Disclaimer, in case it wasn't obvious. I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or really any other property. Thank you.

The Cataylst

Act V

Chapter 68: Honour

Vegeta:

Standing on the edge of the coastline of a frozen wasteland, Vegeta looked out over where he'd sunk Slug's ambitions. If training in higher atmosphere hadn't worked for what he'd wanted, then at least he could try the depths of the ocean. Every day that passed was like a jab to his soul. It'd been a month since he'd left the top of the mountain. No matter how hard he pushed himself, it didn't seem to matter. That was his greatest problem, his ability to push himself was finite. Food, water, air, and sleep were all his ultimate banes. He wanted nothing to do with frailty, and right now he was just that. It was almost like a betrayal in and of itself.

Just as his feet stepped into the water as he made his planned approach to this newest plan to train himself at an extreme, Vegeta paused as he sensed Kakarot. The energy was close, extremely close, and it was being displayed if only slightly on purpose to let him know it was there. Turning his head slightly, Vegeta's eyes narrowed on the figure standing only a few metres behind him. That pitiful look of half innocence on Kakarot's face made him want to punch him in the jaw.

In fact, Vegeta's resentment was enough, that he threw himself at his opponent before he could have another thought. In a burst of motion, his arm swung through where Kakarot's head was.

"Wow! Hey Vegeta!" Kakarot's voice announced, seemingly as bright and chipper as always.

Clenched teeth locked together from Vegeta as he turned towards him, clearly still wanting to fight. Even if he was defeated, it'd at least show him the power he strived for, Kakarot would need to become a Super Saiyan to stop him. That much was guaranteed. Maybe if he fought it, he could become it. Maybe only through the desperate struggle could he finally achieve his destiny.

What was more humiliating, was that Kakarot hadn't even taken up a fighting stance. The anger welled up further as the other Saiyan just kept smiling at him.

"You've been training like a mad man lately, you know that?" Kakarot asked. "Man, I wish I had that kinda time. But I've gotta take a bunch of time to farm-"

Vegeta made another dash, this time his punch being blocked by Kakarot himself. Vegeta cut a kick towards the other Saiyan a moment later, only to find Goku hopping above it casually.

"-and Chi-Chi demands a lot of time too. Oh, and I've had to train my friends, Raditz, and Gohan-"

Another flurry of blows Vegeta tried to land just hit air. This freak was still beyond him. Even if he was to touch him, he'd have to drive his own power up, and that meant… that meant… he was still nothing.

"-but you know, I really think those things help keep my grounded though," Kakarot finished.

Finally, Vegeta landed a furious blow on Kakarot's stomach. The other warrior hunched over. Maybe now he'd finally be able to get what he wanted. But instead, Kakarot just shoved him back before flipping away for several moments before finally assuming something like a fighting stance.

"And I'd normally not pry," Kakarot remarked. "But, well, you've not been home in a while, Vegeta. We can all sense your energy a lot. Don't you think that Bulma deserves a bit better? I mean, not that I'm father of the year material or anything-"

That. That is why he is here? He's here because he wants me to keep playing house with that insufferable woman!? That was his whole purpose, coming here to mock me like this?!

"You came here, Kakarot. To tell me to go back to that harpy and her miserable home?" Vegeta scoffed. "You really are delusional. I will surpass you. Do you understand? And once I have, I will dispatch you, and that miserable bastard you call a brother Turles!"

"Me and Turles don't usually refer to each other like that. We're not really that close, and I think he kinda hates me-"

"He's not the only one!" Vegeta snarled furiously, his eyes burning holes in Kakarot's head as his teeth clenched. His anger was getting worse and worse, and he could feel more of his power coming to the fore.

"Alright, soooo, Bulma's alone right now and she's a really good friend of mine. And with her having a baby soon, I thought you should probably be around. I mean, I've not told Chi-Chi yet that you've not been near West City in months, so at least you're not in real trouble yet…"

The woman is having a child? So, what? What does that have to do with me… HAH!

It was almost enough to make him burst out with laughter. So, the same error that happened that allowed his 'son' to come from the future. Still, he'd expected as much. The weight Kakarot and Lower-Class warriors put on their families was clearly a burden they wished to push onto him. The woman's brat was hardly his concern. Nor would the woman herself be his concern any longer. The only concern he had now was becoming a Super Saiyan… and preventing something as humiliating as this from happening to him again.

"Kakarot, I am only going to bother telling you this once. I do not care about the woman, or her useless child. I didn't even know she was having the pitiful thing until you just told me," Vegeta almost snickered. "It's not my responsibility. I care as much as I did for that stupid bastard who came from the future."

There was a moment where the air almost went still between them. Kakarot himself just seemed to be processing what he said while staring back at him critically for a few moments. It'd been a long time since he'd stirred any reaction from him at all. This one was remarkable…

Because I'm hurting his friends instead of him. Hah. What an idiot-

All the air sucked out of Vegeta as he felt Kakarot's fist hit his diaphragm. A single drop of sweat seemed to roll down the side of his face as he tried to suck in air, but he couldn't. A familiar golden glow surrounded the other Saiyan, having changed forms in under a second. Just remaining standing was all he could do as he tried to prevent himself from collapsing to his knees. It was a battle he was losing.

"Alright Vegeta," Kakarot said, his tone a bit harder, but still casual. "As I said, I'm not exactly the father of the year. But Bulma's my first friend ever. And I don't really appreciate you acting like this. But it is your choice."

As Kakarot withdrew his fist, the other Saiyan walked a few feet away as Vegeta finally collapsed to his knees, gasping desperately for air as he gazed in disbelief at what had just happened.

Humiliated again. Will I never escape this fate?

"I hope you change your mind and at least pretend to not be a total jerkface. You talk about having pride and honor all the time, but you never really act like you have either."

The fact he wouldn't even swear at him was another smaller blow to his ego, before Kakarot disappeared entirely with his cursed instant transmission.

Coughing several times, Vegeta took Kakarot's disapproval with a badge of honour as far as he was concerned. Grinning through the pain, he managed to start picking himself up. He'd dock five minutes from his planned training to recover before he'd be taking himself to the depths of the oceans.

What do I even need that blasted woman for anymore?

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Raditz:

The day's sky above him was a grim reminder of when this had all started. The scene remained almost untouched. The grim peak which he stood on was the sight of the destructive landslide and avalanche caused by his former comrades. This was Nappa's work, and he'd seen it a thousand times done to others, before it was done to him. Still, this was where he increasingly found himself in his quiet time when not training. Here, at the place where Vegeta had killed his old life.

It was impossible to move without being monitored, Raditz had determined. Something would need to change in order to allow him to even begin to do more than dream of his revenge. Something catastrophic would need to occur. The question was what catastrophe could be unleashed to distract Kakarot and the others enough? He already had the answer. It'd been something he'd been plotting for weeks.

His strength was growing with every passing day, his skills and battle prowess were gradually increasing as well. Perhaps he'd never be as far ahead of Kakarot or the others as when they'd first met, but he would be their equal, at least that was what he envisioned for himself. For the last month he'd pushed himself harder than he ever had before. Even with the Namekian almost disappearing from their training sessions, Raditz assaulted Kakarot and the others with a fervor that he'd not displayed since his battle against Frieza.

Not that it mattered. But Raditz was learning something.

Failure, brought about strength. For every chance he took to climb the mountain of power, every time he slipped or failed to take grasp, he could try again, and again. And it was this that he was realizing was the source of Kakarot's strength, he wasn't afraid to fail, or succeed. Something Vegeta put into him as he'd been working under the Prince was that success was something to be avoided, unless the Prince could take credit. Failure was another thing to be avoided as well. It was better to have no tried… than to have violated these unwritten rules.

Well now he was breaking through that. As he emerged from this cocoon, he was letting himself flourish. This power fed his desire for revenge, and his desire for revenge fed his power. The sensation in the back of his mind of wanting revenge, had come to the fore more than ever. Already he knew exactly what he was going to do as soon as he created the opportunity. And it would be his death.

But even in death, he could enter the gates of the afterlife knowing that he'd accomplished what needed to be done for his own honour. It'd been hard to understand just how much he was willing to throw away to finally be free of this pain, and the answer eventually back to him after another round of nightmares.

Everything.

Walking to where he'd pulled the body from the rubble, Raditz was left standing there as a wind blew past his long hair, letting it trail in the wind as he let the wound this had left behind, fester. It was a good sensation to let it fester, as it reminded him of just why he was going to do what he was going to do. It gave him certainty, and kept him on the path he needed to be on. When he was here, he could discard the things that would keep him from doing what honour demanded.

Sensing the familiar energy behind him, Raditz breathed a sigh of relief. So, even if he didn't rely on him showing up, he at least had a chance to pitch what he wanted. This was his best option. Now, he just needed to convince him.

"Brother," Raditz remarked, turning his head to acknowledge Turles before he fully turned to face him. "I'm pleased to see you are here."

The typical half amused look on Turles's face was evident. The wind swept past the two of them as Raditz just stared at his other brother, unable to stop his own face from being written in cold stone. He wasn't dressed for battle, at least not one that was intended.

"Well, don't you look serious?" Turles offered to him, crossing his arms before his feet touched the flattened surface of the mountain. "Is this something serious then? Is it serious for me, which means important, or is it serious for you, Raditz? Which means it's unimportant. I'll at least hear you out, I promise."

The mockery from his younger sibling reminded him of the humiliation of being the eldest brother, but being the weakest of the three of them. But he still had a place to demand something of Turles. Because the only reason Turles was alive, here today, was because of him. Not only had he gathered him into Frieza's forces, taking him off his backwater, but he'd also spared his life, despite Kakarot's judgement.

"Are you done acting like a child?" Raditz responded coolly. "Because if not, I'll let you get it out of your system some more."

His younger brother walked closer to him, examining him with a critical eye for a brief second before gradually walking off to the side, leaning against the rubble next to where she'd… died… before. It was ironic to him at least, that he could say that the key to his revenge was now only a metre away from the source of his anger and hatred without even realizing it.

"I'm not sure," Turles remarked. "It depends on why you wanted to bring me to the top of a mountain to talk. Really, are you that paranoid that anyone could here you that you wanted to come up to this barren piece of rubble?"

Raditz chose not to answer that question, and narrowed his eyes.

"This place is important to me," Raditz told Turles before veering off to the subject he'd wanted to open. "Do you know the story of Abil? The Saiyan who'd wanted revenge on his sister Laettus with such a passion, that he was willing to kill his entire family in order to achieve revenge?"

"Vaguely," Turles remarked in return, seemingly disinterested in the line of the question.

On Planet Vegeta, a debt of revenge as great as Vegeta's would have been settled by any means. Even though his people had moved away from most of their superstitions by the time of his age, Nappa had remarked that Abil was the one you asked for strength, and gave offering to, if your loss was too great and revenge was required.

"I am intending on extracting my revenge on Vegeta," Raditz remarked. "I cannot let his actions stand any longer. I have tried to live as these people do on this planet, I have tried living with Kakarot and his family, but I cannot forget the debt Vegeta owes me."

"And what debt is that?" Turles mocked. "What's so important that you're asking me to kill Vegeta? Do you have any idea what kind of problems that would make for me? I'm not interested already, Raditz. If you weren't family, I'd have already told you to do it yourself."

"And I intend to," Raditz was quick to charge back. "I am not asking you to kill Vegeta. That's my burden."

The other Saiyan's amused or disinterested face shifted to one which surprised Raditz. There was a modicum of concern on Turles's features. It was a shadow of what any rational person would have, but it was there, even if only slightly.

"Interesting," his brother remarked. "But I still fail to see why I should help you, Raditz."

The last person he'd told had betrayed him. Guru's little manipulative game was still a sore spot for him, but not nearly as raw or painful as the act itself. Looking towards the, for all intensive purposes, grave next to Turles, Raditz began deciding on what he needed to tell Turles.

"Because you owe me, from my saving you from Kakarot," Raditz first tried.

A harsh laugh escaped his younger brother, the response he'd expected.

"Please, do I look like Kakarot? Take your garbage arguments elsewhere and talk to someone who cares."

"I don't intend to kill Vegeta, I intend to fight him to the death, which is very likely to be my own death," Raditz explained. "But that is not my revenge."

Rolling his eyes, Turles's obvious disinterest was rising again.

"So, you want me, to fight Kakarot, so you can go kill yourself at the hands of Vegeta? Just stop it already. Here I was hoping you actually had a good reason for me to show up."

"My revenge is to kill the woman, Bulma," Raditz finally snapped, tired of being mocked.

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Turles:

Now that was interesting. Not that he felt compelled to help, but there was at least a hook to keep him amused now. Raditz intended to murder Vegeta's woman? Firstly, he strongly disliked Bulma, so seeing the blue haired witch go wasn't exactly the end of the world for Turles. What was interesting was that Raditz wanted to die to kill this woman, that was the real fascination.

"So, why are you trying to kill the woman, exactly? My tame older brother?" Turles asked, unable to hide his interest.

There was a long pause before Raditz pointed towards the rubble next to where Turles was standing, his eyes looked at the shattered rock before looking back at his elder brother. Broken rocks? That was what this was about? Did Raditz lose a rock or two in the scuffle?

"That is where they killed her," Raditz said after a few quiet moments. "I still remember the look on her face after Nappa and Vegeta killed her, supposedly for my failings."

The bonds of loyalty broken; this is what it drove Raditz to be? Really?

Looking back at the rocks, he couldn't imagine what this woman looked like, or really anything about her, but he could imagine Raditz feebly trying to save her. Some of the rocks nearby, undisturbed since the last time Raditz was here, showed they'd been pulled away from the main formation. Whoever this woman was, it must have been extremely painful for Raditz to admit this. Hell, the fact he was ready to die for the honour of a dead woman said volumes. Firstly, it said volumes that his brother was a better man than himself, at least in terms of honour and dignity. People died all the time, as Saiyans they killed them all the time. Even when close family died, or lovers, it was just apart of life. Whether they were murdered, or died… who cared?

It wasn't that he didn't see the point in revenge. It was where the revenge was coming from, and the why, that was more confusing to him.

The pain of his own transformation to the form of legends, however, had instilled Turles with some understanding of the obvious… discomfort, Raditz was feeling. It even gave him an insight into what would drive him to this level of fanaticism. It did bode one question for him though.

"Who was she? A Saiyan?" Turles asked.

"She should have been," Raditz answered. "But no, she was human. She was my guide on this world after my arrival. She'd been working with me for a chance to survive. How quickly she could turn on anyone, I could see it from the first time I went into battle. Utterly heartless, she was a warrior I came to respect."

Clearly, you had more than respect for this woman if you're willing to die to kill Vegeta's woman.

"And so why is the blue haired woman the real target of your revenge, Raditz?" Turles could imagine, but some clarity would have been nice.

What followed was something that even chilled Turles's blood.

"He took her away from me," Raditz said coldly, but his voice was strained with the sense of something long since lost. "It's something that gnaws at me every day. It plagues my dreams and haunts my actions. Every time I see my past, I see his betrayal. Every time I see myself, I see what I have become, but only through loss, which he did to me for no other reason than his spite. He took something away from me that I'll never get back."

Looking at Turles, his chest heaving angrily, Turles could even sense Raditz's ki rising as he spoke. The trigger for something else, something Turles was all too familiar with, buried beneath the surface. Yes, that was most definitely it. The question was, was he going to help Raditz foster his hatred into a useful element.

"I wouldn't get involved. Nothing good is going to come of this."

I didn't invite you back in to be a killjoy. Besides, doesn't Vegeta deserve the same fate he inflicted on poor Raditz? This is far too interesting to just let it go. I had no idea that my weak older brother held such a passion behind his hatred for Vegeta.

"What makes you think that I can distract Kakarot enough to let you get away with this? Who's to say I won't have to kill our 'brother' Kakarot, for your revenge to work?" Turles asked. "Is that a price your willing to pay? For this woman, whoever she was."

"Her name was Violet," Raditz was quick to respond, but didn't answer his first remark.

Because if Turles was going to fight Kakarot hard enough for him to ignore what was happening on the other side of the Earth, he was going to need to fight Kakarot. Already, he could see the destruction that was going to be reaped across the surface of this planet. Better yet, he could see how it might all come together in his favour. If Raditz achieved what he wanted… well, Bulma would be out of the way, and maybe even Vegeta. If Vegeta survived, then he was still no match for him, and Raditz would be… out of the way as well. With Kakarot dead, it would make him the strongest being alive.

The only question was, did he himself want to help Raditz with this plan? All to pay him back for a debt he didn't care about? Was it that important?

"And it is a price I'd be willing to pay," Raditz finally answered, with the tone of a man who'd already committed himself to a course of action that could have only one conclusion. "As your brother, your older brother, I am asking you help me achieve what Abil did. I have nothing I will not burn to achieve this."

Well Raditz, aren't you persistent?

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Author's Notes:

Abil = Able (apart of Vegetables / Vegeta / Tarble's names). I figured the name worked also for another story that may be intertwined with.

Happy Canada Day, See you guys in August! Posting now because I go on Vacation next week. Kinda sad that not many people read Chapter 67 😐

Reviewers:

Blades of Fury: I spoil nothing! :P

Thomas-The-TMC: I'm glad I've provided you with nightmares. 😊

Jason9000: Well, I'm glad that I fulfilled the horro genre. 21's clearly not going to be a Buu monster knockoff. She's going to have an interesting arc.

Super Mystic Gohan: Thanks!

Spades231: I asked and got less than ever! Lol. I'm glad the horror theme worked at least.

Guest: Why? She fits the era I wanna write for this, and there are more androids in general.

Transforemrs G1's Prime: Gero's going to be a massive bastard in this, I hope people enjoy his arc, lol

OuterSpaceHooker: I was uncomfortable writing it :P

Maximussj: Good! It's summer, people need to cool down.