Number Thirty-Two

Chapter Seven

The Weight of Morality

There's a soothing quality to the humming. An eternal mechanical melody.

Goku listens to it, hand to glass as beyond its barrier, three masked scientists congregate around a table. The machine they're using emits dazzling violet flashes which make Goku feel unwell to look at, so he instead focuses on the table's contents.

Unaware to the world, it's Krillin's murderer – the captain – who has been strapped down, forced onto his stomach and bounded by metal clasps over each of his limbs. He twitches in his sleep when the blade slices into the nape of his neck.

There's a gruff sound of derision from Goku's left. Vegeta. He's similarly watching but wearing a dark smile as he does so. It's satisfying for him, Goku notices.

Others watch, too, talking amongst themselves in languages beyond Goku's understanding. He overhears Lya's voice, as droll as it is, orchestrating her men into different directions, demanding heightened security – looking, perhaps, stressed in her own way. Bringing in Captain Thirty-Two mustn't have been the plan when reattaining Ytvl, of who is spread across a tired lounger, breathing shallowly. There's what Goku supposes must be a doctor at his side, and they talk quietly to one another.

There's shouting, too. A big guy who delivered both Ytvl and Thirty-Two is beyond another set of double doors, and he sounds unhappy about something in the Southern language. His voice echoes throughout the chamber, reverberating off the metal makeup of the room.

From the excess of noise, Piccolo is sour. When he emerges through the doors, his nose is crinkled as it usually is when he suffers a headache.

Vegeta's head whips right. "Where's Bulma?"

"I don't know."

"You just left her – with them? What did I tell you about—?"

"She's your wife," Piccolo shoots back, "You should babysit her if you're so worried."

"I'm not worried."

"Sure, you're not."

"She went back to the ship," Goku says, recalling her saying as much fifteen or so minutes before the spacepods landed. "It's already two in the morning."

"We agreed not to leave her alone!"

Vegeta looks between the window and the door, and for a moment, Goku wonders if Vegeta's darker desires to watch the captain suffer were going win out, but no. Whilst Vegeta looks like he just swallowed a lemon whole, he does wrench himself free. The door slams behind him.

Krillin's death has made the three far more conscious of Bulma's being here – of her vulnerability.

"Vegeta looked like he was enjoying himself," Piccolo says as they continue to watch the scientists do their work. They're pulling something bloody out of Thirty-Two's neck. It's small so Goku can't see it very well. Is that metal? "I can't say the same for you."

"Mm… It won't bring Krillin back."

"Correct."

"But it's not like he can never come back."

Piccolo releases a long torrent of breath, and they stand under the weight of surrounding chaos, watching as whatever the scientists are working on comes to a close. The lights are turned off, sentencing the room and the incapacitated captain to darkness.

Almost instantly, Lya rushes to greet the scientists, who, once they dispose of bloodied gloves, presumably discuss the captain's situation, referring to a tumbling roll of paper dotted with foreign squiggles as they do so.

"I wonder why they're not just killing him," Piccolo whispers. "What are they going to do?"

Goku isn't sure but he doesn't have a good feeling about it. What does Goku want to happen to him? He's the person who killed Krillin, after all. Letting him die would be justice, right? After Frieza, Goku learned the hard way about forgiving and forgetting. That being said, senseless death is just that… senseless.

"All right, all right, I understand, Doctor. Thank you." Ytvl's voice is suddenly loud but no less hoarse. He's leaning up a little more now, swaying but nonetheless taller. "I'll report to the infirmary when I'm damn good and ready." There's clicking of the fingers. "Goku. Come here."

"You must at least lie d—"

Fingers click again, leaning away from the doctor. "Goku."

Goku scratches at the back of his head, lip pulled. "Don't order me about," he grumbles, "And that guy's right. You should probably take a rest."

Ytvl dismisses the doctor with a wave of the hand. "You," he presses when Goku comes to a halt, "I need to know. Have you told anyone about what you did to Frieza?"

He thinks but nobody beyond Earth comes to mind. Who would he have told? He's always tried to avoid altercation, and mentioning Frieza's name has never been the way to do that.

"No," he replies honestly.

Ytvl deflates. "I figured as much. Well, this complicates things."

"Did something happen?"

There's a smirk. "Does this count?" he asks, gesturing to his ruined body. "I've had a hell of a – how long has it been? Lya—?"

She waves her hand airily, continuing to talk with the scientists.

"Tch. I'm fine, by the way. Thanks for asking."

"Ten days," Piccolo instead supplies.

"Hm. It felt longer." Ytvl rubs his eyes, his greasy brown hair curtaining him from the world. "It's good not to be under sheenks."

The experience Ytvl has been through mustn't have been easy. He's a mess. Whatever Goku feels about him doesn't matter in this moment – Ytvl's pain presents itself, unabashed.

"It must have been rough," Goku tries to comfort, unsure how.

Ytvl breathes out a laugh. "Que sera, sera."

"Lya said they never announced that they captured you," Piccolo tells him.

And it's true. She'd been confused about it, wondering if Ytvl had already been quietly executed without any fanfare. It'd only been when she'd had another one of her insiders step in did she learn of his fate, and that she'd be able to have him rescued over a carefully executed plan involving another captain and some faulty security.

"Thirty-Two never made the announcement. I think he's paranoid. Rightfully so," Ytvl says in reference to the captured captain, gesturing with a thumb. "My God – getting anything from him is going to be like getting blood from a stone. The last time I questioned a Youth Program graduate, he bit his tongue and took the secret to the grave."

"Uh, Youth… what?"

Ytvl strains a smile at Goku, and it doesn't meet his eyes. "Ah," he says when the door pushes open, revealing the large man from earlier. "What ample timing, Pyrak, I'd just mentioned your beloved Youth Program."

Pyrak is sneering and holding an icepack to a swelling lump just beneath the nose. "Don't test me, Northerner," he responds, teeth bared, "I'm in no fuckin' mood for it."

Ytvl laughs once more, still exhausted. He should lie down, seriously. "What a complicated bunch you all are."

"Oi, you. Yeah, you with the hair. Yer a saiyan – a full blooded one 'n all, arent'cha?" Pyrak then asks in an accent comparable with Thirty-Two's, "That bitch said as much."

"Lya."

"I know her name."

"Yeah, I'm a saiyan," Goku admits, and at that Pyrak seems to light up.

"We don't get 'em down South, not really. I read about that special transformation of yours. Can ye' do it?" Piccolo rests a hand on Goku's shoulder – code for shut up. At that, Pyrak sneers once more, craning his neck upwards to better gauge Piccolo. "A Namekian." There's a low whistle. "Now, we don't see your lot down South, either. Only seen you in a book. Don't yer got some magic balls to protect or somethin'?"

Of course, Piccolo bites. "What did you just say?"

"Play nice," Ytvl says.

"I just saw Vegeta. Where's he gone? I preferred 'im on his knees, eating dirt. I'd love to pass along my greetings…"

"Do what you like after you've had your chip removed."

Oh, that's what they must have been doing to Thirty-Two. Goku remembers Ytvl returning, somewhat dizzy, following having his removed after rescuing Vegeta. The idea of being chipped like that seems wrong. Isn't that what they do to animals? Krillin had told him once that they got his daughter's pet cat chipped, and whenever they needed to find him all they had to do is look online or something. He isn't sure how it works. He'll ask Krill— Oh.

A thud in his stomach makes him feel suddenly quite unwell.

In the dark, beyond the glass, sleeps the murderer.

Lya finally approaches, eyes raking over the scroll of paper once belonging to the scientists. "Concussed," she says, still reading, "But otherwise healthy – I'll have him kept here for the time being. They're going to insert subdermal sheenks implants next once they've disabled the microchip. I'm not taking any risks with an uncooperative captain, and a Youth Program member at that. What were you both thinking – bringing him in?"

"That you'd want to question him about what he knows – which seems to be a fair bit," Ytvl returns, somewhat heated.

Lya stares into the dark beyond the glass.

"Just so yer know," Pyrak starts, hands to hips, "I wanted ter kill 'im."

"Then, you tell me how he found out about Goku."

"I don't even know who Goku is."

"That's me."

"And what about you is so special?"

"He defeated Frieza."

"Ah? He what? Ah, wait, you're that saiyan?" Pyrak looks like his birthday has come early. "I heard yer died along with Vegeta! Saiyans… Your lot are like roaches. So, you've returned to finish the job, right? Ter take down Cooler and Hailer?"

"Err…"

Ytvl snorts, sliding down ever lower in his pit. "No, he's wasting his life with a Forlorn Hope. Tell him of your pathos, Goku. Your tale of woe that inhibits you from saving the universe."

"So, how does that captain know about Goku?" Piccolo thankfully deviates.

"Exactly my point." Nodding, Ytvl's lips set into a tight line. "We're going to have to question him. How does he know? Who has he told? He'd kept my capture quiet enough. I think he hasn't in fact said anything to – Oh, one moment. I've taken a dizzy turn."

Lya spins. "Rest, Ytvl. You have made your point. We will question Captain Thirty-Two about what he knows. It's a shame that I must meet him under these circumstances. I'd have liked to have recruited him to our cause."

There's a sharp laugh from Pyrak. "And I'd like Hailer's head on a pike in the next five minutes, lady. It ain't gonna' happen. He's a loyalist."

"He's not," Ytvl argues. "I—"

"I've known him since he was an ankle biter—"

"And yet, he hid my capture from Hailer and Lord Cooler—"

"To serve himself."

"Which isn't them."

"So, he's self-serving. Who isn't in the Frost Empire? That don't stop him from kissing Hailer's mighty blue ass."

"He'd been researching."

"Ytvl, that's enough," Lya bites out.

Ytvl scoffs, holding his head and suddenly paling several shades. It's inevitable that he passes out, less so that nobody rushes to catch him. As he slumps to the ground, Goku collects him and positions him across his back.

"Yes." Lya eyes the group dispassionately. "Perhaps we should all rest. It is late, after all. In the morning, we will discuss what to next do with Captain Thirty-Two and how best to proceed with our continued assault of the Frost security system. Good work tonight, Captain Pyrak. I believe you're going to be a useful asset going forward. See to the removal of your microchip and then I'll have a cabin assigned to you. Goku, if you may, the infirmary is two floors down. I'm sure you remember."

Goku drops Ytvl off at the infirmary as requested and a scramble of doctors encircle him like vultures to prey. Alongside Piccolo, the walk back to the ship is slow and punishing through the winding tunnels of the bunker and into the parking warehouse. Neither say anything. Goku's not had much to say since Krillin's death, and Piccolo's never had much to say in general. The only time he speaks is to tell the guards that this is their ship and they're not going to stop them accessing it.

The security around here is intense. Vegeta has been caught up in more than one argument, and even Goku's grown frustrated with their frisking and watchful eyes. Fortunately, they let them pass this time without too much fight, and once they're back on the ship, Goku realizes how tired he is.

"You're back," Bulma says the moment Goku tries to sneak away to his room.

"Oh, I'm surprised you're still up."

Or perhaps, they woke her. She's in her nightgown and oversized fluffy slippers, and her hair is a bird's nest like it always is when she first wakes up.

"They were doing an alarm drill or something outside. It's only just stopped. Try sleeping through that. What's happening out there? Vegeta is being an asshole about it. He won't tell me anything."

"Ytvl is back."

"Oh, that's good."

"And a couple captains from Empire have joined him," Piccolo adds, "One isn't exactly here by choice, which may be why you heard the alarm. They hadn't been anticipating him."

"He's the one who killed Krillin," Goku tells her.

Bulma sucks in a deep breath of air. "And who—"

"Yeah, the same guy who was gonna' kill Vegeta."

"So, they're going to execute him, right?"

"They want to question him," Piccolo says. "Probably in the same manner he questioned Ytvl. He seems to know about Goku. Vegeta didn't talk, did he? Whilst they imprisoned him."

"Vegeta wouldn't," Goku defends before Bulma even has the chance to open her mouth. "But he did mention them asking about me. About Namek. Don't you remember? On the day he was rescued."

"It was him – that Captain Thirty-Two – who asked. Vegeta said," Bulma reveals.

"Ytvl mentioned that he was researching something," Piccolo adds, "He wasn't supposed to say that, but it is telling. They'd wanted to recruit him into their ranks and it's likely to do with whatever he was either researching or what he already knows – because he seems to know something. And, think about it – what had Cilo been interested in when they approached us?"

"Namek," Bulma replies, not missing a beat.

"Namek."

There's a sound of indignation from the door, where Vegeta stands against it. "I tried to warn you, Kakarot. I told you not to allow yourself to be dragged along, and look what's happened," he snipes, and then he turns to Bulma, edges softening. "It's late," he continues after a moment of silence, "Don't get wrapped up with this now."

"I'm coming to bed," she says, "We're all going to bed. Right?"

One by one, they do. The ship is the largest in Capsule Corporation's fleet, and each person had been provided an ensuite bedroom of their own. Even though it's small, it's nice to have a space that Goku can call his own to retire to when he needs it. After travelling by himself for so long, he finds he needs company less, although that didn't stop him from socializing sometimes. His room is next to Krillin's now empty room, where, before, they'd chat, catch up, reminisce about old times and joke about Krillin's ventures into fatherhood.

Now, silence.

Whenever Goku walks past the door, his knuckles clench and he remembers the exact moment that bullet carved a hole throughhis friend's head. He remembers seeing him die. And then, he remembers the icy embrace of sleep. Sometime later (a day, maybe), he awoke in some decrepit hospice made up of stone and wood, Lya's alabaster stone-like expression above. She'd paid his fee, organized for him to be discharged and had him recover within her crypt; otherwise known as the Bunker. The Bunker, which happens to be a bunker, is their base, and sits beneath a labyrinth of caves. It hides Cilo in the very heart of the South.

To Lya, he'd had to later explain Ytvl's disappearance. Krillin's hadn't needed to be explained – she'd stumbled across the body and had it burned with the rest.

Captain Thirty-Two. Goku had remembered the "name" the moment he'd awoken – he'd cursed it, he'd hated it – and then he'd simmered, chest hurting at the loss of a friend. After the anger depleted him, he'd felt empty.

The dragon balls. Goku knew they'd need them to be collected.

It'd been the first thing he'd whispered to Bulma when she'd burst into the infirmary.

"I'll contact Earth," she'd promised.

As Goku did nothing in his uncomfortable, clinical bed, those on Earth did what he could not.

"We shouldn't do the thing yet," she'd later told him discreetly as the nearby doctor checked through his notes. "Just in case something else happens. We might need to use both…" she'd leaned in, "Wishes."

It feels wrong not to wish Krillin back straight away, but Bulma's got a point. She's thinking about Vegeta – about all of them should there be more death.

Piccolo had agreed when Goku'd revealed Bulma's ambition to wait.

"If I'd been the one to die, I would have understood the delay," he'd said, "Now go to sleep. If the senzu beans are weak against those sheenks bullets then you'll need to actually put the effort into resting."

By evening three, he'd been back on his feet, if a bit sluggish. For the following days, he'd patiently awaited Lya's instruction on what to do next. Okay. "Patiently" might not be an accurate word. He'd become agitated with the waiting around, and he'd demanded insistently that they keep up their end of the deal about tracking Gohan – which Bulma had later pointed out as selfish when Ytvl was still MIA.

Colour Goku shocked when, the next day, a box had been dropped off in front of the ship.

"Every file concerning every documented saiyan within the Frost Empire, dating back ten years," one of Lya's soldiers had told him, distinctly displeased.

There'd been pictures, drawings, diagrams. Photographs. So many photographs. But Goku could find nothing of Gohan.

"Most of these are one eighth in blood," Vegeta had said, looking over the name chart. "Hm. This coincides with planet Vegeta's globalization at the time." Apparently (because only Vegeta can read the language), there had been a breakdown of their genetic history. Only three half-blood saiyans have been documented, yet all of them are older than Gohan – or would have been had they not already died.

"There aren't a lot of female soldiers, are there?" Bulma had noticed. Her role had been to separate the women into a different pile – which had less than five by that point.

"Men are categorically stronger than women," Vegeta had responded.

"Oh, yeah? Tell that to Eighteen, buddy. Didn't she kick your ass?"

"Damn it, I'm not being sexist! I'm—"

"Sure—"

"Not every species has stronger males – just most! Including saiyans! Don't bitch at me because of hard facts!"

Breaking the tension, Goku had brandished a report of some kind. "Oh, hey, Vegeta, here's you!"

"Give me that! Oh. They have listed my reprimands. All one hundred and twelve of them." He'd sounded proud. "And that full red circle indicates that I'm full-blooded. If you find a report like this, just look for a half circle."

"Let me see!" Bulma'd been up. "Wow, you look so young. How old were you there?"

"Knock it off! – I was… Give that back!"

"Twenty-one? Twenty-two?"

"Nineteen."

Piccolo had peered over. "They let you join at that age?"

"As a prince, I'd always been active in duty, though I'd not been forced to intermingle with those other cretinous weaklings they called soldiers. The usual admittance age is eighteen."

Goku'd swallowed his nerves. "So, if they'd found Gohan. Would he be…?"

"Too young."

Humming, Bulma had taken another stack of papers. "He'd have been – I mean, he is – fifteen, right?"

That's right. Fifteen years old, marking ten long years away; that's more time away from Goku than with. Such a horrible thought. Gosh, what does Gohan look like now? Him? Chi-Chi? Goku had been a small fifteen, and Gohan had been so gentle and sweet. That combination could have him being taken advantage of.

He'd tried not to think about it, continuing his journey through the papers. Yet, after looking through every file, their search had resulted in a big, fat zero.

"Do you think there'd be many undocumented saiyans?" Bulma had asked, "Some must exist. They can't all work under the Empire."

"The Saiyan people have always been monitored." Vegeta had actually smirked at the next part. "We're categorized under Volatile."

"What does that even mean? And what stops your people from getting out and about? I bet the saiyans were rather randy, making little half breeds on every planet they visited."

Goku'd never seen Vegeta turn purple before, not from anything aside anger. "Saiyans," he'd stressed, "Mate for life. We're not promiscuous! Just what kind of ideas do you have about us, woman!"

"Wow, Vegeta," Piccolo had said, "I never took you for a romantic."

"Shut up!"

From that, it'd been hard for Goku not to think of Earth, of what he'd left behind, of what he'd deserted.

The thought had lingered in the following days and had stayed long with him even as Lya began to coordinate Ytvl's rescue.

"Is this all Cilo does?" Goku had asked, "Rescue people?"

She'd not liked that, putting Goku in the doghouse. She'd ignored Goku for the rest of the afternoon, even as he offered to be the one to retrieve Ytvl himself, partially for selfish reasons. He'd been restless. Getting out would have been liberating, especially after being stuck in that awful infirmary. His subsequent visits had always felt eternal. And, since the incident in the hamlet, Goku hadn't been allowed outside by Cilo – worse yet, the others agreed that he should keep his head low. He's a wanted man, after all. But it's not Goku's style to wait about, to do nothing. And so, he'd trained, promising himself that the next time he'd come face to face with Thirty-Two, that he'd be the one to seize victory.

It's a sort of hollow feeling now, looking at the captain, that Goku won't get that chance for a rematch.

It's the following afternoon since Ytvl's return and Thirty-Two's capture, and Goku's retaken his position by the window. The room beyond it is an interrogation (or questioning) room, as Goku's come to learn, and the window cannot be seen through from the inside. It's busy in the room, with four people (including Lya) surrounding Thirty-Two and blocking Goku from getting a decent view.

"They should just get out the Shock Plate," Pyrak says, a nasty grin present, "He ain't gonna' talk, probably even with that."

"Then, why would they use it – whatever it is?"

"Ain't I allowed a little joy for my efforts? And you'll love the Shock Plate. It works miracles, and you'll get a nice little light show as it does its job."

"What's its job?"

"It shocks yer – but like, it really shocks yer. It's unreal. Like all yer nerves have been set on fire. Excruciating stuff. Effective, too, for when the prisoners clam up."

"That's awful."

"Eh? Are yer even a saiyan if you don't like a bit o' gore here or there?"

"Torturing people is wrong."

Pyrak considers him, brows creased into a knot. "'Didn't think the killer of Frieza would be so soft."

Goku doesn't stay much longer because Pyrak seems to be enjoying himself too much. There's obviously personal history between him and Thirty-Two. So, he leaves in search of Ytvl in the infirmary, indeed finding him, only fast asleep and hooked up to about three different machines. Vegeta had said not to bother, that the sheenks would have exhausted him, but Goku is itching to know what Ytvl found out during his incarnation. He waits around in the infirmary, mostly because it's one of the few areas in the bunker to receive natural lighting. It's done through reflection, according to the doctor Goku had bothered enough into conversing with him, and it's done because so many of the patients here have complained of depression.

And Goku gets it. This entire place sucks. Not only does he hate the bunker but also the planet. It's cold and dark. The sun – or whatever star it is – sets super early, too. There's barely any light. No wonder everyone here is grumpy.

The food is equally sad. The stuff they serve here in the bunker tastes like old biscuits, so Goku just eats it to be polite (as Bulma ordered) and then he goes back to the ship to eat whatever he's allowed to. They have thousands of capsules stored with food, enough to feed an army. Goku had suggested sharing some here – Vegeta had quickly disallowed it, however.

He's such a jerk, sometimes.

And it doesn't take long for Vegeta to prove that. When Goku gives up on Ytvl, he returns upstairs to find Vegeta in the questioning room alongside Lya, a pleased aura about him.

Vegeta has his moments, and whilst he's changed for the most part, Goku knows that deep down he's still plagued by crueler instincts. During the altercation against Cell, he'd shown that. He'd nearly lost the people of Earth, well, everything. His hubris is usually kept in check by Bulma, and so without her here, Goku worries that he may be walking into familiar territory.

It's easy for Vegeta; being cruel.

And with that look on his face, he's most certainly saying something in that regard now. Though, Goku wouldn't have thought that by looking at Thirty-Two. He's sporting a swollen lip and a bloodied nose now yet otherwise wears boredom like a crown. It's as if this is entirely beneath him.

Goku whistles lowly.

Vegeta never likes that. He's going to blow his top. Nothing (aside from endangering his loved ones) makes Vegeta angrier than being looked down on, and Thirty-Two is doing just that.

Beyond the glass, Thirty-Two says something, and sure enough, Vegeta is quick to react with a punch across the face. Goku grimaces when Thirty-Two's head springs backwards almost cartoonishly, and it's at that point that he decides to intervene.

"No entry," denies the guard.

Goku doesn't say anything and simply shifts the boulder of a man aside. He opens the door all by himself.

Lya turns around, and it's then that Goku recognizes that he's getting a better read on her impassivity. Eyes half-lidded, mouth set grimly, jaw tight; she looks done. Frustrated. Whether that's with Vegeta or Thirty-Two…

"Remember what I said to you, back in that shit stain of a ship?" Vegeta gloats. "Remember when I said I'd be back? 'Bit sooner than even I thought but here I am."

Being punched in the face didn't really have much of effect on Thirty-Two, aside from the sprouting blue already blotching near his eye.

"You are not to take his life," Lya says sharply.

Ah, it's Vegeta who's being a pain then. Or perhaps, it's reciprocal because what happens next doesn't help Thirty-Two's case.

"Be quiet, woman," Vegeta snaps back, "I'll do whatever I want. This ingrate failed to Boil me and I'll be sure that he regrets that. Hear that, boy? How does it feel to publicly fail? I bet it was humiliating in front of the entire uni—"

Then, Thirty-Two spits. A great glob of red, right into Vegeta's face.

There's silence.

It's like waiting for an eruption. The captain seems to be the only one unbothered by the rumbling, eyes boring into Vegeta's like his life depended on it. They're so empty. Clouded, perhaps, but little else aside from taunting. Does he want Vegeta to hit him or something?

Goku lets Vegeta punch Thirty-Two the second time. He deserved it. But Goku does pull Vegeta back before a third is managed, throwing him into the far corner of the tiny room and standing between them as a buffer. The trail of blood has journeyed all the way from Vegeta's forehead past his nose.

"That's enough," Goku tells Vegeta, absolutely no nonsense. "You've made your point."

"Do you have no honour, Kakarot? Don't you remember what he did to Krillin?"

"Yes, but we've gotta' be level-headed."

"I agree," Lya interjects. "Perhaps you should return to your ship, Vegeta. You would benefit from a moment alone. This is too personal for you."

To be fair, coming face to face with his would-be executioner would be too much a violent temptation for most. Of course, it's personal.

Funnily enough, Thirty-Two opted not to execute Goku – which Goku still doesn't understand. That's another thing to ask him.

Yes, standing before Thirty-Two is the one that got away and the one he allowed to get away.

"Remember the last time you exercised mercy," Vegeta sneers, that point lost on him.

It's in reference to Frieza but Goku remembers how he spared Eighteen, too, and how that brought happiness and a beautiful little girl with blonde hair like her mum and dark eyes like her dad.

It's a balance – and with it comes contemplation.

"And you should remember why we're here," Goku adds, "Who we're here for. If you want revenge against Frieza's brothers, then that has nothing to do with me. This guy has gotta' be asked some things."

"Give me an hour and I'll have him squeal."

Lya clicks her tongue. "We have professionals for that. We don't need your fragile masculinity hindering this."

Goku's not sure what that means but it must be offensive because Vegeta jumps three steps forwards. Hand to chest, Goku shoves him away, towards the door this time, and when he goes to move once more, Goku gives him the look. The this is not to be challenged look.

Burning, Vegeta holds the eye contact.

And then he swivels on his heel, slamming the door in his steed.

Goku sighs.

This will rear its ugly head once more.

So long as they involve themselves with the Frost Empire, Vegeta's demons will always just be one step behind.

Goku didn't linger for much longer after that, and instead, he hangs around outside the questioning room with the angry guard he'd moved aside earlier. He likes to glare at Goku when he thinks Goku isn't looking, and Goku likes to smile at him when their eye lines do happen to catch.

When nobody aside Lya and a few of her guys visit Thirty-Two, Goku begins wondering what they're going to do with him. They've been asking him questions. He knows that, and he knows that Thirty-Two isn't telling them anything. He doesn't really speak. His lips don't move.

"Torture is the next step," Ytvl tells him later when Goku revisits the infirmary. "Obviously."

"That's what they did to you."

"It'd been inevitable. I'm surprised it didn't go further than what it did – they didn't bring out the Shock Plate, but I know they'll want to here. Thirty-Two won't speak freely. They're trained to withstand torture in the Youth Program so it's going to get ugly."

"The Youth Program…" Goku repeats, "You mentioned that last night, too."

"Did I? I don't remember much of yesterday, I'm afraid. Even now, I'm still a bit…"

Whilst Ytvl isn't up and running about, he looks miles better than he did before. He's regained nearly all of his colour. His eyes are still a bit droopy, though, and he has plunging purple skin under his eyes that ages him about ten years. Sheenks is nasty business. Goku feels privileged not to have dealt with it over long periods of time.

Ytvl hums to himself, scraping his wet hair back into a ponytail. He must have taken a shower just before Goku's arrival. A kindness because he did smell a bit last night.

"It's a prestigious training facility in the South," Ytvl explains, "Well, there's one up North, too, but that one's not as famous. They're partially funded by the Frost Empire but there are private investors, too. There's a lot of money to be made from super soldiers, after all. The sponsorships. The ownership – loaning them out, exchanges, studding them. It's always been around. Perhaps a bit of a dying business with technology advancing as fast as it is, but it's still here and very much revered, especially in old cultures like the Frost Demon's."

"So, they just train people there?"

"They make products."

"Uh, I'm not sure I follow."

Ytvl laughs, croakily so as he stares up at the white of the ceiling. "They're a different type of people – if they can be called that."

Didn't Ytvl say that that Pyrak guy was also a Youth Program person? He couldn't seem any more different from Thirty-Two. Ytvl must have a mind reading ability because he responds to the question Goku never posed.

"At the core," Ytvl stresses, thumping his own chest, "There's nothing left. Where I, even the highest of ranked soldiers, retained the ability to feel, Goku, they cannot, not in the same way. It's polished out of them – whatever goodness they had. And the survivors – sorry, the graduates – of the program are never good people. They can't be. It's by design."

"Nobody is black and white."

"They're neither black nor white. They're translucent." Ytvl smiles grimly. "They're soulless."

Killing machines.

Goku wonders how true that could be, and what it must be like to be shaped into something only used for servitude. Vegeta should understand. He'd gone through something similar, right? He'd been a slave – though, he never admits it.

Bulma had once trusted Goku with Vegeta's secret, that he'd been wholly miserable before Earth. It hadn't surprised Goku. The only time Vegeta seems happy is when Bulma's nearby. Training doesn't seem to bring Vegeta pleasure. It's just part of the process. A goal, really – and that's where it's different for Goku. The skill, the technique, the failing and succeeding of growth; Goku loves pushing himself – Vegeta, on the other hand, likes winning. He gets stronger to win, to prove himself.

But he doesn't need to prove himself to Bulma.

That must have been wondrous for him.

Bulma understands this – she'd been the one to explain it, not long after Cell and after an argument between Goku and Vegeta that'd resulted from Vegeta's arrogance. He'd allowed for Seventeen to be absorbed, all so to prove himself superior to a more powerful Cell. To prove himself more powerful than Goku.

To prove. To prove. To prove.

Gosh, why does he care so much?

Yes, sure, he's always been a step behind Goku.

"At least my son isn't a victim to my own stupidity!" Vegeta had snarled in the thick of their argument, "Where's Gohan now, Kakarot? Do you honestly believe he's out there? Are you really so dense? I may be arrogant but I'm no fool!"

It's not something Goku's proud of, what he did next. But what's important is that they got it all out. It'd been dirty, underhanded sometimes, but both felt better after a physical altercation, and it's from then that Goku knew that he needed to return to outer space to find Gohan. Earth had been saved. Gohan had not.

After their fight, lying in a crater next to Goku, Vegeta had been breathing equally as hard. Bloodied. Filthy.

"It's a lost cause, finding him," he'd told Goku, "But if anyone could pull a miracle out of their ass, it's you."

Goku smiles at the memory. It's the kindest thing Vegeta has ever said, and he thinks about it when times are low. Goku's had a lot of low times on his travels. When his friends had wanted to join him for this leg of his search, well, it'd meant everything to him.

And now, Krillin's dead, Vegeta's souring and Bulma, gosh, just how long will she be able to hold it together? After Namek, she'd been devastated and so utterly ruined that everyone had been worried for her – and sometimes, that fragility rears its head. Goku's worried it'll happen again now that the wound has been reopened. She hasn't been to space since Namek – since losing Gohan.

It's her who later finds Goku, lingering by an interior garden. It's one of few green spaces to grow vegetation for the group, and it's the closest thing to home Goku can grasp onto. The plants are taller than what he's used to, bulbous with flowery leaves with the colour of lettuce.

"They've started interrogating him," Bulma says by way of greeting.

"I thought they'd started that before."

"I mean… you know." Her blue eyes drift. "Physically."

Goku feels his brows come together.

"They think he's been on some secret mission for that Hailer guy. His research was about Namek – about dragon balls, too," Bulma tells, "It's kinda' worrying. I wonder how he found out about you. I also... wonder... how Cilo knew about his research."

In the future, they learn that Cilo has many spies, and not all of them are soldiers. Some are cleaners, and it just so happened that one of those cleaners would frequent wherever Thirty-Two lived. He'd been the one to find the research stuff; books, maybe. Goku isn't sure.

For now, Goku wallows.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this," he says, watching the leafy, lettuce-like plant curve towards the translucent lighting.

"I'll always support you, Goku."

"Yeah…" He forces a smile, aching. "I just don't wanna' put you in any more danger…"

"I want to find Gohan."

"I know—"

"It's my fault."

"No—"

"He'd been my responsibility—"

"Bulma."

"Don't Bulma me."

"We're not going over this again. I don't blame you."

"Chi-Chi—"

"Chi-Chi isn't here," Goku bites back, sharper than intended. "Sorry. I… Look, I'm just saying… I'd hate for something to happen to you, too."

"Vegeta's here. Between you both, I'm about as safe as can be."

They both know that's not true. By stepping into this world, danger is always but a bad decision away, and nobody is oblivious to that – even Vegeta, who continues to pretend Goku doesn't exist even a day later. Onboard the ship, it's tense. Vegeta's bipolar hopping between anger and solemnity has been giving not only Goku whiplash, but Piccolo and Bulma, too. Piccolo's fuse is being tested. Goku can tell he's about ready pop Vegeta one if he keeps making underhanded comments like he has been.

"They're going to order a new Shock Plate for the captain. They've grown sick of waiting," Vegeta then announces, suddenly after dinner. His gaze lingers on Goku, awaiting reaction.

Goku's doesn't let him down. "After only a day? They've barely tried talking to him!"

"Pyrak made a strong enough case to use it," he replies, pointed, "I agreed."

"Oh, I bet you did," Piccolo comments darkly, shaking his head. "I don't like Pyrak. That guy's bad news."

Goku isn't too much of a fan, either, and if Ytvl is to be believed then there's good reason for it.

Soulless, huh?

Vegeta has other ideas. "Perhaps you should stick your nose elsewhere if you're so offended by him."

"I think you're getting too invested in all this, Vegeta," Bulma says.

To that, silence.

Goku has never been so thankful for her being here.

The day following, Goku checks in on the situation with Thirty-Two first hand – and it isn't easy viewing. When Goku had first seen Thirty-Two, he'd been in his fur coat, similar to the one Pyrak likes to wear around the ship. Now, however, he's been stripped down to just his jumpsuit. It's blue like Vegeta's, though there are now discoloured blemishes in the material; a brownish-red that's come from gouges in the skin. It's also torn in some places, mostly where the worst of the wounds are. There are tender looking burns, red with blooming infection.

He has no shoes on, no socks either, and his toes are bloodied around the nail beds.

Goku swallows his dread, taking it all in.

Thirty-Two hangs there from his crucifix, chest slowly rising. Beneath long, black bangs, his eyes are closed. Goku thinks he may be asleep.

He's smaller than Goku had originally thought. Skinnier, too – which explains why he'd been so easy to toss about in their fight.

"Don't involve yourself," Piccolo says from his left, noticing Goku's conflict. "We're not here to pass judgment."

"So, you think this is all right?"

"I didn't say that."

Goku returns the next day, too, and then the one after that, watching as Thirty-Two's resilience keeps him tied up. The Shock Plate has been organized to be brought in.

"Do you want help or not with your kid?" Ytvl snaps at him when Goku once again brings up the morality of torture. "Look, it's just how it's done here, all right?"

Interestingly enough, when Ytvl had said that, he'd not looked all that pleased at the idea of using it, too, which is more than can be said for Pyrak. He's in the room right now with Thirty-Two, goading him by the looks of things. He's squeezing hollow cheeks between his fingers, laughing silently.

Two wrongs don't make a right. His Grandpa had told Goku that when he'd been little, and he'd told Gohan the same thing when he'd been little.

Would Gohan want this? His brilliant boy. His kind, sweet son.

Is this how he'd want to be found – through the torture of others?

"This isn't just about you," Lya chastises when he tells her this.

Her mood is rancid in due to Thirty-Two's stubbornness. They also have his scouter but they're struggling to break into it. The security is too good – even Ytvl and Pyrak have no idea how Thirty-Two has managed to safeguard it so well.

"I said I'd help you," Goku reminds, "But this isn't right, Lya. We shouldn't stoop to their level—"

"Don't talk of things you don't understand. You feel sorry for the person who murdered your friend because right now he looks pitiful. But if I removed the sheenks and the shackles then that captain would finish what he started. He'd put a bullet through each of our heads. Don't you forget it, Goku."

"And what happens if he doesn't talk even with the Shock Plate?"

She stills, the scouter clicking against the workbench. "Then, he will be killed."

"I have a feeling that you plan on killing him anyway."

There's a sigh, and then she resumes taking apart the scouter. "It is the way of war. As I've told you before, you can help bring this to a stop. The civilian death, the innocents, even the soldiers… I know you also know the location of planet Namek, Goku. You could also share this information with me."

Goku laughs nervously. "And will you torture me next if not?"

"No," she says, light, still delicately handling the scouter and peering into it in search of secrets. "You are more valuable as an ally."

There's something disconcerting about that, about how she must have thought about this at one point.

"I've not heard anything else about my son," Goku instead says, deciding the topic change may remind her why he's here in the first place.

She still doesn't look up. "Yes. I heard you hit a wall with the documents. It'd been expected."

"Then why—?"

"But there are other avenues. I've recently had an investigator reach out to the Northern branch of the Youth Program to see if they have any useful insight on the matter."

"Eh? The Youth Program?"

"He'd been a youth, hadn't he?" Lya replies, clipped.

Soulless… That's what Ytvl had called the survivors from there. Goku thinks of Pyrak's callousness, of Thirty-Two's indifference. Gohan wouldn't have grown into someone like them. He wouldn't have survived there – which tells Goku that it's impossible for him to have ever been there.

Gohan is still alive, after all.

Lya then says something to herself in a language her own. She drops the scouter and leans into her hands. "Goku, may we have this conversation later? I assure you that I still have your son's fate in the forefront of my mind, but right now, I am dealing with other pressing matters which require my devout attention."

Goku leans down to swipe the scouter.

"What are you—?"

"Bulma," Goku says, "She'll take a look at this. She's a genius with this kinda' stuff. Once, she got a scouter working and connected to the online system thing without even knowing much about one. I'll have her do this so long as you focus more on Gohan."

Lya, with those cool white eyes, stares.

"And also, before you try the Shock Plate, you've gotta' let me try and talk to Thirty-Two first. Just so I can say that I've tried."

There's a pause.

And then, "Very well, Goku. Give the scouter to Bulma – but I would like it back the instant I ask for it. And… the Shock Plate will arrive tomorrow afternoon. I will give you opportunity to talk with him just before. You can tell him of it. Of the plans to use it. I doubt this will do little to sway him but you can at least know that you tried."

Goku nods.

This is the best he's going to get.

Goku dreamed last night.

He's always been an avid dreamer – Gohan, too, was the same. Is he now? Does Gohan dream about Goku as much as he does about him? Last night, his little boy was alive in the forest nearby their home, laughing in the sunshine. Goku doesn't know what he was laughing at, only that it was so funny that his cheeks burned pink and tears accumulated at the corners of his eyes. He'd been perfect. Goku wishes he could see that back then; just how lucky he was, how wonderful life had been.

Dream Gohan always feels like a bag of feathers whenever Goku carries him. He's as light as the breeze, as though he might disappear into it.

One dream devolved into a nightmare when he'd done just that, dissolving into the wind, his smile the last to go. Goku had scrambled to catch the ashes.

This time, Dream Gohan doesn't do that. He just sits and giggles and smiles when Goku offers him a lily.

It's an especially cold morning, Goku thinks. He's layered up in two big coats that make him feel not entirely in control of his body, so he keeps bumping into things as he walks along the winding lanes of the bunker. Bulma walks alongside him, equally as bundled, equally as sullen.

"Don't get your hopes up," she advises, giving him a pat on the shoulder and then squeezing it for good measure. "You're a good person, Goku. I never give you enough credit for that. But just remember that you can't help everyone. If that guy doesn't want to speak to you today then that's it. You've got to let Cilo get on with it."

Bulma is biased, Goku understands. She wants Thirty-Two to pay for what he did to Krillin and for what he would have done to Vegeta. Yet, maybe if she saw the reality of the questioning room then she'd change her tune.

Instead, she stays outside – and that's mostly at the request of Vegeta, who doesn't stay outside although Goku wishes he would. Pyrak is here, too, and they stand at Goku's usual viewpoint. Lya is talking with some of her own men, including Ytvl. There's no acknowledgement from anyone, aside Goku's new best friend, the guard.

"Don't try anything funny," he warns, frisking Goku at the door.

"I'll try my best."

Goku's fairly certain that everyone's watching from the other side of the glass. To him, now, it's just a mirror and he only sees himself staring back gawkily. Thirty-Two's reflection is even less kind. His head is bent over; long hair concealing what must be exhaustion. He's been here for days now.

Oddly, Goku feels a bit awkward about this. He walks towards the crucifix and coughs a little. "Um, hi," he begins with, using his most friendly voice.

There's no movement.

"Hello?"

There's a twitch. Then, silence.

"Thirty-Two? Uh, hello?"

Thirty-Two raises his head, revealing a mass of inflammation and severe disfigurement. Below, only the bottom half of his jumpsuit now remains, the torso lost in whatever brutality they inflicted upon him. He's covered in lashes. Thin red strips carve senseless patterns over sweaty, pale skin. Like blood in snow.

Goku swallows. This is what cruelty looks like.

"You need to say something," Goku implores, really, truly meaning it. "I know that you're honour bound or something, and that it's against your program code. But they're gonna' get the Shock Plate out next and I hear that it really hurts. If you don't tell them what they want to know then that's what they'll do to you."

Thirty-Two's stare is unending. His breaths are haggard now. He's tired. He's hurting. His expression is glassy, as though no one is home.

Goku feels no joy from this, even as he remembers that bullet that'd stolen his best friend's life.

"They say you know about planet Namek," Goku continues, "And that you know about saiyans, too, and that you're helping Hailer with bad guy stuff that's probably no good."

Thirty-Two hasn't spoken since Vegeta punched him. That's what Piccolo had told him. They'd also said not to expect much, that Thirty-Two would be an impossible case, but Vegeta also said, if anyone could pull a miracle out their ass, it's you.

Thirty-Two performs that miracle when he opens his mouth, and it's not to spit.

"What colour?"

Goku jolts. What did he say?

"Co-lour," he repeats in that accented drawl, "Under your coat."

Then, the door opens, Lya and Ytvl enter, absolutely stricken.

"Impossible. Is he talking?" Lya demands, "What did he say?"

Goku scratches his head, actually unsure.

"I think he's delirious," Ytvl says, unabashedly taking Thirty-Two's chin and swinging the head as though it's a ball. "A fever."

"The sun," Thirty-Two murmurs, and then he says something in the Southern language to himself.

"Ah. Infected," Ytvl points out, gesturing to the worst of the injuries. It's the one Goku spotted days ago, originally hidden by blue. "Should I inform the lead doctor of the infirmary?"

"Whatever for?" Lya wonders aloud, "He is not leaving this room until he tells us his truths."

"He's sick," Goku points out.

"Then he's vulnerable to pressure. Ytvl, bring the Shock Plate. We are not delaying this any longer."

"Lya, he's sick," Goku repeats, "Like real sick. What he'd tell you might not even be right."

"Ytvl, why are you still here? Bring the Shock Plate."

Goku turns to Ytvl to see what sort of character he really is, and to see if his gut instinct had been right all along. He'd always felt uneasy around Ytvl, his instinct instructing him to stay as far away from this man as possible, although Goku's never understood why. He seems pleasant enough. Nicer than Pyrak, at least. Warmer than Lya. Honest in a deceitful sort of way.

"Lya," Ytvl says very slowly, staring between both her and Goku.

Nobody moves.

"My patience is being tested," she says, so quiet that it could be mistaken for a whisper.

Ytvl takes a step backwards – towards the door – a strange twist of the lips present, and then, he stops. It's not disobedience – it's simply because he needs not get it anymore because Pyrak's at the door, a wicked, toothy grin as bright as daylight itself.

"Special delivery," he greets, brandishing the Shock Plate.

For something so menacing, it's not menacing at all. Grey, square, unassuming.

Goku goes to step forward but Ytvl's arm halts him. He shakes his head.

"He's a person!" Goku shouts, "You know it probably won't work but you're gonna' do it anyway – that's wrong!"

But Pyrak's already setting the device up. Two stretched wires emerge from the shell, each with a pointed end so sharp that they look like they could pierce skin. They can. They do. Each bite into the flesh of Thirty-Two's neck, posing symmetrically.

"What other choice do we have?" Lya asks, flat.

Pyrak whistles himself a tune as he flicks the screen to life. A '0' sits in the centre.

"We're good to go. Is this the new model? The one I used last time took over five minutes to heat up. Amazing stuff, this."

"Do it."

"Wait—"

It's too late. Pyrak spins the dial and lands on a'5', instantly pressing the button before anyone can change their mind. From the wires, white-yellow explodes like fireworks, earning an immediate response from Thirty-Two. It's funny. He's not made a peep for days. Goku knows. They'd told him how, silently, he'd incur all the brutality and offered not a single whimper. But now.

Thirty-Two struggles against the binds, thrusting back and forth, whipping his head left to right to left to right. Goku'd once seen a rabbit fitting before. It'd not been nice. The jerking motions seemed intentional, as though the rabbit wanted nothing more than to contort itself grotesquely. This is the same. Goku hears a bone crunch in on itself, and he hears the gasp of breath which accompanies it.

And then he hears a groan.

Pyrak powers the machine off. "Thassit," he coos, "Let it all out."

Thirty-Two swallows deep gulps of air.

"Knock it off!" Goku shouts, and that's when Pyrak spins the nozzle – to 8.1 this time.

"Let's 'ear ye sing, princess."

There's no pretense. Thirty-Two doesn't seem to even try to contain it. He screams and he jerks against the binds, his spasms violent and unending. The light is pink this time. A girlish, sweet pink that seems painfully out of touch with the situation.

"Stop it!" Goku calls out.

Ytvl contains him but Goku's refuses to yield again. He elbows him in the gut, sentencing him to the floor. Ytvl may be out of the hospital but he's by no means at full strength. There's no getting up from that.

Just as Goku reaches Pyrak, the Shock Plate is turned off.

"Wow, Thirty-Two. Good for you, that's eleven seconds at 8.1. Wanna' go for a new record?"

Thirty-Two of course doesn't reply, though he does start shaking.

By the time Goku's grabbed Pyrak by his horrible furs, Lya hums.

"If you intervene, Goku, I'm afraid that our agreement will be dissolved," she says in that horrible, awful, frightfully monotone way of hers. "Is this one soldier worth that?"

"This is evil," Goku seethes.

"We need information. He has information," she says, as if it's that simple. "The Front Empire is evil. We want to bring that organization to a stop and allow for liberty to become a right, not a privilege throughout the universe."

"We gotta' break them eggs," Pyrak adds, still grinning.

"We must learn what he knows about Namek. You refuse to share what you know with us and that is your prerogative. I will not bring harm upon you, but that cannot be said for this captain."

"He killed yer friend, for God's sake. Are you right in the head?"

"What happened to soldiers being slaves, Lya?" Goku bites back. "I thought you cared about everyone."

"See the bigger picture," she implores, "Thirty-Two would. He would have already slain you given the chance. The fact you survived his initial shooting is nothing short of a miracle."

That's not true, though. Goku's eyes somehow meet Ytvl's when she says this. He also knows it's not true. He knows that Thirty-Two spared him, for whatever reason – and Goku knows, too, that Thirty-Two didn't use the Shock Plate on Ytvl when given the chance.

"He didn't do this to you," Goku says pointedly, "He had you for nearly two weeks and he didn't—"

The dial is turned again. The button is pressed and once more, Thirty-Two screams.

When Goku goes to snatch the machine, Pyrak pulls it back, turning it off.

"Wah, wah, wah. How my heart bleeds." He looks down at the Shock Plate, blowing a silent whistle. "9.9. How you feelin', Sparky? Got anythin' to share? Tell me about Namek. Is it romantic?"

Thirty-Two's eyes are squeezed shut. His focus is on breathing.

"Let's go double-digits!"

Goku doesn't reach for the Shock Plate this time. He instead grabs Thirty-Two by his drooping arm.

"I'm guessing if it's anything like normal electricity, I'll get quite the zap, too," Goku says, grinning through his anger, "Are you sure you wanna' press that button again?"

Pyrak laughs. It's a sharp, shrill sound. "Oh, boy. Lya, what d'ya say to that?"

Lya is thinking. "Let's not…" she says after a moment, "Ruin what we have."

"Yeah," Goku says dryly, "Let's not."

"Goku, this could be a simple exchange."

"What are you talking about? I'm in no mood for games. Just say it."

Ytvl then speaks, slow, "Namek, Goku. That's what Lya wants. It's what she – we – have always wanted."

Oh.

Oh, God.

Goku feels his anger burn cold. Of course. Oh, how didn't he see? This torture has always had a point – and it'd never been about getting Thirty-Two to talk because they've always known he wouldn't. Goku, on the other hand… How many times has he proclaimed hating torture?

"I'll never sell my friends out," he growls, suddenly incensed at the idea of being manipulated like this.

"Then, yer can watch Thirty-Two cook like a holiday roast."

"Or," Ytvl exclaims before Goku makes Pyrak eat the Shock Plate, "Or…" He looks between Lya, Goku and Pyrak – as though this wasn't all prearranged – and raises a hand, "Goku goes to Namek and collects the dragon balls himself. He can bring them back here for us. We'd never have to go to Namek. They'd be uninvolved in all of this. You just want to protect the people there, right, Goku? It's not about the balls, is it?"

Goku breathes, determined. It's a bit about the balls, too. He wouldn't just give them to someone he doesn't trust.

Ytvl, the mind readers shakes his head, his smile strained. "Buddy, we're going to get there one way or another. Someday. Somehow. This way, you'll have some control over what happens. You could even stay for the wish."

"Would tha' work?" Pyrak asks, lowering the Shock Plate.

Lya is contemplative. This is her bargaining, Goku realizes. It's the same face she'd made when she first recruited him. "I… see. This is a possibility. But I must mull this over. If it were to happen, Goku would not go alone. I would expect you to accompany him, Ytvl."

"I anticipated nothing less," Ytvl replies dutifully.

"And what about this lump?" Pyrak gives Thirty-Two a firm push. "D'we keep him 'ere? I thought the plan was te' kill him?"

"We'll bring him, too," Ytvl announces, sending Goku a purposeful sort of look.

For whatever reason, Ytvl's joined Goku's plight in sparing Thirty-Two.

And for his efforts, Goku has landed himself another task that pushes him further away from his son.

"Well, Goku?"

This is where he's supposed to agree.

Goku looks between the three sharks he got into the water with, and then at the one that's asleep, with possibly the deadliest bite of all.

"Fine," he says after a pause, "I'll take you to Namek."

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After all this time we finally have it... a new chapter! It felt amazing to write this. I managed to do it over the course of a couple of days so please forgive me if it's a bit, uh, unpolished here or there. The final chapter of Horse still lives in my mind but it's just not transferring to fic, and I don't want to rush it otherwise it'd just feel idk wrong? I also have a deadline for uni at the end of this month, a road trip to plan, my job to do and also a life to live so please be patient with me! Anyway, thanks oh so very much for sticking with me with this story. Let's get this ball rolling! Wooo, let's go Thirty-Two! Cheers for the reviews/ follows/PMs on this so far. I don't always reply but I always see them and they make my day :)