Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Downward Spiral ❯ Chapter Two ( Chapter 2 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Chapter Two

The bright lights were almost blinding as he stumbled into the large laboratories, he winced as the harsh lights struck his onyx eyes, blinking to get back his sight his vision slowly returned. As he looked around he let loose a low whistle, he couldn't remember this place being so large! It was like stepping into a football field, though he doubted a field would be that big - he wandered into the white labs and closed the door firmly behind him.

The white walls and masses of tables, machines, inventions and clutter invaded his senses, it was almost overwhelming, and for somewhere so large he sure expected a hell of a lot more space! He could barely manoeuvre through the labyrinth of objects. The drone of the machines wasn't quite deafening but it wasn't quiet either, but it still made Goku shudder as he began to look about for Bulma. Where was she anyway? Vegeta said she'd be up, but maybe she was asleep?

He checked the large clock above one of the many desks filled with blueprints; two-twenty a.m. Okay, there was no way any sane person would be awake at -.

“Goku!”

He gave a slight chuckle; well Bulma had never been normal, had she?

Curiously he gazed across the room to a huge pile of papers and capsules, and from behind it Bulma emerged, a CC hat covered her long, blue hair that was slightly ruffled, and shadowed her eyes - it looked like she'd just had a shock or upset the way her eyes had clouded. She pulled her jacket tightly around her body as she tiptoed through a maze of work toward Goku.

“Hi Bulma! How's it going?”

Giving a wink he smiled, still holding tightly onto his injured nose, the blood had only just stopped but the pain was still intense, like a sharp, throbbing burn. It was almost agonising, he couldn't stand it, and to think, Vegeta caused this sort of pain to himself on purpose! It didn't make sense. It hurt! He felt his anxiousness and nervous fear rise in him, Kami he wish he knew how to help Vegeta, it killed him to think that someone he loved so much could be going through so much, and he didn't even know what he could do . . . He had to talk to him!

As soon as her eyes met his she yelped and rushed over to him. Goku's heart raced; what was wrong? Kami! She looked really panicked, her face was so white and her eyes so wide . . .

“Goku! What on Earth happened to your face? Kami, are you okay?”

“Oh!” He gave another laugh. “You had me worried, Bulma, I thought I had an extra head or something the way you reacted. You mean this?” He let go of his nose and winced at the pain. “Don't worry, it's nothing.”

“Nothing? Like I believe that.” Grabbing his arm tightly she yanked him near to her for a closer look and examined him closely, she gave a short scoff and rolled her eyes. “Okay mister, follow me.” Goku gave a yelp for a protest as she dragged him through many tools and machines to a cluttered desk; brushing the contents onto the floor she gave a signal for him to sit up.

“So how'd you manage a broken nose?”

Rummaging wildly around in a filing cabinet she eventually pulled out a large box full of numbered capsules, as she started a new search for the right number Goku spoke up. “Well I was sparring with `Geta and he hasn't half improved on his technique -! Just he punched a little too hard.”

“Well I'm not surprised he broke your nose, he always gets carried away when he trains. You know last week he made Trunks and Goten cry! The poor little chibi's in tears all because he pressed them too hard, he expects them to be able to take the same things you two can, and I tried to tell him that boys can't keep up with the training of two grown men, but he won't listen! What surprises me though is that for one, he lets you call him `Geta and two, he's not in here with some horrific injury as well! Usually you'd have attacked back.”

“I did!” He said with a proud smirk. “Sent a energy wave right into his shoulder, bloody isn't even the word!”

The explosion as a capsule suddenly burst open made him jump from his skin, he looked down to she a large medical pack. The noise coupled with Bulma's reddened face was enough to make him wince and try to scoot away, he scratched his neck nervously, what did he say? He obviously said something! She was shaking with anger.

“What!”

“What?”

“Goku! If he's injured himself then why didn't he come and get the medical attention he needs? He always pushes himself too far! What? Now he's so powerful that the stubborn, arrogant fool doesn't even need a wound healing? He's a bad example for Trunks! He's going to -.”

Oh, now he understood. She was angry Vegeta didn't get his shoulder sorted out, she was probably really worried about him and wanted to make sure he was okay. Damn! He wasn't supposed to tell Bulma about Vegeta, was he? Vegeta couldn't ask for help because of his cuts, and Goku promised to keep it secret, but if Bulma knew about his shoulder she'd want to see it and -. Uh-oh. His heart raced fast against his ribs as a sickening feeling rose. Vegeta would never trust him again!

“No!”

“Excuse you?” Bulma gave him a sceptical look.

“Oh, sorry! Just you shouldn't be angry with `Geta! He's not injured. He - err - he's got a bloody shoulder because . . .” He looked around for something to help him out, his eyes fell uneasily upon his own body - the blood covering his clothes reminded him of his own injury . . . He gave a mental cheer. That might just work! “He's got a bloody shoulder because it's my blood!”

“Yeah sure. Goku - how did Vegeta manage to get your blood on him, and why isn't he in here either?”

“He got covered in my blood because I was upset and wanted a hug. Yeah! So that's why Vegeta got my blood on him!”

“Oh, please! Like that monkey Prince would let anyonehug him?”

“Err - he must have been really guilty? Well anyway, after he hugged me he told me to tell you that he's not here because he had to go get changed into some different clothes!”

She gave a low growl. “I can't believe him! He injures you and still thinks only about himself! He should be in here apologising, not finding a new outfit to wear!” Rummaging around in the pack she pulled out some vials of liquids and cotton wool, examining them closely in the light she undid them and poured some clear liquid onto the wool. “Okay, Goku, I've ran out of senzu beans so I'm going to have to do this the old fashioned way. I'm going to have to clean you up first, so this might sting a bit.”

He watched her come closer and shuddered, pulling himself further back on the metal desk. “Do you have to clean it? Can't you just mend it somehow?”

“Don't be a baby, Goku! It's not as though I need to give you an injection or anything!” She pulled back as he flinched. “Goku! I'm not going to give you an injection! Hold still!”

As she brought the wool to his face both of them flinched; the laboratory doors swung open slamming loudly into the walls, louder than the roar of machines and deafening to Goku and Bulma. Goku tried to look at the intruder as best as he could, but it was hard to see when Bulma was making him keep his head back.

What he could see however was Vegeta, slamming the doors closed behind him as he stormed into the labs wearing a look of absolute confusion. Goku nearly sighed at the sight of him. He looked so different, Goku nearly fazed out into a dream state. Vegeta had changed into his favourite pink shirt, a black leather jacket and trousers - he looked quite handsome as his muscles and body was clearly visible through the skin tight material . . . Goku snapped himself back into reality. Why the HFIL was he focusing on what Vegeta looked like? It was stupid! Vegeta was suffering loads, Goku had a broken nose to get fixed and it wasabout two in the morning, and he was focusing on what the Prince looked like?

He scolded himself forcing back his thoughts, he found it hard as he realized that something was wrong. The Saiyan Prince didn't look his usual self; his eyes seemed misty and lowered and his face had lost the usual tension and anger. Why hadn't he noticed the expression before? Now he came to think about it, Vegeta hadn't been his usual aggressive self for ages! His eyes had been empty for a long time . . .

Bulma was the first to break the silence as Vegeta entered.

“How dare you! You owe someone an apology right now! You Kami damn broke Goku's nose! Oh, and speaking of which, you going to get changed because you got his blood on your clothes, which was your fault is plain evil! I mean you could have at least brought him in here to make sure he was okay, but no, you don't do you? I bet you haven't even called Chi to tell her where he is. You guys take this training too far and I swear -!”

“Onna, quiet! If Kakarott can't handle a punch that's his problem, not mine, so back off.”

Goku's eyes followed Vegeta as he strode across the room to the large pile of papers where Bulma had emerged from originally, in hopes of finding a chair to sit. Within seconds of wandering across the room Vegeta had suddenly let lose a yell of shock and prepared for an offensive attack. Goku jumped a mile as he spun to face the danger Vegeta had seen -.

"I thought I saw the desk and papers moving - I thought someone was there." Vegeta murmured, shaking his head and sighing.

Goku screamed loudly as the pain in his nose surged through him, consuming all thoughts and hope. It was like a fire touched his skin! “Ouch!”

“Well if you'd just hold still -!”

“What! You're the one who moved!” Goku said, eyes welling up.

“Well . . . It's Vegeta's fault, if he didn't scare me half to death my hand wouldn't have slipped.”

“Yes, that's right - blame me for you own fucking stupid mistake -.”

“Vegeta swear at me again and I'll give you something to swear about!”

“Yeah well, how about these words then, you Kami -.”

Goku flinched as a loud scream echoed wildly through the room - it was Vegeta again, something had shocked him. The scream had certainly frightened Goku, as much as whatever Vegeta saw had startled him. In confusion and annoyance Goku turned his head as much as he could as Bulma began to get back to work on his nose.

"I told you I thought I saw it move! I was right!"

He caught sight of Vegeta sending a furious ki blast on the piles of papers on the desk that Bulma had appeared from behind earlier, as the papers flew wildly a across the room, sleeping Gohan was revealed sitting on a chair behind the desk, now waking up thanks to Vegeta's powerful blast. Gohan's eyes groggily lifted to a furious Vegeta, he turned still half-sleep to a surprised and bloody Goku and an extremely annoyed Bulma.

“Vegeta! Kami damn! Do you have to scare us for no reason! Goku almost ended up with his nose like something from a Picasso painting!”

Goku didn't know much about Cubism art, or frankly much about art in general, but he didn't know about Picasso, Gohan shown him some of his works for an art project one day - frankly Bulma hadn't installed much confidence in him . . . “What!”

“Relax it looks fine.” She turned to Vegeta and lifted her cap to brush a hand through her hair. “It was only Gohan, did you have to over-react!”

“Huh!” Vegeta snorted. “He shouldn't have startled me then, should he?”

Gohan, who had just awoken had no idea of what was happening, he rubbed his eyes and looked up at Vegeta curiously, the older Saiyan seemed fascinated with his arms. Feeling uneasy he pulled his sleeves right down as Vegeta gave him glares of suspicion. “What's going on?” He asked sleepily, sitting up straight.

Goku tried to look at Gohan as much as he could without receiving any pain from Bulma. “What are you doing here at this time in the morning, son?” He asked with interest, suddenly it struck him, he paused to let everything sink in; he hazarded a glance at the clock and nearly choked on the air itself. The time! “Yeah! What the HFIL are you doing here this time, Gohan! Your mom will kill you if she catches you out on a school night - then, she'll kill me after . . . Then probably kill our ghosts!”

“Sorry pa, I - I needed to talk to Bulma about something important, it couldn't wait.” He stretched and yawned loudly. “I guess I fell asleep, we'd been talking for so long and -.”

“Gohan, you better get home now! Honestly, you'll be in some trouble else.”

Gohan shrugged. Goku's eyes widened at the disrespect, Gohan never had to be asked twice to do anything, and never before had he not cared about punishment. Goku exhaled loudly.

“Son Gohan! Home, now!”

Vegeta carried on watching Gohan, towering above him. Gohan merely yawned again. In a monotone voice he threw Gohan a cold comment. “That witch will only attack you with that frying pan of doom if you don't move, boy.”

“Yeah, I suppose - last thing I need is another lecture on how I'm a bad influence on Goten.” He looked up to Vegeta nervously as the older Saiyan still stared at him intently, arms folded. Vegeta's cold eyes focused on his arms and wrists. Gohan shuddered. There was no way Vegeta could know what he was talking to Bulma about, was there? He stood up shakily, pulling at his sleeves once more. No, it was illogical to think he could. Could he read minds? Did he have x-ray vision? Vegeta didn't know anything, he was just trying to psyche Gohan out, surely. “I'll call Nimbus once I'm outside dad, it'll be quicker than flying. I'll see you guys later - oh, and thanks Bulma!”

“No problem Gohan. See you later!”

“Okay son - make sure you don't wake anyone up as you go in!” Goku shouted as Gohan raced through the doors at top speed.

As soon as Gohan had left the room, Vegeta came straight back to life. “What the HFIL was that all about?”

“What?” Bulma asked.

Vegeta snarled and began to make his way over to the desk. “You know what? Talking so late at night, falling asleep here, acting very strangely . . . What did he do? What did he want?”

Bulma sighed. “He just wanted to talk.”

“Yeah, what about?”

“Like I'll betray his trust to a low-life like you!”

“Listen onna, I know something is wrong with that brat! He didn't even notice the fact that Kakarott had a broken nose! Since when did he not get upset over his idol's injuries? He was also acting very odd and since when did anything other than his studies ever come first, or did he shrug off Kakarott? He was hiding something. I know it!”

Bulma cringed as she finished with Goku, placing a small white plaster across the top of his nose. “Vegeta, even if he was hiding something, why are you so bothered? Why is it that you care so much?”

“Because he was pulling at his -! I thought he might be -. You know what? Shut up and get lost you wench!”

“Gee, nice manners there pea-brained, monkey boy, idiot!”

If Goku hadn't known these two for so long he might have actually thought they hated each other, or had just got into an argument, for these two ex-lovers though it was just their weird way of saying - . . . saying -. Well, saying something positive, Goku thought dejectedly.

Vegeta wrapped his tail tightly around his waist, moving close to Goku he sat down, not far away from him. Goku suddenly felt quite self-conscious, as he sat up reaching for his nose.

“Don't mess with it, Goku!” Bulma scolded, pulling his hand away like she would a child. “It won't heal properly else.”

“Okay, okay.” He cricked his neck and looked over to Vegeta. “'Geta? I need to talk to you in private, can we go somewhere, please?”

Vegeta gave him a sceptical look. What did he want now? He thought for a minute and it hit him - the self-harm. Kami, why did it bother Goku so much? “No.” He said finally.

“It's important! Please, Vegeta! I really need to talk to you!”

Vegeta sighed. It'd be cruel to make Goku worry, right? Yeah - and besides agreeing would get him off his back quicker, otherwise he'd be saying `no' to him all morning, or what was left of it. “Look, I'll meet you at your house first thing this morning, about seven-thirty, we'll talk for as long as you want . . .”

Bulma slammed the medical pack shut loudly. “You only want to see Goku at that time because you think Gohan's hiding something, and you want to catch him and find out what!”

“So?”

“Well you're seeing Goku, not him!” She said. “ So don't you dare upset Gohan though, or scare him or guilt-trip him! I know you Vegeta, you like to intimidate people and he doesn't need that right now!”

Goku raised an eyebrow. “Why not? What's wrong?”

“Nothing! I just meant it - it might distract him from studying, that's all . . .”

“Yeah, Bulma, that's what you meant.” Vegeta scowled. That boy had a secret, and Bulma knew . . . He'd find out one way or another what he was up to! Well if he had to meet Goku he could at least turn up a little early, maybe spy on the brat a bit? See what was really up. “Kakarott we'll talk in the morning I promise on my own life, I'll turn up early and we'll talk about whatever you want.”

This wasn't right. Since when did Vegeta ever agree to talk to anyone? Since when did Vegeta ever become this agreeable? He shook his head, well at least he was going to talk, never a look a gift horse in the mouth and all that . . .

“Yeah, okay.” Goku agreed.

Maybe he'd get the answers he needed after all, maybe he'd actually find out what's wrong with Vegeta, he smiled, maybe he could help him . . . He looked over to Vegeta and sighed, the Prince looked so attractive that it was hard to think those scars covered him and he looked so normal it was hard to think that anything was wrong. If it weren't for the fact he saw the cuts with his own eyes he'd never have believed it.

He looked into Vegeta's eyes and held back a sigh.

“Don't be late.”