Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Wish For The Past ❯ What's Going On? ( Chapter 21 )

Disclaimer: *thumbs through a pile of money* Hee hee hee... I'm making so much money off of this story! *notices the audience* *yelps* AHH!!! You weren't supposed to hear that! AAAHHH!! *swiftly hides the money* You weren't supposed to see that! *hides the copy of the ownership rights to DBZ that's sitting next to where the money was* AAAHHH!! My secret is out! I'm really the owner of DBZ and I'm making money off my fan fic!!! And now everyone knows! AAAAAHHH!!!

Er... just kidding. ^_^ I don't own DBZ and I'm not making a single red cent (or any other currency) off of this story. However, if you steal my idea or any of my characters (of which I have few) then I will "borrow" Vegeta and have him blast you to the next dimension. ^_^

There it was again. Weak, but there. This time he was sure of it. Trunks pulled to an abrupt stop in midair, waiting for the others to pause in their flight as well. When the other three floated next to him, giving him puzzled looks, Trunks explained. "We're being followed. The kis signature is weak and doesn't feel like a Namek's, which makes me suspicious."

"What do we do, Trunks?" Goten asked, looking in the direction of the weak ki as his friend drew his attention to it.

"Don't stare at it!" the lavender haired kid hissed, pulling Goten's arm to make him stop glancing towards the ki. "We want to find out who this guy is. If he realizes we know he's there, he might run away, and I don't want to chase him."

"So what you're saying you want to do," Bardock uttered thoughtfully, "is stop and pretend to make camp or something. Then when he gets close, one of us can take him by surprise?" He lifted an eyebrow questioningly at Trunks.

The boy nodded. "That's what I had in mind." Descending to the ground, he searched through his pocket for the right capsule. "We should probably eat. That will provide a reasonable enough explanation for why we stopped, and I'm hungry anyway. You three start eating, though. I'll sneak around behind the guy, then once we've captured him, I'll eat, too." He gave a capsule to Bardock, trusting that the adult had figured out how the things worked by this point.

The scouter indicated that his quarry had stopped just over the next rise. Apparently, they'd decided to land as well. I wonder why they stopped? Radditz quietly crept to the top of the hill and peered between two boulders. There they were. From the distance, he couldn't make out any details, but three figures stood on the ground, two short and one tall. Where was the fourth? Damn, can't see anything from here. Maybe if I got a little closer...

Using the available boulders and scrub brush as cover, the adolescent boy snuck closer to the trio. Still no sign of the fourth person. The only adult he had seen had tossed something to the ground, too small for Radditz to see, but when it had hit, there suddenly appeared a small mountain of food. It was then that Radditz realized just how long it had been since he'd had anything substantial to eat. He cursed himself silently as his stomach nearly gave him away. Fortunately, none of the three noticed his stomach grumble. Probably because their own stomachs were making the same eager sounds.

There. He was close enough now that he would be able to get a good look at the criminals' faces if they faced the right direction. One of the two smaller figures was Prince Vegeta. Something puzzled Radditz as he examined his prince for any signs of physical abuse. Not only were there no signs of injury, there were also no signs that Vegeta was even a prisoner. Nothing bound his hands or feet, neither of his two visible captors seemed to be keeping an eye on him at all - their sole focus of attention was the food in front of them - and, in fact, they seemed to be allowing him to eat freely, sharing their food without complaint. Even Vegeta's attitude lacked the fierce and bitter anger he should be feeling if he was even remotely close to being considered a prisoner. What's going on here?

Radditz's attention was drawn to the other little boy as the child dropped some kind of orange fruit which rolled away from him and towards Radditz's hiding place. Nowhere close enough to possibly create the danger of him spotting the teenager, but convenient in that it allowed the Saiyan to get a good look at the child's face. The chibi grabbed the fruit and straightened up, glancing in his direction too briefly for Radditz to imagine that he might have been seen. Not that he was thinking about whether or not he'd been discovered. His eyes were firmly fixed on the child's face, widening in shock at what he saw.

He knew that boy! He hadn't seen him in years, but he recognized him all the same. The hair that looked like their father's, the face that matched Bardock's in every way, except that it lacked the scar on the cheek and was a paler color. The ebony eyes that seemed to see everything. There could be no mistake. That boy was his brother! What the hell is Kakarot doing here?!

So intent was he upon the child in front of him that he never noticed the fourth member of the group of 'criminals' sneak up behind him. That is, until Trunks tapped him on the shoulder, grinning from ear to ear.

"AAAH!!" the young warrior yelped in alarm, his heart racing wildly as he instinctively lashed out at whoever had managed to get behind him without alerting the scouter. When his fist met with nothing, Radditz became overbalanced and tripped on a rock in his attempt to regain control of his flailing body. Down he went in a tumble of arms and legs, landing ungracefully on his head, feet in the air and stars dancing in front of his eyes. His tail had ended up beneath him, getting crushed under his weight and sending pain shooting up his spine in agonizing waves until he shifted enough to get the sensitive appendage out from under him.

A face appeared above him and Radditz found himself looking up into the concerned eyes of his little brother. Another head came into view, one Radditz hadn't seen before. Obviously the fourth member of the party, the one who had just scared the hell out of him. Limp purple hair cut in a bowl shape framed the delicate features of yet another child with mischievous blue eyes.

"Are you okay?" Kakarot asked him, worry plainly evident in his voice. The teen blinked, attempting to banish the stars from his vision. His brother turned his head to look at the odd-looking chibi next to him. "You didn't have to scare him that bad, Trunks!"

"Geez, Goten, it's not like I meant to scare him! It's not my fault he wasn't paying any attention! I only tapped him on the shoulder." That was odd. The purple haired boy - Trunks, was it? - had just called his little brother 'Goten'.

With a groan, Radditz toppled over onto his side, then sat up, rubbing his head gingerly. There was already a lump the size of an egg forming where he had landed on his head. His tail curled around him and rested in his other hand, bruised and sore from being squashed, and he tenderly smoothed the hairs on the wounded area. "Kakarot?" he asked in a dazed voice. "What are you doing with the criminals who've kidnapped the prince?"

Confusion played across his little brother's face as he sat down on the ground to stare into Radditz's eyes. The child tilted his head to one side in a way that Radditz found endearing. "Who are you?" Kakarot asked.

Before Radditz could answer, the third member of the group of criminals spoke up. "Radditz? What are you doing here?" The teen's eyes shot wide open as he jerked his head in the direction of the speaker. It couldn't be...

"Dad?" Yes, it was him. Bardock stood there, dressed only in slightly tattered black pants, his scarred, muscled chest bare of any type of clothing or armor. Behind him stood the prince, also staring curiously at the newcomer. "Dad! What's going on?! You kidnapped the prince?! And what's Kakarot doing here? And who's the kid with purple hair?" The questions tumbled out at random as the confused teenager looked from Trunks, to Kakarot, to Bardock, and to Vegeta. The three 'kidnappers' looked at each other, then back at Radditz.

"Is he your son, grandpa?" Kakarot asked, turning quizzical eyes on Bardock. Huh? Nani?! 'Grandpa'?!

Bardock nodded. "Yeah. This is Radditz. Radditz, this is Goten. And that's Trunks and this is Prince Vegeta." The taller man pointed at each chibi in turn as he spoke their name. "Radditz, what are you doing here?" he asked again.

In just a few short minutes, Radditz's world had been turned on end and nothing seemed to be what it should be anymore. Kakarot wasn't Kakarot anymore. He was Goten and he was Bardock's grandson? His father was a kidnapper? His prince didn't seem to mind being kidnapped. And Radditz had a headache. "The Vegeta-sei Government sent me after you," he said by way of explanation. "Father...?"

"Yes?"

"What the hell is going on here?" he begged more than demanded.

Bardock frowned, then looked at the three chibis in his company. Sighing, he turned back to Radditz. "Why don't we have something to eat while I try to explain everything? It's a pretty long story," he suggested. Five Saiyan stomachs growled in fierce agreement with this plan. Radditz nodded cautiously as he stood up and dusted himself off, then followed the four over to where the slightly diminished mountain of food remained.

"Trunks, this is sooo cool!" Kakarot - Goten? - exclaimed to the other boy who was, apparently, a close friend of his. "I've never had an uncle before! I hope he's lots of fun to play with!"

"Yeah! Hey, maybe he can help us play pranks on people. That'd be great!" Trunks shot back, grinning widely.

"Hey, Trunks, do you think Radditz will be like he was in our time? Niichan told me 'bout him coming to Earth and trying to kidnap him! An' Piccolo had to kill him and tousan!"

"Umm.. I dunno. Isn't he younger now than he was then? Maybe he'll grow up differently in this time." Trunks mulled this over in his head, then smiled confidently. "Yeah, since Vegeta-sei didn't blow up and Frieza's not making them do bad stuff, I'm sure everything will be different!"

Unsure if he really wanted to find out what they were talking about, Radditz decided to concentrate on simply eating for now. Full stomachs always helped Saiya-jin function better. Although he didn't recognize most of the things he was eating, it all tasted pretty good. He was about to try another dish, a strange, gelatinous substance the wiggled around in its bowl, when the Prince shook his head and shuddered at some internal thought. Shrugging, Radditz ignored him and downed the stuff in a few bites. It tasted fine to him, so he didn't know what Vegeta's problem with it was.

The meal wound down as the last few crumbs were devoured and everyone sat back with contented looks on their faces. Radditz glanced at Goten and Trunks as the two boys crept off behind a cluster of boulders, talking to each other in low voices so as not to be heard. Wonder what they're up to... he mused, then returned his attention to Bardock. "You said you'd explain what was going on," he said as a way of starting up the explanation he desperately wanted to hear.

Taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out, his father eyed him warily. "This is probably going to sound crazy to you, but Goten and Trunks are from the future." He was right. It did sound crazy. "Goten is Kakarot's son and Trunks is Vegeta's son." Two sentences and Radditz's eyes were already starting to glaze over in shock and disbelief. The older warrior continued, trying to ignore the bewildered expression on his son's face. Sometime during the long explanation, Vegeta became bored and wandered over to where Trunks and Goten were whispering secretively. Neither Bardock nor Radditz noticed the boys' absence, thoroughly engrossed in their conversation.

When Radditz and Bardock finally finished talking, they noticed the lack of chibis around them and went looking for them. All three boys were curled up next to each other by the pile of rocks they'd been hiding behind. In the dirt there could be seen traces of what looked like words and pictures that had been hastily erased with a hand. All three were smiling in their sleep, with drool trickling from the corner of Goten's mouth. The youngest boy had one arm flung across Trunks' chest and the other holding tightly to one of the spikes in Vegeta's hair. Trunks was snoring softly, his own limbs sprawled out. And Vegeta...

Radditz snickered at the sight of the mighty Prince of all Saiyans hugging - yes, hugging - Goten. He covered his mouth with one hand in an attempt to keep from bursting out with laughter. If Vegeta knew what he was doing in his sleep right now, he'd go ballistic! Looking over at his father, the teenage Saiyan realized that Bardock was having just as hard a time suppressing his laughter, so he decided to do them both a favor and grabbed Bardock by the arm, pulling him away from the cute yet laughable scene.

"Kuso, I wish I could capture that image and preserve it somehow!" Bardock chortled. "Use it as blackmail in case Vegeta ever does something to annoy me." This set off another bout of laughter between father and son. Radditz was just as glad for the excuse to get his mind off of the bizarre explanations Bardock had recently finished giving him. It was just so hard to believe. Goten, his nephew, and Trunks, the son of Vegeta. The same Vegeta who was hugging the grandson of a 'third-class lowlife' like Bardock. Radditz grinned at the thought. "Anyway, it looks like those three decided that it's the equivalent of night time here. I don't really expect much trouble from any of the natives, but you and I should probably take turns keeping watch."

Nodding, Radditz said, "I think I'd prefer to take the first watch. I have a lot to think about." Kami, was that ever an understatement! "Good night, father."

"Good night, Radditz." Bardock made himself as comfortable on a patch of grass as he could, then fell asleep with the ease that only warriors seemed to be capable of. Radditz watched him for a few minutes, then looked up to contemplate the invisible stars as his mind tried to sort through the twisted jumble of events and information of the past several hours.

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