Chapter 2
Goku woke up with a splitting headache. He sat up gingerly and looked around his cell. In the corner, he spotted Gohan sitting on the ground hugging his knees, his face hidden behind them, his fists manacled to the wall with chi-restricting bands. Vegeta lay over on a cot, joylessly playing with some type of food, and Kakarott lay on another cot, his arms behind his head, staring intently at the ceiling. Both of their hands were also manacled to a different part of the wall.
Goku looked down to see a set of manacles on his own hands. He shook his head with mirth and said, "Well, this is an enthusiastic bunch of prisoners." Immediately all three heads turned to look at him.
"Dad, you're awake!" Gohan yelled, and came running over to throw his arms around his dad's neck. Made uncomfortable by the display of affection, the other two looked away.
Goku gently patted his son on the back and then attempted to stand up. The room swam, but he persisted and came up quickly, almost banging his head on the ceiling. He felt a stab of pain along his side and put his hand there to find it wet with blood.
The short silence was soon broken. "Well, this is embarrassing," Vegeta said. "The entire Saiyan population, kidnapped by bugs. What would the founders of our race think?"
Goku laughed, liking this younger and spunkier version of his friend Vegeta. "They'd probably have been taken a lot quicker."
Kakarott lay staring at the ceiling. He seemed to be absorbed in the pattern. "Goku," he suddenly spoke, "what exactly did you do before you lost consciousness?"
"What do you mean?" Goku asked innocently.
"You know exactly what I mean. I felt you do something. Why don't you demonstrate?"
Goku grinned. "Maybe later. I don't want to give too much away right now."
Kakarott nodded, but seemed unhappy about something.
"What is it?" Goku asked.
Kakarott finally looked away from the ceiling. Putting his lower lip out, he spoke in a little kid voice and said with a whine, "You're another level ahead of me, aren't you?"
Gohan started laughing. Kakarott grinned at him, and Goku also cracked a smile. Vegeta even smirked a little. Gohan began to roll on the floor with mirth and he gasped out, "Oh, I can just see Vegeta doing that! Dad, that was classic Vegeta!" At the thought of the Vegeta from home doing that, Goku's smile broadened a little more. The sight of "the prince of all Saiyans" with his lower lip stuck out saying that, was really funny to the two Saiyans.
Prince Vegeta from this time, however, didn't seem to think it was funny, his smirk instantly fading, "What are you talking about?" he snapped.
Still laughing, Gohan shook his head. "Not you, Vegeta. The other Vegeta!"
Vegeta's look melted into confusion. "What..?"
Goku calmly put his hand over his son's mouth, and laughed, "He's just kidding. I think he might of had a blow to the head. Son, why don't you apologize for playing with poor Vegeta's head?"
Still giggling, Gohan said, "Sorry, Vegeta."
Vegeta shook his head, scowled and went back to playing with his food.
They continued talking, all of them trying to avoid mentioning what was coming next. Goku's brain was scrambling for a solution, while Kakarott was entertaining the idea of jumping the next person who came in. Vegeta thought angrily of punching Xarhtna in the face. Gohan was thinking of home, missing his mother.
Then the door opened. "All right," hissed a deep voice, "bring them out tallest to shortest."
Kakarott tensed, but the individuals who stepped in stayed clear out of his reach. Five guards came in for each of them. Each guard was wry and muscular, with his back-spikes armed and ready. One of the guards brought out a chi-restricting collar and tried to put it around Vegeta's neck. The young man went wild and fought angrily. Goku and Gohan tried to jump in and Kakarott fired balls of chi. Pandemonium reigned until finally the guards managed to subdue the prisoners. The manacles were leaching away their energy and they were unable to fight very long because of it.
They managed to get the chi-restricting collar about each of their necks, and then the battle went easier for the insects. The manacled hands were clasped in front and then Goku was brought out followed by Vegeta, Kakarott, and Gohan. Goku was watched very carefully. Evidently rumors of his fighting prowess had already circulated through the ship. All of them walked with their heads held high, Saiyan pride not allowing them to show the least bit of embarrassment. Gohan kept his eyes glued to the back of his father's head. He felt a feeling he had never felt before. For once in his life, he was proud of being a Saiyan.
They were brought out of the ship into a wide market. A line of Saiyans stretched as far as the eye could see, chained with guards on either side. All manner of different creatures walked in front examining each individual. Some of the strange aliens even tried to check their teeth. The Saiyans were held by the guards while the buyers continued their humiliating acts. King Vegeta was carefully examined by many, but evidently the sale was not starting yet.
Goku and the others were brought into a chi-restricting cage and chained to the bars. Then guards were posted outside. Immediately, individuals swarmed to the cage to examine the prisoners. Every once in a while, someone would make a request and a couple of guards would enter and drag one of them out to be examined. Whenever this happened another chi-restricting collar would be placed around their neck and they would be dragged out. By the end of a few hours, all were weakened by the loss of chi.
Goku especially had been examined over and over. He was still bleeding profusely from his side, but that didn't seem to make a difference. If anything, it made him for interesting. Kakarott had had his mouth opened so many times the it hung slightly opened, and he was almost asleep on his feet. Vegeta rubbed his hair and grumbled about females touching it. Gohan hid as well as he could behind his Dad, and Goku protected him as best he could, and because he had, Gohan had been brought out the least of everyone.
Suddenly, a beautiful, humanoid woman appeared. She had jet-black hair and as she approached the noise died and the crowd moved back to watch. With sharp eyes, she examined each prisoner. Goku's face hardened as her eyes fell on him. He could feel evil radiating off of her, and he met her gaze without fear. Kakarott noticed his example and when her eyes moved to him, he also met her gaze fearlessly.
A small smile twitched on her lips as she concluded her examination. Then she turned to the guard and whispered into his ears for a minute. He nodded and motioned to two of the others. They quickly entered the cage and approached Goku. Goku knew for certain he didn't want to be examined by this lady, and so he crouched down into fighting position as the approached, his gold tail whipping around him in a frenzy. His eyes turned blue as he felt fury mounting within him. The audience drew closer, fascinated by the Saiyan's strange reaction. The chi bands were sucking energy, but it was nothing compared to what he was putting out. The transformation began to take place again. His hair stood on end, sharpened and changed to gold. His tail transformed into a mace, and his eyes shone like the sun. His fangs lengthened as did his claws. He snarled, a deep guttural sound. The guards drew back, unsure what to make of his sudden change, but the woman to the front of the cage seemed delighted. The fact that she was pleased caused Goku's anger to increase by seven-fold. With a roar, he charged at the guards, and as he did so, he snapped the bar he was attached to right off the cage. The guards stood their ground, hoping the chi-restricting bands would make a difference soon, and Gohan, Kakarott, and Vegeta watched in stunned horror at the creature that used to be their happy friend.
Goku ripped into the guards, and in a few moments they lay on the ground mostly dead. Then Goku started forward, toward the cage door, but no one moved. His rage was tempered a little as he stared at the fearless crowd, and in that moment he remembered the others. He turned back and attempted to take Gohan's chi-restricting band off his arms, but as he laid his hands on Gohan collar, the combination of all four chi-restricting bands was too much for Goku's already weakened body. His fangs shortened, his hair lost its sharpness, and his tail turned back to it normal gold. Goku sunk to the floor completely exhausted. The chi-restricting bands still sucking enormous amounts of energy from him. Two more guards cautiously approached him once again. They grabbed the almost unconscious Goku and pulled him to his feet, their razor sharp pinschers slicing his arms. He was pulled in front of the woman, and though his body was ready to give out, his eyes glared at her with an intensity that was almost painful. She ignored that and stepped close. She felt the muscles in his arm and then grabbed his tail and closely examined it. Then letting it drop, she motioned for them the take him back. Then she whispered something again in the guard's ear. They replaced the slumping Goku and grabbed Gohan. At the sight of them taking his son out to that woman, Goku flared once again. It wasn't quite as explosive as the time before but it was enough to make the guards release Gohan and jump back. They waited patiently for the crazy Saiyan to calm down again, and then they moved Gohan out. She closely examined the young hybrid and then returned him to the cage. Goku watched with slitted eyes, a growl deep in his throat. Kakarott was next. Feeding off of Goku's seeming fear of the woman, Kakarott flared as well when they came to get him, but was unable to do much. She examined him and then finally, Vegeta was called. Vegeta didn't understand why Goku was acting the way he was so he cockily walked out with the guards and folded his arms as he stood casually in front of the woman. Her small smile disappeared as she stared at the young man that stood in front of her. She glanced at him and then sent him back in.
Goku watched the woman turn around and leave, and then the crowd gathered around again. "Dad," Gohan voice brought him out of the darkness that surrounded the woman, "what was that?"
Goku shook his head, as if to clear it, and smiled at his son. "I'm sorry, son. Something about that woman...she's evil, son, just plain evil. I didn't want her to touch us."
"No, I meant what was it that you turned into?"
Goku laughed and said, "That's my new transformation. I didn't want to reveal it again yet, but I just lost control."
"Obviously," Vegeta said.
Kakarott laughed. He felt less alone than he ever had before in his life. He had always been training almost alone, and it was so nice to be around people that he could almost consider...family.
