Voiceless

"Hey..."

Son Goku sighed as he held the phone away from his ear for a few moments of peace. Great. On top of everything else he needed to do today, he had to go fetch his delinquent half-brother from the police station at some point. "Stupid kid doing stupid stuff," he muttered, then put the put to his ear. "Yes, I'll go ge... Wait, what? You're kidding? No, that can't be right; Raditz isn't..." He closed his eyes. "Um, yeah. Yeah, I'll go see. I promise, Mom. Yeah, I'll call you when I get home tonight."

Goku dropped the phone on the couch and sat down heavily, confused. Raditz had been moved from the station to the mental hospital- without his family being informed. He groaned into his hands. Something deep in his gut told him that today was not going to be a good day...

~Le Timeskip~

"Where is my brother?" Goku demanded to know. The receptionist was not being very cooperative. "He should not be in a place like this. He's not crazy, just a little mislead."

"Mr. Son, if you'll give me a few minutes, we'll-"

The sound of shouting staff, breaking glass, and an animalistic roar suddenly broke the relative quiet. Both turned their heads sharply towards the noise. A door opened and seven or eight of the staff were struggling against this... tiny person, actually. It was almost funny how much effort they were putting into restraining him until Goku noted the wild, spiky hair and an angrily flipping tail.

Goku's breath caught in his throat. He's a Saiyan... I thought my family were the last!

Something about the boy- and he realized that it was only a boy- seemed off. His skin was tinted grey and his eyes looked glassy and unfocused. When he caught a glimpse of Goku however, all struggle ceased. They couldn't move him, but at least he wasn't fighting anymore. The boy was staring right at him, eyes wild but significantly calmer. He inhaled and spoke a single word, just loud enough for Goku to hear. "Hey..."

The doctors seemed surprised. "I thought he was dumb," one of them murmured. "I've never heard much of a sound out of him." They managed to get him out of the room, but Goku's eyes followed them; he had temporarily forgotten about his brother. That boy... He looked sick, maybe even like he was on drugs.

"Mr. Son?"

"Goku!"

Goku glanced up when Raditz dived into his arms suddenly, almost knocking him off-balance. "Raditz! What are you doing here, man?" he asked, whacking his brother gently on the arm. "Mom is gonna kill you! She's worried sick! What did you do this time?"

His happy demeanor melting quickly, Raditz hissed, "Oh, buzz off, Son. It's bad enough to hear it from her. I don't need you spouting off at me too." He pulled out of his brother's grasp and moved past him. "Just take me home..."

Goku tossed Raditz the keys, knowing he wasn't stupid enough to try to drive... again. "Yeah, I'll be out in a second." Once the younger Saiyan had stormed outside, Goku looked back at the receptionist. "That boy... The Saiyan. Who is is? What's he doing here?"

The lady sighed, taking her glasses off. "He's been here a couple weeks now. Somebody found him on the street going through some serious withdrawals. He doesn't talk; what you heard today was the first we've heard too. We have no clue who he is, or where he came from; so we have no clue if he has any family. If you ask me, he's a runaway. Some... teen sick of home or foster care or wherever he was." She looked into the now-silent hallway. "He seems gentle enough sometimes, but he's crazy. He stares at things for hours on end, not even moving or blinking. He shows a lot of signs of schizophrenia, maybe even a mild autism."

"I thought Saiyans were pretty much extinct," Goku mused.

"It'd be better if the poor boy was with his own kind." The receptionist shook her head. "It doesn't matter."

"You have a good day," Goku said suddenly as he headed out the door.

In a surprised voice, the lady replied, "Uh-... you too, Mr. Son."

*I have no idea what I'm doing!!! 😆😆😆I've never written a more modern story before! I don't know anything about how normal people act or how stuff like this works, but we're almost past the green stage now... 😅*

Goku opened the door and was blasted with music. "Raditz, turn it down, ya lunatic!" he yelled. When his order was obeyed, he got in and began the drive to Raditz's home. "Man, you gotta stay out of trouble. I get that it's fun, but it's dangerous too."

After a moment of silence, he heard Raditz mumble, "Yeah, I-... I know." Goku looked at his little brother. Raditz was partly curled up in the seat, looking small and vulnerable. His dark eyes flicked briefly to Goku's, then quickly away. "I need to stop all this before I get in too deep."

"What do you mean?" Goku asked gently. "It's ok if you want to talk. I won't tell Mom," he added.

Raditz looked a little ill. "I..." He shook his head. "It's not worth repeating. But I'm gonna stop." He exhaled deeply and hugged himself a little tighter.

"Ok," Goku said, and reached over to rub Raditz's shoulder. "It's ok, bud. There's nothing you can't turn around from, yeah? If you ever need help, come to me or Mom. Ok?" The other Saiyan nodded, blinking. He smiled weakly at his brother before looking out the window. There was silence again again for a few moments. Then Goku asked, "If it's ok for me to ask, what inspired this change?"

"I don't know," Raditz sighed. "I was never really that enthusiastic about all the... crap, that we were getting into in the first place. That and... did you see that Saiyan? The kid a bit older than me?"

Goku's breath caught in his throat for a reason he couldn't figure out. "Yes... Yes, I saw him."

"He was on drugs," Raditz whispered, confirming Goku's worries. "I... He looked awful. I don't want to end up like that. So I need to stop before it's too late."

"It's ok," Goku murmured. "If you can do this on your own, go for it, but if you ever, ever, need help, I will be right here, ok, bud?" He reached over and put his arm across his brother's shoulder. Raditz leaned a little towards his touch.

"You're... really not gonna tell Mom...?"

"Aw, heck no! I think she'd kill us both! I don't know about you, kiddo, but I enjoy my life."

*Ok. I'm not quite satisfied with this, but I guess it'll have to do. I guess this is more of an introduction to the characters than anything, I guess, but yes, the next chapter will be a lot more fun, hopefully!*