Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Altiverse: Dawn of Time ❯ Brother, Where Art Thou? ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Ten

Brother, Where Art Thou?

Needless to say, the cleansing of Tironda was brutal.

The Tirondians were horrified at the sudden change that took place in their esteemed guests overnight. When they woke up the next morning, screams filled the air and the ground was stained with the blood of the wounded and dying. Many fled the planet to save their lives; the Saiyans permitted them to do so. It was their only gesture of gratitude.

The planet smoked beneath the rising sun. It was bare and empty of life by the time the sun reached the peak of its travel across the sky. It might not have taken so long, if Vegeta and Vaya hadn't been so reluctant to do what they knew would have to come next.

They had left one forest standing, a beautiful place where the trees provided a canopy for shelter and food. Fruit grew from the trees and fell to the ground, nestled among the roots for small woodland creatures to find and feast upon. An intricate labyrinth of streams and brooks bubbled perpetually through the soil, washing smooth colorful stones along their banks. It was here that the Saiyan parents had chosen to leave their child.

They nestled a peacefully sleeping Adrian in the crook of a nurturing tree. There were no predators in the woods; he would be safe. Fallen fruit and a clear stream were within his reach. He remained asleep when Vaya kissed his forehead, a featherlight touch. But when Vegeta knelt down to pull her back, Adrian's eyes opened slowly. He yawned and giggled, reaching up for his father happily.

Vegeta seemed to freeze for a minute, frowning; then it was replaced by a proud smirk.

"You don't have to be frightened when you are alone, kid," he said simply. "All you need to do is be strong, and we will see each other again."

He reached out and gently massaged Adrian's hair -- his one sign of affection.

Then Vaya spread her fingers in Adrian's direction, and his bright ebony eyes drifted shut once more. Vegeta and Vaya got to their feet and left the woods swiftly and silently. One glance backward would be their undoing.

~*~

Frieza suddenly seemed to have gone on a mad power trip; he was demanding planets be conquered all across the galaxy. Vegeta's team had their hands full, jumping from planet to planet over the next seemingly infinite span of days. They soon lost count.

Vaya seemed to have worked herself into a permanent bad humor after leaving her son behind. She rarely spoke aloud anymore, and Vegeta hoped that she wasn't reverting backwards into complete silence. She had little patience for Raditz and none for Nappa -- on several occasions she looked as though she wanted to kill him, but would do nothing. She never smiled or laughed.

Vegeta was behaving in a way somewhat similar to Vaya, and at the same time different. He had undergone a vague attitude change. He was now serious and indifferent towards everyone and everything. His orders were direct and blunt, and he wouldn't tolerate failure or sluggishness. It wasn't that he never smiled -- but it was the cruel sneer and heartless laughter of a devil with malicious intent.

Neither the prince nor his mate ever mentioned the abandoned princeling, and Nappa and Raditz would never do so.

~*~

Planet Cyrrus? That's ridiculous.

Vegeta and Nappa had just emerged from the training chamber. Vegeta was untouched, but Nappa was badly bruised and beaten. He would have looked much worse, but they had only been in there for ten minutes before Raditz received a transmission from Frieza's headquarters through his scouter. Nappa limped to a chair and sat down. The blunt commentary had been made by Vaya, her first thought expressed to the group as a whole in several days. Vegeta looked indifferent to it, and went to find his scouter. Nappa and Raditz, however, were temporarily shocked.

"But Vaya, I don't understand. Why would you refuse to accept this mission? Have you seen the amount of money Frieza is willing to pay us?!" Raditz practically yelled.

Raditz, have you even bothered to check up on this planet? Vaya mentally hissed, her angular eyes narrowing. I have. The inhabitants are not your average race of two-bit creatures like the ones we usually exterminate. They have power.

Nappa snorted. "Bah! What power is there that we could not defeat?"

"Well, there is Frieza..."

"Be quiet, Raditz!"

I shall be straightforward -- given our current resources, I'd say that we would be heading to our own defeat, Vaya finished without emotion.

"Uh...I still don't understand..." Raditz stuttered.

Vaya growled in annoyance. Wake up! Have either of you blockheads looked at yourselves through a scouter lately? Your powers combined aren't half of Vegeta's...and he and I certainly couldn't finish them off alone!

"Hey!" Nappa cried indignantly, standing up. "I am an Elite warrior! I was the strongest of my entire rank!"

Vaya shot him a lethal glance. You can't possibly imagine how hard it is to care.

"That is enough," Vegeta finally muttered smoothly. He had pulled on his armor again, and hadn't taken part in the discussion until then. "Nappa, calm down. Although I am inclined to disagree with Vaya because I cannot comprehend of a race with power to rival the Saiyans, there may be truth to what she says. I am sure she knows what she is talking about."

Yes, Vaya replied icily, more to the others than to Vegeta.

"Well, how do you know?" Nappa asked crankily.

I am the Information Officer. I know everything.

"Just how outclassed are we?" Vegeta interrupted, to save another meaningless fight. His mannerisms had taken on the vague quality of a snake, smooth and quiet and sly. He asked the question aloud so the other two could hear.

Not so much outclassed as outnumbered, Vaya answered. I estimate that it would only take the effort of another Saiyan to even the odds...a factor that I am afraid comes in short supply.

"Indeed," Vegeta purred, smirking slightly, his tone unaffected by Vaya's bitter sting. "Then we shall just have to make do with what we have."

There was a brief pause, and then Vaya sent again. Her mind state was a winter wind. If we had brought Adrian back with us, we could be training him now and gaining a precious advantage.

Vegeta froze. The trace of a smirk disappeared from his face.

Nappa and Raditz had stopped dead as well, their mouths hanging open. They gazed at Vaya in shock; it was the first time either of them had mentioned Adrian at all since the departure from Tironda. They wondered what Vegeta would do.

To their greater surprise, he did nothing. He merely folded his arms and gazed at Vaya with an expression that suggested he did not want to pursue the subject further. They did not hear his reply, for it was spoken in the misty half-world of the Saiyan subconscious.

Vaya, what's done is done. If we had returned with Adrian, he would have been killed. You said yourself that he would survive, remember? Do not depress yourself over something that our race has done for generations.

Vaya's response to this was received by everyone.

It seems foolish to me now. Wouldn't Saiyan children become stronger if raised to fight? What is the sense of sending them to other planets as infants?

All of a sudden, something seemed to spark in Raditz' memory.

Sending them to other planets...

"KAKARROT!"

Vegeta, Vaya and Nappa all stared blankly as Raditz practically burst with sudden excitement. He began pacing madly around, muttering to himself. They only caught a few words, including, "weakling", "four months", and finally, "Earth".

"What are you talking about?" Nappa asked, becoming annoyed. "Who is Kakarrot? That is a Saiyan's name."

"Of course it is!" Raditz cried. "He's my BABY BROTHER!"

Brother? Vaya repeated in surprise.

"Yeah! He's only a few months older than you, Vaya! He was weak when he was born, so they sent him to some backwater little planet called Earth, I think..."

"...So he wasn't on Vegetasei when it was destroyed," Vegeta finished, understanding. "But if he was third-class, what makes you think he'll be worth anything to us?"

Raditz shrugged. "It has been a long time, he's bound to have gained some considerable power by now."

Vegeta had a look of disapproval on his face. Vaya, however, was instantly intrigued; she was inquisitive by nature, and Raditz' idea was tempting.

You said he was sent to Earth?

"Yes, I think so."

I can easily run a search on a computer in the control room, Vaya sent reasonably. I could find the planet's coordinates and we could go get him.

"Wait." Vegeta was frowning again. "I'm not ready to agree to this yet."

Why not? Vaya huffed, clearly irritated.

"Because he is third class. How could a third-class make any difference?"

"Damn straight! No third-class weakling could ever do anything of consequence!" Nappa growled.

"Sephiroth used to say that `when there is no vision, the people perish'," Raditz insisted, startling both Vegeta and Vaya. "He once told me what it meant -- that if we don't like things just because they aren't what is considered normal, we'll never get anywhere interesting in life. He lived by that idea, so I think it's worth trying at least once."

Vegeta stared at Raditz as if he had three heads. It wasn't the first time Raditz had quoted Sephiroth, but it never failed to shock the words right out of Vegeta's mouth. Vaya blinked a couple of times.

M...My father...?

Raditz glanced at her curiously. "Yes."

But...I don't understand... Vaya stammered in their minds. That is not a Saiyan mentality...

"Sephiroth wasn't an ordinary Saiyan," Raditz replied simply. "He never fought unless he had to. He's been traveling to planets alone since he was a teenager, and from the stories he used to tell I expect he's been halfway around the universe. He's got allies everywhere -- because he never destroyed any planet he visited. Instead, he took the opportunity to learn a new trick from each race."

Vegeta was staring at the wall, deep in thought. Vaya looked stunned.

You're joking.

"Not at all," Raditz answered with a shake of his head. "He was very strange, but he was the strongest of all of us. They..." He paused, furrowing his brow. "...They never told you?"

Vaya shook her head.

"Raditz."

This came from Vegeta. He was out of his trance, and giving Raditz a serious look that simply stated, "the subject is closed". Raditz promptly stopped talking.

Now it was Vaya's turn to sink into a dream world. Her expression was thoughtful. Finally, she lifted her eyes to meet Vegeta's. If this is what my father would do, then I would see it done as well. She hesitated, then added, only to Vegeta, I do know that he was your soul-father, my love. Would you not follow him as well?

Vegeta gazed at her for a while, frowning slightly, but not because of anger. Finally he grunted in assent. "All right, you may recruit Kakarrot. But I refuse to be cheerful."

Vaya smiled. Fair enough. And she sealed the deal with a kiss.

~*~

Everything proceeded smoothly. Vaya gained access to the control room, and found the coordinates of Planet Earth with little trouble. It was decided that Raditz would go alone to seek his brother out. So when it was time for the Saiyan team's departure toward their new assignment, only three pods headed off in the direction of Cyrrus. The fourth flew off alone.

That was the last time they ever saw him.

~*~

Needless to say, they were extremely disappointed.

Not only had Kakarrot forgotten his name, heritage and birth race, he had lost his tail and was passing as a human. As Vegeta, Vaya and Nappa waited patiently and silently in one of the many tropical jungles on Cyrrus, occasionally preying on a native who wandered too deep inside, they listened through the scouters to Raditz' words and those of Kakarrot.

I do not believe this! Vaya sent vehemently. What could possibly have stunted his memory so badly?

Vegeta was too deep in pride to answer. His familiar "I-told-you-so" smirk was playing on his lips as he munched at the flesh of a Cyrrusite. Nappa kept grumbling and complaining about how Raditz was incompetent and this "Kakarrot" was a disgrace.

They listened to all the words of the threats, the battle, the unbelievable power of a boy, and the death of their teammate.

For the latter, Vaya stopped pacing and her sendings fell silent. It was hard to interpret the emotion on her face. She showed no remorse over the demise if her former favorite.

"Raditz...is dead..." Nappa reported emotionlessly when this had come to pass.

"He deserved it," Vegeta answered bluntly between munches. "Killed by power levels barely over a thousand..."

"We can leave this planet for later," Nappa suggested.

The "dragon balls" they spoke of sound interesting, Vaya sent from her perch on a tree branch, watching the other two.

Vegeta nodded, and stood up. "Let's go."

"To bring Raditz back to life?" Nappa asked curiously as Vaya hopped down from the tree to stand at Vegeta's side.

"Get real," Vegeta snorted. "We're better off without him. Better yet...how about immortality for ourselves? No death! No age! Only an eternity of combat!"

"Ah...! Now that's a wish!" Nappa agreed.

Climbing into their space pods, they were soon deep in flight through the vastness of outer space. Vaya was in a contemplative mood, and watched the stars through her viewport as she listened to Vegeta and Nappa converse about what they had heard through the scouters.

"The power of Kakarrot's son...impossibly high for a Saiyan child...Not even Adrian's was that high by comparison."

"Maybe his reading was wrong."

"I don't think so. Not with the amount of damage Raditz suffered from that one strike...It seems that mixing Saiyan and Earthling blood begets a powerful hybrid."

"A Super Saiyan, eh? So if we spawn a flock of them ourselves, we could build another Saiyan Empire!"

"Don't be stupid. Do you want a lot of ingrate brats running around with powers greater than ours?"

"Oh...right..."

"We must exterminate all life on Earth!" Vegeta finished. "Don't worry, Nappa...Vaya and I will take care of--"

It is so important to your future that you do not finish that sentence, Vaya purred telepathically, earning a snicker from Nappa and a smirk from Vegeta.

"Now then...time for a long sleep."

"I can't wait to wake up!"

End Part 1