Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ A tiny twist in time ❯ A tiny twist in time ( Chapter 2 )

        “Krillin, don’t. Please.”         Krillin wavered.         “Please, Krillin.”           Agony. Worse than the sword stabbed through him when he was only a baby, worse than the pain he’d endured when escaping the exploding wreckage of his homeworld. His power flared to combat the pain without his knowledge, exploding the limiters his father’s scientists had designed. He didn’t notice, too lost in the pain that filled every inch of his being. He didn’t notice his ascension to Super Saiyan when it happened, didn’t realize how his power doubled and doubled again as the pain only increased.         Waves of glowing blond hair cascaded over his shoulders, burying his contorted form beneath its mass. He flailed; uncontrollable bursts of power leaving splayed hands. Explosions ripped from a powerful golden muzzle, destroying the remains of the building that had housed him.         Feral, red-rimmed eyes sought the source of his pain, saw nothing save the planet itself as another wave shot through him. He roared, screamed in defiance and pain, blasting the planet from existence. As when he had been only a child, his power protected him from the worst of the explosion, propelled him towards a safe place.         The pain ended, finally. Brolli fell, completely spent, to crash into the earth of the world his over-stressed senses had found to shelter him. He laid, stunned by the fall, confused by the events he couldn’t yet understand, and waited for his father to come find and help him.         He didn’t know he’d killed the man.           Turles woke from a sound sleep to a pain unlike anything he’d ever felt. Unlike Brolli, however, he recognized the agony for what it was and the opportunity it represented – an opportunity he would consider if the pain ever stopped. He fought against the pain, his own power rising to fight it. Simple Saiyan instinct, to overpower what hurt. The wry thought was the last thing he remembered. His body gave into the pain moments before he would have ascended for the first time, luckily for his ship.           Goku couldn’t respond to his son’s shrill scream. His battered, broken body contorted entirely against his will, further injuring torn muscles and shattered bones. He could barely draw enough breath to breath, yet each hard-won panting gasp came out a pained cry, without enough air to be a proper scream.         He mustered his will, trying to force the uncontrolled flailing of his broken limbs to move him towards his son in spite of his pain. Instead, he managed to maneuver himself to see his prior opponent. Vegeta’s battered, bloody body was the last thing Goku saw before his world went white.         The newest Super Saiyan’s utter brokenness was the only thing that kept him from going to the prince. His shock and horror grew with his power and his pain, but it was the sudden stabbing knowledge that his son had just died that triggered his jump to the third ascension. Power alone lifted him; sheer will carried his broken body to his son’s side, the mass of his hair completely covering the child’s body.         “Goku?”         The voice triggered something deep within him, something long dormant. He transformed, tail sprouting and anchoring him to the ground, even as he managed to use the burst to curl protectively around Gohan’s body, protecting it from the one coming cautiously closer. Red-rimmed eyes filled with tears looked down at his son’s body.         “Goku? Is… what happened?”         “You killed him.” His voice was rough with physical and emotional pain, more of a growl than a voice at all.         “I had to, Goku. He would have killed us all if I’d let him live.”         “No, Vegeta is still alive.”         “What?!” came the horrified yelp. He heard the running footsteps as the little monk went to check on the Saiyan prince. A moment later, the pain ebbed to the aftereffects of the fight.         Red fur bristled as Krillin returned. “He’s dead now, Goku. We won’t have to worry about him again. What happened, though? Why are you all… furry? Will it go away? Chi-Chi’ll have a worm if she sees you like that!”         Goku sighed. With the last of his strength, he pulled his tail into the safe confines of the tattered gi. His tail, at least had been spared any breaks. The transformation dropped, leaving Goku his normal-looking self. “I don’t know. Maybe it was because he really was who he said he was, the prince of the Saiyans. Does it matter? Gohan’s dead.”