After harnesses had been fitted to Zenza and Shuriko the question of when was raised. Bardock pointed out when did not matter so much as where. There needed to be enough space not only for a couple of oozaru, but allowances made for one likely to rampage. Here Nira objected; she wanted containment as much as anything else. “The gardens are large,” Trunks said helpfully from his station on the dais near Zenza. Unfortunately for him, the comment reminded Bulma that he was far, far too close to the experiment for comfort. Much to Trunks’ disappointment, Bulma handed him over to the care of Negin and Tamane and ordered all of them into the deepest, most windowless section of the compound. Most other King’s and Queen’s guards were similarly banished despite Bardock dryly pointing out that only directly experiencing the light should trigger any changes. There was a further delay as Radditz followed orders to make sure ground crew were cleared out and curious engineers were safe in their new capsule buildings, although the latter had access to a video feed and numerous devices meant to quantify whatever happened.

The green sky was darkening into jade by the time all safety checks were completed and all personnel had been accounted for and squirreled away for their own safety. A handful of guards fitted with harnesses were allowed to remain near the King’s Quarters, although still in a windowless part of the main building in case their equipment failed. A section of the garden, within sight of the royal chambers but well away from all outbuildings, was chosen for the experiment. Bulma planned on watching from the balcony, while Nira agreed to stay in the royal chambers with her own video feed, sequestered from the dangerous rays but close enough to react should something go terribly wrong.

Bulma was determined that nothing would go terribly wrong, not where the daughter of her only female friend on Vejiitasei was concerned. There was another delay while she communicated with her engineers in their compound, going over specifications and reviewing emergency procedures yet again. Finally convinced, she allowed Shuriko, Radditz and Zenza to take up their positions in the garden. Bardock stood near the entrance of the royal chambers, listening to the last-last-last minute concerns and instructions with interest, making sure he was far enough away from the balcony that no accidental rays could touch him.

Finally, “Ready,” Bulma said. She looked over her shoulder at Bardock. “You sure you’re okay there? Completely out of the way?”

The corner of Bardock’s mouth ticked up. It was at least the third time she had asked. “I promise that I really, really am, my Queen,” he replied.

Sighing, Bulma waved a hand. “Right, I know, sorry. If we’re good to go, let them know.”

Bardock touched a hand to his scouter. “Ready here.”

_______________________________________________________________________________________

Cupping his hand over the scouter “Acknowledged,” Radditz replied to his father’s message. He glanced towards Shiruko and received a curt nod. In the receding light from the twin stars, the other man’s activated harness almost glowed. “Lady Zenza?”

The little girl’s expression was tight with determination. “I’m fine!” she snapped.

“Right, then.” Radditz made a slight gesture with one hand, almost dismissive, towards Shiruko. “You’ll need to stand well back, Acting Captain, unless you want to be trampled underfoot.”

Shuriko’s response was a glare, although he took several large steps away.

Radditz closed his eyes for a moment, mentally touching that center that kept him calm. He inhaled slowly through his nose, opened his eyes, and carefully called forth the necessary primal energy. Light flickered around his forearms as the ball of energy formed between his fingertips, liming the three forms with an eerie light. Zenza sucked a shocked breath through her teeth. Radditz looked at her, smiled grimly, and held his hands high over his head before releasing the charged, surging orb into the sky.

After that, things happened very quickly.

It was as Zarbon had said. Since Radditz had gone oozaru on hundreds of times he was controlled enough to keep his mind as the change overtook him. Sinew and flesh stretched and reshaped until his bestial form towered over the other two. Shuriko took an involuntary step even further back, his pupils momentarily unfocused before snapping back to reality. His expression shocked, he stood his ground.

Zenza flinched into an instinctual crouch, but there was no avoiding the change for her. Her pupils shrank. Veins stood out in her neck. She staggered, claws forming along her fingertips as her body tried to swell outward. She cried out — a raw, unfamiliar sound — as the transformation’s surge overtook her mind. Her eyes went vacant, then red. Cloth ripped as the physical transformation caught up to the mental one. Roaring, she raised muzzle raised to the moonless ski before lunging, instinctively tearing towards the compound’s perimeter and the forest beyond. Ground buckled beneath her movements.

Bulma shouted, “Radd—”

“I’m on her,” he rumbled, launching forward.

Whirling, Zenza instinctively drove one fist into the ground towards her perceived enemy. In her inexperience she misjudged the direction; the shockwave ran along the fence line, twisting the best security barriers the Capsule Corporation could provide into twisted metal and sparking electronics. He rolled under her next wild strike, one clawed hand snagging the edge of her tattered clothing, the other slapping the ground by her feet. She rocked back. Only his grip kept her upright.

“Enough!” shouted Bulma into her mouthpiece. “Radditz, that’s enough!”

“Is it?” murmured Nira from the room behind her.

“Yes! End this!” Bulma yelled. “Um, wait, don’t end this end this…”

“I take your meaning,” came the reverberant almost-but-not-quite Radditz voice through her earpiece. It even sounded a little amused. “You might want to look away, though.”

As he spoke, Radditz struck again, hands clapping together in a controlled shockwave. Zenza reeled as the leading edge struck her, just long enough for him to grab her by the scruff. As small as she was in her normal form, as an ozurru the two were nearly the same height.  Holding her steady, Radditz slapped one furry hand against the center of her chest. The harness pulsed.

Slowly, painfully, the transformation receded. Zenza collapsed, trembling and furious.

Sighing, Bulma turned to find Bardock at her shoulder with the same analytic expression she sometimes found on her father, albeit without the accompanying abstraction. “Whoa! How long have you been there?”

“Just now, my Queen.

Stepping out of the hallway behind him, Nira’s expression was a combination of startled and borderline angry. Bulma hastened to reassure her. “I’m sure Zenza’s fine.”

“Oh, I’m sure she is, my Queen,” retorted Nira, her eyes on Bardock, still well out of the circle of artificial moonlight that touched the other two.

Sighing, Bulma turned back to the gardens, beginning to take in the twisted metal at the perimeter. She surveyed the damage in dismay. “What a mess. Vegeta’s going to be cheesed off.”

Radditz’s voice echoed from the speaker, the deep deep sound lightly shaking nearby vegetation. “No matter. They’ll repair it tomorrow.” Bulma saw the massive head turn; evidently his enhanced eyesight caught movement outside the engineering compound. “Ah. Make that tonight.” Turning his head up, he spat ki at the glowing ball overhead. It exploded like a cascading firework. An instant later Radditz stood over Zenza’s hunched form, arms crossed, regarding her sardonically. “The experiment is over, Lady Zenza. Come. Your mother will have questions, as will the Queen.”

All but ignored during the drama, Shuriko blinked once, twice, and shook his head as if to align his thoughts. With the destruction of the artificial moon, he seemed control. He hastily unfastened buckles and pulled straps until the harness could be shrugged off. A couple of the approaching engineers stopped to ask questions, only to be met with such a ferocious scowl that they stopped in their tracks and rerouted to check on Zenza. Leaving the harness on the ground, Shuriko marched back into the compound.

-_______________________________________________________________________________________

“I will check on your Captain,” Bardock told Bulma. “He will be reluctant to respond to your techs, but I may be able to goad him into useful information.” Bulma, already embroiled in the technical talk over her headset, gave a careless wave in acknowledgement. Bardock bowed respectfully before blurring out of sight, reappearing near Radditz.

For a moment there was silence between the two men. Radditz stood with arms folded, looking towards the scientists surrounding Zenza, refusing to acknowledge his father. Bardock stood quietly just behind Radditz, refusing to be goaded.

Finally Radditz turned his head. “What?” he growled.

“You are better than I expected,” remarked Bardock in what, for a Saiyan, was a very mild tone.

Radditz rolled his eyes. “This isn’t my first moon, Commander. I was controlled in that form before you ever came up with your party trick.”

“This is your first time since you became an elite,” Bardock pointed out. “I fully expected you to implode.”

Radditz did the half-snarl-glare thing that meant shut up in Saiyan body language. “I have trained in this form since then.” He glanced toward Zenza, who was snapping at the swarming techs and refusing to answer their questions. “She did well, considering.”

“Her training with the Heir seems to have stood her in good stead,” agreed Bardock.

“Any use you might have had is past,” Radditz snapped. “I fail to see what part you have to play now, Commander.”

“So formal,” murmured Bardock. “I imagine the Queen’s Captain has ever so much more to do than the rest of us. I’ll just take in the night’s breeze for a moment.”

Aware Bulma might still be listening, Radditz clamped his mouth shut against further words. He took off towards the Queen’s balcony in a flare of energy.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

The fence was down.

The fence was down.

To have come so far only to face the impossibility of broaching the royal compound with its impregnable security was despair-inducing, but the fence was down.

And the Queen was present. Her voice had carried clearly. So, so very close.

Already the sounds of approaching engineers could be heard. Loud and clumsy as they were, sneaking into the compound unseen was no problem. It was easy to slip between them, a quiet ripple in the dark.

There was a moment when detection seemed inevitable. One of the men lingered, raising his head, sniffing. His gaze swiveled side-to-side as if searching. It was cause to shrink back but after a moment he shook his head and continued towards the compound. The full moon was not yet here; as heightened as Saiyan senses were during this time, surely only one with the taint was to be feared. And the one with the taint was safely inside the walls.

It was just a matter of time before the Queen could be approached.