Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Wish For The Past ❯ Second Chances ( Chapter 64 )

Pilaf: Tell me again why we're doing this?

Mai: Because the author thought up a terrible joke which she wanted to inflict upon her audience.

Pilaf: Oh.

Shao: Um... so who's supposed to be telling the joke, anyway?

Mai: *flips through the script* Looks like I get that honor, however dubious it might be. *clears her throat* Okay. If Pilaf was a cook, what would be his Chef's Specialty?

Pilaf: Hm.... I never thought about going into the food industry... Hey, that's an excellent idea! I'll take over the world by becoming the personal chef of all the world leaders and then slipping poison into their food! Nyahahahaha!! THAT would be my specialty! Poisoned pilaf! Get it?

Shao: *blinks* I don't get it.

Mai: *fakes a laugh* Very clever, your highness. You've made a play on your own name, which is also the name of a kind of rice dish. Unfortunately, that's not the answer in Brenda's script.

Pilaf: *narrows his eyes* Oh really? *pulls out a flame thrower* I think I need to have a little talk with our dear little author... What did SHE say my specialty would be?

Mai: *mouth quirks in a slight smile* Filet mignon, sir.

Shao: *confused* How is that funny? *scratches his head in puzzlement*

Mai: *sighs* It's not, but SHE thinks it's funny because it sounds like "flaming minion."

Shao: *chuckles* Hey, she's got that part right! My fur's still growing back from the last time Emperor Pilaf used his flame thrower on me!

Pilaf: What?! How dare you! You ungrateful wretch! You should be glad I spared your life! YAAAAHHH!! Take that! *chases Mai and Shao off the screen with his flame thrower*

Disclaimer: While I do not own DBZ, I take full credit and/or blame for the jokes told in the Bad Pun Theater. *bows* Thank you, thank you!

BANG!!!

Faster than the human eye could follow, the bullet from Mai's gun tore through the air with deadly accuracy toward its destination between Vegeta's eyes...

...slammed into the young boy's head...

...and fell to the floor in a deformed lump.

Tink tink t-tink...

Vegeta's eyes glinted with amusement as they followed the bullet's movement until it finally stopped bouncing. "I assume," he commented idly, looking up with a mocking smirk, "that that was supposed to hurt." Taking in the expressions on their faces, the ten year old prince nearly laughed out loud. Their looks of slack-jawed disbelief were simply priceless! As if they could ever hope to harm him!

Disbelief turned to panic on Mai's face, and panic has never been known for encouraging rational behavior. With a wordless yell of fear, the black haired woman gripped the gun with both hands and fired bullet after bullet at the alien child who suddenly seemed a lot more threatening. Vegeta hardly appeared to move at all...

...and yet every single bullet missed.

"Something seems to be wrong with your weapon," the little Saiyan observed coolly with just a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. The smile turned into an outright smirk as he reached up and casually wrapped his fingers around the barrel of the gun. "Here. Let me fix it." With just the tiniest amount of pressure the metal crumpled as easily as paper in Vegeta's hands. "Oops," he said, raising his eyebrows in mock surprise. "I think I broke it."

Gaping openly at the crushed end of the gun, Mai and Shao were struck utterly speechless. It was Shao who recovered first, the dogman turning his awed, fearful, and slightly horrified gaze on the boy with the flame-styled hair. "What are you?!"

"I am Vegeta." The smirk returned to Vegeta's face in full force even as he stood a little taller, folding his arms across his chest in a perfect imitation of his father. "The Prince of all Saiyans!" he announced proudly. If they had been paying attention, they would have noticed his tail had curled around his waist. A clear sign to any Saiyan that he was done playing around. Uncrossing his arms, he lifted a single hand and began to form a glowing yellow ball between his fingers. "And now it's time for you to die."

Goku was frozen in horror at what his father had become. The transformation that had suddenly come over Bardock was almost frightening for Goku to behold, almost as though some monster had woken up inside his father and taken over control. He'd grown so used to being around his father when no danger was present, the only other people near him being friends and family, that he hadn't even imagined that there might be another side to the spiky haired man. It wasn't so much that Bardock was killing Pilaf, it was the way he was doing it! After all, Goku himself was willing to kill if the need arose... but this wasn't the same thing! This was prolonged torture!

At first Goku didn't make a move, partly because of his shock and horror at the situation he found himself in, partly because he was still groggy and disoriented from being knocked out. He'd had such strange dreams, too. Scary dreams of Radditz dying and sad dreams of his father leaving him. It was hard to shake off the unpleasant feelings that these nightmares had left him with. Another scream coming from the adjacent room galvanized Goku into action, causing him to push away the last vestiges of the nightmares. Jumping to his feet, the little boy gave the thick chains that bound him to the prison wall a mighty yank, surprising himself when they broke on the first try. Wow... I thought they'd be tougher than that... Goku shrugged the thought aside and immediately ran toward the hole in the wall that his father had made with Pilaf's body. He couldn't just let this happen! He had to do something!

"Tousan, stop!" he shouted as soon as he passed into the other room. "This isn't right!" The sight that greeted his eyes caused him to recoil in horror. Somehow or other, Bardock had managed to implant Pilaf in the stone wall on the other side of the room in such a way that the midget's mangled body didn't fall right back out. The shape of the indent in the wall implied that his father had used Pilaf's body to make it, but that would be almost impossible to do and still keep the emperor alive! For blue emperor was alive, though just barely, still whimpering and crying pathetically. Maybe Pilaf was more durable than he seemed. After all, he did have a knack for living through things that would kill most normal people.

Unfortunately for him, this didn't look like it was going to be one of those times, because Bardock didn't seem to have heard his youngest son's protests. Either that or he had purposefully chosen to ignore him. He stood in front of Pilaf, teeth bared in a snarl that barely seemed able to express the rage he was feeling, a rage that transformed itself readily into a fiery aura that sheathed his body in its red glow. Placing his open hand on Pilaf's chest, regardless of the blood that flowed from multiple wounds, Bardock's fingers began to shine with deadly energy. Goku had never seen a more terrifying image in all his young life.

This isn't right, Goku silently repeated to himself, reaffirming his resolve to put a stop to this. Quickly stepping forward, he took hold of Bardock's pants and gently tugged, trying to gain his father's attention. "Please, tousan," he begged. "Don't do this."

Bardock slowly turned his head so he could give his son a hard, penetrating look. "Why not?" he asked, both eyes and tone of voice demanding that Goku explain himself right now. Goku shivered under his father's scrutinizing stare. It almost felt like his father could see right into his soul.

"There's no reason to kill him, father. It's not right to kill someone when they haven't done anything bad!" Goku protested. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Pilaf had lifted his head weakly, a pathetic expression of hope on his face. The monkey-boy's words had dawned on him, too, and now he was just beginning to think that he might possibly get out of this alive.

"Nothing bad!?" Bardock shouted incredulously, a little bit of anger creeping into his voice. "Didn't you hear what that little bastard threatened to do to you?! He wanted to torture and kill you, Goku! Why the hell would you want to spare him?!"

Goku understood that Bardock wasn't really angry with him, that it was really Pilaf that was the subject of his ire, but it still scared him more than a little to have his father yell and swear at him like this. In all the time that he'd known this man, Goku had only seen him act loving, kind, sometimes stern, sometimes angry... but never like this. This was a side of his father that he wasn't certain that he liked. Despite all this, the young Saiyan stubbornly pressed onward, refusing to back down on his principles. "But he didn't actually do any of those things, tousan, did he? He could've just been trying to scare us for all you know! Besides which, it still wouldn't be right to kill him like you were doing! It's wrong to torture people to death!"

Holding his breath, the seven year old Saiyan watched his father closely for any sign of a reaction. Bardock seemed to be silently studying him, his face set in grim lines, but the anger was fading away. It was still there, of course, but it was no longer controlling him. That was good. Maybe now he would be willing to listen to reason. Along with the anger, though, there was also an element of surprise and confusion in the way Bardock looked at his son, almost as though he had never quite seen the boy before. Goku didn't understand how he had done it, but he knew that he had taken his father off guard. I wonder what he's thinking...

Finally, Bardock spoke, his eyes boring holes into Goku's soul. "If Pilaf had tried to kill you, would you still want to let him live?"

"People deserve second chances," Goku responded with conviction, meeting his father's eyes with a steady gaze. "Even bad people can change. I don't want to kill anyone unless I have to."

Again he got the feeling that he had somehow surprised his father. How? How could what he had just said be a surprise? It made perfect sense in Goku's mind, so why was his father startled by this reasoning? It suddenly occurred to Goku that he didn't really know his father very well. What kind of life had Bardock led that he would think nothing of killing someone just because of a threat? And how could he think that torturing someone like this was ever right? Goku wasn't certain he would like the answers to those questions.

Slowly, almost reluctantly, Bardock pulled his hand away from Pilaf's chest. His face was unreadable now, or rather Goku didn't know how to interpret the expression his father had on his face. "All right," Bardock sighed. Stepping away from Pilaf, the Saiyan father wiped the blood off his hand, then took hold of his son's hand. He shook his head silently, almost as if to say 'I hope you know what you're doing.'

Of course I know what I'm doing, daddy, Goku silently replied, utterly confident in his path. He waited until Pilaf managed to work himself out of the emperor-shaped impression in the wall before letting go of his father's hand and walking up to the pointy eared gremlin. At first, Pilaf was able to stay on his feet, despite the beating his body had just taken, but Goku knew that wouldn't last long. The bones he knew Bardock had broken would make standing painful, let alone walking! Stepping forward, he caught Pilaf under the arms before he could fall and helped walk him out of the room.

This feels so good! Kami, how long has it been since I did this? The rush of power through my veins, the solid connection of my fist with an opponent, the thrill of knowing myself to be stronger than my foe... This is what I live for! And it feels so good to be able to take out my anger on someone who deserves it!

Pilaf more than deserves my anger.

Huh? Did you just say something, Goku? Stop? Stop what? I must be mistaken. I probably just didn't hear him right. I wasn't really paying attention, after all. Here, Goku. I'll just finish off this disgusting little grub and then you can tell me what you said.

I am not hearing this. My son cannot be asking me to spare this bastard's life! Why?! Why do you want to spare him?! He doesn't deserve to live! Answer me, Goku. Tell me why I shouldn't rip this little bug limb from limb.

.... I don't believe this. Can my son really be this naive? He heard what Pilaf threatened to do to him! Right and wrong don't apply here, Goku. Pilaf is your enemy, don't you understand? A warrior does not leave an enemy alive, because enemies have a tendency of coming back for revenge... and next time you might not be able to beat him. I am killing Pilaf for yoursake, Goku! Besides, nobody threatens my son and gets away with it.

........

Are you really my son? Are you really the child who was born with the name Kakarot? Are you even a Saiyan at all? I have to wonder.... You think so differently from others of our race. On Vegeta-sei, you don't make a threat like that unless you mean it, or unless the person you're threatening knows you well enough to know you're joking, or if you know for a fact that you're strong enough to handle whatever consequences may come from your threat. Idle threats can kill you. If Pilaf threatened you, that would mean that he had every intention of following through on his threats, right? And yet... maybe you're right. Perhaps he mistakenly thought himself to be stronger than us - although how he could possibly think that is beyond me! But if he did think that... maybe it was an idle threat. Somehow, though, I don't think so. I think that it's just your soft-heartedness that makes you give your enemy the benefit of the doubt.

Is soft-heartedness really such a bad thing, though? Only if it overrides your better judgment, I suppose. If you're so naive and trusting that you let an enemy live who can and will kill you, then, my son, you are foolish indeed.

What would you do if Pilaf did try to kill you?

Second chances? But how do you know who deserves a second chance and who doesn't? You'd have to be able to read their souls, or their future, and very few people in this universe are born with either gift. How many times have you given others a "second chance"? Who were they, I wonder?

Was I one of them? Did you look at me and realize how much blood I have on my hands... and not care? Did you forgive me for the things I've done in the past? I abandoned you, left you alone on an alien planet for seven years... but you still love me. Huh. Maybe there's something to this "second chance" system after all...

And yet... Goku, I hope your kindness doesn't get you killed.

All right, Goku. Go and help your enemy. Even though I think it would be better to kill him now than to regret it later, I don't think I could refuse you anything you wanted this badly. And if your kindness backfires, then I'll be there to protect you from the fallout.

I hope. I haven't figured out yet what those visions mean, and since one of them showed me leaving you, I don't know if I can truthfully say that I will always be there for you. I don't want to leave you, Goku! But... will I?