Choice to be Different
Chapter Six: Games People Play
Disclaimer: Premise and characters belong to Akira Toriyama, I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit fun.
Goku banged loudly on the side of the Gravity Room. "Hey 'Geta! I'm here!" he shouted. Then he sat down and started pulling off his weighted clothes. Inside Vegeta-chan hurried to reset the gravity to a slightly lower level and started pulling on weights.
According to his older counterpart sparring wouldn't do much to improve Vegeta-chan's chances against Frieza but he didn't want to get out of practice. Besides, it was more fun than training on his own all the time. Since moving into the Gravity Room Vegeta-chan rarely saw anyone other than his older counterpart. He didn't have down-time anymore so finding ways to include Goku in some of his training seemed well worth the bother to Vegeta-chan.
The door to the GR cycled open and Goku bounced inside. "Wow 'Geta, you look like you've been living under a rock," Goku greeted the other boy with friendly concern.
'Geta rolled his eyes. Sometimes Goku reminded him too much of Radditz. Trunks had been wrong when he told Goku that he didn't act like a proper Saiyan because he smiled, laughed and liked people. In Vegeta's experience that was all perfectly normal for a third-class warrior like Goku or his older brother Radditz. Well it was normal to be friends with some people anyway, Goku's desire to be friends with absolutely everyone was pretty weird. But what made Goku truly stand apart from every other Saiyan Vegeta had ever met was that there was no air of barely contained violence around him. Even though Goku was a warrior he radiated warmth. Still, when you got beyond the violence Radditz had the same tendency to forget Vegeta's station and the same habit of treating him like a friend. Sometimes it made Vegeta want to smack Goku, because both brothers were morons with no inclination to treat their prince with the proper diffidence, but mostly it made things easier. At least one thing in this world was a little familiar.
"I told Goten and Trunks I'd play tag with them after we were done," Goku told him. "You should come too. Sun's good for you!"
'Geta sniffed disdainfully. "I'm not playing one of their stupid games again."
"Tag's okay," Goku insisted. "Gohan explained it to me. See it's a way to practice hunting. The person who's it is the hunter and everyone else pretends to be prey. If the hunter catches someone they trade. Trunks and Goten weren't very good at it. They'd just run around and make a lot of noise but they're getting better."
Goku did a few quick stretches. Then he bounced on his toes a couple of times to get a feel for the heavier gravity.
'Geta shrugged his shoulders to settle the weighted clothes he pulled on. "I should probably keep training," he said.
The two boys squared off to spar.
"Awww, you're no fun," Goku pouted. "Running around is good training too. You train by yourself too much."
"I have to kill that bastard!" 'Geta snapped. "He destroyed our world. I have to avenge them. My father was counting on me to save them! Avenging them is all I have left."
Goku's eyes darkened with sadness. "I know. I have to beat Piccolo too. I have to make sure he won't kill my friends again."
"It's not the same!" 'Geta snarled as he attacked. "You beat Piccolo!" Punch. "Frieza's always been too strong for me!" Kick "I don't remember before Frieza." Kick. "My whole life I was supposed to protect the Saiyans from him!" Punch. "I was supposed to stop him!" Punch. "I'm the Prince of all Saiyans!" Kick. "I was supposed to save them!" Kick. "But they're all gone!" Kick. "Five years gone!" Punch. "All I can do is get revenge-" Kick. "Only I can't! I'm too weak!"
Goku absorbed 'Geta's attack. He blocked and fell back. He let 'Geta expend his anger. "It'd still be training," he said. "I'll let you borrow my weighted clothes. If you wear them along with your own stuff it'll be harder."
"Not hard enough, nothing ever is."
Goku frowned. "You think too much when you're in here by yourself." He gave 'Geta a pleading look. "Come play with us."
"You're a moron."
"You always say that when you're losing." Goku grinned.
Since 'Geta had started sparring and not just lashing out Goku went on the offensive. "Can't see how you stand being cooped up in here all day. The gravity's cool but I'd rather wear heavy clothes and be outside."
"I live on ships. There is no outside," 'Geta stated.
Goku grimaced. "You should definitely get outside, while you've got the chance."
"When I'm dirtside I'm there on Frieza's orders. I'm there to conquer the planet for him," 'Geta said.
Goku sighed. Sometimes he didn't know what to make of the other boy. " 'Geta come outside, just for fun, just for once."
"Make the spar worth my time and I'll think about it," 'Geta surrendered.
Goku grinned. "Try and keep up."
"I'm only doing this under protest," Vegeta-chan announced as he joined Trunks, Goten and Goku outside of the GR.
Trunks and Goten grinned.
Goku rolled his eyes. "Stubborn," he said.
'Geta didn't dispute it.
"Come on! Let's play!" Goten exclaimed.
"Goku's it!" Trunks shouted. He grabbed 'Geta's arm and dragged the older boy along with him as he and Goten ran away. "Goku sort of mixes up Hide-and-Seek with Tag," Trunks explained rapidly as they ran. "Explaining the real rules to him is too much of a pain so we decided to go along with it."
'Geta shrugged. He had no clue what the games Trunks mentioned were but he knew how prey behaved even if he was normally the hunter. "I know how to play," he said gruffly.
"Well don't fly," Trunks said as Vegeta-chan veered off. "Goten still can't. And don't go inside, Mom doesn't like us running in the house."
Goku waited until the other three boys were out of sight and sound. Then he glanced at the ground and made a soft tsking sound. The others still didn't think about the tracks they left. When 'Geta's tracks veered off toward a rock garden Goku grinned. When he didn't pick up the other full Saiyan's tracks immediately on the other side of the garden he decided that 'Geta was his prey. Finally, someone who actually understood the game!
'Geta watched Goku track him from the vantage point of the roof. Trunks had forbidden flying but there were few structures that the boys weren't capable of climbing.
The young Saiyan Prince could see that Goku was going to find his hiding place shortly. He'd been careful to tread lightly but Goku was no amateur when it came to tracking game. 'Geta knew he should take advantage of the fact he could jump down on the far side of the building and use it's cover to find a new hiding place before Goku saw him. He knew pretending to be prey was part of the game but he hated running and hiding, especially when the other boy was walking into such a perfect ambush.
'Geta leapt off the roof onto Goku. Goku rolled under the assault and both boys came to their feet in a fighting stance. They traded a fierce grin and the battle was on. The boys traded between offense and defense so rapidly it was impossible to judge which had the advantage.
"You're playing it wrong!" Trunks shouted. He dove between the two full-blooded Saiyans and tossed tem apart using brute strength. "You said you knew how to play 'Geta! This is tag not sparring! You touched Goku so you're It now! That means you lost! You're supposed to keep him from touching you! That's the whole point of the game dummy!"
Vegeta crossed his arms and glared at Trunks. "I don't run from my opponents," he declared.
" 'Geta was acting like prey," Goku defended the other boy. "I used to eat bear and wolves and tigers and all sort of things. They attack you when you're hunting them if they think they've got a chance of eating you instead."
"We're playing TAG!" Trunks snapped. "We already changed the rules enough because you're too stupid to play it right!"
Goku scowled stubbornly at Trunks. "Gohan said it was to practice hunting. You're the one who does it wrong. Anybody who hunts like you do is gonna starve."
"No I won't 'cause my parents feed me," Trunks snapped. Even as he said it he knew he shouldn't have. He'd heard his mother's stories often enough to knew that Goku's grandfather had died while the other boy had still been a child.
"I wish they'd stop fighting," Goten whispered to Vegeta-chan. "They always end up fighting about who's rules we should use."
"It's a stupid argument," 'Geta declared. He drew both Trunks and Goku's attention. "So what if Goku 'tagged' me when I ambushed him? I 'tagged' him back the next time I hit him. We could try to count hits exchanged; if it's an odd number who's It trades, if it's an even number the same person stays It. Or we could all agree that it's moronic to do that and say who ever gets pinned is It."
"Like that's going to work," Trunks said irritably. "You and Goku aren't strong enough to pin Goten or I."
'Geta and Goku exchanged a glance. "That sounds like a challenge," 'Geta answered for both of them.
One moment Trunks was darting toward a favorite hiding place the next 'Geta's fist was smashing into his solar plexus, driving the breath out of his body.
Trunks was fast but 'Geta fought with an unhesitating intensity that went beyond simple reaction speed. Vegeta didn't think what was he going to do next while he was in a fight, he'd already figured it all out ahead of time. Nothing Trunks did surprised him, there was nothing Trunks could think of that Vegeta hadn't anticipated and planned for. And it was hard for Trunks to figure out any sort of coherent plan when Vegeta never gave him the chance to get his breath back. Trunks couldn't concentrate long enough to gather his ki and couldn't manage the transformation to a Super Saiyan while Vegeta kept up his unrelenting barrage.
Before Trunks fully knew what had happened he was face down in the dirt. 'Geta twisted Trunks' arm behind the younger boy's back then dug his fingers painfully into the muscles behind Trunks' scapula.
Trunks tried to use his greater strength to free him himself. "Ow! Ow! It hurts!"
'Geta smirked, he knew Trunks was strong enough to break his hold but he'd guessed that Trunks wouldn't be willing to put himself through the pain it would cost him to use that strength. "You're It," he told the lavender-haired boy.
Trunks gritted his teeth and stomped irritably around the Capsule Corp grounds. He'd been It for twenty minutes and he'd yet to see hide or hair of Goku or 'Geta. Occasional he sensed a spike of ki or heard muffled laughter that gave away Goten's position but him tagging Goten was practically pointless. 'Geta and Goku were the ones who said he'd challenged them. If he couldn't catch one of them what was the point?
"Trunks-kun, I'm bored," Goten announced as he stepped out of hiding.
"So?" Trunks demanded.
"Aren't you gonna chase me?" Goten asked. "You're It and I'm not."
"So?"
"So if you catch me, I'll be It."
"So what? 'Geta and Goku are probably laughing at both of us." A determined light filled Trunks' eyes. "We're not going to let them beat us! This is what we're gonna do Goten. The two of us know every good hiding spot for miles around. They've got to be using one of them. We're going to check all of them. Systematically!"
Goten looked puzzled.
"It's Mom's new favorite word," Trunks explained quickly. "We do it in order so we don't miss anything. Together we'll flush them out and get them! Get it?"
"Working together's against the rules," Goten said doubtfully.
"This isn't Tag, Goten! This is war!" Trunks declared.
Goten sighed and decided it was easiest to go along, although the game was starting to seem less fun.
Their search eventually rousted Goku from a drainage pipe. Trunks had been right, if it had of been just him he would have been caught half way down the pipe while Goku was happily rushing off to find someplace new to hide but with the two of them Goku hadn't been able to get away.
Which didn't mean that he surrendered without a fight.
"Are you It now, Goten?" Goku asked in a hushed voice as his future son crawled into the pipe. "Or are you just looking for a hiding place?"
"I'm sort of It," Goten confessed.
"Oh," Goku said and scrambled out of the pipe backwards, as it was too narrow for him to turn around inside of it.
Trunks was waiting at the far end when Goku popped out. Trunks lunged and Goku dodged. "Oh, that's what Goten meant," Goku declared as he danced out of Trunks' reach. "You're both It."
Goku got some distance between himself and Trunks. He made a dash for safety. Trunks tackled him and the boys plowed through three tree trunks before their combined momentum was spent.
Goku sat and rubbed his shoulder, which had taken the brunt of the punishment. "I guess I'm It," he said.
"Yes!" Trunks exclaimed. He and Goten exchanged a high-five.
"How'd you find me?" Goku asked curiously as he brushed the splinters off his clothes. "I saw you two zipping around but how do you look that fast?"
"We know everywhere good to hide," Goten explained cheerfully.
Trunks elbowed his friend. "Don't tell!"
Goku grinned. "Well, you guys better run," he said. " 'Cause I'm It!"
Goten watched Goku locate his hiding spot as easily as if Goten had been 'hiding' by standing on top of a table and shouting. It occurred to Goten that maybe there was something to this tracking stuff of Goku's. By the time he was done considering it was too late to run so Goten had to make a fight of it.
Goku knocked Goten's legs out from underneath him. Goten gathered himself to throw Goku off when Goku's fingers brushed lightly against his ribs and the younger boy exploded into helpless giggles. "I give up!" he cried. "Stop tickling me!"
Goku grinned. He stepped back and offered Goten a hand up.
Goten refused the help. He sat were he was, crossed his arms sulkily over his chest and gave Goku a dirty look. "Tickling isn't fair," he pouted.
Goku reached down and lifted his future son to his feet. "I'm ticklish too," he whispered conspiratorially. "Next time..."
Goten grinned. "Next time I'll get you first, just you watch," he declared.
"Next time," Goku agreed. "But this time, you're It!"
Goten and Trunks searched all the good hiding places and still didn't find Goku or 'Geta. "This is why you don't tell how you do something," Trunks complained.
"Sorry Trunks-kun," Goten said. He noticed a baby dinosaur stretching it's neck up. It was trying to get a particularly nice looking clump of leaves that were just out of it's reach.
"It's okay. They're sneaky, devious even. But no one's as devious as me!" Trunks declared.
Goten nodded absently. The little dinosaur looked so wistfully at the leaves that were just out of reach. Goten wondered if it's mommy was nearby and if she'd help it get the leaves.
"I just need to come up with a plan. A new plan, a better plan. Then we'll show them!"
'Trunks' plans generally took time and ended with them in 'time-out' or hiding from Vegeta-san, the big one,' Goten thought. If he went along with one of Trunks' plans the little dinosaur would be gone and he wouldn't get to play with it. They'd been playing Tag for awhile and it wasn't much fun in Goten's opinion. Everyone was getting mad.
Goten looked at the dinosaur. He looked at Trunks. He looked at the dinosaur. Goten slapped Trunks on the shoulder. "You're It." He said then ran off to go talk to the dinosaur.
Trunks glared after his disloyal best friend then shouted, "Fine! Be that way! I'll just catch them myself, see if I don't!"
After that Trunks sat down to do some serious thinking. Five minutes later he ran back inside the house. "Grandma, could I have some cookies?" he asked.
"Trunks, you know you aren't allowed sweets between meals," Bunny said.
"But Grandma, I'm sooo hungry!" Trunks whined. "And I really, really want cookies."
Bunny's attempt at being stern crumpled beneath Trunks' puppy-dog eyes. "Dinner isn't for quite awhile," she hedged. "I suppose we could call this a late dessert for lunch."
Bunny dug through the industrial sized refrigerator, then popped a tray of frozen cookies into Bulma's new, super fast oven and in just a few minutes Trunks was presented with a heaping tray of steaming hot, gooey, chocolate chip cookies.
"Thanks Grandma," Trunks said as he claimed his bounty.
"Just don't tell your mother I gave them to you," Bunny giggled. Trunks grinned. "And if your father catches you, you know what to do."
"Bribe him with half so he doesn't tell Mom," Trunks replied promptly.
"And be sure to share them with your friends," Bunny finished.
"Oh, I will," Trunks promised with a sly grin. Then he darted outside.
"They want to play 'hunting', I'll show them I can hunt," the lavender haired demi-Saiyan muttered to himself as he made his preparations.
"What the hell is he doing?" 'Geta whispered to Goku as they pair watched Trunks' antics from the concealing branches of a leafy tree.
Goku shrugged then a light bulb went on. "Oh! Those things they watch on TV! He's making a snare."
'Geta snorted and shook his head. "He actually thinks that thing will work?"
"He's trying his best," Goku defended the younger boy. "Goten quit. He was making friends with one of Bunny-san's pets when I checked on him."
"Speaking of Goten." 'Geta nodded toward Trunks' tray of cookies. The youngest demi-Saiyan was perched on the tree stump where Trunks had left the cookies.
Goten watched his friend's efforts while he absently snacked on the cookies. "What ya doing Trunks?" he asked.
Trunks jumped and spun around. "Goten! You're eating my bait!"
"I thought they were cookies," Goten said. "Bait is worms and crawly things."
"I'm not trying to catch a fish," Trunks huffed. "I'm trying to catch a couple of bossy, know-it-all Saiyans who keep changing the rules for our games."
"Instead of letting you do it," Goten interjected.
"I do not change the rules!" Trunks protested. Then he flushed. "I just don't tell you all of them at the start. It would take too long and you'd probably forget half of them anyway. It just works better if I tell you the rules as we go along."
Goten giggled. "And you win more that way too." He popped another cookie into his mouth. "These are pretty good Saiyan bait."
"Yeah, I know. Grandma made them," Trunks said. "It's been torture smelling them when I can't eat them... SO WOULD YOU STOP EATING THEM ALREADY!!"
"Sorry Trunks-kun," Goten said. Conscientiously he moved away from the depleted cookie tray. "Do you think it'll work?"
"It has to!" Trunks exclaimed. "We never find them! We can all hide our ki but we can't find them and they always know where we are. They always get the drop on us! It's driving me crazy!"
There was a rustle from the bushes. "Not yet!" Trunks shouted. "I'm not ready yet!" He charged the bush. "Come on Goten! Get 'em!"
Without pausing for though both boys pounced.
"Ought-oh," Goku said as he and 'Geta watched but they were too far away to intervene.
Trunks and Goten landed roughly on the small dinosaur Goten had been playing with earlier. It shrieked in pain, thrashed a few times then went still.
"I thought-" Trunks stammered. He backed away from the creature guiltily.
"Mr. Lizard!" Goten cried. He dropped to his knees beside the dinosaur and petted it's head worriedly. When it didn't respond Goten began sniffling.
Trunks looked like he was two seconds away from tears himself. "We didn't mean to..."
Quietly Goku and Vegeta-chan joined the other two boys. "It's dead," 'Geta stated. "Broken spine."
Trunks shook his head in denial. He bit the inside of his cheek so he wouldn't end up crying over some silly dinosaur.
"We gotta wish him better!" Goten cried, tears streamed down his cheeks.
"The Dragon Balls are all used up," Trunks said, there was despair in his tone. "Maybe he's still a little bit alive. We could take him to Dende and he could make him all better."
"Dead is dead," 'Geta said grimly.
Goku looked solemn. "It's wrong to kill things if you don't have to," he said. "But it's okay to kill animals for food... We're going to have to eat it."
"B-but I liked Mr. Lizard!" Goten said plaintively.
Goku winced, "We can bury his bones afterwards."
"You can't be serious!" Trunks exclaimed as he stared at the small dinosaur. "He's one of Grandma's pets! Eat him is just gross!"
"Then maybe next time you'll be more careful about what you kill," Goku replied sternly. Goku's tone reminded Trunks that, despite his appearance, Goku was nearly as old as Gohan. And, time displacement aside, this was Goten's dad he was talking to.
"My mom wouldn't like me eating raw dinosaur," Trunks protested as a last resort. "How are we going to cook it?"
'Geta ripped one of the dead animal's limbs off and roasted it with a flash of ki. He handed it to Trunks. "It's cooked now," he said.
"Could you show me how to do that later?" Goku asked 'Geta quietly. Then he started the work of butchering the animal for 'Geta to cook.
It was a grim picnic. Trunks looked revolted and guilty as he tried to choke down the meat. Goten sobbed the whole time and looked as if he were on the verge of throwing up. Goku and 'Geta ate quietly. The fact that their food had been happily running around a few minutes earlier didn't bother them but Goku was unhappy about having upset the younger pair even though he believed he was doing the right thing by making them eat the dinosaur. When Goku had been first learning to hunt he'd loved the challenged of it and had gone out on his own and killed much more game than he and his Grandfather could possibly need. Goku remembered his Grandpa Gohan making him eat until he got sick to teach him not to do that again.
Vegeta stayed quiet because he didn't want the others to realize just how little the dinosaurs' death bothered him. He certainly wouldn't tell the others he'd eaten worse. He wasn't going to say anything about Dodoria 'little joke' of sending Vegeta and his team out with inadequate rations. And he really didn't ever want to tell anyone that sometimes when he was standing on a battlefield surrounded by corpses for as far as the eye could see the idea of going off and killing one more thing just because he was needed food seemed like too much. If they made this much fuss over eating an animal because they'd been playing with it before they killed it 'Geta decided he didn't want to knew how they'd react if he told them he'd eaten sentient beings.
Vegeta felt a cold chill run down his spine as he watched the four boys deal with the death of the Bunny's pet.
When he'd seen that his younger counter-part was becoming friends with Kakarrot's counterpart he'd worried about the effect it would have on the younger Kakarrot. He had pictured how history could change if the Earth's primary line of defense had regarded him as a friend when he'd come for the Earth's Dragon Balls.
Vegeta hadn't thought about how this interlude was effecting his counterpart, not until he'd watched Vegeta-chan back up Kakarrot's efforts to impress the idea that killing was wrong upon the younger pair of brats. As Vegeta watched the four boys solemnly consuming the animal that had been killed by their careless roughhousing it hit him that his counterpart had been changed by his stay on Earth.
And just like that Vegeta knew that he didn't have to worry about the fate of the Earth in the other time line. He didn't have to worry about his counterpart destroying the Earth because the boy who accepted Kakarrot saying that killing was wrong, the boy who had dared to stand up to a much stronger force because he wanted to help his friend, wouldn't live very long in Frieza's army.