"HRRRAAAGH!" Bardock yelled out as he swung his fist at his son.
Zyleth swiftly ducked underneath his punch and countered, landing a powerful uppercut to Bardock's chin. Without missing a beat, Bardock grits his teeth and kicked his foot out towards Zyleth's chin as he flew back, knocking them both away from each other.
Gathering himself, Zyleth shakes his head and rubs his jaw, trying to alleviate some of the pain.
"Finally taking me seriously, you little brat?" Bardock asked with a smirk as he did the same.
"Ask me that again after I take off the weights, old man." Zyleth returns his smirk and charged at him with a fist aimed low.
Below the father and son duo were both Team Black and Team Bardock, watching the two spar as they waited to return to Planet Vegeta.
"Geez, those two never give it a rest, huh?" Tora asked with a wry smile.
Fasha's eyebrow twitched in annoyance as she watched the two landing hard blows on each other.
"The morons." She growled as she shook her head. "They took a major beating and they still won't take it easy."
"That beating was months ago. And don't forget, Zyleth won that battle. It was you all that took the beating." Vegeta said bluntly, his eyes closed and his arms crossed.
He suddenly felt a chill go up his spine that caused his eyes to open, but it was too late. Fasha had grabbed him by the shoulder with an angered expression.
"Huh? What was that you brat?" She asked, her voice shaking and her fist held up with the promise of violence.
Before Vegeta could ever utter a syllable in his defense, Fasha hit him so hard that his face had put a permanent indent into the training room floor.
Broly and Raditz jumped back in fear while Tora, Shugesh, and Borgos looked at her with cautious eyes. She turned her head towards the group of men, who all averted their gazes and acted as if nothing had happened.
Suddenly, the door opened and in came a Low-Class Saiyan.
"Excuse me, Sir Zyleth?" He called out.
Hearing his name, Zyleth and Bardock instantly stopped and everyone looked towards the newcomer.
"Yes?" Zyleth asked.
The Saiyan bowed his head towards the young Saiyan child before saying, "King Vegeta wishes to see you in the control room before we return home."
Zyleth's eyes narrow a bit before he descended to the ground with his usual uncaring demeanor.
"Tell him I'll be there shortly." He told the Saiyan.
The Low-Class Saiyan nodded his head and left the room, leaving the group confused.
"I'll never get used to that..." Bardock muttered, getting a nod from everyone there except Vegeta, who had finally managed to pry his head out of the floor.
Ever since the battle with Antauri, the other Saiyans have been treating Zyleth as if he was royalty. At first it was just the Elite Saiyans, to which Zyleth wrote off as them just being grateful for him saving their lives, but now it was almost everyone on the ship.
"Get used to it. It's only natural that they show the proper respect." Vegeta said, being very hard to take seriously when he had that massive bump on his head.
That was something else Zyleth had noticed.
Vegeta was acting very differently around him, almost as if he was being his hype man. He would've just ignored it, but it's been that way for three months and it's getting kind of unsettling.
"I better go see what he wants before he blows a gasket." Zyleth said before going to walk out, "Don't go anywhere, old man. This isn't over yet."
Bardock crossed his arms over his chest and scoffed at his son, "Keep talking, pipsqueak. You won't be so cocky when I break my foot up in your--"
Before Bardock could ever finish, Zyleth exited the training room, the door shutting promptly behind him.
---
[Zyleth's POV]
I enter the ship's control room and I saw King Vegeta staring out at the dark expanse of space through the viewport. Looking around, I see that no one else was around, which was strange.
"I assume I don't need to tell you why you're here?" He asked, his tone neither holding malice nor good will.
"You don't." I told him.
He goes silent for a moment before turning to face me with a blank expression.
"Tell me, Zyleth, do you think me a selfish King?" He asks, to which I raise an eyebrow.
The Hell was that question about?
Shrugging off my own surprise, I think of all the things he's done so far before giving him my honest opinion as respectfully as I could possibly make it.
"I think you're a man who will do anything to defend his family." I answered politely.
He raises an eyebrow back and he seems to catch on to my double meaning.
He'll do anything to protect his family, but his people are another matter entirely. If the entire Saiyan race were to go against him, I have no doubt in my mind that he would pull a Frieza and destroy the planet out of pure spite.
If anything, he's much worse than Frieza. At least Frieza offers his men a paycheck, health insurance, and some other benefits like your own planet as a reward for a job well done.
Shit, in the manga, Frieza doesn't even kill his own men! With King Vegeta, it's either do as he tells you or you die.
At this point, I don't even know who the tyrant is...
"I see." He says before turning his gaze back towards the viewport, seeing Planet Vegeta off in the distance, "We'll continue this discussion at a later date, as I'm sure you're eager for our return home. But don't misunderstand, Zyleth, you are in no way being let off the hook for the actions you took during the raid."
"Yes, sir." I nodded before walking out.
---
[General POV]
Zyleth left the control room and the Queen walked in a few minutes later. She walked up and stood beside her husband, an inquisitive gaze on her face.
"How was your discussion?" She asked.
"Infuriating." King Vegeta replied with a tired sigh.
Sela's face fell at the response, a rare expression of sympathy forming before she quickly shook it off.
"Why? What happened?" She asked.
"Nothing. And that's why it was infuriating." Vegeta said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "I've executed countless others for much less than what he's done, and yet I can't bring myself to hate the little urchin."
Hearing her husband's words, Sela's eyes widened with shock. That was not what she had expected to come out of her husband's mouth. In fact she was sure that he would never say anything like that ever.
"I can't put my damned finger on why..." He muttered softly.
"Maybe it's because, in a very small way, you actually like the boy. After all, how long has it been since someone had spoken to you in such a manner?" Sela asked.
"What the-- Don't be ridiculous! That brat is an insufferable, disrespectful wretch who needs to be taught some manners!" The King spouted off almost instantly, denying the accusation outright.
Sela smiled softly as she shook her head, "Then maybe you should be the one to teach him."
"As if! I'm not going to spend any more time in the presence of that urchin than I have to!" He exclaimed before muttering to himself, "Then again, I have no other options on how to discipline that brat... He'll just shrug off any punishment I deem fit..."
Sela wonders if he knows that he just implied that spending any time with him was a form of punishment.
"You could give him another team member." Sela suggested, to which he looked at her as if she grew a second head.
"Give him a reward for hitting a superior? What are you, an imbecile?" He asked, causing his wife's expression to devolve into one of anger.
"What did you say?" She asked, her eyes lit aflame with a righteous fury.
"Nothing." He said quickly.
She continued to stare at him with a vengeance, causing him to start sweating even though his face had looked nothing but calm.
Seeing this she finally relented, letting out an irritated sigh before saying, "For your information, it isn't as much of a reward as you might think."
"What do you mean?" The King asked.
"He has to put all his time into training someone new. Teaching them how to coordinate with the rest of his team while also building them up to reach the rest." She explained, "And what is a bigger challenge than working with children?"
The smirk that slowly crept onto the King's face had managed to send chills down Zyleth's back even though he was not even in the room anymore.
---
About an hour later, the fleet of ships had finally arrived and touched down on the familiar grounds of Planet Vegeta. Zyleth and the other Saiyans all disembarked from the ships and began walking towards their respective homes, finally feeling free after being confined in metal prisons for months.
There was no celebration of their return, as Saiyans by nature are not a sentimental race. Matter of fact, the only ones Zyleth has ever seen being openly compassionate with each other were his parents.
The only other couple he knew of was the King and Queen, and they look as if they were together mostly because of a sense of duty than actual companionship.
Probably an arranged marriage, or something of the like.
The only times Saiyans ever really show any sort of love or affection is when they have children, and even then it's a toss up on whether they actually care or they just do it because it's what's expected of them.
Sometimes they don't even give a damn about the kid.
"It feels so good to get out of that damn ship." Fasha said as she stretched her arms and back out.
"You're telling me. Any more time trapped with you lot and I was going to pull my hair out." Tora added with a satisfied groan.
"Do it. It'll probably make your hair look better." Zyleth told him as he walked with his eyes closed and his hands interlocked behind his head.
Tora's eye twitched in annoyance as he tried to punch Zyleth, but he just tilted his head and dodged out of the way without even looking.
"You're just mad because my hair's better looking than yours." Tora said with a prideful smile.
"On what planet?" Zyleth asked.
Tora again tried to punch Zyleth, this time throwing multiple punches, but he just couldn't land a punch even if his life were to depend on it.
"Enough! We have to hurry up and get home to your mother. Knowing her, she's probably going to squeeze the life out of you the both of you when you walk through the door, so be ready." Bardock said, looking at both of his children.
The two siblings looked at each other with knowing glances as a shiver ran up both of their spines.
---
After saying their goodbyes to their respective teams, Bardock, Zyleth, and Raditz all made their way home. Entering through the front door, the three expected to be greeted by an overly emotional Gine, but were left confused when she wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"Huh, that's weird..." Bardock muttered with a confused expression, "I told her we were returning today."
"Did you tell her what time?" Zyleth asked.
"I... don't know. I don't think so." His father replied with a small shrug.
"Maybe she just went out to do something then." Zyleth said, shrugging his own shoulders, "If she didn't know we were coming, she probably went out to do some chores or something, I don't know."
Bardock nodded at his son's reasoning before slumping down on the couch with a satisfied groan.
"Beds on the ship wore out your fragile back, old man?" Zyleth asked with a smirk.
"I don't know what you're smiling at. This is what your future looks like, kid." Bardock said as he pointed to himself.
"The future looks bleak... and depressing... and fat..." Zyleth said with a slightly disgusted face.
"Huh?! Who are you calling fat?!" Bardock yelled out.
"Got no come back for the bleak and depressing part, huh?" Zyleth asked, his face not blank.
Before Bardock could retort, a call came through on his Scouter, which caused him to groan in annoyance.
"Already?" He groaned, asking no one in particular before answering the call, "What?"
The voice of a loud, but familiar Saiyan woman sounded off in his Scouter. It was obviously the Queen. How was it obvious? Because Zyleth and Raditz could hear her clearly even though they were nearly twenty feet away from their father.
[WHERE ARE YOU?!]
Bardock jumped and instantly took off the Scouter, his ear ringing from the sudden loudness of the Queen's voice.
"What the hell?!" He exclaimed.
[GET TO THE MATERNITY WARD NOW!]
The call disconnected and the three male Saiyans looked at each other dumbfounded before Bardock and Zyleth finally pieced everything together.
""Fuck...""
---
[Zyleth's POV]
I pace back and forth in the waiting room as I waited for any word from anyone about the condition of my mother. It's been hours and no one had said a goddamn thing!
"Will you sit down?! You're making me anxious!" The Queen exclaimed.
"Bite me." I retorted, not slowing my pacing in the slightest.
The Queen's eye twitched in annoyance at my response and continued to sit there with an angered expression.
Everyone else was also here with us. Team Black, Team Bardock, Paragus...I don't know really know why some of them were here, but it's not like I'm mad about it.
"Zyleth, is mom going to be alright?" Raditz asked, Broly right there beside him wondering the same thing.
"Your mother will be fine, child." The Queen said as she looked at Raditz and Broly with a soft gaze.
"Not that we're bothered by your presence, Your Majesty, but what are you doing here?" Tora asked, confused as to why she's here.
Now that he mentioned it, yeah, why is she here? She's was somehow the first person here, and it was the maternity ward. There's no reason for anyone to be in the maternity ward if they're not-- Oooooh...
Right, I forgot Vegeta had a younger brother. Matter of fact, I think Vegeta himself forgot he had a younger brother in the anime's own canon.
What was his name again?
Tablet?
Marble?
"I-I happen to be good friends with Gine, so of course I would come." The Queen stammered as a rare blush brightened her cheeks.
The members of Team Bardock all looked at each other with skepticism before we were all suddenly pulled out of our thoughts.
"Hey." I heard the familiar voice of my father call out.
I turn towards the door and saw him standing in the doorway, his serious gaze shifting to a happy smile as he looked at Raditz and I. He motioned for us to follow and we did so, walking down a long hallway until we reached the door at the end.
"Make she to be really quiet." Our father says before opening the door.
Upon entering, we saw our mother hold a small child wrapped in a soft blue blanket. Noticing our presence, she smiles and waves us over.
"Come here." She whispered quietly.
We made our way over to her and gently climbed onto the bed. Getting a closer look, Raditz and I see our tiny little brother, his eyes closed and his breathing soft.
"He's sleeping." She said with a soft smile.
Hearing that it was a boy, Raditz looked at me with widened eyes. "You called it!" He said a little too excitedly.
The baby then started to cry, unhappy that his sleep was suddenly disturbed.
"Raditz!" Gine chastised softly before rocking the baby to try and calm him down.
Bardock slapped the back of Raditz's head lightly, causing him to let out a small "ouch" before rubbing the spot he was hit.
"Let me see him." I said to my mother, holding out my arms so she could hand me the baby.
She hesitated for a brief moment before handing him over to me.
I look down at my crying little brother and I start rocking him slowly as I whistle a calming melody. After a few seconds, his cries started to die down as he slowly drifted back to sleep.
I hear my mother's breath catch in her throat, and I look up at her to see that she was looking back at me with unshed tears in her eyes.
"You used to calm Raditz down the same way..." She whispered softly as she wiped her tears away.
A red tinge made its way onto my face as I looked away from her in embarrassment.
"It's not like I had a choice... He wouldn't stop crying otherwise..." I muttered.
"Hey!" Raditz exclaimed, quietly this time, a red tinge making its way onto his face as well.
That's right. If I'm going down, you're going down with me, you little shit.
Yes, when Raditz was born, I used to whistle to Raditz so that he would calm down. Apparently the Super Saiyan 4 theme is very good at calming down crying Saiyan children.
"Shh, enough you two. You're going to wake the baby." Gine said with an amused smile.
We quieted down and I looked at Raditz for a brief moment before handing him our little brother. He looked at me with shock for a brief moment before hesitantly reaching out to hold him.
"What's his name...?" Raditz asked as he held held him awkwardly.
Gine looked towards Bardock and he nodded back at her with a proud smile.
""Kakarot.""
---
Current Base Power Levels:
Zyleth - [78,000]
Bardock - [34,000]
Tora - [17,000]
Shugesh - [14,000]
Fasha - [13,000]
Borgos - [13,000]
Vegeta, Broly, and Raditz - [4,000]
Kakarot - [2]
[Word Count: 3,027.]