"Fine." Vegeta huffed, finally breaking eye contact with the taller Saiyan. "You win."
Goku let out a silent sigh of relief. This Majin form of Vegeta was much more unpredictable than the one Goku was familiar with. And that one was already a wildcard, he decided.
"Our battle is postponed," Vegeta stopped to look in the direction of Majin Buu's enormous energy. "I want you at your fullest when we fight and you're obviously too distracted by that ridiculous Buu."
The persistent weight in his chest that Goku had felt towards the beginning of the tournament lifted some, forming a smile on Goku's face. He was glad that Vegeta was going to cooperate, he felt much more confident with the smaller Saiyan at his side.
"Vegeta..."
The prince motioned a hand towards Goku. "Well don't just stand there! Get out your senzu beans."
The taller of the two nodded and reached for the bag as Vegeta began to walk towards him.
Goku was about to open the bag when he realized his right hand was still held in a firm fist. He splayed his fingers apart, letting out a silent gasp at what he was holding.
It was the flower he had mysteriously coughed up earlier- at the tournament. Before everything went downhill.
Footsteps approached. "We should be at full power when we face him."
He knew he should have brushed off the flower- he had reasoned with himself earlier that in his rush to eat the buffet, he might have accidentally ate a table decoration or two- it wasn't completely unheard of. However, Goku couldn't bring himself to drop the matter.
Earlier he was in too much of a rush to properly examine the flower, now scrutinizing it as he turned it over.
It was small, the ends of it barely reaching the inside of his palm and slightly crumpled as it had been in his grasp for quite some time. There were five blue petals all conjoined in the middle with a bright yellow pistil. The blue seemed to fade into a white as it neared towards the center, with darker frayed ends.
The only thing that was unnatural about it was the small splotches of red on it. The harshness of it contradicted itself with the cool blues of the flower.
He wasn't sure what it was called. But in his defense, he didn't figure anyone of his friends wouldn't think something was up if he asked them what type of flower he 'found'. Goku just didn't take interest in those things.
Until now.
"Kakarot, what's the holdup?"
Goku jolted, the flower nearly slipping from his fingers. He had been so focused, he had nearly forgotten about the senzu beans. His eyes flitted upward to where he expected to meet Vegeta's, but they were met only with the view of the barren wasteland.
"Ah, Vegeta-?"
The sinking feeling returned in double. Before Goku could contemplate what was going on, his ears caught a familiar whoosh from behind, and he reared his head behind him in time only to catch Vegeta raising both of his fists up in the air, and then a deafening whack.
Pain erupted in the back of his neck immediately, with his vision consumed by the sight of stars.
He betrayed me... of course.
The initial anger he felt was undeniable, but the disappointment and mainly annoyance at Vegeta that Goku felt in those last seconds was something to be rivaled.
That... idiot!
He fell forward, his body going numb as black dots began to fill his sight.
Blearily Goku noted the flower tumble out of his hold, but to his dismay he found he could not move his body at all.
Shit.
Cussing was not a common trait that Goku's friends would say he had, but in this moment he really wanted to punch Vegeta.
"So, Kakarot... even you can prove helpless when you drop your guard."
Goku nearly growled at Vegeta, but it was becoming increasingly harder to stay conscious. He forced his eyes to stay open- if he blinked now, he would not open his eyes again soon.
Vegeta stepped over the fallen man. "What's this?"
Through his half-lidded gaze, Goku watched as Vegeta picked up the flower.
"Th..." Gritting his teeth Goku continued. "That's... shit." He couldn't find the words.
Vegeta's stare was incredulous. "You- how are you still conscious?"
"Duh... dunno..." The taller replied. "How are you such an idiot...?"
Even with Vegeta's low power level, the remaining energy that flared up was still extremely potent. Goku would have smirked, knowing he got such a rise out of Vegeta if he wasn't in such a position. "Excuse me?! I'm not the one walking around with a damned flower, that's what..."
Goku's eyelids slid lower, Vegeta's voice getting farther away.
"...and another thing! Why is there blood all over it..."
The black took over, and Goku could do nothing but let himself be swallowed up into it.