The Last Tuffle: Chapter 11

''Enoki Halusa, the last Tuffle to survive, escaped to Earth and created plans to eradicate the remaining Saiyans to avenge his fallen people. His robot ally reminded him to blend into Earthling society, and so, he briefly got a job as a mechanic. Still not satisfied, Enoki found a poster advertising for positions from a government from the Planet Name. Intrigued, Enoki signed up to be a bounty hunter to defeat the remaining Saiyans. For a while, Enoki earned money and was successful in going from planet to planet with them. ''

''Unfortunately, the corporation’s main enemies were members of the Frieza Force, with Glacin leading the charge. Enoki became shocked when he found out that Frieza was the one who blew up Planet Vegeta and eliminated most of the Saiyans. Enoki knew that Glacin would hunt him down for being part Saiyan. Enoki became enraged when he found out that Planet Name did not work for the Tuffles, but in fact stole their technology and used it for their own purposes, with no credit given. Glacin and his crew quickly defeated most of the Name members, even with Enoki helping them out, forcing the rest of flee. When they found out that Enoki was part Saiyan and that his goal was different, they deemed him an “unqualified Earthling” and fired him. ''

''Enoki thought his days were over, especially with Shitake berating him for leaving off for such a dangerous mission. But soon, Enoki falls in love with travel diva Burausu, a human woman. Looking like a human made it easy for Enoki to hide his true heritage. Several years pass, they get married and Enoki soon has a triple hybrid son, Edoes. ''

Many years later...

Son Edoes was no stranger to tournaments. He had participated in several matches throughout his life, starting at age eight. Though that didn’t mean he always enjoyed them. His half human side resented fighting 24/7…he much preferred traveling the world and studying ancient civilization like his mother, Burausu enjoyed.

His father was a nice enough man, very intelligent with a laid back side to him. Enoki had won a rock paper scissors match with Burausu when he was a baby, thus he got to choose his name. (Enoki bragged that it was a better name than Nansen any day).

Edoes’s knowledge of technology and love for science, had, of course, been passed down by his Dad. Enoki had told him that he was part human and part Tuffle, the smartest race in the universe.

“Your mother is fully human,” he explained when father and son talked on the couch in Enoki’s new home. (“New” referring to when Enoki helped to build it shortly before he and his wife got married.) Enoki’s robot companion, Shitake was busy putting solar panels on the roof outside. Burausu skimmed through business paperwork and passports. Enoki smiled genuinely at the eight year old Edoes. “But I came from another human-like civilization long ago when I was about your age. I came to Earth seeking more opportunities to learn and develop my skills. I am, what is called a Tuffle. Thus, you are half human and half Tuffle as well.”

“Can we meet other Tuffles, too?” The young Edoes asked with curiosity. “I’m sure Mom would enjoy doing research and observing their culture.”

Enoki laughed nervously, trying not to get triggered at the thought. Edoes leaned forward slightly, encouraging Enoki to go on. Enoki cleared his throat, “Well, you see…my people may have been smart, but they weren’t invulnerable to attacks.” Enoki decided to bend the truth a little.

“Sadly, my people were wiped out by an evil race called the Saiyans. The only things on their mind were battle, brutality, and bloodshed. They are one of several races that you do not want to get associated with.”

Enoki spoke in a serious tone, “The Saiyans will kill anyone who is not like them…and sometimes each other. In fact, they transform into monster Great Apes whenever they look at the full moon!”

“Gosh, how awful!” gasped Edoes.

Enoki nodded. “In this world, you need to be careful of certain individuals. Saiyans and Tuffles are the only ones who can conjure energy and use it to attack others. You and I are the last Tuffles left, so it is vital that we survive and look out for each other.”

Edoes went silent and took several breaths. “Are you saying…that there are Saiyans on Earth, too?”

Enoki nodded. “You can never be too careful. Those tournaments I sent you to were for you to defend yourself. It is an important skill to learn.”

Edoes thought for a moment. “Does Mom know you’re a Tuffle?”

Enoki laughed. “She wouldn’t believe me if I even said the word. She thinks I’m an Earthling native just like her.”

“Well I believe you,” Edoes said. “I wish I could see where you came from, though.”

Enoki’s face fell. “Me too,” he said softly. He sighed and embraced his son. After they parted, Edoes ran up to his room to begin his math homework. Like Enoki, Edoes was incredibly smart, especially in science and technology. He also had a kind heart, as shown when he eagerly helped his classmates with cleaning up the classroom before school and after they left.

Edoes stared at himself in the bathroom mirror, brushing back his blue spiky hair. His hair had not changed since he was little. His face was white, and his eyes were strangely black, not blue like his mother’s and yellow like his father’s. The logical conclusion is that his eyes should be green. But nope. Did Earthlings even have black eyes? Edoes didn’t know for sure.

Edoes got along well with his human peers at Orange Star Elementary. He set into a typical routine of going to school, getting work done, and playing baseball after class. Edoes had several new friends: Beets, Joshua, and Fredrick, one hybrid Saiyan and two humans.

“Edoes is a natural at baseball,” Joshua said, loud enough for his friend to hear. “He can run very fast and catch the ball in midair! I wonder if he has secret rocket shoes that his father made.”

“If you’re so smart at math,” added Fredrick, “Can you help me with my homework after school?”

“Sure, no problem,” said Edoes. Edoes turned to Josh.

“Joshua hits the ball right out of the park!” Enoki replied as he looked at his friend. “He kicks the other’s team’s ass every time.”

“And half the time, Edoes falls on his as he slides to home plate.”

“Shut up,” he replied playfully.

“Lots of girls seem to like you,” Josh mentioned.

“Gross,” spat Edoes crossing his little arms. “Mom says I need to concentrate on my studies and not the opposite sex.”

“You’re missing out.”

“No I’m not.”

“Yeah, I have a girlfriend now.”

“He he he he! If you mean the one on the cover of your superhero comic book you carry with you every day. Liar!”

Josh’s face turned red as he hid the comic book in his hand behind his back. It showed a red-haired girl waving a sword, dressed in a Japanese school uniform. “No one said anything about it.”

“I did.”

The two boys fought playfully until a teacher told them to get to class.

Beets called out, “How exactly did you jump that high up in the air during the last game? Only me and a few others at school can do that.”

“No idea,” said Edoes.

Edoes got through Orange Star Junior High with hardly any problems. Sure there were a few bullies, here and there, but Edoes learned to ignore them and be the bigger person. The work got harder but it was a great challenge for him. He did make a few more friends, but they turned out to be casual acquaintances whom he would occasionally go to concerts and sports games with.

As the days went by, Edoes felt like there was something about him that was missing. Though he wasn’t a great fan of fighting, there were times, whenever he got angry, that a strange desire to land punches and kicks was overwhelming. Needless to say, he became shocked at his ability to fly and conjure energy from his hands. When he got banned from the middle school baseball team for cheating, Edoes insisted that he didn’t do anything wrong. He only wanted to pitch the baseball, not create a hole in the fence behind the batter. When a bully picked on Joshua for being afraid to talk to girls, Edoes only wanted to push him away, telling him to leave his friend alone. Edoes got mad and mistakenly shoved the bully hard against the wall, knocking the brute out.

Edoes ran over to him. “I’m so sorry! What, what have I done?”

“Go…away…punk…” he groaned, before passing out. His body had created a large hole in the white brick wall. Students gather around to observe the scene.

Edoes looked at Josh. “Josh, this is not…”

“Our friend Beets was a Saiyan. He began to despise humans and fought off everyone in his path. And now you...you’re one of them?! I should have noticed the signs when we were young…”

“I’m not a Saiyan! I’m not like him. I don’t even know what he did! Are you making this up?”

“No, I’m not. Beets…he hurt my little sister.” Josh moved his head slightly to the side. “He had powers just like yours… I…I can’t risk getting hurt anymore.”

Edoes shook his head. “Josh, please listen to me…” But Josh ran off in disgust.

Edoes yelled in frustration and his spiky blue hair briefly turned a golden blonde. The students around him pointed and gasped, while a few other humans rolled their eyes, as if they were used to having Saiyans walking among them.

Sparks of electricity fizzed around Edoe’s hands, making him shiver. The unpleasant gut feeling he had whenever those power glitch events occurred surged back up. He took several deep breaths and reverted back to base form.

Worse of all, he could hear the whispers around him that he had only heard a couple of times in middle school.

''“Super powered monster.”''

''“What incredible power.”''

“Saiyan...”

''“He is definitely a Saiyan.”''

''“Stop showing off your abilities to Earthlings!”''

''“I heard his father claims he’s a Tuffle. That race is a myth that those alien monkeys wiped out, I heard.”''

''“Seriously, what is all this nonsense you’re jabbing about?”''

Edoes was sent to the office and the principal called his mother.

“Principal Ethanuski. Is this Burausu?”

“Burausu, yes that’s me…”

“Your son, Edoes…”

“Yes, what about him?”

“He got into a fight with Lewis the second in the hallway.”

“Did he apologize?”

“Yes, he did, but the damage he did…”

 “What do you mean?”

“He knocked a student hard against the wall, which damaged the wall and nearly killed him!”

“What? Edoes would never do such a thing.”

“Tell me,” asked the principal. “Does your son suffer from anger issues?”

“Not usually, but when he does…it, gets kind of troublesome…”

“Edoes needs to learn how to control himself! The other teachers let it slide when he was little but now that he’s almost an adult…”

“Don’t worry, sir. I’ll take care of it…”

Enoki’s voice sounded from the other end. “Honey, who’s that on the phone?”

“It’s the principal. Edoes got in trouble for beating a student up.”

The principal sighed. “I have reason to believe, that your son is not who he claims to be. His powers are beyond what humans are capable off.”

“He is part Tuffle, after all.”

“What the hell is a Tuffle? The only people who can do that extensive damage are Saiyans.”

“Bull s*it!” Enoki yelled, with protests from his wife. ‘There are plenty of humans with abilities to control energy. They can also be skilled fighters.”

“But can their hair change color when they get mad? Several students saw Edoes’s hair…”

Enoki slammed down the phone, and the principal was left with a beeping sound on the other end.

“Edoes?” he asked. A new hole had appeared on the ceiling, and no trace of him was found.

Edoes flew in disbelief back to his home. He barged in, not caring about the glass from the window shattering around him.

“Edoes!” shouted Barausu, wide eyed at the broken window. “You know you will have to pay for that!”

Edoes stood up on shaky legs.

His mother stared at him. “Son, why is your hair golden and wavy?”

She held up a mirror and Edoes could see his Saiyan transformation for the first time in his life.”

“Edoes,” called Enoki, who ran into the room. He stared at the broken glass littering the floor in shock. He snapped his fingers and a robotic vacuum cleaner sucked the debris away.

“What happened at school?” he asked.

“Dad…I got sent to the office, I left after he talked to mom on the phone. I think I will be suspended.”

“You probably will after what you did...” began his mother, only for Enoki to bump her with his elbow.

Enoki sighed. “I’ll call the principal again and clear him up on the misunderstanding.”

‘What misunderstanding, exactly?” Burausu asked.

“It’s nothing,” Enoki claimed. “Edoes, you’re grounded for several days.”

“But me and my new friends…”

“Don’t want to hear it,” said Burausu. “You are not going out with them and that’s final.”

“No fair! I was only trying to defend myself and push away that stupid asshole Lewis, but somehow my freaky Tuffle powers surfaced again. I couldn’t help it.”

Burausu scratched her black hair in thought. “I do remember him mentioning something about Saiyans…”

“About how Saiyans are vile troublemakers, yes?” asked Edoes. “That bully was one right?”

“No, he was just a human. I could tell!” said Edoes.

“How could you tell, exactly?” his mother asked.

“Tuffles can sense the energy of others, right? And they have magic powers similar to Saiyans, right?”

“I do know one thing,” said Burausu, “only Saiyans can have their hair turn golden blonde. That is the first time I had ever seen Edoes do something like that.”

“I have seen it a couple of times for about two seconds,” Enoki mentioned. “It occurs when Saiyans power up due to extreme feelings of rage and emotion.”

Edoes and Burausu stared at him in silence.

It was then that Enoki realized his grievous mistake.

“Enoki, hun, how do you know so much about Saiyans?”

“Research…”

“Not buying it.” She shook her head.

Edoes slowly turned toward his father, tears coming from his eyes. “Dad…I felt like something about me has been missing from my life. Am I really a Saiyan? A monster?”

“Of course not,” Enoki claimed. “You have unusual powers, that’s all.”

“You’re lying. I can sense it. I didn’t want to believe it but…”

“Believe what?” asked Burausu.

“I…I had this feeling in my gut that me and my Dad were unusual…”

“Enough, Edoes. Go to bed.”

“No, Dad. I need to find out who I really am!”

“Now is not the time…”

Edoes yelled at the top of his lungs. “I denied my gut feelings for years. I didn’t want to believe that you were part Saiyan. I denied that I might be part Saiyan even more…but now that I have awakened my powers…”

Edoes pushed his father hard against the wall. Enoki growled and stood up. Enoki let out a yell of his own and his hair turned golden.

Burausu screamed in shock. “Both of you are Saiyans?!”

“Why…Dad…why did you hide your identity, my identity from me and Mom?”

“Because those Saiyans destroyed my home world and I escaped to Earth. I didn’t want Burausu and the Earthlings to become suspicious of me, so I pretended I was an immigrant human. I am half Saiyan and half Tuffle. You, my son…you’re human, Saiyan, and Tuffle all at once.”

Edoes stared in shock, and observed his black eyes in a reflection of the cracked window. So many questions he had in his mind earlier in his life began to make sense.

“Enoki… you told me that you and Edoes were fully human. You must have kept your powers secret from me.”

Enoki nodded. “How else would I live my life here? If you had known earlier…”

“What would I do? Call the cops? Send a research team after you to use in experiments? This may be hard to believe, but I am tolerable of Saiyans…some of them.”

“So that’s why you raised me like you did…” Edoes said to himself.

“Yes,” said Enoki. “As a hybrid individual, I knew you would be exceptionally powerful. The Saiyans are still my enemies and I wanted to make sure you were able to help me kill them off when the time came!”

“I had Saiyan friends when I was younger!” argued Edoes. “And now my best friend Josh left me because he thinks I’m a monster. But I’m not a monster.” He turned to Enoki. “You are!”

The two young men fought once more.

“IF YOU TWO KEEP WRECKING THIS HOUSE, I WILL GET A DIVORCE, TAKE AWAY YOUR MEALS, AND GROUND YOU FOR LIFE!”

Enoki and Edoes stopped in their tracks and stepped rapidly back. “Don’t do that, please!” Enoki pleaded.

“Apologize and be willing to trust me more, then,” she said. “We cannot keep secrets from each other like that. And you cannot raise our son to be a weapon against the Saiyans.”

“Do you like the Saiyans?” Enoki asked.

“I tolerate them,” she responded. “They can do their own thing as long as they don’t wreck havoc on the city, or schools, or the HEARTS AND TRUST OF THEIR WIVES!”

Burausu stormed away. “Wait, stop!” Enoki called.

“Edoes…”

“You were lying to me this whole time! You knew we were part Saiyan and yet you chose to hide the fact from us. Now you think all Saiyans are horrible monsters, when you don’t even know them.”

“They destroyed Planet Plant! My entire family! The Tuffles and Neo Machine Mutants are all but extinct to the world. Just be lucky that you and I are still alive.”

“Oh,” said Edoes. “That’s it, isn’t it?”

Enoki nodded.

“Still, you should not manipulate me like that! If I had met any Saiyans who didn’t become my friends at school, in an area where I could fight… I could have been a killer.”

“Maybe…”

“That’s what you wanted me to be all along, wasn’t it?”

Enoki couldn’t deny the hard truth. He did love his son and wife, dearly. But his thirst for vengeance was a lifelong darkness that always resided inside him.

“And with Mom…you like her, but you wanted to marry her just so she could give you a Tuffle child.”

“Nonsense!” Enoki spat, his face red.

“I heard you and Mom talking about that the other day. She must have been able to figure it out.”

“But I do love her…and I love you.”

“But do you love getting your revenge more?”

Edoes ran off and cried in the backyard, leaving Enoki at a loss for words.