Chapter 5

Bulma reluctantly backed away from the two Saiyans, knowing from all her experience that nothing she did could coerce them out of this battle. The two men faced each other like cocked battering rams, their eyes gleaming feverishly. Mouths and hands twitched with a barely contained excitement, and for the first time in her life, Bulma truly comprehended how inherently blood-thirsty the Saiyan race was.

The dragonballs,she thought desperately. We have to get to the lookout… She turned to jet back to the house when she ran smack dab into Master Roshi. His eyes were wide and staring.

"Master Roshi," she began frantically. "It's Goku. He's-"

"I sensed it," he said, all trace of humor completely gone from his voice. He iron-gripped her arm and turned abruptly, tugging her behind him. "We're not safe here."

"What about Krillin and Eighteen?" she asked.

As if in answer, she saw the two land down on the beach before her, staring in bewilderment at Goku and Vegeta. Roshi flung Bulma at Eighteen.

"We need to get out of here, kids," he said as he walked up to Krillin and turned so Krillin could grip his turtle shell. "Immediately. I doubt they'll be caring much about casualties once they get started."

"What's happening?" Krillin asked.

"We'll explain on the way!" Bulma yelled, clinging to Eighteen's neck. Eighteen, though confused, scooped her up with ease and lifted into the air. Krillin hooked his hands around Roshi's turtle shell and ascended as well. But they hovered, still irresistibly drawn to the face off below.

"Move it!" Roshi barked. Bulma felt the cold air sting her face and bare legs as her carrier powered up and sliced through the air at a skin-peeling speed.

"What's going on?" Krillin asked, and Bulma could see the worry in his face for Goku. Only he wasn't Goku any longer. She quickly searched for the wording that would be adequate for their dear friend's transformation.

"Goku's mal-aligned brain was popped back into place by his emotional suffering," she said.

"Huh?"

"Don't you remember Goku telling you about that head wound he got when he was a baby? How he went from violent and vicious to good-natured?"

Krillen frowned speculation at her. "Yeah…"

"Well, all this psychological trauma apparently fixed his brain, returning him to his Saiyan nature."

Eighteen looked down at her. "I thought the Saiyan temperament was due to their conditioning."

Bulma shook her head. "I've watched Vegeta struggle with his inner-demons for years," she said. "It's like trying to tame a wild predator. It can be done, but it's near impossible…" As the words came out of her mouth, Bulma's eyes watered suddenly as she finally comprehended to some extent how far Vegeta had come in battling his baser nature. She looked over her shoulder at the disappearing island behind them, and dread filled her.

Oh, Vegeta! She silently cried. Run, you arrogant fool! He won't spare your life this time!

"So you're saying that Goku is all of a sudden evil?" Krillin asked, as if unwilling to accept what she had so clearly laid out. She met his gaze, and pursed her lips. He apparently found what he was looking for, because she saw the brief flash of sadness cross his expression. Then it snapped right back into determination, and he sped up. Like a true Z fighter, she thought. Fight anguish with action.

Suddenly, the idea occurred to her just where Goku might go once he was through with Vegeta. "Krillin!" she reached her hand out to him. "Give me your phone."

He pulled it out of his shirt, and Eighteen positioned them closer so he could hand it to her. She grabbed it and looked at the number pad. Her fingers instantly went to dial Chi Chi's phone number, and stopped.

The woman would flip, and this was news that needed to fall on listening ears; someone levelheaded that wouldn't be blinded by emotions or denial. Grateful for her photographic memory, she dialed a different number instead. Piccolo's gruff voice answered.

"What do you want this time, Hercule!"

"Piccolo!" she said, surprised to hear her voice crack with emotion. "It's Bulma."

He was silent on the other end, but she knew he was listening.

"Listen to me. Goku has snapped…reverted back to his Saiyan self," she said. "He's fighting Vegeta right now, but," she had to swallow the lump in her throat as a horrible visual of Vegeta's defeat played out in her mind. "…but when he's done, he might come after you and Chi Chi."

There was a couple seconds of silence, and she waited patiently as the news sunk in. Finally Piccolo broke it, his voice low and serious.

"How bad…?"

She stifled a frenzying sob, the horror of what almost happened settling in now that the shock had faded. "He tried to rape me!" she hissed, and then cupped her hand to her mouth. Eighteen almost dropped her, and she could see Krillin swing his head in open appall at her last words.

Bulma continued. "I wouldn't put it past him to go after Gohan or Goten as well. The dragonballs are at the lookout and we're headed there right now to see if Shenlong can do something-"

A brittle crunch halted her words. She had wondered how long the phone would last in his undoubtedly tightening grip. Bulma exhaled deeply and turned the cell off. She hung her head in an effort to compose herself.

No one spoke for several seconds. Bulma imagined they were coping with the magnitude of Goku's transformation, after hearing about the sexual offense.

"What…" Master Roshi cleared his throat. "What are we going to wish for?"

Without taking her gaze off the passing earth below, Bulma muttered, "Something tangible. The dragon has no power over the human psyche."

A huge wave of crackling, electric air washed over them, and Bulma felt Eighteen's grip on her torso tighten. The night sky behind them lit up like day, and a deep bass whoom vibrated their eardrums.

"Well," said Eighteen dryly. "Looks like they're done exchanging pleasantries."

.

Piccolo let the splintered cell phone in his hand fall to the tile in metallic, needling pings. His breath whistled through his gritted teeth in irregular pants, a growl barely restrained in his throat. He was trembling. Never before had he felt such a heady mix of rage and fear. Rage at the thought of what the deranged Goku would do to his family, and fear that he wouldn't be able to stop him.

Gohan was at his side in moments. "What is it," he asked in a low, serious tone, no doubt recognizing the look on Piccolo's face.

Piccolo slowly turned and met his eyes. There was no way around it. Gohan had to know. "It's your father."

Gohan's brows lifted, his face a cocktail of relief and concern. "Is he okay? Has someone-"

"Gohan," Piccolo cut him off and faced the teenage boy, grabbing his shoulders. "Goku has…" The rest of the words got stuck in his throat.

"What is it?" Gohan asked, his alarm turning to panic.

"You have to protect your mother and Goten," he said firmly. "Your father has lost his sanity. He's become evil, Gohan."

"What?"

Piccolo didn't miss the moisture that gathered in the youth's eyes. Piccolo had no other way of phrasing it, so he locked stares with the lad, and frowned understanding at him until Gohan's face finally shifted from confused denial to horrified acceptance.

"When he's done fighting Vegeta, he'll probably come here. I want you to take your mother and brother far away-"

"I won't let him kill you!" Gohan cried suddenly, alarming Chi Chi in the next room. She came in, and stopped when she saw the looks on their faces.

"What's going on?" she asked.

Piccolo shook Gohan hard. "The only thing you can do for me is to protect them," he said. "Trust me. Please. We can't leave them undefended. Especially taking into consideration Goku's ability to instantly transmit himself."

"He'd…go after…mom?" he asked.

Piccolo felt his eye ridge draw tight in the center and he looked over to Chi Chi's distraught face and back at Gohan. The next words he whispered. "He already went after Bulma…" Piccolo found that he didn't have to say the word 'sexually'. Gohan's face revealed that he understood clearly. A tear trickled down the boy's cheek, and he bit his lip… Hard.

"Piccolo?" Chi Chi inquired in a quiet tone.

"Be strong, Gohan," Piccolo growled. "Kill him if you have to. Protect your lives, and your mother's virtue at all costs."

Gohan solemnly nodded, and Piccolo squeezed his shoulder in brief affection, grateful that he'd continued to train Gohan until he reached a third level.

"What the hell is going on here?" Chi Chi asked, her fear now masquerading as belligerence. In answer, Piccolo walked over to her, combed his fingers around the back of her head and passionately kissed her. The wooden spoon in her hand fell to the floor. Several seconds passed, and she slowly lifted her hands to hang off his forearms. When he pulled back she was winded and flushed, but no less confused. He locked her in his gaze.

"I love you," he whispered intensely, realizing how much he meant the words now that they finally made it past his tongue. Her eyes widened at the unanticipated declaration, but before her reaction could materialize into a voiced question, he released her and with a nod to Gohan exited out the front door…

…only to be stopped by a mud-coated four-year old boy. In one swift move, Piccolo scooped him up, and hugged the dirty little squirt to him. Goten giggled and returned the embrace, wrapping his tiny arms around Piccolo's thick neck. "Aaah, papa," he sighed in his little helium-pitched voice. It was a title he'd given Piccolo gladly after the wedding.

Piccolo's vision blurred by the water now standing in his eyes, and without further ado, he set the grinning boy down and shot up into the air towards an uninhabited valley several miles away. If the only thing his death accomplished was purchased time for Bulma to summon the eternal dragon, then it wouldn't be in vain.

As long as the crazed Saiyan stayed the hell away from Chi Chi…