~*~*~*~
After realizing that Usagi had only faked being hurt by his Kamehameha wave, that she had only planned to run away, Goku rushed directly home. He would have to regroup his thoughts there, where he could break the news to Chi-Chi. He would not have gone home first had it not been for the fact that he couldn't feel his daughter's energy level anywhere. It had just suddenly disappeared, or more realistically, she had lowered it so much that it could no longer be detectable. In anyway it didn't matter. He was angry just the same. He had won the battle fair and square, and she had cheated him out of his win.
With the broach in his possession, he teleported himself home. Arriving in the family room, he could hear the soft sobs of his wife in the neighboring room. He wasn't sure how he wanted to tell her what happened, but he knew the result no matter how it would be done so it didn't matter, really. She would get angry and cry at the same time, causing herself to be in a fret of confusion. She wouldn't know whether to feel angry or sad. She would most likely be hysterical until the child was brought back home, and then her mood would chance. Usagi would be home, safe in the arms of her parents, which meant there would be no need to worry, only punish.
Goku had already stuffed the broach into his pocket before he left the woods and kept his hand gripped firmly around it to make sure it wouldn't be lost. He hadn't time to examine it too much in the woods, but once he found Usagi he would take a better look at it and see if Dende knew anything about it.
"Chi-Chi?" He called for his wife as he turned to the kitchen. There, he found her with her head plastered to the table.
Chi-Chi slowly lifted up her head. Had it not been for the fact that she wanted to see how much damage the two Saiyans had caused each other she would have had no will to even look at them. She was angry with both of them at the moment. Usagi for her attitude and Goku for leaving to fight. During their entire fight she had felt their power levels. She knew how hard they were fighting. But then again, she also knew a fight was almost inevitable with the way Usagi was talking.
With her eyes completely red and her face soaked with tears, she looked at her husband. His cloths were completely destroyed and what was left of them were stained with blood. She looked up to his face only to notice that the cut on his mouth had been torn open even further and was already beginning to form a bruise. "Where is she?"
Goku sighed as he dropped his head and slowly began to enter the room. He hated to have to tell her that Usagi had left, and was missing, that he couldn't detect any of her energy. It would be hard to locate her now, especially since she didn't want to be found. She had already made that quite clear.
He walked to the table and pulled out a chair so he could sit directly in front of his wife. He kept silent until he finally decided to look back into her eyes. "Chi-Chi, we have to talk..."
Chi-Chi's heart began to race in anticipation of what he might say. As she looked toward the doorway of the kitchen, she had a feeling of what he was going to say. Usagi had not come into the room with Goku dragging her along. She hadn't even heard him telling her to go to her room, which meant she was either knocked out, or too hurt to do anything, or she wasn't there. "Goku..." Like a drone, she cautiously turned back to her husband. "I'm going to ask you this once, and I want a straight forward answer. Where...Is...My... Daughter?"
Goku gulped as he lowered his head again, but still looked her in the eyes. He didn't like the sound of her coarse tone. He knew her habits of flying off the ball at the slightest thing wrong, and this was more than something small. This was huge. Not only would Usagi get it for leaving and acting the way she had, but he would surely hear it for "allowing" her too. "That's what we need to talk about."
Chi-Chi frowned as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. She set aside her stress for just a moment and suddenly became enraged at the thought of what Goku may have done to Usagi. "I'm listening."
Goku nervously put his arms up on the tabletop. "We fought a bet."
Chi-Chi nodded as if she were interested. She wasn't sure she was going to like what he was going to say next. And she wasn't even sure she wanted to ask what was on her mind for she was afraid of what kind of answer she would receive. "What kind of bet?"
Goku didn't take his eyes away from Chi-Chi, although he wanted to. "If I won, she would come back home, but if she did, she would leave and we wouldn't try to stop her."
Well, that just about did it for Chi-Chi. Before she knew it, she was on her feet and leaning over the table with her fists waving in front of Goku's bruised face. "WHAT?! What the HELL were you thinking? How could you go along with such a stupid bet?! You would have had to let her LEAVE if she won! What's WRONG with you?!"
Goku backed his head back to get away from his wife, who was already raising her power level. He knew it was a stupid bet, but it had been the only way that he knew of to get her to shut up for a while and deal with her current living position. "Hey! It was the only thing I could think of!"
Chi-Chi growled as she crawled up onto the table and pressed her forehead against her husband's. She knew he wouldn't let her win, which meant he would have had to have used more power than she did, and from what she felt, he did. "I'm warning you, if you DARE hurt MY child...."
Goku frowned as he pulled away from his wife and stood up. "Watch it, Chi-Chi! I would NEVER do anything that would hurt Usagi THAT bad. I only hurt her enough to keep her in line. It was the only thing that would shut her up from her rants. You should have heard some of the crap that was coming out of her mouth!"
Chi-Chi growled louder as she sat up, now on her knees on top of the table and glaring into the eyes of Goku. "Don't you think you can fool me, mister!"
Goku narrowed his eyes and let out a loud growl. "What the hell are you talking about, Chi-Chi?"
Chi-Chi swung her legs over the edge of the table and hoped off. She walked to Goku and continued to glare up at him. "I felt you! You used too much power on her! You probably broke all the bones in her little body, didn't you... DIDN'T YOU!?"
Goku violently pushed Chi-Chi away with growing anger. It was true, he had used too much power against her. Her comments actually WERE getting to him, especially the one about how she didn't want him for a father. But the comments that were meant to hurt him and tear him down, had only fed his want to beat her and take her home for Chi-Chi to deal with.
He had nothing further to say to his wife except what actually happened. "I would NEVER intentionally do that to her and you know that!"
Chi-Chi arrogantly smirked. She had been proven right, in her eyes at least. "Ah-ha! So you DID break her!"
Out of pure anger, Goku slammed his fist into the wall. He didn't understand Chi-Chi at all. Here he was, trying to explain what happened and he was getting yelled out. She should have been angry with Usagi, not him. "I DID NOT! For your information, YOUR daughter ..."
Chi-Chi actually dropped her frown for a split second and replaced it with a look of confusion. Where had that come from? Why had he referred to Usagi as only HER daughter, and not his? "MY daughter? So she's ONLY my daughter now?"
Goku pulled his fist out of the wall, which now had a nice indentation in it. "Oh didn't I tell you? The little brat has disowned me as her father. I have no daughter..." He replied sarcastically.
Chi-Chi once again found herself frowning at the answer she received from her husband. This time, it wasn't at him. This time, she was angry with her daughter. She had gone too far this time. "Oh really?" She asked with a hint of her own sarcasm.
Goku nodded. He was glad that Chi-Chi had calmed down again, somewhat. "There's more."
Chi-Chi groaned as she walked closer to her husband. Her initial anger had already subsided, now she was being driven by her secondary anger systems. She was still angry that Goku would have actually fought with their daughter and hurt her, but after hearing what Usagi said to him, she knew she would have done the same thing. "...Go on..."
Goku, again, nodded and complied. "After I beat her, I took the broach from her." He explained as he reached into his pocket and pulled out Usagi's stolen treasure. "I took a moment to look at it, and the next thing I knew, she was gone."
Chi-Chi's eyes widened and were filled with rage at once. "What?! You let Usagi go!?"
Goku grinned. How had he known that she would react like that? "Hey! I didn't know she was going to leave."
Chi-Chi frowned. "Well you took your eyes off her! What did you think she was going to do? Just sit there and wait for you to drag her back here where she would be punished?"
Goku sighed. He knew that was why Usagi had tricked him in the first place. He knew that she knew that he was going to win, and so she took off. "She had already lost. She gave up on my last attack. She was on the ground and looked pretty bad. I didn't think she could move at all." He paused as he thought back to when he first saw her after his attack. Her body looked so limp, so helpless. The first thing that ran through his mind was the worry that had had damaged her too much. But, what added more to his stress was the fact that she had told him that she hated him over and over again. That had made his heart feel as if it were being mercilessly ripped out of his chest by the grim-reaper himself. That was probably the worst thing that a father could ever hear from his daughter. "She left, and now I can't feel her."
Chi-Chi sighed as she turned away from her husband. Now, her anger was leaving her body and she all of a sudden felt overcome by stress and grief. She slowly walked to the table and sat down in the sat Goku had previously been sitting in. "She's gone..." She whispered to herself, unable to believe her own words.
Goku dropped his frown and walked behind his wife. His own eyes were drooping with sadness. "We'll find her. She'll show up." He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently began to rub them. "I promise I'll find her."
Chi-Chi sniffled as she closed her eyes. She thought back to that morning. Everything had been normal. Usagi had been a happy, loving daughter. But now, she was a rebel who hated her parents. What had happened to her? "I want my baby back."
Goku sighed. As mad at her as he was, he wanted her back too. "I know."
Chi-Chi shook her head with tears in her eyes. "No, that's not it. I don't just want HER back, I want MY baby back, mentally. I don't want a Usagi who hates us."
Goku said nothing. He knew that, at that point, it was impossible to get THEIR Usagi back. She had made it all to clear that she had no desire to live with them, or even look at them. What had gone wrong? Were they really THAT bad of parents? This had been the first child that they both raised together without having any interruption. With Gohan, he had left early, and with Goten, he hadn't been there for the first years of his life. But Usagi, he had been there the entire time, and he had enjoyed it. But having both himself and Chi-Chi there to raise her, and both with contrasting ideas on raising children, had they really messed her up that badly? No. He refused to believe that. Usagi loved her parents, or so she appeared to over the past twelve years.
Chi-Chi wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Go find her, Goku."
Goku lowered his head even further as he looked at the back of his wife's head. Her hair was a mess from the night's uproar. "I can't."
Chi-Chi frowned. She wouldn't take that for an answer. "Go and find her. Please, Goku. Just look. Search. I don't care where you go, just FIND her."
Goku kept silent. He knew that the chances of finding Usagi were low. She had always had a lower power level than everyone else when she wasn't trying to raise it or be felt. Of course, even then he would still be able to feel her, slightly. Now, it was as if she wasn't even moving or doing anything. She had all of a sudden just disappeared.
He didn't know what to tell her. Of course he knew he wouldn't be able to find her, but that answer wasn't good enough for a worried mother. He would have to try anyway. But, what would happen if he did find her? He would have to carry her home kicking and screaming. And even then she would probably try to use her power to get away from him and he would have to power up just to keep her in line. Then, when she came home, Chi-Chi would be in danger of being hurt, not just mentally but physically as well. He wondered if there was anything he could do to stop her from using her power, but realistically, there wasn't.
As he stood there, Goku knew that there was really only one thing he could do. He would have to comply with his wife's wishes. To keep her from going insane, he would have to go and search for Usagi. "Alright, Chi-Chi, I'll go." He shifted his eyes up to the clock, which read that it was already a quarter to eight. He wondered what Usagi was doing at the moment.
~*~*~
~~Back Alley~~
It was already eight thirty at night and Usagi, still, was nowhere to be found. The sun had already set long ago, but the night was still young in the eyes of the rowdy teenagers downtown. Clubs were beginning to open, which drew young people down. The business men and women had long since vacated the area as it was growing too loud and crowded.
A combination of loud music from the building nearby and a lone gunshot nearby caused a loud thump to arise from inside a large, metal garbage bin. Though it went unheard by the people who were chasing one another down the narrow sidewalk.
Usagi grabbed her head where she had just hit it. She opened her eyes, only to see nothing. She was surrounded by complete and utter dark. But she could hear plenty. The loud music from the building next door seemed to be amplified by the metal walls that surrounded her.
It was safe to say her head throb with immense pain, not to mention her back was completely stiff from falling on the hard concrete. That added with the beating she had received the day before completely topped off her pain factor. She didn't know if it was possible to feel anymore pain than she already was.
Without saying a word, she put her hands to her sides and slowly began to try and push herself up. But things didn't go according to plan. She found that her hands only pushed throw whatever she was sitting on. It felt gooey, but could have had some sticky paper added into it as well. She took a quick sniff only to react by plugging her nose from a rancid smell. It was at that moment that she realized exactly where she had been put.
Usagi leaned onto her back and brought her feet up into the air to kick the lid open with. Much to her dislike, the lid was heavier than she had planed on it being. No bother though. She could handle it. She pulled her legs back for another kick, this time adding in some extra energy with it. The lid flew wide open and hit against the brick building behind it. Usagi then proceeded to hop out, only to feel a huge crack in her back. "Ouch!" She cried out in an excess of pain. She hadn't expected that to hurt so badly.
Usagi grabbed her back and hunched over to try and make the pain disappear. Her thoughts were soon diverted to the color of the sky, though. It was pitch black, the color of night. Only the artificial lighting of electricity lit up the area. She was going to be late getting home. Her mother would freak for sure. "Where am I?" She curiously, and nervously, looked around. Her eyes made their way up to a pink neon sign that spelled out the word "Beer". She figured it was a bar, a place she had always been told to stay away from because there were always so many drunk people hanging out at them.
Her attention was soon diverted to the opening of a back door. She watched as a scruffy looking man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth emptied a bucket of liquid into a stack of boxes next to the door. She took a step back when he looked up at her with a frown.
The man took the cigarette out of his mouth and stood tall. "Hey kid! What are you doin back here! Scat!"
Usagi took no time to argue. She had no problem with getting out of there. Forgetting all about her pain, she moved her legs fast enough to run out of the alley at the speed of a normal child. Now, she found herself on the sidewalk of a main street of downtown. There were people everywhere, mostly young. There were signs everywhere lit with bright colors. This was the district where two of the major clubs in town were, which only added to attracting more people.
Usagi was actually intrigued by the activity around her. She had never seen downtown at night. Her parents had never taken her and her mother never allowed her to go alone. But now, seeing it for the first time, she was amazed at the action. Across the street there were two men fighting, a lady wearing almost no clothing at all was standing nearby. At that point, Usagi didn't understand what they were fighting over, though to everyone else, it was quite obvious. Usagi was almost drawn to this fight. She had heard it from Makoto that men do this at night, though she had never been able to witness it until now. And to tell the truth, she found it rather humorous.
She soon grew tired of the spectacle, though. All it was, was two men throwing each other onto the ground with no real tactics. There wasn't even much punching. Usagi never could understand how people could be so amazed by such boring fights. She turned away from the fight and began to make her way down the street. Although she knew that she was meant to be home, it didn't really matter anymore. She had already been so late, even though she didn't know exactly what time it was. It was dark, that's all she knew. And she was supposed to be home before dark, at the latest. She would just have to explain to her parents what happened. She was attacked again.
Usagi kept herself on alert as she made her way down the street. She didn't want to offend anyone with any strange looks, but she also wanted to see all the action. She was in complete awe. At the end of the block, she saw a group of motorcycles parked in front of a building. Curious, she decided to inspect them. So, she bobbed down to the end of the block and did just that.
The light that bounced off of them caused them to shine brightly in her eyes. "Awesome..." She rubbed her hands over the smooth, shining metal with a wide grin. For a second or two, she wondered what it would be like to ride one of these. Probably not as thrilling as flying yourself to places. She looked up only to be faced with a group of angry men, all of whom were dressed in black.
One of the men stepped out from the group. He was the oldest, and looked to be the leader of the group with the way he held himself compared to the rest of the men in the group. "Well now what do we have here?" The man chuckled when Usagi turned her head from side to side to see if there was anyone else that he could have been talking to besides her. "Kid, there ain't no one else around."
Usagi gulped as she stopped looking around and looked up into the face of the stranger. The biker crossed his arms as he stepped down from the curb, keeping his eye on Usagi, and especially on her hand which just happened to be on HIS bike. "Shouldn't you be in bed, kid?"
Usagi shook her head. She wished she hadn't come here. She hadn't wanted to start trouble. She wasn't afraid of these guys, but yet again, she didn't want to have to do anything to them if they tried something. "No."
The biker frowned as he reached out and grabbed Usagi by the arm and threw her back to his buddies. "Ain't nobody gonna touch MY bike 'cept me."
Usagi said nothing in reply. She didn't really care what this guy said, nor did she care how he said it. He was a nobody, and she would be on her way now. But, as soon as she took a step forward, one of the men reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. With a frown, she looked back. "Hey!"
The young man who had grabbed her looked at her with a very perverse expression. "Where do you think you're going, girl?"
The leader of the pack laughed as he sat on his bike. "Looks like you picked yourself a good one, bud."
The young man eyed Usagi with a smile. He picked her up and put her over his shoulder. "Nice and young, jes' the way I like em'."
Usagi, not knowing what in the hell is the guy was thinking, pounded her fists into the man's back. But her stiffening muscles pulsated with pain, causing her fists to do no damage. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!? Let me go! You'll be sorry if you don't!"
The main biker laughed even harder as he looked back to his comrade. "She's a frisky one."
The younger man mounted his bike, while keeping a firm hold on Usagi. She had a pretty hard hit for being so young, but he could take it. He was tough enough. "The friskier, the better." He replied with an evil laugh.
Usagi was about to raise her power level when she was stopped by a familiar and comforting voice. "Let her go, NOW!"
The two men, along with the rest of the group who were mounting their own bikes, turned their heads back to the man who had just called out to them. Two other men pulled out a pair of metal bats, ready for combat. This girl was theirs, and nobody else's.
The main biker pulled off his glasses which he had just put on and dismounted his bike. He glared at the newcomer, who was dressed in an outrageously orange outfit. "And who the hell are you?"
"Goku, Son Goku."
Usagi, who was facing the wrong way to see her father, smiled with joy. She couldn't remember any other time she had been so happy to hear his voice. "Daddy!"
Goku frowned even harder. So NOW she wanted to acknowledge him as her father. Only when in need of help. She was only lucky that he wasn't full of resentment toward her instead of love otherwise he would have just walked away and let her deal with these thugs herself. "Let the girl go."
The young man who held Usagi over his shoulder frowned. "So, you're the kid's father?" He glanced back at the struggling Usagi with a frown. He hadn't expected the girl's father to be so near. This would really put a hamper on his fun for the night. He looked back up at Goku with a frown. "You can't have her. She's ours now."
Goku growled as he stepped closer, only to be met with the two thugs with bats. He looked at them as if they meant nothing, which they really didn't. "Give...her..."
The older man stepped closer to Goku as if he had something to protect. "Look old man, you want her, come and get her."
Goku grinned. This guy didn't know what he was getting himself into. You should never say something like that to an angry father, let alone a Saiyan. Goku knew full well what would happen if Usagi let herself be taken away by these guys. He knew what these kind of people did to young girls. That was why he and Chi-Chi didn't really want her downtown alone, even though she could defend herself. They didn't want her exposed to this kind of crap. "Gladly." With that, he ran to the two men with the bats and jumped up on them to use them as boosts. Once past them, he was face to face with the man who held his daughter. But he wasn't through with the men with the bats. They came back to more, and Goku was more than ready. He turned around in a flash and performed a quick roundhouse kick that took not just the two men with bats out, but the man with his daughter as well.
Usagi fell to the ground once again with a thud. But she didn't much care. She was freed without having to hurt herself by raising her power again. She pushed herself away from the fallen biker and kicked him in the shoulder to get her revenge as well. But her main concern was her father. She looked up to him with a wide smile of thanks, only to receive a hateful glare.
The two Saiyans' attentions were quickly diverted to the rest of the gang. The leader took one look at Goku and became frightened. He hadn't expected Goku to be so strong, nor did he expect him to be so fast. "Shit! Let's get outta here boys!"
Goku allowed the group to leave. He was too tired to do anything. He had been emotionally worn and had no desire to chase them down and bring justice to them. He had too many other things on his mind. For one thing, he had to get the broach to Dende's, but he couldn't leave Usagi alone at home with her mother. She would either leave again, or she would hurt her mother and THEN leave. He couldn't have that. He would have to watch her every move.
He walked to his daughter and held out his hand for her to grab. Although he was angry with her, he wouldn't treat her like crap. He didn't want to show her that it was ok to treat others badly when they were mad at each other, even though she had said some pretty harsh things to him when they were fighting and he could have easily treated her badly.
Usagi, fearing that her father was angry at her for being downtown alone at such an hour, reached up and allowed herself to be helped up by him. "Daddy I'm sorr..."
Goku put his hand up to hush his daughter. No apology would penetrate his head at that point. He didn't even want to talk about it with her at the moment. "Shut up."
Usagi did just that, though with tears in her eyes. She didn't understand what brought about that sudden anger. Whenever she had broken the rules before, he had always listened to her apologies and accepted them. But now, he told her to 'shut up'?
Goku glared down at his daughter. She was playing stupid again, like she had before things had really gotten ugly at home. Well, this time he wouldn't fall for it. She was only trying to get out of trouble by being cute, but he wouldn't have it. He knew better than to believe her. He didn't let go of her hand once she was up to her feet. Instead, he pulled her closer to him.
Usagi looked up to him in confusion as she tried to rip her hand free from his grip. He was acting strange, and glaring at her, which was something that made her feel truly uncomfortable. With his free hand, Goku hit his daughter in the back of the neck with a strong force, causing her eyes to roll into their sockets as she lost all consciousness.
Goku picked up his daughter and threw her over his shoulder. He took a look around to make sure no one had seen what he had just done, which no one had. Everyone was too busy with what they were doing, with their own lives, to worry about what some other person was doing with their children. Satisfied that no one had seen what had just happened, he teleported away to Dende's.
~*~*~
Dende was standing on the edge of his lookout when Goku arrived. He had been there almost all day, well, ever since Goku had come to him and asked about the broach. Nothing strange had happened, as far as he could see. Nothing was really attacked. There hadn't really been any uproar of people getting hurt by attacks. Everything seemed to be normal up until about three in the after noon when he all of a sudden got the feeling that something was off. Something wasn't normal. But he couldn't justify his feeling. There was NOTHING wrong with the Earth. There was no one strange lurking about. And so he stayed there all night and watched over the Earth like a good little God.
It wasn't long before Goku arrived with Usagi over his shoulder. He appeared at the side of Dende, for he teleported to Dende's power. Dende didn't even flinch at the surprise of the warrior appearing. He had watched the battle between the girl and her father. He knew that there was trouble between them, he just didn't know what. He didn't hear any of what they were saying, but, for Goku to have used so much power against Usagi, it must have been something bad.
Dende turned up to Goku and noticed the child draped over his shoulders. "Goku, what in the world happened down there?"
Remembering back to his fight that day with a frown, Goku pulled Usagi down from his shoulder and placed her gently on the ground to lie there by herself. "Usagi's gone mad?"
Dende opened his eyes wider. "Literally?"
Goku shrugged. "I don't know what I mean by that, but just know, she's gone mad. She's a fireball of hatred all of a sudden. She's already disowned me."
Dende frowned. "That's awful."
Goku nodded as he looked down at his daughter, who he had his foot on. If she woke up in the near future, he didn't want her trying to escape. If she were to teleport, she would take him with her. If she were to just try to get up in general, he would stop her. She would stay on the ground until HE was finished here. "Her mother and I are pretty angry with her alright." He looked back up as he dug into his pocket. "But that's not why I'm here." He pulled out his daughter's broach and held it out for Dende to look at. "Here's the broach."
Dende smiled as he reached out and grabbed the item. He had been waiting all day for Goku to bring it to him so he could look at it. "Great." He brought it up to his face for examination. "It looks really old, maybe hundreds of years old."
Goku frowned. "It's an antique?"
Dende nodded. "Definitely. Where did she get it?"
Goku shrugged with a growing frown. Maybe Usagi wasn't the perfect daughter all along. Maybe she was just tricking him and Chi-Chi all along. Maybe she was starting to turn sour the year before, or maybe earlier. Who could tell? "She said it was a gift from someone, but she would say who exactly. But I doubt it now. With her attitude today, I doubt she even got permission to take it."
Dende looked up to Goku in shock. "Are you saying she stole it?"
Goku, again, found himself shrugging. "I don't know, really. But she wouldn't let me see it, and then she wouldn't tell me what it was. She may have thought that I would know who it belonged to and would yell at her for having it..." Goku couldn't imagine that being so. He wasn't even sure if Usagi would actually be dumb enough to steal something, of course, he also thought he'd never see the day when she challenged him to a fight and tried to hurt him.
Dende frowned. He had never seen anyone that Goku knew holding a broach like this, of course, maybe it was something precious to Videl, or even Bulma. "Well, Goku, I've never seen it before, nor have I seen anything like it, and it doesn't seem to open." He explained as he tried to pry it open. "It's quite old, and it may have belonged to Videl after being passed down by her mother, or Bulma. They both come from well established families." He held out the broach out for Goku.
Goku reached out and grabbed the broach from the young Namek. "Thanks, Dende. I'll ask Piccolo tomorrow if he knows anything about it. If he doesn't, then I'll ask Bulma and Videl." He stuffed the broach back into his pocket as he looked back down at Usagi. "I just don't know what I'm going to do with her. I can't leave her home with Chi-Chi alone. Heck, I can't leave her alone at all."
Dende, too, turned his attention down to the unconscious child. "Afraid she'll run away again."
Goku nodded. "It's rough. She's got all this power, and I can't stop her from using it. I can only monitor her and make sure she doesn't try anything funny."
Dende slowly looked up to Goku. He could tell that the man was too stressed for this. "Would you like me to put a block on her power?"
Goku froze in speech at the sound of that. He slowly and cautiously looked up to Dende with widened eyes. "What?"
Dende sighed. "I should have known you wouldn't want me to..."
Goku gulped. He wasn't sure if he knew what he was just about to say. "No, no, wait... you can do that?"
Dende nodded. "Yes. All Nameks with my kind of power can. But only when the power level is at its lowest. It would only be temporary, unless you kept bringing her in and having me redo it for you. She won't be able to use any power. Her strength will still be there, but she won't be able to call fourth any extra energy."
Concerned, Goku looked back down at his daughter. "How long would one last?"
Dende shrugged. "About a month... I don't know, I've never really tried it. Guru taught me how when I was little. Its just like bringing out someone's hidden energy in reverse."
Goku gave a slight nod of consent. That sounded like the best deal for now until they could get everything sorted out. Usagi wouldn't be a threat to her mother and there wouldn't be a chance of her trying to run away. As soon as she started acting like a normal person again, he would have it lifted. "I hate to do this, but you can go ahead and try it..."
Dende nodded as he kneeled down. "I just want you to know, once it's done, I can't reverse it. You'll have to let her live through this, even if you patch things up soon than you thought."
Goku nodded. It was better than nothing. At least everything would be safe for a while. "She won't have to re-learn everything, will she?"
Dende shook his head. "No. I'm just putting a block on all power, that's all. Like I said, she can't call fourth any extra energy." He placed his hands over Usagi's back as Goku lifted his foot away. He looked up to Goku just to get one more ok. "You still want me to do this?"
Goku nodded. "Yes."
Dende sighed as he looked down at Usagi. He had never expected for Usagi to have such trouble. She had always seemed like such a good girl. And now, here he was putting a block on her powers. As he concentrated, a green energy traveled from his arms and to Usagi's body.
Goku could barely watch. He knew he had reasons for what he was doing, but he couldn't help but think he was taking something away form his daughter. But, after what she showed him today, he knew it was for the best.
Dende worked fast, and before long, he was finished. "Done."
Goku scratched his head. "That fast?"
Dende nodded as he stood up. "Yep."
Goku bent over and picked up Usagi, throwing her over his shoulder once again. Now, when she woke up, she could be hostile, but not dangerous. "Thanks, Dende."
Dende smiled. "No problem. I'm just sorry I couldn't be of help with that broach."
Goku wasn't capable of returning the smile at that point. He was much too tired. "Maybe Piccolo will know something."
(DONE! I know, three days, I'm NOT Falling behind though... at least... I hope I'm not. Anyway, another chapter down. Wha'd you think? Gotta go! CYA!)
After realizing that Usagi had only faked being hurt by his Kamehameha wave, that she had only planned to run away, Goku rushed directly home. He would have to regroup his thoughts there, where he could break the news to Chi-Chi. He would not have gone home first had it not been for the fact that he couldn't feel his daughter's energy level anywhere. It had just suddenly disappeared, or more realistically, she had lowered it so much that it could no longer be detectable. In anyway it didn't matter. He was angry just the same. He had won the battle fair and square, and she had cheated him out of his win.
With the broach in his possession, he teleported himself home. Arriving in the family room, he could hear the soft sobs of his wife in the neighboring room. He wasn't sure how he wanted to tell her what happened, but he knew the result no matter how it would be done so it didn't matter, really. She would get angry and cry at the same time, causing herself to be in a fret of confusion. She wouldn't know whether to feel angry or sad. She would most likely be hysterical until the child was brought back home, and then her mood would chance. Usagi would be home, safe in the arms of her parents, which meant there would be no need to worry, only punish.
Goku had already stuffed the broach into his pocket before he left the woods and kept his hand gripped firmly around it to make sure it wouldn't be lost. He hadn't time to examine it too much in the woods, but once he found Usagi he would take a better look at it and see if Dende knew anything about it.
"Chi-Chi?" He called for his wife as he turned to the kitchen. There, he found her with her head plastered to the table.
Chi-Chi slowly lifted up her head. Had it not been for the fact that she wanted to see how much damage the two Saiyans had caused each other she would have had no will to even look at them. She was angry with both of them at the moment. Usagi for her attitude and Goku for leaving to fight. During their entire fight she had felt their power levels. She knew how hard they were fighting. But then again, she also knew a fight was almost inevitable with the way Usagi was talking.
With her eyes completely red and her face soaked with tears, she looked at her husband. His cloths were completely destroyed and what was left of them were stained with blood. She looked up to his face only to notice that the cut on his mouth had been torn open even further and was already beginning to form a bruise. "Where is she?"
Goku sighed as he dropped his head and slowly began to enter the room. He hated to have to tell her that Usagi had left, and was missing, that he couldn't detect any of her energy. It would be hard to locate her now, especially since she didn't want to be found. She had already made that quite clear.
He walked to the table and pulled out a chair so he could sit directly in front of his wife. He kept silent until he finally decided to look back into her eyes. "Chi-Chi, we have to talk..."
Chi-Chi's heart began to race in anticipation of what he might say. As she looked toward the doorway of the kitchen, she had a feeling of what he was going to say. Usagi had not come into the room with Goku dragging her along. She hadn't even heard him telling her to go to her room, which meant she was either knocked out, or too hurt to do anything, or she wasn't there. "Goku..." Like a drone, she cautiously turned back to her husband. "I'm going to ask you this once, and I want a straight forward answer. Where...Is...My... Daughter?"
Goku gulped as he lowered his head again, but still looked her in the eyes. He didn't like the sound of her coarse tone. He knew her habits of flying off the ball at the slightest thing wrong, and this was more than something small. This was huge. Not only would Usagi get it for leaving and acting the way she had, but he would surely hear it for "allowing" her too. "That's what we need to talk about."
Chi-Chi frowned as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. She set aside her stress for just a moment and suddenly became enraged at the thought of what Goku may have done to Usagi. "I'm listening."
Goku nervously put his arms up on the tabletop. "We fought a bet."
Chi-Chi nodded as if she were interested. She wasn't sure she was going to like what he was going to say next. And she wasn't even sure she wanted to ask what was on her mind for she was afraid of what kind of answer she would receive. "What kind of bet?"
Goku didn't take his eyes away from Chi-Chi, although he wanted to. "If I won, she would come back home, but if she did, she would leave and we wouldn't try to stop her."
Well, that just about did it for Chi-Chi. Before she knew it, she was on her feet and leaning over the table with her fists waving in front of Goku's bruised face. "WHAT?! What the HELL were you thinking? How could you go along with such a stupid bet?! You would have had to let her LEAVE if she won! What's WRONG with you?!"
Goku backed his head back to get away from his wife, who was already raising her power level. He knew it was a stupid bet, but it had been the only way that he knew of to get her to shut up for a while and deal with her current living position. "Hey! It was the only thing I could think of!"
Chi-Chi growled as she crawled up onto the table and pressed her forehead against her husband's. She knew he wouldn't let her win, which meant he would have had to have used more power than she did, and from what she felt, he did. "I'm warning you, if you DARE hurt MY child...."
Goku frowned as he pulled away from his wife and stood up. "Watch it, Chi-Chi! I would NEVER do anything that would hurt Usagi THAT bad. I only hurt her enough to keep her in line. It was the only thing that would shut her up from her rants. You should have heard some of the crap that was coming out of her mouth!"
Chi-Chi growled louder as she sat up, now on her knees on top of the table and glaring into the eyes of Goku. "Don't you think you can fool me, mister!"
Goku narrowed his eyes and let out a loud growl. "What the hell are you talking about, Chi-Chi?"
Chi-Chi swung her legs over the edge of the table and hoped off. She walked to Goku and continued to glare up at him. "I felt you! You used too much power on her! You probably broke all the bones in her little body, didn't you... DIDN'T YOU!?"
Goku violently pushed Chi-Chi away with growing anger. It was true, he had used too much power against her. Her comments actually WERE getting to him, especially the one about how she didn't want him for a father. But the comments that were meant to hurt him and tear him down, had only fed his want to beat her and take her home for Chi-Chi to deal with.
He had nothing further to say to his wife except what actually happened. "I would NEVER intentionally do that to her and you know that!"
Chi-Chi arrogantly smirked. She had been proven right, in her eyes at least. "Ah-ha! So you DID break her!"
Out of pure anger, Goku slammed his fist into the wall. He didn't understand Chi-Chi at all. Here he was, trying to explain what happened and he was getting yelled out. She should have been angry with Usagi, not him. "I DID NOT! For your information, YOUR daughter ..."
Chi-Chi actually dropped her frown for a split second and replaced it with a look of confusion. Where had that come from? Why had he referred to Usagi as only HER daughter, and not his? "MY daughter? So she's ONLY my daughter now?"
Goku pulled his fist out of the wall, which now had a nice indentation in it. "Oh didn't I tell you? The little brat has disowned me as her father. I have no daughter..." He replied sarcastically.
Chi-Chi once again found herself frowning at the answer she received from her husband. This time, it wasn't at him. This time, she was angry with her daughter. She had gone too far this time. "Oh really?" She asked with a hint of her own sarcasm.
Goku nodded. He was glad that Chi-Chi had calmed down again, somewhat. "There's more."
Chi-Chi groaned as she walked closer to her husband. Her initial anger had already subsided, now she was being driven by her secondary anger systems. She was still angry that Goku would have actually fought with their daughter and hurt her, but after hearing what Usagi said to him, she knew she would have done the same thing. "...Go on..."
Goku, again, nodded and complied. "After I beat her, I took the broach from her." He explained as he reached into his pocket and pulled out Usagi's stolen treasure. "I took a moment to look at it, and the next thing I knew, she was gone."
Chi-Chi's eyes widened and were filled with rage at once. "What?! You let Usagi go!?"
Goku grinned. How had he known that she would react like that? "Hey! I didn't know she was going to leave."
Chi-Chi frowned. "Well you took your eyes off her! What did you think she was going to do? Just sit there and wait for you to drag her back here where she would be punished?"
Goku sighed. He knew that was why Usagi had tricked him in the first place. He knew that she knew that he was going to win, and so she took off. "She had already lost. She gave up on my last attack. She was on the ground and looked pretty bad. I didn't think she could move at all." He paused as he thought back to when he first saw her after his attack. Her body looked so limp, so helpless. The first thing that ran through his mind was the worry that had had damaged her too much. But, what added more to his stress was the fact that she had told him that she hated him over and over again. That had made his heart feel as if it were being mercilessly ripped out of his chest by the grim-reaper himself. That was probably the worst thing that a father could ever hear from his daughter. "She left, and now I can't feel her."
Chi-Chi sighed as she turned away from her husband. Now, her anger was leaving her body and she all of a sudden felt overcome by stress and grief. She slowly walked to the table and sat down in the sat Goku had previously been sitting in. "She's gone..." She whispered to herself, unable to believe her own words.
Goku dropped his frown and walked behind his wife. His own eyes were drooping with sadness. "We'll find her. She'll show up." He placed his hands on her shoulders and gently began to rub them. "I promise I'll find her."
Chi-Chi sniffled as she closed her eyes. She thought back to that morning. Everything had been normal. Usagi had been a happy, loving daughter. But now, she was a rebel who hated her parents. What had happened to her? "I want my baby back."
Goku sighed. As mad at her as he was, he wanted her back too. "I know."
Chi-Chi shook her head with tears in her eyes. "No, that's not it. I don't just want HER back, I want MY baby back, mentally. I don't want a Usagi who hates us."
Goku said nothing. He knew that, at that point, it was impossible to get THEIR Usagi back. She had made it all to clear that she had no desire to live with them, or even look at them. What had gone wrong? Were they really THAT bad of parents? This had been the first child that they both raised together without having any interruption. With Gohan, he had left early, and with Goten, he hadn't been there for the first years of his life. But Usagi, he had been there the entire time, and he had enjoyed it. But having both himself and Chi-Chi there to raise her, and both with contrasting ideas on raising children, had they really messed her up that badly? No. He refused to believe that. Usagi loved her parents, or so she appeared to over the past twelve years.
Chi-Chi wiped the tears away from her eyes. "Go find her, Goku."
Goku lowered his head even further as he looked at the back of his wife's head. Her hair was a mess from the night's uproar. "I can't."
Chi-Chi frowned. She wouldn't take that for an answer. "Go and find her. Please, Goku. Just look. Search. I don't care where you go, just FIND her."
Goku kept silent. He knew that the chances of finding Usagi were low. She had always had a lower power level than everyone else when she wasn't trying to raise it or be felt. Of course, even then he would still be able to feel her, slightly. Now, it was as if she wasn't even moving or doing anything. She had all of a sudden just disappeared.
He didn't know what to tell her. Of course he knew he wouldn't be able to find her, but that answer wasn't good enough for a worried mother. He would have to try anyway. But, what would happen if he did find her? He would have to carry her home kicking and screaming. And even then she would probably try to use her power to get away from him and he would have to power up just to keep her in line. Then, when she came home, Chi-Chi would be in danger of being hurt, not just mentally but physically as well. He wondered if there was anything he could do to stop her from using her power, but realistically, there wasn't.
As he stood there, Goku knew that there was really only one thing he could do. He would have to comply with his wife's wishes. To keep her from going insane, he would have to go and search for Usagi. "Alright, Chi-Chi, I'll go." He shifted his eyes up to the clock, which read that it was already a quarter to eight. He wondered what Usagi was doing at the moment.
~*~*~
~~Back Alley~~
It was already eight thirty at night and Usagi, still, was nowhere to be found. The sun had already set long ago, but the night was still young in the eyes of the rowdy teenagers downtown. Clubs were beginning to open, which drew young people down. The business men and women had long since vacated the area as it was growing too loud and crowded.
A combination of loud music from the building nearby and a lone gunshot nearby caused a loud thump to arise from inside a large, metal garbage bin. Though it went unheard by the people who were chasing one another down the narrow sidewalk.
Usagi grabbed her head where she had just hit it. She opened her eyes, only to see nothing. She was surrounded by complete and utter dark. But she could hear plenty. The loud music from the building next door seemed to be amplified by the metal walls that surrounded her.
It was safe to say her head throb with immense pain, not to mention her back was completely stiff from falling on the hard concrete. That added with the beating she had received the day before completely topped off her pain factor. She didn't know if it was possible to feel anymore pain than she already was.
Without saying a word, she put her hands to her sides and slowly began to try and push herself up. But things didn't go according to plan. She found that her hands only pushed throw whatever she was sitting on. It felt gooey, but could have had some sticky paper added into it as well. She took a quick sniff only to react by plugging her nose from a rancid smell. It was at that moment that she realized exactly where she had been put.
Usagi leaned onto her back and brought her feet up into the air to kick the lid open with. Much to her dislike, the lid was heavier than she had planed on it being. No bother though. She could handle it. She pulled her legs back for another kick, this time adding in some extra energy with it. The lid flew wide open and hit against the brick building behind it. Usagi then proceeded to hop out, only to feel a huge crack in her back. "Ouch!" She cried out in an excess of pain. She hadn't expected that to hurt so badly.
Usagi grabbed her back and hunched over to try and make the pain disappear. Her thoughts were soon diverted to the color of the sky, though. It was pitch black, the color of night. Only the artificial lighting of electricity lit up the area. She was going to be late getting home. Her mother would freak for sure. "Where am I?" She curiously, and nervously, looked around. Her eyes made their way up to a pink neon sign that spelled out the word "Beer". She figured it was a bar, a place she had always been told to stay away from because there were always so many drunk people hanging out at them.
Her attention was soon diverted to the opening of a back door. She watched as a scruffy looking man with a cigarette hanging out of his mouth emptied a bucket of liquid into a stack of boxes next to the door. She took a step back when he looked up at her with a frown.
The man took the cigarette out of his mouth and stood tall. "Hey kid! What are you doin back here! Scat!"
Usagi took no time to argue. She had no problem with getting out of there. Forgetting all about her pain, she moved her legs fast enough to run out of the alley at the speed of a normal child. Now, she found herself on the sidewalk of a main street of downtown. There were people everywhere, mostly young. There were signs everywhere lit with bright colors. This was the district where two of the major clubs in town were, which only added to attracting more people.
Usagi was actually intrigued by the activity around her. She had never seen downtown at night. Her parents had never taken her and her mother never allowed her to go alone. But now, seeing it for the first time, she was amazed at the action. Across the street there were two men fighting, a lady wearing almost no clothing at all was standing nearby. At that point, Usagi didn't understand what they were fighting over, though to everyone else, it was quite obvious. Usagi was almost drawn to this fight. She had heard it from Makoto that men do this at night, though she had never been able to witness it until now. And to tell the truth, she found it rather humorous.
She soon grew tired of the spectacle, though. All it was, was two men throwing each other onto the ground with no real tactics. There wasn't even much punching. Usagi never could understand how people could be so amazed by such boring fights. She turned away from the fight and began to make her way down the street. Although she knew that she was meant to be home, it didn't really matter anymore. She had already been so late, even though she didn't know exactly what time it was. It was dark, that's all she knew. And she was supposed to be home before dark, at the latest. She would just have to explain to her parents what happened. She was attacked again.
Usagi kept herself on alert as she made her way down the street. She didn't want to offend anyone with any strange looks, but she also wanted to see all the action. She was in complete awe. At the end of the block, she saw a group of motorcycles parked in front of a building. Curious, she decided to inspect them. So, she bobbed down to the end of the block and did just that.
The light that bounced off of them caused them to shine brightly in her eyes. "Awesome..." She rubbed her hands over the smooth, shining metal with a wide grin. For a second or two, she wondered what it would be like to ride one of these. Probably not as thrilling as flying yourself to places. She looked up only to be faced with a group of angry men, all of whom were dressed in black.
One of the men stepped out from the group. He was the oldest, and looked to be the leader of the group with the way he held himself compared to the rest of the men in the group. "Well now what do we have here?" The man chuckled when Usagi turned her head from side to side to see if there was anyone else that he could have been talking to besides her. "Kid, there ain't no one else around."
Usagi gulped as she stopped looking around and looked up into the face of the stranger. The biker crossed his arms as he stepped down from the curb, keeping his eye on Usagi, and especially on her hand which just happened to be on HIS bike. "Shouldn't you be in bed, kid?"
Usagi shook her head. She wished she hadn't come here. She hadn't wanted to start trouble. She wasn't afraid of these guys, but yet again, she didn't want to have to do anything to them if they tried something. "No."
The biker frowned as he reached out and grabbed Usagi by the arm and threw her back to his buddies. "Ain't nobody gonna touch MY bike 'cept me."
Usagi said nothing in reply. She didn't really care what this guy said, nor did she care how he said it. He was a nobody, and she would be on her way now. But, as soon as she took a step forward, one of the men reached out and grabbed her by the shoulder. With a frown, she looked back. "Hey!"
The young man who had grabbed her looked at her with a very perverse expression. "Where do you think you're going, girl?"
The leader of the pack laughed as he sat on his bike. "Looks like you picked yourself a good one, bud."
The young man eyed Usagi with a smile. He picked her up and put her over his shoulder. "Nice and young, jes' the way I like em'."
Usagi, not knowing what in the hell is the guy was thinking, pounded her fists into the man's back. But her stiffening muscles pulsated with pain, causing her fists to do no damage. "Hey! What do you think you're doing!? Let me go! You'll be sorry if you don't!"
The main biker laughed even harder as he looked back to his comrade. "She's a frisky one."
The younger man mounted his bike, while keeping a firm hold on Usagi. She had a pretty hard hit for being so young, but he could take it. He was tough enough. "The friskier, the better." He replied with an evil laugh.
Usagi was about to raise her power level when she was stopped by a familiar and comforting voice. "Let her go, NOW!"
The two men, along with the rest of the group who were mounting their own bikes, turned their heads back to the man who had just called out to them. Two other men pulled out a pair of metal bats, ready for combat. This girl was theirs, and nobody else's.
The main biker pulled off his glasses which he had just put on and dismounted his bike. He glared at the newcomer, who was dressed in an outrageously orange outfit. "And who the hell are you?"
"Goku, Son Goku."
Usagi, who was facing the wrong way to see her father, smiled with joy. She couldn't remember any other time she had been so happy to hear his voice. "Daddy!"
Goku frowned even harder. So NOW she wanted to acknowledge him as her father. Only when in need of help. She was only lucky that he wasn't full of resentment toward her instead of love otherwise he would have just walked away and let her deal with these thugs herself. "Let the girl go."
The young man who held Usagi over his shoulder frowned. "So, you're the kid's father?" He glanced back at the struggling Usagi with a frown. He hadn't expected the girl's father to be so near. This would really put a hamper on his fun for the night. He looked back up at Goku with a frown. "You can't have her. She's ours now."
Goku growled as he stepped closer, only to be met with the two thugs with bats. He looked at them as if they meant nothing, which they really didn't. "Give...her..."
The older man stepped closer to Goku as if he had something to protect. "Look old man, you want her, come and get her."
Goku grinned. This guy didn't know what he was getting himself into. You should never say something like that to an angry father, let alone a Saiyan. Goku knew full well what would happen if Usagi let herself be taken away by these guys. He knew what these kind of people did to young girls. That was why he and Chi-Chi didn't really want her downtown alone, even though she could defend herself. They didn't want her exposed to this kind of crap. "Gladly." With that, he ran to the two men with the bats and jumped up on them to use them as boosts. Once past them, he was face to face with the man who held his daughter. But he wasn't through with the men with the bats. They came back to more, and Goku was more than ready. He turned around in a flash and performed a quick roundhouse kick that took not just the two men with bats out, but the man with his daughter as well.
Usagi fell to the ground once again with a thud. But she didn't much care. She was freed without having to hurt herself by raising her power again. She pushed herself away from the fallen biker and kicked him in the shoulder to get her revenge as well. But her main concern was her father. She looked up to him with a wide smile of thanks, only to receive a hateful glare.
The two Saiyans' attentions were quickly diverted to the rest of the gang. The leader took one look at Goku and became frightened. He hadn't expected Goku to be so strong, nor did he expect him to be so fast. "Shit! Let's get outta here boys!"
Goku allowed the group to leave. He was too tired to do anything. He had been emotionally worn and had no desire to chase them down and bring justice to them. He had too many other things on his mind. For one thing, he had to get the broach to Dende's, but he couldn't leave Usagi alone at home with her mother. She would either leave again, or she would hurt her mother and THEN leave. He couldn't have that. He would have to watch her every move.
He walked to his daughter and held out his hand for her to grab. Although he was angry with her, he wouldn't treat her like crap. He didn't want to show her that it was ok to treat others badly when they were mad at each other, even though she had said some pretty harsh things to him when they were fighting and he could have easily treated her badly.
Usagi, fearing that her father was angry at her for being downtown alone at such an hour, reached up and allowed herself to be helped up by him. "Daddy I'm sorr..."
Goku put his hand up to hush his daughter. No apology would penetrate his head at that point. He didn't even want to talk about it with her at the moment. "Shut up."
Usagi did just that, though with tears in her eyes. She didn't understand what brought about that sudden anger. Whenever she had broken the rules before, he had always listened to her apologies and accepted them. But now, he told her to 'shut up'?
Goku glared down at his daughter. She was playing stupid again, like she had before things had really gotten ugly at home. Well, this time he wouldn't fall for it. She was only trying to get out of trouble by being cute, but he wouldn't have it. He knew better than to believe her. He didn't let go of her hand once she was up to her feet. Instead, he pulled her closer to him.
Usagi looked up to him in confusion as she tried to rip her hand free from his grip. He was acting strange, and glaring at her, which was something that made her feel truly uncomfortable. With his free hand, Goku hit his daughter in the back of the neck with a strong force, causing her eyes to roll into their sockets as she lost all consciousness.
Goku picked up his daughter and threw her over his shoulder. He took a look around to make sure no one had seen what he had just done, which no one had. Everyone was too busy with what they were doing, with their own lives, to worry about what some other person was doing with their children. Satisfied that no one had seen what had just happened, he teleported away to Dende's.
~*~*~
Dende was standing on the edge of his lookout when Goku arrived. He had been there almost all day, well, ever since Goku had come to him and asked about the broach. Nothing strange had happened, as far as he could see. Nothing was really attacked. There hadn't really been any uproar of people getting hurt by attacks. Everything seemed to be normal up until about three in the after noon when he all of a sudden got the feeling that something was off. Something wasn't normal. But he couldn't justify his feeling. There was NOTHING wrong with the Earth. There was no one strange lurking about. And so he stayed there all night and watched over the Earth like a good little God.
It wasn't long before Goku arrived with Usagi over his shoulder. He appeared at the side of Dende, for he teleported to Dende's power. Dende didn't even flinch at the surprise of the warrior appearing. He had watched the battle between the girl and her father. He knew that there was trouble between them, he just didn't know what. He didn't hear any of what they were saying, but, for Goku to have used so much power against Usagi, it must have been something bad.
Dende turned up to Goku and noticed the child draped over his shoulders. "Goku, what in the world happened down there?"
Remembering back to his fight that day with a frown, Goku pulled Usagi down from his shoulder and placed her gently on the ground to lie there by herself. "Usagi's gone mad?"
Dende opened his eyes wider. "Literally?"
Goku shrugged. "I don't know what I mean by that, but just know, she's gone mad. She's a fireball of hatred all of a sudden. She's already disowned me."
Dende frowned. "That's awful."
Goku nodded as he looked down at his daughter, who he had his foot on. If she woke up in the near future, he didn't want her trying to escape. If she were to teleport, she would take him with her. If she were to just try to get up in general, he would stop her. She would stay on the ground until HE was finished here. "Her mother and I are pretty angry with her alright." He looked back up as he dug into his pocket. "But that's not why I'm here." He pulled out his daughter's broach and held it out for Dende to look at. "Here's the broach."
Dende smiled as he reached out and grabbed the item. He had been waiting all day for Goku to bring it to him so he could look at it. "Great." He brought it up to his face for examination. "It looks really old, maybe hundreds of years old."
Goku frowned. "It's an antique?"
Dende nodded. "Definitely. Where did she get it?"
Goku shrugged with a growing frown. Maybe Usagi wasn't the perfect daughter all along. Maybe she was just tricking him and Chi-Chi all along. Maybe she was starting to turn sour the year before, or maybe earlier. Who could tell? "She said it was a gift from someone, but she would say who exactly. But I doubt it now. With her attitude today, I doubt she even got permission to take it."
Dende looked up to Goku in shock. "Are you saying she stole it?"
Goku, again, found himself shrugging. "I don't know, really. But she wouldn't let me see it, and then she wouldn't tell me what it was. She may have thought that I would know who it belonged to and would yell at her for having it..." Goku couldn't imagine that being so. He wasn't even sure if Usagi would actually be dumb enough to steal something, of course, he also thought he'd never see the day when she challenged him to a fight and tried to hurt him.
Dende frowned. He had never seen anyone that Goku knew holding a broach like this, of course, maybe it was something precious to Videl, or even Bulma. "Well, Goku, I've never seen it before, nor have I seen anything like it, and it doesn't seem to open." He explained as he tried to pry it open. "It's quite old, and it may have belonged to Videl after being passed down by her mother, or Bulma. They both come from well established families." He held out the broach out for Goku.
Goku reached out and grabbed the broach from the young Namek. "Thanks, Dende. I'll ask Piccolo tomorrow if he knows anything about it. If he doesn't, then I'll ask Bulma and Videl." He stuffed the broach back into his pocket as he looked back down at Usagi. "I just don't know what I'm going to do with her. I can't leave her home with Chi-Chi alone. Heck, I can't leave her alone at all."
Dende, too, turned his attention down to the unconscious child. "Afraid she'll run away again."
Goku nodded. "It's rough. She's got all this power, and I can't stop her from using it. I can only monitor her and make sure she doesn't try anything funny."
Dende slowly looked up to Goku. He could tell that the man was too stressed for this. "Would you like me to put a block on her power?"
Goku froze in speech at the sound of that. He slowly and cautiously looked up to Dende with widened eyes. "What?"
Dende sighed. "I should have known you wouldn't want me to..."
Goku gulped. He wasn't sure if he knew what he was just about to say. "No, no, wait... you can do that?"
Dende nodded. "Yes. All Nameks with my kind of power can. But only when the power level is at its lowest. It would only be temporary, unless you kept bringing her in and having me redo it for you. She won't be able to use any power. Her strength will still be there, but she won't be able to call fourth any extra energy."
Concerned, Goku looked back down at his daughter. "How long would one last?"
Dende shrugged. "About a month... I don't know, I've never really tried it. Guru taught me how when I was little. Its just like bringing out someone's hidden energy in reverse."
Goku gave a slight nod of consent. That sounded like the best deal for now until they could get everything sorted out. Usagi wouldn't be a threat to her mother and there wouldn't be a chance of her trying to run away. As soon as she started acting like a normal person again, he would have it lifted. "I hate to do this, but you can go ahead and try it..."
Dende nodded as he kneeled down. "I just want you to know, once it's done, I can't reverse it. You'll have to let her live through this, even if you patch things up soon than you thought."
Goku nodded. It was better than nothing. At least everything would be safe for a while. "She won't have to re-learn everything, will she?"
Dende shook his head. "No. I'm just putting a block on all power, that's all. Like I said, she can't call fourth any extra energy." He placed his hands over Usagi's back as Goku lifted his foot away. He looked up to Goku just to get one more ok. "You still want me to do this?"
Goku nodded. "Yes."
Dende sighed as he looked down at Usagi. He had never expected for Usagi to have such trouble. She had always seemed like such a good girl. And now, here he was putting a block on her powers. As he concentrated, a green energy traveled from his arms and to Usagi's body.
Goku could barely watch. He knew he had reasons for what he was doing, but he couldn't help but think he was taking something away form his daughter. But, after what she showed him today, he knew it was for the best.
Dende worked fast, and before long, he was finished. "Done."
Goku scratched his head. "That fast?"
Dende nodded as he stood up. "Yep."
Goku bent over and picked up Usagi, throwing her over his shoulder once again. Now, when she woke up, she could be hostile, but not dangerous. "Thanks, Dende."
Dende smiled. "No problem. I'm just sorry I couldn't be of help with that broach."
Goku wasn't capable of returning the smile at that point. He was much too tired. "Maybe Piccolo will know something."
(DONE! I know, three days, I'm NOT Falling behind though... at least... I hope I'm not. Anyway, another chapter down. Wha'd you think? Gotta go! CYA!)