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It makes it so much more fun to write the story now I know people are really enjoying it.
So to thank you all: here's already another chapter!

Chapter 10: Treatment

Why couldn't he say no to her? Of course Gohan was their number one priority, but he was stable at the moment, so why couldn't it wait until tomorrow? It's not like he has all the time in the world. He had an important match next Thursday and he hasn't been able to train for almost a week due to his Saiyaman duties. He didn't dare listen to the dozens of messages his answering machine received from his coach. Not to mention the lack of sleep he had to endure, because crime never sleeps. He looked at the navigation system on his watch. Almost there, good. The sooner this was done, the sooner he could go back to bed.

He landed in front of a bulbous house with a blue roof in the upper reaches of Satan City. To the left of the door was a water bottle, which contained the reason why he was there. Yamcha picked up the bottle and before putting it in his bag, he examined it closely. Through the plastic he could clearly see some kind of tranquilizer dart. So this dart was the solely reason why Goku's eldest son was in his current life-threatening situation.

A dog barked next door. Taking it as a sign to leave, Yamcha flew up and headed west. A group of children at the end of the street were audibly excited as the man flew over them. Yamcha smiled and waved at them. It felt nice not to have to worry if someone saw him fly, something ordinary people couldn't comprehend since Mr. Satan had called Ki-users dangerous imposters. However, this costume seemed to have earned its own acceptance and people where loving their hero 'The Great Saiyaman'.

A loud scream made him stop mid-air. His comfortable bed had to wait a little longer, he thought, and Yamcha hurried to where the scream was coming from. Two buff guys were harassing a blond woman in the back of an alley. Within seconds, the two man were laying on the ground, unconscious.

"Saiyaman..." the woman said with a soft voice, relieved that it was all over.

"Kate?"

"Thank you for saving me..." she said, tucking a strand of curly hair behind her ears, avoiding looking at the hero.

"Are you alright, Kate? Did they hurt you?" said Saiyaman, taking a step toward her.

"No, they didn't hurt me yet, although I don't want to think about what could have happened if you hadn't shown up." Kate still avoided his eyes, her brows frowning. "I have got to go," she added coldly and tried to walk past Saiyaman.

"Wait, Kate, please don't go," Saiyaman pleaded.

This time Kate looked him straight in the eye, or at least tried, but instead saw her own reflection in his helmet. "Was I just a tease to you?" she asked hurtfully, then looked away again as she fought back the tears. "You ignored me all week, avoided my attempts to get in touch with you and if I'm to believe the rumours, I wasn't the only one who fell for your charms."

Saiyaman was taken aback by her fervor. "I'm sorry you feel this way Kate, I truly am. The reason I'm avoiding you is that I recently had a reality check. Yes, I got involved with another woman before you and..." he took a deep breath, "I also made a big mistake after that. I admit I got carried away because of the suit, and I'm ashamed of that. Normally I'm not like that at all," he said truthfully. Saiyaman reached out and gently raised her head to encourage her to look at him. "I have made a promise that I wouldn't use Saiyaman's name for my personal gain, so I can't see you anymore." There was a brief pause during which the two just looked at each other. "And for what it's worth, I want you to know that you were the only one I approached on my own and you've been in my head ever since."

"If the suit is the problem, why not take it off?" Kate tried, hoping to open his heart again.

"I can't, sorry," he sighed again, "Too much is at stake. You are the reporter of Z T.V Daily, one of the most popular news channels in the world. And I've a secret identity to protect. I just can't risk it."

One of the buff guys groaned as he slowly came to, only to be immediately knocked out again with quick footwork from Saiyaman, not losing his attention from the conversation.

"So you don't trust me?" the blond snorted and placed a hand in her thigh. "Said the man in disguise," she mockingly added, looking intently through his visor. "I know you're not the real Saiyaman," she said with a soft voice. Yamcha was transfixed and was unable to respond properly to that comment. But Kate didn't expect him to reply just yet and continued, "I liked you even though I knew you were a fraud. I had a really fun evening and you were very nice to me then. I've seen Saiyaman many times by now and it is obvious that you are a different person." Kate's posture relaxed and leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms. "Do you know what such news will do to my career? I bet you can imagine. And yet I stayed quiet, just for you." A soft sniff could be heard.

The two remained silent for a moment, only hearing some cars noises in the distance. Then Saiyaman spoke up, "I appreciate that, and if circumstances were different, I would take my helmet off here right now to kiss you. But I made a promise and I have to fulfill my obligations, so I can't do that."

"You made me a promise too, remember," she said, looking at him hurt.

"I know. Look, the tide seems to be turning for the better and hopefully I'll be off my Saiyaman duties soon. But until then I can't keep my promises to you, sorry."

"How do I know when that time comes?" she asked softly.

"I'll let you know somehow." Then Saiyaman smiled, "I know, let's have a secret code! Then you'll know who I am, even if I'm not wearing the costume."

Kate's face brightened. "Will you do that for me?"

"Sure thing."

"Okay, what about 'Pingyao'? That was the name of my favorite cat from my childhood," she enthused.

"I love cats, sounds good to me!" Saiyaman's smile intensified. "Now that's settled, I need to deliver these bad boys to the police," he nodded towards the two unconscious men on the ground. "If you want, I can give you a lift home afterwards?"

"That would be nice, thank you," the reporter said with a blush.

###

At the same time somewhere in a blue-roofed spherical house in Satan City

"Videl, is Gohan really going to die?" Erasa's eyes were filled with tears when she said it.

"I... I..." Videl didn't know what to say. She had promised Bulma not to say anything, but her friends clearly picked up on much of her conversation. She cursed herself, why wasn't she careful enough? The lack of sleep and the stress of previous days crept over her, she used to be so observant. "I think you're misinterpreting my conversation," Videl said cautiously, unwilling to lie, but unwilling to tell them the truth either.

"No no no, I clearly heard you say 'I know what poisoned Gohan'! And I'm sure you weren't talking about someone poisoning a bowl of rice. Don't you dare lie to us," Sharpener warned her.

Videl's phone, still in her hand, rang. "Shit," why now?!

"Bulma Brief?" Sharpener added suspiciously, quickly reading the name off her screen.

Videl clicked the call away and instead sent the caller a quick text message: 'Unable to answer. Put dart outside, next to front door', assuming Bulma called because she had found a volunteer. She also knew that the scientist would be able to find out where she was, as she had done before when she was at the abandoned storage building, so she didn't had to add the address. Without explaining her behavior to her friends, she went to her bag and took out the bottle, walked to the door and put it outside. When the door fell shut, she turned to her friends and had finally figured out what to say to them.

"As I said before, the case is still ongoing and it is true that Gohan isn't fit, but everything will be fine, I assure you. His godmother is the best scientist in the world and also one of the wealthiest, so he'll have the best chance of recovery," quoting the noseless man at the end. She did her best not to lie, as it wouldn't miss Sharpener.

"What about those stupid riddles and its poisonous animals?" Sharpener kept pushing for answers.

"As you may understand by now, I kinda got involved in the case. I just couldn't sit still. Somehow I found out who had poisoned Gohan – the guy is already in jaill by the way – and he gave me those haiku's. Though, I think he just played with us, because nobody is going survive that," she pointed to the scraps of paper on the ground, where the haiku's where written on. "Gohan already survived six days on his own and according to what we found out with those haikus, he should definitely be dead in the blink of an eye after being poisoned. So no, I don't believe those stupid animals poisoned Gohan!" said Videl honestly, frustration in her voice.

"What did Miss Brief think about the haikus?" Erasa now adding to the conversation.

"Misses Brief," Videl corrected her unconsciously. "She didn't share her thoughts about it," wisely omitting some details out of the conversation, "she said she wished to examine the poison."

"What? Since when is she married?!" exclaimed Erasa in surprise. Then a dog barked outside and out of reflex Erasa looked out of the window. "What the f-," she spat, "Saiyaman was just outside my door?! I saw him fly up, I swear!"

"So your nemesis the Great Saiyadork is involved too?" asked Sharpener to get back to the subject.

"Yes."

An awkward silence filled the room. Why did Bulma send the him? Why not the friendly looking guy with no nose or the spiky mean one?

Sharpener sighed deeply and surrendered to the situation. "I wish you'd involved us in this, instead of leaving us in the dark. The mountain boy is also our friend, you know. But the end result matters, I'm just glad he is found."

"And he's going to be fine," Videl added, glad the conversation had broken off. Oh man, she was so tired. "Erasa, is it okay if I crash here for the night? I'm not sure if I'm able to get home. It has been a very, very long and stressful day.

Erasa nodded, "Sure thing, V."

###

The shrill sound of the alarm clock echoed through the room. A sleepy hand escaped the sheets and tried to put it off blindly, with no luck. Annoyed Bulma lifted her head to finally turn the damn thing off. She yawned. This would be one of those sleepless periods again, she thought dejected as she forced herself out of bed.

What took Yamcha so long last night? It was almost 1:30 AM, for Kami's sake! He only had one job. Alright, maybe two jobs, because crime came his way. But being that late? Ugh, she could strangle him for it.

After a quick shower and a breakfast on the go, she checked on the boy it was al about. Gohan, still in his artificial coma, lay on his bed in his own room. Since he was stable, there was no need to have him in her test lab, so she had moved him the night before with all the necessary equipment. She did a quick check: his vital signs were weak, but hadn't changed since he fell into this vegetative state.

She then went to the test lab to review the test results from the poison. She did both a DNA test, using genomes of various poisonous or venomous animals from the NCBI database, and took a chromatogram to see what kind of components the residue mixture contained. And to her satisfaction, it all matched up to three animals: the Colorado Toad, the Golden Dart Frog and the Inland Taipan. It would take her months to figure this out if that girl didn't give her this big push in the right direction.

The blue-haired scientist took all morning to come up with a treatment method. She had called colleagues who worked in the medical field to discuss her experimental ideas of healing the young man. Through one of them, she managed to obtain the venomous snake's antidote and she was glad she didn't have to worry about the toad, as it's poison had almost disappeard from Gohan's system. The only real setback was the poison of the dart frog: no antidote or other effective treatments excisted for batrachoitoxin poisoning. And to top it off, the damage it caused was irreversible. Thank Kami for having Dende and - if necessary - some Senzu beans.

"What about bloodletting? It's been used since the ancient world, although I think the correct term is phlebotomy these days"

Bulma looked open-mouthed at her father. "You are a genius!"

"Now now dear, just thinking along," said the stocky man, inhaling his cigarette.

"Yet you're a genius! This is perfect. Since this vegetative state doesn't allow the poison to spread, most of it could still be in one place. If we could somehow dain it, we may be able to cure him!

"I assume you have to drain a lot of blood from the body, so you have to replace some of it with healthy blood. Does the boy have a suitable blood donor? He's not fully human after all," pointed Dr. Brief out.

"I've done a thorough research about Saiyan biology and because Vegeta didn't cooperate much, I did most of it on Gohan. And well, his Saiyan side is most prominent, especially when it comes to his physical features. However, his brain has more human features. In any case, it is quite interesting," Bulma thought back at her research results. "Unfortunately, his mother isn't a perfect match."

"So you don't have one?" her father asked, inhaling his cigarette again.

"There is. His little brother is a potential donor, thought the boy is only 7 years old and can't provide the amount we probably need. Also, do you remember the last time he saw a needle? He's really a spitting image of Goku," Bulma smiled as she thought back at her life-long friend. Her good mood was short-lived, however, and sighed deeply. "So, we're basically left with Vegeta. This is going to be fun."

"O my goodness, good luck with that sweetie," a – for her age – very good looking blond woman picked up the conversation. She had a tea pot in her hand and couple of cups in the other. "Some tea?" she asked with a motherly softness in her voice.

"Sorry Mom, I'm afraid I'll have to skip it. I'm going to make a few phone calls and then I'll have to break the bad news to Vegeta," Bulma reluctantly stood up and made her way back to the premises.

About an hour later everything was set up. The proper equipment was set in place - although it was oddly difficult to find her Saiyen-proof needles - and everyone she needed was present... except for Vegeta. While they waited for Trunks to fetch his father, Bulma gave the rest a briefing.

"So, when the venipuncture is placed, the contaminated blood will exit Gohan's body and Vegeta's clean blood will enter with a direct connection. Since Gohan's blood is really thin, I adjusted the diameter of the tubes so that an equal volume leaves his body just as well as it comes in," Bulma looked to the shortest individual in the room, "Dende, you have to heal Gohan in the mean time, so his body became active again, allowing the poison to flow through his veins again. This way we will be able to rinse the most of his body."

Dende nodded, "I'll try to keep him stable enough to get him out of his vegetative state, but not to wake him up."

"Perfect! Is it also possible for you to heal two persons at the same time? I want to run this phlebotomy as long as possible, but the body can only give a certain amount. If you could heal Vegeta during the session, he would be able to give a larger amount of blood."

"Since I only need to keep Gohan in an active state, but not heal him throughout, I think I'll have enough power to divide between the two."

"Again, perfect! Piccolo, you're here to restrain Vegeta if needed. I'll get his blood whether he like it or not. And Krillin, you'll help wherever you needed."

The door flew open and there stood a sweaty Vegeta, cleaning his forehead with a towel. He was clearly coming out of one of his workouts. Beside him appeared a small boy with lavender hair.

"Thank you Trunks for getting your dad for me!" Bulma said obligedly.

"This better be good, woman, I don't like to be disturbed during my training," Vegeta said ruffly. He took a good look across the room. "What is going on?" he asked suspiciously.

"You aren't going to like it, but we need you to give blood to Gohan. We've found that this is the only way to cure him."

"What?! I'd rather give up training than have my royal blood running through the veins of a half-breed!" he spat out angerly and turned to leave the room.

"We will see about that," Bulma said as she picked up her phone and bleeping sounds came from her device. She then looked up and grinned broadly at the back of Vegeta's head.

Vegeta stopped. "What have you done?" he asked threateningly.

"I've granted your wish, Your Majesty" replied his wife cooly, albeit with a smirk on her face. "I've changed all the passwords and ordered the computer security system to ban you from enering the gravity room."

"You Bitch!" Vegeta turned back to face his wife, anger written all over his face.

"Who's the bitchy one here, huh?" Bulma spat back, "You're always whining about how your precious little race died out! And now one of the last descendants to carry Saiyan genes has been fatally poisoned, you just shrug it off like he isn't worth saving? Are you out of your mind? You may be the only full-blooded Saiyen left, Mr. Prince of just yourself, but the reason you're still here is because of him," the infuriated scientist pointed to the still unconscious Gohan. "You owe him your life, for Kami sake! So you're going to sit in that chair and keep your fucking mouth shut up until we're done, you got that?!"

No matter how strong he was, he couldn't stand his ground against her intimidating fury. So at this point he knew he had lost the battle. "Tsk, fine," said Vegeta unwillingly. However, his Saiyan pride wouldn't let it happen until he got something in return. "On two conditions!" looking insistently in his wife's direction. "You'll restore my excess to my training grounds immediately and when this brat is fully healed, he's going to spar with me, full force."

"Fine, whatever," Bulma said irritated, although she was relieved to have Vegeta where she wanted without as much as a struggle. "I'll restore your excess after this is done though, in case you walk out of here before we're done."

Without a word, Vegeta sat in the chair with a deep frown on his face and let his wife do whatever she had to do with him. He looked to the left and was met with Piccolo's grin. "Why is the Namekian here?" he asked disapprovingly.

"He's here in case you weren't cooperating," answered Bulma, while inserting a needle into one of his arteries in his arm.

"Ha ha, as if that would help," Vegeta laughed mockingly, Piccolo just rolling his eyes.

"Alright, everything is put in place! Dende, are you ready?" Bulma looked at the Earth's Guardian, who nodded and raised his hands to begin his healing.

"Good, let the cleansing begin!"