Fulcrum
...you sigh. You can't stay in bed forever. The world is still out there, and no matter how terrible some of it seems to be, you can't just abandon it.
...plus, they might be talking about something interesting.
[Trait not gained: Depressed]
[Trait gained: Inquisitive]
Before swinging yourself out of bed, you take the trouble to mask your ki signature. You do it gradually, as if nodding back off to sleep, and once there let it trickle away to nearly nothing. You focus as hard as you ever have, and for the briefest moment, you feel a flicker of inspiration and nearly sublime understanding, your power level fading away to imperceptibility -- beneath any notice.
Then, managing to keep yourself to near-nonexistence, you float out of bed and make your way to the door.
Slowly, carefully -- no noise, Dad's ears are as sharp as his ki sense. Other than doors, don't touch
anything, and keep well away from the walls to make sure.
[A bunch of stealth and ki control checks say: pass]
You grin as you make your way through the apartment unnoticed, Dad not even twitching in your senses. You creep up to the door to the living room and listen close, straining to hear through the heavy soundproofing in the house.
But next to ears that can, once the sound makes it over to you, eavesdrop on conversations an ocean away, a simple layer of dense foam is nothing.
"...trivialize what I've been through -- what I'm
going through!" comes Lady Vegeta's voice.
"I'm not," says Dad. "I would never. But like it or not, I am
Gokun, not Vegetan. I have no authority or right-"
She hisses. "Rights and privileges -- look at what you're saying, Berra! You were Vegeta's
friend once, and now you just stand by and watch this- this
thing defile everything he used to be?"
"Don't you
dare."
You shiver as your Dad halfway transforms, the power rocking you even through the wall.
"I have sat and watched my best friend lose himself more and more for decades, our hopes of a strong and, finally,
united Saiyan people withering with each new act of cruelty and malice. I have sat
helplessly. Those who covet my position are fools. There is no freedom in a lordship. If I raise my hand against Vegeta, your Clan will
bury me. And our control is already wavering. Once, perhaps, we could personally take each Saiyan alive in hand if we needed to. But we have grown too large, and the Clans could overwhelm even both of us together if they felt like it. I
cannot act with impunity. And no matter what he does, I
cannot be the force of this coup you hope for."
"Holy and Penitent
damn you, Berra, look at what he did to Jaffur today! Look at what he
regularly does to my son!"
"Spare me your cult's maledictions, Dandeer. I've no use for them, and less belief."
"It is
not a cult!"
"Goku and Vegeta were
Saiyan, Dandeer. Powerful, yes, but Saiyan nonetheless."
"Your point rings hollow when they
literally became gods!"
"Enough!" snaps Mom, finally stepping in. "You two can argue religion all day long if you want to, but for right now none of this matters. Dandeer, we want to help you, but we
can't! If Berra were to really move against Vegeta, it would be war."
There is silence for a moment. The floorboards squeak under a light tread. "What if he didn't have to?"
...what?
"...what?" Dad sounds suspicious, more than anything.
"What if Vegeta were already out of the way?"
"Dandeer,
what have you done?"
"I've fixed my husband."
"Dandeer!"
"Don't play coy, Berra, you know what I am capable of."
Something...happens.
A pulse of strange and profoundly upsetting power pours out from the room. The world seems to twist on itself. You reel, forcing yourself to stay still, quiet, and settled.
"Sorcery," says Dad. "Dandeer, you used
sorcery on him? Do you realize what they'll do to you?"
"Nothing. He's not dead."
"...
what?"
"He is my husband, Berra. I couldn't kill him, not if my life depended on it. No, he's alive. What he's suffering from is a disease, not evil. I cured him."
"...how?"
"I Sealed him." Again, you hear steps. "His insanity...this stems from his Saiyan heritage. It's not like he's the first. Holy above knows that his Father is much the same, although not as bad. Even Penitent Vegeta was once like that. All Saiyans were. But we don't have to be." You hear a swish. "It's the human in us that saves us, Berra. Holy Goku was only saved when he was raised a human, and even he had his moments. The Penitent only became somewhat sane when he accepted his place on Earth, and even then he backslid again and again, and was never truly free of our curse."
"Dandeer," says Mom. "No more stalling. What did you do?"
She sighs. "For whatever reason, Vegeta is too Saiyan, like our Clan's namesake. But unlike the Penitent, we do not have a Namek full of defenseless innocents for him to slaughter while he becomes good. We do not have an Earth for him to doom by his selfishness while he gets the last of this filth out of his system, years later. We do not have the luxury of indulging him for a fool's hope at redemption.
We don't have Dragon Balls, Kala. This is all we have." She pauses. "Again, I Sealed him. While he slept, after...relieving his frustrations on me...I raised the apartments' wards, and wove a spell. He is human, now, locked in his Masque. And I have hidden the knowledge of his heritage away from him. He is no longer Vegeta, Lord of Clan Vegeta. He is simply Valentine Somerlad, a human who owns a small business, and loves his family dearly." She pauses, and takes a hitching breath. "He is calm. He loves us. And he is happy." Her voice breaks.
"...Dandeer." Mom's voice is sick with horror. "Dandeer,
no."
"Don't you
judge me, Kala!" Suddenly, Lady Vegeta breaks into a shriek. "You don't have to sit there and take it as the man you love rages and beats you and...and..." The words stick in her throat in a repulsed gagging noise, keeping her from saying whatever it is. With everything else she's freely hurled out already, you are glad you are too young to guess. "You don't have to watch him fire off the stronger version of the attack that nearly vaporized
Cell at your babies! No, you have a man who is strong and kind and wise and doesn't even
hesitate to throw himself in between you and the blast!
You have never had your husband beat your unborn daughter out of you because he didn't want a second one! DON'T YOU DARE TELL ME WHAT I SHOULD AND SHOULDN'T HAVE DONE!"
"Dandeer, enough!" shouts Dad.
You hear her sobbing. Even though you're careful to stay quiet, you can't stop yourself doing the same.
"I..." her voice breaks. "I
miss him, Berra. I want him
back."
"Dandeer, why didn't you
tell us?"
"Because I didn't think you would do anything."
Despite yourself, you wince. That...digs. That digs deeply, considering how the conversation has gone so far.
"Look at how broken we are, Berra," she says. "If this is all that we kept from Goku and Vegeta, their legacy isn't worth saving. Better that he forgets, forever, than keep on as he has been."
Dad stays silent for a long moment. "Say that I agree with you," he says, finally breaking the quiet. "Say that I think you're right. Why are you coming to me? Support against the Clan? There will be resentment over this."
"No." She collects herself, taking gasping breaths. "No, that's not why. Because I need your help to do that same...to Jaffur."
Your eyes widen, and a shock shoots through your body.
"
What?" says Mom. "Why would we do that? Jaffur is just a boy!"
"Kala, I just told you that I Sealed my husband as he slept. Do you think a
human managed to break both of my arms and flatten my left lung? A Sorceress I may be, but I could still turn this planet into ash if I wanted."
You go deadly still.
"I thought it was Vegeta," says Dad, his voice vacant with horror. "I thought..."
"Jaffur has been showing the same signs," she says, voice bitter. "When I told him what I had done...he flew into a rage and did this to me. It was all I could do to wipe his memory of the last hour and guide him back to bed before I passed out. Even most of the way to dead, he can still break me over his knee. And he did that to
me, Berra. Kakara he treated like spun glass, so careful to knock her out and nothing more,
Kakara he refused to spar because it
wasn't fair, but he was charging a blast to pierce my heart when I stopped him. Look at what Vegeta did to my baby, Berra. Look at what he's made of my son."
"He was going to kill you?" asks Dad.
"I know that blast. Beyond Jaffur's strength, Vegeta has never cared about the boy's training, but I know his form. He's so bright..." Her voice drifts off before righting itself. "He invented it, you know. From the ground up. What he was charging was the same ray he fired in front of Kakara's nose the day you arrived."
"I thought it was a Dodonpa."
"No. Dodonpas don't pack as much power as that blast does. He calls it the Focus Ray. All he could think to call it, I suppose. He was so literal-minded, when he was six. No, the Focus Ray
pierces, like the Death Beams Freeza apparently used. It's almost like a sped-up Makankosappo. It would have gone through my heart and taken a chunk out of the apartment's ki shield afterwards."
"Your own son tried to kill you?"
"His father has broken him, Berra. Whatever Jaffur was going to be, he's lost it now. I need to Seal him, too." She takes a breath. "Better a human son, than an insane one. Better that he can grow up and grow old, free of what his father has done to him. Let him be
happy, Berra."
Dad is silent, for a long time. At last, he says, "The Clan will riot. You
will face open revolt. The old Lord Yammar may even come back to object personally."
"I am prepared to accept that."
"...tomorrow morning, I will help you hold him down. Will it hurt?"
"No. I worried, but Vegeta never even stirred."
"Go ahead, then. I'll stay here and sleep...get ready."
"We could do it now-"
"Dandeer, don't ask too much of me. Before I do this, I am going to sleep on it and be certain. I will see you tomorrow."
"...of course. Thank you for the Senzu, Berra. And...thank you. For helping me save my family."
"...I will see you tomorrow."
Then Lady Vegeta's steps come towards the door, and you float back up and away towards your room, mind reeling. You slide back into bed and lay down facing the wall, trying to process what you've heard.
Your progress comes to a screeching halt as your bedroom door opens.
"Kakara?" whispers Dad. You decide to stay silent, your hands fisting in the sheets. After a moment, he steps inside.
You feel him sitting down next to you, and abruptly realize that you're very tense. You stay still, hoping he won't notice.
His hand comes down and rests on your shoulder. "I wish I knew what you're always dreaming about, Kakara," he whispers, his hand moving up to stroke your hair. "It doesn't look like it's anything good tonight. I...guess that fits." The warmth of his hand and the feeling of his fingers combing out your hair starts to relax you, and some of the tension leeches out of your shoulders. He says, "That's right. Just sleep soundly, Kakara. Daddy's here. Nothing is going to hurt you while I'm here."
You are already falling, sliding off into the depths of sleep. You try to resist, but you're emotionally exhausted and confused and terrified, and this is your bed, Dad is comforting you, and...at the end of the day, you're only eight years old. You can't resist. But before you leave completely, you hear him say, "I'm going to make sure you're safe, Kakara, no matter what. I promise, you'll never have to fight if you don't want to."
You are very happy to hear that. Maybe you say it out loud, or try. But before you figure that out, you have slept for eight dreamless hours, and the sun is rising on your windowsill.
* * *
You feel a profound sense of disorientation upon awakening for a second time. You struggle to correct yourself and get your bearings, but your head is full of cotton, the pillow is very comfortable and soothing, and all in all you just-
Jaffur!
The voice is not yours, instead ringing much deeper and older. With it comes a flash of a young Saiyan boy, nearly dead, looking up at a Super Saiyan -- at your
Dad -- with fear and spite in his eyes.
They're going to Seal him, you think, and that thought, that is your own.
You lunge up out of bed and into the air. You are still wearing your gi, wrinkled as it is from nearly a whole day spent in bed. You dart over to your window and throw it open, zipping out. Perhaps you think to stop them, perhaps to help them, perhaps to warn Jaffur, perhaps to take him away, perhaps to get the first punch in, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps, perhaps in some perfect world you would
know, but last night you listened and then you slept, and now you have no time to stop and consider. You have only urgency, and the knowledge that no matter what you choose, all routes lead one direction --
out there.
It turns out, it would not have mattered what you decided.
It is already beginning.
"-help you, Jaffur," says Lady Vegeta, slowly approaching her son. "It-"
"You're going to lock me up!" he says, stumbling backwards with a crazed look in his eyes, limping as weight comes down on his still-scorched legs. There is something pitiful about him, as destroyed as his body is. "No. No, I won't let you!"
"This is for your own good, son-" Dad starts to say.
But Jaffur produces a whole-body twitch at that and shrieks. "
Don't you CALL ME THAT!"
"Jaffur, please-"
"No! No, I won't!"
You touch down in the ring of Saiyans around Jaffur. At this hour it's just your family and House Vegeta, so early at dawn. If the other families haven't already left in disgust over Lord Vegeta's actions, that is.
Speaking of, you see Lord Vegeta. He stands at his wife's shoulder, fully Masqued and staring straight ahead.
Jaffur throws a panicked glance at you as you arrive. "All of you get away!"
"We're going to help you, Jaffur," says Dad, finally taking a step forward.
Jaffur stumbles back and hits the wall of the Hall. "S- stay back!" Dad keeps coming on. "
Stay back!"
Dad keeps coming.
And in desperation, Jaffur somehow forces his shattered arm to move, wrench open his gi, reach in, and you realize with a moment of stomach-wrenching horror that he
still has the Senzu Bean you gave him.
Somehow he brings the bean to his mouth and swallows it whole. The world collapses into a single point as everybody focuses on Jaffur.
BANG
With a crazed roar and a pulse of sheer might, Jaffur shatters the stone around him with the strength of his aura, and you contemplate with stunned terror that his zenkai from his father has given him fully
forty million extra power units to play with -- all the way up to roughly fifty-five. And then -- then, he transforms.
It is overpowering. It is
obscene. You would wet yourself if there was even a scrap of urine in your bladder to release. You have never known true terror before -- you thought you had yesterday, but that was nothing. Lord Vegeta's fury was focused, cold, and intent on cruelty rather than murder.
But Jaffur's insane, pulsing presence screams only of
death.
And then, finally, Dad transforms and powers up to his full potential. The world is right again, and the strongest man around is the
best man around, and free from the insanity that Jaffur seems to bleed.
But Jaffur isn't done. He stares at your Dad, eyes wild, and then doubles down, screaming as his aura flares.
"I won't let you take me! I won't! SUPER KAIO-KEN...TIMES TEN!"
* * *
There are no words to describe the noise of what happens then. It is something so loud that it transcends mere sound and enters the realm of pure concept. It is an emanation of sheer force that really just produces sound as a by-product of crushing everything in its path. In a trice, Jaffur is the most powerful thing in creation, as far as you have sensed.
He and Dad vanish for a single heartbeat, and for the briefest of instances you have the impression of a very great deal happening very, very quickly. You imagine whole sagas could be written on the subject of the fight that lives between those two moments. Witnessed only by two fighters there is another iteration of the legendary rivalry that has defined the very fabric of Saiyan society, one that nobody else can see.
You only see the aftermath.
The Hall is instantly marred by craters. The southern wall shudders and collapses, the wards on it shimmering as the stone shrouding them falls away. Dust rises everywhere.
But you have eyes for just two things.
Jaffur floats in the center of the Hall. He gasps for air as though he's had none for an hour, and his body is blackened and bruised red and purple from the wounds of the fight. He coughs, blood flying from his mouth to the ground below in a great spout. What he just pulled has, yet again, nearly killed him. You're sure even the weakest Super Saiyan would knock him around easily, now.
And Dad falls, limp, smoke rising from a hole in the center of his gi. He makes no indication of resisting gravity's call. Everybody watches in stunned horror as the Lord Goku drifts down towards the ground with a horrifying finality. Everybody waits to see him recover, their breath held tight as he falls further down...down...down...
That's right. Just sleep soundly, Kakara. Daddy's here. Nothing is going to hurt you while I'm here.
thump
[ ] ...Dad?
[ ] Jaffur!
[ ] RAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!
* * *
Choose all that apply.
Lord Berra Goku, Full-Powered Super Saiyan: 1.125 Billion.
Prince Jaffur Vegeta, Basic Super Saiyan, x10 Super Kaio-Ken (briefly, ripping his body to shreds all the while): 2 Billion.
