Barracks

Guest: Well, you said the same what I said, only with more words XD I understand what you mean. Really. I don’t know if I can make Trunks seems more believable. I just plan going as it is now. I’ve made a mistake somewhere along the story. I didn’t plan to separate Trunks and Goten for such a long time but things in my head just kept happening. I never planned on giving feedback on Trunks’ life during that separation either. Basically, this is Goten’s story and I never feel like breaching the barrier and starting to jump back and forth from one protagonist to another. I wonder if there had been another way to include Trunks’ into the story and keep him “alive” in addition to Goten’s thoughts about him. Maybe his path should have crossed Goten’s more often, but then, again, that would have been too artificial. Oh well.
As for Goten being a Mary Sue… Hmm… I rather treat people liking him as a comedy than him being “cool”. It amuses me. There’s also another reason why people do feel the need to follow him, but that’s in the further chapters and it’s a bit different. I bet you can guess the whole deal already, though. When I started writing Barracks, I really liked this whole “luck as skill” idea. I don’t remember where I heard or read it but it’s very appealing. It’s very amusing but at the same time mystical.
Well, hopefully, the story still has something to offer.


Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z – it belongs to its respective owners. This fan fiction is not a commercial project, and I am not making any money from writing it.
Warnings: Alternate Universe. Yaoi (male x male). Goten x Trunks and vice versa. Other pairings.
A/N 1:
Head of Royal Division - Harada Lorimara
Deputy Commander - Ealdira Fidan
Captain - Amren Komira

Barracks

by chayron (lttomb@yahoo.com), beta-read by quatreofdoom

Part 65

Goten ran over the five questions he had randomly drawn again. It was official now – he was going to screw up his Royal Law exam. Not that it was a surprise. The third-class shuffled the question cards, but that didn’t make them any more comprehensible. He could speculate on one but what was the point?

The third-class leaned back in his chair and observed the examination hall. The lecturer was sitting at a desk in the front of the hall from where he could perfectly see all the candidates preparing for the oral examination. To take the exam, Goten and Reyn had to go to the city and join the other candidates. There were twelve examinees, him and Reyn included. All of them were older than him and Reyn, and all of them were elites.

The examinees were hastily scribbling down the regurgitated information, drawing outlines for their speeches. Goten lowered his eyes to the blank piece of paper in front of him. Ten more minutes and they would be called up to the lecturer’s desk one by one.

Goten started drawing a cactus. A large one, with thick needles.

After that incident with the prince in the swimming pool, Reyn had left Goten alone in their room and returned only two hours later. Quite inebriated at that. However, instead of picking a quarrel with Goten as expected, the flight officer had ignored him and gone to sleep. The next day had been spent in loaded silence, where Goten had no idea how to make it all better, and where Reyn didn’t feel like looking at him at all.

Apologizing wasn’t going to work. Probably nothing was going to work.

Goten felt that someone was looking at him and raised his eyes off the paper. The lecturer was giving him an inquisitive stare. He was obviously of the opinion that Goten had reached the well-deserved end of his career. Goten shared the lecturer’s viewpoint completely and felt like saluting the man with his pen. Instead, though, he returned to working on his cactus. More shoots sprouted.

Finally, time was up, and the lecturer told everyone to put their pens down. Inevitably, his gaze went to Goten. The third-class offered him a bright smile. The lecturer responded with an apathetic look.

“Come here, you…”

“Can I go first, sir?” Reyn interrupted him, raising his hand. “I think I’ve got diarrhea. Can I go first, sir?” he repeated, shifting in his seat restlessly. “I think it’s the nerves – I want this job so much! Please? Sir? Before I…”

The lecturer in Royal Law rolled his eyes at the obvious acting. Yet, he liked Reyn about the same amount as he disliked Goten. “Fine, come here.” It was not like the youngster could be saved by those few minutes anyway.

Reyn made a show of cautiously walking to the lecturer’s desk. He lowered his question cards onto the lecturer’s desk, the man picked one, and Reyn started answering in a quiet, monotone voice.

Goten wasn’t certain why Reyn was trying to prolong the inevitable. Was this out of kindness or just to make him squirm with nervous anticipation for longer? The thought made Goten add two hands to one of the cactuses. After further contemplation, he added legs and a head.

Reyn’s examination ended in a crystal-clear success as the lecturer’s happy face was beaming, and he even shook the flight officer’s hand before letting him go. Once the door closed behind Reyn’s back, the lecturer’s attention returned to Goten’s hunched form. Wordlessly, he beckoned for Goten to come to his desk. Goten gathered his papers and marched off to brave the unfavorable odds.

Just as Goten reached the lecturer’s desk, the door to the examination hall opened. Trunks Vegeta walked in, and Goten wasn’t even surprised. Because…why not? They had already met under much stranger circumstances.

The surprised ones were the lecturer and the other examinees. They watched the prince cross the distance between the door and the lecturer’s desk. Then, suddenly, everyone remembered to salute and rose to their feet. Goten saluted as well.

The prince reached the desk, setting down the papers and a box he was carrying onto the desk. He greeted the lecturer with a nod then turned to face the examinees.

“At ease. You may sit down.”

Everyone eased back into their seats while Goten remained standing in front of the lecturer’s desk. The prince went to the first row of the desks and took Reyn’s empty chair. He dragged it to the lecturer’s desk and made himself comfortable next to him.

“Right,” the prince said, opening the box that appeared to be filled with delicious smelling pralines; before hurrying off to the city, he had grabbed them off the table in his room as an afterthought – it was a gift from his mother. He pushed the box towards the lecturer. “Help yourself. So how is it going?”

“Uh,” the lecturer said uncertainly. Hesitant, he reached out and took one chocolate candy. “What exactly, Your Highness?”

The prince motioned at Goten. “Him, for example. How is he doing?”

“Oh, him!” The lecturer waved off. “He knows nothing, Your Highness.” He popped the praline into his mouth and closed his eyes in delight.

The prince gave Goten a look. Just as suspected, the third-class hadn’t lied when he had shared his plans about failing. With his head, the prince motioned in the general direction of the other side of the hall. “Bring your chair here,” he told Goten.

The lecturer grinned, showing his chocolate-covered teeth. Goten rolled his eyes.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

The third-class went to his desk, pulled his chair through the rows and set it in front of the lecturer’s desk.

“Not there,” the prince said before Goten could sit down. “Here,” he said, motioning next to him, at the corner of the desk.

“Huh?” went both the lecturer and Goten.

“He has already taken and passed this exam,” the prince explained to the lecturer while pushing a few documents towards him. “Since he’s so knowledgeable about the subject, he will help us examine the rest of the candidates.”

While the lecturer was skimming through the documents proving this lie, Goten took a seat at the corner of the desk. The prince pushed the box of pralines closer to the third-class and told him to help himself. Goten didn’t refuse and, unwittingly, let go of his drawing in the process. The prince quickly plucked the page off the desk.

“That’s supposed to be me apparently,” he said while inspecting the drawing of a man seated on a cactus.

Goten turned his head to see the misfortune that had befallen his artistic expression. “Uh… Your Highness has always had a good eye,” Goten complimented the prince. He reached out for more pralines.

“Well, it does bear quite a resemblance,” the prince said. “Especially the facial expression. Spot-on! I think this is exactly what I’d look like if someone stuck a cactus up my ass.”

“Quite possibly, Your Highness,” Goten agreed.

“You seem to be fond of cactuses,” the prince said. “I remember seeing a similar one before, on the base.”

“They’re easy to draw, Your Highness.”

“I see.” The prince pulled the drawing away from himself to stare at it from a distance. “Marvellous. I will frame it and put it up next to Harada’s painting.”

“I’m honored, Your Highness.”

At that point, the lecturer decided that there was absolutely no use in asking for explanations or trying to protest. He pushed the fake documents aside and called for the next candidate on the list. He saw Goten give him a look filled with betrayal.

“Do something!” Goten hissed at him softly. “Make me fail!”

“Shut up,” the prince told the third-class. “You’ve already passed.”

ooOoOoOoo

After the examination, it took Goten an hour or so to return to the palace. He and the prince had split up half-way through the trip, the prince informing Goten about some business he had to attend to in the city. That was just as well since the prince’s bodyguards were giving Goten the evil eye.

The capital had changed since Goten saw it last. There wasn’t as much racial diversity as there used to be. People, who had been able to, had fled the planet. Those who hadn’t been able to had fled the capital. The streets were mostly deserted except for Saiyans, Leiadors and a few other representatives of the allied nations appearing here or there.

Musing over the changes, Goten climbed up the stairs and entered the barracks’ wing. He’d gotten half a day off for the exam, so he had two more hours left to himself. It would be a good idea to have lunch, then maybe a spar. Depended on whether Reyn would be interested.

Goten frowned at the floor. He didn’t know how to make it better between them. He felt like a failure. He knew he had behaved like an idiot. The problem was that knowing that didn’t help. His head was filled with the purple-haired bastard, and he wasn’t able to predict his own actions. There were times when he had caught himself contemplating that an Ice-jin invasion would solve all his worries forever. He kept scolding himself for this cowardly thought. He had to find a way and make up with Reyn. He wished Reyn would just beat the crap out of him and they would just forget that incident. There was no way that was going to work, though.

The third-class was so deep in thought that he nearly ran into someone when he turned one of the corners. He didn’t even look at the person’s face, apologized for barring the way, and continued walking.

“You? What are you doing here?”

Since there was no one else in the corridor, the words had been meant for him, and Goten turned around to see who was asking. Straightening, he saluted at once.

“Your Highness.”

Prince Vegeta answered the salute with a nod. “At ease.” He waited for the answer but it never came. “I asked you a question,” he prompted.

“Huh? A question?” Goten mumbled, trying to chase away the sheepishness that he felt. “I’m sorry, Your Highness, I… Could You repeat it?”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m on guard duty, Your Highness.” Goten shifted uncomfortably. “Um, currently on a break. I mean I’m returning from the examination in Royal Law.”

Prince Vegeta was giving him a strange look, which seemed to border between bewilderment and irritation, and, hoping that it was alright, Goten gave him a reassuring smile in return. The prince’s eyebrows rose. He motioned for the third-class to follow him.

“Let’s walk.”

“Yes, Your Highness,” Goten obeyed, going after him. He wondered what Prince Vegeta was doing in the barracks wing, but then came to the conclusion that he was probably visiting one of the officers. Or maybe he was just taking a leisurely stroll through his domain. It was more likely, though, that he was checking up on something.

“I can’t talk to you when you’re walking behind me,” the prince noted a few moments later.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness,” Goten said, falling into step beside him.

“So why are you here?” the prince asked again.

“Erm… I’m on guard duty, Your Highness,” Goten repeated.

“Stop that. Why are you in the palace?”

Goten suddenly felt cold and hot at the same time. “Uh,” he mumbled, “I was ordered to come here, Your Highness.”

There was a short pause, then the prince asked, “Ordered by whom?”

“Um, by the prince, Your Highness.”

Prince Vegeta stopped and turned to Goten. “Trunks? He told you to come here?”

Goten wished the floor would swallow him. He could feel that his voice sounded fake and was strangely tense. “Yes, Your Highness,” he confirmed. Prince Vegeta was giving him a confused look.

“Why?”

This was the question Goten had no idea how to answer. His mind was in total chaos while he tried to think of what to say. “Errm… It’s best to ask him, Your Highness. It was an order, Your Highness. He ordered, and I am here.”

The prince stared at him. This conversation wasn’t making any sense. None whatsoever. He moved forward again, proceeding down the corridor, towards his chambers.

“Anyway, why would Trunks…?” Suspicious, the prince looked at the third-class again. Goten seemed panicky and wouldn’t look at him, obviously very interested in the carpeting under their feet. There was something about the youth’s discomfort that made the prince suddenly realize what this was all about. He grunted in disbelief. Hearing the sound that very clearly conveyed Vegeta’s understanding, Goten flushed red. In a few seconds he turned white, then red again. His steps became shaky, and the prince wondered if the younger man would faint. He stopped.

“Contact your father and tell him what happened,” Prince Vegeta told Goten. “Then leave the palace as soon as possible.”

Nervously, Goten’s hands pressed into fists. His palms were sweating, and he wiped them on his trousers. “But Trunks Vegeta…”

“I will deal with him.”

“Yes, Your Highness. How about Reyn Dueri?”

“Who? Ah, the third-class who was with you on Bruminan. Is he here as well?”

Goten nodded.

“He can either stay or leave with you, it doesn’t matter,” the prince said. Showing that the conversation was over, he motioned at the opposite side of the corridor. “You can go.”

Goten saluted again. “Yes, Your Highness.”

Prince Vegeta watched him disappear around the corner then tapped the side of his scouter. “Harada and Ealdira to my office this instant,” he growled. “Now!”

ooOoOoOoo

“As soon as possible?” Reyn drawled when Goten finished relating to him his conversation with Prince Vegeta. “That’s when? What kind of order is this?”

Perplexed, Goten threw his hands up. “Beats me.” He started pacing the room in agitation. From the door to the window and then back again.

“And what’s your father got to do with this?”

Goten grunted, “Beats me again. And he knows that we are third-classes.”

“Oh great. Why didn’t he just kill you on the spot?”

“The fuck if I know! Maybe he doesn’t want to get into a spat with his son, or maybe he feels that he owes me for Bruminan, or maybe he just didn’t want to ruin the damn carpet!”

Reyn leaned into the chair with a sigh. “So it’s going to be him, huh? How about we clear out of here this instant?”

“I’m all for it. But how about the order to contact Kakarott first?”

“Forget the order, he’s going to kill you. It may just be the means to keep you here longer.”

“Ohmyfuckinggod!” Goten yelled suddenly. “I can’t fucking believe this! We’re about to lose this fucking war, and here I’m stuck in this fucking circus with this fucking royalty!”

“And that’s your own fucking fault!” Reyn spat.

Goten stopped pacing the room and turned to him, glaring. “How is it my fucking fault?! I didn’t ask to be transferred here!”

“You didn’t even have to! And all this while you know how your brother ended up!”

“Don’t you drag Gohan into this!”

“You’re a fucking moron!”

“Stop patronizing me, you self-righteous asshole!”

Reyn snarled at him. “What are you being so defensive for?”

“I’m not being defensive! Leave me the fuck alone!”

The other third-class laughed in outright disbelief. “Are you fucking stupid or what?”

“Stop repeating that!”

“Then stop talking shit!”

“No, you stop talking shit!”

Goten didn’t know how it happened, but, a couple of minutes later, the two of them were in their makeshift bed, fucking like mad. Just before he fell asleep, he wondered if this meant that he and Reyn had made up.

ooOoOoOoo

Goten awoke to the sound of soft continuous beeps. Disoriented, he stared at the ceiling for a few moments, then his brain caught up and identified the cacophony as two separate calls. Goten started looking around for the scouters, and soon discovered that one of them was on the bedside cabinet while the other lay discarded on the floor. He took the nearest first, but the identification number was Reyn’s. He nudged the flight officer in the side.

“You’ve got a call.”

“Uh,” Reyn grunted, opening his eyes. “A call? What call? What time is it?”

Goten dropped the scouter next to Reyn and went to get his own. By the time he had it in his hands, the call had ended. He checked the time. It was five in the evening.

“You think they noticed that we were absent from duty?” Reyn wondered, blankly staring at his scouter.

“Doubt it,” Goten said, fitting his scouter over his eye. No one ever checked on them unless it was out of curiosity.

Reyn rolled on his back and rubbed at his face. He yawned sleepily. It didn’t even matter – they had been given a green light to leave this place. Of course, it was probably going to be impossible. Reyn blinked at two simultaneous beeps that came from both scouters indicating an incoming message.

Goten read his and gave Reyn a look. They were to come to the headquarters in three minutes. Confirming that they’d both received the orders, they dressed and rushed off. They reached the headquarters at the same time as Kailan. Without as much as a glance at each other, the three of them filed into the office. There were only two officers inside: the head of the division and Amren. Amren was standing in front of the desk while Harada was typing away at the terminal.

“We’ve received a request for back-up from the city’s armed forces,” Amren started as soon as they entered. “There’s been a prison outbreak in Yagdan.” He looked over Harada’s shoulders. “The coordinates are being transferred to you as we speak. They’ve managed to isolate most of the mutineers, but the problem is six Ice-jins that have raised their ki-shields and barricaded themselves in the kitchens. The electricity has also been cut off. Your task is to restore order.”

“It seems like we are supposed to capture them alive, sir,” Reyn said at once. “Why?”

“They’re valuable sources of information,” Amren said. “You’re allowed to maim but not to kill.”

“How many of us are going, sir?” Reyn asked. Six Ice-jins that the local armed forces weren’t able to deal with had to be considerably powerful. This was a dangerous mission.

“The three of you,” Amren said. “Kailan is your squad leader.”

“Huh?” Goten muttered, giving a questioning look to the back of Harada’s head. Only the three of them and they weren’t supposed to kill the targets either? He turned to Reyn and their eyes met.

“Done,” Harada said once the transfer of the files had been started. “Move out.”

“Yes, sir!”

Several moments after the newly assembled squad had left, it was absolutely quiet in the office, then Harada rose from his seat and left the office.

ooOoOoOoo

When the royal guards approached Yagdan Prison, a big part of it was already missing, smoke rising in thick belches from the destroyed parts. Floating above the prison, Goten took a good look at it. The prison was a complex structure of adjacent buildings and towers surrounded by a force-shield. If not for the force-shield, the Ice-jins would have already broken through to the city.

Goten could see people moving here and there, some gathered into small groups.

“C’mon, let’s land,” Reyn said, pointing at a group of officers urgently waving at them from the ground.

“They’ll have to turn off the shield for a few seconds to let us in,” Kailan said.

Goten and Reyn shared a look but said nothing. They landed next to the shield, and the prison wardens rushed to them. The force shields, in general, isolated sound pretty well. Goten held out his hand and started tracing his scouter number into the air so the officers could contact him. He lowered his hand when Kailan’s scouter beeped. Figures. The Royal Division had sent the squad leader’s number.

“They’ll let us enter in ten seconds,” Kailan said, after having taken the call. “We’ll have three seconds or so to make it in.”

They turned to one of the officers who raised his hands and started bending his fingers, counting. At the last finger bent, the force shield rippled and disappeared. The royal guards rushed forward, and, in a couple of seconds, the shield was back up.

“Sirs,” the officer who had been counting down greeted politely.

He was respectful just as the rest of the wardens that met them, but Goten could easily read the pending question in their eyes. ‘That’s it? That’s all of you?’ – that was what they wanted to ask. Even though Goten and Reyn were wearing the royal guards’ armour, they could not be identified as elites due to their brown tails. Goten could see how much that fact baffled the men.

“What’s the situation now?” Kailan asked.

Further ahead, from amongst the smoking buildings, a ki-ball suddenly shot up. It bounced off the force-shield and whooshed down, back onto the ones who had released it. An explosion shook the ground.

“If we are in luck,” Goten said joyfully, “those idiots might just kill themselves.”

“Don’t count on it,” Reyn said. “A few more seconds, and they’ll be heading to the control room to lower the shield.” He turned to the prison wardens. “Why haven’t they done that yet?”

“They have already tried that, sir, but the control center has its own security system and is protected by another force shield. They damaged the electric cords and retreated.”

Goten looked around. The force shield around the prison was maintained by a number of small towers that were facing the outside. He remembered that it had been the opposite arrangement at his officer school – they had been facing the inside to protect the base from outside attacks. The prison, on the other hand, had to make certain there were no outbreaks.

“So they are stuck,” Kailan concluded.

“And we are stuck with them, sirs,” one of the wardens said.

“No,” Reyn said, “it’s they who are stuck with us.”

Goten rolled his eyes. “How can you even say shit like that with a straight face?”

Reyn grinned at him. “Experience.”

“Have they made any demands?” Kailan asked.

“No, sir.”

That was just as well. Saiyans didn’t negotiate in situations like these. There was no use in taking hostages either. If Saiyans wanted to hear someone’s demands, it was just for the sake of knowing how to aggravate them more.

“How about those armed city forces we’ve heard about?” Kailan asked.

The wardens gave each other uncertain looks. It was obvious that no one had heard about these forces.

“Well, they have two options,” Goten said. “To wait until the generator in the control room stops working and the shield goes down, or to wait until the generator stops working and, meanwhile, kill everyone in sight.”

“The shield works on batteries, sir,” the warden corrected Goten. “They will last five more hours.”

“Are there any more Ice-jins in here?” Kailan asked. “I mean more than those six who have escaped; they might attempt to free the rest.”

“No, sir, we had only six of them.”

“Aren’t the rest of prisoners trying to escape?” Kailan asked.

Goten gave him a look. “Those are Ice-jins. Were it me, I’d try to dig myself into the ground and not even think of showing my face to them.”

The warden nodded, confirming. “It’s just as sir says. A few tried, but we subdued them easily. Others are sitting tightly, waiting to see how this ends.”

“Right,” Reyn said. “So I suppose, we should start doing something about those Ice-jins.”

“Any ideas?” Goten asked him. “Or do we just go in and kill them?”

Kailan grunted. “How do you imagine we’ll kill them? And we’re supposed to capture them alive,” he said, but without any conviction on his face.

“Yeah, good luck with that,” Goten told him. “I see you’re certain that it’ll work out just fine.”

“Listen, I’ve got no idea why there are only three of us either,” Kailan told him, “but you could stop shooting your mouth off and listen for once.”

“Don’t you start bickering, you two, or I’ll throw you back behind that damn shield,” Reyn said, pointing at the force field with his thumb behind him. “We give them the option of surrendering. If they don’t want to, we kill them.”

Goten was suddenly reminded that, of the three of them, it was probably Reyn who was most experienced in leading a squad. Besides, Kailan had no idea what was going on.

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kailan grunted as if confirming Goten’s thoughts. “We kill them? We can’t even get close to them! We need…”

“I’ve seriously had enough of this,” Goten said, walking towards the area he’d seen the the ki-ball appear. He started powering up.

Reyn followed him, summoning his ki as well. As he was walking behind Goten, the flight officer’s scouter started recording the younger male’s power level and beeped warningly. Reyn reached out to his scouter to turn off the sound, then his hand froze without touching its side.

“Do you know that you’re at…?”

He never finished his question because Goten had suddenly shot forward and, like a bolt of lightning, smashed into the Ice-jins’ ki-shield. Reyn grunted both in disbelief and amusement. The younger male had probably been uncertain whether that would work. The speed hadn’t been necessary, though. It would have worked anyway.

Goten whooshed into the middle of the ki-shield and stopped abruptly. He was surprised it had worked out so nicely. Four Ice-jins had no scouters, the other two must have taken them from the wardens. For a split second, all seven of them stared at each other.

“Uh, how about you surrender?” Goten suggested. “I’m serious. Anyone want to surrender?”

Four of the Ice-jins flew at the third-class. The other two, who wore scouters, fled.

There wasn’t much of a fight. Goten launched a ki-blast at the backs of the escaping Ice-jins, then blocked a fist that had been aimed for his head. He stepped back in surprise when the offensive arm exploded, spraying him and the ground with blood. The Ice-jin folded into the asphalt, grabbed at what was left of his arm and started rolling around in pain.

A ki-ball flew at Goten, and he responded with two of his own. They swallowed the Ice-jin and went through him to explode against the wall behind him. The third Ice-jin tried to kick Goten in the stomach but he was so slow that the third-class simply stepped away and kicked him in the nuts. The fourth Ice-jin took no chances and fled after the others.

Reyn intercepted him in midair and sent him flying back into the ground where he hit the asphalt with his back. He tried to get up but Reyn was already above him and punched him in the face. The Ice-jin’s body went slack.

“Is that all of them?” Goten asked, walking to Reyn. His eyes narrowed when the flight officer turned to him. Reyn had that particular half-mad look about him. Goten started powering down. While doing so, he realized that he wasn’t bothered by Reyn’s power level at all. Neither had he been the previous time. It seemed that, lately, it was only Reyn who reacted to it.

“Where’s Kailan?” Goten asked.

Reyn blinked at him slowly then seemed to shake off the violent urge to kill him. He pointed somewhere behind him. “He’s out cold.”

“Shit.”

Goten walked over to where the royal guard lay. Two prison wardens were already fussing about him, checking his vital signs and touching his bleeding nose.

“Anything serious?” Goten asked.

“We don’t know yet, sir.”

Goten saw them looking at him, waiting for orders. “You do have a medical facility here, don’t you? Just take him there and do all the needed procedures. We’ll help to rein in the rest of the prisoners if needed.”

“Understood, sir. That would be a lot of help, thank you.”

Goten wanted to tell him to investigate how the Ice-jins had managed to free themselves from ki-cuffs, but it was a waste of time and a danger to this man’s life. In the end, Goten just nodded and turned to Reyn who was already up in the air, scanning the grounds, waiting for the other prisoners’ reaction. Goten powered up lightly and rose to join him. This way they would not only be able to see better but would also be visible to others. A warning not to try anything funny.

“Why didn’t you protect him?” Goten asked reproachfully.

“I did. He’d be dead if I didn’t. But I didn’t think he’d attack one of them headfirst.”

“Huh, he did? Did he seriously think he stood a chance? Did you see their power level? About a hundred thousand each.”

Reyn shrugged. “I think he freaked out when he saw you go in.” He twirled a finger near his temple. “Lost his marbles or something.”

Goten snorted. “No wonder. It’s an obvious suicide mission.”

Reyn was silent for a few moments. “I think what they really expected was for us to kill each other. Same as on Starcut. One would think that they’d have figured out by this time that it doesn’t work.”

Goten gave him an uncertain look. It was probably true. By this time, everyone concerned had to know already that a couple of Ice-jins didn’t scare them.

“Your power level is about three hundred thousand now,” Reyn told him quietly. “That’s somewhat abnormal.”

Goten’s forehead furrowed as he stared at Reyn, thinking about what he said. “Three hundred thousand? Really?”

“Yes.”

“Ohhh… So that’s what he meant.”

“Huh?”

“Um, never mind. It’s just about fifty thousand more than yours anyway.” Goten turned back to the smoking prison walls. It was best not to mention the prince to Reyn. However, now he understood what the prince had meant when he’d accused him fooling him on the base. It also explained why the Ice-jin’s arm had exploded just from him having touched it.

“Yes, but it requires much more effort for me to keep the flow of ki stable,” Reyn continued. “You didn’t seem to have any problems with that.”

Goten shrugged. He tried to remember how it had felt to summon so much ki, but could not remember anything out of the ordinary. It had felt the same as always. In addition, he knew that if he had tried harder, he would have been able to summon more ki. That, however, would have been dangerous.

The prison was calm. No one tried anything funny. The peace had mostly to do with the Royal Division armour that Reyn and Goten were wearing. They were floating above the prison, two clear warning signs. Meanwhile, the prison wardens were ki-cuffing the Ice-jins and dragging them towards the buildings. There was a charred pile further ahead that used to be an Ice-jin. The second crispy pile was at the opposite side of the room. Goten had been very accurate with his ki-blasts.

“We were supposed to take them alive,” Reyn said with a sigh.

“Well, fucking whoops,” Goten spat. “They can fire me.”

Reyn chuckled.

ooOoOoOoo

Goten reached out to touch the yellowish fruit on the big-leaved palm. Round and smooth. Lightly, he squeezed the skin with his fingers. Soft. Wasn’t it ready to be eaten?

The third-class let go of the fruit and gave the prince’s chambers another evaluating look. Nothing had changed since the time he was here last. Big and spacious, with little furniture. There was a faint presence of that particular tranquil scent typical of the prince. It was strangely comforting.

Goten’s eyes set on the wall and he chuckled at the sight of his silly cactus drawing having found a place next to Harada’s painting of a battle above Earth. The prince hadn’t had enough time to frame it yet. Not that Goten believed that he’d do that.

The third-class walked to the couch and sat down. He had been waiting for about ten minutes and the prince had yet to show up. Goten was puzzled as to what the man needed. Soon after he and Reyn had left the prison and returned back to the palace, Goten had received a call informing him that the prince wanted to see him at once. Since both third-classes were almost certain that it was a trap, Reyn had followed him and was now waiting behind the door in the corridor.

Goten tapped his fingers on the glass coffee table in front of the couch. His fingers left black and greasy stains on the smooth surface and, embarrassed, Goten retracted his hand. He hadn’t had any time to take a shower yet – he came here as soon as he was summoned, and was covered in sooth, dust, blood and chunks of meat and skin.

“Uh,” Goten muttered, standing up. He checked the couch and saw his own sooty outline on its fine leather. He cast a look at the palm in the corner and, true enough, the yellowish fruit had also been marked off with dirty fingerprints. “Damn it.”

The third-class looked around for some kind of a rag but there were none to be seen. Awkwardly, Goten traipsed around, then went to the door leading to the prince’s bedroom. Curious, he stuck his head in the gap between the door and the wall to check it out. His feet went numb.

It was the same room he had seen himself die in. He pushed the door open all the way and stared at the bed. Same bed, same pillows, even the same scenery behind the window. He suddenly felt like laughing. Were they going to kill him before or after he slept with the prince?

With a start, Goten realized that someone was opening the door behind him. He quickly retreated from the bedroom. Prince Vegeta walked in. The sight of Goten seemed to surprise him and he froze for a moment. Then he closed the door and walked towards the third-class.

“Your Highness,” Goten saluted.

“At ease.”

“I was about to leave, Your Highness,” Goten said, inching closer to the door.

“No, you weren’t,” Prince Vegeta said. He took a good look at Goten, then motioned to the couch. “Take a seat.” He went to the cupboard next to the window and opened it. Glasses and bottles started rattling. “Should I invite the one at the door?”

He obviously meant Reyn, and Goten shook his head vehemently. There was nothing Reyn could do in this situation anyway. He’d rather keep the flight officer out of harm’s way.

“Have you been sparring with Trunks?” Prince Vegeta asked, carrying two glasses and a bottle to the glass table. “You smell of blood.”

Unconsciously, Goten lowered his head to look at his armor. He didn’t see anything new – black and dirty, speckled with blood. “Eh, no, Your Highness, we just returned from a mission.”

The prince sat down a bit further away from the third-class. He uncorked the bottle and started pouring the liquor. Goten didn’t know what kind of liquor it was but the strong smell of alcohol hit his nostrils at once.

“I gather it was a success.”

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Prince Vegeta pushed a glass towards Goten. “Or will you refuse again?”

Goten took the glass quietly. Did he have a choice? He waited for Prince Vegeta to take his. The prince lifted the glass to his lips and took a sip. He frowned.

“I don’t understand why he likes these Terran brands so much.”

Without drinking, Goten lowered his glass back to the table. His caution felt somewhat silly since the prince had tasted his.

“Did you contact Kakarott?”

Again, Goten was taken aback a little at how easily his father’s name left the prince’s mouth. “No, not yet, Your Highness. Actually, I’m not even certain where he is at the moment.”

“I see. I think I can help you with that.”

“Oh?”

Goten didn’t have time to ask anything else because the door opened again and, this time, the youngest prince appeared. He wasn’t able to see well from behind the couch, but his eyes had identified his father’s and Goten’s heads at once even before they turned to him. His face acquired a little bit of a wild expression.

“Uh,” he stammered.

“Well, what are you standing there for?” Prince Vegeta told him. “Close the door and come sit with us. We are having a blast here, aren’t we, Goten?”

Goten gave the younger prince an awkward look. The two of them were aware of Prince Vegeta’s interesting choice of words.

“There was something I wanted to discuss with Goten,” the prince told his father. “Can you leave us?”

Prince Vegeta’s eyebrows rose. He took another sip from his glass and frowned again. “Well, I’m certain Goten has something to tell you as well, don’t you, Goten?”

“Um, yes, I certainly do, Your Highness.”

Prince Vegeta rose to his feet. Slowly, almost demonstratively, he walked to the door. He left the room without looking back at them.

Once his father had left, the prince went to the coffee table and grabbed Goten’s glass. He swallowed the alcohol in two large gulps, then took his father’s and drank that one as well. He set the glasses back onto the table and dropped onto the sofa next to Goten.

“So what did he tell you?”

TBC