Guardian's Trial [Medium Quest]

Mission Description:

How annoying did this guy have to be? The black genie he associated himself with for the first task he went through kept making a bunch of small talk as they went through the hallways of the Lookout. He kept going on and on about how Kami was a good master, one pure of heart, and that Bardock should behave himself before he got hurt. Like Bardock really had anything to fear from a guy with whom he barely wasted any energy on. If this 'Kami' was really all high and mighty, why didn't he show himself when Bardock was in the heat of battle? He's probably scared, the wimp.

They reached a single door in the hallway, and Popo opened it to show a small room with a single throne within. When Bardock went inside this room, he was able to get a better look at its... duller features. With plain blue walls, a white outline, and a royal chair at the end of this room with an old, green man sitting on it, this room was definitely no prize to behold. The Saiyan took a few more paces forward until he noticed that the door closed behind him, with Popo standing in front of it with his hands behind his back, as if he was standing guard should Bardock get a little violent. Like he could contain him if he decided to shed a little blood on this otherwise dull room.

The old coot started to rise from his throne, causing Bardock to have a small flashback to his first meeting with King Vegeta, once known as the ruler of the Saiyans. This room may have been small, but the throne was fairly similar to Vegeta's, being surrounded by walls of guards, mostly being Elites. It was definitely fancier than this guy's tastes. Keeping quiet about his opinions, Kami got a wooden staff and pressed it onto the ground, walking over to Bardock with a fairly slow pace. God damned wrinkle-bags need to go extinct already. Even a Saiyan retained his youth for a long time, why couldn't the same go for humans? Then again, this guy looked nothing like the rest of the planet. Another outsider, like Bardock.

”Hello, Bardock. I have been expecting you, and do not be alarmed. We are not here to cause harm to you,” he said, his voice a little jagged from his old age. Yet, that comment somehow rubbed Bardock the wrong way. He said it as if they were stronger than Bardock, and his scouter didn't exactly catch a large reading from either of these warriors.

”Look, old man. I have never heard of you before, other than the fact that you know how to give a guy new strength. I want to train to become stronger than all those who oppose me,” Bardock exclaimed, as if he was making a promise to the gods above. He was standing in front of the god of Earth, so maybe his wishes would not go unheard. But Popo was a little alarmed by what Bardock said, running over to Kami's side and scolding the renegade Saiyan.

”Don't you have any manners?! You're talking to the God of Ea-,” Popo began to say, before he was interrupted by Kami's hand being in front of his lips. This was a sign for him to hush down; Bardock has seen it many times before. Obviously this guy was the higher authority, even though it looked like Popo could take more of a punch than Kami. Kami took a few more steps forward, ahead of his partner to smile over to Bardock.

”Well then, looks like you have your goals in order. Why don't we take a trip outside?” Kami spoke in a soft manner, like an old man enjoying his golden years. Without waiting for a response from Bardock, he closed his eyes in a sweet way and walked out of the room very slowly. The Saiyan was slightly confused by this guy's reaction to his wishes. Weren't these people pure of heart, not wanting to fight at all? A Saiyan was a polar opposite to some of these humans, who wanted to go out of their ways to help out the needy. Such a useless time-waster was not of a Saiyan's task.

Bardock shrugged it off and walked over to the door, waiting for Popo before closing it behind him. He walked down the hallway to catch up with Kami, which wasn't a difficult task considering the God's speed with that cane of his. As they made their snail-like journey through the halls of the Lookout, Kami began to speak.

”You know, Bardock, it's been quite a few years since I became the God of Earth. It is such a big responsibility to take care of all the world's problems, and I'm not what I used to be,” he began, a hint of nostalgia in his tone. He closed his eyes as he walked, as if he was having a flashback to a good time he had as the god of Earth. They got outside and walked down the stairs to look to the blue sky. Somehow, Kami found the strength to be able to sit down on the tiled ground, staring at the ocean of clouds above them. Bardock was still confused by such peaceful mannerisms, but he sat down too. He didn't want to admit it, but that training he did with Popo wore him out a bit, so a rest wouldn't hurt him before the next task.

”Sometimes, it's just all too much for me to handle. That's why we have warriors on Earth that take these evil villains on, like Goku.” He let out a small sigh of relief at the mere mention of this 'Goku', as if he was some saint. Bardock hadn't been on Earth too long, and he hasn't met any of the stronger power levels on this planet yet. At first, he came here because he heard that his son still resided on this hunk of wasted space, but now he was thrilled at the challenge that came with this planet. There were many strong warriors on this planet, some even better than most of Vegeta's elites. This Earth offered a Saiyan's true pastime: fighting.

”So maybe, after we finish our training, you can try and take on some of our villains and give an old man some rest. What do you say?” He looked over to the Saiyan, and he looked back into the aged eyes of the God. He couldn't even tell the difference between a Saiyan, a Human, or whatever this guy was anymore. He just wanted to get stronger so he could face the challenges of Earth.

”A lot of fighting will happen after this training, that's a fact. Maybe if I come across some evil guy that's causing me some trouble, I'll take him down,” he said with boldness in his voice. Kami let out a small laugh, almost repressed, and got up with the help of his cane. He walked over to the entrance of the Lookout, Bardock getting up from his sitting position. He was a little confused by what he was supposed to be doing until Kami looked back at him and smiled. Why was this guy so nice to a violent Saiyan like him?!

”Well, what's with that expression? You did want to train with me, right?” He was teasing Bardock a bit as he walked into the Lookout, causing the ferocious warrior to smirk in his direction. Almost like a blur, he used his speed to jump into the Lookout, following Kami down the hallways for what would have been the third time within these halls. They came across a small door, where Kami froze for a moment, as if he was thinking about something. Gosh, were all old men so slow?

Kami opened the door slowly to a very dark room. There wasn't even anything to take in, nothing but darkness. Bardock looked over to Kami, as if he might offer some type of guidance to him.

”You will receive a torch, and you are to light four candles in this room. Each time you light a candle, you will meet a spirit with a particular strength and weakness. Once you light all four candles, come and meet me through the exit, which will come to you the moment you complete it.” And with that, Popo suddenly pushed Bardock into the room and tossed him a small log, closing the door behind him. Now the darkness was the only company he had.

For now.

Fucking idiots didn't even explain it well enough. Bardock got off of the ground and dusted himself off, looking around the room. He may as well have had his eyes closed, with how dark it was in there. Then he remembered that right before the door closed, Popo threw him a small piece of wood. That could be used as a torch! He groped around in the darkness for a few seconds before laying his hands on an object, jagged on the surface. This had to be a piece of wood. He picked it up and focused his energy. He closed his eyes, the Ki within him crawling through his veins, making their way down his arm and reaching his fingertips. After a few crackles of pure energy, a spinning orb of Ki was formed within his palm, and he looked over to the piece of wood. He slammed the orb onto the top of it, setting the wood ablaze. Sure, he could have used his aura to light the place up, but he might need to save up his energy for those spirits he was warned about.

With fresh fire in his hand, he went onward through the room. Now he was able to get a better look, but it wasn't very impressive. To each side of him, there were tan bricks as walls. On the ground and ceilings, there was nothing but a smooth, brown surface. These guys, Kami and Popo, didn't exactly know how to decorate, did they? He shrugged the thought off and kept going, wondering what he might find in this maze. Then his view caught something to his right. It was a small bookcase, almost unnoticeable if you weren't paying attention.

He went over to the bookcase and crouched down, looking it over. It was particularly dusty, for the most part. It had two doors with a drawer, each with handles made of bronze. It was a fancy bookcase, to say the least. The Saiyan's curiosity peaked as he grabbed the handle of the door, opening it to be greeted with a large cloud of dust. Brushing it away with a few waves of the hand paired off with coughs alike, he looked forward to see a human-like skull. Most others would be sort of freaked out by such a thing, but not Bardock. He was used to such things, living the life of a war-hardened warrior. Death was a natural thing, he just sped up the process. Such thoughts brought a smile to Bardock's face, and now he was getting excited to get to kill something again. Those Indians obviously didn't satisfy his thirst for blood.

Closing the door, he looked over to the drawer. Maybe this piece of shit held more information than he thought, if someone managed to go through the pain of death at this point. He grabbed onto the handle of the drawer and swung it open, peeked his head over the borders of the object to check out what was inside it. He saw a single book titled 'Spirit'. What the hell kind of title was that? Obviously creativity was not a part of the human race. Still, he felt that he needed to see what was inside of it. He grabbed a hold of the book and opened it, getting back onto his feet in a flat stature. Now that his posture was erect, he turned to the first page to see what was so important about this book.

'Up. Left. Down. Right. Love is such a horrible emotion, full of struggle and sacrifice. You should know, traitor.' What the fuck? Was this book trying to talk to him? But he never loved anyone, not as long as he could remember. He looked to the beginning of the text and read the directions. They might lead to the first candle! He looked ahead to see that there was a work in the path, either leading to the straight path or to the left. The now slightly deterred Saiyan headed over to the crossing paths to see some writing, etched in crimson blood.

The left path said nothing, but had a picture etched on it with a face, donning slightly spiked hair that stood on end. Didn't really ring a bell to Bardock, but he shrugged it off and headed for the direction that the book explained to him. He looked to his left as he passed by the corner of the straight path, seeing a single word.

Lust.

Not knowing why it was put there, he kept going down the path. He didn't really know what any of this meant, whether this book was meant for him or someone else, or even why he was in this room. Like some simple spirits had the strength to take on a pure blooded Saiyan! He was lost in his own prideful thoughts until he ended up hitting his head against a brick wall. He fell onto the ground, and his torch suddenly went out. Now he was left in the darkness again. He wasn't worried, but he was still looking around in the dark for his torch again. He was about to grab it, until he heard a small cry. It was almost like a woman's moan. He was not intrigued in the concept of staying in the dark anymore, so he grabbed the torch. He made another orb of energy, but before he could manage to set the wood back on fire, the glow from his energy ball was just enough.

Suddenly, a woman with black hair sprang out almost a centimeter away from Bardock's way, her mouth splitting into four with teeth misplaced everywhere. The saliva was flying out of her mouth as she yelled, as if she was in a mixture of pain and anger. Just as quickly, Bardock's vision began to fade into a black and white version of the world. A mansion was in the distance, all lights on in a greyish fashion, and a single hill stood on the ground. Upon this hill was a small object that glowed brightly, making Bardock curious to what it was. Not knowing where he was, he tried to go forward to see what the object was, but by the time he got a fourth of the way there, his vision faded back to the monster, which quickly dissolved into pure flames. Bardock was left in shock, falling onto his knees to try and take in what the hell just happened. What in the world did that ugly freak have to do with him?! He knows that he killed a lot of Xenos in his time, but none of them were so... horrific.

After a few seconds of registration, he got back onto his feet to grab the torch. He made a small orb of energy, looked around for any creatures that might be lurking about, and set the top of the piece of wood on fire. Now that he was back on track, he looked to the left and to the right. The book told him to go left, which had a message etched on the wall.

Look to your book.

Guessing that this might be a message to him, he opened the book to the first page. It was the same text as before, but this time, there was even more added to it in a separate part of the page. Now this was officially quite freaky. Did someone steal the book from him and write in it? Or maybe this was another one of the secrets of this planet 'Earth'. Either way, he went to read the new text.

'You don't even know what you've awakened, what you left behind for your values. Did I mean nothing to you?!' Now he did not know who this crazy bitch was, but she obviously had some serious issues with this Saiyan. Putting the book back onto his waist and using the torch to light the path ahead, he tried to forget what he just read as he pressed on through this maze of a cave. It didn't take too long for another fork in the road to come along. This was becoming tedious for Bardock, but he kept going. The next direction was down, which surprised him. How could he go-

Just as quickly, his thoughts were interrupted by the gravity of Earth failing him, sending him into a pit. He quickly got his bearings back and let his aura burst around him, the torch falling downward due to his careless fingers. Why did he let go of that thing?! But then he thought about it for a moment, watching as the torch hit some kind of surface at the bottom of the pit. He slowly descended, realizing that this might be what the book meant by going down. As his feet touched down beside the torch, it looked as if he never moved in the first place, seeing more walls of tanned bricks. He sighed as he picked up the torch, heading in the final direction. Right.

It only took a few seconds for him to enter a new room, one with no exits at all. He was a little chilled by this place, seeing a small object on top of a pedestal in the middle of the room. It was the first candle, on top of a bent bar that started as a slanted line, before curving under the candle's position. It almost looked like half of a heart. He slowly put his torch to the candle.

And it lit.

As soon as it did, Bardock was knocked aside by some unknown force. He hit the ground face first, sliding into the dirt. He tried getting back up, but the surroundings around him were drastically changing before his very eyes. The bricks on the walls were being torn apart. The ceiling flew away into a sky of many colors. The floor completely disappeared, almost making Bardock look like he was flying, even though he wasn't using any energy at the moment.

His eyes darted around until he laid his eyes on someone. This girl was wearing a pink thong-like bottom, along with low-grade Saiyan armor. She donned a short, black haircut, and her figure was quite slender. Bardock couldn't believe his eyes that she was here. As her sharp eyes looked over to him, it was quite apparent who this girl was.

It was Fasha, the only female on his Saiyan squad before they were murdered.

What a relief it was to see a familiar face, but... there was something weird about this. Wasn't she still dead? Bardock slowly got back up, wondering what the fuck was going on. Then he remembered that this was the first of the four spirits that would visit him. Was he going to have to fight her?! She slowly approached him, a smile tugging at her lips as she put his hands around the masculine Saiyan. She was leaning in for a kiss, closing her eyes. Bardock found himself being drawn into it, almost pursing his lips until he tried to break out of whatever trance was coming over him.

As if she sensed this, she jerked her head back in a fit of anger. She began to yell at him, swearing like some kind of sailor as she came out in a burst of anger.

”Bardock, why weren't you there for us? We were all dying, and you were simply taking a nap?! What kind of leader are you!” Where was all of this coming from?! He couldn't have taken those elites on in the state he was in, out of energy from the Kanassa mission! Why did she want to blame him for something that was out of his control?

”Fasha, I couldn't help it! That elder was strong, and he wasted all my energy! If I would have come on that mission, I would have died too!” His tone had a hint of sadness in it, but it was mostly anger for her unjust blaming. It's not like he would have skipped over the mission if he had the chance. Suddenly, she tried to punch him in the face, and he caught her fist. She yelled out, somewhat like a banshee, and tried to punch him with her other fist. He caught that one as well, and his anger began to rise. He hated this situation, all he wanted to do now was run away. But this girl had to potential to kill him, and there was no way he could let his... love get in the way. He focused his energy into his mouth, a shining let emitting from his throat. Fasha was shocked that Bardock was actually about to try to kill her. Then he let his energy flow forward, hitting her face and eventually overwhelming her body entirely.

As her spiritual body turned to ash, Bardock fell to his knees. A faded voice came out of the astral realm, hitting Bardock's eardrums no matter where this person might be.

Love means nothing to you when strength is your main priority. Survival of the fittest is your motto, and you obviously live by that. Your Saiyan Pride will be tested in the next three candles, and we will see if we can mold you into a truly ruthless warrior. Leaving that voice to its own talking, he closed his eyes to take a small rest from that nerve-wracking experience.

Let's just hope no creatures are lurking in this realm.

He opened his eyes about a few minutes later. The realm was back to its original state, the candle was back in place and the tanned bricks were back on the walls like they were at one point. That horrible vision was finally over. What kind of sick training was this?! He was going to be forced to see the one that he once loved, the girl he had to abandon to save his race... The girl that he couldn't save because he was too weak to take on some flubbery little weaklings! Bardock punched the ground, slightly cracking it from the impact. How dare he be put through this kind of torture! No warrior should ever have to experience the stripping of emotions. Yet, he could love no more. No longer would he ever have a mate.

This pain was too much, even with all the injuries he sustained in battle. He slowly got back onto his knees, looking down at the ground. This was no time for him to give up. A Saiyan's resolve was even more powerful than his signature technique! He jumped back onto his feet and looked to the ceiling, full of energy once again. His aura began to crackle around him as it burst into a white pillar of pure destruction. He no longer cared about wasting a puny amount of energy on some damned light in this pit of darkness.

He just wanted to get the fuck out of there.

The slightly deterred Saiyan began to stir, walking forward to a wall. Why would he be doing such a thing when there was nowhere to go anymore? He put his palm onto the wall, closing his eyes to try and feel out the area behind. This piece of wall was somewhat different, feeling... empty on the other side. Bardock cocked his other fist back and slammed it into the bricks, causing a flurry of dust and debris to go flying in a cyclone of strength. Was Bardock's hand okay? That was answered as he let his aura burst once more, clearing the smoke to show him holding his hand and whistling. It was a pretty tough wall, after all.

He started to walk forward to get an idea of what the fuck was going on in the secret part of this maze. It was all the same, no light but his own aura, but the exact same wall of tanned bricks. The tedious nature of this area was really beginning to tick him off. He shrugged the annoying features of this room off and kept pressing on, seeing no way to go but forward for now. Though, in the back of his mind, he could hear some kind of groaning. Was someone dying in this place? From the experience he had so far, he wouldn't put it past one of those bags of useless organs to die before the first candle. That monster was pretty terrifying, to most. Wouldn't be the first time Bardock had to deal with some ugly sons of bitches. Reminded him of Dodoria, that pink doughboy that always kissed Frieza's feet like he was some kind of dog. He would have been useful for that rebellion!

The wall came faster than he thought, but he didn't run into it this time. His focus was sharp going through this maze, now that he knew the dangers of letting his guard down for even a second. That creature had a good advantage here, since he couldn't sense energy and his scouter was gone. His guard could not lower for even a moment, considering that he could turn into fire at any moment. As he looked to the wall, he saw that there was writing on it, scrawled in a black, dried up liquid.

Page Two.

Must have been a reminder to look at the book. He quickly got it off of his waist and opened it, turning to the second of many pages. He did wonder what the other pages held for him, but he stayed on the task at hand. Don't want to make a wrong move in a place like this, after all. He began to read, and his eyes slightly flinched at the words penned on this paper.

'Secrecy of Left, Middle, Right, Left. You were quite envious of his size. He wasn't like all the other Saiyans, he was bigger! Yet he was under your leadership! Why did you neglect him? Why did you let him die?'

Bardock was now angry at this book. Where did a mere object get off on insulting him?! He would have charged up an orb of energy and turned it to ash right there, but it held directions. At least this thing had some use. So, the first direction was Secrecy of Left. That didn't even make sense! What kind of direction would have to be secret? Then he thought back to the candle room, where he had to bust through a wall to reach this area. Maybe it was the same way! He looked over to the left of the wall, seeing another one as he spiked his aura for good lighting. He charged the energy into his left palm as he lifted it, pointing his arm to the wall. Grinding his teeth, he let a large beam of energy escape his body, detonating on impact with the wall and sending smoke everywhere. It was always a good feeling to fuck shit up.

He looked to the wall with an evil smirk, enjoying himself. After a small rest from the attack, he proceeded to go left and pursue the next goal. The second candle was going to be lit soon. The next direction was middle, which didn't make much sense since there was really no middle to these paths. After a few seconds, he spotted some text on the wall to his right. Midway to Death. Ah, so this was the middle of the path! He probably had to take down the walls and go right, like the other direction said. He closed his eyes as his aura burst out in all directions. His hair flowed upward as his energy rose to new heights, the veins by his temple showing through his skin. Now a yell came out of his mouth as the ground rumbled, as if he was telling the gods that he would pass their trials no matter the cost! He sent out a burst of energy in each direction, making the entire place explode.

As the dust settled, Bardock put his foot on a rock to assert his dominance. Sheesh, it was good to be king. Reveling in his destructive path, he laughed a little. A warrior like Bardock really got off on this stuff. Maybe he had to thank this presence for giving him more stuff to blow up! He jumped off of the stone and jumped over to the right path, speeding down the tanned walkway to get to the next candle. Then suddenly, a wall of flames appeared in front of him, stopping him in the middle of a leap. What the hell was this?! The creature he saw earlier jumped on him, her face splitting into four tentacles. Not this shit again!

His vision blurred off into a black and white world. He was in the middle of a field now, tall grass almost completely blocking out his vision. Bardock tried to walk forward, stepping on something sharp. What, why were there spikes here of all places? Then again, he had no idea where he was. He jumped up so he could get a good look from an eagle eye's view. He saw a small glimmering light in the distance, resembling the one he saw by the mansion. He was not going to be denied it this time, making this assured by spiking his aura and heading for the light at full speed. Yet, before he could even register what it was, he warped back into his own eyesight, seeing this beast once again. He couldn't even yell at the monster before it sped off in a flurry of singed ash.

He still didn't figure out why that thing needed to be like that, but the wall of flames died down, so he could keep going. Now that his aura was back up, he was on his guard once again. Maybe it was the destruction that got him off his game, he was getting too careless in such a dangerous place. Note to self: stay in one place when celebrating blowing things up. He kept going until he met the old fork in the road again. He remember that the last direction he had to take was the left, so he headed down the path. Before he could take a few paces, he saw some writing on the side of him. It told him to check out his book again, so he was ready to see what kinds of changes were made on the second page. Probably more blaming on his end.

'You liked the size of his muscles, you wanted that kind of figure. Yet did you ever wonder what kinds of problems that caused for him?! How much he wanted to kill himself over the fact that he was a freak?'

Why would he even feel that way... No, he couldn't blame himself for such thoughts. What warrior didn't want big muscles?! That asserted his dominance! Bardock ignored the book, putting it back on his waist as he pressed on to the final room. He saw a small candle on top of an assortment of bent bars, resembling the shape of a fist. Bardock put some energy into the tip of his index finger and put it to the candle, setting it ablaze.

This time, the prepared Saiyan managed to keep himself standing when the force hit him. The world around him was being torn apart as he made his travels. He was coming back to the astral realm, but only he knew what awaited him. A body rose from the ground in front of him, forming to a large, muscular man with low-grade Saiyan armor on and a black underwear like Fasha's.

This was Totepo, the powerhouse of the five of them. Bardock was still stronger in terms of strength, but Totepo was quite the intimidating person.

Bardock slowly walked over toward his gargantuan teammate until the large Saiyan tried to backhand him. The renegade quickly caught his hand, knowing that he would be hostile for all the wrong reasons.

”Totepo, you need to listen to me...” he began to say in a fairly depressed tone. He was not happy to see his comrade, since it had to be on these terms. He tried to hold the hand back, but it was slowly becoming stronger. Totepo was focusing actual energy into his hand, as if he wanted to kill him on contact.

”I have nothing to say to you, traitor.” The ways those words left his lips stung Bardock in a new way. Why did Totepo feel like a freak for his size? Then Bardock realized it. Size was not the only thing that truly mattered in a battle. That backhand, coming from a man of his strength and a smaller size, would have probably hit him given the right speed. Such a large frame didn't give him much speed, of which Bardock had both. Maybe he felt that way because he was so different from the other Saiyans.

The hand left Bardock's grip, and Totepo walked over to the side away from his comrade. He gave off a small smile as he put his index finger to his temple. He gave off a small laugh as Bardock jumped out at him to try and stop what he was doing. But it was too late.

The beam went right through Totepo's head, killing him instantly.

Bardock froze in pure shock, watching as his giant Saiyan comrade slowly fell to the ground, a stream of blood oozing out of his head as he made his descent. The Saiyan couldn't even breathe until the body made a sickening thump onto the ground. Quickly, his strength returned to him, taking in what the hell just happened. This was a new form of torture, watching your men die at their own hands. Only the weakest of people could do such a thing! Totepo, of all people, had a strong will. None of this made sense!

As Bardock tried to piece this whole situation together, the room began to reform from the astral realm, allowing him to come back to the Earth. If you could even call this place part of the peaceful planet he tread upon once. When the room came back, he began to walk away from the candle, which lit the room instead of his aura. That candle had the very same fire, the very same will as Totepo once did. Out of anger, he stretched out his palm and sent an invisible packet of energy at the candle, blowing it out and returning the room to the nestling grasp of darkness. Though, the flood of pure black space did not last long as a pillar of white light emitted from Bardock's figure. His eyes were somewhat different, holding a depth of true pain, yet prideful.

He saw an entrance to the side of the candle, and entered it to see what the next walls would hold. No longer did he curse the plain texture of the walls. Now he was thinking more about the fact that these walls held signs for him to follow. How he wished that he could escape this rotten piece of hell, or at least keep the plain walls going on forever. No, he was never granted anything he wished. Not the walls. Not the rebellion against Frieza.

Not his comrades.

And another fucking sign came along at the perfect time, when he cursed their very existance. He went ahead and read the text, scrawled in the same blood as before. Did these guys just have an unlimited supply of this shit, or did they cut themselves like some kind of depressed maniac? No... That was how Totepo was when he met his astral form. He could not think about such things at a time like this. Like all others, it told him to look at the book once again, this time turning to the third page. Bardock did so, taking the book off of his waist and turning to Page Three, and this is what it had to say.

'Inside, Right, Window's View, The Blood. You thought that he needed to lay off the snacks. You always put him down for his weight, and he never got to show you how well he fought. Were you afraid of him becoming stronger?! Did you fear him?!'

Bardock was quite confused by this one. Who the hell on his tram did he have to fear? Then again, it did come down to only two of his teammates, so it wasn't all too hard to figure out whose weight they were talking about. But was he truly a good fighter?! Sure, he was a big guy for a Saiyan, but that didn't really take away from his battling skills! They all got to battle it out on their missions, fighting even the strongest of their opponents with ease.

He closed the book and put it back on his waist, attempting to follow the directions of the book once again, and even the first one was putting his brain through loops. What was he going to need to go inside? He couldn't think of any kind of structure within this building to enter, if you take away the many forks in the road. The only building he ever found in this world was in that black and white world the creature sent him to. Then he realized... Maybe the third candle is only reachable in that world!

Just as he seemed to figure it out, he was pounced upon by the creature, her face splitting into a star of tentacles. This time, though, the tactical Saiyan did not resist the grip of his new vision. He welcomed the idea, ready to go after the next goal. As planned, he ended up in the black and white world once again, with a large mansion in front of him.

Fuck yes... He jumped forward through the short grass to head for the door of the mansion, not even bothering to knock upon it as he kicked the door down. Like he really needed to waste his time on formalities when he didn't even know who lived in this world. Looking around, it looked somewhat like a fancy house for a Saiyan, with coffee tables and candles lit across the walls. It was obviously night time in this realm, considering that the moon was out. Weaklings always did need their sleep, after all. He let out a small laugh and started to go right, the next direction that the book stated.

It didn't take too long for more writing to appear on the wall to his left, moonlight peeking out the right through its array of windows. Apparently the owner liked the moon's light to come in at all times, since the curtains were not closed. Perhaps he was a Saiyan and wanted to get to Blutz Waves as soon as he could, given there was a full moon out. He looked over to the writing. 'Follow your gaze as your destiny becomes fulfilled. To your right.' Bardock looked over to the right, and saw something crazy. At first, he thought that this was a moon of pure red. A bloodied moon was something you didn't see every day. Then, once he got a closer look, he saw it.

This was Planet Vegeta.

What was his home planet doing so close to Earth like that?! And it was only getting closer, as if... it was on a collision course with this place. The last direction was 'The Blood'... He was going to have to try and stop this thing! Bardock let his aura burst out around him, flying out of the window with great power. Looking over to his home planet, he charged up some energy in his hand, causing it to glow with a radiating white hue.

”Everything!” He quickly declared, sending his palm forward and shooting a large beam of energy out at the planet. As it made contact, he instantly felt the pressure of holding this hunk of rock back with only one hand. He put his other hand into the attack, intensifying the energy within the beam. As it grew larger, the planet seemed to grow stronger, yet slow down a bit. It was working, but only a bit. The struggling Saiyan's forehead began to sweat, yelling out to the gods to give him strength as he used the beam to hold Vegeta back.

Then his beam completely dematerialized.

Out of breath, Bardock tried to catch his bearings by landing on the ground. In the middle of all his huffing and puffing, he didn't even notice that this fucking planet was still coming at him! But there was nothing he could now. He was going to be left to die, just like he did to them.

Just like his crew.

Just as the planet was about to make impact, his vision returned to him, being greeted with the smell of burnt ash. The creature must have disappeared, but this place was different than the place he left. This place... had the third candle in it! He walked over to it, seeing that the metal bar was in the shape of an oval. Oh, how fucking original. Bardock sent out a small orb of energy at the candle, lighting this thing. Then the realm began to tear itself apart once again, ready for challenge number three.

The streams of light that emitted from the sky twirled around a certain area on the ground, forming a large body with low grade Saiyan Armor and another one of those black thong-like bottoms that Saiyans were so fond of.

This one... was Panboukin.

Bardock didn't even bother trying to console this one. These fuckers were all spirit forms of his comrades, or what he once thought were his comrades. Panboukin looked over to him, as if on cue, and walked over to him very slowly.

”Well, if it isn't Bardy. How you been, traitor?! It's been a while since ya fucked around about my weight, so why don't ya take a shot while I kick your ass.” At first, his tone was quite comical, but it grew cynical as he made it to the end of his sentence. And he wasn't exactly kidding around as he disappeared, trying to send a punch right into Bardock's nose. He quickly caught the man's fist, but he found that it was more difficult to defend than the others. This guy was the real deal. But Bardock was not going to give this spirit the satisfaction of one-upping him, so he did the usual Saiyan trick.

Gloating.

”Well, hell. I should probably stop bagging you about your weight. It's obviously more of a problem, since you can't even throw a decent punch!” With that, Bardock sent his knee into Panboukin's face, sending his body backward into the ground. The renegade actually found himself happy to do this. He was slowly learning not to care whether they were comrade or enemy... But whatever imposed on finishing his tasks and fulfilling his dreams. All opponents were going to be killed, no matter the cost.

Panboukin got back up, but he didn't last long as Bardock grabbed both of his wrists and pressed his boots onto the obese Saiyan's chest. ”Ran out of luck, did you?!” His tone was a crazy kind of cynical, as if he was ready to kill. Panboukin's expression morphed into one of pure fear... up until his arms were torn off. In a cyclone of blood and screams, Bardock got Panboukin onto the ground with a single boot on top of his body. Now Bardock grinding his teeth together.

”Once a disgrace...” he began, slamming his boot into Panboukin's head and the blood flying upward. The sickening crack of his skull was like music to his ears. Slowly did the life of his so-called friend drain from his body, and he faded back into the astral realm.

”Always a disgrace.”

As the world began to reconstruct around him for what would be the third time, Bardock wasn't feeling any remorse for finishing off his teammate. If anything... he enjoyed it, to the point where he was laughing about the concept of it. But he knew that since he went through the other three, this final one was easy enough to predict. Even his future sight was not needed to know that he came after this journey.

Bardock found that no entrances were formed this time, but the wall was there still. Look to Page 4. It was odd for it to come right after the candle's task, but he shrugged it off and got the book off his waist, turning it to the fourth page to see what was in store for him. He slowly shook his head and closed his eyes for a moment, then reopened them to see if he wasn't having illusions.

Fall. You will learn the pain of your comrades.

Bardock heard a clicking noise by the candle's pedestal, watching it whir into the ground and be replaced with a large coffin-like structure. Did they expect him to crawl inside that thing? He sighed, figuring that is what they meant by him falling. He used a bit of his strength to get the lid off of the coffin and jump inside, closing it behind him. He closed his eyes for a moment, awaiting any kind of surprise... Yet, nothing happened to him. Maybe this was the final piece, to just have the bravery to face death. It wouldn't be the first time he's done it, but he tried to get out of the coffin.

It was sealed shut.

He tried punching it, but it wouldn't even budge. Quickly, his vision was beginning to blur. It was like he was being thrown back in time. His vision came to a dark, red place. The floor was covered in dead bodies on some type of Xeno. Sprinkled on it were four Saiyan warriors that fought the Xenos, and a group of Elite soldiers, valiantly. It was his team, from when he was a soldier under Frieza's rule.

This was the day he lost his comrades on Planet Meat.

He walked around, seeing that Fasha, Totepo, and Panboukin were already slaughtered. Yet, one was still kicking, giving off a small cough just within hearing. Bardock turned around and jumped over to this man, picking his head up slightly.

It was Toma, his blood brother in war, and second-in-command of the team.

”Toma, speak to me...” It was like he was trying to plea with the gods to let him live this time, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. Reality was reality, and like it or not... He was going to watch his friend die once more right before his eyes.

”Bardock... Sorry... Frieza and his men ambushed us. We tried to take them on, but they were too strong! I... don't think I'm gonna make it.” Bardock already knew that it was over for him, he was suffering and losing too much blood. There was only one thing he could do. He grabbed onto Toma's chin and the top of his head. He gave them both a good twist...

And his neck snapped, ending his life.

His suffering was over, and apparently so was this part of the vision as Toma faded into the darkness. Now he was back in the black and white world, seeing the shining object again. He slowly walked over to it, but there was no one stopping him. Nothing was fading, everything seemed to make sense. The purpose of this training was to realize that his comrades were not the best in the world, but that Bardock was not a perfect warrior. He needed to realize that, and overcome his shortcomings. He needed to watch his comrades die right in front of him to take in the true weight of their sacrifice.

His emotions were being stripped from his body so he would be relentless in battle.

As he finally got to see the gleaming object, there was something else beside it. It was a small red headband... The same one that contained the blood of all of his comrades. The object that was shining in the moonlight was a premium scouter, the same green one that he wore before it was destroyed. Then, suddenly, a voice began to speak to him out of nowhere.

'The scouter represents your loyalty. You served Frieza for years as a soldier, as a simple mercenary. Yet, this scouter told you what your opponents could do, treated it like you were a real fighter and not some slave. This scouter would represent your peace of mind.

The headband represents the bond you shared with your comrades. Through thick and thin, low class and elite, you and your ream managed to overcome the odds. This headband represents what you've done throughout your life. It holds the memories of your comrades and what they've done for you. Can you share the burden, now that you know their real stories?'

Bardock picked both of the items up. One would give him peace of mind for the rest of his life. He could finally relax. The other let him keep the corrupted stories of his team, the hidden stories and their adventures in the army. He stared at both of the items with great focus.

Kami and Popo were shocked as Bardock appeared in front of them. He was looking down at the ground, as if he was broken.

”Bardock... Are you ready for your final task?”

With a small tear in the corner of his eye, he looked up to Kami, donning the blood-stained bandana.

”Let's go.” Peace was boring as shit anyway.