Author's Note: Here's another chapter, and so quickly! I was very surprised when I saw 800 something reviews!! Thanks everyone, especially Sean, who's given me advice and much more. J
DBZ isn't mine, but all made up characters and such are mine, all mine!
II. Dark Passions
*~* Chapter Twenty One *~*
The Sickness
Rattai opened one eye as his he heard the faint whoosh of his door being opened. His head advisor entered his room. Without turning around to face him, he asked, "They failed, didn't they?"
The advisor shifted nervously, staring down at that floor. "I'm . . . afraid so . . ."
Rattai growled and jumped out of his chair. He began to throw things across the room, shouting about how everyone except for him was incompetent.
His advisor winced, then exclaimed, "But! But they did succeed in planting the device in the girl!"
The young prince stopped in mid-tirade and turned to the older man. He grinned, rubbing his hands together eagerly like a little child. "How long until it activates itself?"
"Ah . . . it should be happening any time now, your highness."
"Good, good. Now all we have to do is sit back and wait."
*~*
Videl was jerked out of her peaceful slumber by a sharp, persistent pinching sensation in her right wrist. She sat up in Gohan's bed, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Her gaze then flew down to her burning wrist as she moved her arm into a soft ray of moonlight that fell on the bed sheets.
A river of blood ran down her arm from a spot on her wrist.
She gasped and stumbled out of the bed, kicking the sheets away from her legs while trying to stop the blood flow by clamping her shirt over the spot. She dashed out of Gohan's room, down the hallway and into the bathroom. She flicked on the light and grabbed some tissue paper, pressing it to her wrist while cleaning up the rest of the blood on her arm with some more tissue.
"What the hell happened to my arm?" she muttered. How had she begun to bleed?
When she lifted the tissue, she groaned. The blood was still coming from a wound on her wrist. Videl got some fresh tissue and pressed harder to her laceration.
"Videl? Are you okay?"
Her gaze flew up to the doorway. There stood Gohan, staring down at her with sleepy eyes. She said nothing, but showed him her mysterious gash.
His eyes widened and the sleep disappeared from his face. "What . . . how'd you get this?"
"I don't know," she moaned. "I woke up . . . and it was just there!"
Gohan grabbed more tissue and pressed it to her wound. Eventually, with his force, the bleeding stopped. He grabbed some disinfectant (the no-sting kind Chichi had purchased for Goten), a big Band-Aid and set to work on Videl. His tender touch drove Videl up the wall as he gently stroked her upper arm with is free hand to calm her down while he worked.
Gohan glanced up at her as he placed the Band-Aid on her skin, not noticing the effect that his touch had on Videl. "This is weird . . . you say you just woke up and it was there?"
Videl nodded, regaining control of her emotions and cradled her wrist to her chest.
Gohan placed an arm around her shoulder, seeing a hint of fear and uncertainty in her eyes and led her out of the bathroom. They went back to Gohan's room where he turned on his light and inspected Videl. Bloody gashes didn't appear out of nowhere- that was impossible, but he couldn't figure out what had caused her wrist to split.
Gohan sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "I can't figure this out! Maybe if I sleep on it . . ."
"Yeah, I guess we should go back to bed . . ." Videl crawled underneath the bed sheets and closed her eyes tight. Gohan flicked off the light, then settled down on the cot next to his bed.
"If something happens again, Videl, you wake me up, okay?" he whispered.
"Okay."
"Night Videl."
"Goodnight, Gohan."
Neither of them fell asleep immediately after saying goodnight. All Videl could think about was Gohan's silky soft touch, and Gohan was engrossed with Videl's sudden injury.
As they both eventually abandoned their thoughts and drifted off to sleep, neither noticed a small, spider like object covered in blood crawl off of the bed and onto the floor.
*~*
Chichi was up early the next morning, preparing breakfast like she did almost every morning. Goten was already awake and was busy playing 'Saiyaman and Videl' in his room again, claiming that he had nothing better do after Bulma had picked Trunks up the other day. He was very excited that Videl knew the truth about Gohan and was becoming more creative with his 'game'.
When Gohan had approached her the afternoon before and told her, not asked her, that Videl would be moving over temporarily, until everything settled down, she hadn't known whether to be excited or angry. She was happy that Gohan and Videl would have some chances to be alone together, which could lead to romance and eventually grandchildren, but upset that Gohan hadn't asked her first.
When she'd yelled at him for that, he'd muttered back, "You probably would've said yes anyway."
Which was true. She wouldn't turn away her own future daughter-in-law!
Chichi placed the last of the pancakes onto a plate and went down the hall. She opened the door to Gohan's room and was slightly disappointed that the two had actually stayed in their own beds. She remembered the bed conversation she'd had with Gohan.
He'd insisted on having Videl sleeping in his room so that "someone couldn't kidnap her in the middle of the night without him knowing". Chichi had been hesitant, but then agreed. After all, Gohan was a responsible young man . . . maybe too responsible.
Chichi vaguely realized that she was contradicting herself over and over again, but chose to ignore it. She cleared her throat loudly, then went over and shook Gohan hard to wake him up.
"Wha . . . Ma . . . is it morning already?"
"Yes. Breakfast is ready. Wake Videl up."
Gohan got up and stretched. "Sure thing." He went around the bed and gently shook Videl awake.
Chichi stared for a while at the young soon-to-be lovers, then turned to leave. She squealed when a spider suddenly ran across her foot. "Yuck, I hate spiders," she muttered, leaving the room.
Videl woke up and stroked the smooth rubber covering her wound. She got out of bed and took some clothes out of one of her suitcases. "I'll . . . change in the bathroom. Is it okay if I put on some training clothes so we can get right to work after breakfast?"
"Okay." Gohan watched as she left, then closed the door and proceeded to change clothes. He grabbed a gi from his dresser and pulled it on halfway, leaving his chest bare as he dug around for his shoes. Suddenly the door flew open and Videl entered, then caught sight of a half-naked Gohan and flushed wildly. "OH, I'm SORRY! I forgot-"
"Don't worry about it. It's not like I'm completely not naked or something."
She hesitated, then left the room again, dashing into the kitchen.
Gohan just chuckled and shook his head.
*~*
"We've got movement from the XG-14, your highness. It's awake," said a scientist as he punched buttons on his mini computer.
Rattai grinned. "Bring me the monitor."
"I'm . . . afraid it isn't ready to view anything. It needs to charge up before it can send us any images."
"How long?"
"Just a few more minutes . . . that's all . . ."
*~*
"GOTEN, IF YOU DON'T PUT DOWN THOSE TOYS AND GET IN HERE RIGHT NOW, I'LL-"
Goten ran from his room and into the kitchen where his mother, Gohan and Videl were already sitting, eating breakfast. His mother had been calling him for about ten minutes now, but he'd been so involved in his latest 'Saiyaman and Videl' episode, he hadn't heard her calling. "Sorry, ma! Didn't hear ya!"
Chichi placed a plate before her youngest son then sat at the table herself. "So, how did you all sleep?"
Gohan almost dropped his fork, then glanced at Videl. She avoided his gaze, then said, "Just fine, thank you. And I really appreciate you letting me stay here."
"Oh, it's a pleasure to have you over! It's nice to have another female to talk to. I've lived all my life with manly-men, so it's nice to have a woman around."
Chichi and Videl laughed, but neither of the boys understood what was so funny. They kept on eating.
"I wish Gohan would enter the Tenkaichi Budokai," said Chichi to Videl. "We could really use that prize money."
Videl winked at the older woman. "Well, when I win, you can have it all!"
"You think you're going to win?"
"Of course. With the world's strongest man training me, how could I not?"
"You forgot the world's most handsome!" added Chichi, giggling.
Gohan flushed. "Jeez, you two, if you want to talk woman stuff, go somewhere else."
Goten agreed. "The kitchen is for eating and you two are gonna make me barf."
"Woman stuff?" huffed Videl. "That sounded sexist to me, Gohan!"
Both women laughed as Gohan began to eat faster, avoiding Videl's gaze. "He's afraid of you, Videl. That's good. I kept Goku in line that way, and when you marry Gohan, you'll have to do the same. These Saiyan men are quite a handful."
Gohan choked momentarily on his food. "I never said we were getting married!! Mom, don't start . . ."
Chichi went over to the cabinet and pulled out THE frying pan. Videl stifled a laugh as both Gohan and Goten cringed in fear. "THIS is my weapon, Videl. Do you see this dent? This got here because I hit Goku over the head so many times with it."
Videl laughed loudly. "I bet Goten will have his own dent soon, huh?"
"HEY!" the little boy shrieked as Videl, Chichi and even Gohan laughed at that one.
Everyone quieted down as a faint whizzing sound filled the room. Gohan stopped eating, then looked around. "What's that?"
It suddenly stopped and Chichi shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe the AC is on the fritz or something. Now, Videl," she continued, "I can tell you where to buy a high quality frying pan at a low, low price . . ."
*~*
"And we've got visualization!" announced the scientist. "The XG-14 is now transmitting images." He produced a screen for Rattai.
A picture of four people sitting at a table, laughing and eating appeared on the once black screen. The young woman immediately caught the prince's eye. "There she is . . . isn't she beautiful?"
The scientist did not reply.
"All that dark hair, those unusual purple blue-ish eyes . . ." His eyes roamed over Videl as she got up from the table and poured herself another glass of orange juice.
" . . . and that body . . ." [A/N: Yuck . . . that perv . . .]
The scientist spoke up. "Her energy, your highness. What about that?"
Rattai waved his hand. "Oh, yes, that too. I think . . . she'd make a wonderful queen for the Saiyan people, don't you?"
*~*
Videl almost dropped the carton of orange juice when she saw something black dart across the kitchen floor. Maybe I was just imagining it . . . She went back to the table and watched Gohan wolf down the rest of his food. Videl sighed restlessly and glanced at her watch. "Are you ready to start training yet, Gohan? You're taking forever with that food!"
He shoved the rest of his eggs into his mouth and sighed, patting his belly. "DONE! That was great, Mom, as usual."
Chichi smiled with pride. "I do try my best."
Goten followed them as they went outside. He watched eagerly as Videl and Gohan began to stretch.
"So, what do you want to work on today, Videl? Flying or ki blasts?" asked Gohan.
Videl thought, then said, "Ki blasts. That way, I'll at least have some hope of protecting myself if someone else tries to come after me."
"Right. Okay." Gohan sat on the ground and gestured for Videl to sit across from him. She did, then listened carefully to Gohan. "First you'll need to learn how to access your ki before you can even start to manipulate it. Ki comes from . . . your whole body, but mostly a place I like to call your center. I'm going to help you find that center."
"Ooookay . . . so, how will I know that I've found it?"
"You'll . . . feel at peace. All your worries will drift away. Believe me, when you've found your center, you'll know."
Videl nodded. "So what do I do."
"Close your eyes . . . relax your muscles . . . relax, not get tenser!" teased Gohan. He moved behind Videl and placed both hands on her shoulders. Gohan leaned forward to whisper in her ear. "Relax, Videl, or this won't work."
How the HELL can I relax if you're so close to me?! Videl sighed heavily, then felt her muscles loosen as his hands drifted down her back to work her muscles there.
"Good . . . good . . ." whispered Gohan once Videl was totally relaxed. He moved back to his original position. "Now take deep, even breaths . . . good . . . now I need you to think about a happy thought. Think about a happy memory you have . . ."
A happy memory?
The time Gohan had taken her to the dance . . . when he'd taken her out onto the dance floor and into his arms . . .
Gohan grinned as a tiny smile appeared on Videl's face. "Good! Now keep thinking about your memory . . . let your center come to you, don't look for it."
They sat like that for a while, for so long that Goten eventually wandered off, stopping to glance down at a strange looking spider in the grass for less than a second, then continued on his way.
Suddenly Videl's eyes flew open and she began to gasp for air. She'd found her center . . . and the power there was almost overwhelming. Gohan caught her before she fell forward and helped her sit up. "You found it?"
She nodded. "It was amazing . . . there's a lot of power in there!"
"Great! Now let's get to work on ki blasts."
"Are you going to teach me the Kamehema . . . the thingy?"
"The Kamehameha. Later, once you get the hang of ki blasts. Who knows- maybe you'll be able to make one of your own."
Her own specialized attack? Cool.
*~*
Rattai frowned at the screen. THIS was not good. Who the hell was this boy and why did he have his hands all over his woman- Videl? And from the looks of things, Videl didn't care that he was touching her everywhere!
This boy . . . he could be trouble.
*~*
"Now that you've found your center, it shouldn't be hard for you to draw power from it and use it to your advantage," Gohan was saying. "This part may be a little harder. What you need to do is force the power inside of you out . . . though your hands . . . and you should get something like this . . ." Gohan cupped his hands together and formed a tiny ball of light. He then pulled his hands apart and the energy dissipated. "You try."
Videl took two deep breaths, cupped her hands before her and concentrated hard. Her energy wouldn't budge and, after a while, she got frustrated. "This isn't working!"
"Give it time, Videl. You've got to work on this stuff. Now keep trying."
She sighed, then closed her eyes and concentrated again. Gohan watched her hands carefully for any signs of energy. Sweat began to bead on Videl's forehead as she focused on driving her energy into her hands. After about thirty minutes, Gohan noticed that Videl's hands were glowing a faint pinkish purple color. He held his breath and leaned forward slightly, keeping quiet as to not distract Videl. A tiny bead of light began to form in her hands. That's it . . . that's it!!
Suddenly her eyes snapped open as she lost control of her energy. The tiny bead in her hand grew surprisingly fast. Videl gasped and drew her hands apart, accidentally sending her ki straight at Gohan.
His eyes grew wide and he fell to ground, covering his head with his and narrowly dodged Videl's blast. He hesitantly sat up, twisting around to see what damage Videl had done. A tree had been split in half and she'd blown up a small boulder, but that was about it. He wiped his forehead and sighed with relief. "Jeez, Videl, were you trying to blow my head off?"
She looked very frightened for a second, then rolled her eyes. "I highly doubt that anything I do would put a dent in you," she snickered.
Gohan gave her a tiny smile. "Well, that was good, for your first try. What happened? Did you loose control or something?"
"I guess. Now what?"
He pulled her off her feet, then told her to make a ki blast again. "It should come easier to you, since you've done it once before."
When Videl tried again, she found that it was easier. She fired several, one after another, at another big rock not too far away. After about ten consecutive blasts, it crumbled to the ground. "How was that?"
"Great! Really good." He stepped away from her, then grinned mischievously. "Hit me," he said, patting his chest.
"Are you CRAZY? Isn't that dangerous?"
"Aren't you the one that said that anything you could do wouldn't put a dent in me?"
This sparked Videl's determination. She bit her lower lip, cupped her hands, then summoned a lot of her energy. She fired it directly at Gohan, then winced when it hit him.
"Not bad!" He stared down at the slightly charred spot on his gi.
"Not BAD? What's that supposed to mean?"
"You'll get better. Now, how about you try some target practice?" Gohan gathered up some fist-sized rocks and set them in a pile. "Okay. I'm going to throw these rocks into the air, and I want you to hit them. It's all about precision, hand-eye coordination, that sort of thing. Ready?"
"Hai!"
Gohan threw the first one up and Videl hit it. "Good!" He threw another farther to her left, then another straight up. He continued, varying the position of the rocks. Videl hit each and every one. "Great! Faster now." Gohan began again, but going faster as he had promised. She missed a few of these, but got most of them. "Now I'm going to do more than one at a time, okay?"
Videl nodded and focused herself on the task at hand. She felt the need to impress Gohan, to show him that she wasn't just some weak, average human fighter. Concentrate Videl. Let's do this!
Gohan was surprised when Videl attacked the rocks with speed, precision and, most of all, determination. She only missed one set out of twenty. Gohan began to clap loudly, causing Videl to flush. "GOOD JOB, Videl!! And on your first day, too! You'll have the hang of this in no time!"
*~*
Goten wandered back over to Gohan and Videl, who were in the middle of their second round of target practice. He bent down to poke at that weird spider he'd seen earlier that was still there, then lost interest a few minutes later when it didn't try to run away or anything. He got closer to Gohan and Videl. He watched as Videl fired ki blasts from her hands, hitting all of the rocks that Gohan threw. Wow, she learns fast!
"YAY, VIDEL!!" exclaimed Goten. "That was great!"
She smiled at him. "Thanks!"
"How about we take a break and get something to eat?" suggested Gohan, much to his little brother's delight. They headed back inside the house where his mother was already making lunch.
"I saw Videl from the window," Chichi said, stirring a big pot of soup. "You're making a lot of progress in such a short time with your ki blasts."
"Yeah, but I don't think they'll do much damage on anything but trees and small rocks," Videl muttered.
"You'll get there," Chichi said.
They all sat around the table, and Goten began to comment on the strange spider he'd seen outside. "It was sitting there when we went outside, and it was still there after about an hour or so. Isn't that weird? And when I poked it-"
Chichi wrinkled her nose at that.
"- it didn't run away, it even didn't move, and it didn't feel like spiders do."
"And what are spiders supposed to feel like?" Videl asked with a smile on her face.
Goten shrugged. "Like a bug. This spider felt like . . . metal, sorta."
Gohan frowned. A metal spider? What in the world is he talking about?
"You know, I saw a strange spider in Gohan's room early this morning when I went to wake you two up," Chichi remembered.
"And I saw something running across the kitchen floor during breakfast," Videl put in. "It could've been a spider, now that I think about it."
*~*
"Ahh . . . your highness, should we shut down the XG-14?" asked the scientist nervously. "I think they're becoming suspicious!"
The prince just waved his hand. "No, leave it. What could they do to harm us if they found it? Nothing, exactly nothing."
The scientist blinked once, then said, "Of course."
*~*
As they lounged around the house after a hearty lunch, Gohan kept his eyes peeled for the mysterious spider. Videl was playing a board game with Goten, and he was sitting on the couch, watching them.
First the spider was in my room, then in the kitchen, then outside where I was training Videl. What could connect those locations? Of course! Both Videl and I were in all three places. Mom was in my room, but not Goten, everyone was in the kitchen, but Goten was outside, and Mom wasn't! Maybe it's following me and Videl . . . or just Videl?
"Say, Videl, could you get my sketch pad from my room, along with a couple of pencils?" Gohan asked.
She turned around and looked at him as if he were crazy. "Excuse me? The last time I checked, you had working legs. Get up and get them yourself."
Goten giggled.
"Come on, Videl. It's important." He sent her a meaningful glance.
She looked confused, then stood up. "Uh, sure thing, Gohan. I'll be right back, Goten." Videl left the room and, sure enough, a tiny black spider followed.
I was right! Gohan leapt up off the couch and raced into the kitchen. He grabbed one of his mother's Tupperware containers and a lid, then dashed back into the living room where Videl was just returning with Gohan's stuff.
"I've got them, Gohan. Now can you please tell me why you needed me to get them?"
Gohan didn't answer her. He was too busy keeping his gaze trained to the ground with the container in one hand and the lid in the other.
Videl raised an eyebrow. He's lost it! She gasped when he suddenly pounced on the ground, slamming the container on the wooden floor. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"I GOT IT!!!!" cried Gohan, slapping the top onto the clear container. He held it up in the air for all to see. "I caught the spider!"
"OHHHHHHH!!!!!" cried Goten, running up to him. "Can I play with it?"
Gohan shook his head. "Sorry, squirt, but I've got plans for this thing."
"Explain, Gohan," muttered Videl.
"I was thinking that it was strange that a spider just happened to be following us, or particularly Videl. It was in my room, the kitchen and outside, and Videl was in all three places."
"So . . . you think this thing's following me?"
"Yep! I'm going to take it over to Bulma's so she can check it out."
Gohan placed two fingers to his forehead, and Videl recognized the move. "WAIT!! I want to go to, but not that way. I get nauseous every time. Can we fly instead?"
Gohan nodded and changed into Saiyaman. Goten raced outside to call Nimbus. "Mom, we're going to Bulma's!!" called Gohan.
"Okay!" she said back.
Gohan handed Videl the Tupperware container and lead her outside. Goten was already sitting on the fluffy cloud. Videl stared at it, the asked, "What's that?"
"The Flying Nimbus," Goten answered. "Isn't it COOL?!"
He's sitting on a cloud . . . well, what should I have expected from the Sons? "Sure . . ."
Gohan wrapped his arms around Videl's waist. "Hold on to that container tight!" They took to the air, with Goten following on Nimbus."
*~*
The scientist didn't see what was so funny. The young prince was laughing his head off, and he didn't seem the least bit worried that they'd been discovered.
"That kid is the one I've been worried about?!" exclaimed the prince.
The scientist wanted to ask what was so funny about it, but decided against opening his mouth. "Should I shut it down now?"
"No, no, no! I have to admit, the boy's smart. I want to see where this is going."
*~*
Goten parted from Videl and Gohan when they reached Capsule Corp and went off to look for Trunks. Gohan pushed the button on his wristwatch, then landed on the ground, making sure that Videl was steady. They knocked on the door, and both were very surprised to see Pikkon answer, and were even more surprised to see him in a pair of jeans and a white t-shirt.
"Uh . . . how's it going, Pikkon?" asked Gohan, trying not to laugh.
"Fine. Is there trouble? What do you two need?"
"We just came to see Bulma. Is she in her lab?"
The Midorian nodded. "You can go and see her."
They went back to Bulma's lab where she was working on a motor bike. She looked up from her work when they entered, then smiled. "Hey, you two! What's up?"
Gohan told Bulma what was going on, then handed her the container. "Here's the spider. Could you take a look at it?"
"You want me to look at a bug? I'm a machine kind of scientist. I'm not into biology."
"I know, but I don't think it's a bug. Bugs don't usually follow people around."
She sighed, then nodded. "Okay." Bulma shooed them out of the lab, saying, "Come back in an hour, okay?" She closed her door, and a red light above it flicked on.
The two wandered outside and found themselves watching a fight between Vegeta and Pikkon. Goten and Trunks were already sitting there, cheering on the green man, trying to upset Vegeta.
"Pikkon's already beat Dad, like, ten times!" Trunks announced. "He's so cool! Wait 'til he does that fire-spiny thing! It's awesome!"
"SHUT UP DOWN THERE!!" shouted Vegeta as he continued to fight Pikkon in the air.
They all watched as Pikkon soon beat Vegeta into the ground, signaling the end of the fight. "Pikkon won again!" Trunks exclaimed as Vegeta stalked off.
"I bet if Gohan fought Pikkon, he'd win," Goten said proudly. "Wouldn't you, Gohan?"
"Umm . . ." He was terribly out of shape and he secretly feared that he wouldn't be able to keep up with Vegeta, Pikkon, or even his father if he ever got into a fight with them. What good would he do in a battle? He needed to start training. "Well, it's been a while since I last fought . . . I mean, really fought."
Goten didn't like his answer, but went off with Trunks as the two argued over who would win if Piccolo and Pikkon were to fight.
Videl and Gohan roamed around, then returned to the lab and waited outside of the door for Bulma to come out. When she finally did, she looked very excited. Bulma pulled them both inside and began to talk immediately.
"Can you imagine how surprised I was to find out that our 'spider' here is a slightly advanced form of surveillance?" She held the device in her hand. "I had to . . . take it apart to stop it from going after you two when you left, and that gave me a chance to look at it closer. It transmits images back to a 'home base', so it's like a camera."
"Someone was watching me?" asked Videl, shivering a bit.
Bulma nodded. "But there was something else that interested me. Could either of you explain why there's blood on it?"
"WHAT?!" they both exclaimed.
"When I looked under my microscope, I noticed there was some dried blood on it."
"I . . . think I know," said Videl. They turned to look at her as she stared down at her still-bandaged wrist. "Maybe that's how my wrist split so mysteriously last night, Gohan."
"What do you mean?"
"I remember yesterday, when that man grabbed my wrist, it felt like a sharp needle pieced my skin. Maybe he implanted that thing in me, and it came out in the middle of the night."
Gohan nodded slowly. "Makes sense . . ."
"Wait a minute!" the older woman exclaimed. "Back up and start at the beginning, please!"
Gohan and Videl told her all that had happened the day before, and then events of the present day. She stared down at the 'bug', then had an idea. She ran up to one of her big computers, then began to punch in a bunch of buttons.
"What are you doing, Bulma?" asked Videl.
She just shook her head and pointed to the 'spider', then placed a finger over her lips. Bulma continued to punch at the computer's keys, and the teens looked on. Neither had an idea what Bulma was doing, but they both suspected that she'd lost her mind.
Bulma was practically jumping up and down and she looked from the screen to her keys over and over again. "Come one, come on . . ." she muttered continuously. This has to work . . . come on!
*~*
"Your highness, we're being traced!" cried the scientist as his computer began to beep loudly.
"What are you talking about?" muttered Rattai.
"It seems that the earth woman has begun to lock onto the signals being transmitted by the XG-14!! How? No such technology should exist on this planet!" The scientist began to attack his computer, hacking away at the keys.
Rattai didn't see what he was so upset about. "And what does that mean?"
"If she manages to lock onto the signals, then she'll be able to trace them to our location!! She'll find us!"
"SHUT IT DOWN!!!! SHUT IT DOWN!!!!"
The scientist pushed the 'abort' button quickly, then sighed when the words 'Mission aborted' and 'XG-14 shut down' appeared on the viewing screen.
*~*
Bulma let out a scream of frustration when the signals disappeared. She slammed her fist down onto the keyboard and screamed again. "The bastards!! I almost had them!!!!"
"What are you talking about?" asked Gohan desperately.
"I was tracing the signals emitted by the spider so that I could lock onto the location of where they were being sent to, but the signals are gone. I guess they caught onto me."
"At least you tried, Bulma," said Videl.
"I hope you guys don't mind me keeping the spider. Some of it's components are advanced . . . I'd like to study them."
"Sure Bulma. We'll be going, then."
"Okay, Gohan. Why don't you leave Goten here since you kept Trunks for a while yesterday?"
"Sounds good. Thanks." The exited the house and Gohan changed to Saiyaman. He grabbed Videl's waist tightly and took to the air.
*~*
It's not like my efforts were for nothing. Now I know who that clown is and where he lives. I'm sure I can put that information to use. Rattai was staring at the blank screen, trying to come up with a new plan.
I noticed the way he was around Videl. He likes her, and he'd probably do anything for her. He grinned. This, I can use to my advantage.
He turned to the scientist and said, "Prepare the XG-15 prototype and fill it with virus F-49."
The scientist paled at the mention of virus F-49. It was one of the worst viruses he'd had the misfortune to deal with. It originated from a planet they'd purged, where the people there feared it more than anything else. The Saiyans, realized, however, that it had positive uses, like keeping fruits and vegetables fresh longer and were able to control it, and even develop an antidote with their advanced technology. [1] "A-are you sure, your highness?"
"You dare to second guess me?! Of course I'm sure!"
"R-right. Who's it going to?"
"Videl."
*~*
When Gohan and Videl returned home, Videl was exhausted. All of the training and the excitement of the past couple of days had tired her out. She went directly to bed for a short nap, changing out of her t-shirt and shorts into a long nightshirt. Videl climbed into Gohan's bed, pulled the blankets over her and settled back against the pillow, scratching a mosquito bite the whole time.
As Videl slept, Gohan was sat on the living room couch, snacking on an apple and reading a novel at the same time. The house was quiet with Videl napping, his mother out hanging clothes on the clothesline and with Goten gone. Gohan sat down his book and sighed.
This whole thing was getting more and more serious. What had Rattai planned to accomplish with his little camera? He'd probably seen Gohan transform into Saiyaman, the person who'd taken down many of his warriors, but that was about it.
The sound of some one retching broke through Gohan's thoughts. He jumped up off the couch and raced into the bathroom where Videl was hunched over the toilet, throwing up her breakfast. Gohan began to rub her shaky back as dry heaves racked her body. When she was finally done, she slumped back against Gohan, breathing heavily.
"Gohan, I don't feel so good," she moaned weakly.
He placed a hand on her forehead, then snatched it back. She was burning up! He dug through the medicine cabinet for a thermometer, rinsed it off in the sink and stuck it into her mouth. After it beeped, he took it out, then gasped. 105!! Her temp was dangerously high. 108 was fatal. [2]
Gohan picked Videl up, cradling her to his chest and ran out back. "Mom, something's wrong with Videl!"
Chichi saw the girl resting limply in Gohan's arms, then gasped. "What happened? What's wrong?"
"She was throwing up and she has a fever of 105!"
"We need to get her to a hospital right away, Gohan. You'll have to use the transmission- there's no time to fly."
"Right." Before Gohan could raise his hand, Videl's body began to convulse as she coughed up blood onto herself and Gohan's shirt. "Damn!!" He placed two fingers to his forehead and was off.
Chichi raced into the house and picked up the phone. "Bulma, it's me. I need a ride out to Satan General. Videl's in trouble."
*~*
Gohan raced into Satan General Hospital, shouting, "I need some help here!!! Where's a doctor?!!"
The lady at the desk was about to yell at him when she saw that he was holding a bloody Satan Videl. She called over the speaker for a stretcher and a doctor. When they got there, they pried Videl away from Gohan and raced her away.
Gohan stared down at his hands covered in blood . . . Videl's blood . . .
He wanted to kill someone.
*~*
Chichi and Bulma raced into the hospital thirty minutes later and found Gohan pacing in a waiting room in the IC unit. He looked furious, scared and tired at the same time. The two women tried to comfort Gohan the best they could until the doctor arrived.
"Is Videl okay? Can I see her?" demanded Gohan when the man stepped into the room.
"I'm afraid you can't see her right now."
Gohan exploded. "WHY NOT?! I WANT TO SEE HER!!"
Chichi winced, then spoke up. "You'll have to excuse my son. He and Videl are good friends. Can you tell us what's wrong with her?"
"Um . . . my colleges and I aren't sure, ma'am. She's somehow contracted some sort of virus that we've never seen before, so we don't have any treatment, or any idea of what to do."
Gohan paled. "Are you saying . . . that there's nothing you can do?"
"Yes. I'm afraid that if things continue to go the way they are now, she won't live very much longer."
*~*
About an hour later, Gohan and his mother returned home. Gohan was still stunned at the news, that Videl could die any day now, and he was barely aware of his mother changing his bloody shirt and cleaning his hands with a wet rag in the living room. She ushered him onto the couch, and told him to lye down.
He lay there, tears welling up in his eyes at the thought of loosing Videl. Gohan knew at that moment that he was definitely in love with her. She couldn't die without him telling her that he loved her, without him having a chance to be with her.
CRASH
He sat up as a black square flew through the living room window, shattering the glass. Gohan watched as the square rose off of the floor and stretched to form a wide, black screen. He stood, then growled as a picture appeared on the screen. "Let me guess," he said, his voice hard and dull, "You must be Rattai."
The prince nodded. "How right you are. Now, let's get down to business. I know of Videl's . . . predicament. The poor thing's sick and there's no cure. Am I right?"
Gohan growled in response.
"Of course I'm right, because I'm the one who gave her the nasty little virus!"
"You WHAT?!! If she dies, then-"
"I know, I know. But I've got a little proposition for you, boy. I have the antidote for the virus right here." He held up a clear vial filled with a blue-green liquid and shook it in the air. "If you give me the girl, then I give her the antidote and she'll live."
Give Videl over to the other side? No, there had to be another way to save her. "No deal. I'm not handing her over to you."
"You say that now, but later . . . you see, boy, this virus comes from a planet far, far away from this one. You'll never find anything here that will be able to save her from the deadly F-49 virus. And get this- she only has forty-eight hours to live. After two days, she'll be dead. I'll be contacting you again later, and you better give me the right answer by then, or your girlfriend will no longer be with us." The prince's image disappeared from the screen and it fell to the floor.
"I know what he's getting at. He thinks, because I love Videl, that I'm going to hand her over to him so that she can live," muttered Gohan to himself. "Well, there's no way I'm going to do that. There's got to be another way . . ."
Dragon Balls.
Author's Note: Anyone scared? Hahahahaha!!! I luv cliffhangers. Anyway, do I really need to tell you all how the virus got into Videl? The mosquito bite, duh . . .
[1] Okay, if it has an antidote, then it's not technically a virus. I know that, but virus sounds worse than anything else.
[2] Er . . . I stole this from Roswell. Don't kill me if I'm wrong.
ADVERTISING: Um . . . sorry?
Next Chapter: Gohan uses the Dragon Balls. What will the results be? Use your imagination . . .
