"Come on…you can do it!"

"Goku...I can't find you…its too dark."

"You're ok, just take my hand."

"I'm tired…Goku."

"No, please just listen to me!"

"…"

"Chichi?"

"CHICHI!"

Goku was used to sitting bolt upright in terror as a way of greeting the midnight air. On this occasion however, his eyes merely parted in a calm flutter, meeting the dark starless sky of a cloudy midnight. He sat up, remembering that he had volunteered to keep watch for danger while the others slept, and tried to recall the dream he had been having. This was becoming increasingly difficult; the edges of the painting were becoming blurry, drop by drop that recollection escaped him, until barely anything remained.

All he could remember, sitting there with a blanket around him in the chilly autumn night was the strange tugging feeling in his throat, that stained tightness that normally preceded one bursting into tears. He woke up covered in tears sometimes, but never quite remembered why. He sighed.

"…It's not real; it's just your mind playing tricks."

The thought did not reassure Goku much, but all the same, he gathered up the blanket and walked back to the house. It was Vegeta's turn to watch for this 'White fang.' He thought about using instant transmission, but in the cool midnight air, it seemed a waste to lose out on the walk. As he trudged through the ploughed up ground and unkempt grass, he felt a strange presence; it felt like…eyes, all around him. Goku froze, halting his foot falls to allow for total silence.

He listened intently for something, anything at all. Goku's age had not addled his sense of hearing, and he defiantly still trusted in his sense of smell. He was sure that he would have caught wind of any dangerous animal that was about to attack, but he could only smell the cool night air and his own dusty clothes.

Goku gave himself a little shake, and continued towards the house. He never usually permitted himself to get so paranoid; it was probably just a fox or something. This though persisted until just before his hand closed on the banister leading to his front door, when a crossbow bolt narrowly missed his head and stuck in the side of the rickety oak front door.

The pointed projectile had merely skimmed the side of Goku's face before passing him, and he could tell that it was a warning shot. The startled old man turned around slowly and saw who had fired at him. A masked man was standing in the clearing behind Goku, his hands steady and his and his hidden eyes focused on his target. There was a brief moment where the pair simply stared each other down, each waiting for the other to blink or react in some way.

Finally, the white fang operative raised his hand and gestured Goku to follow him wordlessly, before raising his finger to his lips in further instruction, for silence. Goku thought it was pretty cocky for him to face him alone, he was sure he had back up and was probably leading him into a trap. But both Vegeta and those kids were asleep, and he may not be able to wake them up in time. No, it fell to him to take the risk.

The stranger slowly reversed back into the woods, with Goku in pursuit. They walked at a measured pace, stepping carefully around the radishes, but with a purpose. Their path led to a clearing just beyond the tree line; not the work of him or Vegeta, the edges were shabby and uneven, leaving a surplus of crevices for hiding places. At this unbidden realisation, three masked men appeared from behind tree trunks and joined their companion. Their full expressions were unreadable, but there was no question about their toothy triumphant smiles. The man holding the crossbow stayed silent as the others began to talk, his face dark and mysterious.

"Thanks' for joining us Son Goku; we wanted to ask about you and your little residence."

"What do you people want?" Goku's voice did not sound aggressive, but his face congealed into a hard, suspicious glare, a glare that made the member close his mouth and swallow hard, rather than carry on. His friend took over for him.

"We're looking for two girls, a short red head with a scythe and a black haired cat faunas, you seen 'em?"

"We have guests, but I can't exactly remember if they fit such a description." Goku was scratching his forehead and hunching over slightly, looking a very tired and decrepit old man. The three members all moved forward, in an apparent attempt to look intimidating. Goku smiled to himself.

"Well, we'll be the judge of that. Take us too them." The middle one said, and attempted to push Goku forward toward his home, but his hand might have struck a mountain for all the good it did. Goku stood firm and spoke in a soft measured tone of voice.

"There will be no need for any more of that. They're asleep; it would be nasty to wake them up this late. Why don't you come back tomorrow?" The three men all took one look at each other before drawing their weapons. Goku found a crossbow in his face for the second time that evening.

"Get out of the way, old man." The white fang member on the left snapped, his sword pointed straight at Goku's heart. "We don't take kindly to human interference."

As the sword poked threateningly against his chest, and the crossbow clinked and strained with the built up pressure of the mechanism, a strange nothing fell over Goku. He did not really understand what he was feeling, it seemed…familiar. He looked at the weapons and he heard the threats, and a strange heat spread through his body. What was this warm familiar feeling flooding his body, a feeling so familiar that he could almost taste it?

"Human?"

A second jab with the sword; harder this time, brought the answer to the forefront of Goku's mind. He realised what it was that he had been feeling ever since the warning shot. It bubbled through his veins and made his mind work its magic. He had started unconsciously sizing up the armed faunus and had begun to make plans to detain them in spite of himself.

'Four of them…three will attack head on…one will cover them…take him out first…'

Goku could hardly believe what he was thinking, those days were over, and he hadn't fought a human being for years. All the same, his body was warm and his stomach was full. He felt stronger than usual whilst staring down these trouble makers, looking to destroy his home and harm his guests, and he acknowledged the feeling inside him.

It was hatred, he knew that now, he hated these people; he hated what they were going to do if he didn't stop them. The thought of those girls getting attacked in their sleep made his hand close, his knuckles bulging like bolts. The white fang members were done waiting; the guy who had been jabbing Goku's chest had raised it above his head and; smiling cruelly, brought it swinging down towards Goku's neck.

There was a loud clang and snap. The sound of snapping metal echoed through the trees. A brief silence was followed by harsh shouts of disbelief. The faunus who had swung at Goku was now lying on the floor, knocked on his ass by the force that had turned his claymore into a useless, bladeless hilt. The other two with hand to hand weapons were looking around in wild surprise, looking from their fallen ally to every corner of the clearing, searching for the old timer.

The blanket which he had been warming himself inside now lay useless on the floor, a fat crossbow bolt lodged in it. For a moment, they thought that this was the old guy's dead body, crumpled and broken. But this did not explain what had happened to the sword. Only when they looked up did they see him again. Goku had appeared quite suddenly…in mid-air. The located old man dwelled above their heads, standing as if on an invisible platform, a steel blade clutched in his hand.

The three remaining members gawked up at him in disbelief. Cloak-less now, Goku's true form was revealed to the attackers. His usual orange gi had long since perished to time, in its place; he wore a black tank top and dark blue denim pants. The only part of his old uniform that was still usable were his old boots, now faded from blue to grey but still sturdy and viable for combat. Turning over in mid-air, Goku returned to the ground, smiling from ear to ear. In his invigorated state; he seemed to glow, and as the faunus stared at his rippling muscles and adept martial arts discipline, the description was not so metaphorical.

In his excitement, Goku had summoned up his remaining energy. He felt it coarse through him like a gale force, strengthening his muscles and sharpening his senses. For the briefest of moments, he had completely forgotten why he had ever stopped fighting. This was easy, this was wonderful! But the reality of the three remaining assailants brought him back to his focus. Assuming a stance, he prepared to engage in grounded combat. The faunus all looked at each other.

"Spritely for his age isn't he?" Said the guy in the middle, as he delicately caressed the point of an eight inch bowie knife, the gesture was slightly diminished by his shaking hands. The man on the left laughed rather pathetically, but the marksman said nothing. He had already fitted another bolt into his weapon and held it aloft, trying hard not to blink. Goku's hand loosened a fraction, allowing the broken sword blade to slide to the floor. He brought his foot down on it, and the forged steel shattered.

He decided that he was done defending himself; he was itching to throw a punch, it had been far too long. He charged forward, allowing his energy to flair again, and flew at the white fang member holding the knife. The faunus panicked and raised his arms to his face convulsively. Goku's hard punch smashed through this poorly maintained guard, aura be forgotten. He flew back, taken clean off of his feet by the force of the attack, and landed with a clatter on top of the other prone faunus.

He managed to dodge as the third assailant came at him, swinging a metal re-enforced club right at Goku's head. The force of the swing threw him off balance and Goku took advantage of the miss. Bringing his shin into contact with the only foot supporting the attacker, Goku performed a sweeping kick, the force of which cut pushed the legs out from under him and causing the faunus to over balance. Goku spun in mid-air and struck him again on the back with his foot, causing him to crash in a heap with the other two.

Goku stuck the landing with one handed hand stand, before flipping over onto his feet and straightening back up, looking straight at the fourth man, who was pointing his weapon at him yet again. His former composure finally starting to drop, his arms shook as the masked man aimed his crossbow. Goku dropped his guard and started to speak, he knew that this would not work, but he could not continue in good conscience if he didn't try.

"I think you understand now; your friends are alive, but they'll need medical attention. I suggest taking them back to where ever you came from."

The white fang member grimaced in fury and changed his aim; he pointed his crossbow at a nearby tree and pulled the trigger. It was not until the trigger had been pulled that Goku realised what he had done. The instant the bolt had been fired, it had set itself ablaze. As soon as it hit the large oak, the leaves and top most boughs crackled into flame. This threw Goku off; he turned to the burning tree and tightened his fists. He knew that the fire would spread if he did not put it out. The starter of the fire had already started to flee, but Goku had more important things to worry about.

Goku charged at the tree and willed his energy to strengthen him again. Slamming into the trunk, he dug his fingers into it as hard as he could and pulled up. The tree's roots resisted, but almost instantly broke free of the long grassed earth, earth and bits of twigs flying left and right. Holding it with one arm was a little difficult, but there was nothing else for it. Straining to keep the tree truck straight; so that it did not touch any others to spread the flames, Goku raised his hand to his forehead and touched it.

It had been a while since he had used the instant transmission technique while holding something this heavy, but it seemed to have worked well enough. While Goku's intention was to appear over the ocean, he had instead appeared within it. Despite the blunder, the fire was long extinguished and the threat was dealt with. There was a snap, and he was back in the forest, the extinguished tree clasped in his hands. Goku allowed his energy to give out and the tree fell to the undergrowth with a loud crash. The adrenaline still pumping through his veins still made Goku's chest rise and fall like a piston, not from a desire to stop and rest but to keep going.

He looked around and saw that the three men on the ground had vanished, along with the trigger happy fourth. Goku contemplated giving chase, but a rough voice he knew too well sounded off from behind him. Light was creeping over the tree line, casting two long shadows over the clearing.

"So you finally got the old itch back, huh?"

Vegeta was standing with the entrance of the clearing just behind him. He stood in his familiar grey cotton shirt and brown pants, his arms folded beneath a mocking smile. An odd shame flooded over Goku, he averted his eyes from Vegeta's triumphant expression. He felt terrible about what had just happened. His stare made Goku feel that he had committed a terrible crime.

"The fourth one took his friends...they'll come back with re-enforcements-"

"Don't change the subject, clown!" Vegeta snapped as he cut across Goku, his bad temper starting to flair with impatience. "I saw you take on those amateurs. I saw your face; you were in your element, weren't you!?"

The words struck Goku like freezing rain fall, even colder that the sea water that clung to his clothes and hair, and the boiling feeling of guilt began to steam inside him. In his anger, he managed to resume eye contact with the short angry visitor.

"I did what was unavoidable. I...don't like to fight people anymore-"

A flash of golden light flew past Goku's face and flew into the sky behind him. The sudden and unprovoked attack seemed to shock Goku into paralysis. He stared back at Vegeta, whose smile had returned, as he gazed back at the old man with his hand still raised. They stared at each other with vastly different hopes and intentions in their hearts.

"Vegeta" Goku raised his own hand in apprehension and he spoke in the most serious voice he could muster. "Stop. I know what you're trying to do, and it's not gonna work."

"Make me stop."

"I don't see the point anymore, you hear!? I don't like fighting!"

There was a long pause as Goku and Vegeta looked at each other, trying to see past the grim faces and fiery eyes, trying to understand one another, like they had so long ago.

"Then, you will die." Vegeta gained that sadistic smile that only came at the thought of honour killing someone.

"Don't do this." But the last ditch plea fell on deaf ears.

"If you don't like fighting…this won't take long." Vegeta's smile broadened as he sent another energy wave straight at Goku's face. He barely had time to use instant transmission to get behind Vegeta. I his rage, Goku did not see the hypocrisy in his actions, but he did not care. He raised his fist and threw it at the back of Vegeta's head.

"It never meant anything to me!"

For an instant, it was like nothing had changed, he was still the superior of the two of them. He knew he could beat Vegeta, and that his point would be brought across by defeating him at his own game. Maybe this would have happened back in his glory days, but now he was an out of practice old man fighting his long standing rival whom was at the height of his game. Vegeta was so fast that Goku didn't even manage to see his turn around. The only indication that he got was a vice like grip closing around his fist, and a cart horse striking his chest.

Goku's knees buckled from the force of the impact, he would have been blown back by it if his fist wasn't being crushed within Vegeta's. Slowly, he attempted to raise his head, but the fist in his gut twisted and forced him back down with pain. Vegeta's smile had vanished; Goku's remark seemed to have inspired the attack that had winded him. The disgusted sneer had returned, with prejudice.

"Liar." Vegeta spat and twisted his body around, pulling Goku's arm over his shoulder. "I don't... BUY IT!" Vegeta launched Goku over his shoulder; he went flying across the clearing before making contact with the dirt.

He skidded across the clearing leaving a large dust cloud behind him. He made a weak attempt to land on his feet, but his winded state had robbed him of whatever strength that had resurged. He skidded to a halt at the other side of the clearing. Goku only managed to raise his eyes to where Vegeta was standing. His gaze flew over a small puddle of blood from where the ground had cut at his exposed torso.

"Try convincing yourself; before you try and convince me, Kakarot!"

Goku did not have the air in his lungs to respond, he continued to writhe on the ground, reeling from the pain and confusion. But he could not feign ignorance as to why Vegeta had said this; it was after all, the exact thing that he had told Vegeta when he had been tempted back to his old ways...so many years ago... A boot planted itself firmly on Goku's chest, and crushed what little wind the old man had left. Vegeta looked down at the defeated old fool with a look of interest coupled with disgust.

"Look at you...and you are so arrogant as to call yourself a Saiyan."

His mind drifted back to when he had first fought Kakarot, how confident he had looked in his prime. How his fists had curled as he got into that low stance and how he, Vegeta, prince of the mightiest warrior race in the universe...had lost in a fair fight to a commoner. That fact made the mongrel has-been at his feet look all the more indefensible. He spat, and removed his foot from Goku's chest, but not before pressing down extra hard for a few moments to make a final point.

"Lie to yourself all you want, but when those war hungry zoo animals get here... you're on your own." Vegeta's eyes burned into Goku's, a look that made it clear that he spoke the truth. Goku blinked, and Vegeta's foot, as well as the rest of him, had vanished into thin air.