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progresses.

Chapter 9

Bothawui: at the Tree of Might.

Turles bit into the fruit, the juices running down his chin, the flesh coming off in hard to-chew-chunks in his mouth. A few jaw-breaking crunches later and his first bite was done. A few more bites and the fruit was gone.

'Is that it?' he thought. 'Where's the power?'

A moment later, his muscles rapidly inflated and his aura burst to life. His heart rushed, blood raced through his circulatory system, and his breath was forced from his lungs. He felt like he had just woken up. Life to this point had been a dream. Running from the Saiyan army, captured by the pirates, even worlds turning to dust. All a dream. All the memories of another man, a lesser man. Turles felt powerful, more powerful than he thought possible for a Saiyan. Thinking back to his time in the army, he was well-beyond his brother, well-beyond his commander, even beyond both the prince and king of Saiyans.

Turles looked carefully at that Saiyan before him. He looked like him and his brother. He was definitely strong, but Turles felt stronger. Turles was in command now.

Snapping his head back, staring down god, Turles let out a victorious scream. Running out of breath, he put his chin to his chest, looking over his body. He couldn't believe what he was feeling. He wouldn't have to stay anymore. His masters were dead, and even if they weren't, they couldn't stop him.

A blast flew by Turles head, hitting the tree behind him. If he hadn't ducked, he'd be dead. Snapping his attention towards its source he looked over Daiz, pony-tailed freak, and the Saiyan that looked like him. Turles let out a low growl.

Daiz took in the Saiyan. Same skin, same scars, same hair. 'He's not transformed. He must have…' "You stole the fruit, you ungrateful piece of trash!"

Turles exhaled, trying to relax before the rage flowing through him took control. "I ate the fruit. It didn't look like the others needed it." Turles pointed with his chin towards the corpses of Rasin and Lakasei.

Daiz snarled. "We saved you. We hid you from the other Saiyans, the real Saiyans. We hid you from Frieza all this time, putting our own necks at risk for you, and this is how you repay us? There is a pecking order, and you are at the bottom of it. You crossed the line, Monkey!"

Turles unfurled his tail from his waist. Closing his eyes, taking deep breaths, he spoke. "Real Saiyans? That's a joke. You don't get it, Daiz, I am the line."

Daiz had power, but not enough. He saw what the scouter said. He knew he couldn't win this fight. 'Maybe if this other was honest… I can use him. If he kills Turles, then I can leave.' "Turles, we saved you!"

Turles eyes flew open at that. "YOU ENSLAVED ME! I tried to escape, you caught me. I tried to die, you wouldn't let me!" Following this, Turles took a cleansing breath.

Goku's head was on a swivel. He didn't know the full story, but he thought he had heard enough. He sensed darkness coming from this Saiyan, but he was still an unknown. The guy that held a blade to Krillin's neck though, nothing good would come from him.

Daiz glanced between Turles and his lookalike. If things turned violent, as long as he wasn't the first to attack, he felt the lookalike would be on his side. "That was Rasin, not me. I won't stand for you comparing me to him."

"Then you won't stand!" Turles crouched down, summoning his aura. 'This should be easy.'

Daiz immediately began to sweat. His scouter kept blinking, reminding him of his new spot in the pecking order.

Goku had seen enough. Jumping into the air he got between Turles and Daiz.

"Hold on a moment, before things happen that we can't take back, I need to ask you a question." Goku made eye contact with Turles. "Why do you look just like me?"

Turles blinked in confusion. He had the same question, but didn't think this would be the time to bring it up. Looking over the younger version of himself, he tilted his head to the side. "Who are your parents?"

Goku was surprised at how easily the situation was defused, or at least sidetracked. "I'm not sure. I never met them as far as I remember. I was sent away from Planet Vegeta as a baby, and due to a head injury shortly after arriving, I don't remember anything. The only reason I even know what a Saiyan is because my brother came to find me. Things didn't go well, and we ended up dying. His name was Raditz. After he came, two more Saiyans came, Nappa, and Vegeta."

Turles mouth dropped. He didn't know his brother had another son, but here he was, decades later.

"Your parents..." 'Did he say Nappa and Vegeta came to his planet?' "You died? Nappa and Vegeta are alive?"

Turles didn't have a scouter, he didn't know where his power was, but he knew it had surpassed any Saiyan that was alive when Planet Vegeta blew up. If the prince was still alive, he may have gotten more powerful… maybe he wasn't at the top of the food chain like he had hoped.

"I'm sorry, but they're both dead." Goku nodded at his approaching son. "My boy, he killed them."

Turles looked like he had been punched in the stomach. He stopped breathing for a moment as he looked over the boy. "He, he killed Nappa and Vegeta? There is no love loss there, but how?"

As Gohan touched down, Goku answered for him.

"He's strong. He and our friends beat Nappa. It took all of us, but we beat Vegeta as a team, and Gohan..." Now it was Goku's turn to take deep breaths. He still didn't like what happened, and he never would. "...Took it into his own hands to finish him off."

"Well, I'll be damned." Turles regained his composure. "Raditz was the son of Bardock and Gine. Bardock was my younger brother. I didn't know he had a second son."

"Seriously?" Goku asked with clear shock. He looked back at Gohan. Gohan was still tense, but with the way the conversation was going, he looked like he wasn't wound too tight. Tien was landing as well.

"Krillin is okay. He went, back..." Tien didn't want to say too much more. He didn't want to give anything away, although with that scouter that Daiz wore, he didn't think his lack of sharing would matter.

Turles looked at the newcomer, and his brothers grandson. 'Well, Bardock, looks like you kept our bloodline alive after all. Hell, your grandson by right will be the King of Saiyans when he takes a mate.'

Gohan left Tien's side and joined his father. "Who is that? He's extremely powerful."

"I'm your great uncle, kid. Your grandfather was a great man. One of the most powerful Saiyans in our generation, ruthless as all get out." Turles thought back to the battles he had waged with his brother. He remembered how he'd get into a bind, and his brother would always be the one to save him with brutal efficiency. "Looks like you and your father got the good side of the genetics."

Goku scoffed. "I'm not like that. I'm not ruthless..."

"You're a Saiyan, and one of Bardock's at that." Turles interrupted his nephew. 'If Raditz, Nappa, Vegeta, and this kid survived, who else is out there?'

"I don't fight to kill. I don't fight for the glory of victory, or to force my will on others. I fight to keep my family and friends safe." Goku thought for a moment. "I fight for myself, to be as strong as I can, so I can fight for others."

Turles smiled at the warmth radiating off his nephew. "I'm your family. Do you fight for me?"

Goku was surprised by this realization.

"We just met." Goku looked back at his son for a moment. "I wouldn't consider you family, no. I have a bad history with my Saiyan family so far. You don't seem like them though. I would fight for you though, if you needed help, I'd offer it. I wouldn't-"

Turles cleared his throat, cutting off Goku.

"There's only a few Saiyans left. I thought I was the last one. We need to protect each other." Turles looked at Daiz, he was still sweating up a storm. "I don't want to fight you, nephew."

Goku smiled at his uncle. "That's good, we don't need to fight. You're strong, stronger than Vegeta was. I'd like to fight with you, someday. But not here, not surrounded by death."

Following Turles intense gaze, Goku also looked at Daiz.

With a pair of Saiyans staring him down, one intense, one jovial, Daiz knew he was in a bad situation. He pulled his energy forward, preparing to summon a barrier at a moment's notice, and began slipping his feet backwards.

"I'm going to kill him." Turles cracked his neck. "I don't think you're going to like it, but he's going to die.

Goku glared back at Turles. "He's not hurting anyone, we don't have to kill him."

Turles chuckled. "He kept me in chains. He had me trapped in body and mind. If you didn't appear, I'd still be his slave until old age became too much for his technology to fight and I'd welcome death. This isn't a debate, he's going to die."

Gohan grabbed his father's wrist band. "Dad, this isn't our fight. He's made up his mind. We don't need to get involved."

Goku put his open hand over Gohan's, looking at the retreating man. 'Nothing will be gained by his death, just more pain.' Looking at his son he frowned. 'His men attacked us, he attacked Krillin. His heart is evil.'

"If someone did that to me, I'd want revenge too. I see where he's coming from, Dad. Don't tell me you can't?" Gohan could relate, to some degree, but he didn't want to get involved beyond keeping his dad out of it. 'That man is evil, that Saiyan is dark. That man attacked us, and could do so again. This Saiyan doesn't want to fight us.'

Gohan threw his thoughts back further. 'If you didn't win, Raditz would have done to me what they did to Turles. We killed Raditz. He should get to kill his capture too.'

"Gohan, no one did that to you." Goku thought back to the conversations, arguments, fights? They have had about how he and his wife had let their son down.

Turles concentrated on his new power and drew it back to the surface. He felt reawakened once more, like a warm blanket was peeled off of him and he was left naked in a polar storm. He was on high alert, and any movement would make him pounce.

Daiz, not liking where this was going, made a movement. Creating a ki bubble around himself he began his retreat. If he could get to their ship, he could pilot it solo...

Turles was immediately in front of Daiz. Not threatening him, not yet, but blocking his retreat.

"We're not done, Daiz. Sit down." Swiping his open hand through the air Turles extended a light whip that slapped the bubble around Daiz to the ground, exploding on contact. Daiz was unhurt, on his but, staring up at his former pet.

Goku was there in a blink, between Turles and Daiz, hands extended towards both of them. "WAIT!" he demanded.

Gohan shouted to his father. Not wanting to yell at him, but wanting to make sure he was heard. "What if it did happen to me? What if it happened to Mom? Would you be okay with letting someone go if they did that to either of us?"

Goku thought about his wife, pictured her in chains, on her knees, beside this creature. Goku shook his head. "Gohan, why does this matter so much to you?"

Cacao felt the earth shake below him. He heard the orange Turles shout. He heard the kid. What was he doing? Trying to spare them? No, the orange Turles wanted to leave… the kid, was protesting for their deaths?

"The only reason I'm waiting." Turles snarled at Goku. "Is that I respected your father. If I were to ignore you, if I were to kill him, I know you wouldn't do anything to stop me. When I kill him, I know you won't do anything to me either. I'm not a threat to you. I won't hurt you."

Gohan looked between his father and Turles. "I've been alone in the world, not a slave, but alone. I wasn't able to leave either. I knew my family was out there, and I couldn't get to them. Eventually I didn't want to, but before I learned, I couldn't. I don't know what it would be like to be in his situation, Dad, but I can relate. I was alone, with Piccolo, for a year. Eventually I adapted. He hasn't. If I hadn't, I probably would want Piccolo dead just as much as he wants his captor dead. The difference? Piccolo was kind. He wanted what's best for himself, but that was best for me as well."

Gohan pointed towards the man on the ground. "He's evil. If we don't stop him now, maybe no one will. He'll find another tree, he'll find other troops. He'll keep doing what he's doing."

Turles took in this information. 'He's that strong, and someone was still able to take his son from him?' "Son of Bardock, you have never been alone, have you? You've never had a desire, basic desire, as natural as breathing, that you were forced to not meet, for months as your son, or years, decades, like me? Your son is right. He can relate. His opinion is valid."

Looking down at Daiz, he enjoyed the moment. He wouldn't make it slow, he wasn't a monster, but this… The countless options in front of him, he'd bask in them before this came to an end and the world continued turning… 'Should I take some seeds from the tree? Could I get away with that?'

"I was alone." Goku kept his hands raised at Turles and Daiz. "When I was a child, I transformed. I was raised by a man, Grandpa Gohan… I transformed, and…"

"You weren't enslaved. You weren't forced to stay. You could have left at any time. You were never mocked as you fought for your life not to continue." Turles was getting angry. 'That's not even remotely the same. He had a choice. Even his son has had more of a life than he has, and he's just a kid.'

Daiz flopped himself forward, on his hands and knees. Touching his forehead to the ground he begged Goku. "Please, please don't kill me! I don't want to die! Please don't let him kill me!"

Turles blinked into existence at Goku's outstretched palm.

"How dare you!" He shouted at his former master. "How could you expect anyone to have mercy on you, when you refused it to countless people? You wouldn't give me mercy, yet you dare to beg it from me? You are pathetic! You are worthless! Your life is meaningless!"

"No one is going to hurt you!" Goku shouted at the cowering fighter. "Back up, now."

Goku made eye contact with Turles, and Turles obeyed.

Floating a few feet away, Turles made eye contact with Goku.

"Your son has a point. If someone did to him what they did to me, you would stop at nothing to punish those responsible." Turles swept sweat from his brow. "Saiyans aren't sentimental, but we are a proud people. Any offense to your blood is an offense to you, and all of yours. If your father were here, Daiz would have died as soon as he figured out what was going on. Heck, your dad could have beat him without the fruit."

Goku continued focusing on Turles, turning to face him head on.

"That doesn't matter. He's not here, I am. Death is not the answer." Goku lowered his arms, choosing to trust his uncle. 'He seems better than Raditz.'

Turles raised his hand to his nephew and formed an energy ball. "Move."

Goku raised a hand once more, both in defiance and defense. "Stop."

Turles swung his arm in an arc in front of him, launching a series of blasts as he did so. Goku intercepted the ones aimed at Daiz, ignoring the rest. Unfortunately for Goku, the rest were still being controlled. Curling in they collided with Daiz, removing him as a factor from any future events. "It's done."

Looking back, seeing his mistake, Goku was furious. "You didn't have to do that!" Goku summoned his own ki blasts in his hands, but didn't fire.

Turles powered down, putting his arms at his sides. "No, I didn't."

Not following Turles lead, Goku kept his attacks in hand. "We could have found a different way! He could have changed!"

As their shouting match, and the execution of Daiz, were under way, Cacao slowly moved his remaining arm, inch by inch. Once in place he moved his wrist just as methodically. 'Stay still.'

"You haven't answered our question yet. What would you have done if it was your own son that was enslaved?" Turles slowly lowered himself to the ground, Goku didn't move.

Seeing that everything was taken care of, at least the active threats, Tien turned in place, evaluating the tree once more. He felt an incredible power, calmly radiating off of it. In a few spots he felt more pure power, pure power that was swirling and trapped. 'If the fruit had that big of an impact on that Saiyan, to bring him to where these people could treat him like that, to more powerful than Vegeta… we should take some, for ourselves… we'd use it right.'

"I, I don't know what I would do." Goku lowered his head.

Thinking back to how this all started, to the man that injured his son, Goku realized that his son was almost in the same place Turles was. Back then, he had fought to the literal death, against his biological brother, to save his son. What changed? Was it because he was stronger now, he didn't have to kill to protect?

"You are strong, stronger than I thought possible for a non-transformed Saiyan… but you're not truly a Saiyan. You don't have the instincts. You didn't receive the training. It's incredible. I'm not sure if good or bad, that you haven't learned yet that indecision kills." Turles studied the ground where Daiz was. A fine mist of his blood had settled the ground and a few strands of his hair were dancing in the wind.

"I made my decision. His death was unnecessary. He was no major threat. You didn't need to kill him." Goku retracted his attack, feeling comfortable that words were going to be the weapons in this fight.

Looking skyward, seeing his younger brother in Goku, Turles smiled. 'Just like old times. I get stronger, but I'm still below you.' "Tell me, have you killed before?"

"Yes." Goku answered. Feeling a wave of disapproving energy off his father, Gohan froze, not saying another word.

"Yes, I have. However, that was different." Goku looked away from his son, back at his uncle.

"How so? What was different then?" Turles was still hot-blooded, but he felt the anger from the fruit wearing off. 'Was that all the fruit? Or my Saiyan blood? I haven't been in power in so long, I don't know even know if those thoughts and words were my own.'

"I told you I fight to protect my friends and family. The people I kill only when I truly see no other choice." Goku closed his eyes. "King Piccolo and his offspring, they were pure evil and beyond reforming. Raditz was too strong to defeat by any other means. Vegeta, I didn't want him to die as he was already defeated.'

Gohan jumped in again. "He was trying to kill Krillin!"

Turles shook his head at Gohan. 'Not your fight, kid.' "Okay, you spare him and he comes back. He kills you, or Krillin, or your son… then what? If you could have stopped him, and you didn't, you're responsible for any pain he causes after that..."

Cacao focused what little energy he had left. The damage wasn't life-threatening but still impeded him. Fortunately, but his cybernetics were second to none, and somehow they were still functioning. Compressing his attack into as small of point as possible, he adjusted his aim slightly, and launched the pea-sized energy ball with as much speed as he could muster. To his surprise, his target didn't even attempt to dodge. Even with all the effort he put into it, it wasn't quick enough to be a sure hit. His mouth dropped open as it hit his targets chest.

'It didn't even hurt him?'

He knew the lookalike was powerful, but this? A heartbeat later, he was corrected, the look alike was strong, but his genetics weren't. Gohan hit the ground like a sack of bricks.

Alerted to the attack only by the sound of Gohan falling, all eyes quickly turned to the boy, then Tien and Turles quickly turned to Cacao. Cacao laughed, he didn't know why that attack worked, but it did. "You take my life, I take your reason for living!"

Goku looked back at Cacao. 'He was awake? He shouldn't have been…'

Goku felt his body slipping forward, or his consciousness slip backwards. He looked over the battlefield. Tien was powering up, probably going to finish the job that he decided not to… why was that? He had time after Gohan was safe. Turles was looking at Cacao too, his mouth was slightly open, his eyes wide. He's a Saiyan, hasn't he seen death before? Why does Turles matter?

Focusing in on Gohan, Goku saw himself staring at the body. He was laying on his back. A small hold was burn into his gi, right over his heart. His eyes stop looking at Goku's. His face was looking up, mouth also open. His arms were still at his chest. Had he felt the impact? Did he try to catch it?

'What will Chi-Chi say!? I was supposed to keep him safe… he's dead! He was supposed to be doing homework! He's dead! He was supposed to help save Piccolo! He's dead! Gohan is dead! I tried to let someone live, I tried to give someone a chance! He's dead!'

Turles muscles bulged once more, the power of the fruit coming to the surface immediately. He let out a scream. His hair stood on end, his aura reached towards the sky, brushing Goku's.

Goku was back in his body. He hadn't moved. He hadn't looked around. How did I see everything? He turned his head, looking at Gohan. Looking down 'Turles is about to go ape. Was that a pun? I need to remember that. Wait, it doesn't matter. He's dead!'

Goku's vision split. One eye saw Gohan, the other Cacao. He was facing Turles still, but he didn't see him. 'My son! His killer is dead! He's going to die!'

In a third bubble of vision Goku saw Tien begin raising his hands to his chest. 'He'll probably use the Tri-Beam. How will that work with only one real arm? His robot arm makes robot energy. Is that how Cacao got the attack off unnoticed? We need a way to sense unreal energy.'

A fourth bubble popped up and Goku saw Turles. 'Did he wake me up? His energy is hot. He's dark still, but the light is shining through him. It's bright, can I blink?'

Gohan grabbed at the burnt edges of his shirt. 'Ow.'

The bubbles of vision collided together. Goku looked down at himself. His lips moved of their own will. "Times Ten."

Turles massive energy was washed out like a match being thrown into the sun. Goku was lost in red, both literally and figuratively. Turles and Tien were thrown back by the force of Goku's energy, their attacks failed. They were flying away, Gohan was tumbling, coming to rest at the base of the tree.

The monster on the ground was smiling. He was chuckling. Goku couldn't hear, but he saw the glee in his eyes. The roar of a train filled Goku's ears. 'What is that?'

A moment later he realized, it was him. He didn't know if it was his scream, or if his energy was just that loud, but it was him.

Tien landed on top of Turles and quickly got off the Saiyan.

"I've never seen him like this before." Feeling the energy coming off his friend, Tien couldn't help but shiver. His teeth began to chatter, and tears fell from his eyes. "He's, he's lost control."

Turles used Tien as a handhold as he righted himself. "Look up there!" Turles pointed to the sky.

Black clouds were rolling in from all sides. Thoughts of Shenron, the Eternal Dragon, filled Tien's mind. 'Does this planet have Dragon Balls too?'

Lightning began to strike, wind began to howl. Thunder echoed from the heavens. Lightning forked towards the tree, several strikes impacting it caught it ablaze.

'That takes care of that.' Tien thought to himself. 'We need to go. This is too dangerous.'

Goku felt the power flooding through him. These were waves he was capturing, riding, to unknown heights above. Where's it coming from? Turning his vision inward, Goku saw an object that impacted his soul. He was using the energy that radiated off of it, drops in the bucket. This object, it was in him, he could use it. It was his.

Thrusting his internal hands forward, he planned to grab it, firmly, rip it open, bathe in its glory. The tip of his right middle finger was the first to make contact. It burst into flame. Goku's right hand followed, then his arm, torso, and entire body. It was too much. He couldn't contain it. The power was literally burning him, in spirit, and body. The flames were small compared to his aura, but they were hot. His skin was probably already gone, or was it just hardened? He couldn't tell. He felt every vein in his body blazing, every muscle screaming, every hair erupting.

The pain brought Goku back to his body. He was going to crush Cacao for what he did. He crushed Cacao for what he did. When did that happen? He planned on charging his energy, coming at him from above, and destroying the monster… he already did. He was looking down at the crater… it was deep, he wanted to see the bottom, but his eyes were drawn to the massive roots that began to smolder in the hole.

'They're burning too.'

Goku tried to focus on the hole, but couldn't. All he saw was the darkness. His body stayed in the air, smoke rising from his flesh, as his mind escaped to somewhere unknown. His fist was extended towards the ground, slowly his body began to fall behind it, into the pit.

Turles had seen it all. The kid got hit in the chest. His nephew powered up, his power dwarfed his own. His nephew did something, mentioned ten, and his power seemed to grow by that same amount. That wasn't enough though, his body was red, not the aura, but his actual body, his eyes, his hair, he was red. For a moment there, as he caught fire, his hair turned gold. He was then over Cacao. Rocks, dirt, debris, and Cacao for that matter were flying everywhere. A conical pit pierced the ground, who knew how deep it was. He's falling though, he used all his energy, he needs help!

Turles and Tien both got to their feet. They didn't know each other. They didn't care about each other, or each other's targets at the moment. Turles bounded for the pit, he had to save his nephew. Tien rushed towards Gohan.

"GOHAN! GOHAN! GOHAN!" Tien had two thoughts going through his head. 'GOHAN' and 'BEAN'. By the time Tien reached Gohan, he had a bean in hand. The fire was spreading above, slowly. The fruit would be fine for a while still.

Turles jumped into the crater, using his ki to hasten his descent. His nephew was there, still falling, and moments later Turles had grabbed his ankle. As soon as he grabbed it, he released it.

'DAMN IT!' his hand burned, Goku wasn't powered up, but his skin was as hot as fire. Grabbing out with both hands this time, he grabbed on to both of Goku's ankles and forced himself to hold on. He felt the skin blistering on his palms and mentally cursed his soft side.

'Hands are moving, good sign.' Tien quickly looked over the boy before shoving the bean in his mouth.

"CHEW!" he screamed at the boy. "CHEW IT, NOW, CHEW!" Tien saw fear rush the boy's face as he did so. 'Why am I yelling? Why are my hands still shaking? Why can't I stop breathing so fast?'

As Gohan swallowed, Turles got back out of the pit, Goku in hand. Cursing in pain Turles dropped Goku on the ground at the edge of the abyss. His chest was moving, he was alive.

"We need to get him to the ship. We can save him. I've seen worse. I've had worse. Come on, let's go, I'll carry the kid." Turles didn't feel bad at all for trying to get someone else to sacrifice their hands.

Tien looked up at Turles, hovering slightly over Goku.

'How can genetics be that strong?' Looking back at Gohan, he watched the hole in his chest start to sew itself shut.

"Are you okay? Talk to me!" Tien's voice cracked as he spat the words at his friend's son.

Gohan felt out with his energy. 'There's Tien. The other Saiyan is there, alive. Dad? Is that you?' "Dad? Is he okay?"

"We don't have much time!" Turles shouted at Tien. "We need to get him to the ship, now! I'll take the boy! Get over here!"

Tien couldn't hear Turles, he was focusing on Gohan, the sweetest sound he'd heard, he was okay, the bean was working.

'The shot must have missed his heart.' "He's over there. I can feel him." Tien told Gohan. 'Are you okay? Can you breathe?" 'He's talking, he can breathe.'

"DAMN IT!" Turles squatted over his nephew. 'Thank Frieza for the armor.' He put his hands under Goku's armpits, and hugged him close to his chest. His hands again were on fire, his upper arms as well this time. "I'm going to my ship! Bring the boy if you want him to live!"

Turles fought the urge to drop Goku, and to scream, as he felt his arms blister, and lost feeling in his palms.

"Stop, put him down! I can treat him here!" Tien finally realized what was going on, the outside world still existed. Gohan was okay, now Goku needed attention. 'He didn't answer yet, do we know he can breathe?'

Tien was torn. 'He's begging for his dad, he's fine. If he's crying, he's alive. Dead children don't cry. He's alive.' Tien kept cycling the thoughts through his head as he dug out another bean and rushed towards Turles.

Turles didn't put Goku down. 'He couldn't have known about the Senzu Beans. Why would he? He's trying to help.' Tien had a new thought to focus on. This darker, more scarred, Goku wasn't as evil as his first thought had implied.

Turles met Tien halfway between the tree and the pit. "What are you doing?" He demanded from Tien.

"Medicine." Tien grabbed Goku's face, opening his mouth. He smelled burning plastic as he popped the bean into his friends mouth and made him swallow. "Give it a few seconds. You can set him down."

Tien helped Turles lower him down. As his right hand grabbed Goku's gi, he noted the heat radiating off of him.

Turles was amazed at first that this man could touch Goku without flinching, but quickly realized his arm was like Cacao, inorganic. He was amazed the second time by Goku opening his eyes and jumping to his feet.

"Gohan! Where is he!?" Goku immediately shouted.

"Gohan's alive, he's fine, he's alive." Tien pointed at the boy, sitting under a yet-to-catch-fire section of tree. As he watched Gohan was getting to his feet, and Goku was immediately there, hugging his boy.

"What, was that?" Turles asked Tien as neither dared to impose on the reunion. "What, the hell, was that?"

Tien noted the raw blisters all over Turles exposed flesh, and made a decision of his own. Pulling out a third Senzu Bean he offered it to Turles. "You have magic fruit, we have magic beans."

"What?"

Authors note: Well, that was a doozy. I've been looking forward to Turles for a while now, and had quite a bit of fun writing one scene in particular. No points for guessing which one.

Will Turles decide to join our team? Will Goku allow it? Will they rescue the fruit? Find out next time, on Dragon Ball Z: Darkness.

Author's note 2: Edited by StevenBodner on 5/1/2021.