Choice to be Different
Disclaimer: Premise and characters belong to Akira Toriyama, I’m just borrowing them for a little non-profit fun.
Chapter Eight: Avoiding the Issue
The sudden change in gravity rudely woke ‘Geta from a sound sleep.
“Put on your armor,” Vegeta told the boy gruffly.
Confused, ‘Geta did as he was told then followed his older counterpart into the pre-dawn sky. Vegeta led the boy half-way around the globe. He came to a halt hovering over an isolated island nation.
‘Geta glanced down at the people going about their day curiously.
“Kill them,” Vegeta ordered.
“What?” ‘Geta exclaimed.
Vegeta cuffed the boy. “You heard me.”
‘Geta glanced down at the island again. Uncertainty filled his eyes. “Why?”
Vegeta struck him again. “Don’t ask questions. Have you forgotten that lesson already?”
Hesitantly ‘Geta stole another glance at the island. “You told me I wasn’t to kill anyone here,” he pointed out.
Vegeta didn’t say anything. He just crossed his arms over his chest and looked at his younger counterpart. They both knew dictates were arbitrary and prone to change without warning.
Still ‘Geta hesitated. Everything he’d seen of the Earth told him such behavior was unacceptable. Goku, Bulma, Trunks, Goten... None of them would approve. Even his counterpart’s earlier actions confirmed that killing people got you in more trouble than it was worth, especially when ‘Geta couldn’t imagine any reason to kill these people at all. To be ordered to purge a place here, now, was the last thing ‘Geta had expected.
Vegeta watched the boy’s face. The impassive mask that was such a part of him was crumbling leaving the boy’s expression open and vulnerable. He could practically read the flow of the boy’s thoughts from his face: The pull of the ground in habit of biding his time and doing what he was told until he had a chance of winning. The distaste for what was being asked to do. Betrayal - it startled Vegeta anew to see the degree to which to boy had come to think of this as a safe-haven.
‘Geta’s face settled into stubborn lines. “At least tell me why.” He crossed his arms, unconsciously mimicking his counterpart’s body language. “Or I won’t do it.”
It occurred to Vegeta that the best way to accomplish his goal; to make the boy back into what he’d been, what he had to be to survive Frieza; was simply to keeping hurting him until he acquiesced. But Vegeta didn’t have the stomach for it, especially not when he was seeing the boy as a child rather than a reminder of how weak and helpless he’d been back then.
“Your strength plateaued weeks ago. Your training is a waste of time, you can’t get stronger until your body matures. The Dragon Balls will have regenerated in another two months. You won’t be ready to face Frieza by then.”
“But - I ‘ve gotten so much stronger,” ‘Geta protested.
Vegeta’s eyes flashed. “You’ve never even seen Frieza transform! He would destroy you effortlessly in his second state! In his final form you would be less than a fly to him.”
‘Geta accepted that his older counterpart was telling him the truth. “Then I’ll be patient. I’m good at that. I’ve already waited for so many years. Now I know for sure that I’ll be stronger than him one day. I’ve seen you. I can wait.”
Vegeta looked down at the peaceful island. “Can you? You wouldn’t be standing here talking if you’d questioned Frieza’s orders the way you questioned mine.”
“But you’re not Frieza!” ‘Geta exclaimed. “Trunks, Bulma and Goten aren’t afraid of you. Goku too, but he’s a little strange. You’re stronger than them but they know you won’t hurt them even if you do get mad.”
Vegeta ignored him. “You balked at killing these nobodies-“
“Goku, the others wouldn’t like it!” ‘Geta protested. Vegeta didn’t miss the fact that ‘Geta was worried about the other’s opinion of him. Not even a year and the boy was worrying that the others might stop liking him. The boy had never seemed younger than he did at that moment.
“What will you do when Frieza tells you to kill someone you know?” Vegeta asked quietly.
“Who?” ‘Geta asked. “There’s no one left...”
“Appura. And trust me, when you kill her you might as well kill Raditz along with her. It would have been kinder than forcing him to watch.”
For several moments ‘Geta just stared at his counterpart. Horror dawned in his eyes. He turned and fled.
As the boy disappeared in the distance Vegeta found himself laughing. It was a strange, unhealthy sound with no amusement in it at all. He couldn’t stop. It had been so odd, watching himself become a monster in his own eyes.
“Trunks, have you seen your father or Vegeta-chan?” Bulma asked. “The GR’s been sitting empty all day.”
Trunks shook his head. “Dad probably decided he didn’t want to bother with training the rest of us,” he said resentfully.
Bulma pursed her lips thoughtfully. There were things she never wanted Trunks to know about his father’s past and there were things Vegeta didn’t want his son to know. This fell into the later category. At the same time she didn’t like the rift that she was seeing develop between Trunks and Vegeta. “Trunks, do you remember how Vegeta-chan was hurt when he came here?” Bulma asked quietly.
Trunks flinched.
“It’s dangerous where he’s from. Vegeta just wants to make sure he’s ready to go back to that,” Bulma said.
“I guess,” Trunks sighed. Then he changed the subject. “Um, Mom, I wanted to ask you. Do you think Grandma would cheer up if Goten and I found her another dinosaur?”
“I wouldn’t recommend it,” Bulma said. “You know she only takes in strays. So I don’t want you going out and catching any wild animals okay?”
“Yes Mother.”
“Trunks, if you do see Vegeta-chan or your father, tell them I’m looking for them okay?” Bulma asked. “I just can’t shake this feeling that something’s wrong.”
Vegeta returned around mid-day and headed straight for the Gravity Room. Bulma intercepted him with questions about his counterpart but only receive a non-committal grunt for an answer as Vegeta pushed past her.
As the hour grew later Bulma wanted to press Vegeta for more information about ‘Geta, or to ask him to simply go out and find the boy for her but he had not only locked himself inside the GR, he’d disabled her overrides and the intercom. Bulma knew she could force her way inside given a little time and persistence but since Vegeta had made it so overwhelmingly clear that he didn’t want to be bothered she decided it would be wise to leave him to his own devices.
Still she couldn’t just sit in her room and worry, that had never been Bulma’s style. Instead she flew out to Mt. Paouz.
“Bulma-san, what brings you out so late?” Chichi asked with concern once Bulma had recapsulized her jet-copter.
“Vegeta-chan,” Bulma said. “He disappeared earlier today.”
Chichi gave Bulma an ironic look. “You want me to repeat what you told me when it was Goku?”
Bulma frowned. “Well it’s not Goku this time. Vegeta-chan isn’t familiar with the Earth or Earth customs. Vegeta still doesn’t get along well with people and he doesn’t just go wandering off the way Goku always has. I - I think something’s wrong.”
Chichi bit her lip. Bulma had a point, a youthful Vegeta wandering the Earth unsupervised did have a high likelihood of turning into a disaster. “Why don’t you ask your husband to find him?” Chichi asked.
Bulma glanced away. “Vegeta’s part of the reason why I’m certain something’s wrong. Besides he and Vegeta-chan rub each other the wrong way.”
Chichi shook her head. “Why doesn’t it surprise me that Vegeta can’t even get along with himself?”
Bulma gave Chichi a slightly injured look. “Vegeta-chan reminds Vegeta of things he’d rather forget.”
Chichi sighed. Vegeta was far from being her favorite person but from what she’d pieced together of his past she knew she wouldn’t have wished that sort of a life on her worst enemy. Vegeta was entitled to find reminders of his past with Frieza upsetting. “So what can we do for you?” she asked.
Bulma smiled gratefully. “Is Gohan home?”
“The boys are inside studying,” Chichi said. She escorted Bulma up to Gohan’s room.
Gohan sat at his desk surrounded by a pile of books. He was working intently on some sort of research paper.
Goten had claimed a corner of Gohan’s desk. His tongue protruded from the corner of his mouth as he diligently worked at copying out his alphabet. Every now and then he stole a glance at Gohan then shifted his posture to mimic his older brother’s.
Goku lay on his belly on the floor. There was an open book in front of him. He was doodling in the margins while his feet kicked boredly in the air.
“Hey guys,” Bulma said.
Goku snapped his book closed with a sigh of relief. Goten and Gohan soon followed suit.
“Hey Bulma!” Goku greeted her cheerfully. “What’s going on?”
As soon as Bulma explained about ‘Geta being missing Goku volunteered to look for him. He put words into action before anyone else could offer an alternative suggestion. The others could only watch with bemusement as the window slammed shut behind Goku. “I can’t believe you made Goku study,” Bulma said as an aside to Chichi.
“It won’t do him any harm,” Chichi replied defensively.
“I’ll run up to the Lookout and ask Dende if he can spot ‘Geta,” Gohan offered.
“Thanks,” Bulma said.
“I’ll be right back,” Gohan promised. For him the Lookout was only a few minutes flight away. When he got back he looked worried. “Dende can’t find him. I can’t imagine anything on Earth that could hurt ‘Geta without the rest of us sensing the fight so he must be hiding his ki. He’s doing a really good job of it too considering he wasn’t supposed to learn how to manipulate his power levels for another couple of decades.”
“Vegeta always was a quick learner,” Bulma said with a rueful grin.
“Both Dende and Piccolo promised to keep looking,” Gohan said. “If he gets in trouble - or if anything happens - they’ll be watching for it.”
“Don’t worry,” Goten told Bulma comfortingly. “My Daddy’s really good at finding people. He went right to our hiding places every single time he was ‘It’ when we were playin’ Hide-n-Seek.”
“Thanks guys,” Bulma said. “It makes me feel a lot better to know that people are keeping an eye out for him.”
“Hi,” Goku announced himself. He walked up to a police officer in a random town with a friendly smile on his face. “Could you help me?”
“Are you lost?” the officer asked kindly, mistaking Goku for a much younger child.
“Nope, but my friend is. He’s a little bit shorter than me... or a little taller if you count his hair, which I don’t, but he does. And he’s got a tail like mine.” Goku unwound his tail from around his waste to demonstrate what he meant.
The officer looked concerned. “How long has your friend been missing?”
“Hmmm, I didn’t ask Bulma that. Is it important? Long enough for her to get worried I guess,” Goku said.
“Has -um- Bulma filed a missing person’s report?” the officer asked. “That’s what you ought to do first. I could walk you home and help her get started with that.”
Goku laughed. “We couldn’t walk! She lives all the way on the other side of the planet. You have to fly, or swim. Swimming works but it takes longer than flying. I just started looking here because it’s night there and everyone’s asleep.”
The police officer just blinked at Goku in disbelief.
“Well if you do see him, could you tell him I’m looking for him?” Goku asked. “He’ll know how to find me. It’s not like I’m hiding.”
“Who should I tell him is looking?” the police officer mumbled. He was still trying to get his head around children who flew half-way around the globe to look for people.
“Son Goku. Thanks mister.” Goku waved then jumped into the sky and headed for the next town.
Three days later Goku wasn’t particularly surprised when he finished his spiel and glanced up to see an irrate-looking ‘Geta glaring at him.
“Why are you following me?” ‘Geta demanded.
“I wasn’t following you,” Goku objected. “I was looking for you.”
‘Geta rolled his eyes. “Same difference. Why?”
Goku thought for a moment. He scratched the back of his head then grinned innocently. “I forgot,” he said. “Why did you take off?”
“I forgot,” ‘Geta replied, his tone deadpan.
Goku smiled. “Maybe if we go back it’ll jog both of our memories.”
“No!” ‘Geta exclaimed quickly.
Goku shrugged. “I guess I’m not really in the mood to go back right now either,” he said. “So where are we going?”
‘Geta gritted his teeth. “Hide your ki moron,” he snapped. “I don’t know where we’re going.”
Goku grinned. “That’s always the best way to get someplace neat.”
‘Geta was not a relaxing traveling companion Goku quickly discovered. It wasn’t that ‘Geta’ didn’t talk much, although he didn’t, after years of solitary wandering silence didn’t bother Goku. It was that ‘Geta was looking for something, even if he didn’t know what it was and looking over his shoulder even if he wouldn’t say why. The two boys stayed on the move constantly even though they were severely hampered by ‘Geta’s insistence that they keep their ki hidden.
They ran for hundreds of miles every day and swam when they ran out of land. ‘Geta was only willing to slacken the pace of their aimless wandering when Goku insisted that they stop to hunt for food.
As the days turned into weeks Goku felt as if ‘Geta’s restlessness was catching. He couldn’t understand the other boy’s paranoia but he shared ‘Geta’s urge to search for something, some place. As the urge grew stronger for Goku it became more defined. Gradually he directed their wandering further and further away from populated areas, toward deep wilderness reminiscent of the place where he’d grown up.
Goku sighed when the river bank they’d been following dead-ended at a massive waterfall. Sheer cliffs towered above them on three sides. Goku glanced at ‘Geta and saw that the other boy had no more interest in back-tracking than he had. With a shrug Goku picked a likely looking spot and started to climb. After a moment ‘Geta began his own accent.
It wasn’t long before the boy’s competitive natures asserted themselves and they were scrambling up the cliff as fast as they could go. They kept their ki completely repressed and relied only on the strength in their muscles, their balance and their dexterity to free climb the giant rock wall.
Spray from the waterfall kept the rocks wet, slick with moisture and overgrown with moss. ‘Geta realized the outcropping he’d grabbed onto was nothing but lichen a moment too late. He was already in the middle of reaching for the next handhold when it crumbled. He fell with a curse. A split second later something wrapped around his wrist and he grabbed on tightly even as he sensed Goku’s ki surging.
“Owiee!” Goku shouted as he used his tail to arrest ‘Geta’s fall.
“Moron! Your ki-“ ‘Geta complained.
“Fuss later, le’go of my tail now! ” Goku requested tersely.
With a faint flash of embarrassment ‘Geta reclaimed a position on the wall. “I could have caught myself,” he said. “You shouldn’t have given us away.”
“Who cares if everyone knows where we are?” Goku demanded. “We’ll just tell ‘em we don’t feel like goin’ back.”
“I don’t wan to be found,” ‘Geta snarled angrily and resumed climbing.
“You don’t have to be a grouch about it,” Goku complained as he followed suit.
‘Geta ignored the unspoken question as to why he didn’t want to be found. He didn’t want to talk about the possibility that his older counterpart was irredeemably evil. It stood to reason that if it were true for the older Vegeta it would be true of him as well. ‘Geta didn’t want that possibility to occur to anyone else.
The boys finished the climb in silence. They found Piccolo waiting for them at the top.
“What do you two think you’re doing worrying everyone like this?” Piccolo demanded. He took the same tone with the boys that he would have used for one of Trunks and Goten’s stunts.
Goku’s eyes widened in shock as he recognized the Namekian, then they narrowed angrily. Piccolo had not only killed Goku’s friends, he’d broken the Dragon in an attempt to prevent them from being wished back.
Piccolo watched the boy’s reaction and felt the urge to slap himself. He’d forgotten that this Goku was in the middle of preparing to fight him.
‘Geta instantly picked up on Goku’s mood. Warily he fell into a fighting stance. He shifted slightly to distance himself from Goku so that they wouldn’t get in each other’s way if it came to a fight.
Goku was rapidly working through the implications of Piccolo being here, now. His friends were all well in this time. Piccolo wasn’t ruling the world, he must have won the fight. They might have made friends afterwards but that was a big risk to take. He could sense that Piccolo had become mind-bogglingly strong during the intervening years. He glanced toward ‘Geta, if he’d been on his own he might have risked finding out if he and Piccolo had ever become friends but he didn’t want to chance having another friend die at Piccolo’s hands. “Run!” he shouted.
Piccolo watched as the boys scattered. Their ki flared briefly as they put some fast distance between him and them then it vanished as they went into hiding. He sighed. ‘They’re alive and together,’ he thought. ‘If Gohan wants to know more than that he’ll just have to search for them himself.’ He marked the spot in his mind then took to the air.
It took Goku and ‘Geta most of the day to meet up again. “Who was that?” ‘Geta asked.
“Piccolo,” Goku answered. “He’s the one I’m going to fight when I get back to my right time.” Goku looked pensive. “This is the first time, but, um, well I really hope he’s not quite that strong back home.”
“I don’t think he’s as strong as a Super-Saiyan,” ‘Geta said. “But it’s hard to tell. That much power makes my head hurt.”
Goku nodded. “It’s like touching a stove or putting your hand in a fire. I’m pretty sure one of ‘em’s hotter than the other but all my brain says when I do it is ‘too hot!’”
“Only idiots stop training,” ‘Geta offered. “He’s probably a lot stronger now that he was thirty some years ago. Anyway, I think we lost him. Let’s get going.”
Author’s Note: I know it’s more like twenty years between the 23rd World Tournament and the Saiyaman saga. ‘Geta’s judging the elapse by looking at his counterpart’s age. He doesn’t really realize that he’s been brought further forward than Goku was.