Thunk!

a short and Vegeta "buddy" fanfic

by

mkh2

~

After getting his head hit on the side of a mountain (an accident!) Vegeta reverts to a more childlike state, leaving a very depressed Goku to take care of him.

~

Disclaimer: Oh, now you want proof that I don't own DBZ? Okay, let's see what I have in my pockets… Ah, I have exactly 41 cents (a quarter, a nickel, a dime and a penny) a small ball of lint that looks like Ronald Reagan's head, and half a stick of sugarless gum (how'd I get sugarless?) However, I did not find the rights to DBZ in any of the numerous pockets on my person. No, no, dear hearts, I'm afraid it still belongs to Akira Toriyama.

~

The name is the best I could come up with on a migraine (ooh… my achin' head…) and I named it because, after I had crawled under a desk (or was it the computer table?) to pick up something I had dropped, I decided to stand up while still under it. Therefore: Thunk!

~

"Yaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!" Vegeta swung his leg out kicking Goku in the arm. Goku wobbled back in midair, looking rather surprised, before barreling at him.

"Yeeee-haaa!!!!" yelled Goku, rocketing past Vegeta to then spin around and aim a kick for his legs.

"Ee-ha? Like a cowboy yell?" Vegeta scoffed, not even noticing Goku's attack. Caught off guard, he flopped over backward and had not time to react as his own, patented double-fisted slam came down on his face, Goku oblivious to where it struck.

As Goku watched Vegeta hurtle down to the mountain, he chirped, "I always wanted to do that."

Vegeta blinked his eyes in surprise before glancing down to the incoming mountain. Just before he struck he muttered "Oh, son of a Namek!" before all went dark.

~

Goku floated casually nearby, wondering when and where Vegeta was going to attack him from. As the seconds stretched into minutes, he worriedly searched out Vegeta's ki. It was flickering weakly down at where he landed. Mortified, Goku zipped down to the crater in the middle of the demolished mountain.

"Vegeta? Vegeta!" Goku yelled, throwing aside boulders and stones. Finding a white boot, he hurriedly brushed what was left away from the wounded saiyan prince. "Vegeta?" he called softly. "It's me, Son Goku – Kakarrotto."

"Keh?" came a soft voice. Dark black eyes blinked dazedly up at him.

"Keh?" responded Goku, not sure if he heard right – since when is Vegeta so quiet?

"Keh," affirmed Vegeta, who then flopped forward onto Goku's chest – he had passed out.

~

Goku had picked up Vegeta and flew him over to a nearby stream to clean him up and look over any injuries he might have sustained, either from the fall or from the sparring previously. Other than a slight bump on the top of his head, towards the back and mostly hidden by his thick hair, he was fine (no, the scratches don't count – he naturally was going to get scratched up, whether he decided to forcefully dig a hole where the mountain was with his body or not – after all, he was sparring with Goku.)

"Holy mother of NesQuik, he's been sleeping for how long now? We haven't even sparred for five minutes! I hope he isn't hurt too badly." Goku sighed and looked into the stream. "I'm hungry."

"Keh?" came a soft voice from behind him.

"Uh?" Goku looked back to see Vegeta sitting up, staring bemusedly at him. "Ah, Vegeta you're awake! Great! Are you hurt? 'Cuz if you aren't, I'm starving! Let's go get a bite to eat, okay?"

Vegeta smiled. "Keh!"

"Yo, Vegeta, Chikyuu to Veggie, this is Son Goku speaking, y'know, Kakarrotto? Are you feeling okay?"

"Keh?" blinked Vegeta thoughtfully up at Goku.

"Ah!" said Goku. "Is that an answer or a question? C'mon, it's me, Kakarrotto!"

"Keh!" Vegeta grinned broadly at Goku then leaned forward and let himself rest on Goku's shoulder. 'Guess he knows me,' thought Goku.

"Oh… okay then. You sure you're alright?" Goku questioned again.

"Keh?" Vegeta cocked his head at Goku.

"Oh dear." Goku frowned. "I guess we should go see Bulma."

"Keh," agreed Vegeta, before sticking his thumb in his mouth and taking a nap.

~

"Ah, Bulma, Bulma, you there?" called Goku nervously, sticking his head into her lab. "We kinda need your help…"

"Over here Goku – lemme just save this document and, ah –there! Finished." Bulma swiveled around in her seat and leaned forward on her desk with her elbows and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Now," she said in a deeper than usual voice, "what can I do you for?"

'Ah, great,' thought Goku. 'It seems she's gone on a mob boss movie kick again. What's the names of those guys? Don Juan? Don Jiji? Don Quixote? Sheesh… it could even be Pinnochio – it's some Italian name… Ooh! I better pay attention…"

"Actually, Bulma, it's what can you do Vegeta for." Goku turned so Bulma could get a good look at the little blue and black figure clinging to Goku's back in his sleep.

Bulma stood up, her brow creasing in worry. "What's wrong with him?"

"Ah, I dunno – we were in the middle of sparring and he ran into a mountain and it went "poof!" – you know, nothing out of the ordinary, and well, somethin's up an' I dunno what it is." Goku sped through real fast as Bulma led him over to an examining table.

"Uh huh," said Bulma dryly. "Nothing out of the ordinary. Riiiiight. Okay, now Goku, I want you to start over from the beginning of the fight and tell me everything."

Goku took in a deep breath. "Okay, so, we went over to this mountain where I found no one was nearby – 'Geta insisted on taking the credit though – and we got into our stances on the ground to get ready to fight…"

~

"…Then Vegeta cocked his head at me and said "keh?" and I said "oh dear" and frowned. Then I said, "I guess we should go see Bulma" – that's you – and Vegeta agreed with me by saying "Keh" again, at least I think he agreed, I'm not sure, and then he stuck his thumb in his mouth and took a nap. So I picked him up and –"

"Ok, Goku, that's enough," Bulma's right eyebrow was twitching. She just had to tell him to tell her everything, didn't she? Vegeta, who was sitting on the table, didn't seem to take too well to her, generally fidgeting and shoving away her hands while she tried to examine him, though Goku sometimes managed to distract him, often chiming in whenever Goku said 'keh.'

"Yeah, and that's what happened," hurried Goku, nodding his head once. He blinked his eyes at Vegeta who also nodded his head once firmly and determinedly stated "Keh."

"So, Bulma, what's wrong with him?" Goku watched as Vegeta kept shoving Bulma's hands away from him.

"Well, Goku, it seems that the bump that Vegeta received from his crashing into the mountain has caused him to revert to a more childlike-mind…." Bulma sighed, curiously watching as Goku offered Vegeta some crayons and papers, which Vegeta and ran to find a good place on the floor to sit and draw, but not before grinning cutely up at Goku, soliciting a pat on his head from the good-natured saiyan.

"Oh, then, well, what should we do?" Goku sweatdropped when Vegeta held up a picture for him to see of a big orange blob with long black spikes on one end was touching a smaller blue blob that had one big black spike on the same end as the orange one. (The two blobs were holding hands, obviously.) There were also two, upward-curving black marks in the center of each respective blob, supposedly smiles.

"Well, I'm going to do some research into memory loss and trauma, run some tests, the usual – you keep him busy."

"B- Busy? B- b- but Bulma!"

"But nothing, Son-chan – you helped get him in this mess; it's the least you can do. Besides, you're great with kids."

Goku smiled nervously and turned to look over at Vegeta, who now had at least ten similar pictures spread out around him, and was currently beaming up at him. "Heh heh heh, right… great with kids…"

~

And that's how Goku found himself, half an hour later, in the middle of the park having a picnic with Vegeta, who was now – due to his current personality – dubbed "V-chan."

"V-chan, come here, stay away from the lake, okay?" Goku reprimanded Vegeta gently, gesturing to the large picnic blanket that was laid out under the tree in the shade. "Let's eat now. Mrs. Briefs packed us a nice light lunch."

-By light, of course, Goku meant a twelve-course meal for the each of them.-

Vegeta waddled back over to Goku and plopped down right next to him. "Keh!" he said, leaning his head on Goku's shoulder as Goku opened the rather large picnic basket.

"Eh heh heh heh," Goku laughed nervously. 'Calm down, Goku, he's just like a child. Probably won't even remember a thing he does after this is over – it's okay to be nice to him.' He split the food evenly between the two and began to eat, eying Vegeta the whole while.

'Sheesh, even as a kid he's a neater eater than I am, or is that all part and parcel of being royalty.' Goku sweatdropped as he watched Vegeta eat his food just as fast as, though many times more neatly than, himself.

'Ah, well, what to do, what to do. I supposed we could always head to the zoo – but wait, they're doing a slimy, wiggly type exhibition this week, right? 'Geta hates that type of stuff.' Goku flopped back onto the blanket after handing Vegeta some more crayons and paper. 'I can't think of anything I can do with him besides eating – I never had many chances to take Gohan out and stuff since Chichi was really strict about him always studying, and then I died and stayed away for a year, then ended up in the hospital for about a month… and then I was on another planet and off of Chikyuu for three whole years… Aw, flippin' fettuccini, I can't think of anything!'

He rolled over on his side and then his eyes widened.

"Vegeta, no! Don't eat the crayons! Vegeta, no! You can't eat the bug. No! Not the bird!" Goku ended up chasing Vegeta around the park for the next couple of hours.

~

"Hey V-chan, V-chan, over here! Say cheese for Goku!" Goku cheered, waving the Polaroid camera at him. He was thankful that Vegeta had gotten bored of running around like a maniac and was content to chase after a butterfly flittering around lazily just out of their reach.

"Keh!" Vegeta chirped, half-smiling confusedly at Goku, now distracted from the butterfly he was chasing. The butterfly, realizing it was no longer being chased, hovered nearby.

"Okay… say 'keh!' for me then," Goku sighed.

"Keh! Keh!" Vegeta chirped then went very still as the butterfly landed on his nose. "Keeeeeehhhhhhh!!!!!!!" he breathed, his eyes becoming impossibly wide, crossing while trying to look at the colorful creature perched on his nose.

*Click* 'Well, that's one for the photo album,' thought Goku. 'He really does look just like a kid…'

"Kerchoo!" Vegeta flopped back onto the grass and laughed as the startled butterfly took flight.

"Yup, just like a kid," sighed Goku. Closing his eyes, he leaned back on his elbows and let the sun warm his face. He gave a startled yelp and his eyes snapped open when he felt something crawling into his lap.

Vegeta blinked innocently up at him, one hand and one knee in Goku's lap. He quickly turned and tried to sit in it but Goku shoved himself back, causing Vegeta to land back onto the patch of clover that Goku was sitting on. He pouted.

"Keh?" Vegeta crawled over to him, giving him big sad puppy-eyes, eyes that reminded him of when Gohan was smaller and used to ask to sit and nap in his Daddy's lap.

Suddenly Goku found himself staring deeply into Vegeta's eyes. They were not the old, sad, tired eyes that he were familiar with, the ones that would quite suddenly and inexplicably come to light, like when he was fighting and sparring, or talking about the proud Saiyan race… or eating strawberry ice cream on a hot summer's day. Instead he found the eyes of a child, not quite like Gohan, but it was enough to make him know for certain that this person was not the Vegeta he knew and thought of as a friend. Would the Vegeta he knew ever come back?

Goku couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out: "Vegeta! I want the old Vegeta back… Don't look at me with those eyes… You're making me sad." Goku ended on a whisper then sighed and leaned forward, elbows on his knees, brokenly. Vegeta, sensing his distress, crawled over to Goku and lightly patted him on the cheek before snuggling under his arms and taking another nap.

~

Now Goku was sitting in the back of a café – Vegeta was hungry, as was he, and he let Goku know right away.

"Vegeta! Stop it! Why won't you grow up! Why can't you remember!" yelled Goku angrily at Vegeta. Vegeta's eyes filled with tears and he turned and fled from the shop.

"Vegeta! Vegeta, come back! I'm sorry!" Goku hurriedly threw some money on the table and chased after him. "Vegeta!"

"Keh! Keh!" Vegeta cried, running blindly into the road. He never even noticed the car coming at him.

"Vegeta! No!" yelled Goku, watching in horror as the lithe figure was flung across the road and into the wall of a building at the other end of the street. The small, dust-covered figure slumped down and landed in a tiny heap on the sidewalk.

"V-chan!!!" He raced over and gingerly picked up the smaller man. "Vegetaaa! Open your eyes!" Goku cried painfully.

Vegeta's eyes fluttered open and he moaned lowly.

"Ka- Kakarrotto? What the HFIL do you think your doing? Get your lowly third-class hands off me!" Vegeta hissed, his voice cracking more than a few times.

"Vegeta! You're okay! You're back to normal!" And with that said, Goku glomped tightly onto Vegeta and half suffocated his tired friend out of joy.

~

Goku and Vegeta wearing now relaxing in the living room at the Capsule Corp, Vegeta quickly falling asleep after having used up so much energy today. Goku himself was nearly asleep when he noticed a blue-haired shadow creep up slowly behind Vegeta, a large wooden baseball bat in her hands. His eyes bugged out as he saw her raise the bat above her head, Vegeta's head lying innocuously on the pillowed armrest of the couch.

"Bulma! No!"

*Whack!*

"Keh?"

"Noooo!!!!"

~Owari~

Hah! Well, that's that -; originally, this story was going to end differently, but I changed this last bit when I remembered an old Tom and Jerry cartoon where Tom got a bump on his noggin and ended up thinking he was a mouse. Jerry was so pleased to have Tom back to normal that he hugged and kissed Tom before running off to his bed, leaving behind a very confused cat. Unfortunately for them both, the servant lady hadn't realized this and gave Tom a third bump, sending him scurrying right back into Jerry's mouse hole and bed to sleep.

Here's the original piece:

"Well, Kakarrotto, what has been going on all day? It was morning when we started sparring and it's sunset now." Vegeta was feeling quite content now as they were flying towards Capsule Corp since Goku had treated him to twenty scoops of strawberry ice cream.

"Ah, well, not much really, 'Geta," laughed Goku. "But I'll say this: I never knew you had so much energy in you! I'm exhausted!"

"Ha ha! I am very energetic, am I?" boasted Vegeta proudly, hands on his hips and eyes closed.

"Yeah, like the Energizer Bunny, or Arale* on a sugar high!" laughed Goku, who then looked up. "Ah, 'Geta?"

"Don't you mean you on a sugar high?" Vegeta continued, ignoring Goku, eyes closed.

"Yeah, or Master Muten Roshi when he sees a bunch a pretty girls – but seriously, 'Geta…"

"Well, this Energizer Bunny needs to recharge his batteries."

"Yeah, but Vegeta, I think you should open your eyes…"

"Why, baka?" Vegeta opened his eyes just in time to fly smack dab into a tree.

"I hate you Kakarrotto."/ "Keh."

--I couldn't decide on which of those last two sentences I wanted Vegeta to say. I thought the first one was just funny, but my Veggie could never really hate Go-kun so I had a hard time of choosing ^-^; Ah well, c'est la vie.

Notes:

Arale*: Arale was the main character – a little robot girl – on Dr. Slump, a manga made by Akira Toriyama. She is featured on an episode in the earlier Dragonball series when Goku was racing to find the balls before the Red Ribbon Army did in "Penguin Village."

Gah, also I'm sorry about the jump from them being in the park to them being in the café – I had some problems when writing in the piece where they wander into a candy store and Vegeta has to get this huge stick candy (every time my sis and I would go to Disneyland with our Dad we would get one of those large minty sticks on Main Street before leaving and try and see who finishes the candy last.) Unfortunately, I had ended up getting much of my little Bejee's (Vegeta: stop calling me that- I sound French. mkh2: Bejee! Bejee! Bejee!) hair lopped off and I like his hair, and when I looked back at that piece it just sounded so… naughty. So I took it out. I might put it back up later once I clean it up again. (Gack! I never realized how many innuendoes you can get from stick candy, and I'm going to be 20 soon. . Yes, I'm a clueless dope. [Tippy: No duh. Took you how long to realize this? mkh2: Shut up you!])

Hiya, all my reviewers. Thank you so very much for your nice words.

Le's see: hello to (in order of latest review):

Chuquita

DarkLady225

Nitte iz

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Start: 10:00 p.m., 08/27/2003

Finish: 12:04 a.m., 08/28/2003