to the ground, bouncing when it landed, dead instantly. 

I won. I killed a Green Lantern. I...really wasn’t expecting that to work. 

“I...need to name...that attack,” I muttered, the last of my strength gone, the feeling of wind on my face was the last thing I was aware of before everything went black. 

…

“I don’t believe it,” Bardock muttered, ending the oozaru transformation, though he kept the Power Ball in the air just in case there were any saiyans besieging the city. Tarble fell from the sky, probably dead from the wounds he took. And fought through. Bardock flew to catch him, expecting the worst. 

Even if he was dead, going out by killing a Green Lantern...Bardock hated to admit it, but the kid would go down as a legend. Killing a Green Lantern, unleashing a move Bardock had never seen before after tapping into the oozaru power without transforming -- sure, the technique had some kinks to work out, but that...Wrath State was something else entirely. 

The oozaru transformation was a saiyans strength. Tarble created a way to master that power and take none of the drawbacks of having an oversized body. 

"Ha...the Power Ball might be obsolete soon enough," Bardock said with some amusement, flying up to Tarble. He worked on that technique for years, tirelessly learning and studying Bultz waves so he could mimic them. The Power Ball, if his plans failed, was going to be how he made his mark on the saiyan race, so long after he was dead, his name would be spoken in the same breath as legends like Matillo or King Vegeta the First. Saiyans that carved their name in history. 

He caught Tarble before he got the ground, noting just how pale he was underneath drying blood, dust, and soot. The boy was drenched in his own blood, he probably didn't have enough left in him to fill a canteen at this point. Tarble was limp in his arms, his head rolling to the side. Bardock looked down at the kid, a sigh of...something escaping him as he floated down to the ground, uncaring of the battle for the city. Without the scarab, the defensive forces had no chance. They would get mopped up soon enough. 

Bardock touched down next to the Green Lantern’s corpse. It's deep green and black suit with white gloves and boots was gone, revealing a pure white bodysuit not dissimilar to the ones that the Frieza-force wore, though it was mostly red at this point from the gaping hole where it's chest was supposed to be. It's ring still on its finger.

The shield hadn't broken, it had simply disappeared. 

"Looks like the Guardians screwed you one last time," Bardock said, kicking the corpse to make sure it was dead. For all their power, they were little more than slaves to the Guardians. Not unlike the saiyans with Frieza, Bardock admitted to himself. Except all of their power was borrowed from a glorified battery. The Guardians imposed their restrictions onto the ring, and when they were broken, they denied access to it -- the Green Lanterns were completely at the mercy of the Guardians, unable to so much as rise up. 

Then Bardock's gaze fell to the ring. The idea of wearing a power ring disgusted him, especially now he saw just how easy whatever power it offered could be taken away. But...that was one hell of a trophy. The ring of the first Green Lantern ever killed at saiyan hands. He crouched down, yanking the ring off and looked down at the dull green ring. It was hard to believe it contained so much power. 

"Supreme...ultra d-death at-attack?" Bardock heard muttering below him, soft, just barely above a whisper. At first, Bardock thought it might be the Green Lantern, but he doubted it could manage to speak without any lungs. That left- Bardock looked down at Tarble to see the kid’s lips moving ever so slightly as he mumbled to himself, “P-plus ultra death cy-cyclone. Dr-drill?”

He was alive. Barely. And spending what could be his last moments trying to name his new attack. Despite himself, Bardock let out a laugh as he smiled -- because of course he would. "Fasha said I should teach you a way to solve your problems other than bashing your head against them, but I can't imagine you'll run into anything tougher than your head now." He admitted, using his scouter to learn Tarble's condition. It came as no shock that he was in critical condition, needing immediate medical treatment. 

Bardock looked down at the kid, his chest barely moving as he took in small gasps of air. A thought occurred to him as he looked down, a thought that became more frequent over the years. At first, the thought was born of frustration, almost constantly on his mind back when the kid was getting demolished by saibamen. Then, for years he hadn’t had the thought at all as Tarble proved his worth again and again whenever the chips were down. In the past year, that thought returned, this time it was twinged with worry. 

He should kill Tarble. 

One way or the other, Tarble was going to be an obstacle. Whether he wanted to be one or not. Bardock hadn’t expected him to get so strong so fast, going from nothing to the second strongest member of the team before he hit his first growth spurt. In the past year, as Tarble rapidly grew in strength, it was clear that he would one day join the elite-class. Maybe before Bardock did. Then he would be apart of the royal family. 

And that was the crux of the issue, wasn’t it?

Letting him die here would almost be a kindness. He died taking out a Green Lantern, tapped into a power of the oozaru form in a way that had never been done before -- this was one hell of a high note to go out on. If he died now, then he died a warrior's death that any saiyan would be proud of. King Vegeta might even acknowledge him postmortem if only because of the prestige. 

Would it be kinder to let him die from his wounds now? It would certainly make things easier down the line for himself, that Bardock was certain.

“Bardock!” Fasha yelled through his scouter, “we’re about to arrive, so hold on a little longer.” She continued, prompting another sigh from Bardock. This time he knew what it was. He made his decision. 

“No need. Tarble took out the vanguard unit and the Green Lantern,” Bardock said with a wiry grin, wondering if he should have saved that info until after they arrived just so he could see their faces. But, he needed them to know before it was too late. “Leek, get over here. We need a healing pod and we needed it yesterday. I’ll meet you halfway.” 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Shugesh started, Bardock could practically see the disbelief that he wore. Bardock couldn’t blame him for that. “Hold up. You aren’t going to just move on like you didn’t say what you just said. Tarble killed a Green Lantern?” He asked for clarification, a chorus from the rest of the team echoing his question as they raced to the city. 

“Yes. I’ll give you details later -- better yet, you’ll get to hear it from Tarble if Leek gets his ass over here before he bleeds out.” Bardock said, his tone cutting off any arguments. He would be bombarded with questions soon enough, not just from his team but from- 

“Bardock!” The Brat Prince shouted from above, making him lookup. Prince Vegeta landed hard enough that the already battered street cracked on impact, his expression a furious snarl that it seemed both siblings inherited by their father. Vegeta opened his mouth to bark out an order, only for his words to flee him when his eyes fell on his brother. His eyes widened an expression that Bardock never thought he would see on the face of the royal bloodline passed over his face. 

Huh, would you look at that, Bardock thought at seeing an expression of fear on Vegeta’s face when his eyes landed on his dying brother. That, Bardock hadn’t expected. Everyone knew about the near unnatural closeness between father and son the Vegeta’s shared -- Bardock understood it better than most having raised Raditz, but he hadn’t expected that same closeness was shared between siblings. 

“Tarble! Is he?” Bardock would have laughed if he wasn’t very aware that despite being so small, the prince was still twice as strong as him. He even sounded afraid. Honestly, it was hilarious. 

“Not yet,” Bardock answered, pressing down on his scouter again. “Leek, where are you?” He demanded to know from his pilot. For what Leek lacked in fighting ability, he more than made up for with skill in a spaceship. Others looked down on him for it, but skill was skill and Bardock knew he could rely on the working-class saiyan. Until now, apparently. “Leek! Does anyone know where Leek is? We need a healing pod!” 

There was silence. Bardock’s brow furrowed, “Fasha, Tora, Shugesh? Borgos?” Bardock tried the usually silent saiyan as well and still getting nothing. 

“Bardock, what is going on? Are your useless team coming or not,” Vegeta snarled at him, looking like he was about to blast him. Odd were, knowing his temperament, the only thing saving him right now was that he was holding Tarble. “And where is the Green Lantern?” 

Bardock kicked the corpse, “there’s the Lantern. And can you contact anyone on your scouter? I’m getting nothing on mine.” Bardock asked, a frown tugging at his lips. He paid Vegeta’s stunned expression no mind -- what was going on with his scouter? Was it busted? It couldn’t be, it worked literally a minute ago. “Vegeta, is your scouter working?” He pressed, snapping the boy out of his shock. 

Vegeta managed to tear his gaze off the corpse, a hand went up to his scouter. “Na- is anyone there? Raditz?” He tried, a beat of...well, calling it silence was a bit of a stretch considering all the explosions throughout the city, but after a moment Vegeta looked at him with confusion. So no one was picking up for him either. 

“Did the Lantern do something?” Vegeta asked, and that was a good question. Bardock thought about it before he shook his head. 

“I doubt it. It was giving dramatic speeches then Tarble killed it. Unless it was on some kind of delay, I don’t think it was the Lantern that knocked out our coms,” Bardock dismissed with a shake of his head. He looked down at Tarble, the boy’s lips still moving but no words came out. He...didn’t have a lot of time left. They needed a healing pod. Now. 

“The Reach must have done it, but we don’t have time to stand around. Does your ship have a healing pod?” Bardock asked, floating up. Vegeta looked like a sharp retort was on his tongue, but he glanced at Tarble and swallowed it. 

“I do,” Vegeta said, wearing an expression of grim determination. “Keep up,” he said before blasting up towards the sky, Bardock hot on his heels- Bardock was forced to dodge out of the way of a Frieza-force drone suddenly went still in the air. He looked behind him, his confusion only grew when he saw all of the Frieza-force drones were slowly falling. Tens of thousands of them raining to the ground, the Reach drones crashing into them. 

Whatever knocked their scouters offline was impacting their drones too? Bardock wished he understood technobabble to have an idea of what could do that. The why was obvious enough. Communication was vital to a battlefield, whether it was a small team like his or an army numbering in the millions. Without it, a frontline would fall apart. 

Bardock followed after the prince, Tarble in his arms, as a sinking feeling formed in his gut. He couldn’t tell how far whatever it was spread, but it was for the entire planet then the Reach must be planning some kind of offensive. He pressed down on his scouter, doing a general scan -- he could still get power levels, so it seemed that only the communication aspect was taken out. 

He spotted four familiar ones heading their way. “My team is incoming,” Bardock yelled, a frown still on his lips. His team numbered seven, including Leek. He was missing a member. 

“If they can’t keep up then I’ll take my brother and leave the rest of you trash behind,” Vegeta swore, still trailing ahead. The ground below them passed in a blur -- another city could be seen in the distance, illuminated by the countless fires that raged. If it was an offensive, then he doubted it would be there. A stronghold. 

The mountain. At the very least, they had a scarab that broke the hundred thousand in there, and that was just what they revealed. If they had another...ten in there? Between the lack of communication, those ten scarabs could completely change the tide of the battle for this planet. 

“Bardock!” Tora called out, falling in line alongside him with the others. “We were trying to reach you but-”

“Coms are out,” Bardock finished for him with a nod, spotting the others with him. Everyone except Leek. Fasha flew beside him, looking down at Tarble with a concerned expression. Gine rubbed off on her more than she was willing to admit -- she had a soft spot for kids. Or, at the very least, she had one for Tarble. “Get ready for a fight when we get to the ship. The Reach has to be planning something.”

“Figured as much. Hows the kid?” Tora questioned as Bardock spotted the mountain in the distance. It really was stupidly huge. 

“Dying,” Bardock answer honestly. “You should have seen the fight, though. He figured out a way to do it,” he added lowly, making Tora’s eyes widened and earning a sharp look from Fasha. 

“Does the prince know?” Fasha asked so quietly that her voice was nearly lost in the wind. Bardock shook his head -- that was one card that Bardock wanted to have up his sleeve as long as possible. He spent years learning how to control his oozaru form, he finally got the hang of it months before he agreed to be taught by Nappa. 

It was a mistake to kill him, Bardock reflected. He had wanted to take out a powerful ally for a man that would one day be his enemy. Who already considered him one. So, when he saw the chance to rob King Vegeta of a powerful saiyan and a good general, he took it. He crushed his throat and stomped on his head to cover his tracks. 

The plan was to figure it out himself then teach the rest of his team. Nappa deciding to teach all of them had been a surprise. A generous offer by a royal bootlicker -- odds were Nappa was planning to kill him and write it off as a training accident. Now, with this new power that seemed to be even greater than the oozaru transformation, that was a card Bardock wanted to keep hidden up his sleeve as long as he possibly could. 

“No, and we need to make sure it stays that way,” Bardock said just as quietly as they rapidly approached the base. “We make up some excuse why Tarble can’t teach it to anyone but us, and we keep it a secret for as long as we can. I’m not ready to take the throne yet,” Bardock admitted. 

But he would, soon enough. King Vegeta sat on his throne back on planet Vegeta, getting fat and lazy, so secure in his title as king he hadn’t participated in a single battle this entire war. Prince Vegeta was going to be an issue, already he was stronger than his father, but if push came to shove, between the Wrath State and his team, Bardock was confident they could win that fight. 

Then Tarble...time would tell. 

“Got it, we’ll blame it on Frieza,” Fasha agreed. All ways a favored person to blame for anything. Bardock nodded, already thinking of a quick excuse. Something something, Frieza won’t like it, something something blowing up the saiyan race, something something just do what I say. Whatever he went with, the results would stay the same. 

He and his team were going to have one hell of a leg up on King Vegeta when the time came. It might not be soon, it may still be years from now, the day he walked up those steps, sat his ass in that throne and became king of the saiyans might not come until after the war was over. But it would come. That much, Bardock was certain. 

“Am I the only one still stuck on the kid killing a Green Lantern?” Shugesh spoke up, still looking stunned by the revelation. “Because the kid killed a Green Lantern. I mean, I knew the kid was a freak of nature, but this is something else. A Green Lantern. Hey, do you think that’s going to be enough to make them declare war?”

Bardock shook his head, “it sounded like the Lantern was acting on its own. The Guardians are probably going to say as much even if it wasn’t, and I doubt that the Reach is going to call them on it.” The war, despite going on for four years now, was still barely kicking off. They hadn’t hit any of the Reach’s core worlds yet and the Reach was doing a better job hitting the Trade Organizations wallet than controlled planets. 

“That doesn’t matter right now, we need to get the little super saiyan down for a nap,” Fasha said, blasting off even faster, a silent challenge for them to go even faster. Bardock and the rest of the team obliged, racing towards the HQ, the mountain off in the distance, a looming threat. Bardock half expected that the HQ would be a hole in the ground, but the sizable encampment was still standing. 

It housed hundreds of thousands, serving as a base of operations for an army that numbered in the millions. It was bigger than the city that it was based outside of, a large bubble shield protecting it from glass storms. Vegeta lead them to the docking area since most ships were in orbit, it was a lot smaller than one would assume. The saiyan prince went down first, an alien running up to him. 

"Sir-ah!" Was all it managed to get out before Vegeta raised a hand and blasted the alien, by the time the blinding flash of light was done there wasn't anything left of it. Seemed that the prince wasn't in the mood for interruptions. 

“This way,” Vegeta snarled, dashing into the without touching the ground, flying into the ship. Bardock and the rest followed him, sailing through a bulkhead door that had a hole burned through it since the prince didn’t want to wait. Within seconds, Bardock found the familiar sight of the healing pods, rows upon rows of them. 

Bardock wasted no time throwing Tarble into one of them, an extremely familiar sight of watching the battered kid be submerged in healing fluid. He turned his attention to the diagnostics screen and blanched -- his organs were skewered, stomach acid burns on those skewered organs, extreme blood loss, and a long list of serious but less life-threatening injuries. The kid really took a beating this time. 

“He’s going to survive,” Bardock said, not sure who he was talking to. Himself, maybe. “I’ve done worse to him, and he survived that, so he just needs some time.” The words sounded like a lie to his own ears. Could the healing pod undo this amount of damage? It worked miracles before, bringing Tarble and the team from the brink of death more than once, but that was just broken bones and stuff. This was…

“Heh, and knowing him he’ll sleep for the next month,” Shugesh chuckled, getting a grin from Fasha. Bardock didn’t know how the kid managed it either. He felt restless after a few short hours of sleep, but Tarble found a way to sleep for weeks on end between missions. Honestly, it was almost impressive. 

“If he dies then so do all of you,” Vegeta threatened, putting an end to the hopeful air the room held. The bite-sized prince turned around, his expression a cold mask that looked suspiciously like his fathers. “You, Bardock, explain what happened.” He ordered, the or else going unsaid. This was why he hated dealing with the royal family. 

He had harbored a hope that once he became mid-class, things would change. For him, and for his team. Instead, it was just more of the same. 

Bardock opened his mouth to obey the order, only to be cut off as the ground shook. Not the kind of shake from tectonic plates shifting around, or the aftershocks of a bomb. But the kind of shaking that felt like the entire planet was about to fall apart. Bardock’s heart went still in his chest, a suspicion making the blood freeze in his veins. Without a word, he shot out of the med bay, going to a convenient window that let him look up at the mountain. 

Was it glowing? 

The ship shook, and that was all he needed. Knocking off comms and now this? He had been purging planets for decades, he knew a trap when he saw one. Whatever was coming, it was big. Too big. Every instinct he had told him to get away, that this wasn’t a foe to be fought but something else entirely. 

“We need to get the ship in orbit!” Bardock shouted, whipping around at Vegeta, whose mouth was open to shot off another demand or something. “Now! Tell the pilot to get us out of here. Team, we’re pushing the ship into orbit.” He ordered, his team moving instantly to follow him out. The brat prince shouted something, but Bardock didn’t care. The pilot would have to seal the ship if whatever alien was flying it didn’t want to get ventilated. 

“What’s going on?” Tora asked, getting underneath the ship as chaos started all around them. The shields shimmered, trying to maintain their shape as the planet shook underfoot. Lesser species weren’t able to remain standing, makeshift buildings were falling apart. Some soldiers were running around, shouting the same question that Tora just asked. 

“I don’t know,” Bardock answered, starting to fly. Between him and his team, it was a simple task to lift the ship off the ground. “But whatevers coming is going to wipe this place off the face of the map.” He didn’t know if it was a scarab, a weapon or what. Regardless, the shaking didn’t bode well. 

“H-hey! You’re leaving? Take us with you!” An alien shouted, pointing at them. It looked like a saiyan but lacked a tail. It was really weird just how many aliens looked like saiyans sometimes. Its shouting made other aliens look over at them, some of them running forward to what could be a safe boat. 

They didn’t have any time to wait for aliens to get on. In response, Bardock raised a hand as they flew higher into the sky. An energy blast formed in his hand, aimed at the alien that spoke out first. A group of them formed up, their mouths open to say something but Bardock didn’t have time to hear it. He fired the energy blast wiping them all out. 

Unsurprisingly, the aliens didn’t take kindly to that. “Get back here!” One shouted as others rushed to get on the few ships in the docks, it fired its gun at him. Bardock just tsked as he backhanded the energy blast to the side before he returned the favor. 

“Let’s get out of here before one gets a lucky hit in,” Shugesh commented as they continued to sail higher. The landing gear began to slide upwards, the thrusters flaring to life. He got a nod of agreement from Bardock as he willed himself up faster, busting through the energy shield and sailing up towards the atmosphere. Bardock found himself looking over at the mountain -- it was defiantly glowing. 

However, now that he was so high, rapidly approaching the clouds, he looked down and saw that the damage wasn’t centered around the HQ. Bardock watched as a jet of magma erupted to the surface, the ground splitting apart near the HQ, a portion of it breaking off into a chasm that seemed to never end. 

The planet was shaking itself apart. How-

“They blew up the planet’s core!” Bardock realized, his eyes going wide. Worse, the coms were still out so he couldn’t tell anyone. The signs were there -- the entire planet looked like it was falling apart, but he knew there was going to be an explosive finish. He let go of the ship, the team following him to circle around to the docking bay. Banging on the metal door, he looked up at where the cameras were but, a few seconds passed and nothing happened. 

No, something did happen. The ship started to pick up speed. The brat planned to leave them all behind. 

Bardock clenched his jaw behind his mask, going to the cockpit where he would be able to look in. Predictably, he saw an alien behind the wheel but behind it was Vegeta. The brat glared at him even as he smirked arrogantly like there was absolutely nothing he could do now. Vegeta couldn’t see it, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t a cruel smirk on Bardock’s face as he formed an energy ball in his hand. 

A clear threat. Let my team on or we all die.

Vegeta’s face twisted into an expression of rage. For a moment, Bardock half expected Vegeta to call him out on his bluff. The only issue was, Bardock wasn’t bluffing. Dying here wasn’t the death that he wanted for him or his team, but if it took out that arrogant brat, then it was completely worth it. 

Then, after long enough that Bardock thought that silence might be his answer, Vegeta gave him a curt nod. The pilot pressed a button, prompting Bardock to glance at Tora out of the corner of his eye, to see his friend giving him a nod. The door was opened. Bardock wasted no time to get back inside the ship, the others following him. 

Vegeta was waiting for him when he got there, the bulkhead door sealing shut behind them. Bardock ruthlessly crushed the anger he felt in favor of focusing on the issue at hand. 

“The Reach blew up the planet’s core,” he started, cutting off the brat. Really, why couldn’t he take after his brother more than his father? “We need to get out of this system. Fast,” Bardock continued, brushing past the prince to go tell the pilot himself. How big would the explosion be? Where was the safe distance? Bardock had no idea. 

“You forget your place, Bardock,” Vegeta snarled at him, a threat in his tone. Bardock came to a stop, looking at the boy before his eyes flickered over to Fasha. She gave him a nod before disappearing down the other hallway to make her way to the pilot while he was stuck dealing with a temper tantrum. “You do not order me around. You do not threaten me, trash.”

They couldn’t fight here. For one, the ship would be destroyed so they would all lose. With his entire team here, without the oozaru transformation, they had a chance. A lot of them would die, but they could win. At least for a little while. 

“I’m sorry, my prince,” Bardock said, biting back...a lot of things he wanted to say. There were few people that irritated Bardock as much as the prince did. Though, admittedly, most of that stemmed from his lack of ability to murder the child. And the fact that said child was stronger than him. 

"Do you think a simple apology is enough?" Vegeta questioned, baring his teeth in a feral smirk. "I am your prince! At the very least, you shouldn't be standing over as you beg for my forgiveness." 

The mission, the team, then pride. Bardock had to remind himself of the words he told Tarble, a code that he forged in blood and pain. A code that made him and his team employees of the month for the past ten years. 

Bardock dropped to a knee, bringing him to nearly eye level- 

"Lower," Vegeta snapped, making Bardock grit his teeth. The mission, the team, then pride -- again, Bardock was forced to remind himself. Obediently, under the gazes of the prince and his team, Bardock dropped to both knees and lowered his head- he allowed his face to bounce off the ground when Vegeta stepped on the back of his head. Tora made a noise of rage, going to do something, but Bardock held up a hand to stop him. Though, he suspected it was through the combined might of Borgos and Shugesh that kept Tora from launching himself at the prince. "There. Much better. Do you remember where you belong now?" 

The mission, the team, then pride. "I do," Bardock lied. When he ascended to the throne, Vegeta's death wasn't going to be a clean one. He wouldn't die a warrior's death. He would die screaming, Bardock swore to himself. 

"Very good, Bardock," Vegeta praised, a smile in his voice as he ground his heel into the back of his head. "Now, beg me for forgiveness. Seeing you like this had put me in a good mood -- if you do a good job of it, I might even let you live." 

"..." The mission, the team, then pride. "I-" Bardock started before Shugesh interrupted him. 

"The planet!" He exclaimed, gesturing to a window. Vegeta looked over, whatever he saw was enough to let Bardock escape from underneath his boot -- before he turned his attention to what was on the other side of the window, Bardock spared a fantasy of wrapping his hands around Vegeta's throat to strangle him. He pushed the fantasy to the side with practiced ease and looked at the planet. It was growing more distant by the second, but even from so far away, lines of lava could be seen. 

Entire oceans were gone, a cloud of ash covering some of the planet, landmasses had shifted or were gone entirely. The signs of destruction grew -- lines of red became oceans of lava, the dull sandy color of the planet was black, giant lightning storms appeared. Before his very eyes, Bardock was watching the death of a planet. 

Then it simply started falling apart. There was no great explosion that he expected but it was a lot like a string pulled too tight. The tension grew to be too much until it snapped. Chunks of the planet flew away, breaking apart the atmosphere. Others drifted apart, leaving nearly half of the planet whole. None of it happened instantly either -- they must have stood in front of the window for hours, watching the planet shake itself apart. 

"Why would they do that?" Borgos asked in his usually soft voice. 

"Because...they wanted to deny us a staging ground," Bardock answered, his lips curling up into a smile. The Reach destroyed a planet to inconvenience the Frieza-force, to stretch their supply lines when they assured the shield world. They killed millions of their own soldiers to buy time. They did it because a planet and those armies were expendable. 

This war...for the past four years, that was just the prelude. 

The real war started now.