In the Eyes of a Child

Chapter Nine - The Strongest Warriors in the World

"ELEVEN?!" Vegeta thundered. "One plus one is ELEVEN?! Kakkarot, you baka, you got it all wrong! It's not eleven! It's THREE! T-H-R-E-E!" he yelled at Goku while showing three fingers to his face.

The other saiyajin shook his head, refusing to accept what Vegeta told him. "How could it be three? That's not possible! Not unless you count what's in the middle---"

"That's the point!" the prince snapped as he held out two fingers. "See, Kakkarot? That's one finger, and this is another. Now, if you put two fingers together, you have to add up not only these two, but also the space that's between them. So it's three!"

Goku shook his head as he held out two fingers, one from each hand. "Well look at this, Vegeta. One finger, plus one finger. Now, what do these two fingers look like? Two vertical lines, or the number eleven! It's as simple as that!"

"THREE!"

"ELEVEN!"

"THREE!"

"ELEVEN!"

"THREE!"

"ELEVEN!"

"THREE!"

"ELEVEN!"

"THREE!"

"ELEVEN!"

"THREE!"

"ELEVEN!"

"THREE!"

"ELEVEN!"

"THREE!"

"ELEVEN!"

"THREEEEEEEEEEEE!"

"ELEVENNNNNNNNN!"

"Well, well, looks like I get the last laugh after all," Gotenks sneered before he burst into a laugh of triumph. He had never had so much fun in his life. Not only did he get the chance to torture Videl, as well as show off his techniques, but he also managed to beat Gohan without breaking a sweat. "It's just too bad that I wasn't able to show off my Super Saiyajin 3 transformation... What a shame. Gohan wasn't strong enough to hang on until that moment."

Unknown to him, Gohan wasn't knocked out cold, but he pretended he was, so that he could catch Gotenks off-guard and therefore, defeat him for good. Trying hard not to move too much for Gotenks to notice that he's awake, he glanced at his watch. The fusion had two minutes left.

A smirk appeared on Gohan's features. Two minutes more, and you're going down, Goten and Trunks. I won't let you get away with what you've done. I won't let you get away without paying the price. You'll soon feel my wrath.

The two saiyajin purebloods were still fighting over the Math problem they've been working on. In fact, they didn't even notice the major explosion that just occured, when Gohan accidentally brushed his arm against Gotenks' Super Ghost. They still stood outside the hidden room, fighting over the answer to the greatest problem of all time: 1 + 1.

"Kakkarot, don't you dare talk to me like that! I am the PRINCE OF THE SAIYAJINS, and you must respect me, and follow my lead! One plus one is three and there's nothing you can do to change that, because it's a fact!"

"What does being the prince have to do with this?" Goku asked in a rather confused manner as he rubbed the back of his head. "I don't get it, what's the big deal with being the prince? It doesn't mean you know the answer to the problem!"

Vegeta glared at Goku and snapped, "Of course it does! Because the prince of the saiyajins is the strongest, sexiest and smartest person in the universe! And again, there's nothing you can do to change that, because it's a fact! And there's no way in hell that a third-class baka such as you would be greater than the prince, and that's ME!"

"Vegeta, we can't fight over this matter forever! We have to settle this now!" Goku said, and then he had a confused look on his face once again as Vegeta transformed and took up a fighting stance. "Umm... Vegeta... what are you doing?"

"Settling the matter," he spat. "Didn't you say that's what you wanted, Kakkarot? To have this matter settled? I mean, we can't fight over this matter forever!" he mimicked. "So get on with the fight so we can get this matter settled! Come on, Kakkarot! Transform!"

"Okay, Vegeta. Whatever you say. Ummm... after you...?"

The prince lunged at him, and gave him three punches right in the gut. "ONE! TWO! THREE!" he yelled as he counted every punch. "ONE PLUS ONE IS THREE!"

Goku was thrown backwards a bit, and then, he transformed. Before he could make a move, however, Vegeta charged once again, and this time, aimed three kicks at the other saiyajin's head, still counting everytime he executed the attack. Luckily for Goku, he managed to block every kick, and all of a sudden, he grabbed Vegeta's leg and threw him forcefully away.

It wasn't over yet, though. Vegeta managed to stop himself from slamming to the floor with his palm, and then he used it as a springboard to once again dive towards Goku, throwing three ki-blasts in the process, which Goku easily deflected.

Then it was Goku's turn to attack. He let out a loud yell as he rushed towards Vegeta, determined to prove his point as he counted every punch he sent towards his enemy. "ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR! FIVE! Uh... EIGHT! SIX! SEVEN! Ummm... FOUR! Wait, I'm done with four... Ummm... Oh yeah! NINE! TEN! Uh..."

"Eleven, you dummy," Vegeta blurted out as he fended off each attack.

"Eleven?" Goku asked as he stopped in his tracks. "Wait, let me review that. Ummm... One, two, three, four, five, eight, six, seven, nine, ten..."

Vegeta sighed, exasperated. "Baka! It's ONE, TWO, THREE, FOUR, FIVE, SIX, SEVEN, EIGHT, NINE, TEN, ELEVEN! Can't you get that into your head?! Or is it too much for your pea-sized brain?!"

"Okay, now I know! One, two, three, four, nine, six---" his voice trailed off as he saw Vegeta slap himself in the forehead, and Goku instantly knew that he was wrong. "I mean... five, six, seven... eight... nine, ten... eleven. There! Let me recite that again! One, two, three... four... five, six... seven... eight, nine... ten, ELEVEN! Yes! I got it right! I got it right!" Goku yelled gleefully as he lifted Vegeta off his feet in a bear hug, to express his utmost gratitude. "Thanks a lot, Vegeta! You're the greatest! THANK YOU!"

"KAAAAAAAKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRROTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PUT ME DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWN!"

Goku let go and Vegeta crashed to the ground.

"KAKKAROT!" Vegeta yelled as he got up, and then resuming his yelling straight at Goku's face. "SHIMATTA, BAKAYARO!! WHY THE HELL DID YOU DO THAT, BAKA?!?"

Goku was confused. "Why are you mad? You told me to put you down... So I did! I just did what you told me! There's nothing you should be mad about, I just obeyed you!"

"BUT I DIDN'T TELL YOU TO DROP ME, BAKA! I JUST TOLD YOU TO PUT ME DOWN, NOT TO DROP ME!"

"Sorry," Goku apologized as he felt himself shrink in his fighting gi. "Gee, Vegeta, you don't need to yell at me like that. You know how sensitive saiyajin ears are. You're hurting me already."

Vegeta plainly snorted. "I would love to see you hurt, Kakkarot. I would LOVE to see you REALLY hurt, Kakkarot," he muttered, and quickly added, "And I would love to take out that brain of yours and see how small it really is!"

"My brain's small?" Goku asked in a rather confused manner. "I never knew that... how can you tell, Vegeta? Is your brain small too? Maybe it is... I mean, we're both saiyajins! But then, I think your brain is smaller than mine, because you're smaller than me to begin with."

That did it. The comment of having a small brain really ticked Vegeta off that he lunged at Goku, determined to beat him to a bloody pulp. He threw punches and kicks at a monstrous speed, while all Goku could do was protect himself... and wait for the right moment to get back at Vegeta. He never got the opportunity, however, as Vegeta's attack never ceased.

"KAKKAROT! HOW DARE YOU CALL ME PEA-BRAINED?! YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT INSULT! IF THERE'S A PEA-BRAINED THIRD-CLASS BAKA, IT'S YOU! YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT ONE PLUS ONE IS THREE!"

"But it's eleven!" Goku blurted out. "I told you already, Vegeta, and I gave you the reasons!"

"THREE!"

"ELEVEN!"

"THREEEEE!"

"ELEVENNN!"

"THREE THREE THREE!"

"ELEVEN ELEVEN ELEVEN!"

"It's two."

Both saiyajins stopped in their tracks, and they looked at each other with much thought. It was Goku who spoke up first as he once again held out two fingers. "One plus one... This finger and this finger... Hey, you're right! There are TWO fingers here!"

Vegeta, who looked rather puzzled, took a good look at Goku's fingers and then at his own. After a few moments, he nodded as he realized that one plus one was indeed equal to two. He's right... One plus one IS two... Why didn't I think of that?! No... this cannot be... Kakkarot... this third-class pea-brained baka... is smarter than me?! NO WAY! I REFUSE TO ACCEPT THAT!

To cover up his error, he quickly said, "Of course one plus one is two! I was just testing you! Do you think I'm dumb enough not to know what one plus one is two? In your dreams, third-class baka!"

"IN YOUR DREAMS INDEED!"

Both of them paled, and they turned to look at each other. In fear-filled voices, they whispered, "You didn't say that?!"

"I didn't," Goku answered first as blood slowly drained out of his face.

"I didn't either," Vegeta blurted out as he stared at his rival with pure horror on his features. "If we both didn't... then who..?"

The two saiyajin purebloods slowly turned their heads to look at the person... PERSONS... who spoke up, and the look on their faces were unexplainable. And when they saw IT --- one IT plus another IT equals two of IT --- they turned as white as a ghost, and...

CLANG!

CLANG!

Goku and Vegeta, the strongest warriors in the world both dropped to the floor, unconscious.

The teenage saiyajin's face was as red as a tomato as he realized the situation he was in at the moment. He and Videl, unfortunately, were in each others' arms on the floor. In short, they were in a very uncomfortable position, and there was nothing Gohan could do about it. Not until Gotenks' fusion would wear off and they would split back into the two troublemakers.

Gotenks, on the other hand, was still savoring his victory as he continued to taunt the unconscious warrior that was on the ground before him. "Too bad he's not capable of his Mystic power-up anymore... It would have been a lot more fun... I wish daddy was here to see this, he'd be more than proud of us---"

The older saiyajin wondered what was wrong, because Gotenks began to back off in fright. He wanted to know who just came, but because he had his ki supressed in an attempt to pretend that he was still unconscious, he could not use it to sense who just came, or his cover would be blown. It didn't take long enough to find out, though.

"No... No... Don't come any closer! No... No... Get away from me... Don't come near me, don't come near me! I swear, this wasn't my idea! No, please, listen to me! I didn't---"

CLANG!

"Stars... pretty... golden... shining... blinking... flying... spinning... spinning... still spinning... stars..." those were Gotenks' lasts words before he de-fused and dropped to the floor, knocked-out cold.

Gohan felt victorious as Gotenks was knocked out. However, his problem wasn't over... not yet. Before he could get up from his position, before he could pull away from the unconscious Videl, a gleeful voice echoed in the room. And for Gohan, it was bad news. It was the voice that never failed to make Gohan cringe, it was the voice that never failed to make Gohan cower in fright, and now, it was the voice that made Gohan pale noticeably, even paler than Gotenks' Super Ghost.

"OH MY GOD, I'M SOOOOOOOOOOOO HAPPY! THIS... THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! OH DENDE, THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO MUCH!FINALLY, I'M GOING TO HAVE... I'M GOING TO HAVE... GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANDCHILDREN!!!!!!!!!!"