A/N: Okay, guys, if my last chapter was too dark for you, you might not want to read these next few chapters… at least, not the parts from Kakarot's point of view. He's not in a very nice place right now… I'll try to go easy on my gentle readers, but you have been warned.

Kakarot lost himself for a few days.

At least… he thought it was a few days. His stomach was twisted in hunger, but he wasn't dead yet, and that's about how long his father had told him a Saiyan could go without eating before he starts to die of starvation. And he definitely felt like he was dying.

The people who took him, they had red skin and strange devices, they never said a word to him. They talked about him, like he was an animal, despite his attempts to communicate with… well, threaten… them. When they threw him in this cell, they put a bucket of… some kind of blue gel… in there with him. It stank, and the bucket looked a lot like the empty one Kakarot saw some of the other prisoners pissing in. The other prisoners ate the blue gel, but… Kakarot just couldn't. He couldn't. He wouldn't.

The first day, he tried to cope with the loss of his tail, something he'd always had every day of his life. Things felt… less, without it. Not just his balance was off… everything was. It was like he was missing a part of himself. He would never brush his tail against his brother's, or wrap his tail around his father's, again. That link that held his family together, that reminded him of his loved ones' true feelings, despite the taunting and blustering that was their native tongue, it would be forever lost to him now. Things felt different, he felt like a part of him was numb.

And then, there was the damned collar. He couldn't use his energy, it was like he barely had any, and what little he had was keeping him alive. The guards had told him the collar would keep him weak, and would only be removed when he was inside the Cage. All of the cells were arranged around the Cage, so that they could all see what went on inside it. Every day, there would be a fight, and every day, one prisoner from the Cage would go back to his cell… and the other's dead body would be dumped into the big drum the guards got the blue gel stuff from.

Which was another big reason why Kakarot wouldn't eat it.

But, the worst part, it wasn't the hunger, or being treated like an animal by the guards, or even the loss of his tail. The worst part, was the burning.

Kakarot dreamed about Chi-chi, every time he closed his eyes. Sometimes when his eyes were open. He could smell her sometimes, and it was torture not being near her. Sometimes, he thought he saw her, he thought she was taken prisoner, too, and it made his blood boil. He almost killed one of the other prisoners in his cell, thinking he was attacking her…

It had been weird. The prisoners, mostly they were males, and of so many different alien species, Kakarot had a new appreciation for how lucky he'd been to land on Earth, where the people looked so much like him. A blue-skinned alien and a green and yellow skinned one were… well, Kakarot thought they were mating, but he had thought it only happened with males and females together, not two males. He'd watched in horrified curiosity, when his blood had started to boil, and for a moment, he thought the one on the bottom was Chi-chi.

Only Kakarot's complete lack of strength saved the alien's life. Kakarot had gripped his head, and was about to break his neck, when the other alien, the one on bottom, had punched his lights out. He had gone down easily.

Day three was here, and they were being let into a common area. Kakarot could barely move, but forced himself to, on the off chance there was real food there somewhere. Sweat covered him, from the fever, and he swallowed thickly. "So hungry…" he gasped desperately, stumbling into the crowd of prisoners. He didn't make it far, before landing on the floor, face down.

The other prisoners just walked over him. As though he were already dead.

To be fair, they weren't that far off.

0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000

Kakarot had brief glimpses of consciousness. He knew he wasn't on the floor, anymore. He was in a cell. Or… he had died, and gone to hell. He really couldn't tell the difference, actually…

Then… he saw his father. He had cried out to him, reaching out, but his father had given him a confused look, and held back. Kakarot had cried, then… cried, like a weakling. His father chided him, telling him to wake up, to dry his tears, that there was work to be done.

Chi-chi. He could see her, cheeks flushed, slapping him across the face. "Don't you dare!" she had said to him, and he swallowed. He had to be strong, strong for Chi-chi, she had lost so much, she worked so hard to hold it all together, to be strong, she needed his strength, not his weakness.

He had to get back to Chi-chi.

"Wake up, cub," a voice called, and Kakarot opened his eyes, gazing blearily at the cell around him.

The man kneeling above him filled his heart with hope. "F-father?" he asked, starting to remember where he was. This wasn't the same cell he had been in earlier, though it was just as dark and dirty as the last one. Kakarot laid on the floor, looking up, as the man above him started to come into focus.

The man looked down at him, frowning. "I'm not your father, cub, I told you," he said, gazing into Kakarot's eyes, as though checking to make sure they were working. "Name's Turles. What's yours?" he asked, as the boy became more and more conscious.

Kakarot blinked, his vision readjusting. This man… he looked so much like his father, it was uncanny. But… this was not Bardock. His father's face bore a scar, and the look in his eyes was different than the look in this man's eyes. "I'm… Kakarot…" he answered, swallowing hard. "Am I dead?" he asked.

This caused Turles to smirk at him. "No, but not for lack of trying," he said wryly. "Whoever heard of a Saiyan trying to starve himself to death? I've seen a couple eat themselves to death, but never the other way around," he said, tapping a bucket of the vile blue gel with his toe.

Kakarot's eyes went wide as he realized in horror, that he wasn't hungry anymore. "You… you fed that shit to me?!" he demanded, his eyes narrowing in fury.

Turles regarded him blankly for a long moment. "You would have preferred death?" he asked seriously.

Kakarot glared down at the offending bucket. "Maybe," he said, stubbornly.

Turles snarled then, and grabbed Kakarot by the neck, squeezing. "Then maybe I should just kill you now," he hissed, glaring at him.

Kakarot struggled to breath, but the older man, the one who looked so much like his father, only clenched his hand tighter. He couldn't speak. He couldn't breathe. He was going to die, slowly, right now…

NO!

His fists reared back, and he hit Turles a number of times, struggling to get out of his grip. When the world started to go black for Kakarot, Turles finally let go, and blessed air flooded Kakarot's lungs once again.

"This place is about survival, Kakarot," Turles said, dipping his hand into the bucket, and sucking some of the blue gel off his fingers. "Eat, or get eaten. Everyone here ends up in the goo eventually. It's all about making sure you're the last to go, that your enemies get there before you do," he said, steel in his eyes.

Kakarot gasped for a long while, catching his breath. "You're Saiyan, aren't you?" he asked, looking the man over. He saw no tail, but… the way he spoke…

Turles glared. "Depends on who you ask," he spat bitterly. At Kakarot's confused look, he continued. "I was disgraced and banished, for failing a mission. Treated like a criminal, just because I happened to catch King Vegeta's attention at the wrong time. That pompous idiot," he snarled, lost in bitter memories.

Kakarot winced slightly. His father would not have taken kindly to such talk about their King. "What's disgraced and banished mean?" he asked, frowning. It sounded pretty bad, for Turles to be that angry about it.

Turles's hand went to his back, and suddenly, Kakarot understood. "They cut off your tail?"

"Long ago, Kakarot, when we still had a planet, those accused of heinous crimes would have their tails cut off, and they would be forced to leave their planet, forever," he said, and Kakarot swallowed, remembering being told he could never come to the Land of Korin ever again. To imagine, if he could never come back to Earth at all? "Most chose to face a battle to the death rather than banishment and life without their tails," Turles said. "But… when Frieza took over… King Vegeta changed. He would do things, cruel things, to stay in Frieza's good graces. Like humiliating and banishing me from my home, simply because I survived a doomed mission. He was too blinded to realize the mission was only given to us to slowly thin out our numbers, so that Frieza could more easily destroy us. But then… he figured it all out in the end, didn't he?" he said more than asked.

Kakarot frowned. "Frieza's a big bully," he said, angrily. "But Papa says we should respect the memory of the King, since memories are all we've got left," he said softly.

This made Turles's eyes grow wide. He hadn't heard that kind of sentimental patriotism in a long, long time. Not since he'd left home. "Kakarot…" he said, looking the boy over. He noticed the red band on Kakarot's arm, the only thing he was wearing. He thought it looked familiar. "What's your father's name?" he asked, getting a funny feeling in his gut.

A glint of pride shone in Kakarot's eyes as he said the word Turles had dreaded to hear. "Bardock."

Turles was silent for a long moment, then began to laugh. And laugh. And laugh harder, until Kakarot feared for his sanity. "You… of all the places in the universe… you come here… disgraced, beaten, taken from your home, to join your father's brother, who shares the same fate," he said, wiping his eyes as he struggled to get control back.

It took Kakarot quite a few seconds to get what he was saying. "You… wait… you're Uncle Turles!" he exclaimed, eyes wide. "Raditz told me about you! He… he didn't tell me… that, though…" he said, confused about why his brother wouldn't tell him what fate had befallen his favorite uncle.

Turles gave a wry nod. "They would never speak of it, out of respect for my memory," he said absently, frowning in thought. "Does this mean Bardock and Raditz both live?" he asked, mystified.

Kakarot gave a single nod, though he belatedly wondered how much he should share. Not that he didn't trust his uncle, but… this place… Suddenly, a very horrible thought occurred to Kakarot. "Is… is that what they're gonna do, to me? Am I… banished?" he asked, swallowing hard. Raditz had always told him that losing his tail was one of the worst things that could happen to him, which was why it must always be protected. Would his family banish him just because he lost it?

Turles gave him a hard look. "That depends on how much of a stick my brother's got up his ass lately. It wasn't the King, or even the Prince, who did this to you, Kakarot… it was done by cowards who care little for our ways. Besides… it won't even matter," he said, glancing around to make sure no one was listening.

The cell they were in held no other prisoners, but the other surrounding cells were so close together, they could easily be overheard if they weren't careful. Kakarot blinked. "Why not?" he asked, curiously.

Turles smirked. "I'm gonna grow your tail back," he confided, his voice soft. "They think we Saiyans are no more than mere beasts, good for fighting and nothing else. But you can't begin to guess at all the things I've learned since my banishment. How else do you think I was able to stop your mating fever?" he asked.

Kakarot frowned. He hadn't noticed, but the burning feeling was gone, and he hadn't really thought of Chi-chi all that much lately. His mind felt clearer, too, though he thought that was just due to being fed. "Raditz said I was gonna have to ride it out, that it wouldn't go away unless I…" Suddenly he stopped, and a really terrible thought came to him. "Uh… you didn't… I mean…" Turles had forced him to eat that nasty blue stuff, could he have forced him to…?

Turles's face twisted in disgust. "What? NO!" he denied, distaste evident in his voice. "We're Saiyans, Kakarot, not these… disgusting beasts you see around you. We mate for life. You have a mate, only she will do, nothing else will. But…" he said, and reached up, placing two fingers on a spot on the back of his neck. "If you place the correct amount of pressure right here, you temporarily cut off the circulation to the gland that secretes the hormones your body uses to prepare for mating. With a long enough absence of the hormone, your mating fever dissipates, and your mating drive becomes dormant again. Which begs the question, what the hell are you doing, trying to mate at such a young age?" he asked, suddenly concerned now that he knew the cub to be his own nephew.

Kakarot blushed, scratching the back of his head nervously. "Well… see… Chi-chi's human, and her people's customs are different, and… well… we're sort of promised to be mates, not really mated yet…" he stammered.

Turles rolled his eyes, and sighed. "Never mind, I don't care. Look, Kakarot… it's fortunate you were captured when you were. I've been planning an escape from this place, and the two of us working together should greatly improve our chances. What do you say? Will you help me?" he asked, knowing the answer.

Kakarot's eyes filled with hope, and he nodded fervently. "Yeah! But… this thing they put on my neck… I can't fight with it on," he said, frowning in thought.

"They take it off, during the Cage matches," he said, gesturing to the large cage outside the cell. "We need to bide our time, but I've been making suggestions to some of the guards. I think I can convince them to let the two of us fight each other some point soon. When that happens… we can make our move," he said, smirking.

Kakarot's eyes widened at that, then he smirked. "We'll break free when they take the collars off," he said.

Turles shrugged. "We'll need some time to prepare. To get your strength up. By the time they choose us to fight, we'll be ready. Then we'll show them what Saiyans are truly capable of…" he said, pride shining in his eyes, for the first time in a long time.