Note: This is where the story gets weird. This is also where the canon is mixed up with non-canon according to the manga.
Thank you for your comments. They keep me going.
Current time: October 737
Current location: Moto-kuni, Planet Vegeta
"How is he?" Gine pressed a hand to the incubator where her younger child was resting. The small mask that gave him air was snugly secured to his small face. His eyes were moving underneath his eyelids, hair waving slightly in the healing chamber..
"He's recovering well from the operations he's had." Rino smiled at Gine and patted her shoulder. "The physician would like to talk to you about his progress and something further that he feels necessary to discuss."
Gine nodded, turning to her mate. Bardock nodded. Half a month since the child had been born, their small dwelling became more anxious, though calmer since Raditz was sent on another mission. Bardock was eager for it.
"It will give him something to focus on while Kakarotto is here."
Gine accompanied the physician and her mate towards a smaller, private room.
"As you are aware, the operation on your son was highly experimental but it did succeed. His power level is remaining rather low as his body attempts to direct his energy towards his healing."
"How low?" Bardock asked.
"At two."
Gine froze. "Two…" Most offspring were born with a power level of 20. To have only a tenth of that energy needed just to be born… "How will he survive with that?"
"He is surviving somehow." The physician pulled up a display of lines and words that Gine, in ignorance of her youth, did not understand. Bardock, however, did.
"His brainwaves are heightened."
"Yes, they appear much like yours when you returned from Planet Kanassa." Kim sighed. "Not only that, his hormones are fluctuating. I had told you of the operation, of the different amounts of medication and hormones that he would require during the surgery itself, to get the film of virus off of his heart. This resulted in the reproductive hormones changing as well."
Gine frowned. "I don't understand."
"The hormones for stress, immunity, water and mineral control, and reproduction are all controlled by the same system. The operation caused such stress to his system that… it changed his reproductive health as well."
The air was frozen in the room. Gine found that she could not breathe. What other purpose would her son have aside from fighting? Never having a family unit, there would never be reason for him to stay on Planet Vegeta. They would train Kakarotto to have no interactions of closeness. Would he ever attempt to mate with a female, even if it was only temporary?
"Can… Can he sire offspring when he is grown?"
"We are still uncertain to that."
Gine turned to Bardock, whose face was unchanging. "Bardock?"
The male stood, looking down at the physician. "'For a people so few in number, we cannot let your son die if we can prevent it'... That's what you told me half a month ago, Kim." The air seemed struck alive, with flames.
"Bardock," Kim pleaded. He must have felt the other male's rise in power, as Gine did. "The operation was successful. Your son is alive and is getting stronger everyday. We need more time. He will be a good soldier to our Lord-"
"What else did you put in my son?!"
Gine jumped at that, clambering to her feet. "'What else'? What do you mean, Bardock?"
"Those brainwaves are not Kakarotto's." Gine looked to the physician and she saw in horror as his face turned pale. Her heart came alive and she reached out with claws that had been lengthened during her pregnancy and had refused to leave her until her infant was safe with her.
"My son… What did you do to him?"
"I..." Kim looked down at the clawed hand. "Lord Freeza, you are aware, came to visit your son."
"Yes, to offer condolences for our offspring's illness."
"He consulted scientists on the use of genetic experimentation for illnesses and healing his men in battle." Kim closed his eyes. "One such scientist recommended the use of Kanassa-jin genetic material to create a protective film on the infant's organs."
Gine's grip tightened. "And what does that mean for Kakarotto?"
"Gine, let him go." Bardock stepped forward, placing a hand on Gine's. After a battle for dominance that took place between their eye gazes, Gine let go. Bardock let the physician have no respite before grabbing his throat, lifting him from the floor.
"What was this scientist's name, Kim?"
The physician shook his head. He let out a choked sound as Bardock squeezed his neck harder. Looking down at Bardock, Kim felt frightened. He saw the barbarity that Freeza's men feared in their kind; perhaps because it was of his blood, but he thought for a moment of the irony that all of the other Saiya-jin tribes had thought the Moto Clan had lost their power and pride, and here was one son of Moto, attempting to kill him, as their ancestor had done to his.
"Tell me!"
"Zu…" Kim felt his only support drop as Bardock let him go. His vision was hazy and dark, his head hurting as air returned to his lungs.
"Who?"
"Zumoko… of the Kyū Kon Clan."
Zumoko sat in her dwelling, waiting for the judgement that would be cast on her. She did regret what she had done to the infant, but for her, she had no choice. Her sons were dead and they had been of no true concern to her while they were at war and fighting for their Lord Freeza. The Moto Clan did not concern her at all, but seeing the child in the incubator made her heart feel strange. Perhaps this is what her cousin had meant when telling the story of the Moon and the Beast.
It'd be better for her clan anyway.
"Zumoko!"
The woman sighed. "Gine, I raised you better than that."
Gine stood in front of her, eyes dangerous. "You raised me. Rightfully, I owe you my life, but you have no right to touch my infant!"
"There's that barbarity that only the Moto Clan could give you." Zumoko stood and approached her daughter. "You bore that creature's offspring; I am making sure that he will carry on the grace of femininity that is in the Kaiyō Clan. He will have that from me, not my daughter who threw her blood away after her brothers have died and left nothing of our line!"
"We are of Moto blood!"
"By your sire!" Zumoko grabbed her daughter's hair, bearing her offspring's neck in a show of power. "Your sire, who was a barbarian! The base strength of the Moto Clan means nothing if he cannot stop their damn offspring from hurting their dam, hurting me! We are to be treated well during the pregnancies, especially between Clans, but I was not! I was called a burden by your sire's family when I bore his brothers' offspring! Only when I gave birth to you, was I a blessing! Now you could mate with any of the other Clans' males as you saw fit. The other Clans would treat you more kindly in your vulnerability.
"But you, daughter." Zumoko pulled at her daughter's hair again, smiling at the whimper she heard. "You didn't even try to find honor in your burden. You chose a mate for life; to bring bitterness to your dishonor, you chose one of your Moto cousins: Bardock!"
"He is mine and mine only!" Gine punched her dam's stomach, only succeeding in making her curl over her stomach and hit Gine's head with her own.
"Child, I indulged your sweetness too much! Your offspring, your son, will carry your burden from now on! With the blood of Kanassa comes no sexual distinction; affected, he'll be, when the Red Moon comes. He will bring our honor back to us!"
Zumoko heard something break behind her and as she turned, a great pain erupted across the side of her face. As she fell, Zumoko recognized the assailant's face.
"N… Nephew."
Bardock looked down to his distant aunt. "A curse in our blood… You damn hag!"
Kakarotto heard little, saw little, tasted little, and smelt nothing. He felt as though he was back inside of Dam again, though he could hear Dam outside of where he was. She was farther away now, which he didn't like.
"Brainwaves… Fluctuating… Hurt?"
"... Healthy… Hormones… abilizing…"
"Moon… assa-jin…"
Gine sounded sad. He didn't like that.
"From the study of the effects of Kanassa-jin genes on creatures like the Saiya-jin - creatures of warm blood - the doctors found that they could kill viruses that targeted the internal organs when ingested or injected." Rino pulled out the reports of the use of such technology after battles for other planets. They were already spanning six months back until the battle for Kanassa. "They all show positive results."
"But that was put inside of Kakarotto!" Gine interjected. "Whatever Kim and Zumoko did, it's affecting him and will affect him as he grows. They said it had effects on his ability to be a sire to offspring."
Rino blinked back at the young dam. "Are… Are you certain?"
"Yes."
The conviction with which the young female spoke did shake something inside of Rino. "All right… We can test this. You said that the change or effect would come with the Red Moon?"
"Yes," Gine assured the nurse, finally relaxing somewhat since Bardock had taken her dam and the physician to the Council for judgement only hours ago. "That is what Zumoko said."
"The Red Moon is a strange phenomenon on Vegeta. It emits not Blutz Waves but Niyo Waves. They assist in aiding the females in… mating."
Gine frowned at that. "Is it true that the Kanassa-jin had no separation of sexes?"
"No, they did, but the males, when there were no females, could physically change to have the body of a female." The display of brainwaves that was showing Kakarotto's brain activity seemed calmer, alongside the display of hormones that disturbingly reminded Gine of the ones that they analyzed when cutting up the animals for slaughter.
She felt ill.
Suddenly, cold air came at his face and Kakarotto cried out in shock. He reached up with tired limbs and pushed off the device that gave him air to breathe. His lungs were filled with the cold air and he continued to cry in shock. The warmth that appeared around him, that seemed to radiate towards him, did not soothe him. It only made him more tired. When he opened his eyes, he saw a light and something told him that it was the source of this strange warmth.
It sang to him, like how Gine sang to him through the walls of his new warm place. He reached up to it, feeling something inside him change.
He heard Gine's voice and, distracted from the light, he cried out to her. He wanted to be held by her again. She was warm, soft, and safe.
When Bardock returned, he saw his mate with their bundled offspring in one arm, and she covered her face with her other hand.
"Gine… What's happened? Is Kakarotto well?" He looked down at the infant. He was latched onto Gine's breast, drinking hungrily. Bardock found himself almost smiling at the sight; Kakarotto was a voracious eater.
Gine lifted her face, and Bardock saw tears there. There had been no tears there since her sire had passed on after giving his blessing to their union.
"They did what they wanted to do."
Bardock stared down at his mate. "What did they want?"
"Zumoko wanted Kakarotto to carry on Kaiyō blood… by being a dam." Gine reached down gently to Kakarotto's mouth, breaking the strong suction that the infant had on her breast. The infant cried out in shock, especially as he was handed to his sire.
Bardock removed a layer of the blanket that was wrapped around his son, and he found himself understanding the vision that he had had half a month ago.
"A curse in our blood…" he whispered. Kakarotto welcomed the soft finger on his cheek, and he crooned in the same way that he did when he had first realized that the person holding him was his sire.
"A daughter then…"
"Only when the Red Moon is there." Gine stood shakily, coming close to rest her forehead on Bardock's arm. "After that, Rino saw that it would last twelve hours after the Moon's rays are gone. He'll change back after. They've already… tested the Niyo Waves on him before."
"Gine…" He brought Gine's forehead up to meet his. He wondered how much blood they shared, truly. They were distant cousins, but if what he saw as true, Kakarotto...
"Gine, Raditz must not come back to us. Until we're certain when the next Red Moon is and how it will affect Kakarotto."
"What? Why?"
"I need to tell you what happened on Kanassa. I'll tell you about what I saw, what I'm seeing, and what I'm going to see."
Zumoko - Sea vegetable: Sea weed