Bardock placed his son in Vegeta's room on the ship and hurried back to the cockpit. He was keeping an eye on the sensors as he waited for Vegeta and Gohan to hurry up. The older man set up the shields on the ship, and went back to look in on Goku.
He came in, and immediately his eyes fell on the collar that was still around the beta's throat. The alpha growled in anger as he quickly broke the metal without causing further harm to his son and threw the pieces into the hall. Once that monstrosity was gone, Bardock gently turned his son on his side and set about tending to the wounds the submissive had gotten as best he could.
As he worked down the sleeping form, the dominant make careful note of every mark, bruise, and scar on his youngest son. When he got to the other's tail, Bardock started in horror. Seeing all that damage, and the ring at the base of the limb had him growling in rage. With how swollen the tail looked, the ring appeared to be cutting into the limb, and if it wasn't removed, there was a serious probability that Goku could loose his tail again. It looked like that was his most serious wound at the moment and something Bardock could actually deal with quickly.
As soon as his hand touched the ring and the fur around it, the submissive woke up in a panic. He whined out of fear as he tried to scramble backwards away from those hands near his tail as he twisted to put the shattered limb under him. He was so frightened that he still couldn't tell who he was with.
"Kakarot!" Bardock shouted his name as he grabbed the trembling arms to keep the younger saiyan from falling off the bed. As soon as he touched Goku, the submissive panicked more, and whined again as he tried to get free. Bardock could barely feel the panicked blows of his son as he weakly thrashed. Between what ever they drugged him with and that damn ring cutting into his tail, the older male wasn't surprised. "It's me! You're safe now. It's alright,son."
Hearing the concerned voice of his father made the beta freeze, and he looked up at his mirror image with silent sobs wracking his frame. Bardock was relieved to see awareness in his son's eyes instead of his former vacant stare, even if it was clouded with panic and terror. Once it finally sank in that he was with Bardock, Goku launched himself at his father to bury his face in his sire's neck. He held tight to the alpha's neck as his shoulders shook with the force of his emotional release.
Bardock brought his arms up to hold the traumatized beta and to help calm him. Goku whimpered and tried to curl as small as he could in his father's arms, flinching every time Bardock's hands touched a new place on his back and shoulders.
"Its alright, son, I'm here. I've got you." He felt his heart break at how small his son had gotten. Kakarot felt almost fragile in his arms now. The beta was always a little smaller than him, especially after Vegito's birth, but this was so much worse. He purred and tucked his son's head under his chin just holding him while Goku cried from the overwhelming emotions. "Its over, we're gonna get you home now."
When his tail came up to brush at Goku's back comfortingly he didn't expect his son to flinch harder and whine or jerk away when he tried to massage his scalp like he had so many times when Kakarot was upset. He wanted to rip Shiveria's spine out and strangle her with it. He noticed his son's tail was limp aside from a few twitches that had him whimpering in pain with each movement. He needed to take care of that now.
"Kakarot, I need to take care of your tail." He said softly. Bardock wasn't surprised when Kakarot whined shaking his head and tried to shrink even smaller. He didn't particularly want to cause his hurt son any more pain but there wasn't another way to get the ring off.
"I know, son." He soothed as he held the beta tighter. "But I need to get that ring off before it makes you lose your tail again. It's going to be ok. I promise I'll be as gentle as I can." He felt relief as Kakarot nodded and allowed himself to be shifted a bit so Bardock could reach his tail, but he refused to let go of his sire and latched onto the straps of his father's armor so the man could see what he was doing. Bardock felt Goku's whole body tense as he touched the silver ring while his son whined and gripped him tighter.
"Shh, it's alright." He crooned feeling for a good place to grip the metal without hurting his son more than he had to. Not finding anything he gripped it on both sides and quickly ripped it in two. He felt Goku instantly relax and give a sigh of relief as he nuzzled into his father's shoulder. Bardock relaxed and gave Tarro a silent prayer of thanks when there was no blood or sign of infection under the tail ring as he purred and scratched at Goku's scalp, glad his son only lightly flinched at his touch.
"That must feel better." Goku nodded as he started to drift off again as his emotions and relief to his tail drained him. Bardock felt slightly concerned when his son still didn't say anything to him but considering how overwhelmed his son was Bardock wasn't very surprised with what he knew about trauma. Gine never spoke much when overly upset either and Kalious only knew what his son had been through. Kakarot's grip started to loosen as the tension left and his emotions exhausted him.
"You can sleep, son, you're safe here." He gently eased Goku from his lap and onto the bed, smiling as his son contently nuzzled Vegeta's pillow to breathe in more of his mate's calming scent before he covered Goku with a blanket and continued to scratch his scalp while purring. Bardock hoped that the swelling in Kakarot's tail would go down and they could fix the worst of the damage. He vowed that he wouldn't let anything else hurt his son.
A loud rumble shook the ship and Bardock jumped up and ran for the door. Seeing his son was asleep he sealed the doors to the bedroom and made his way to the cockpit and view screens. He paled looking at the view screen as the shields repelled another blast. Shiveria was standing outside the ship with a smug look on her face.
"I think you have something that belongs to me."
The alpha snarled as he looked at the shields. They were being drained rapidly with repelling the frost demon's attacks, and they wouldn't last too much longer. Once again Bardock cursed at his inability to sense ki. He had no idea where Vegeta and Gohan were, but it looks like he was going to have to stall for time.
'Although...if I end up killing her, then it's Vegeta's own fault.' Bardock gave a fanged grin as he walked over to open the hatch. His eyes landed on the pieces of the collar that had been around Goku's neck, and he scooped them up on his way.
Shiveria stopped firing once the door landed on the floor of the cargo bay. She crossed her arms as a slender eyebrow lifted when she saw an almost exact copy of her pet come strolling out of the smaller ship.
The saiyan stopped just before the shields and gave the petite woman a smirk.
"You're right. I do have something that belongs to you. You're welcome to have it back." Bardock quickly flung the broken collar to Shiveria, and the metal clanged as it stopped at her feet. "I apologize if it's broken, but I didn't have the key to unlock it."
"I'm here for more than that, monkey." Purple eyes narrowed at Bardock. Shiveria slowly uncrossed her arms and allowed them to hang loose at her sides. "Are you going to stand aside or get in my way? Either choice will lead to me reclaiming my pet."
"You are never going to get him back." Bardock's face twisted into a snarl as he powered up to SSJ2. He slipped into one of his fighting stances with his legs bent and his hands clenched into fists at chest level. His teal eyes glared at the woman as his golden ki wrapped around his body.
The two stared down at each other waiting for someone to make a move. The room was filled with tension that exploded when something fell to the ground making a noise.
Bardock pushed off the ground, and rushed towards the ice blue haired female. His left arm was reared back for a punch that Shiveria ducked under. The look of surprise that flashed over the saiyan's face didn't last long as he brought up his right arm. He caught a kick with his forearm, and he gritted his teeth at the force behind the blow.
Shiveria smirked as she spun in the air before Bardock to bring her other leg up to catch him on the head. Bardock dropped his arm as he leaned back making her just barely miss his face. He followed the momentum of his body and back flipped a couple of times to put space between them.
Bardock shifted his head to the side to avoid the spear like thrust of her incredibly long tail. With a grin he shot forward and planted a punch in Shiveria's stomach that threw her back further away from the ship. Both phased out of view and collided again trading several blows without actually landing any significant hits until Shiveria spun around behind the alpha. Bardock shouted in pain as her tail scored into his back drawing blood and sent him crashing into the floor. He recovered quick enough as he felt at the wound and growled finding blood.
He clenched his fists and rush at the woman again only to phase out. Shiveria blinked and quickly turned to around to block the attack that was sure to come only to catch the saiyan too late. Bardock slammed a fist into her cheek as he sped past her.
Shiveria's body twisted as she went sailing through the air, and a dent formed in the metal along the wall as that petite body slammed into it. Bardock's feet just barley skimmed the floor as he followed his opponent's path.
The frost demon pulled herself out of the small crater with growl, and she glared through her bangs at the saiyan. She hurried to meet Bardock half way, and their fists met with tremendous force causing the ship around them to groan at the strain of their combined power.
They both locked hands as they pushed against each other. Bardock snarled and let his power flare shooting out at Shiveria with blue lightening. The saiyan roared and slammed his head into the ice demon's. Shiveria reeled back dodging his next blow, before sweeping his legs with her tail and wrapping the limb tightly against his ankle and slamming him face down into the ground.
Thinking that would keep the saiyan from interfering when he didn't immediately get back on his feet, Shiveria started to walk back over to the ship. She could see that the shields keeping her out were so weak that one more good-sized ki blast would do the trick.
Her arm was extended out with a purple ki orb slowly growing bigger as Shiveria calculated at what strength the blast should be.
"This is a lot of trouble for one pet..." The ice blue haired female muttered to herself. "But...he could be useful and provide me with three more pets. I'm sure his wellbeing will keep the others in line."
"Where do you think you're going?" A rough voice came from behind the woman just as a set of hands got ahold of her tail. Bardock snarled at her. "Like hell I'm going to let you anywhere near my son!"
He pulled on that thin tail, and after Shiveria tried to keep her footing, the petite woman was swung off her feet. The alpha started to turn on his heel, as he held tight. His momentum got faster and faster until with a shout, Bardock released the frost demon sending her flying into a wall on the opposite side of the hold.
His victory was short lived as Shiveria rushed back at him and dug her elbow in his side. The saiyan let out a shout as his body was flung into a wall. His face was furrowed in pain as he fell back to the floor. He panted as he pushed himself on his hands and knees. A shadow fell over Bardock, and he snarled as he looked up to see the frost demon sneering down at him.
"You must be where your son got that infuriating stubbornness." She said examining her nails. "I've enjoyed beating it out of him."
"I can see how well that worked out for you." Bardock growled with a smirk. "You must have been dumb enough to wake him up judging by that scar of yours."
The dominant hauled himself back on his feet and took another stance. He could feel the SS2 form burning through his energy reserves faster than he felt comfortable with and worry started to grow in the back of his mind.
'I can't keep this transformation up for much longer. Dear Kalious...where are Vegeta and Gohan?!' Bardock narrowed his eyes. He kicked off the floor and met Shiveria in another round of blows that hardly inflicted damage on the two fighters. As they fought, they started to subconsciously rise in the air for more leverage.
The battle was at a stalemate until Bardock faked a punch only to bring his knee up to slam it in Shiveria's chin. The hit dazed her just long enough for the saiyan to clasp his hands together to form a fist and bring it down on the woman's head.
The teal colored female crashed into the floor making metal buckle around her as it formed a depression around her body. Dust blocked Bardock's view of her, and he slowly floated back down. He cautiously walked over to try and see if his last strike knocked her out.
Unfortunately, the frost demon wasn't as affected as he would like, and something rushed out of the smoke aimed for the saiyan. Shiveria wrapped her tail tight around the alpha's throat, and she let out a cold laugh as she started to squeeze. Bardock let out a choked cough as he pulled on the tail blocking his airway.
"How long will it take for me to squeeze the life out of you, saiyan?" The frost demon casually asked as her grip tightened once more. "I wonder if your pelt will remain blond after you die...I could make a beautiful scarf out of it."
Black spots began to dot Bardock's vision as he tried to push his fingers between that tail and his throat. Seeing as there wasn't any room, an idea struck the saiyan out of desperation. He placed both hands on the teal length and got a firm grip.
Just as Shiveria started to look confused, the saiyan charged ki to his hands and severely burned her flesh. The ki traveled up her tail like electricity scorching the flesh as it came closer to her body. The woman let out a shriek as she quickly pulled away from Bardock who collapsed on his knees panting as struggling not to let his transformation die. 'I am definitely going to be training with the others in holding this form longer.' He opened one to glare at Shiveria as she held her tail.
Most of the limb was either red or black with small patches of teal scattered along the tail. The marks ended just about six inches from where the tail met the rest of her body, and the sight made Bardock smirk.
"You bastard! How could you do this to my beautiful tail?!" Shiveria glared at the saiyan with a hateful expression twisted on her face. Her words only made Bardock chuckle, and that infuriated her even more.
"Maybe that will teach you not to swing it around during a fight. Personally I find it to be an improvement, now it matches your awful personality." Bardock taunted. "Consider the favor returned from my son."
The ice blue haired woman let out another shriek as she rushed over to the saiyan with blue and black energy crackling over her hands. She clamped them down on either side of the alpha's head and pushed the ki into his body.
"If that's how you want to play fine." She spat in fury. "Let's see how you like getting cooked from the inside out!"
Bardock screamed as energy coursed through his body. It felt like his insides were going to melt if he didn't get free of her hold soon. His hands came up to pull her arms away, but he couldn't get his hands to grip her wrists to do so as his muscles seized on him.
Shiveria laughed at seeing the larger man on his knees clawing at her arms to get free. His screams were music to her ears.
"You don't scream near as pretty as your son did." She said slowing the flow of energy to savor his pain as a gleam of madness shown in her amethyst eyes. "You should have heard him when I crushed that ugly tail of his, and the flogging I gave him for this scar, it was glorious. I was going to keep the rest of you as pets as well, but I've changed my mind with you. I hope you enjoyed your last few minutes with your son monkey; you won't be seeing him ever again. Maybe I'll let him sleep on your pelt after I kill you."
A kick to her ribs sent her sailing through the air once more, and she twisted to get her feet under her. She glared at whoever interrupted her fun with Bardock only to stop short.
Vegeta was standing defensively in front of the downed saiyan with a snarl on his face. Gohan rushed to the older man that was now back in his normal state. Shiveria growled and shot a blast at the distracted teen. The teen looked up as Vegeta shot his own blast to intercept Shiveria's attack and they exploded.
"Your business is with me now." He growled as his tail thrashed behind him.
"If it isn't the little monkey prince." Shiveria said almost amused as her arms crossed over her chest while she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You've certainly grown since I saw you last. Do you miss your old master? Don't worry, I'm more than happy to take in any of Frieza's strays." Vegeta growled low enough that his body vibrated more than the sound was heard.
"I'm going to kill you, you sadistic bitch." The prince spat. "Just like I killed the goat and your pet lizard for what they did to Kakarot."