REASON
Disclaimer: sarcasmSince I wrote the last chapter I have bought the Dragonball Z characters and concepts. Akira Toriyama was very happy to hand the rights over to a crazy New Zealand girl./saracsm Actually I don't own any of the Dragonball Z characters or concepts, they still belong to Akira Toriyama and I still don't make money off this.
Authors Notes: Finally, another chapter. I've had so many stories on my mind lately so its hard to focus on just one. Theres always an excuse though, isn't there? Last time I was making a mockery of Biology and this time its Chemistry. I'm not a scientist, so I'll say dumb stuff. Deal with it.
Chapter 7: Blood Ties
Bulma knew that her son was trying to help, but couldn't see how stopping the resuscitation would do Vegeta any good. Trunks had been standing there for thirty seconds doing nothing as far as she could tell. Although she trusted her son she wondered if he was suffering from shock. She reached out to touch his shoulder and maybe gain his attention and just then a flicker of light caught the corner of her vision. She looked down and saw that energy seemed to be visibly running from Trunks' hands and into Vegeta. It wasn't long before she could feel a backwash of heat energy emanating from the area. Bulma finally understood what Trunks was doing, she just hoped that he was able to pull it off.
A few moments passed. Vegeta's heart monitor slowly crept back into action and the computer was starting to give Bulma some good readings. Trunks, however, was starting to look slightly pale and his breathing was becoming heavy. Trunks hadn't said a word since he entered the room and Bulma was starting to worry. She wanted to know if everything was going according to plan. She was used to being in the dark with Vegeta, but normally Trunks communicated with her quite well. She didn't really expect him to interrupt the process of saving his fathers life for a nice chat though and contented herself with watching life return to her husband.
Without warning Trunks took a shaky step back. His eyes seemed unfocussed and dilated immediately after opening them, but before anyone noticed they returned to normal. Most of the attention was concentrated on Vegeta who hadn't stirred. A loud thud quickly restored this attention to Trunks who lay floundering on the floor. Videl knelt down to cradle his head as Bulma rushed around the bed. Trunks' cheeks flushed and he tried to struggle to his feet trying to hide his embarrassment with an uncomfortable smile. "Sorry. I'm not used to losing so much energy so quickly." Videl helped Trunks to his feet and supported him to a chair.
After only seconds of sitting Trunks raised himself to his feet. His eyes quickly darted to his father, but he averted making eye contact with his mother. Then he calmly walked out the door.
*
A silent awe fell over the crowd. The sky had just been illuminated by some nondescript light source and was followed by a cry of pain. The group was lost for words. Fortunately none were required because everyone knew what this meant – they had arrived at the battlefield. With an air of caution the revolutionaries began to slow their pace, now approaching in complete silence. It was no secret that many were afraid and several whimpers were restrained from rolling off their lips, fear the only thing keeping them quiet.
Trina could see that Mike was trying to be brave, but he was never a good actor. A gut feeling she had developed for Mike's actions told her that he was probably more worried than she was. That could be blamed on his lust for life though – something ever present in his attitude. A small smile ran over Trina's lips, remembering the first time she had met Mike and instantly fallen in love with his intensity. She knew the reason he was such a coward at times was because he loved life and desperately clung to his right to live it. Her brief contentment was soon squashed by the knowledge that she no longer held this fiery desire. She had been pushed too far in her life and now it didn't seem to have any impact on her anymore. She was detached from life and her body was left moving the motions expected of her. It was almost laughable that she could depart from life so easily without anyone even noticing.
A muffled gasp ran through the crowd as the fighters came into view, then disappeared again. With their incredible speed they flashed in and out of view, seeming demons of war creating havoc even when invisible to the untrained eye. Tucking themselves away behind a thick patch of trees and scrub the group watched in awe. Several nervous voices could occasionally be heard over the sounds of battle, most asking neighbours such questions as, "Which one is Goku?" and "Where did that one go?" and "It's all just a blur."
Trying to block the horrendous noise from her ears Trina looked over at Mike, seeking some comfort, but the sight she was met with was more disturbing than the battle itself. Mike, her quiet and under-spoken Mike had been enraptured by the bloodshed. The compassionate flame that had burnt so strongly in his eyes and been extinguished leaving a blank stare where Mike used to reside. "No," she mouthed, trying to turn away. It couldn't be true, Mike was such a nice quiet person and would never revel in the death of another. Trina knew that he believed that the entire revolution was wrong, he had told her himself. Such a sweet face would never lie. She shook her head and turned away disgusted by her own stupidity. Her mothers warnings from many years ago now ringing true in her mind, 'They don't wear a sign around their neck, Katrina, and its not printed on their T-shirts. You have to make sure you really know a man before you throw away anything for him.' She shook her head, ignoring the few strands of hair that flicked into her eyes. She blinked hard, managing to hold back the tears of despair.
As if he had sensed her restlessness Mike looked over at Trina and noticed her unusual actions. He laid a hand on her shoulder, moving it down towards her waist and resting it on her hip while his other hand rubbed her arm comfortingly. Trina looked up at him, brushing the hair out of her eyes. "You OK babe?" Mike asked. As if on cue, the fire in his eyes lit once more. The recognition confused Trina even more. No longer did she know if this was Mike. It seemed that there must be two beings in there, duelling for the consciousness of one body. The want to believe conquered quickly though, crushing her previous doubts. Her mind began to convince itself that she'd not really seen that look in his eye. Mike had called her 'babe', just like he always had before this whole mess. It had seemed like a lifetime ago, but now it all came rushing back into perspective. The happy times they had spent together were no longer clouded by the worried mists in Trina's mind, there was only crystal clear memories showing her just what Mike had to offer her. Still, there was something telling her that even if she did make a wrong move it wouldn't matter. The world had gone wrong so many times and still come right exactly the same number of times and because of this Trina knew that consequences were not final, they never had been anyway.
*
Bulma stared at Vegeta's still silent face. He had been showing signs of coming around since Trunks had left, but hadn't quite made it. In his sleep he had been fighting an unknown enemy, probably still plagued by the realisation that would have hit the nanosecond before he fell into unconsciousness – he had been defeated with a single blow. "Come on, Vegeta." Bulma whispered running a hand over his forehead and then taking his hand in hers.
While sitting, Bulmas mind was still running over possible cures. Although Vegeta was getting better now, that was only due to Trunks' huge input of energy and without a cure he would continue to deteriorate. She had been sure that she had come up with the cure, it had all fitted so perfectly. Something must have gone wrong in her calculations then, but that couldn't be true as they had all been performed on her computer, made at Capsule Corporation, no less. Then there must have been something else. Think, Bulma commanded herself. She traced the process she had gone through in her head, trying to pinpoint where she had gone wrong. After several attempts she gave up, silently reprimanding herself for her inability to help her husband. So many times he'd come through for her, saving the world while he was at it and she couldn't even save his life; the one time he really needed her.
Something tickled the back of her thoughts though, she kept seeing herself taking the phial off the shelf. With a start she stood up, knocking her chair over in the process. She held the bottle up to the light peering through the liquid. It was so subtle that she thought she was imagining it, but seconds later she was convinced that there was a touch of yellow to the clear fluid. Chichi, Videl and Chaotzu watched in wonder as Bulma took up two test tubes and added potassium thiocyanate to one and potassium ferocyanide to the other. Then, with her hands shaking from nervousness and excitement she drew some of the liquid from the phial. Carefully she added some to each of the test tubes, one turning a bloody red and the other turning prussian blue. Under her breath Bulma whispered, "Ferric Ion. Theres presence of the ferric ion in this," she said, indicating the medicine sitting on the bench. Then without warning she suddenly grabbed the blood red test tube and spun around quickly. Everyone but the sleeping warriors cringed, half expecting the test tube to go flying. Bulma gave them odd looks before continuing on while waving the test tube in front of their eyes. "Look, its formed a complex ion; iron thiocyanate. We are just luck that it didn't bond with anything in the cure or it wouldn't show up in the test."
Bulma was greeted with several blank stares. Plucking up the courage Chaotzu asked, "Bulma, what does that mean."
"I really don' t know how the contaminant got in there, it would have to be an extreme act of carelessness to make such a mistake. But however it got in there doesn't matter. The point is that this is not good stuff to have in your blood stream and either through a Saiyans different chemical makeup or through whatever it was that caused this its effects were sped up." Bulma slumped into her chair. The explanation had taken her last bit of energy. Rubbing a hand over her face she continued unexpectedly, "The thing is, that is the last bottle we have of the cure and its the only thing I can think of to fix the problem."
"Can't you get some more from elsewhere?" Videl asked, trying to be helpful.
Bulma shook her head. "Do you know where that cure came from? It was designed off an extract from Saiyan blood. I once managed to convince Vegeta to give us some blood for testing."
"How did you manage that?" Chichi asked, curious as to how Bulma was able to control such an independent Saiyan as Vegeta.
"Umm, well...I told him that needles were the one thing Goku couldn't handle. It certainly hit the right nerve because in a second he had his sleeve rolled up and his arm offered to me." Bulma chuckled at the memory. "Anyway, we found this in his bloodstream and synthesised some more, thinking it could be very useful in the future. It seemed to help the body's gas transfer system – sort of like the oil of a Saiyan body. However if this thing was designed to target Saiyans then whoever made it would have accounted for this and somehow countered its effects. I figured a little boost in the levels would counteract the effects of whatever happened. Basically, its a Capsule Corp. original. It took weeks to get the stuff made and was a fairly costly project. This is all that was left after we realised the stuff was too potent to help out humans. I just can't understand why there was Ferric ion in it though. The stuff hasn't been in use for over a year."
There was still one unanswered question that the others were hoping Bulma would answer. She remained quiet though and Videl was forced to ask, "So what do we do now?"
"Normally I'd try and get the contaminant out, only that won't work because there is nothing I can think of that could work without bonding to the medicine itself, rendering it useless. The only hope would be..." Bulma faded off and then suddenly continued, "That substance is the answer, I'm sure of it. However, the only way we could get some of it would be to extract it from Saiyan blood and input all the data into the computer again so that we can synthesise some more." Bulma looked up at the others, unsure of how they would react.
"So you need Goten or Trunks for this then?" Videl asked.
Bulma nodded.
"OK then, Chaotzu, you are going to go out there and get Goten in here," Videl said looking at Chaotzu.
*
Trunks flew back into the battle just in time to intercept a blow aimed at Goten. Instantly the battle divided, each android with a single opponent. This made it a lot easier for Goten to watch his back, but he was tired after his last struggle. He noted that Trunks' power was far lower now too and couldn't stop his mind wandering to possible answers. Trunks seemed to notice the lack of concentration and ordered Goten to stay focussed, just as a fist came flying into Trunks' jaw, slurring the last word. This was followed by a swift knee into Trunks' chest causing him to double over. With his back exposed the android moved to slam his elbow into the spine, but Goten caught the elbow on its journey. The diversion did not last long though as the second android came up behind Goten and wrapped his iron arms around him, forcing the air from his lungs and crushing his ribs into his internal organs.
The cry of pain was heard across the countryside and snapped Trunks to attention. He came racing towards the android who was causing his friend so much pain, but his path was blocked by the first android. With a huge war cry his hair swirled upwards, laced with gold and he simply head butted the android from his path. He enveloped a ball of concentrated energy in his palm and was about to slam the fist into the androids back when there was a faint whoosh in the air and Trunks found himself face to face with his silenced friend, his fist embedded in Gotens chest. Goten stared into Trunks' eyes, the pain evident, but Trunks' despair more so. For a second Trunks did nothing, simply holding his fist in position before his muscles gave way and his fist was pushed out from Goten's gut. Trunks looked down, realising that although he had not broken the skin there was enough internal damage in there to take a Saiyan down.
An evil laugh echoed behind Trunks, but he was oblivious to the sound, all he could feel was the hatred for the creature that had turned his own power against his best friend. The android opened his arms releasing Goten who began to slowly float to the ground, his arms wrapped around his waist, his eyes were mere slits due to the agony pulsing through him. He knew he had to keep fighting, all he needed was a second to recover. Something inside of him said that Trunks didn't have a second, especially when he was so weak. He knew he didn't have time to be injured so looked up at the two androids, both so similar, and Trunks. He raised his energy, trying his best to power up, but it was taking enough to stay in Super Saiyan form and all he achieved was a weak increase. Determined to save his friend he ascended anyway. As he did so he realised that while Trunks was engaged in battle with one of the androids the other was preparing to send a huge blast at him. In the time Goten managed to open his mouth to warn Trunks, Piccolo was there and blocked the blast. Goten's mind questioned where he had come from and realised that he had left Tien and Yamucha to hold their own again. He looked over at where that fight was taking place and realised that it wouldn't last long. The power signatures coming from that area were slowly fading and he assumed that the androids wouldn't be getting any weaker, androids don't get tired. With a new born fire in his spirit he powered up, preparing to engage into battle once more.
"Goten," Chaotzu called out.
"Eh?" Goten spun around, surprised by the sudden interruption in his endeavour.
"Goten, its me," Chaotzu continued, scared by the angry look in the young warriors eye. Although he realised Goten would never willingly hurt him, there was always the chance that he could be mistaken in a battle. "Bulma really needs you inside."
Goten quickly overtook Chaotzu on his trip back to Capsule Corporations. As soon as he realised this he dutifully waited, but gave up and ended up taking Chaotzu in hand and dragging him through the corridors trying to waste no time. It wasn't long before he realised he was getting lost and had to ask for Chaotzu's help, which was gladly given. However this did slow down his pace a lot.
Finally arriving in the small base the others had established Goten looked over his father and brother, unable to hide his concern. He was only granted a few seconds of this before Chichi ran up to him and started inspecting him thoroughly. She frowned at the trickles of blood that ran across his body like an intricate plan and even more so at the blood that was running freely from a gash on his forehead and the stream of blood coming from the corner of his mouth. Bulma took only a second to insert the needle into Goten's arm and pushed him onto the last unoccupied bed. Fortunately he had not inherited his fathers innate fear of needles and he sat quietly, although clearly eager to leave.
Moments later, Bulma gently pulled the needle out and reached for a plaster to tape across the prick wound. She paused and looked back over Goten who was already leaving, understanding that after this Goten would be needing a lot more than a plaster. She opened her mouth, but before she could say a word Goten was gone.
*
Jacques and Paul were hurriedly packing up their equipment. The plan was now underway and there was nothing they could do here anymore. Paul grabbed a disk from one of the computers before him and put it in his shirt pocket. Jacques looked over the workstation, checking to see if there was anything forgotten. Seeing that there wasn't he dashed out the door, not forgetting to grab his long overcoat on the way out. Paul took one final look over the place that he had spent so many months working on and in before shutting the door behind him. With his laptop under his arm he jumped into the back of the waiting van where Jacques was waiting impatiently. Jacques tapped his foot and his face was wrought with irritation. Recognising the tell-tale signs Paul quickly flicked his laptop open and plugged it into the control panels before him. He typed in several commands, before pausing and offering the computer to his boss who unceremoniously pressed the 'Enter' key.
BOOOOM!!! The entire building exploded, taking all the evidence with it. As Paul was pulling the van doors shut trying to ignore the inferno and tumbling debris, Jacques began telling the driver, "Go just north of Capsule Corporations."
"Well, don't just sit there in a stupor. Whats going on?" Jacques asked Paul who was staring in a daze.
Paul ran his eyes to the other end of the van where Hyakugou's monitor was. The readings caught him by surprise. "Hyakugou should be there any minute now, Sir." he replied with a touch of disbelief in his voice. They had come so far...
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Thanks for reading. Please review.
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