Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Fall of the Mighty ❯ Foreboding Menace Dismay ( Chapter 21 )

~One Out Of Every Three Americans Suffer From A Mental Disorder~

Alright Ashes. I'll update. But don't expect me to ease up!

So far I have 4 votes for Vegetasama to kill Gohan and 3 votes for Gohan's ass to be kicked back to the Namik saga. Votes on Piccolo are tied 4 to 4 with 2 undecided. Betting slips can be picked up in the lobby. All betting gates will be open indefinitely and all wagers are final. And no, Saiyan no Oujo Verali: 200th reviewer *!yay!* The shit has not quite passed his eyeballs…yet. Is that it? I think I covered everything between here and the end comments. ENJOY.

~One Of My Friends Has A Paranoid-Inferiority Complex And The Other Has A Severe Fear Of Confrontations. I Must Be Normal~

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"Oww, that hurt." Goku looked up at Vegeta's dirty, enraged face and paled. The ouji was trembling with black rage and turned back to where Gohan stood frozen, panic rooting him in place. A murky violence fairly glowed from the seething prince and Goku's stomach twisted.

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*Foreboding Menace Dismay*

Anger smoldered inside the demi-Saiyan. How dare Vegeta say such things about his dad! How dare he not take this seriously! Gohan put all his anger, all his frustration into the energy ball. He let it loose then squeaked at his error. "Dad!" The two Saiyajin disappeared in a cloud of dirt.

The dust settled quickly and he watched, helpless, as the prince held his father protectively. Vegeta's head turned his way, locking eyes with him When Gohan saw the look on his face he nearly squeaked again. 'He's going to kill me!' He cringed as if someone had just walked over his grave.

Kakarott latched onto Vegeta's arm tightly, not noticing the burns. "Vegeta."

No response.

"Vegeta!" The Saiyajin slowly turned back to him. "I hurt. We should probably go find Trunks. Okay?" The prince cast a last frigid, vengeful look at Gohan then carefully lifted Kakarott from the ditch and flew toward the labs.

Goku relaxed as Vegeta held him close, listening to the Saiyajin's berserker heart rate. Deep down he could feel a vibration almost like a distant purr coming from the prince but he wasn't about to confuse it with something so harmless. The prince was too tense and angry for that to even be a possibility. He'd never seen the prince like this before. The door to the building ahead of them opened and Trunks ran out but when he saw them he stopped and held it open. "What happened?"

Vegeta didn't respond, he just continued in and Trunks followed quickly.

Goten was flying contentedly enjoying the feel of the wind buffeting him, on his way to pick up his daughter when he heard the explosion ahead. Wondering what could have caused it, he put on a burst of speed.

Spice walked alongside a couple of other students, discussing plans for the rest of the day, when she frowned and slowed. One of the guys stopped to eye her. "What's up, bud? You forget somethin'?" She shook her head yes. "Yeah, go on ahead, guys. I'll catch up later." With that she ducked around a corner.

Spice appeared a ways away just in time to see Vegeta lift Kakarott and take off with him. She took in the scene quickly and stared in incredulous disbelief. "What did you do!?!" Gohan jumped. "Holy shit, dad!! What the hell happened?!!"

He looked like he was about to have a panic attack. "I… I…"

Goten arrived just then. "Hey! What happened? Is everyone okay? Where are the kids?"

Fleaa and Naga ran up to them shouting loudly. Fleaa jumped into her father's arms and Naga grabbed his leg. Together they pointed tearfully at Gohan and yelled in unison. "He hurt my grandpa!!"

Spice ground her teeth silently and took off jogging in the direction of the two Saiyan kis, not missing the light trail of bloody grass leading the way.

Vegeta stalked around the room while Trunks quickly checked Goku over. "Well, you seem to be in one piece. Are you sure you feel okay? No pains? Nothing out of the ordinary? We should get you to the lab for a thorough exam."

Goku shrugged. "I guess I feel okay." Vegeta stopped stalking and nodded before heading for the door. "Vegeta, wait! Stay." Goku stood up weakly.

"If there is nothing wrong with you, why should I stay?"

"Because you're hurt and you need to calm down. You're too mad right now."

Vegeta glared with narrow, smoldering eyes. "I will not calm down. I will rip him in two!! I will crush him until he begs for mercy!!"

Goku gaped. "He's my son!!"

"He tried to kill my mate!!"

Goku drew up, angry now. "You know perfectly well that it was an accident! If anything, he was trying to kill you!"

"And I will deal with him just as I've dealt with everyone else in the universe who's wanted me dead!!"

The sound of a throat clearing brought the yelling to a stop.

Trunks stood next to Spice both of them looking extremely serious. "He may be a moron but no one is killing my dad. Obviously a mistake has been made and it *will* be dealt with. What happened?" Spice stood as if barring the door with her arms crossed and a flat angry expression very much like Trunks'.

"Yes." The lavender haired demi-Saiyan added. "What did happen? I only heard the explosion."

Goku sat down heavily again. "I saw Vegeta and Gohan fighting and tried to stop them. Vegeta's been training really hard lately and he couldn't keep up. I sorta got bowled over in the middle of it."

Spice's lip curled on one side but she wiped her face clean again. "Vegeta. What happened?" The prince bared his teeth and did not answer. His tail lashed back and forth, hair brisling and standing on end.

"What happened?" She demanded in a firmer tone.

Vegeta let out a growl, his voice a sharp hiss. "That fucking kisama would not mind his own business. He felt he could order me around. I will not be threatened."

Spice raised an eyebrow. "I find it hard to believe that my dad threatened you but I can definitely see the two of you bashing your heads together. Continue."

"He threw me at Kakarotto."

Spice shook her head, trying to keep it all in perspective. There were enough pissed off people around here and she was not about to add to the pandemonium. People like them were not allowed to get pissed off because bad things could happen from it. She had figured that out a long time ago. An angry Saiyan or demi-Saiyan on a rampage was not a good thing. "You two were just being careless. Are you okay, Kaky?"

"I think so. I'm just a little weak and sore."

She looked to Trunks who nodded his agreement. "Good. Now. You." She pointed at Goku. "Take it easy. Get your strength back. You." She pointed at Vegeta. "You will too. You look exhausted and you're bleeding." She pointed to his side where crimson was oozing through the dark torn and burnt material. "You need to take care of your wounds. Trunks and I will deal with this. No one is going to kill anyone's father. You." She pointed to Trunks. "Come." Without another word she turned on her heal and stalked away. As they walked Trunks was silent. Spice glanced over at him. "Firm and tactless?"

"Sounds good to me." Trunks was doing very well at concealing his anger at the fact that one of his long time friends had just seriously attacked his father. It was preposterous that something like this could have even happened in the first place.

They exited to see Goten, Gohan, and the girls slowly approaching. They continued out to meet them.

"How's grandpa?! Is he okay?!" Fleaa still had tears running down her cheeks and little Naga's wide-eyes were just as shiny.

Trunks made his voice as neutral as possible. "You can try to see them but I can't promise they'll be up to it."

Goten nodded worriedly. "We'll see if they are." Naga ran up and hugged her dady and Trunks whispered something in her ear before sending her after Goten.

"You will not." Spice addressed her father. Trunks stepped in front of him, successfully blocking his path. Gohan was surprised but didn't object, he glanced self-consciously between the two of them and began toying with his torn and soiled clothes. He had a bloody nose and lip and one side of his jaw looked like it would bruise and swell but otherwise seemed unharmed. "Trunks, I'm sorry."

The lavender haired man spoke and there was nothing friendly about his voice. "Are you sorry about your father or mine?"

"I didn't… I wasn't… I didn't mean it. I really didn't."

The scientist wasn't about to accept that as an answer. "It feels very serious from where I am standing."

"I wasn't trying to hurt him. He wouldn't listen. He refused to even stop so I could speak to him. I just wanted him to hear me out…"

"So you thought you could force him?!!"

"No! I just…"

Spice stood back watching them start to argue. This would get them all nowhere new and her dad was just going to get into another fight. "Hold on a sec!"

They both looked at her.

"Intent means nothing when you can't control you actions, dad, isn't that what you always tell me? Now skip the excuses. You could have killed one or both of them. Did you even look at him? Vegeta can hardly walk strait. What were you thinking? Were you even thinking? Or was that why you did this now? 'Cause you thought you'd be able to get him to stand still if he was about to collapse already?"

"He started the fight!" Gohan replied defensively.

That sounded so stupid that she almost lost it. Forcing her fists to unclench she shook her head at her father's ridiculousness. "He's Vegeta!! What did you expect?! You are over sixty years old!! That is *my* copout not yours! What does Vegeta usually do when people don't leave him alone? You should know better. You do know better. You are the one going around trying to warn everyone about him and then you pull a stunt like this. You know, your credibility just went strait down the drain."

Gohan tried to think of something to say to the two angry people confronting him. "I'm sorry."

Trunks squared his shoulders, fixed him with an icy stare, and clenched his fists. "You said that already. It's not good enough." He stepped up to look the older man in the eyes. "My father may be many things but he is my blood. You have no right… If anything happens to him then you will have me to deal with."

"No! No, I don't want anything like that. I would never do anything like that. Things just got out of hand, that's all. It was a mistake!"

"Some mistake." Trunks growled.

"Please, is dad alright? I need to know."

Spice cut in again. "You should have thought of that before you two decided to rough each other up. Think about the position you put Kaky in. Now he has to keep Vegeta from killing you while he knows that you could have and maybe *would* have killed Vegeta just now."

Gohan whimpered and wilted, his shoulders slumping helplessly. 'Dad thinks I wanted to kill Vegeta?' "I didn't mean to do that." He repeated quietly.

When his son and Spice walked out Vegeta spun with a snarl and began to stalk back and forth again.

"Vegeta, stop."

The prince snarled at him and Goku sighed. "Vegeta." The prince stumbled in mid stride and Goku caught his arm bringing a hiss from him. "You're bleeding all over the floor, come on." He drew him by his injured arm to the table and proceeded to carefully tear the mostly destroyed shirt off of him, revealing blistered and cracked flesh. There were even parts where the material had been melted into and fused to his skin. A raw gaping wound that looked like it had been torn open somehow stretched across his ribs and side. Now Goku got a good look at Vegeta's arms. The undersides of them had been roasted. He didn't understand how the shorter man could stand the pain. He had even carried Goku to the lab with these injuries. The earth raised Saiyan tried to clean the wounds with a wet cloth but gasped as a piece of cooked flesh came away in his hand. Vegeta's throat constricted, the muscles of his neck were corded and flexed as if he were trying to keep any sounds from escaping his iron control. "Kami!!" Goku let go instantly. "You need a senzu!!"

"Dad? Vegeta? Are you okay?" Came Goten's worried voice from the hallway outside the door.

"Goten. Come in." Vegeta growled loudly at Goku's invitation while the others peeked in hesitantly. When Goten saw Vegeta leaning heavily on the table edge his jaw dropped.

"My brother did that?!"

"Grandpa!!" Naga stared in horror at her beloved grandfather.

His pissed expression softened and faded. His voice sounded hoarse for a fraction of a second but regained it's normal tone immediately. "I'm fine. It's nothing. Go play."

She refused to budge. "Does it hurt, grandpa?"

Vegeta drew up regally. "Of course it doesn't hurt. This is merely a flesh wound, I'll be fine. You've gotten stronger over the last few lessons, haven't you?" He waited for Naga to nod her agreement. "Take the girl and go practice. I'll come soon and you can show me what you've learned."

Naga's fearful stare changed to happy excitement quickly. "Yeah! We'll practice and then you can see how great we are at ki! I've got a trick I can do, you wanna see?"

His lips made a tiny quirk and he nodded. "Later. Go practice. Make it perfect."

Goku smiled encouragingly to both girls and agreed with the prince. Naga quickly ran up and hugged her grandfather's leg like her dady had told her to. "I love you, grandpa. You get better and we'll go practice. We'll make you proud." Then, completely reassured, she grabbed Fleaa's hand and dragged her out.

Immediately after the girls left Vegeta's black expression reappeared and he rasped at Goten. "Get out!"

Goku ignored him and pulled Goten over to the prince. "He's been burned really bad. It won't heal."

Goten took in the extent of the damage and swallowed hard at the bile that rose in his throat. By now Vegeta's adrenaline was beginning to fade and he started to shake slightly. "We need a sensu."

Goku nodded. "I know. I don't have any."

Vegta looked up. "Baka! You have a whole bag of them!"

Goku shook his head unhappily. "I can't remember where I put it. I have to go look for it."

Vegeta just stared for a second. "Temee!! Bakayaro!!"

"Goten, make sure he's okay. Make sure he doesn't go anywhere." Then Goku pressed two fingers to his forehead and disappeared.

Goten looked back at Vegeta uncertainly. "Are you in pain? Do you want anything?" The ouji just glared from his position half propped up by the metal table, a pool of crimson was accumulating on the shiny surface and his breathing was beginning to speed up and turn shallow. The younger man looked around for something to staunch the flow.

"Please, just tell me if dad's okay."

Spice glanced up thoughtfully. "Kaky's… fine. He's not here anymore." She frowned. "I'll be right back." She winked out of existence.

Gohan blinked curiously. "He's gone? What…? What about Vegeta?"

Trunks stared him down coldly and pointed to a red splattered patch of grass a few feet away. "He wouldn't let me examine him."

Gohan now noticed the sparse trail of bloodspots leading to the building. 'Oh no! What did I do?' He sucked in a breath and took an involuntary step forward but Trunks caught him by the front of his shirt. "You've done enough."

Suddenly the door to the building smashed open. "TRUNKS!!"

For the life of me I can't remember which movie it was but I saw a movie where a lot of people were badly burned. It could have been a war movie or something (maybe We Were Soldiers or something). When one of the rescue people tried to move one of the burn victims, he grabbed him by the legs and the entire outer layer of the shins came off in the guy's hands. Very graphic and the wounded person just lay there and screamed. It was one of those moments where you stare at the screen and think 'did I just see what I think I saw?' Just thought I'd share that. I'll wait while you all go puke now.

I partially agree with Hyperbole. The idea just seems off somehow but…he's so exotic that it's kinda…tantalizing? Is that a good word? *teehee* I've thought about this way too long, I'm probably going to start having dreams about whether he should be or not.

Bobbin. You got me. I haven't really thought that far yet. *puts on a pair of nerdy glasses and grabs a clipboard in the hopes of faking some much needed intelligence* Saiyan's have a stronger and therefore more dominant physiology than humans. That is why Saiyan characteristics have continued to pass down through several generations even with the dilution of the Saiyan blood. But… One Saiyan characteristic is black hair. Somehow, in Vegeta's family that characteristic has been continuously undermined. So, in closing, I would like to extend my theory that, for a human male/Saiyan male mating to produce children it would depend upon the human male. But then again I could be wrong and the fact that all the Sons have black hair is just because all their mates had black hair and Tong could be in deep shit with any random guy who walked by. There. You happy? I gave absolutely no answer at all. By the way… I don't like that word, it puts an itch between my shoulder blades. You will not call my creations that word. It just sounds wrong. You are right but it sounds soooo wrong.

Woah woah! Hold on now! Let's tone down the hostility. There's enough hostility in this fic already…well…there will be. *grin* I haven't decided yet how to "deal" with certain individuals.