Hey, everyone!

I hope you all are still enjoying the story.

My muse is currently sitting in the corner of the room crying over the lack of reviews the past few chapters have gotten. One of my other muses is trying to cheer her up with a cup of hot cocoa and some yaoi, but she is adamant that no one is enjoying the story as much lately. Serradragon's muse is just looking on while shaking her head over the spectacle.

With all the chapters we've cranked out, my muse is running on fumes, and feeling extremely overworked. Please let her know if you are still enjoying the story. Your opinions might pull her out of her funk, and things might progress faster!

Serradragon and I really appreciate what you guys think, so let us know!

Goku wondered if he was beginning to go insane when he was glad to be in the ice demon's bedroom of all places. He was currently curled up in a ball on his cushion beside Shiveria's armchair with his tail laying curled over one of his hips to let the muscles rest from being coiled around his waist for so long.

He wasn't sure where Shiveria disappeared to after they returned, and she chained him to her chair. The submissive really didn't care where she went as long as he was left alone. Goku was dozing off out of sheer boredom as he rested, something he was starting to do more often he realized.

He wasn't able to do anything, and being still for so long was making him uncomfortable. His usually easygoing demeanor was rapidly being replaced by a near constant irritation and restlessness. At least while he was pregnant he was about to walk around or do light stretches, now he was lucky if he could walk around at all. When he got out of this, he was never going to take the freedom to walk on his own for granted again.

Taking a page out of Master Roshi's book he had tried his best to exercise his mind using the games he played with Gohan and Goten and going over his lessons from Tarble and his father. It just wasn't enough. Those games just weren't meant to occupy someone an entire day, everyday. He could only play "I spy" so many times in a room where the only colors were either lights on consoles or other aliens. People watching was a bust since all they did was grovel, bring Shiveria reports, or work at a console. If he didn't have to be on guard to look for his chance to escape, he'd try meditation again. His last attempt didn't go so well considering he tried to access his ki the day after he woke up. All that got him was a migraine.

He was entirely too thankful in his opinion that Shiveria had brought them back to her room as he had had enough of all the lewd stares from the crew of the ship. He hated any positive thoughts he had toward his captor, but those looks reminded him entirely too much of his arrival to Vegetasei, only this time he knew he didn't have his father, brother, or Vegeta to save him this time if they decided to do something.

He felt like a piece of meat with some of the looks he got, and now the only one keeping him safe from those people was a frost demon. The beta shivered as his mind flashed to Chirb's drunken gaze and wished he could scrub his skin raw. At least he only "looked" for the last few days, which was something of a relief even if he still felt violated from them. Goku blamed the party Shiveria held for the looks from the usually reserved crew. He knew for a fact that they stared at him on any given day, with how Shiveria made him dress he wasn't surprised in the least, but they weren't usually so obvious about it or vocal for that mater.

Goku initially wasn't sure why she suddenly demanded a celebration, and he didn't really care because it wasn't like he could enjoy it being chained to the wall by Shiveria's chair in any case. To find out she ordered the celebration to reward her crew for the conquering of a rival system only left a foul taste in his mouth.

The beta sighed to himself as he unwound his tail behind him while looking towards the desk tired of staring out at the stars. He wracked his brain for the hundredth time that day trying to put his finger on what was bothering him so much. It started the previous night, the nagging sensation that he was forgetting something important. He tried part of the night to think what it could possibly be before he gave up and slept assuming it was some appointment at the palace that only brought another pang of homesickness.

A soft whine escaped the beta as he curled in on himself more. He missed his cubs. He missed Vegeta. More than anything he wanted to be home with his family. It had almost been two weeks and he was still no closer to getting away, and the worst part was he was still unable to even grasp a flicker of his ki without coming close to blacking out.

Being away from Geta and Vegito, his baby, hurt like an open wound in his chest. He was coming up on two months soon and Goku was missing his baby grow up again. It was killing him that this was the third time he was missing his cub's childhood. At least he was there for Gohan for a little while, he completely missed everything with Goten since he was dead when the cub was born.

Black eyes widened as he sought out the calendar on the ice demon's desk. He had to think and figure out days on the Planet Trade Calendar, which was also used on Vegetasei, and what the Earth equivalent was. Double checking a second time nearly brought tears to the submissive's eyes.

It was Goten's birthday, today was Goten's eighth birthday. And he missed it. His eyes clenched shut as he curled in tightly to block out everything. He promised he'd never miss another special day with Goten, and he broke it. His hate for Shiveria only grew in that moment. Instead of being home and making his cub happy he was stuck here with this crazy bitch being treated like a dog and forced to attend a celebration for the murder of innocent people. It wasn't fair! Why did situations keep happening that made him fail his cubs?

'I'm so sorry Goten.' Goku thought miserably. 'I'd give anything to be home with you and our family right now. I'm so sorry I broke my promise to you.'

He wanted to give in and cry in that moment, to scream and rage at how unfair everything was, but he didn't. That wouldn't help him and all it would do was give Shiveria something else to mock him with. He took a deep breath and tried to will himself to sleep to end his horrible day. He was so focused on finding a few moments of respite he forgot to pay attention to his surroundings.

The hair on his neck rose as a hand grabbed his tail and felt around the base before he felt something hard brush painfully against the fur. The touch startled him so bad that he raked his nails over whoever was fondling the black furred appendage. He expected to see the blue skinned reptile bleeding from his assault and saw red as he snarled. Instead teal skin and purple blood registered in his mind as Shiveria clutched at a massive bleeding wound that wrapped around one shoulder and down her chest as she jumped away from him while dropping something small and silver that bounced on the carpet.

His dark eyes focused on the object, and his blood boiled as he grabbed the decorative tail ring and threw it at Shiveria with a snarl. She knocked it away with her tail and looked up at him absolutely livid.

"You're going to pay dearly for this pet." She hissed. Goku snarled and grabbed his chain ripping it off the chair where it was latched by tearing the arm of the chair completely off as he stood and faced her. His rage gave his physical strength a boost as he glared at the frost demon.

"I. Am. Not. Your. PET!" Goku snapped defiantly as he snapped the chain near his collar before throwing it and the piece of chair at Shiveria. He was done playing her games. "My name is KAKAROT!" He snarled as she dodged his weapon and lashed out with her tail at him aiming for his throat. His arm shot up as he blocked her strike by stepping back and allowing the tail to wrap around his forearm much to Shiveria's surprise. His hands clamped down on the slender appendage with his nails digging into the flesh as he grabbed it with both hands and heaved.

"Lets see how you like being dragged around." He spat swinging the surprised woman into the side of her desk with a snarl before he heaved again slamming her into the floor. He felt satisfied when the beta saw a smear of purple blood stain the pristine carpet. He tightened his hold on the tail with little crescent marks from his nails causing more drops of blood to fall.

The submissive pulled the frost demon closer with a snarl, and he attempted to stomp down on one of her hips. Shiveria managed to roll out of the way enough to make Goku land a bit off balance. She aimed a weak ki blast at his head, but he pulled back so the energy missed his face.

Seeing that he couldn't match her like this, the beta took a step back and pulled on Shiveria's tail lifting her petite body off the floor. She kicked out at him as he went to slam her a second time, and he let go of her mid swing sending her crashing through the door to her room.

Goku's chest heaved with his exertions and rage as Chirb and two guards rushed in with blasters pointed at him. He snarled at his rapist and jumped away from the lizard who came at him faster than expected.

"Enough!" Shiveria shouted as her ki exploded outward blowing a wider hole in her wall. The ball of ki in her hand shot forward, and caught Goku in the shoulder. He snarled in pain catching his balance before he looked up to see Shiveria in his face. Her fist buried itself in his ribs with a crack that drove the saiyan to his knees as she knocked the air out of him before spinning and slamming her heel into his jaw throwing him into a wall hard enough to dent the steel of the ship.

Goku was allowed no respite as that long tail coiled tightly around his neck cutting off his air and beating him against the wall a second and third time before throwing him face down into the floor. The beta gasped trying to weakly claw his way free of her choking grip before her foot stomped down on his tail, causing his vision to go white.

"I've been far too lenient with you, pet." She hissed. "I expected you'd try to resist, they all do at first. They all learned it was useless but you," She stomped on the black limb a second time drawing a strangled agonized scream from the beta. "you are the most stubborn," she stomped a third time, "rebellious," and a fourth, "and defiant pet I have ever had to break." She hissed grinding the abused limb under foot having let the saiyan go during her speech. Goku could only writhe on the floor and scream as it felt like she was twisting his spine.

"Well, no more." She hissed angrily. "Here I had intended to reward you for your behavior earlier tonight with something pretty for you to wear on this ugly tail of yours." Goku's eyes watered as he felt yet another bone in the tender limb break as her foot ground down again. "Not only did you break my things, but you attacked me. I warned you what would happen pet. I should have done this from the start it seems, but I do so hate scaring up my pets." Her tail cracked against his skin ripping into it drawing another pained scream from the beta. There was another crack almost immediately following the first and Goku screamed under the onslaught of lashes quickly losing count as she beat him and used his tail to hold him down.

When she finally stopped, the scent of copper filled his nose and he whined with each breath as his cracked ribs and back protested the small movement of his lungs. She lifted her foot and pain flooded his abused tail as she stepped away from him.

"Chirb."

"Yes, mistress."

"Bring me his children." Fear grabbed hold of Goku at those four words.

"N-no!" Goku trembled in pain as he tried to look up at the ice demon. Her tail lashed the side of his face with a crack, snapping his head to the side with a pained cry.

"Be silent." Shiveria snapped.

"P-please." The beta begged with tears in his eyes ignoring her command as he stuttered clinging to consciousness. "Please, n-not my c-cubs."

"I warned you what would happen if you repeatedly disobeyed me, monkey." Shiveria said coldly with a gleam of joy in her amethyst eyes. "It seems this is the only way you'll learn who is in charge here."

"I'm b-begging you." Goku pleaded. "Please, I'll do anything, just leave them alone. Please…." Shiveria raised a hand to stop Chirb from leaving.

"Anything you say." Shiveria cooed with a smirk. "My that's a bold statement from you. Say if I told you to allow Chirb to touch you? To allow him to have his way with you?" Goku clenched his eyes and remembered he was doing this for his children before he nodded in shame and pain.

"I'm sorry what was that?" She asked sounding genuinely confused. "I couldn't hear your answer."

"Yes." Goku whispered unable to meet her gaze as he looked at the floor.

"What was that, pet?" She prodded again. "Yes, what?" Goku bit back the snarl threatening to come out and swallowed his pride.

"Yes, mistress." The word was sour and made him cringe as he said it.

"That's not the right phrase pet." Shiveria chimed with a tsk. Goku felt something in him break realizing exactly what she wanted him to say. The faces of his sweet cubs flashed in his mind as Chirb chuckled softly.

"Yes…master."

"It seems you can learn after all, pet." Shiveria said picking something up with her tail and rolling it in her hands. "Very well, I'll leave your precious children alone as long as you do everything I tell you, when I tell you to do it. If you disobey me even the slightest, I'll have your cubs brought here and make you watch as they suffer before I kill them with my bare hands. Understand, pet?"

"Yes, master." Goku said with a flinch as he held in his tears, if nothing else he was relieved his cubs were safe.

"Oh don't think your punishment is over pet." Shiveria said slyly as she knelt next to him. "We're only just getting started, I promised you scars and these aren't nearly deep enough to do the job. But first, here's your present for behaving so well at the party. Your tail is going to need something to make it look good after this." Goku shrieked as she rammed the tail ring down his shattered tail to its base.

+++++VK ++++

Raditz let out a huge yawn as he sank into a chair in Tarble's suite. The two full blooded saiyans had done everything they could to give Goten a good birthday, but without Vegeta and Kakarot, the boy wasn't enthusiastic about the day at all.

The younger prince had invited some teens and older kids for a party that did manage to distract both Trunks and Goten for a few hours thankfully. Seeing the small bit of happiness on the sensitive cub's face had lifted the spirits of most of the adults around him.

"I hate that Goten's so depressed." Raditz murmured out loud. "It's almost a crime against nature to see him like this."

"Can you blame him?" The beta asked while he bounced a sleepy Vegito. "His tama has been taken, and his father is off planet with his older brother and grandfather. I'm just thankful that he had a good time at his party." The smaller man ran a hand through his hair with a sigh.

The worn out saiyans took in the quiet with gratitude. Taking care of three upset cubs was very tiring.

A scream from the cubs' room startled Tarble as he sat rocking Vegito with Raditz nearly falling out of his chair. The scent fear and tears spiked in the room as another shriek of pure terror and pain rang out.

Both adults ran into the boy's room to see Goten thrashing and screaming in his sleep drenched in sweat. Trunks huddled near the younger saiyan but looked terrified, unsure what to do while Sushi whined at the foot of the bed. Tarble quickly handed a wide-eyed and silent Vegito to his other uncle and crawled onto the bed and shook the boy.

"Goten!" The small demi saiyan's eyes snapped open before he sobbed and curled against the headboard holding onto his dragon with a death grip.

"Its ok, Goten," Tarble cooed softly as he tried to calm his nephew. "It was a just bad dream, you're safe here in your room."

"Tama's hurt." The small boy sobbed out shaking his head not moving from where he curled. "She's hurting him! Tama was crying!"

"Goten…" Tarble didn't know what to tell the cub. He knew it was just a bad dream, but he couldn't lie to the cub knowing Goku was indeed likely to be hurting after this long.

"Daddy needs to find them." Goten pleaded looking up at his uncles. "He needs to make her stop."

"Squirt, its ok." Raditz said sitting and pulling Trunks closer to give the lavender haired cub a little comfort from his scare. "You just had a bad dream." Tarble finally managed to gather the sobbing cub into his arms and purred to try soothing him with no luck. Goten was sobbing and shaking so hard the beta was worried he'd be sick as he stubbornly shook his head at Raditz's words with a high keening whine of distress.

"Someone needs to make her stop." He cried clinging tightly to Tarble's shirt as his tail curled between his legs. "Please, just make her stop! Tama's bleeding!"

"Call Vegeta." Tarble said finally as he rubbed Goten's back. Raditz nodded and took Trunks with him and Vegito as they went ahead to the command center. Sushi looked back to the crying boy before following the longhaired saiyan.

They were expecting to have to call Vegeta at some point but not quite this soon. Still it would do the cub good to speak with his father. Hopefully Vegeta could calm him down and wish the cub a happy birthday as well as giving them some good news about Kakarot.