Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Kingdom Come ❯ Chapter 25: Loyalty ( Chapter 25 )

Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

WARNING: See Chapter 1

Kingdom Come
~ Chapter 25'Ouch.' Goten stood at the main controls in the surveillance room, making sure everything was going smoothly. For Piccolo. But he didn't want to think about that. He -couldn't-, or else he might start 'almost crying' again. At least there were no witnesses; he'd made sure of that. With three little words.

"Get out. Now."

That was all it took to get the on-duty surveillance team to leave. He'd barely had time to blink; they'd left -that- fast.

His eyes followed the four fighters across one screen. Of course, he could have been one of them. And he knew that. But, like Piccolo, he had his own responsibilities and obligations. Goten and Piccolo had decided long ago, when the topic had been breached for one brief period of time, that the demi-saiyajin would be staying. He was a prince. He was the Royal Inquisitor. He couldn't leave. Even if he wanted nothing more than to do just that.

Muscles all over the prince's body screamed in protest as he reached across the main interface to switch off the recorders for the sandy area across which the others were about to fly. Behind him, his tail helped to balance him as he moved, even though it was in pain as well. Once, he'd thought pain was a friend; he could handle pain. But this was different. And for a much better purpose. 'It'll pass soon,' he thought to himself, wincing with another small movement. 'Maybe even by next month.'

Unfortunately, his legs were also getting tired. He'd been standing for nearly three hours already. He glanced at the somewhat cushy seat behind him and wondered if he should maybe try to sit in it again. Slowly moving it close to the interface, Goten carefully attempted to lower himself onto the chair. But the moment any real weight or pressure had been placed on his tender rear, he moved faster than his muscles would've liked and jumped away from the chair. Sighing deeply in resignation, he stood again at the main controls.

"This is going to be a really long day."

***

"Damn, man," Krillin mumbled, as he glanced around the cave in which Mr. Popo lived. "Just how -long- have you been living in this hole?"

The walls were rough, red stone, and the floor was almost completely sand with a few rocks strewn about as if they were low shelves that were just waiting for some kind of furnishing to rest upon them. There were torches scattered around the room, some were even lit to give the area a small amount of light, though there wasn't much to illuminate. There were a few tapestries tacked up, as if to hide the fact that the walls were nothing more than bare stone. But the only truly magnificent piece in the room was a large, perfectly polished mirror.

The mirror stood taller than Piccolo, and its frame was of an almost silver-like substance. At first glance, it seemed that the frame was bare of any ornamentation, but upon closer look, it was obvious that there were fine, perfect glyphs along the border where the frame met the mirror surface. The mirror itself was perfectly polished, until it nearly glowed from within.

"Is that it?" inquired Yamcha, nodding his head towards the object.

"Yes," Mr. Popo nodded, stepping closer to the mirror. "The Mirror of Janus."

"Wait, wait, wait," Krillin interjected, shaking his head. "That doesn't look like the mirror -we- came through. Our mirror was a big oval thing. This thing has, like... corners. It's a... rectangle."

"So this is -not- the right thing?" the scarred male asked. "Aw, shit!"

"No, no, please. Allow me to explain." The dark-skinned d'jinn picked up a small cloth and carefully wiped something off the mirror that no one else in their right mind could see. "Every universe has its own Mirror of Janus, but each mirror is as unique as its home. Sometimes, the mirror isn't even a mirror by our standards, nor called the Mirror of Janus. But it is always reflective. Its light gives it away."

Yamcha bent his head down towards the shorter human seeking assurance. "Is he saying that this -is- the thing we're looking for?"

"Yeah, I think that's what he's saying."

"Good. Just wanted to make that clear."

Piccolo sighed in exasperation. He'd fought alongside these two humans for years, and yet, it had never quite sunk in that, occasionally, they had the brains of a gerbil between them. It wasn't always the case, he knew, but still. One had to have godlike patience when dealing with the rest of the Z-fighters. 'Especially Goku. I don't know how Chichi managed it all those years. Probably why she's such a bitch.' The namek raised his eyebrow ridges as a voice softly asked the former companion of a god a question.

"Are you coming with us, too?" Vegeta queried. He was the slowest among them, though he was flying faster than he ever had before then. At that moment, the only thing he needed to know was if the thin, dark man in front of him was going to slow them down further, not that he was certain the other man -would- slow them down. The erstwhile prince just didn't want anything to go wrong.

Mr. Popo simply smiled at the small saiyajin. "No. Not in the way you mean."

"What?" Yamcha started. "What's that mean?"

"With you comes the end," stated the d'jinn. "And I will wait for it."

The fighters stood still, a quizzical expression shared between them, each wondering just how cryptic the man was being... or how honest. Yet, it was Piccolo who broke the strained silence. "I have some things I'd like to ask you." Then, begrudgingly, he added, "Please."

The small smile claimed Mr. Popo's face again. "You may ask. As long as I may ask you questions in return."

"I... guess," the namek shrugged a bit. Pausing for a moment, Piccolo collected his thoughts, ordering out the questions in his head, putting the most important to him first. "All right. How did you know? To keep the mirror safe. To look for us. And how did you know to look for -us-, in particular? I know you had that scroll that said a few thing, but..."

"Ah. A good set of questions," nodded Mr. Popo. He moved to sit upon a flat rock away from the mirror. "My Kami told me. When the tailed beast you call Lord Kakarrot rained terror down on the good people of this planet, Kami went to speak with him, perhaps even fight with him. But he knew, you see. He knew he was walking down to meet his death."

Yamcha gasped suddenly, turning to look at Vegeta. "That's what you meant, wasn't it?" he questioned. "When you said that Lord Kakarrot killed the ruler here. I mean, of course! I never even made the correlation."

"Well, I -did- say he lived in the tower where you were found," pointed out Vegeta.

"How old was he when that happened?" Krillin thought to insert. "Lord what's-his-face, I mean."

"Young. Fourteen or fifteen, I think."

Krillin smirked triumphantly. "Aha! See that, Piccolo? Kami was killed before his uglier half was released from that... What was that thing? Hmm... Oh, well. I don't remember. Anyway! You never even -existed- here! How do you like that?"

"What I would like," the taller male snarled, "is for you all to shut up and let Mr. Popo finish what he was saying."

The other three quieted and bowed their heads a bit, having the good sense to look embarrassed. Mr. Popo then spoke up again. "As I was saying, my Kami knew he was going to die. But before he left, he told me to take the mirror and leave. He told me to 'wait patiently in hiding, for a disturbance will come. They will come... And then it ends.' He could often see things that had not yet come to pass, you understand. He knew. And so I know. As for how I knew it was you specifically, I must admit that I knew just by seeing you, Lord Piccolo. There are no nameks left in this universe. Kami was the last."

"Namek? What's a namek? A... race?" wondered Vegeta aloud, looking at Piccolo. "Is -that- what you are?"

"That sucks, dude," the short human murmured. "They killed off all your people, Piccolo. What a bunch of jerks."

"They're all gone? How long ago?" Piccolo asked quietly.

"Longer than a century, far longer," answered the d'jinn, a hoarse sadness creeping into his voice. But that same small smile remained in place.

The Demon Lord tilted his head to one side, reevaluating the questions in his head, some of which had been answered without him asking them, thanks to the humans' affinity for interrupting things. Shaking his head, he went ahead with the couple of remaining questions. "This mirror. It's the same, but different, you said. How does it work? Do we need to know the inscriptions on the frame?"

Vegeta sighed with relief, though that went unnoticed by everyone else. 'The brains of this operation. At last!' he thought. Nodding, he felt assurance in their mission with Piccolo's leadership behind it.

"The inscriptions are merely the story of the mirror. I would read them, but I realize you must be pressed for time," Mr. Popo relayed. "In order for it to... work, you merely need to be looking upon the surface of the mirror. Not necessarily looking into it. Or at your reflection. Only the surface. I'm afraid that's all I can tell you. I know much about the mirror, but there is a great deal I do -not- know."

Piccolo nodded. "Thank you. I have just one last question. Is there anything special we need to do to transport the mirror? We do have a long flight."

Chuckling, Mr. Popo replied, "There's nothing special. You can just carry it normally. Only take care not to drop it."

"All right," accounted the tall warrior. Moving over to the large, shining object, Piccolo braced himself to pick it up, thinking it to be at least moderately heavy. Instead, he found it weighed nearly nothing, as if he were picking up solid air. "We're indebted to you, Mr. Popo. Thank you."

"No need to thank me. I am only doing as I have always done: helping guard this planet." The dark-skinned man watched the others as they began to file out of his home, bowing slightly to the tall namek. "But may I ask my question?"

"I apologize. I'd forgotten you had things you wanted to ask," Piccolo responded. "Go ahead."

"I only have one question," Mr. Popo smiled. "Did you find what you were seeking?"

Piccolo frowned slightly. "I don't think I understand."

"The mirror of your universe brought you here. So... You must have been seeking something," he stated plainly.

"I... I don't know," answered the green male. "If I was looking for something, I don't know what it was."

"Curious. Hmm." The d'jinn appeared pensive for a moment then smiled again. "Take care, Lord Piccolo."

"I will. Thank you."

***

Stalking through the hallways in what others would call a perfect impression of his father on a 'bad day', Prince Gohan fumed. While he spent the day doing normal things, he hadn't spent his evening that way. On an average day, he would start to end it by having a nice, long dinner with his only sibling, followed by a nice round of rough sex and then sleep. Lately, he'd been foregoing the sex, as he'd found no satisfaction in bedding -anyone- at all. But this evening took the cake; Goten never showed up for dinner. Once the elder prince had finished eating his fill, he began to search for the younger male, asking every single person with whom he came into contact if they knew where his brother was. 'Not only has our father not checked in,' he thought to himself, 'but now Goten thinks he can run off without saying a word. Where the hell -is- he?' Coming across another guard who had the sad misfortune of crossing his path that evening, he grabbed and twisted his arm. "Have you seen Prince Goten?"

"N-no, sire," the guard stuttered.

"Have you heard anything of his whereabouts?" the demi-saiyajin snapped.

"No, sire, but -- ow!"

He twisted the underling's arm further. "What? What do you know?"

"I heard at dinner, milord, a rumor that Prince Goten has given all surveillance teams the evening off," explained the pained guard. Feeling the royal was not convinced, as Prince Gohan continued to twist his arm nearly to the breaking point, he added, "One of my buddies is on the team that was doing the second shift this afternoon. I saw him at dinner when he should've been at his post. Guess the rumors hold some water."

At that, the eldest demi-saiyajin released his hold on the frightened guard, striding away towards the surveillance room without even thanking the guard who'd assisted him. He didn't need to thank him, after all. It was the moron's -job- to provide him with whatever information he wanted. And he'd do his job if he wanted to continue surviving.

Gohan's annoyance with his brother subsided as he walked down to the surveillance room. Assuming that perhaps their father had gotten word to him, he rather thought Goten was just being careful, keeping a close watch on the planet as this universally important event -- their father's upcoming nuptials -- was prime to occur. 'Which is smart of him,' Gohan surmised. 'Always on top of everything. Heh. He's a better guardian for this planet than all of my guards combined.'

Overriding the locking command on the door, the elder prince stepped into the room, a smirk on his face. "Taking care of business as usual, little brother?"

"Making sure everything goes as planned," Goten stated. Though his expression showed nothing, inwardly, he was uneasy. What the hell was his older brother doing here, of all places? Gohan never came to the surveillance room for -anything-. "And might I ask what brings you by?"

"You didn't show for dinner," said Gohan. "If you knew you were going to be busy working, you should've just mentioned it. Instead I had to frighten half of the palace occupants just to get an idea of where you might be. Which wasn't all bad, I must say. Still. I could've had some servants bring you something to eat."

"My apologies, brother," the younger demi-saiyajin replied. Gesturing to the panel beside him, he continued, "But I'm sure none of this interests you at all."

"You're right," nodded his brother. "Couldn't care less."

Goten nodded once and then went back to what he was doing before his sibling's arrival, pressing buttons and flipping switches, none of which Gohan had ever bothered to learn. Suddenly, the elder male tightly grasped his brother's shoulder and spun him around, his eyes blazing and his face frozen in a severe scowl. Leaning forward, he began sniffing. Goten's eyes widened in realization. He hadn't bathed after leaving Piccolo and his companions, and what they'd been doing before...

"Why do you smell like him?" Gohan growled. He leaned in even closer before he inhaled deeply. With a snarl, he jerked back. "Like him... and like... like sex. What the -fuck- is going -on- here?! Explain!"

The younger prince tore his shoulder out of his brother's grip, despite the pain that surged through his body at doing so. "I have no idea what you're talking about," he grounded out.

"You... You slept with him?" asked the slightly taller demi-saiyajin. The expression on his face was anger, but his voice held mostly shock. He couldn't believe it, even though his olfactory senses told him differently. "How could you? How -could- you? I thought you understood. He was -mine-!"

"He was never yours," Goten seethed, his tail snapping through the air before it wrapped gingerly, protectively around his waist.

"You lying little bastard!" Gohan screeched, grabbing his brother by the front of his shirt. The emotions flooding his system were almost too difficult to decipher. He was angry, that much was clear. How dare Goten, how dare ANYONE take what was rightfully his! But mostly, he felt... betrayed. How could his brother do something like this to him? Were they not brothers? Were they not bound to each other by blood and lineage? Were they not loyal to each other, no matter what? They always had that, hadn't they? Hadn't they always, -always- been loyal to each other though -everything-? "How could you -do- this to me?!"

"I didn't do anything to -you-!" Goten retorted. It was all he could do to keep the scorn out of his voice at Gohan's arrogance. He had known that the elder prince would take this the wrong way, but this had never been about Gohan. Though, for the Golden Heir, the fact that something didn't revolve around him was something that Goten knew he'd never be able to explain. No matter how much he tried.

Gohan backhanded his little brother hard across his cheek. At that moment, he was so torn between outright killing him, and simply wounding to the point of crippling him. "Damn you! I have spent most of my life looking out for you and taking care of you, and you repay me by stealing that which is -mine-? Why did you do this? WHY?!"

"He wasn't yours!" Goten spat back holding his hands on his brother's fist, where it was entangled in his shirt. He knew he wasn't stronger than Gohan, but that wasn't a good enough reason to prevent him from fighting back.

To say he was livid would have been an understatement. Gohan let go of his younger sibling's shirt. Before the younger male could completely get his balance, though, Gohan backhanded his sibling, sending the slightly smaller man sailing backwards into the computer terminal, but not so hard as to injure the heavy-duty equipment. "What the hell did I ever do to you that would make you treat me in such a hateful, treacherous manner? What did I do to deserve -this-?!"

"That's just it, Gohan," Goten replied softly. His face stung from where his brother had smacked him, and the tang of blood sparked across his tongue. He could feel the hot liquid slowly trickling down from the corner of his lips. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he further clarified, "You didn't deserve -him-."

"What," the elder prince demanded rather than asked as he paused in his stalking gait towards his prey. He couldn't have heard that right. He simply couldn't have. Who did Goten think he was, saying that -HE- didn't -DESERVE- someone! He was the Golden Heir! He was next in line to take the throne! He deserved -EVERYTHING-! The universe was -HIS- to play with, to fuck stupid, or to massacre. The only reason he was limited right then was because of his father. But that wouldn't last forever. The man was old, after all. And growing senile, if his choice of marriage partners was any indication.

"You would've used him," Goten snorted, and in his mind, he gagged at the thought of anyone trying to use Piccolo. No one would ever have that right, if he could help it. The young prince stood up and fell into a familiar fighting crouch, even though his muscles were dimly screaming at him that this was a bad idea. But the adrenaline that was flooding his system quieted the ache his body felt until all that concerned the demi-saiyajin was his elder sibling. "You never could've seen what kind of man he is, never could've shown him the respect he deserves, -anything- he deserves! You never would've -loved- him!"

"You don't know -anything-, do you!" Gohan barked, and there was no mistaking the scorn and outright disgust in his voice. "It takes a lot more than one little fuck with someone as inexperienced as you to sway a man like that."

"Shut up! You don't know anything about him!" screamed Goten, tears of anger and outright hatred pricking behind his eyes. At that moment, he would have gladly killed his brother, but he knew that even on his best day and Gohan's worst, he didn't stand a chance.

"And you -do-?!" the elder demi-saiyajin retorted with a dismissive laugh before his face twisted in a way that few had ever seen and lived to tell about. "How dare you? How dare you even presume to know anything about something that's rightfully mine?! I should -kill- you!"

Just at that moment, movement on one of the surveillance screens caught the elder prince's eye. His brow furrowed as he slowly focused in on just exactly what he was seeing. "What the hell...? Is that...? What are they doing outside of the palace? And why is Vegeta with them? Is this...?" He turned fiercely on Goten then. "This is why you were down here, isn't it? Isn't it! You were making sure they could escape! You don't just let people like them -go-. What the fuck is -wrong- with you, Goten?"

Gohan closed the distance between them faster than the younger man thought possible, and grabbed Goten before throwing him hard into the far wall, effectively rendering the younger demi-saiyajin unconscious. With a roar of rage at the unsatisfactory conclusion to the fight, the Golden Heir returned to the controls. He wanted to thrash his foolish sibling, but there were other concerns. Piccolo was leaving! That was just unacceptable. After he studied the many switches and buttons for a minute, he began to curse. "Dammit! I should've had him show me how to use this."

Randomly pressing buttons, he finally stumbled upon one that told him what was being shown on the screens. Gohan programmed the coordinates of the last screen in which he saw them as well as the general direction in which they were flying into his scouter. He snorted as his gaze slid over the crumpled form of his errant brother, but Gohan knew that he'd have time to deal with his traitorous brother. He may not have had Goten's skill at torture, but sometimes brute-strength was just as useful a tool as precision was. He grinned smugly as he quickly left the surveillance room, fully intending to intercept and apprehend the four warriors.

***

Vegeta touched down on the broken tiles of the abandoned Look-out with a sigh of utmost relief. It had been a long, long time since he had been pushed that hard for a simple flight. His body was already coated with a fine sheen of moisture, though some of it was surely from some of the clouds they passed through. It was heavily overcast that night, so heavily that, for as far as the naked eye could see, there was nothing to the sky other than absolute blackness.

The inky darkness bled onto the landscape, and Vegeta was barely able to discern the tall Demon Lord moving to set up the mirror. He had draped his cape over the metal and glass creation to hide its slowly building glow. The cloth did amazingly well for the task. His tail bristled around him as he looked around to all the unknown dangers. "Are you sure it's safe here?"

"Yeah, Geta," Yamcha said, surprisingly close to the short saiyajin. He moved so that he could drape an arm over his lover's shoulder before moving closer to where he felt Piccolo. "We're safe for at least another hour. And that's all that we need."

"Hn," Vegeta commented without actual words. He looked over his shoulder at the abyss behind him before he moved forward to where the others were. They had flown here blind, and it was only because Piccolo knew this location so incredibly well as to be able to find it without any kind of guidance that they managed to arrive in one piece. 'Of course, for all I know, those antennae could be divining rods, and -that's- how we got here.'

"Hey...? Guys? Can you feel that?" Krillin asked.

"Feel what?" Yamcha replied, searching outwards. "Hey!"

"Odd...," Piccolo commented as he entered the conversation.

"What? What's wrong?" Vegeta asked, worried. He didn't like the shock that sounded in each of their voices. It wasn't good. There was trouble. And when there was trouble, there was usually pain and humiliation involved as well.

"It's... like a wall of static has fallen over my senses." Krillin tried to explain. "I can't feel anyone's chi. Not the planet's, not yours, not even Piccolo's."

"It's weird," Yamcha said softly, moving so that he could wrap his arms around the short saiyajin prince. "It'll pass, though, right?"

"Something's happening," Piccolo stated, and even in the darkness, they all knew that he was looking at the still covered form of the mirror. "It must be the mirror. It's disrupting our abilities. Hn. This was unforeseen."

"Well... If you think about it, Trunks and Goten were awfully shocked to see us when they started messing with it in our dimension," Krillin remembered.

Vegeta snorted and crossed his arms. "Though you're the brains of this outfit, and there's no contest on that one, you aren't a god. You don't know everything and can't plan for it either."

"Um, Geta... Piccolo... Piccolo is part Kami. Kami was a god. Like, -the- god... of this planet," Yamcha tried to explain.

"Oh."

He and Vegeta and Krillin formed a small huddle against a broken wall as they waited for time to pass. For his part, Piccolo took the first watch; using all the senses he still possessed to search the surrounding area. Just in case.

***

He knew instinctively that he hadn't been unconscious for long, yet that knowledge did not bring Goten any comfort. His entire body was one big ache, and it took him a moment to place where he was. He stood to his feet and, with conscious will, forced his knees to hold him steady. He looked around the control room, noticing the last screen his brother had accessed. The time the screen was accessed had only been ten minutes prior. With a soft curse, the youngest prince forgot all about how his body was screaming and crying out in pain. He could easily ignore all of it.

The royal demi-saiyajin took off into the pitch-black night without his scouter and with only the sense of where he was going, flying low to the ground so as to stay concealed from his brother, though not the surveillance-laced lands; he couldn't care less if he was caught on any surveillance tapes of the night. Knowing Gohan was furious, he sped along faster than he thought was safe. But safety wasn't really an issue at that point. Not his safety. But the others' safety. Piccolo's. In all the years he'd known his brother, Goten knew better than anyone the wild and voracious temper of his elder sibling. That temper that had allowed him to become a super-saiyajin the very first time. That temper that gave him far more strength than he might normally possess. Strength which Piccolo might have some problems overcoming. Worst of all, Goten realized his brother's temper didn't abate over time and distance. It only festered. Which meant...

Piccolo was in trouble.

And that was all that mattered.

***

Gohan stared at the highlighted area in front of him. If it weren't for his scouter, he would never have found the place, much less been able to see it. He knew from their postures that they had yet to see him, and the Golden Heir rather thought that they wouldn't be able to without scouters. It had taken him nearly an hour to get there, but by the readout on his scouter, it was fifteen minutes until midnight. From his vantage point, Gohan could see a lot of things through the rosy lens of his apparatus. It galled him to realize that his brother wasn't the only one who knew that Piccolo and his pet humans were leaving. Obviously, Vegeta knew too.

Enraged eyes narrowed as the prince watched as the human Yamcha threw an arm around the scouter-less saiyajin. Through the small lens, Gohan could see Vegeta's tail wrapped around the scarred human, as if the guard owned him. The short human, Krillin, was close by, but he wasn't paying any attention to the two lovers. And in the prince's mind, that was indeed what Vegeta and Yamcha were. Gohan's lips twisted in a sneer. The scene disgusted him.

So, being the warrior that he was, and the prince that he was, Gohan knew that an unnoticed attack would be the most effective. And while he knew that Vegeta and the humans wouldn't be a bother to him, he didn't want to deal with them while he dealt with the fearsome Demon Lord. Just at the thought of being one-on-one with Piccolo had Gohan's smirk turning into something a bit more sinister. He laughed softly to himself as he looked over at the underside of the bowl shaped palace. He'd go one-on-one with the Demon Lord... and then he'd make sure that he learned the difference between fucking his little brother and fucking the person to whom he truly belonged.

There was no warning. One moment Yamcha was holding on loosely to his Geta, and Krillin was nearby murmuring about his list of 'things to do' once he got back; the next minute, there was a huge ball of energy and heat and death hurling at them. Yamcha barely had time to register the attack before it crashed into them. Krillin had time to throw up his arms in a classic block, glancing over his shoulder as the other two were illuminated by the glow of the energy attack while they were being knocked backwards and out of sight.

Piccolo turned his attention to the now glowing super-saiyajin prince. With a snarl of rage, he planted his feet on the ground, effectively protecting the mirror while the others found their own feet.

"What the hell...?" Krillin muttered as the stars that shined only in his eyes cleared.

"It's Prince Gohan," Piccolo said. He knew he should have expected this. But he was still surprised that the young man had landed such a sneak attack. It seemed beneath even him, but then, nothing was as it seemed in this world. He should have expected it. Gohan was downwind of them, and still miles away. If it wasn't for the fact that he was glowing as bright as a new sun at the moment, he'd have still been invisible to them all. Hell, they were invisible to themselves in the darkness without their other senses. "Krillin, can you see the others?"

"They got blown back a bit," answered the ex-monk. "I don't see them right now."

"Guard the mirror. I'm going to go deal with our royal pain," Piccolo growled, totally disgusted with himself and the situation. If he hadn't been thinking about the prince he left behind, then he might have been paying more attention to the situation at hand. It wasn't like him to get so distracted. He should have expected it, though. He didn't wait for the human to acknowledge his statement, jumping to the air determined to get this done with quick. He didn't want to miss their window of opportunity.

"Right," Krillin replied, though he really wanted to ask, 'Are you sure?' But this was Piccolo, and if there was one person in any universe that he trusted almost as much as he had once trusted Son Goku, it was Piccolo. He took his place in front of the mirror, straining his ears to listen for any sign of the others as well as his eyes as he watched the coming cataclysmic fight.

Vegeta stumbled to his feet, seeing red. Not the red of rage, but the red of pain and blood. His blood, he was sure of it. By some twist of fate, Yamcha had been in between him and the energy sphere, taking the brunt of the attack for them. He knelt down, not entirely sure he'd be able to get back up again, and felt around in the darkness. He knew Yamcha was around there somewhere. When he found his voice, he was shocked to discover how raspy and rough it sounded in the otherwise silent area. "Yamcha? Yamcha, where are you? Answer me, dammit." 'He can't be dead. I know he can't. Fate wouldn't be -that- unkind.' "Yamcha?"

"Nnnh," Yamcha groaned as he tried to sit up. He'd make it, surely. If only his stomach would stop roiling in the back of his mouth. He opened his eyes, and in the distance, he could see Piccolo and Gohan engaged in a series of furious kicks and punches, and then there was the light shining just under the edge of Piccolo's cape from the mirror. The human blinked his eyes as he finally managed to sit up, but found that even when he was sure that he had his eyes open, the spectacle before him still managed to fade in and out. He couldn't locate Vegeta, though. And he couldn't find Krillin, either. Slowly, he stumbled to his feet, calling out, "Geta? Krillin?"

The short monk didn't have time to reply as a stray energy attack arrowed its way towards him and the mirror. With all his strength, he jumped to the air and deflected it away from the Look-out. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why the demi-saiyajin was being so indiscriminate with his attacks. There were far more random energy blasts than should have been needed, but it seemed that Gohan didn't care. In fact, it seemed that the prince actually was enjoying the senselessness of it.

Piccolo's eyes narrowed as he moved with the fight rather than trying to keep it under his control. He had to keep his eyes focused, otherwise they'd have been dazzled by the surrounding abyss versus the brilliant illumination surrounding Gohan. There was a look of absolute rage in semi-familiar eyes, and it was both disorienting and welcomed. It was disorienting because he had never seen that look on anyone's face -- not even his own when he had been the great and fearsome Demon Lord, in truth -- and to have it directed at himself was enough to cause his heart to flutter with something close to fear. Yet, at the same time, it was welcomed as it was as sure a sign as any that this twisted image of his long-time friend was indeed his enemy. He knew that when a saiyajin -- or a demi-saiyajin, for that matter -- had a brush with death, they would recover stronger than ever. The prince was proving that that fact by attacking with a ferocity and strength that hadn't been there at the tournament, though Piccolo knew that even then Gohan hadn't held back.

"YOU FUCKED HIM!" Gohan roared, blind to everything except the green man who danced through the air with him in brutal glory. He had traveled all that distance, and that was the one fact that burned the most. Not that Piccolo was leaving before he submitted in -his- bed. Not that the one little fuck by Piccolo had his little brother betraying everything he knew. Not that the little whore Vegeta was with them. When yet another series of punches didn't make it through Piccolo's defenses, the prince moved backwards through the air a bit, screaming inarticulately and lashing out with a wave of pure, destructive energy. "What the FUCK were you thinking, FUCKING my brother?! You're MINE, and you can only fuck ME, you fucking... ARGH!"

Vegeta looked up as the energy wave came rushing towards the Lookout, illuminating everything. Krillin was in the air, creating a chi shield to protect the mirror. Yamcha, on the other hand, was obviously not entirely with it, noticeably stumbling as he tried to keep his feet. Fear like he'd never known had the former prince moving before he even knew what was occurring. Moving quickly, his feet not always finding their proper purchase on the ground, Vegeta made his way to Yamcha. He stood in front of his downed lover and did much like Krillin was doing.

Only he wasn't as strong as the short human. And he didn't have as much time.

Krillin screamed in pain and determination as the powerful wave crashed into him. He wasn't sure, but he thought he heard someone else screaming as well. He wasn't sure if that scream had only been in his imagination, though, because once the wave was beyond him and he was able to check around, it seemed he was the only one standing on the broken tiles of the Look-out grounds. The mirror was still safe, though. And that was what was important.

***

The younger prince had been flying as fast as he could, pushing himself far faster than he had thought possible and beyond what he might normally consider safe considering he was pretty much flying blind and low over unfamiliar terrain. He didn't get out much. He knew the dungeons, and that was about it. Goten knew the direction to go, though. He was flying towards his brother's enraged power, and towards Piccolo's strength. He could feel the other three, but they were like small bugs against twin suns burning in the night.

Flying close to the ground as he was, it was a start to realize the tower under the Look-out was just in front of him. Muttering something to himself, though he wasn't sure if it was a curse or a prayer, Goten changed his direction though he kept his speed. He was halfway up the side of the tower when he felt something -falling- on the other side. Gritting his teeth in fear and frustration, frustration more at himself than anything or anyone else, Goten went to intercept the strangely familiar, yet weak chi.

Vegeta knew he was dying. That was all there was to it. He could practically feel his life force seeping out of him with the seconds that fell away. Falling like him. Falling like his blood was dripping out of him, being left behind as he passed the droplets by. Or perhaps his blood was heavier than he thought, as he was curiously lightheaded. 'Probably blood loss,' Vegeta thought to himself, or at least he thought he thought to himself. He couldn't be sure if those were actual thoughts or not. He closed his eyes, trying to gather his thoughts, and found himself thinking that it must be raining. There was thunder rumbling above him.

It hadn't taken Vegeta long to learn the primary language of humans, but once he did, he had taken to reading as much as he could. One of his favorite things to read was the humans' description of death and dying. The saiyajin had always imagined it like a burnt-out light; it went out in the blink of an eye, suddenly and completely. So, he assumed when he died, he would just be... dead. Humans, on the other hand, often saw 'their entire lives flashing before their eyes'. He wondered why that was.

He was falling, the cold wind ripping past him as he plummeted toward the earth. Had he saved Yamcha from that energy attack? He thought so. He hoped so. He prayed that he had. The sensation was strange. Not the falling, but the feeling of life dissipating from his body. Vegeta was dying. And he discovered something.

Humans were both right and wrong about what they saw just before they died.

It was a near miss as Goten reached out his arms and caught the dying saiyajin. The young demi-saiyajin didn't need to be an expert in death to know what killed Vegeta. Floating in the air, he brought the short fighter close to him. He knew, from a vague memory, that there was an old building on top of the tower before the Lookout. Goten raced towards it, looking out for it even as he tried to get Vegeta's attention. "Vegeta. Vegeta, what's going on up there?"

Too numb to realize he'd stopped falling, he barely registered the face into which he was looking. He knew that face. It wasn't one he loved. But it was one he respected. And he remembered that. "Prince," he managed.

"Vegeta, tell me what's going on up there."

"Did you know... that when you die... your entire life flashes before your eyes?"

"I've never died. I wouldn't know," Goten sighed, a little exasperatedly. "Listen to me. I need to know what's happening. Is Piccolo all right? My brother?"

"Yes," he mumbled, blinking slowly. "They're... fighting. Prince Gohan is angry. But I don't think he's figured out yet that Piccolo loves you." The small saiyajin gave him a minute smile. "I know it's a secret. I won't tell."

Goten looked Vegeta over and saw the severity of his injuries. "There's nothing I can do for you."

"I think I'm dying. Don't you?"

"Yes."

"Yamcha... I can see him now," Vegeta smiled weakly. "And he's all I see. He was my life."

Then, with a sudden clarity and asceticism, Vegeta looked directly into Goten's eyes. "See. You have to see."

Goten's lips pressed tightly together as he felt the last of Vegeta's energy drain away. Gently, he laid the older man down on the cracked and dirty ground. It was all he could do. He spared the once prince a second glance before he jetted back into the sky.

Mindful of the stray energy attacks that sliced through the air towards him, he continued to fly upwards. They were going everywhere, though, as if a storage unit full of fireworks exploded. But, the light helped him to see the scene before him, and when he did, Goten almost wished he could somehow remain blind.

Gohan had managed to get both of his hands around Piccolo's throat. And even from where the youngest demi-saiyajin floated, it was clear that Piccolo was struggling to get free, and with very little success. It took him a moment, but Goten finally registered the fact that Gohan was screaming as he choked the life out of Piccolo.

"YOU ARE MINE! FOREVER! AND DON'T YOU FUCKING FORGET IT!" Gohan screeched. And then, even as he was trying to squeeze the very breath out of Piccolo, the crazed prince leaned forward and pressed an open mouth kiss across his lips.

Goten wasn't sure what happened next, but he was suddenly firing the most impressive energy attack he of which had ever conceived straight at his brother. His scream of rage and anger and outright fury warned Gohan, though, and the elder prince smartly threw his victim away even as he moved in the other direction to avoid the blast.

Looking through his scouter, Gohan managed to read the time before the thing shut down on him. It had a tendency to do that on only one occasion: when it was trying to collect data on a super-saiyajin. But Gohan knew for a fact that his father had yet to return home, and Vegeta was as good as dead... The fast right hook to his face hit the elder prince hard, knocking him back into the moment and giving him the first taste of an enraged Goten. An enraged super-saiyajin Goten.

There was a part of Goten's mind that was curiously detached from what he was doing. It was as if he was in that small part of his mind into which he usually went when committing some kind of act that would leave a normal person screaming in terror. It was as if he was standing outside of himself and watching as he threw energized punch after punch straight as his elder brother. He registered the fact that he was a super-saiyajin, but it didn't matter all that much. All that mattered was that Gohan was trying to hurt Piccolo. Trying to kiss Piccolo.

And that was just unacceptable.

Piccolo flew backwards from the fight, blinking his eyes at the sudden appearance of the other prince. He wanted to rejoin the fight, but he knew that time was running out. He watched the altercation, trying to judge what would be the best course of action. He knew he had to get back to the Look-out. He didn't want to, but he knew he had to. He had to make sure the Mirror of Janus was safe, even though Krillin had been taking care of it. And he had to be looking at it in order for it to transport him back home, back to his duties. Still, he didn't want to.

"Piccolo!" Goten shouted, gaining the green fighter's attention even as he tried to fight his older brother. "Get going. I'll take care of this."

Piccolo wanted to deny that. He wanted to say that Goten wasn't as familiar with fighting at that level of power, that Gohan had more experience, and that he was still at a disadvantage. With a sigh of self-defeat, though, the great Demon Lord turned and returned to the crumbling remains of his dimensional twin's home. He couldn't bring himself to deny Goten's wish. It was as if the young prince was defending him, standing up to his older brother outright for the first time, and Piccolo was unable to deny him that. He landed with a muffled click to the ground and easily tossed off his cape from the mirror. It was glowing dimly, but visibly. Next to him, Krillin landed.

"Is it almost time?" Krillin asked, torn between watching the battle and watching the mirror. It was a very impressive battle. Plus, he knew he had to find Yamcha and Vegeta. He didn't want to miss his opportunity to return home, though.

As if sensing the other human's concern, Yamcha stumbled forward, almost falling on top of his shorter friend. "Hey... Have you seen Vegeta? Damn, that mirror is bright."

"Goten, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Gohan screamed, mindful that Goten -was- a super-saiyajin, and being honest with himself in acknowledging the fact that he didn't care, "You fucking moron! You're interrupting me! I'm fucking fighting Piccolo, and here you come, and fucking--"

"Oh, shut up, already!" Goten retorted, disgust and contempt naked in his voice. He was pissed off, and feeling a bit stupid and giddy all at the same time. That sensation came out in words as he antagonized his brother into a further rage. "You weren't doing anything except making an ass out of yourself. But then, you're good at that."

"WHATTHEFUCK!" Gohan raged. Using his anger to fuel his attacks, he blindly set forth on turning his dear brother to a small, boneless meat patty. Preferably charred. "What? Is it because you managed to fuck him once, it gives you the right to interfere here?"

Goten smirked as he actually managed to catch one of his brother's fists. "You know, you're right. We only fucked once. But we had sex many, many, many more times."

That smugness, that smirk, was what drove Gohan over the edge on which he had already been teetering. Goten didn't even see the blow that had him suddenly sprawled a couple dozen feet from where Piccolo and the two humans stood, still valiantly guarding that accursed mirror that would take them home. Piccolo watched as Goten fell, but didn't go to help the young prince to his feet again. Gohan was still in the air, still very dangerous, and therefore still a threat. He wanted to, though. 'I should be used to not doing or getting what I want by now.'

There wasn't a muscle in the youngest prince's body that didn't scream out in protest as he tried to regain his feet. But it wasn't a successful attempt, and even the thrill of turning into a super-saiyajin wasn't enough to keep the altered form present. The light around him died as he fell back into his normal state of being the Dark Prince. He knew he was only winded, and if he had enough time he'd be more than ready to rejoin the fight. He just didn't think he had enough time.

Krillin managed to whisper what everyone else was feeling at that particular moment. "Oh, shit."

Gohan raged in inarticulate screams for a moment as he raised his arms above his head, gathering an immense amount of energy very, very rapidly. Too rapidly for even Piccolo to intervene. "You fucking whore, Goten! He was fucking MINE! And you stole him. And not only that, but you fucking gloat about it! In front of me! You know what! FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU ALL!"

Krillin and Yamcha both gasped in total horror as the huge energy blast came right at them. It was angled so that it would hit them all, coming from behind the mirror. The Mirror of Janus's silvery light was eclipsed from behind by the golden glory that was the enraged prince's parting gift. They couldn't run. There wasn't time to fight. Piccolo, Yamcha, Krillin, and Goten watched the powerful globe hurl towards them, knowing it was sure to be their deaths. They couldn't even close their eyes...

... as the clock struck midnight.

... as the gateway opened.

... as the lethal attack struck the Lookout, disintegrating everything.