Takira lay quietly on the placid hilltop, trying to absorb some of the night's serenity. She'd return to Capsule Corp. before morning, but right now she needed the solitude. Her mind felt like a scattered ruin of thoughts and feelings. She had revealed far more to Trunks than she'd intended, and he had guessed even more. That kid was too damn perceptive for his own good.

She sighed. Despite all her attempts to deny and avoid it, she did feel like part of her had gone with Vegeta. She could put on a brave show, but inside, she knew: the power, the passion just wasn't there. If only she'd stayed hidden that night--was it only last night? It seemed like a lifetime ago. If only she'd turned away from those strangely familiar faces, she could have spent the rest of her days in blissful ignorance; not this torture.

She rolled over and pressed her cheek into the cool damp grass. She couldn't bring herself to regret all of it: the look on Trunks' face when she was able to tell him unequivocally that his father had wanted him for a son. It seemed strange to her, somehow. How could the boy have Saiyan blood and still be openly sensitive to such things? 'The same could be asked of you,' she reminded herself harshly. No wonder the Saiyan race was demolished, if it was beginning to produce such soft warriors.

No, she chastised herself, not soft. Goten and Trunks were far from inferior fighters. It was only by luck and surprise that she'd kept up with them so far. They could kill her without even trying--yet somehow she didn't think they would.

In a way, she resented them for that. Between that and their repeated kindness, she had begun to feel indebted to them, and there was no way for her to pay off such a debt. She sighed again. If she possessed enough power, she'd just blow the whole damned planet to kingdom come and put them all out of their misery.

She was distracted from her inner ranting by the presence of an enormous ki nearby. She stood warily, looking around until her eyes fell on what she'd first thought to be an oddly shaped boulder. Realizing it had been spotted, it rose and approached her, standing a cautious distance away. Takira could only stare in horror.

"Before you kill me, Takira," Koretz rumbled, "hear me out. I need your help."

*****

Gohan awoke with a start. He was amazed that he'd fallen asleep at all, after what had just transpired. Beside him, Videl stirred sleepily. The knock at the door came again, sharp, insistent. Careful not to wake his wife, Gohan slipped out of bed and strode to the door, silently cursing his brother. Didn't Goten know enough to keep quiet?

He saw Chichi at the door, about to open it. Gohan braced himself for the tirade that was sure to come, but as she swung the door open, she didn't utter a sound. Just then Gohan noticed that the shadowy spike-haired figure in the doorway was not Goten. Chichi looked almost like she would faint. She stammered:

"V--Vegeta!"

"Close," he replied, turning slightly so that the starlight glowed on his scarred face. He smiled. "I'm his son."

"Vegira?!" Gohan gasped. "That's impossible, you were killed!"

"What's going on?" Chichi demanded. "Gohan, do you know this person? Since when did Vegeta have a son other than Trunks?"

"Trunks?" Vegira was intrigued. "So, I have a brother. Not from the same mother, I suppose. I'll have to be sure to meet him. First things first, though: where is Vegeta?"

"He's not here," Gohan said stonily. "Before we go any further, answer me this: how did you survive the battle with Koretz?"

"When I saw him slaughter my mother, I flew into a rage and killed him." Vegira shrugged, then suddenly looked suspicious. "How did you come to know about that battle?"

'Don't trust him!' Gohan thought. "The other Roc told me; the one with half a tail," he lied, praying Vegira hadn't killed that one, too.

"He did? He told you I died, too? That bastard."

Gohan was only half-listening. If Vegira lived, then either Takira had lied or had incorrectly remembered the battle. It was possible that Koretz had injured Vegira, and Takira, panicking, had assumed the worst. But Kaio-sama had said something about--

"Wait a minute," Gohan said, "You killed Koretz? Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure, idiot!" Vegira snapped, "I should know who I have and haven't killed, shouldn't I? Oh, you're thinking of the other Roc, the one you talked to. He took Koretz's name to honor his fallen brother."

Koretz had a brother? A brother who'd been fighting with him? It seemed to make sense, but something felt wrong about the story. Gohan was going to ask more questions when Vegira turned away.

"Well, if my father's not here, I'd better go look for him and my brother. Do either of you know where they might be?"

"Trunks would be at Capsule Corp.," Chichi muttered, before she realized she'd spoken aloud. Abruptly she went silent, unsure of how much she should tell this stranger. He seemed satisfied, however.

"Capsule Corp., huh? I think I saw that on the way over. I think I'll pay a visit." With that, he shot into the night sky and was gone.

Chichi turned on Gohan. "All right, mister, you have some serious explaining to do! Just who the heck was that?" Gohan gave her a quick peck on the cheek and ran out the door.

"No time to talk now, mom. I've got to find Goten!" He took off in the same direction Vegira had taken.

"Gohan? Gohan! You mean Goten's out there, too? Why am I always the last to know what's going on?!"

*****

"I can't feel her ki signal anywhere here," Trunks said, shaking his head.

"Does she know how to hide her signal?"

"Shit, I hadn't thought of that. Of course, that's how she hid from us last night."

"Except she can't be that good at it, or you wouldn't have sensed her. Remember? You knew she was there before either of us saw her."

"So do we just hang around here and wait for her to slip up? We don't have all night," Trunks ranted, becoming steadily more frustrated.

"Trunks, you'll never be able to sense her in that state of mind," Goten reminded him gently. "Relax. Try again." Trunks closed his eyes, concentrating. Suddenly he opened them, and looked off into the distance.

"What the hell?" Now Goten could feel it, too; an immense power, moving fast, heading in the direction of Capsule Corp.

"That's not Takira, but I think we'd better check it out," said Goten.

"Right. Let's move." They took off in the direction of the signal. It was nearing Capsule Corp. when Trunks noticed another--no, two--somewhere nearby.

"Goten, what are those other signals?"

"One of them could be Takira. I'll check; you go ahead, but be careful. I'll join you at Capsule Corp. as soon as I figure out these others." Trunks nodded, and Goten sheared away, suddenly sensing a third signal, much closer.

"Something's definitely up," he muttered, "and I don't like it one bit. First Takira gone, then Kaio-sama's warning--" He frowned. It seemed a strange coincidence that Takira should disappear just before all these other powers showed up. Was this her doing? He couldn't bring himself to believe it.

The third power was almost upon him now, and with a start, he recognized it as Gohan. What was he doing out here? He was supposed to be waiting at home! He rushed up to Goten, not bothering to greet him, and said:

"It's Vegira. He's here. He's alive."

"What?!" Goten fell back, stunned. "How--he was--she said he--"

"I know, I know; I don't understand it either. He just showed up at our door, and then left for Capsule Corp. to look for Trunks."

"Well, he won't find him there, yet. Soon, though; he was moving pretty fast when we parted ways."

"What the heck are you two doing out here?"

"Looking for Takira. We can't find her anywhere. Trunks thinks it's his fault."

"What on earth are you talking about?"

"Come with me and I'll explain on the way. I've been sent to investigate the two power signals over that way," he said, pointing.

"Okay, but after we investigate, we go to Capsule Corp. and figure out what Vegira's up to."

"Agreed." The sped away in a flash of light.

*****

Takira stared at the Roc, and noticed his tail--or lack thereof. Suddenly she made the connection.

"You were the other Roc, the one that was after Vegira! You were the one fighting alongside Koretz!"

"Almost correct," he said. "I am Koretz. The being you fought was named Mordrig, and he is the reason I was trying to save your son."

"Save him?! Why would you save him?"

"Because I wanted to prevent Mordrig from getting a hold of a Saiyan; I knew what power they possessed." His armored mouth widened in a sardonic smile. "The fact that you nearly killed me just confirmed what I already knew."

"Well, that was my Oozaru form, I can't do that again--wait! How did you recognize me? You saw me die! How did you track me here?"

"I didn't track you; I followed Mordrig. The fact that you're here is a result of my actions, which is how I knew you'd be here. I recognized your power even in this strange body." He paused a moment. "Every race has its special powers. The Saiyans could transform into beings of immense power. The Roc can cast souls from their bodies to other places."

"Just what are you saying? That you sent me to this body?"

"I sent you to Earth. Your soul found the body itself."

"Why Earth?"

"Because Mordrig had spoken of your brother, Kakarot, as having come from Earth. It was the only place I could think of at the moment."

"Why did you send me?"

"So that Mordrig would have one less soul on which to feast."

"What are you talking about? Are you saying he controls my son's soul?"

"For twenty hours, he did, and wrote down everything he could conjure up from your son's mind that could be of use to him. It's how he operates. All he has to do is swallow part of you, and you're his." He spoke bitterly, and Takira understood.

"Your tail--"

"--is the reason two-thirds of my people are dead. From me he learned our weakness, and exploited it to its fullest measure before we were able to drive him away. Now I've been assigned to track him down and destroy him. How the hell am I supposed to do that?"

"Why did he come here?"

"I assume he's looking for Kakarot; he seemed so impressed with him, and no doubt your son was packed with tales of his abilities."

"No, I never told Vegira about Kakarot, only--only his father."

"Who was his father?"

"Vegeta, another Saiyan of immense power, who also resided on Earth until recently."

"What happened recently?"

"He died. Mordrig can't gain much from him now."

"What about Kakarot?"

"Dead as well." She breathed a sigh of relief that neither would have their souls harvested by this madman.

"Did either of them have any children?" Koretz persisted.

"Yes, and here are Kakarot's two, now," she said, surprised.

Gohan and Goten landed on either side of her, facing Koretz.

"Guys, what are you doing here?" Takira asked.

"Why'd you leave, Takira?" Goten blurted out. "Was it because of Trunks?"

"What? No, I just needed some time to myself; I was going to be back by morning. How did you know I'd left?"

"Trunks and I came to get you, to tell you--" He trailed off, eyeing Koretz suspiciously.

"Don't worry about him; what were you going to tell me?"

"We've seen Vegira," Gohan said.

"What? Impossible!" she moaned, clutching her hands to her head. "It can't be--"

"It isn't," said Koretz. All three turned to face him. His expression was grave. "It's Mordrig."

*****

'This is almost too easy,' Vegira thought to himself as he circled the huge domed building. Now, how to get in--there was always the direct method, but since he still didn't know where Vegeta was, he decided to take the more genteel approach; it had worked at that other house. The man who'd come to the door there had been the power signal Vegira had felt, and it was strong, but if what he'd written was to be believed, this Vegeta was even stronger. What he could do with that power--he smiled as he rang the doorbell. After a few moments and some muttered cursing on the other side of the door, it was opened by a man, bleary-eyed, hair tousled and wearing a pair of rumpled pajama bottoms. His sleepy demeanor lasted only a second before being replaced by shock.

"Who are you?"

"I'm looking for Trunks."

"First things first, pal. Who are you?"

"His half-brother, you dolt! Now where is he?"

"What are you talking about? He doesn't have a half-brother!"

"What's this? Vegeta never told Trunks that he wasn't his only son?"

Yamcha was astonished. It didn't seem possible, and yet, this stranger did bear an incredible resemblance to Vegeta, despite his deeply scarred face. Yamcha was about to reply when he heard Bulma behind him.

"Yamcha, what's--Vegeta!" she cried as she spied the visitor.

"Stop calling me that," Vegira snapped irritably. "I'm looking for Vegeta: my father; also my half-brother Trunks. Now where are they?"

"Vegeta's dead," said Yamcha. Immediately Vegira had him by the throat, lifting him off his feet.

"You'd better hope Trunks is here. I don't like to be disappointed."

"I'm right here," came a soft voice from behind him. Vegira whirled, dropping Yamcha. He nearly laughed out loud at the sight of Trunks.

"This is a Saiyan? What happened to your hair, boy?"

"Nothing," he replied calmly. "Who are you?"

"Your half-brother, a full-blooded son of your father, Vegeta." He heard exclamations of surprise from the other two, but Trunks remained still, staring Vegira in the eyes. At last he spoke.

"No."

"What?"

"You are not Takira's son."

Yamcha tried to calm Bulma as he began to put the pieces together. Takira--and Vegeta? Now this? It didn't fit, yet Trunks seemed to know exactly what was going on. This must have been the secret Gohan and Goten couldn't tell him. Standing there, with this strange Saiyan at his door, Yamcha wished they had told him.

Vegira was confused as well. "Takira? What are you talking about? I decapitated the bitch. How could you possibly know about her?" He began to feel like he'd gotten into more than he'd bargained for. He thought for sure he'd seen the last of Takira on that wretched little planet. The only thing he'd left standing was Koretz, because he'd already learned all he could from him. Takira's body hadn't provided any information at all, strangely enough. It had been unnerving, then; to hear her mentioned now, as though she were still alive, was beginning to border on disturbing.

"Are you saying she's alive? Here?" he blustered. Trunks nodded.

"Well?" Vegira grumbled.

"Well, what?"

"Well, where the hell is she and how did she get here? There was no way unless--" Suddenly he remembered. "Koretz," he growled. Trunks was suddenly on full guard.

"What do you know of Koretz?"

"Other than the fact that he killed my mother?" Trunks shook his head, smiling.

"Oh, I don't know if he did anymore. By your own account, you're the one who, as you so beautifully put it, 'decapitated the bitch.'"

"Will you stand against me? I'm your half-brother, flesh and blood!"

"I don't know what you are, but even if you are related to me, I can't trust you if you bear Takira such ill will."

"Did it never occur to you that she could deceive you, boy? Right at this moment, a ship full of the Roc is hovering over this planet, waiting for a signal from Koretz to begin their conquest; and your precious Takira called them here!"

Trunks didn't believe it. "Why would she call them here?"

"Because Koretz saved her wretched little soul and sent it here. Now she has to pay him back," Vegira hissed, with an evil grin. "I'm here to stop her. Now where is she?"

Trunks said nothing for a while, turning over the details in his head. It was quite possible that all had happened as Vegira said, and that Takira had only come near Goten and him so she could gain access to the training equipment, the better to assist the Roc in taking over--but then why call Koretz now, before she had a chance to make use of it? So many inconsistencies existed, no matter which story he chose. He sighed. He would have to decide. At last he looked up at Vegira and smiled: his father's smile.

"Go to hell, whatever you are. Go to hell and don't come back."