"Kakkarotto?" Piccolo repeated, so softly that even Son could barely hear him…and in a tone that made him wish that he couldn't. It was as if the demon were, as usual, a step or two ahead of him…and from the sound of it, Piccolo didn't like what he saw in the least.
Goku shook his head, closing his eyes against his flying bangs. "Piccolo, believe me, I don't know what he's talking about."
It was obvious from Piccolo's expression that he wasn't convinced. The demon declined to answer completely, his eyes still fastened on the newcomer. Goku noticed that he was shifting gradually into a fighting crouch…angled mostly to face the other warrior….though Son had the distinct impression that he was partially expecting to take both of them on. :Figures. Most of the time, he thinks I'm a complete numbskull. Then, the one time I want him to think that I don't know what's going on…which I don't…he thinks I do!:
"You don't know me?" The massive warrior put his hands on his hips, and his voice was heavy with sarcasm…though his eyes darkened as well, as if something really were paining him. The look was gone by the time he spoke again. "Really, Kakkarotto…you don't remember your own brother? I expected better than that of you."
Goku wondered for a moment if he were the brunt of some kind of massive joke. At any rate, he didn't seem to be the ONLY one who didn't find it funny.
"Brother!" Piccolo hissed under his breath, skittering away from him like a burned crab. His eyes were flashing with something impossible to read, but far from promising.
"He's lying," Son snapped, unsure whether he was talking more to Piccolo or to himself. It did nothing to lesson the intensity of the glare that his rival was directing at him…dark eyes that seemed to want nothing more than to rip his heart from his chest. Piccolo had had little enough faith in him to start with….it was really no surprise that now he should look so….betrayed.
The new warrior laughed out loud, ignoring Son's comment completely. "That's right, slug. Brother. Raditzu of Vegetasei. What's the matter? Surprised?" Abruptly, the newly proclaimed Raditzu rounded on Son. "Speaking of Mr. Escargot over there, why is he still alive? If he's the one who's been keeping you from completing your mission, then you should have killed him already."
Goku shook his head slowly. "What mission? What're you talking about?"
Suddenly, Raditzu was all business, his expression ten times more frightening now that it was intense rather than mocking. "You really don't remember," he said slowly, as if he were sounding the words out for the first time. Then, with more force, "You fool! Three hundred years of tradition! Generations of warriors…all lost just because you were clumsy!"
"I'm sorry, but I don't understand," Son said finally, his words terse.
Raditzu snarled. "Saiya-jinn do not apologize!"
Feeling increasingly as though he were trapped in some sort of surreal nightmare, Son shook his head again. "I don't know who you are, but I'm not Saiya-jinn, and you're not my brother!"
"Son…" It was Piccolo's voice, soft beyond measure, almost breathless. "If it's at all possible for you, stop being an idiot – look at him. He looks just like you."
As if to accentuate the point, Raditzu uncoiled his tail from his waist, set it to swaying in a very predatory manor. "I never thought I'd agree with one of those slug people, Kakkarotto, but he is right. You're Saiya-jinn. It's something to be proud of, you know – or you will, soon enough."
Goku said nothing.
"We are a race of warriors," Raditzu continued. "Battle is a Saiya-jinn's whole life. All by ourselves, we have destroyed countless civilizations. Even a Saiya-jinn baby is capable of wiping out one of the weaker planets…at least, those who don't forget their missions," he added, with an accusatory glare in Son's direction, as if the whole incident were somehow his fault.
"That's…that's crazy!" Goku protested as soon as he found his voice. "How can a little baby cause that much damage?"
Raditzu rolled his eyes dramatically and pointed upward at the crescent moon. Beside him, Goku heard Piccolo's breathing cease altogether, and he experienced a moment of blinding frustration. How come everyone knew what was going on but him?
Seeing that he was still clueless, Raditzu growled. "The full moon, you dolt. Saiya-jinns transform by the light of the full moon! We become oozarus! You know, the giant monkey thing that you turn into occasionally?"
Goku swallowed the lump in his throat, and his voice shook nervously when he laughed. "Alright, now I know that you've got the wrong guy. I've never…" He trailed off when he saw the way that Piccolo was looking at him with unreadable, midnight-hued eyes. "Piccolo, what is it?"
The demon opened his mouth, shut it again, shook his head. Raditzu laughed. "Go ahead, Nameksei-jinn…tell him!"
* * *
Piccolo glared at the Saiya-jinn, mostly so that he wouldn't have to look at Son. And why, he wondered, don't I want to see his reaction? It'll hurt him…hurt him badly…to know he's every bit the monster I am… But somehow, Piccolo just couldn't seem to drum up any enthusiasm for seeing this bit of news hit home.
He had heard of it happening exactly once, and once had been enough…delivered in Tambourine's blandest voice…begun with an "oh, by the way." His elder brother had observed it from a distance during the twenty second budokai…as had Cymbal, though the latter refused to talk about it…saying merely that it was a fluke and would never happen again.
Nonetheless, during his "training" days, Piccolo had had more than a few nightmares about the being he was dueling with changing suddenly into an enormous ape and swallowing him whole. As of late, he'd half convinced himself that it was just something his brother had made up to make him more cautious…
"I did, didn't I?" Son almost whispered. "With that tournament…with Jackie Chun, right before…the last thing I remember was the moon…and that means…" Piccolo looked at him at that point, noticing that he had turned nearly the same color as the moonlight.
"Snap out of it, baka," he hissed, hoping that Raditzu wouldn't hear. "You've got time to gape like a dead fish later."
Son's only response was to close his eyes and swallow. Piccolo narrowed his own eyes. He knew his enemy well, and, though finding out that you were alien and were-monkey all in the same night would, he supposed, be a shock to anyone…he wouldn't have expected this strong a reaction from Goku. Son usually took big shocks more or less in his stride. There had to be something else behind it – though he'd have to find it out some other time. "What it means is that you're an alien, Son. Alright? Get over it."
The longhaired warrior laughed. "Good advice again from a Nameksei-jinn! Gods, I wish that Vegeta was here to see this."
"Wait…" Goku hissed, straightening. "Nameksei-jinn. You mean that Piccolo's…"
The larger Saiya-jinn shook his head. "What is it with this planet and amnesiacs? Of course he's an alien. You'd think that the pointy ears and green skin would be a dead giveaway."
Goku's eyes grew as wide as saucers as he looked at his rival. Piccolo was a full two shades paler than normal, though he said nothing. "Is that true?" he whispered softly.
"How should I know?" Piccolo shot back snappishly.
Raditzu smirked. "Well, if you're ready, I have one more surprise for you. Vegetasei, planet of the Saiya-jinn, has been destroyed. There are only a handful of us left – and we need you, Kakkarotto. We want you to come with us, to help us."
Mutely, Son shook his head.
With another low growl, Raditzu said, "Please, brother, enough theatrics! It's in your blood – you love to fight! Come with me! Of course, we'll have to kill the green guy first," he added, winking at Piccolo and receiving a particularly rude hand gesture in return, "but you won't mind, I'm sure."
"I'm not coming," Son replied, and his voice was surprisingly composed. "I don't want any part of the kind of killing that you do."
Raditzu's mood shifted again, from light to murderous rage. "Oh, we'll see about…"
At that point, the sound of a door creaking shattered the silence. Every eye in the clearing turned to the house, where Gohan stood in the doorway. "Dad, Mom says that dinner's…" He trailed off when he saw the people assembled in the yard.
Son's heart sank. He prepared to call to Gohan to get back inside, but before the words could leave his mouth, Raditzu was standing on his doorstep, the boy dangling by the back of his shirt from one massive hand. "Well," the Saiya-jinn mused, one corner of his mouth lifted into a chiseled expression of satisfaction, "what have we here?"
Goku swiped a hand across his eyes, but they weren't blurred. Piccolo's voice, again from beside him; "I didn't see him move either, Son. It's not your eyes."
To Goku, though, it didn't matter. "Put him down, Raditzu," he said, drawing himself up to his full height.
"Why would I want to do that? I can see by his tail that he's Saiya-jinn, just like us." Raditzu grinned at him rakishly, his long, ebony mane almost eclipsing the warm light cast by the open door. "Perhaps, if you're too afraid to come, I'll take him instead."
Son growled and took a step forward, only to be halted by a green hand in front of him. "Don't be any more foolish than you can help, Son," the demon warned. "That's what he wants."
"I don't care." Son snapped back. "He has my son, in case you haven't noticed."
"I suppose that getting yourself killed is the obvious solution, then," Piccolo hissed in response, withdrawing his hand and crossing his arms. "By all means, go ahead."
Goku pointedly ignored him. "Put him down, Raditzu," he called, his voice as clear as the peal of a church bell.
The massive Saiya-jinn laughed. "I don't think I will, actually – no. What are you going to do about it?"
By this time, Gohan had dissolved completely into tears. The boy was afraid – reasonably so, as even Piccolo had to acknowledge – and was doing his best to squirm free. Raditzu tightened his hold marginally, an amused smile on his lips. Son ground his teeth while his tail bushed around his waist.
And then, the other shoe dropped. "What in Kami's name is going on out there?" a feminine voice rose from within the house. Raditzu's focus immediately shifted to the door, and his smirk grew a bit more menacing.
"Well, what have we…"
He was cut off when Son dove at him.
* * *
Piccolo saw his rival leave the ground and cursed quietly when he saw Raditzu look over his shoulder, lips pursed in anticipation. The next movement was faster than the demon's eyes could follow – all he saw was Son Goku landing on the ground on his back, blood running down his face.
Some instinct that had, no doubt, developed in his many matches with his brothers warned Piccolo of his own immediate danger: he leaped straight into the air barely in time to avoid a massive energy blast that tore beneath him. An impossibly short span later, the blast crashed into a tree behind him – he could hear the impact. The tree did not catch fire, nor did it simply fall over; it exploded. Shards of bark and wood pelted him at truly alarming speeds, and he felt a few trickles of warmth down his back.
There was an eerie silence after the tree's destruction; Gohan had ceased all sound and hung limp from his uncle's hand, obviously paralyzed with fear. Piccolo hovered uncertainly, wondering if his best chance for survival lay in making a run for it or in staying to fight. Trying to be discreet, he glanced down at Son. The man had not moved…or had he? With his superior vision, Piccolo noticed that his rival's hand was twitching and that one of his eyes was half open.
A trick.
Piccolo somehow managed not to laugh. Son Goku using deception. Maybe there was hope for him after all.
He continued to think that until the worst thing that could possibly have happened…happened. "Let go of my son, you monster!" A woman, small-boned and compact, appeared in the doorway and struck the Saiya-jinn with a high roundhouse kick that would have snapped his neck if he had been human. Unfortunately, he wasn't. Chichi hopped back on one foot hastily, knowing that she could never hope to battle someone of Raditzu's size and strength in close – but she couldn't have known how fast he was.
Piccolo wasn't sure of Son's cry of absolute outrage came before or after Raditzu slapped the woman away as if she were an obnoxious fly – but he saw his rival sail across the clearing, taking the offensive again. The demon somehow resisted the urge to slap his forehead – what an imbecile.
Yet, if he were strong enough…
Piccolo descended as well, though without any battle cry. Raditzu caught Son's flying foot easily in one hand and held the man suspended – which effectively prevented him from using either hand. Thus, he wouldn't be able to block Piccolo's sudden offensive…or so Piccolo had hoped.
When he saw Raditzu look up at him and wink in that devilish way of his, Piccolo realized that he had miscalculated. Badly.
Raditzu disappeared for an instant – the next thing that Piccolo felt was a kick land on his back, which sent him spinning through the air. He struck the ground before he had an opportunity to figure out which way up was and lay there for a moment, panting.
He looked up in time to see Raditzu dash his brother against the side of the house and drop him. Goku was still conscious, though not by much; the man strove to get up without success, his expression hard with determination.
Raditzu casually kicked him in the side, and blood trickled from his mouth. "Is that all you have, brother? Is that all your mate and child are worth to you?"
Piccolo realized at that point that he was angry. And it made no sense at all to him.
"I'll tell you what, Kakkarotto…I'll make you a deal. If you can kill, say, 100 people by this time tomorrow, you can have your son back. Or," here, Raditzu's eyes glinted in a truly alarming way, "you can always come and try to take him from me. But you're not that stupid, eh?"
Those words seemed to jolt Gohan out of whatever trance that he'd been in; he began thrashing furiously. "Daddy, don't let him take me…" he pleaded, his voice full of tears.
"How cute," Raditzu growled with disgust evident in his voice. "You're as bad at raising warriors as you are at fighting, brother. Until tomorrow…unless you're afraid."
And then Raditzu took to the sky. Because of his position – slightly behind the two of them – Piccolo had a marvelous view of Gohan's pale, terrified face as the duo disappeared into the sky…and the outright plea for help in the boy's eyes did things to him that he neither understood nor cared to dwell on.
* * *
Goku bit back a groan with some effort, trying to force his eyes to focus and his knees to support him properly. He managed to raise himself halfway and then, by some miracle, to straighten. The world swayed around him as he looked up, fixating on the place where his newly proclaimed brother had disappeared; he bent his knees and…collapsed.
He lay motionless for a moment or two, tried to rise again, and met with no greater success…but he simply could not fail now.
Then, he heard a soft whispering of fabric – someone was walking toward him. He knew who this was, and he knew what to expect. Piccolo would no doubt have something derogatory to say about the way that he had let his emotions get the better of him, would probably add an I-told-you-so to boot.
Instead, Piccolo was regarding him with an expression that came perilously close to sympathy. "Conversations with my family usually run about that way, too," he stated, sounding vaguely amused.
"Well, you know what I've learned from all this?" Son asked, putting a hand to his bleeding lip. "Big brothers suck."
One corner of the demon's – or was he a demon? Raditzu had said that he was alien – mouth twitched in what could have been a suppressed smirk.
"Tell me about it."
Son shook his head and extended a hand upward. Piccolo's expression immediately darkened, and he turned his back. "If you think I'm going to help you up, you have another think coming, monkey."
Goku blinked in spite of himself. "Whatever happened to 'idiot human?'"
A snort. "You aren't human."
"Okay…" Son said, "So why not 'something Saiya-jinn?'"
"Must you ask so many questions?" Piccolo shot back, exasperation manifesting itself in his stiff tone and stiffer posture.
"If you're going to insult me, I'd at least like to understand why you choose the one you do," Son snapped back, narrowing his eyes a bit.
"Fine. If that," a tilt of the head indicated the direction in which Raditzu had gone, "is what it means to be Saiya-jinn, then you're not one of those, either."
Goku spent a moment trying to decide whether or not to be flattered. Finally, "Thanks. I think."
A low growl. "That wasn't a compliment – it was an observation."
"Well, whatever it was, I'm glad I'm not like him," Son announced flatly.
They both heard the sound coming from within the house at the same time – tear-choked, very unladylike cursing. "Chichi!" Goku hissed, making another attempt to get to his feet. This time, he managed that much, and he even succeeded in stumbling into the house. Piccolo rolled his eyes. Of course. The noble hero had to go to the aide of his chosen lady.
How positively nauseating.