bt1
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"It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what
you are not." Andre Gide
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"We weep over the graves of infants and the little ones taken from us by
death; but an early grave may be the shortest way
to heaven." Tryon Edwards
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"To die will be an awfully big adventure." James Matthew Barrie
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Chapter One
Son Goku was dreaming. Something with soft wings fluttered against his cheek, and he brushed it away. The insect landed again; its prickly legs tickled his wrist. There's a butterfly in the bedroom, he thought, then drifted away again.
"Kakarotto, get up!" A young voice demanded.
Son`s eyes opened. Blue sky dotted by puffy white clouds filled his field of vision.
He sat up, his stiff, black hair full of sand. It slid down the back of his gi, making his skin
itch uncomfortably. He sat beside a lazy, little stream with a sandy bank, surrounded by
dense jungle on both sides. The heat was stifling; Son wiped beads of sweat from his
forehead with the back of his arm, smearing wet sand across his forehead.. Son stood,
looked around, concluded that he was somewhere he hadn't been before. He flew above
the canopy, and saw the steam running like a jagged scar though impossibly thick jungle; nothing but tree tops in every direction.
"Kakarotto, down here!" That voice again. He returned to the ground.
"Where are you?" He called, looking around.
"Over here, dummy. Wow! You got big." It came from behind Son. He turned
toward the sound and saw a little girl hung from a tree branch by her furry brown tail. She had long black hair, pulled out of her eyes with a piece of braided string. The girl couldn't
have been more than ten and was probably closer to seven. She touched his arm
tentatively, then drew her hand back. "You got really big." Her tail uncurled and she
dropped to the ground. She circled Son studied closely, then craned her neck, looking at his lower back.
Son knew she was looking for his missing tail. Well, nothing he could do about
that. "You're Saiya-jin... right?" The girl nodded; she walked behind him. Goku watched
her over his shoulder. "I've never met a girl Saiya-jin before."
She laughed softly. "There never was that many of us."
"Are you mean?" He said suddenly.
The girl looked him in the eyes. "What kind of question is that?"
Son shrugged. "I don`t know. I just wanted to know if you`re friendly or mean."
She laughed again, louder this time, but didn`t answer his question. " You look just
like Bardock. But don`t worry. I won't hold it against you."
"Who's Bardock?" Son asked, shifting nervously under her scrutiny.
The girl's smile faded. "You know who Bardock is."
"No I don`t." Son insisted pleasantly.
"Don`t joke like that, Kakarotto. It's not funny."
"I`m not joking," he said. "I hit my head really hard when I was a baby." Son
whacked the side of his head with his fist. He made his head teeter from side to side, and his eyes roll around in their sockets. "See? Like that."
"That's very undignified," she said, trying to sound reproachful, not sure if she
should be amused or angry, decided it was pointless and settled on amused.
"I can't remember anything before that." Son built on that thought. "Who are
you?"
"You really don`t remember?" She tried not to take it personally. It wasn't really
his fault, she knew that, but it was little consolation.
"No." The look on her face made Son think he'd done something wrong, but he
honestly didn`t know what.
"I`m Kyabetsu, the first daughter of Bardock and Komugi, youngest sister of Kyuuri and Raditsu, and the eldest sister of Kakarotto." She recited carefully, then bowed
deeply. "And if you don`t know who I am yet I`m going to be really mad."
Son contemplated the speech. "You're my big sister?" he ventured finally.
"Yep. That's me," she said, pleased.
"You can't be my big sister," Son said, checking his logic as he went. "Because
I`m grown up and you`re still little."
"That's because I was little when I died."
"Ah, you're dead then?"
"I am." She said.
"I get it," That made sense. "and this is one of the afterlives, right?"
"Yeah, Lower Heaven."
"Heaven, huh? I wouldn't think that many Saiya-jin went to Heaven." There was
no spite or meanness in Son`s tone. It was an honest statement.
"And you'd be right." Kyabetsu said unoffended. "Actually, there's only a handful
of adult Saiya-jin here, but a couple thousand of us off-world brats made it in. 'Age of reason' or some such thing" Kyabetsu smiled sweetly; her eyes remained hard, and they did not reflect the smile. "How could Enma-sama condemn a cute little face like mine to the fires of Hell?" She laughed, and it was not a happy laugh. "We, my crew and I, were `misguided youths.' Supposedly too young to know right from wrong, so we get to come here and he sent R--" She shook her head briefly, angrily. "No. We're not going to talk about that, I`m not even going to think about that."
"About what?"
"About nothing."
"Oh." There was an uncomfortable silence. "How many people have you killed?"
That, as usual, popped out before Son thought to think about it.
"I don`t know. Who keeps count?"
"I do." Son said. And he did. He knew exactly how many people he had killed.
Too many.
Kyabetsu thought for a second "Hmm, Yasashisei, that's the planet me and my
crew was sent to, was pretty small, even then we needed help with it. Half a million...
maybe a few more."
"That's a lot of people," Son said.
"Not really. The planet you where assigned, what was it called?"
"Earth."
"Yeah, that's it. I remember hearing it was densely populated?"
Son shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."
"How many members were in your crew?"
"My crew?"
"Most of the time low level babies were sent off-world in groups. Crews."
"I was by myself," Son answered. Most people would have wondered how the
Earth had managed to dodge an even bigger bullet than previously thought. Son didn`t
allow himself to be worried by such things. The Earth was fine.
"Really? And you managed to stay alive? Wow!" She said with admiration. "That
must have been tough."
"No, not really." Son said honestly. Things had gone all right for him, especially
considering.
"I`ll bet the rest of your crews` ships got caught in Bejiitasei explosion. We all
thought you were dead, until we died anyway."
"I guess." A thought struck Son, he reached above his head, feeling for the golden
halo that denoted both Heaven's and Hell's residents.
"You're still alive." Kyabetsu assured him.
"Then how did I get here?"
"That's pretty complicated... Do you know what the Three Realms are?"
Son shook his head. "Uh-uh."
"All right. There's a Living Realm, a Dead Realm, and a Dream Realm, and a
place where they all intersect - is that the right word?" Son didn`t know. "Umm... where
they cross over each other. You can kinda slip in there when your asleep, sometimes."
Son`s attention span, could be frustratingly short or doggedly long, depending on the
topic of discussion, ran out, he started fidgeting, looking around. "Kakarotto?" Son didn`t seem to hear her. "Kakarotto!"
"Yeah?" He said, not looking at her.
"Are you listening?"
"Yeah," Son lied.
"People there can move, or be moved into any of the Three Realms. Most of the
people in the Dead Realm keep half an eye on that place for living friends or relatives.
We use this technique. It lets you see a place without actually being there. It`s one of the
things they teach you after you die--the Heaven people anyway, the people in Hell aren't
allowed to learn anything new. You were there, I just had to pull you here. Get it?"
"Yeah." Son obviously had not gotten it and Kyabetsu had a feeling it would be a
complete waste of limited time to explain it again. He, like most Saiya-jin, clearly didn`t
care how something happened so long as it did happen. `Because' probably would have
been a sufficient answer.
"Is this what Bejiitasei looked like?" Son asked, still looking around.
"No, I never got to see Bejiitasei, this is Yasashisei, or a recreation anyway.
Bejiitasei was destroyed before my crew got back."
"You weren't on Bejiitasei when it blew up? Then how did you die?" Kyabetsu
paled slightly. "Oh, I guess you don`t want to talk about that. It's okay, dying isn't much
fun."
"You don`t have a clue." Actually, Son had a great deal of experience in that
particular field. "But it's not that... I just--for a second there I thought I`d forgotten. It's
been so long, it's all... fuzzy," Her face brightened a little. "I know! Lets go find Jagaimo.
He never forgets anything!"
"Who's Jagaimo?"
"Jagaimo`s part of the crew I was assigned to. He's pretty much worthless, but he's better company than most of the jerks around here. I`ll bet I know where
he is, too!" Kyabetsu started through the trees without looking to see if Son was following. Goku was used to the wilderness, he had lived in some of most obscure forest on earth most his life, but he had never seen such dense a jumble of vines and shrubs. An unholy number of them had nasty looking thorns. Although the thorns could never actually
scratch Son`s skin, they tried their best. His clothing kept getting caught on the them and
he had to stop to untangle himself. Kyabetsu waited impatiently for him to catch up.
"Hurry up, Kakarotto!"
"I`m coming. I`m coming!" Son gave up any hope of preserving his gi and forced
his way to Kyabetsu. She was already moving on, weaving between the vines naturally.
They went on like that for several minutes. After a few miles, the trees and creepers
relented - slightly. A dark form hunkered under the shadows, it took Son several seconds
to distinguish the shape for what it really was; a small cabin of sorts, with a slanted,
unshingled roof, and walls made of logs with the bark still clinging to them.
"Wait here." She left Son at the tree line and opened the door. "Hey, guys?"
"Kyabetsu, is that you?" A small voice answered her.
"Who else would it be. Where's Endomame?"
"He said he was hungry. I think he went looking for a minion."
Kyabetsu made a frustrated sound. "Did he say when he was getting back?"
"Does he ever?"
Kyabetsu let out a sigh that far surpassed her apparent age. She gestured for Son
to come over to her. Son, due to a culture gap light years wide, took the hand motion to
mean `stay put.' "Guess what? I found my brother."
"Raditsu?" Son heard something moving around inside the cabin, a set of eyes
peeked around the door frame. "Where?"
"No. The other one, Kakarotto." Kyabetsu jerked her thumb over her shoulder,
where she fully expected Son to be.
"Where?" He repeated.
Kyabetsu looked over her shoulder, Son wasn't there "Did he wake up already?"
Kyabetsu said, alarmed. Her eyes darted to the tree line. Son was standing there, watching
her. "For the Gods!" She waved Son over. "This is my little - " She looked up at
Son. "My younger brother, Kakarotto." That made even less sense, she thought to herself.
Son waved uncertainty at the deep, guarded eyes. A pale hand ventured out from
behind the door frame and returned Son`s greeting. "Get outta the way, Jagaimo. Come
on, Kakarotto!" Kyabetsu said, pushing her way inside, while dragging Son.
Son banged his head on the low door frame. "Ouch!" He said out of principle, his
voice raising an octave. Kyabetsu apparently found this hilarious; Son could hear her
laughing though the dark shadows that filled the shacks interior.
"He sure doesn't act like Raditsu," Jagaimo whispered into Kyabetsu`s ear.
"Don`t be stupid!" she hissed back.
Son had to hunch over to keep from knocking against the ceiling again. The cabin
consisted of one almost bare room. There were no windows; the only light came from a
smoke hole in the ceiling. There was a pile of ashes, remnants from a previous fire,
directly under it. Three beaten sets of armor occupied another corner, and three small
mental boxes were stacked beside them.
"Kakarotto isn't dead yet," Kyabetsu informed Jagaimo.
"I know. He doesn't have a yellow thingy." Jagaimo pointed to his own halo.
Kyabetsu pushed that theological observation aside. "You can remember all that
stuff, right, before we died?"
"That was a long time ago," Jagaimo said thoughtfully. "At least five years."
"It's been longer than that, Kakarotto here was only a baby back then." She turned
to Son. "How old are you Kakarotto?"
No one on Earth was exactly sure how old he was. Goku gave them Son Gohan best guess. "About forty-nine."
Kyabetsu forced air though her teeth and plopped down on the ground. "That's a
long time."
"Yeah," Jagaimo agreed. He dropped beside her, pulling his bony knees against
his chest. Goku followed their lead. "We were all born--"
"No kidding?" Kyabetsu said in mock surprise. "Don`t waste time, Kakarotto`s
gonna tell me what he`s been doing with himself afterward." Goku hadn't been aware of
that part of the deal, but it did seem fair. "Three of us low levels were sent to Yasashisei
to depopulate it when we were still bab-"
"That's wrong," Jagaimo said.
"What?"
"That's not right. Our crew started with five. Remember, Biitsu and Kabu."
"Oh yeah, The Twins."
"Right." He turned back to Son. "It took almost a year to get to the planet."
"It was way out in the sticks," Kyabetsu added.
"We separated. Endomame took one continent, Biitsu and Kabu took another and
Kyabetsu got the last one. Then we just hung out till the full moon came out." A devilish
grin covered the boy's face. "Those were great fights weren't they, Kyabetsu?" She
returned his grin. It made Goku sad, hearing talk like that, and from a child no less.
"We were all doing great for awhile." Was this his sister? Smiling that Saiya-jin
smile while she talked about killing people? "Then they figured out we needed the moon
and they blew it up. After that we were pretty much screwed. Biitsu and Kabu were in
battle at the time. They were killed. Those two don`t come around here very often
anymore. We sent messages saying we needed help to all our relatives, but `Ditsu was the
only one who answered. Gods, did he pitch a fit. But at least he bothered to come."
"Raditsu?" Goku asked uncertainly.
Jagaimo misunderstood Goku`s question. "Yeah, Kyabetsu`s brother, your`s too I
guess, but you know that."
"No, he doesn't," Kyabetsu explained. "He hit his head when he was little. He
can't remember anything about the Saiya-jin; Other than that, the brain damage doesn't
seem too bad." Yeah, right.
"Really? I mean you hear all kinds of horror stories about that - I always worried
about that happening to my little brother," Jagaimo said.
Son wiggled nervously, and shifted his eyes to the ground.
"Jagaimo," Kyabetsu said with false friendliness, in a `I`m just trying to help you
out' tone. "Do you remember what Raditsu said about you saying one thing too many?"
She didn`t give him a chance to answer. "Kakarotto doesn't need his memories to know
who he is." Kyabetsu scooted over till she was leaning against Son`s side, looking up
into his eyes, completely at ease. "Do you, Kakarotto?"
"Nope!" Son knew exactly who was. He had known long before Raditsu showed
up at Kame Beach.
"Anyway, it took Raditsu a while to get to Yasashisei. Jagaimo lift up your
shirt." He did so. There was a long scar running from his shoulder to lower chest. "He
managed to work up a pretty good infection in that--"
"Like I did it on purpose!"
Kyabetsu ignored Jagaimo`s protest "But Raditsu gave him some medicine and he
got better."
The color drained from Son`s face. "Shots?"
"What?" Jagaimo said.
"Did you have to get shots?"
"Huh? I don`t remember - I think they were pills. Why?"
"I don`t like shots."
Jagaimo starred at Son with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure about that brain
damage thing, Kyabetsu?"
Kyabetsu picked son`s hand up, studying the deep scars that ran along his
knuckles. "Forget it. It doesn't matter."
Jagaimo starred at the other Saiya-jin, vaguely confused by Kyabetsu`s strange
behavior. He shifted his eyes to Son. Jagaimo didn`t think he looked upset, or even
uncomfortable. Son caught his gaze. "What happened next?"
"We depopulated Yasashisei and left for Bejiitasei, but before we got back we got
a message that said Bejiitasei had been destroyed. `Lord Furiza' had, of course, raced to
Bejiitasei when he heard such great misfortune had befallen his allies." Jagaimo spit out
the side of his mouth. "And he was allowing any surviving Saiya-jin to regroup on his
ship. Prince Bejiita and Nappa were off-world at the time, and their ships had been
wrecked in the fighting. Raditsu was ordered to stop at one of Furiza`s bases, pick up two
new ships and take them there. We went on ahead - stupid impatient little kids. But no
one had any idea!"
"Not a clue." Kyabetsu agreed "Raditsu said to be careful around Furiza--not to do
or say anything that might make him mad, but he said that about a lot of people. Low
levels had to be very careful about who they mouthed off to."
"Everyone knew Furiza was paranoid, but King Bejiita thought the Saiya-jin could
stay on his good side. King Bejiita was an idiot... but you don`t even know who Furiza
is."
"Yes, he does." Kyabetsu said before Son could answer. "Bardock saw him
fighting Furiza. You're the one who killed that horned bastard; Aren't you Kakarotto?"
"Uh-uh. Trunks killed him." Son answered truthfully.
"Trunks?" Kyabetsu and Jagaimo said simultaneously.
"Yeah, Bejiita`s son." The word `Bejiita,' plus `son,' combined with the easy,
careless, `aren't we having nice weather today?,' tone of Son`s delivery, resulted in a
rapid-fire interrogation consisting of the obvious questions. It was impossible to answer
the bombardment. Kyabetsu and Jagaimo eventually realized this, and slowed their attack.
"How do you know Bejiita?"
"You said you were gonna tell me how you died first." Son said. He didn`t really
want to get into that; it was ancient history; almost forgotten and long ago forgiven.
"We landed on Furiza`s ship and his solders killed us right after we left our ships.
Killing three low level brats isn`t particularly difficult," Kyabetsu finished in one breath.
"Now tell us how you know the Prince!"
"I've know him for a while, he lives with Buruma - sometimes anyway - at
Capsule Corp."
"And where is Capsule Corp. and who is Buruma?" Jagaimo said.
"Well, Capsule Corp. is on Earth and Buruma`s one of my old friends, and
Bejiita`s wife. Sort of."
Kyabetsu was wading thought that muddle of apparent nonsense when they heard
someone approaching. Most animals and no human would have heard the soft foot falls,
but they were Saiya-jin.
Kyabetsu moved to the back of the cabin and Jagaimo scrambled for the corner by
the door.
"What-" Son began.
"Shut up and didn`t move!" Kyabetsu whispered. "He'll hear you!"
The footsteps had become slower, more cautious. The door swung opened, creacking lowly on its leather hinges, but there was no one behind it. Then something sprang from the brush and charged though the opened door. Kyabetsu went forward to meet the attacker. At the same time, Jagaimo pounced on the newcomer`s shoulders, and tried to help Kyabetsu pull him to the ground. It didn`t work. The new comer pulled Jagaimo off his neck and slammed him to the ground. Kyabetsu followed quickly. He pinned them to the ground, one hand between the shoulder blades of each opponent.
"I win," he said. "Big surprise. Give up?"
"Gi-" Jagaimo began.
"Shut up, Jagaimo!" Kyabetsu said. "Hey, Kakarotto! Little help?"
Son picked the boy up my his shirt collar. "What the hell?" He craned his neck,
trying to see who had him.
"You shouldn't pick on people who are weaker than you." Son said.
"I resent that." Kyabetsu said, returning to her feet. "We were just playing
anyway, Kakarotto."
It occurred to the boy that he could just slide out of his shirt. He did so, and took a
defensive stance in front of his crew. Son saw his arms, back and chest were covered with
scars similar to Jagaimo`s.
Endomame was much bigger than the other members of his crew. A nasty scar ran
from the top of his skull to his upper lip, broke than started again at his bottom lip and
down his chin. He stopped short when he saw Son. His face darken. "What the hell is
Bardock doing here?"
"He's not Bardock. Why would Bardock want to come here? How would Bardock come here? Hey," She said addressing Son. "What's two an two?"
"Four." Son answered quickly.
"See, he's much smarter than Bardock."
"But who is he?"
"My little brother."
"Your little brother?"
"Bite me."
Endomame accepted this as matter of course while talking to Kyabetsu. "What's
your name?"
"Son Goku." Goku said, without thinking.
"Son Goku?" Endomame repeated, looking to Kyabetsu for clarification.
Kyabetsu`s tail began to twitch. "Kakarotto?"
"Yeah?" Goku said.
"What's Son Goku?"
"Me," Goku said simply, making no effort to hide the facts.
"What?"
"My name is Son Goku. I don`t really mind being called Kakarotto." He added
helpfully. "But I've always been Goku."
Kyabetsu stared at Son with a mixture of confusion, anger and something
dangerously close to disdain. "Son Goku."
"Son Goku."
"That's really screwed up, Kakarotto." She laughed playfully, but it also carried a
cruel, mocking undertone.
"You're not mad at me?"
"Hell yeah, I`m mad. But if you're going to act like an idiot there's nothing I can do about it, is there?"
"No," Son said. "There isn't."
"All right, then shut up about it." Kyabetsu ran her finger along the scars that
graced Son`s battle-worn knuckles. "Looks like you got into some pretty respectable
fights, where have you been living?"
"Earth."
"You`re still on that backwoods rock? How long did it take you to depopulate it?"
"Depopulate?"
"You know, kill off all the natives."
He pulled his hand out of Kyabetsu`s. She looked up surprised and a little frightened. Son was going to straighten this out right now. "I have never purposely killed any innocent or helpless person and I don`t know how anyone could enjoy killing or even stand the guilt of all that blood on their ki." Kyabetsu glared back at her brother, emotions bouncing in-between shock and rage. Her tail lashed violently. Both refused to be stared down.
Jagaimo broke the silence. He said something in a language Goku had never heard
before. "Raditsu would've killed him for saying something like that." Endomame burst into laughter, Kyabetsu looked to Jagaimo, and cracked a smiled in spite of herself. Raditsu
had been great. Son wondered what they were talking about. Jagaimo addressed Kyabetsu
much more seriously. "Maybe you should cut him some slack, Kyabetsu. Other than
Bejiita he's the only one left, and he is your bro--"
She spit out the side of her mouth then said something nasty in the same alien
tongue. "I`ll tell you what he is. He's a damn traitor! He didn`t even do his planet. And
where's his tail? The people on that planet supposedly look like Saiya-jin without tails.
I`ll bet he's been pretending to be one of those miserable creatures!"
Jagaimo waited for her to finish, then replied at length. "So what? No one ever
came to take him home. There isn't a home anymore. He didn`t clear his planet. So what?
Maybe he'll come here instead of Hell. Just forget about it. What ever he`s been doing
Bejiita has been doing too, so it can't be bad. Right? Change the subject." He kept his
eyes in his lap and his voice low, so it seemed to Son that the boy was growling under his
breath rather than speaking. Kyabetsu said something back and Jagaimo shrugged.
"You got any brats?" Kyabetsu said, trying to turn the subject in a safer direction.
"Yeah!" Son said, happy to oblige "I've got two sons, Gohan and Goten." Son
said with pride. "You know what else? They`re both Super Saiya-jin, too."
"What?" Kyabetsu said, astounded by such a level of stupidity.
"Huh," Jagaimo said. "Are you saying your son is the Super Saiya-jin?"
"No, both of them," Son said. Endomame covered his mouth, the sound of his snickering could be hear escaping between his fingers. "We're all Super Saiya-jins. Bejiita says there was a garage sale on it."
"Kakarotto, what do you think a Super Saiya-jin is?" Jagaimo spoke to Son like
he was a young child. Goku picked up on this condescending tone immediately; anyone
smart enough to feed himself would have. It made Son angry.
"I know what a Super Saiya-jin is. I am one."
Endomame had quit laughing. "Bullshit," he said softly, but not so faintly that
Son couldn't hear him.
"The Super Saiya-jin isn't in our line Kakarotto," Kyabetsu made it clear she
thought he was making it up.
"And why would I lie about it?"
Jagaimo tried to circumvent the argument. "She didn`t mean you were lying
Kakarotto. Just maybe your a little confused."
"No," Kyabetsu said. "I meant he was lying."
"No, I`m not."
Kyabetsu jumped to her feet, tail thrashing. "I think you are!"
Son stood, fist chuckled, wondering how to get back to his house. "I`m not lying."
"Are too!"
Endomame starred at the show, faintly amused. "I`ve seen this before," he
said flatly to Jagaimo.
Jagaimo closed his eyes and massaged his temple like he had a head ache.
Endomame`s right, he thought. This was nothing new. Next, he knew Kyabetsu would
ether start pouting, (not crying of course, Saiya-jin never cried) a tactic manufactured to make her opponent uncomfortable and hopefully guilty, or she would hit her brother. If Kyabetsu choose the latter, and if this 'Goku' guy`s reactions were comparable to his older brother, he would; A) Hit back if he felt he had control; B) Simply laugh at Kyabetsu. Or if he was truly enraged he would; C) Disappear until his anger had cooled enough for him to be around Kyabetsu without killing her. Once, Jagaimo remembered, Raditsu had been gone so long there had been some doubt as to whether he was still alive. But Jagaimo didn`t think Goku`s reaction to Kyabetsu`s antics could really be compared to that of a normal Saiya Jin like Raditsu.
"You are!"
"Are not!"
Kyabetsu threw her arms up in frustration. "Idiot!"
Son hadn't intended to power up. He didn`t need to prove himself to anyone,
especial a murdering Saiya-jin. That Kyabetsu was his sister meant only he held her to a
higher standard than other Saiya-jin, Bejiita, for example. He changed into Super
Saiya-jin without pausing to contemplate the consequences. The shack filled with dust
from the dirt floor; it bought tears to the eyes of the younger-older Saiya-jin. Jagaimo and
Endomame, both sitting on the floor, began coughing violently. Kyabetsu stepped
backward, shielding her eyes from the bright, golden light Son was giving off. She
stumbled, and landed on the ground by Son`s feet. He stepped back, concerned her
comparably fragile form would be burned by the pure energy that surround him. Kyabetsu
looked up at Goku, concern and guilt now shown in his green eyes. Son forced the energy
down surveying the mess he`d made, hoping one was hurt; though when he thought about it that idea seemed rather absurd, considering the circumstances. (it was hard to hurt a dead person)
"Sorry `bout that. Everybody okay?" Feeling at fault for Kyabetsu`s tumble, he
offered her his hand. She contemplated the hand for a few seconds, then stood under her
own power. Son looked slightly put out and it occurred to Kyabetsu that he had meant to
help her up.
"It`s all right, Kakarotto, we're fine." She stared at him for a full minute. Then
without taking her eyes off Goku: "The Super Saiya-jin`s hair turns yellow, his eyes turn
green and his energy turns golden. Right?"
"Yeah," Jagaimo said. "That's what Raditsu said the Super Saiya-jin was
supposed to look like."
"Then Kakarotto`s the Super Saiya-jin?"
"Looks that way." Jagaimo responded
"Well," Kyabetsu said, struggling to think coherently. "That's pretty okay." She
turned to Son. "Kakarotto are you the Super Saiya-jin?"
Son fell over. "That's what I've been saying for the last ten minutes!"
"Where'd you find someone to train under on such a weak planet? Most vermin don`t even train, they just make guns and other dumb stuff," Kyabetsu said.
"I've trained under several great masters," Son said, singing their praises rather
than his own. "Muten Roshi-sensei, Kami-sama, and Kaio-sama."
"How'd you train under a Kaio?" Jagaimo asked. "I thought you where alive?"
"I was dead when I train with Kaio-sama."
"Kakarotto," Kyabetsu said. "I keep thinking, I say to my self, the next thing
Kakaroto says will make sense, but it doesn't. It doesn't."
Son didn`t think the concept was that difficult. He had been dead before and now
he was alive. It was all very clear cut and simple, but he explained the dragon balls to her
very slowly. It seemed to Son that maybe his sister wasn't the brightest penny in the
fountain, but it was okay, Son didn`t hold it against her. Actually Son held very little
against very few people.
"You where in Upper Heaven and you left?" Son nodded. "If I were you I would
have quit when I was ahead." Kyabetsu laughed. "Enma wouldn't let us in here again,
would he, guys?" Jagaimo grinned and Endomame chuckled.
"Why not?" Son said, not following.
They exchanged devilish grins. "You would be surprised how much hell four little
angels can raise if they really put their minds to it." Jagaimo tugged on his halo, it
stretched like a rubber band but reminded suspended above his head.
Endomame said something to Jagaimo in the language they'd been using earlier.
"I don`t know, why don`t you ask him yourself?" Jagaimo suggested. "He wants
to know if you can wish Raditsu out of hell in to lower heaven but he's embarrassed to
ask or something like that so I`m supposed to." Jagaimo turned back to Endomame.
"There. I asked him. You happy now?" Endomame glared at Jagaimo then lowered his
eyes when he saw Goku was looking at him curiously.
"Raditsu`s in hell, huh?" Son said. "No big surprise. Enma did say that, but I didn`t think -"
Kyabetsu cut him off. Her calm, even voice suggested something dangerous below
its surface. `No big surprise?' Where do you off talking about Raditsu like that? What do
you know, two hours ago you didn`t even know you had a brother."
"I didn`t mean... I knew Raditsu. We--" Son stopped short. What had he almost said? Son shook
his head, trying to clear the fog that had settle in his brain. He didn`t intend to lie about
the little argument he had with Raditsu but he didn`t want to bring it up either. He wasn't
sure if he like Kyabetsu but he didn`t want to write her off, or for her to hate him. Son
hadn't been at fault for his brother's death, he had even let Raditsu go the first time, but
Kyabetsu wasn't going to accept any excuses, and she was bound to find out at some
point. Son very rarely held grudges. It was typical for Son offer an olive branch to
vanquished enemies and it often, if not always bore fruit. "I`ll make that wish if you want
me to."
"Why would you do that?" Kyabetsu said distrustfully.
Son tried to smile. He felt funny. "Might as well wish for something."
"That`s shit." Kyabetsu said. Raditsu was gone. He wasn't coming back this time.
Ever. Therefore Kakarotto was joking or teasing or lying.
"What? You don`t want me to?" Son asked.
Kyabetsu laughed, there wasn't a shard of humor in it. "You're joking."
"No, I don`t think..." Son trailed off. "What was I saying?" He squeeze his eyes
shut, trying to gather his thoughts.
"What's wrong with him, Kyabetsu?" Jagaimo said nervously. Kyabetsu hissed at
him to be quiet.
Son opened his eyes. The room was swimming and he felt sick to his stomach.
Son tried to stand, Kyabetsu was at his shoulder in an instant, pushing him back to the
ground. "Don`t move Kakarotto - maybe you won't wake up yet," She hissed in his ear,
knowing nothing either of them did would help. "Do that wish thing when you wake up,
Okay?"
Son tried to smile and nodded. "Sure." His form faded under Kyabetsu`s hand and
he fell into darkness.
"It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what
you are not." Andre Gide
-----
"We weep over the graves of infants and the little ones taken from us by
death; but an early grave may be the shortest way
to heaven." Tryon Edwards
------
"To die will be an awfully big adventure." James Matthew Barrie
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter One
Son Goku was dreaming. Something with soft wings fluttered against his cheek, and he brushed it away. The insect landed again; its prickly legs tickled his wrist. There's a butterfly in the bedroom, he thought, then drifted away again.
"Kakarotto, get up!" A young voice demanded.
Son`s eyes opened. Blue sky dotted by puffy white clouds filled his field of vision.
He sat up, his stiff, black hair full of sand. It slid down the back of his gi, making his skin
itch uncomfortably. He sat beside a lazy, little stream with a sandy bank, surrounded by
dense jungle on both sides. The heat was stifling; Son wiped beads of sweat from his
forehead with the back of his arm, smearing wet sand across his forehead.. Son stood,
looked around, concluded that he was somewhere he hadn't been before. He flew above
the canopy, and saw the steam running like a jagged scar though impossibly thick jungle; nothing but tree tops in every direction.
"Kakarotto, down here!" That voice again. He returned to the ground.
"Where are you?" He called, looking around.
"Over here, dummy. Wow! You got big." It came from behind Son. He turned
toward the sound and saw a little girl hung from a tree branch by her furry brown tail. She had long black hair, pulled out of her eyes with a piece of braided string. The girl couldn't
have been more than ten and was probably closer to seven. She touched his arm
tentatively, then drew her hand back. "You got really big." Her tail uncurled and she
dropped to the ground. She circled Son studied closely, then craned her neck, looking at his lower back.
Son knew she was looking for his missing tail. Well, nothing he could do about
that. "You're Saiya-jin... right?" The girl nodded; she walked behind him. Goku watched
her over his shoulder. "I've never met a girl Saiya-jin before."
She laughed softly. "There never was that many of us."
"Are you mean?" He said suddenly.
The girl looked him in the eyes. "What kind of question is that?"
Son shrugged. "I don`t know. I just wanted to know if you`re friendly or mean."
She laughed again, louder this time, but didn`t answer his question. " You look just
like Bardock. But don`t worry. I won't hold it against you."
"Who's Bardock?" Son asked, shifting nervously under her scrutiny.
The girl's smile faded. "You know who Bardock is."
"No I don`t." Son insisted pleasantly.
"Don`t joke like that, Kakarotto. It's not funny."
"I`m not joking," he said. "I hit my head really hard when I was a baby." Son
whacked the side of his head with his fist. He made his head teeter from side to side, and his eyes roll around in their sockets. "See? Like that."
"That's very undignified," she said, trying to sound reproachful, not sure if she
should be amused or angry, decided it was pointless and settled on amused.
"I can't remember anything before that." Son built on that thought. "Who are
you?"
"You really don`t remember?" She tried not to take it personally. It wasn't really
his fault, she knew that, but it was little consolation.
"No." The look on her face made Son think he'd done something wrong, but he
honestly didn`t know what.
"I`m Kyabetsu, the first daughter of Bardock and Komugi, youngest sister of Kyuuri and Raditsu, and the eldest sister of Kakarotto." She recited carefully, then bowed
deeply. "And if you don`t know who I am yet I`m going to be really mad."
Son contemplated the speech. "You're my big sister?" he ventured finally.
"Yep. That's me," she said, pleased.
"You can't be my big sister," Son said, checking his logic as he went. "Because
I`m grown up and you`re still little."
"That's because I was little when I died."
"Ah, you're dead then?"
"I am." She said.
"I get it," That made sense. "and this is one of the afterlives, right?"
"Yeah, Lower Heaven."
"Heaven, huh? I wouldn't think that many Saiya-jin went to Heaven." There was
no spite or meanness in Son`s tone. It was an honest statement.
"And you'd be right." Kyabetsu said unoffended. "Actually, there's only a handful
of adult Saiya-jin here, but a couple thousand of us off-world brats made it in. 'Age of reason' or some such thing" Kyabetsu smiled sweetly; her eyes remained hard, and they did not reflect the smile. "How could Enma-sama condemn a cute little face like mine to the fires of Hell?" She laughed, and it was not a happy laugh. "We, my crew and I, were `misguided youths.' Supposedly too young to know right from wrong, so we get to come here and he sent R--" She shook her head briefly, angrily. "No. We're not going to talk about that, I`m not even going to think about that."
"About what?"
"About nothing."
"Oh." There was an uncomfortable silence. "How many people have you killed?"
That, as usual, popped out before Son thought to think about it.
"I don`t know. Who keeps count?"
"I do." Son said. And he did. He knew exactly how many people he had killed.
Too many.
Kyabetsu thought for a second "Hmm, Yasashisei, that's the planet me and my
crew was sent to, was pretty small, even then we needed help with it. Half a million...
maybe a few more."
"That's a lot of people," Son said.
"Not really. The planet you where assigned, what was it called?"
"Earth."
"Yeah, that's it. I remember hearing it was densely populated?"
Son shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."
"How many members were in your crew?"
"My crew?"
"Most of the time low level babies were sent off-world in groups. Crews."
"I was by myself," Son answered. Most people would have wondered how the
Earth had managed to dodge an even bigger bullet than previously thought. Son didn`t
allow himself to be worried by such things. The Earth was fine.
"Really? And you managed to stay alive? Wow!" She said with admiration. "That
must have been tough."
"No, not really." Son said honestly. Things had gone all right for him, especially
considering.
"I`ll bet the rest of your crews` ships got caught in Bejiitasei explosion. We all
thought you were dead, until we died anyway."
"I guess." A thought struck Son, he reached above his head, feeling for the golden
halo that denoted both Heaven's and Hell's residents.
"You're still alive." Kyabetsu assured him.
"Then how did I get here?"
"That's pretty complicated... Do you know what the Three Realms are?"
Son shook his head. "Uh-uh."
"All right. There's a Living Realm, a Dead Realm, and a Dream Realm, and a
place where they all intersect - is that the right word?" Son didn`t know. "Umm... where
they cross over each other. You can kinda slip in there when your asleep, sometimes."
Son`s attention span, could be frustratingly short or doggedly long, depending on the
topic of discussion, ran out, he started fidgeting, looking around. "Kakarotto?" Son didn`t seem to hear her. "Kakarotto!"
"Yeah?" He said, not looking at her.
"Are you listening?"
"Yeah," Son lied.
"People there can move, or be moved into any of the Three Realms. Most of the
people in the Dead Realm keep half an eye on that place for living friends or relatives.
We use this technique. It lets you see a place without actually being there. It`s one of the
things they teach you after you die--the Heaven people anyway, the people in Hell aren't
allowed to learn anything new. You were there, I just had to pull you here. Get it?"
"Yeah." Son obviously had not gotten it and Kyabetsu had a feeling it would be a
complete waste of limited time to explain it again. He, like most Saiya-jin, clearly didn`t
care how something happened so long as it did happen. `Because' probably would have
been a sufficient answer.
"Is this what Bejiitasei looked like?" Son asked, still looking around.
"No, I never got to see Bejiitasei, this is Yasashisei, or a recreation anyway.
Bejiitasei was destroyed before my crew got back."
"You weren't on Bejiitasei when it blew up? Then how did you die?" Kyabetsu
paled slightly. "Oh, I guess you don`t want to talk about that. It's okay, dying isn't much
fun."
"You don`t have a clue." Actually, Son had a great deal of experience in that
particular field. "But it's not that... I just--for a second there I thought I`d forgotten. It's
been so long, it's all... fuzzy," Her face brightened a little. "I know! Lets go find Jagaimo.
He never forgets anything!"
"Who's Jagaimo?"
"Jagaimo`s part of the crew I was assigned to. He's pretty much worthless, but he's better company than most of the jerks around here. I`ll bet I know where
he is, too!" Kyabetsu started through the trees without looking to see if Son was following. Goku was used to the wilderness, he had lived in some of most obscure forest on earth most his life, but he had never seen such dense a jumble of vines and shrubs. An unholy number of them had nasty looking thorns. Although the thorns could never actually
scratch Son`s skin, they tried their best. His clothing kept getting caught on the them and
he had to stop to untangle himself. Kyabetsu waited impatiently for him to catch up.
"Hurry up, Kakarotto!"
"I`m coming. I`m coming!" Son gave up any hope of preserving his gi and forced
his way to Kyabetsu. She was already moving on, weaving between the vines naturally.
They went on like that for several minutes. After a few miles, the trees and creepers
relented - slightly. A dark form hunkered under the shadows, it took Son several seconds
to distinguish the shape for what it really was; a small cabin of sorts, with a slanted,
unshingled roof, and walls made of logs with the bark still clinging to them.
"Wait here." She left Son at the tree line and opened the door. "Hey, guys?"
"Kyabetsu, is that you?" A small voice answered her.
"Who else would it be. Where's Endomame?"
"He said he was hungry. I think he went looking for a minion."
Kyabetsu made a frustrated sound. "Did he say when he was getting back?"
"Does he ever?"
Kyabetsu let out a sigh that far surpassed her apparent age. She gestured for Son
to come over to her. Son, due to a culture gap light years wide, took the hand motion to
mean `stay put.' "Guess what? I found my brother."
"Raditsu?" Son heard something moving around inside the cabin, a set of eyes
peeked around the door frame. "Where?"
"No. The other one, Kakarotto." Kyabetsu jerked her thumb over her shoulder,
where she fully expected Son to be.
"Where?" He repeated.
Kyabetsu looked over her shoulder, Son wasn't there "Did he wake up already?"
Kyabetsu said, alarmed. Her eyes darted to the tree line. Son was standing there, watching
her. "For the Gods!" She waved Son over. "This is my little - " She looked up at
Son. "My younger brother, Kakarotto." That made even less sense, she thought to herself.
Son waved uncertainty at the deep, guarded eyes. A pale hand ventured out from
behind the door frame and returned Son`s greeting. "Get outta the way, Jagaimo. Come
on, Kakarotto!" Kyabetsu said, pushing her way inside, while dragging Son.
Son banged his head on the low door frame. "Ouch!" He said out of principle, his
voice raising an octave. Kyabetsu apparently found this hilarious; Son could hear her
laughing though the dark shadows that filled the shacks interior.
"He sure doesn't act like Raditsu," Jagaimo whispered into Kyabetsu`s ear.
"Don`t be stupid!" she hissed back.
Son had to hunch over to keep from knocking against the ceiling again. The cabin
consisted of one almost bare room. There were no windows; the only light came from a
smoke hole in the ceiling. There was a pile of ashes, remnants from a previous fire,
directly under it. Three beaten sets of armor occupied another corner, and three small
mental boxes were stacked beside them.
"Kakarotto isn't dead yet," Kyabetsu informed Jagaimo.
"I know. He doesn't have a yellow thingy." Jagaimo pointed to his own halo.
Kyabetsu pushed that theological observation aside. "You can remember all that
stuff, right, before we died?"
"That was a long time ago," Jagaimo said thoughtfully. "At least five years."
"It's been longer than that, Kakarotto here was only a baby back then." She turned
to Son. "How old are you Kakarotto?"
No one on Earth was exactly sure how old he was. Goku gave them Son Gohan best guess. "About forty-nine."
Kyabetsu forced air though her teeth and plopped down on the ground. "That's a
long time."
"Yeah," Jagaimo agreed. He dropped beside her, pulling his bony knees against
his chest. Goku followed their lead. "We were all born--"
"No kidding?" Kyabetsu said in mock surprise. "Don`t waste time, Kakarotto`s
gonna tell me what he`s been doing with himself afterward." Goku hadn't been aware of
that part of the deal, but it did seem fair. "Three of us low levels were sent to Yasashisei
to depopulate it when we were still bab-"
"That's wrong," Jagaimo said.
"What?"
"That's not right. Our crew started with five. Remember, Biitsu and Kabu."
"Oh yeah, The Twins."
"Right." He turned back to Son. "It took almost a year to get to the planet."
"It was way out in the sticks," Kyabetsu added.
"We separated. Endomame took one continent, Biitsu and Kabu took another and
Kyabetsu got the last one. Then we just hung out till the full moon came out." A devilish
grin covered the boy's face. "Those were great fights weren't they, Kyabetsu?" She
returned his grin. It made Goku sad, hearing talk like that, and from a child no less.
"We were all doing great for awhile." Was this his sister? Smiling that Saiya-jin
smile while she talked about killing people? "Then they figured out we needed the moon
and they blew it up. After that we were pretty much screwed. Biitsu and Kabu were in
battle at the time. They were killed. Those two don`t come around here very often
anymore. We sent messages saying we needed help to all our relatives, but `Ditsu was the
only one who answered. Gods, did he pitch a fit. But at least he bothered to come."
"Raditsu?" Goku asked uncertainly.
Jagaimo misunderstood Goku`s question. "Yeah, Kyabetsu`s brother, your`s too I
guess, but you know that."
"No, he doesn't," Kyabetsu explained. "He hit his head when he was little. He
can't remember anything about the Saiya-jin; Other than that, the brain damage doesn't
seem too bad." Yeah, right.
"Really? I mean you hear all kinds of horror stories about that - I always worried
about that happening to my little brother," Jagaimo said.
Son wiggled nervously, and shifted his eyes to the ground.
"Jagaimo," Kyabetsu said with false friendliness, in a `I`m just trying to help you
out' tone. "Do you remember what Raditsu said about you saying one thing too many?"
She didn`t give him a chance to answer. "Kakarotto doesn't need his memories to know
who he is." Kyabetsu scooted over till she was leaning against Son`s side, looking up
into his eyes, completely at ease. "Do you, Kakarotto?"
"Nope!" Son knew exactly who was. He had known long before Raditsu showed
up at Kame Beach.
"Anyway, it took Raditsu a while to get to Yasashisei. Jagaimo lift up your
shirt." He did so. There was a long scar running from his shoulder to lower chest. "He
managed to work up a pretty good infection in that--"
"Like I did it on purpose!"
Kyabetsu ignored Jagaimo`s protest "But Raditsu gave him some medicine and he
got better."
The color drained from Son`s face. "Shots?"
"What?" Jagaimo said.
"Did you have to get shots?"
"Huh? I don`t remember - I think they were pills. Why?"
"I don`t like shots."
Jagaimo starred at Son with a raised eyebrow. "Are you sure about that brain
damage thing, Kyabetsu?"
Kyabetsu picked son`s hand up, studying the deep scars that ran along his
knuckles. "Forget it. It doesn't matter."
Jagaimo starred at the other Saiya-jin, vaguely confused by Kyabetsu`s strange
behavior. He shifted his eyes to Son. Jagaimo didn`t think he looked upset, or even
uncomfortable. Son caught his gaze. "What happened next?"
"We depopulated Yasashisei and left for Bejiitasei, but before we got back we got
a message that said Bejiitasei had been destroyed. `Lord Furiza' had, of course, raced to
Bejiitasei when he heard such great misfortune had befallen his allies." Jagaimo spit out
the side of his mouth. "And he was allowing any surviving Saiya-jin to regroup on his
ship. Prince Bejiita and Nappa were off-world at the time, and their ships had been
wrecked in the fighting. Raditsu was ordered to stop at one of Furiza`s bases, pick up two
new ships and take them there. We went on ahead - stupid impatient little kids. But no
one had any idea!"
"Not a clue." Kyabetsu agreed "Raditsu said to be careful around Furiza--not to do
or say anything that might make him mad, but he said that about a lot of people. Low
levels had to be very careful about who they mouthed off to."
"Everyone knew Furiza was paranoid, but King Bejiita thought the Saiya-jin could
stay on his good side. King Bejiita was an idiot... but you don`t even know who Furiza
is."
"Yes, he does." Kyabetsu said before Son could answer. "Bardock saw him
fighting Furiza. You're the one who killed that horned bastard; Aren't you Kakarotto?"
"Uh-uh. Trunks killed him." Son answered truthfully.
"Trunks?" Kyabetsu and Jagaimo said simultaneously.
"Yeah, Bejiita`s son." The word `Bejiita,' plus `son,' combined with the easy,
careless, `aren't we having nice weather today?,' tone of Son`s delivery, resulted in a
rapid-fire interrogation consisting of the obvious questions. It was impossible to answer
the bombardment. Kyabetsu and Jagaimo eventually realized this, and slowed their attack.
"How do you know Bejiita?"
"You said you were gonna tell me how you died first." Son said. He didn`t really
want to get into that; it was ancient history; almost forgotten and long ago forgiven.
"We landed on Furiza`s ship and his solders killed us right after we left our ships.
Killing three low level brats isn`t particularly difficult," Kyabetsu finished in one breath.
"Now tell us how you know the Prince!"
"I've know him for a while, he lives with Buruma - sometimes anyway - at
Capsule Corp."
"And where is Capsule Corp. and who is Buruma?" Jagaimo said.
"Well, Capsule Corp. is on Earth and Buruma`s one of my old friends, and
Bejiita`s wife. Sort of."
Kyabetsu was wading thought that muddle of apparent nonsense when they heard
someone approaching. Most animals and no human would have heard the soft foot falls,
but they were Saiya-jin.
Kyabetsu moved to the back of the cabin and Jagaimo scrambled for the corner by
the door.
"What-" Son began.
"Shut up and didn`t move!" Kyabetsu whispered. "He'll hear you!"
The footsteps had become slower, more cautious. The door swung opened, creacking lowly on its leather hinges, but there was no one behind it. Then something sprang from the brush and charged though the opened door. Kyabetsu went forward to meet the attacker. At the same time, Jagaimo pounced on the newcomer`s shoulders, and tried to help Kyabetsu pull him to the ground. It didn`t work. The new comer pulled Jagaimo off his neck and slammed him to the ground. Kyabetsu followed quickly. He pinned them to the ground, one hand between the shoulder blades of each opponent.
"I win," he said. "Big surprise. Give up?"
"Gi-" Jagaimo began.
"Shut up, Jagaimo!" Kyabetsu said. "Hey, Kakarotto! Little help?"
Son picked the boy up my his shirt collar. "What the hell?" He craned his neck,
trying to see who had him.
"You shouldn't pick on people who are weaker than you." Son said.
"I resent that." Kyabetsu said, returning to her feet. "We were just playing
anyway, Kakarotto."
It occurred to the boy that he could just slide out of his shirt. He did so, and took a
defensive stance in front of his crew. Son saw his arms, back and chest were covered with
scars similar to Jagaimo`s.
Endomame was much bigger than the other members of his crew. A nasty scar ran
from the top of his skull to his upper lip, broke than started again at his bottom lip and
down his chin. He stopped short when he saw Son. His face darken. "What the hell is
Bardock doing here?"
"He's not Bardock. Why would Bardock want to come here? How would Bardock come here? Hey," She said addressing Son. "What's two an two?"
"Four." Son answered quickly.
"See, he's much smarter than Bardock."
"But who is he?"
"My little brother."
"Your little brother?"
"Bite me."
Endomame accepted this as matter of course while talking to Kyabetsu. "What's
your name?"
"Son Goku." Goku said, without thinking.
"Son Goku?" Endomame repeated, looking to Kyabetsu for clarification.
Kyabetsu`s tail began to twitch. "Kakarotto?"
"Yeah?" Goku said.
"What's Son Goku?"
"Me," Goku said simply, making no effort to hide the facts.
"What?"
"My name is Son Goku. I don`t really mind being called Kakarotto." He added
helpfully. "But I've always been Goku."
Kyabetsu stared at Son with a mixture of confusion, anger and something
dangerously close to disdain. "Son Goku."
"Son Goku."
"That's really screwed up, Kakarotto." She laughed playfully, but it also carried a
cruel, mocking undertone.
"You're not mad at me?"
"Hell yeah, I`m mad. But if you're going to act like an idiot there's nothing I can do about it, is there?"
"No," Son said. "There isn't."
"All right, then shut up about it." Kyabetsu ran her finger along the scars that
graced Son`s battle-worn knuckles. "Looks like you got into some pretty respectable
fights, where have you been living?"
"Earth."
"You`re still on that backwoods rock? How long did it take you to depopulate it?"
"Depopulate?"
"You know, kill off all the natives."
He pulled his hand out of Kyabetsu`s. She looked up surprised and a little frightened. Son was going to straighten this out right now. "I have never purposely killed any innocent or helpless person and I don`t know how anyone could enjoy killing or even stand the guilt of all that blood on their ki." Kyabetsu glared back at her brother, emotions bouncing in-between shock and rage. Her tail lashed violently. Both refused to be stared down.
Jagaimo broke the silence. He said something in a language Goku had never heard
before. "Raditsu would've killed him for saying something like that." Endomame burst into laughter, Kyabetsu looked to Jagaimo, and cracked a smiled in spite of herself. Raditsu
had been great. Son wondered what they were talking about. Jagaimo addressed Kyabetsu
much more seriously. "Maybe you should cut him some slack, Kyabetsu. Other than
Bejiita he's the only one left, and he is your bro--"
She spit out the side of her mouth then said something nasty in the same alien
tongue. "I`ll tell you what he is. He's a damn traitor! He didn`t even do his planet. And
where's his tail? The people on that planet supposedly look like Saiya-jin without tails.
I`ll bet he's been pretending to be one of those miserable creatures!"
Jagaimo waited for her to finish, then replied at length. "So what? No one ever
came to take him home. There isn't a home anymore. He didn`t clear his planet. So what?
Maybe he'll come here instead of Hell. Just forget about it. What ever he`s been doing
Bejiita has been doing too, so it can't be bad. Right? Change the subject." He kept his
eyes in his lap and his voice low, so it seemed to Son that the boy was growling under his
breath rather than speaking. Kyabetsu said something back and Jagaimo shrugged.
"You got any brats?" Kyabetsu said, trying to turn the subject in a safer direction.
"Yeah!" Son said, happy to oblige "I've got two sons, Gohan and Goten." Son
said with pride. "You know what else? They`re both Super Saiya-jin, too."
"What?" Kyabetsu said, astounded by such a level of stupidity.
"Huh," Jagaimo said. "Are you saying your son is the Super Saiya-jin?"
"No, both of them," Son said. Endomame covered his mouth, the sound of his snickering could be hear escaping between his fingers. "We're all Super Saiya-jins. Bejiita says there was a garage sale on it."
"Kakarotto, what do you think a Super Saiya-jin is?" Jagaimo spoke to Son like
he was a young child. Goku picked up on this condescending tone immediately; anyone
smart enough to feed himself would have. It made Son angry.
"I know what a Super Saiya-jin is. I am one."
Endomame had quit laughing. "Bullshit," he said softly, but not so faintly that
Son couldn't hear him.
"The Super Saiya-jin isn't in our line Kakarotto," Kyabetsu made it clear she
thought he was making it up.
"And why would I lie about it?"
Jagaimo tried to circumvent the argument. "She didn`t mean you were lying
Kakarotto. Just maybe your a little confused."
"No," Kyabetsu said. "I meant he was lying."
"No, I`m not."
Kyabetsu jumped to her feet, tail thrashing. "I think you are!"
Son stood, fist chuckled, wondering how to get back to his house. "I`m not lying."
"Are too!"
Endomame starred at the show, faintly amused. "I`ve seen this before," he
said flatly to Jagaimo.
Jagaimo closed his eyes and massaged his temple like he had a head ache.
Endomame`s right, he thought. This was nothing new. Next, he knew Kyabetsu would
ether start pouting, (not crying of course, Saiya-jin never cried) a tactic manufactured to make her opponent uncomfortable and hopefully guilty, or she would hit her brother. If Kyabetsu choose the latter, and if this 'Goku' guy`s reactions were comparable to his older brother, he would; A) Hit back if he felt he had control; B) Simply laugh at Kyabetsu. Or if he was truly enraged he would; C) Disappear until his anger had cooled enough for him to be around Kyabetsu without killing her. Once, Jagaimo remembered, Raditsu had been gone so long there had been some doubt as to whether he was still alive. But Jagaimo didn`t think Goku`s reaction to Kyabetsu`s antics could really be compared to that of a normal Saiya Jin like Raditsu.
"You are!"
"Are not!"
Kyabetsu threw her arms up in frustration. "Idiot!"
Son hadn't intended to power up. He didn`t need to prove himself to anyone,
especial a murdering Saiya-jin. That Kyabetsu was his sister meant only he held her to a
higher standard than other Saiya-jin, Bejiita, for example. He changed into Super
Saiya-jin without pausing to contemplate the consequences. The shack filled with dust
from the dirt floor; it bought tears to the eyes of the younger-older Saiya-jin. Jagaimo and
Endomame, both sitting on the floor, began coughing violently. Kyabetsu stepped
backward, shielding her eyes from the bright, golden light Son was giving off. She
stumbled, and landed on the ground by Son`s feet. He stepped back, concerned her
comparably fragile form would be burned by the pure energy that surround him. Kyabetsu
looked up at Goku, concern and guilt now shown in his green eyes. Son forced the energy
down surveying the mess he`d made, hoping one was hurt; though when he thought about it that idea seemed rather absurd, considering the circumstances. (it was hard to hurt a dead person)
"Sorry `bout that. Everybody okay?" Feeling at fault for Kyabetsu`s tumble, he
offered her his hand. She contemplated the hand for a few seconds, then stood under her
own power. Son looked slightly put out and it occurred to Kyabetsu that he had meant to
help her up.
"It`s all right, Kakarotto, we're fine." She stared at him for a full minute. Then
without taking her eyes off Goku: "The Super Saiya-jin`s hair turns yellow, his eyes turn
green and his energy turns golden. Right?"
"Yeah," Jagaimo said. "That's what Raditsu said the Super Saiya-jin was
supposed to look like."
"Then Kakarotto`s the Super Saiya-jin?"
"Looks that way." Jagaimo responded
"Well," Kyabetsu said, struggling to think coherently. "That's pretty okay." She
turned to Son. "Kakarotto are you the Super Saiya-jin?"
Son fell over. "That's what I've been saying for the last ten minutes!"
"Where'd you find someone to train under on such a weak planet? Most vermin don`t even train, they just make guns and other dumb stuff," Kyabetsu said.
"I've trained under several great masters," Son said, singing their praises rather
than his own. "Muten Roshi-sensei, Kami-sama, and Kaio-sama."
"How'd you train under a Kaio?" Jagaimo asked. "I thought you where alive?"
"I was dead when I train with Kaio-sama."
"Kakarotto," Kyabetsu said. "I keep thinking, I say to my self, the next thing
Kakaroto says will make sense, but it doesn't. It doesn't."
Son didn`t think the concept was that difficult. He had been dead before and now
he was alive. It was all very clear cut and simple, but he explained the dragon balls to her
very slowly. It seemed to Son that maybe his sister wasn't the brightest penny in the
fountain, but it was okay, Son didn`t hold it against her. Actually Son held very little
against very few people.
"You where in Upper Heaven and you left?" Son nodded. "If I were you I would
have quit when I was ahead." Kyabetsu laughed. "Enma wouldn't let us in here again,
would he, guys?" Jagaimo grinned and Endomame chuckled.
"Why not?" Son said, not following.
They exchanged devilish grins. "You would be surprised how much hell four little
angels can raise if they really put their minds to it." Jagaimo tugged on his halo, it
stretched like a rubber band but reminded suspended above his head.
Endomame said something to Jagaimo in the language they'd been using earlier.
"I don`t know, why don`t you ask him yourself?" Jagaimo suggested. "He wants
to know if you can wish Raditsu out of hell in to lower heaven but he's embarrassed to
ask or something like that so I`m supposed to." Jagaimo turned back to Endomame.
"There. I asked him. You happy now?" Endomame glared at Jagaimo then lowered his
eyes when he saw Goku was looking at him curiously.
"Raditsu`s in hell, huh?" Son said. "No big surprise. Enma did say that, but I didn`t think -"
Kyabetsu cut him off. Her calm, even voice suggested something dangerous below
its surface. `No big surprise?' Where do you off talking about Raditsu like that? What do
you know, two hours ago you didn`t even know you had a brother."
"I didn`t mean... I knew Raditsu. We--" Son stopped short. What had he almost said? Son shook
his head, trying to clear the fog that had settle in his brain. He didn`t intend to lie about
the little argument he had with Raditsu but he didn`t want to bring it up either. He wasn't
sure if he like Kyabetsu but he didn`t want to write her off, or for her to hate him. Son
hadn't been at fault for his brother's death, he had even let Raditsu go the first time, but
Kyabetsu wasn't going to accept any excuses, and she was bound to find out at some
point. Son very rarely held grudges. It was typical for Son offer an olive branch to
vanquished enemies and it often, if not always bore fruit. "I`ll make that wish if you want
me to."
"Why would you do that?" Kyabetsu said distrustfully.
Son tried to smile. He felt funny. "Might as well wish for something."
"That`s shit." Kyabetsu said. Raditsu was gone. He wasn't coming back this time.
Ever. Therefore Kakarotto was joking or teasing or lying.
"What? You don`t want me to?" Son asked.
Kyabetsu laughed, there wasn't a shard of humor in it. "You're joking."
"No, I don`t think..." Son trailed off. "What was I saying?" He squeeze his eyes
shut, trying to gather his thoughts.
"What's wrong with him, Kyabetsu?" Jagaimo said nervously. Kyabetsu hissed at
him to be quiet.
Son opened his eyes. The room was swimming and he felt sick to his stomach.
Son tried to stand, Kyabetsu was at his shoulder in an instant, pushing him back to the
ground. "Don`t move Kakarotto - maybe you won't wake up yet," She hissed in his ear,
knowing nothing either of them did would help. "Do that wish thing when you wake up,
Okay?"
Son tried to smile and nodded. "Sure." His form faded under Kyabetsu`s hand and
he fell into darkness.
