REASON
Disclaimer: The Dragonball characters and concepts do not belong to me. I am not making any money off this.
Authors Notes: EXAMS ARE EVIL!!!
I'm not a doctor and I really don't know a lot of biology so I'm probably going to really say a lot of stupid stuff in this chapter. The only time I've ever paid attention in Bio was when the teacher was explaining the immune system to us in terms of the android saga using his Dragonball Z action figures (yes it is a class of 16, 17 and 18 year olds). Just pretend that I'm making slightly intelligent and logical statements – give your imagination a real workout.
Chapter 6: Cure?
Gohan had drifted off into a silent sleep. Bulma wasn't entirely sure if it was simply fatigue or if he had slipped back into unconsciousness, but her money was on the latter. Her concerns were not voiced though, she was far too busy trying to figure out what was wrong with Vegeta, Goku and Gohan. She felt guilty about leaving Vegeta even though he was unconscious. Still she would feel even more guilty if he died through her own laziness. Bulma, however, was not a doctor. She was able to run simple tests to look for simple disorders, but the reality was she was facing an entirely original form of attack that even a research scientist would be pushed to solve in a lifetime. Glancing at her watch she realised that dawn was fast approaching. That also meant that there would be people in the general population waking up and coming to work soon. The last thing she needed right now was to explain to a thousand workers what exactly was going on not far from here and why she had three new patients with a seemingly incurable disease. Deciding to cross that bridge when she came to it she returned to her work hoping for some kind of inspiration.
Videl and Chichi both wondered what had caused Bulmas sudden burst of action, but neither complained. Videl had looked rather bitter over Gohan confiding in Bulma and not her, but tried to hide this for Gohans sake. He had been whispering sweet comforting thoughts to her, bidding her to sleep. She did the same and eventually Gohan fell to her will, but Videl knew that it was through no choice of his own. She was surprised enough that he was willing to lie in bed while his brother was outside fighting. It only made her worry more because after all these years she knew how stubborn Gohan could be when he had to be. There was no way he would lie here now unless he was absolutely unable to fight.
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Trunks managed to catch the android in the mouth with his fist and tried to sweep his feet from under him. The android jumped over the feet, but didn't more quick enough to block the roundhouse kick that followed. While on his run of luck Trunks quickly charged a ball of energy and tossed it in the android's direction. Although it did not hurt the android much it caused him to take a couple of steps back. Taking the opportunity Trunks let out a kiap and felt the power surging forward. He wasn't given half a second to appreciate his new strength before the android took the offensive again. Trunks was getting very confused by the style of fighting the androids employed. They seemed almost uninterested in combat and only blocked and avoided attacks when necessary. Attack seemed to come as a last resort. However, at times they would suddenly jump on the offensive. It was possible that the purpose of this could be solely to confuse, but Trunks sensed that there was something more to this. It wasn't just a tactic, it meant something. It had to mean something because if Trunks didn't find a weakness soon this battle would be lost. Already he and the other fighters were getting tired and the androids weren't even out of breath. They never would be until they were destroyed.
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Bulma marched into the room trying to look confident, but only managing to twist her face into a scowl resembling concentration. Several pairs of eyes flicked up towards her, waiting. Bulma contemplated how she would explain her findings to the others. She filled her lungs and tilted her head back slightly trying to get rid of the crick that was developing. "Well," she started, returning her head to its normal position finding three pairs of eager eyes resting on her. "I think I have isolated the problem."
"And can you fix it?" Videl asked, not waiting for the long winded explanation of something she probably wouldn't understand.
"It's not really as simple as that." Bulma ventured. "You see, whatever happened to these guys caused their bodies to overheat very rapidly. With the use of some kind of catalyst I've yet to determine the hypothalamus reacted a lot more quickly than normal and essentially began to shut down meaning the body no longer had any control over temperature among other things. As a result of the heat their enzymes were also denatured and-"
"Denatured?"
"When the body overheats enzymes change shape and as a result are unable to properly function. A lot of other relatively minor things would have occurred too, but anyway, that's not the real problem because normally we could treat that in a similar manner you would a fever. All this must have happened within seconds somehow, probably from a very intense blast. However there was something that was bothering me a lot - Vegeta, Goku and Gohan are not currently displaying any physical symptoms other than unconsciousness, which we can assume is not from a blow to the head. They don't even have a high temperature. That made me think that maybe something could be happening at a sub-cellular level. The only problem is that in order to fully investigate this I'd need an electron microscope which we obviously don't have here."
The room was silent for a second. Bulma had ended without an inflection and the others were under the impression she was about to say more. Chichi was the first to realise that this wasn't the case and asked, "So what are you going to do then?"
"Well, the most I can do is make an educated guess from experiment what is going on and try my best to treat it or wait for it to take its course." Silence ensued once more, but this time it wasn't because everyone assumed Bulma was about to say more.
Building up the courage Videl asked, "Do you think you can cure them?"
"I really don't know."
"Do you think we should try?"
Bulma thought back to her conversation with Gohan. She didn't want to dishonour Gohans wishes, but she didn't even know if he was even in the right state of mind to be making such decisive calls. She had known enough to sense the fear in his voice though. He had spoken as the man who knew the next breath could be the last, it was enough to make anyone desperate. "Well, I think that we need to do something." The sobering words almost choked Bulma. She was trying to detach the reality from her husband, not wanting to believe that she was debating Vegeta's life. She was so used to relying on him to save the day and for once she began to understand the kind of pressure he must have felt having the worlds fate rest on his shoulders. Sure, he never admitted to Earth's safety as being a huge concern for him, but it was her home and although he'd never say it that meant it was his home. There was more honour in him than most gave him credit for. At the same time she couldn't help but think back to her conversation earlier with Trunks, before this whole mess had started. She wanted to have a heart-to-heart talk with him, but it never seemed possible to get beyond the tough exoskeleton erected around him. She thought that things could change, but a small voice at the back of her mind constantly reminded her of who she was dealing with.
Not willing to take the silence as an agreement, Bulma prompted the others for a response. The pained stares lasted for a second before Chichi reluctantly muttered, "Do it then" and Videl nodded in agreement. Bulma inched to her husbands side brushing his forehead for a second, knowing how much he'd hate that if he were conscious. The lack of protest made her more aware of the pressing urgency of her task and she left to continue with her work.
Bulma entered the last of the data into her computer. She'd run every experiment she thought could shed some light on the subject, but nothing seemed to work. She stared at the endless printouts the computer gave her, barely taking in the words that flashed across the screen. As several more windows pop up her vision wandered towards the open door. Suddenly it all fell into place and Bulma felt sure that a light-bulb must have just illuminated above her head. She pulled up the appropriate file and skimmed her eyes over it, a look of victory making its way to her face and taking over as she did so. She clicked print and started to jump around while waiting impatiently for the printer. She pulled the last page out in such haste that the last two lines were smudged, but that didn't matter. Trying to remember that she wasn't sure about anything yet she tried to compose herself, but gave up several steps down the hallway and ran into the room where Vegeta lay. The commotion gained the attention of everyone in the room several minutes before her arrival and they were waiting with their eyes on the door hoping for some good news.
"I think I've got it." Bulma announced without wasting any time on pleasantries, that greeting was pleasant enough. Even Chaotzu looked ecstatic. "There is something affecting their transfer system. There must be something that has thickening their capillary walls which is why they aren't able to regain consciousness. Their bodies are experiencing extreme deprivation of everything it needs. I can't understand how they've managed to survive at all, but maybe the designer underestimated a Saiyans ability to survive. Anyway, that doesn't matter. The point is that I might have finally found something to work from. What I'd like to do is test my theory though." Bulma paused, wondering if anyone knew what it was she was proposing. It was certainly a rather unsettling idea, but common practice. She didn't like to be messing around with things that she wasn't an expert on, but this situation certainly warranted emergency training.
"Ok, do it then."
Bulma hesitated for a second, wondering if she should fully explain what she was about to do. In order to know if the exchange system is malfunctioning she would have to inject a radioactive substance into one of these men and trace its movement. It wasn't a very dangerous procedure, but slightly unnerving. She decided that nobody had actually asked what she intended to do so left it at that. She handed the papers absentmindedly to Videl who looked at them wondering what she was meant to do with them. However, one glance at Bulma told her that it wasn't really a conscious action. Everyone had seen Bulma when she was working on something – the world seemed to draw back for her. She put the papers at Gohans feet and stared once more into his blank face. She had only managed to talk to Gohan for half an hour before he lost consciousness again and in that time she had realised how weak and worried Gohan was. His fear for his father was evident and he even seemed to worry about Vegeta. She slightly resented Bulma having some time to talk to Gohan alone and was desperate to know what they had discussed.
Bulma punched in a security code and opened the door. She washed her eyes over the various chemicals, quickly spotting what she wanted. The company was down to the last batch and some of it had already been used. She continued to gather the rest of the required equipment before returning to the medical room. The whole time she was wrestling with her mind with regards as to whom she should experiment on. Normally she would have picked Vegeta for obvious reasons, but she felt like that would be betraying Gohan's trust. She had promised him, still it didn't feel right especially since she wasn't being entirely up-front with the others. By the time she had returned she had consoled herself with the assurance that she wasn't testing a cure, just running an ordinary test like any other and she would start with Vegeta.
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Goten was getting a fair beating. His body ached with fatigue already. He knew that he wouldn't be able to hold up this pace much longer. Turning Super Saiyan seemed like the only way to stay alive, but already he was so tired and knew that it would drain a lot of his energy. He noted that Trunks hadn't yet transformed and wondered if there was a particular reasoning behind his actions. Trunks always fought a far more thinking fight, where Goten tended to rely on brute strength and following Trunks's lead. Goten had been trained in tactics, but tended to throw such teachings aside on a battlefield. Had he been clearly thinking about the current state he would have know that he would have to transform to even hope to win this fight. A fist slamming heavily into his gut forced him to double over in pain. He forced himself upright just in time to see a huge energy blast heading towards him. Goten didn't hesitate, the power within him suddenly flared outwards and twisted through his body. His hair leapt upwards crackling with golden electricity and his eyes flickered before losing the darkness in them and he thrust his hands forward, shooting his own blast back. All this occurred within a second, but to Goten it all seemed to slow down. His senses heightened and he felt like he had just finally been granted the ability to see. He never got used to the quantum leap in his abilities when he became a Super Saiyan. The power was more exhilarating than an orgasm, the speed made the world appear to be moving so slowly and the senses made a normal being seem blind. The world around him changed in an instant, but there was not time to revel in the ecstasy, he concentrated on his blast, pushing more power into it, trying to gain the ground lost during his transformation. He gritted his teeth and pushed with all his might, focussing and drawing his energy from the depths of his power. The android suddenly changed, everything about it changed. Its eyes suddenly came alive, no longer the impassive pits that didn't seem to see. They became cruel, cold and most of all determined. It was as if a switch had been flicked. Although it was a clumsy mechanism it worked very effectively. The androids power raised a level, giving him just enough energy to push Gotens blast backwards ever so slightly. Goten realised he was losing and dug his feet into the ground and let out a low growl. He had come so far, he couldn't afford to lose. So many times his father and brother had stepped in to save him, now it was his turn to save them. Thinking of his father, the strongest man in the world, lying so helplessly he let out a cry of rage and anger that was accompanied by a huge pulse in his energy wave. His own power pushed forward, almost reaching the android. However, he couldn't sustain the effort and the android seemed to have endless energy. He watched helplessly as the blast moved further towards him. He knew it would hit him so instead of wasting energy he quickly raised his hands to his head, bracing himself for the inevitable blow. Fortunately the android was some distance away so he managed to gather enough energy to prevent himself from being killed, but the blast hit him very hard. Although he tried not to, he cried out, not in pain, but frustration. He was just not strong enough.
*
Bulma removed the needle and pressed down on the spot where a tiny amount of blood was collecting. She looked at Vegeta's face, still unable to comprehend why she felt so nervous about the whole procedure. She'd been trying to shake off the frustrating sense of an ominous premonition without success.
Then it all stopped, so suddenly and so sharply she didn't even have time to react. The heart monitor faded to a straight line and a screeching beep invaded the ears of everyone present. To her credit Bulma was not stunned into a stupor, but she was a little unsure of how to react. Her mind raced over what was happening and how she could possibly hope to reverse it. For a second she began to cast several inwards insults, accusing herself of carelessness. Being the smart person that she was though she quickly stopped herself from wasting any more time. By now Chichi, Videl and Chaotzu were staring in horror, trying to stay out of Bulma's way. "Defribulator," Bulma managed to gasp in her panic. This request was met by blank stares. "Get the defribulator, its in the store-room" Bulma finally yelled. Now that Bulma was speaking their language the request was quickly met. Meanwhile Bulma was filling a syringe with adrenaline and quietly pleading with Vegeta.
With the charged paddles in her hands Bulma sent a quick prayer upwards, hoping she would know enough to save her husband. Feeling the paddles hit Vegeta's exposed chest caused a small shudder. Never in her life did she think she would be standing here, the only hope for the proud Prince. At this point Bulma was ready to slap herself for not taking Vegeta to a proper hospital. Deep down she knew that once a patient had suffered cardiac arrest there was very little chance of them recovering. It happened a lot in movies, but the odds were well stacked against her, especially with her lack of experience. Vegeta's body was thrown upwards like a rag doll under the jolt. It seemed so inhuman. Watching the heart monitor barely waver from its perfectly straight line Bulma let the paddles charge once more.
*
Trunks stopped in the middle of the battlefield. As a result he was hit with a barrage of blows to his face and torso, but the pain never registered. All he could feel was his fathers energy disappear. The others were too involved in their own survival to notice Trunks's unusual behaviour, but they did notice him when he suddenly left the android alone, racing towards Capsule Corporations at a speed that would have made his father proud. Trunks knew that he was making a mistake and knew that it could be a costly one, but there was no way he could let his father die. Running through the halls at breakneck pace Trunks only just missed running into the walls themselves, but his vision was so clearly set on his determination he probably wouldn't have even noticed.
"Dad!" Trunks called out in despair when he saw his father lying there. He knew exactly what his mother was trying to do, but also knew the odds were stacked against her. Because of this he pushed her hands out of the way and raised his own above Vegeta. He shut his eyes and focussed. He had never done this before, but knew that it was possible. His father needed energy and thats what Trunks intended to give him. Perhaps desperation had gained control of his wits or perhaps he just didn't want his father to die. Whatever the reason, it was costing the others a lot outside.
Goten was stunned by Trunks's sudden departure and even more stunned by having a second android turn on him. He could barely hold his own against one android before and two made the task virtually impossible. With every blast or fist or foot he dodged there was another one waiting for him. Only a minute after he'd acquired his new enemy he was beginning to look fairly rough around the edges. The others realised that he would be unable to handle the androids alone, even as a Super Saiyan so Piccolo left Yamucha and Tien to help him. Although he disliked Goten for his frustrating similarity to Goku, Piccolo knew that he owed it to Gohan to try and keep his brother alive. Goten was grateful for the assistance, but now that their forces were spread more thinly the resistance had lost a lot of power. Yamucha and Tien were so occupied with staying alive that they didn't really have a decent chance to attack the androids. Piccolo was becoming very angry with Trunks's disappearance – they couldn't afford to lose such a strong fighter at this point. Piccolo had always tried to keep all emotions other than anger off the battlefield and had trained Gohan to do the same, but it seemed not everyone adopted the same attitude. He could understand that Trunks wanted to save his father, but that's what Dragonballs were for. They didn't have time for his pesky guilt trips.
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Thanks for reading. Please review.
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