[PS] Barracks

[Raditzu]

"Ladies and gentlemen!" A voice boomed through the barracks. Many of the contestants had already gathered. "Boys and girls!" Some of the voices hushed, but many continued their business, be it talking to other conetestants or mentally preparing themselves for the trial they were about to face. "Children of all ages! Dante's Abyss is proud to present..." many hushed at this point, assuming some tournament official would be speaking. "None other than the long-haired wonder himself..." the quiet was immediatly distrupted by a chorus of groans. "Rrrrrrrrrraditzu!"

Bursting from the door to the barracks came the long-haired saiyan, bearing a smirk that only he could manage. A few of the other combatants were interested to get a first-hand glimpse of last year's champion, and a few more were content to throw empty food containers or shoes at him; the latter were incinerated by a flourish of precise ki blasts. Though the bow that followed was not accompanied by an eruption of cheers and appluase. Rad was suddenly very sad that the pre-show had been concluded.

"Now this is a lil' wierd..." Rad commented to no one in particular. "S'first time I haven't had a mob following me around." A rumble in his stomach pre-empted his next thought. "Ugh... I'm going to have to go get my own food!"

With a shake of his head, Raditzu preceded down the aisle of bunks. The commotion in the barracks, combined with the electric tension in the air brought a wave of nostalgia sweeping over the saiyan warrior. It had been at least a decade since he had last participated in a real military operation, but at that exact moment there was no difference between the then and the now. Needless to say, it was something of a buzzkill.

The metal floor of the barracks slowly melted into the soft soil of a rain-drenched plateau. The murmur of contestants faded to the soft patter of rain puncuated by the all-encompassing boom of thunder and the jarring crack of thunder. At the other end of the plateau, where Rad's bunk sat in the barracks, stood a younger version of the long-haired warrior. The younger Raditzu's hair flowed freely in the wind, free from a burden it would not come to understand until many years later. Young Raditzu was not alone. Kneeling down, her throat caught in the vice-like grip of the long-haired soldier, was another saiyan. Her tail, heavy with rain water, hung limply from her waist: a clear sign. Though her body was still able, she had been broken. She would not be a threat... to anyone... ever again.

With a grunt of force, the young Rad hefted the woman into the air and after a sickening crack, let her fall back to the ground. With a sneer of disdain, Rad spit upon the corpse before turning and dashing off. The older Raditzu knew where he was going, and knew what would happen. This was a scene he had replayed in his mind many, many times. It was ironic that he should be reliving it now, of all times. The similarities to the situation now and then were uncanny, though Raditzu had never seen it until that very moment. With a long sigh, he finished approaching the scene and flopped onto the corpse of the woman.

Like turning on a light in the middle of the night, Raditzu felt blinded as he snapped back to the present. There was no storm, the scent of blood no longer filled the air, and he wasn't sitting on the corpse of a freshly dead woman. As the shock of his mental transition wore off, Raditzu more closely took in his surroundings and started to mentally steel himself for the main tournament.

With a casual swipe of his hand, Rad grabbed up his bag of provisions and poked around it. He cocked an eyebrow at the weapon contained within and let a smirk display across his features for the briefest of moments. He sinched the bag back up and tossed it to the side, having removed only one item. With a careful, practiced motion, Raditzu flicked his hair back and fastened a scouter to his left ear. As he did so, a small grin appeared. Having already turned in the items he had been carrying, the life-long soldier had been filling quite naked without the familiar green tint of a scouter coloring half his vision.

"So..." the saiyan wondered aloud, "when can I start killing things?"