Allegiance - Part 3 (see part 1 for notes)


Toronipsu gazed down at the unconscious boy's face, his arms folded
across his chest, his expression contemplative.  <He looks so
familiar...  Where could I have seen him before?>

He and his chosen team had only just landed on their designated planet
when their scouters had picked up some power readings that were
unusually high for the inhabitants of this particular world.  A fact
which was perfectly understandable in that they had *not* been natives,
but rather offworld mercenaries who had fled at the first sign of the
Saiyajins' presence.

<Who employed them?  What were they after?>  These questions were
foremost in Toro's mind as he watched over the stranger they had found
abandoned by the mercenaries.  He was the only possible source for
answers, now.  <Who exactly is he?  Was he one of them?  If so, then why
did they leave him behind?>  Toro frowned.  <And *why* does he look so
familiar to me?>

He crouched down to push straying strands of the long pale hair away
from the boy's face, his eyes flicking over the rest of the youth's
frail body.  <Whoever he is, he doesn't look well.  Perhaps they
abandoned him for that reason.>

The presence of the mercenaries was somewhat annoying.  It wasn't a real
hindrance, as even the weakest of the Saiyajin he had brought with him
would be capable of taking out the entire band if they became
troublesome.  It did however make him pause to consider their purpose
here.  There was nothing for them to gain on this planet, short of
taking hold of the entire planet as Toro himself intended to do. 
<Somehow I don't think that *that* possibility is very likely.>  He
snorted at the thought.  <But what *were* they doing here?>

"Toronipsu-sama!"  One of the warriors who had pursued the mercenaries
knelt before him, head bowed.  <Looks like they got away.  Idiots!> 
Toro rose from his crouch to look down upon the warrior.  "Report!"  he
ordered crisply.

"They had a spaceship waiting not far from here.  They were prepared to
make a fast escape."

"And you let them do just that."

The warrior's head snapped up, and Toro could see the black eyes all but
spitting sparks from the anger and hatred they contained.  "We tried our
best - !"

"You did indeed, didn't you?  But on whose behalf I wonder?"  Toro
prodded unmercifully.

The warrior's face twisted with rage and fury - but beneath those two
overlying emotions Toro could detect just the faintest evidence of
shock.  Shock that he had been found out.  <Damn it!  I knew one would
slip past!>

The Saiyan warrior surged up from his kneeling position, preparing to
strike out at his young commander.  <Pity for him he doesn't know me
well,> Toro smirked as he watched the incoming blow.

"DIE!"  The warrior yelled as his blow - 

- didn't land.  Toro was gone.

<Face it, fool - I'm too fast for you!>  Toro reappeared behind and
slightly above his attacker, knocking him out with a casually delivered
kick.  <And I bet that you won't even know what hit you!>  The
unconscious warrior's body hit the ground with a thump, Toro landing
noiselessly beside it.  Around them  the other Saiyajin looked on in
interest.

"Confine this traitor in a holding cell for the moment,"  Toro ordered. 
"I believe that Prince Vegeta will be most interested in what he has to
say."

Two of his warriors grinned at the remark as they moved to comply with
the orders.  Toro flicked his gaze around the rest of his men.  A new
respect could be seen in their eyes for their commander.  <Hmph.  I may
be young, but Nappa was right.  I'm *better* than they are - and now
I've proven it to them.  That lunkheaded traitor was one of the best
fighters among this lot, and I defeated him easily!>

"Shall we proceed with the plans for acquisition of this planet,
Toronipsu-sama?"  One of the warriors inquired.

"No,"  Toro informed them, after a moment's consideration.  "I want you
to examine the entire planet for any other signs of alien presence.  If
you find any, report to me here at once.  Leave the natives alone for
the moment.  We'll have plenty of time to deal with them once we have
ascertained that this is not some attempt at a trap.  Now go; and don't
come back until you have confirmed that there are no other aliens on
this planet besides us."

The warriors saluted briskly, before dispersing obediently.  <As well
they might show obedience!  I didn't kill that traitor - but saving him
for the Prince is a much worse fate, and they all know it!  Vegeta does
*not* like it when his warriors turn out to be supporting his father
instead of him, although that's not so much of a problem these days. 
Most of the infiltrators have been discovered over the years, and the
only new warriors we get are those bred from our own tanks.  Most of
them are still too young to be proper warriors, though, but the eldest
are only a couple of years younger than me!.>

"Toronipsu-sama?"  The voice interrupted his thoughts.  The two Saiyajin
who had been incarcerating the traitor were back.

"Nani?"

"Do you want us to guard him?"  The Saiyajin gestured to where they had
placed one of the pods they had arrived in.  A few quick modifications
had turned the travel pod into a holding cell, capable of withstanding
almost any attempt by its occupant to escape.  Such readily
transportable cells had been developed from necessity during the early
years after the Prince had broken away from his father...

<I doubt it would be able to hold Vegeta or Nappa, but it'll take care
of that traitor without any problems.>

"No.  Join the others."

Within seconds they were gone, and Toro was standing in the middle of
the small clearing, alone save for the captive traitor and the
pale-haired boy.

<Now let's see what he has to say for himself...>  He walked over to the
boy, nudging him with his foot.

No response.

A swift kick gained the same lack of results.

<Hmm, he's really out of it.>  Toro pried the boy's eyelids open,
revealing a pair of unfocused blue eyes.  It didn't look like he would
be coming around anytime soon.  <Shit.  I guess I'll have to wait.> 
Toro glanced up at the distant specks that were all that could be seen
of his warriors, then back down at the strange boy.  <Just not *too*
long...>

***********

His head was pounding when he awoke.  He lifted one hand to his temple
without opening his eyes, wincing as he encountered a slight lump. 
<I've had worse before.>  He sighed, rolling slightly onto his side,
slowly opening his eyes.

Not far away, Goten was intently practicing a kata.  He followed Goten's
movements with his eyes for several moments while his mind sorted
through the cotton wool that seemed to be filling his brain, impeding
his attempts to think clearly.

<That's strange.  I don't remember ever seeing that kata before...>  He
frowned a little in concentration, then blinked in surprise.  <Why is he
wearing Saiyajin armor?  And a bodysuit...?  And since when did Goten
have a tail!?!>  He sat up wide-eyed in alarm, drawing the attention of
the other boy, who finished his kata and began to move towards him.

<He looks just like him!  But he isn't - he *can't* be!>  Trunks glanced
around the clearing as he got to his feet, looking desperately for some
clue as to what had happened.  <I remember there was some kind of gas...
Did someone attack us?  Was it *him*?  But where's Goten?>

His eye lighted on a Saiyajin space pod lying only a short distance
away.  <Well, that answers *that* question, if it was ever in any doubt
- he's definitely Saiyajin, and newly arrived here from the look of it. 
A version of Goten?  Or of Goku, perhaps?  But what's he doing here
now?>

Trunks blinked, as the Saiyajin boy approached.  The resemblance to
Goten was more than simply startling - it was almost exact, saving only
the tail, which was now dangling freely out behind him.  <I don't care
who he looks like!  I want to know what he's done with Goten!  I can't
sense him anywhere!>

The Saiyajin boy came to a halt barely a meter away from him, one hand
resting on his hip, gazing down at him steadily with Goten's dark eyes
out of Goten's face...  <Damnit!>

"Who are you?"  The question was spoken by both boys at the same time. 
They blinked in surprise, then scowled at each other.

"Answer the question!"  The young Saiyajin snapped.

"Why should I?  Where's Goten?"

"Where's what?"

"Goten!  He was here with me before!  He looks just like you except
without the tail!  Now *where is he*?"

The Saiyajin paused, thinking.  "Someone who looks just like me?" He
queried.

Trunks eyed him with suspicion.  "That's right.  You haven't seen him?"

"No," came the reply.  "But I know someone who might have."  He turned
and walked purposefully over to the space pod.  A swiftly tapped code
opened the pod up, releasing a somewhat irate Saiyajin.

"You little brat!  You'll pay for that!"  He lunged after the boy, while
Trunks looked on in interest.

Within seconds the boy had the older warrior down on his knees, gasping
in pain, his arms twisted uncomfortably behind him and held in place by
the boy's solid grip.

"They were after me, weren't they?"  The boy inquired casually.

"What are you talking about?"  The captive managed to gasp out his
reply.  The boy flexed his wrists, twisting his prisoner's arms even
more.

"You know exactly what I'm talking about!  Your friends whom you helped
to escape from my men!  They took a boy with them, didn't they?  A boy
who looks like me!"

The older Saiyan's tail flicked out, but the boy wrapped his own around
it, squeezing it tightly, before it could do any harm.

"AAARGH!  YES!"

The boy relaxed his grip minutely.  "*Now* we're getting somewhere!  If
you tell me the truth now, I might even kill you - and save you from
having to face my Prince!"

"Promise me that you'll kill me first!"

The boy considered this for a moment.  "All right.  Now talk!"

"Somebody high up in King Vegeta's army wanted you captured.  They were
hired to bring you in.  I was supposed to make sure you went off by
yourself with only a bare minimum of warriors.  They must have thought
the other kid was you."

"Where did they take him?"  

The Saiyajin grinned.  "Don't know anything else.  But you'll find out
when they come back for you!"

"You don't know anything else, eh?"  The boy looked up, catching Trunks'
eye.  "I don't suppose you have a knife handy?"

"Knife?"

"I was thinking that flaying him alive would be a nice way of killing
him.  I *did* promise to kill him after all - and I always keep my
promises.  Eventually."

Trunks blinked.  "Flaying's rather messy," he commented evenly.  "What
about boiling?"

The boy's lips twitched suspiciously.  "Don't have a big enough pot."

Trunks shrugged.  "Don't really need one.  Just shove his hand or foot
in, wait until it's cooked through, hack it off and continue with the
rest of the limb..."

"Now *there's* a thought."  The boy's eyes were gleaming.  "We could get
a half-decent meal out of him as we go along..."

"Exactly."  Trunks eyed the now green-looking prisoner.  "He looks
pretty well-fleshed..."

"IT WAS BARDOCK!!!"  Their contemplative meal screamed out in
desperation.

<Bardock?  Wasn't he Goku's father?>

"My father?!  What does he want with me?"

<I guess that explains the resemblance...>

"I don't know!  I just know that he wanted you unharmed!  That's all I
know!  Honestly!"

The boy released the Saiyajin's arms and hit him over the head, letting
him drop to the ground.  

Trunks eyed the unconscious warrior.  "He's still alive."

The boy shrugged.  "I'll kill him later.  *If* what he said is true. 
Otherwise he can just wait for my Prince."

Trunks smiled.  <I like his attitude!>  "I'm Trunks."

"Toro.  Care to tell me why your friend looks so much like me?"

"If you tell me what's going on around here."

"It's a deal."

*********
Rhionae
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Island/3226/fanfics.htm