Striking The Heart
Deadly Serious
…a cold mysterious wind blew over the lookout and caused chills to run up and down the warriors' spines.
"What was that?" Bulma questioned in the form of a frightened utter.
"They're here" Piccolo whispered…
His breathing was un-normal and his eyes were shut. His frown was one of pain and his face was colourless. His hands were clenched into fists as they held onto the soft white sheet, his legs spread, twitching now and then from being uncomfortable. That's how he felt right now…uncomfortable. He couldn't find a restful spot and it didn't help that his body was aching all over. He sighed in frustration. He could hardly feel his body…he could hardly feel anything. He wondered how he felt uncomfortable. He wondered how he could feel the wind's cold caressing. Huh? He looked across at the window, but it wasn't open. Why was it suddenly so cold? That's when the wind picked up in force and blew around his room, lifting his bed sheets up slightly as it did. Goku tried to move, he tried to do something. But he couldn't. His body hurt, his muscles hurt. His every being hurt. His eyes barely opened as something stuck into his chest. He winced in pain as something cold run down his chest. His vision was blurry as he looked up and saw dark shadowy figures stood over him.
The door suddenly barged open and the dark creatures screamed in anger with a high pitch. They twirled together like a twister of darkness and vanished. The room was quiet as the Z warriors stood still, quite shocked by what they saw.
"This happened the last time. They've gone" Vegeta stated. Piccolo nodded. Chichi handed Gosha to Gohan and barged through them and raced over to her husband's side.
"Goku?" she questioned, scanning over his body for any injuries.
"I wonder why they came. It seems as though they didn't hurt him" Bulma said as she walked over with the others.
"I'm not sure that's entirely true" Chichi whispered. Bulma's eyes followed hers and came to rest at Goku's chest. There was a small hole with a black substance dribbling out of it.
"Oh my goodness" Bulma suddenly panicked, rushing over to Chichi's side.
"What is it woman?" Vegeta demanded.
"Is it bad?" asked Yamcha. Bulma studied it and bit her lip.
"It could be" she said, suddenly jumping up and reaching into her pocket. She pulled out a capsule and threw it to the other side of the room where it puffed up in smoke and opened.
"What's that?" Krillin asked, examining the large box that appeared.
"My mini science aid kit" she chirped.
"Mini?" questioned Gohan. Gosha gurgled and blew a bubble.
"Yes, I carry it most places with me. I mean, you never know what could happen" Bulma said, bending down and opening it, the others standing around her to look. She brought out a large flat screen of some sort and a few test tubes and a spatula.
"What are you going to do?" Gohan asked.
"I'm going to find out what that stuff is and what it's doing to Goku" she said, standing up and putting the things on the table, but held onto the screen.
"This, is my mini portable x-ray" she told them whilst pulling it open so it was bigger and pressing the button on the back.
"Wow that's cool" Krillin commented, watching as she placed it over Goku's chest.
"I know. I made it myself" she bragged, positioning it and pressing something else. There was a flash and as the group of warriors shielded their eyes, she smiled in triumph.
"Alright" she said, diving into her box and reaching for something else. She brought out a stand and turned it on. It lit up like a bulb and she placed the image on it.
"There it is… Goku's heart" the gang were quite impressed by the instant result.
"Wow, is it just me or is his heart big?" Yamcha asked.
"Fool of course it is. The idiot's got a big stupid loving heart. I'm surprised it isn't bigger" Vegeta said.
"No Yamcha's right. It is large. A lot larger than ours anyway. But, I've never seen a Saiyan's heart before" she said in awe, "It's extraordinary" she said.
"Well, what can you tell us?" Chichi asked, getting back to the subject.
"Well, it's going to be a little harder than I thought because his heart is very different from ours. I mean, instead of having the three main arteries at the top, there's only one. He has the Vena cava and the left pulmonary artery and thankfully he has both his left and right ventricles and atriums. But, he has no aortic arch" she said, letting her finger scan over the x-ray.
"And how the hell are we to know what any of that is?" Vegeta asked, getting impatient.
"Okay, what I'm saying is most of the main stuff is there, but some of it is missing. I guess it's because he's a saiyan. Everything is so much bigger. The veins are huge too"
"What's that really dark stuff in the corner there?" asked Gohan, pointing to the right of the image. Bulma inspected it. It was a black colour, with several specks in it.
"That must be what was injected into him" she said. She looked worried.
"Bulma? What is it?" Chichi asked, her patience fading also. Bulma kept quite for several seconds before responding.
"I've seen this before. I've seen this kind of, substance"
"Then what is it?" asked Krillin.
"It's called Venomtanium or VT for short. It's a type of poison, but its very, very dangerous" there were gasps amongst the group.
"How can you be so sure?" questioned Piccolo.
"I'm not hundred percent, but I'm confident it is. I'll take a sample" she said, retrieving her spactula from the side and scraping a bit of the black liquid off Goku's rising chest. Carefully she put it into the test tube and handed it to Vegeta.
"Hold this a second" she ordered. He held it away from him cautiously, afraid that if it touched him he'd end up like Goku. That's the last thing he wanted right now. Delving into her box once more, Bulma scooped up a bottle of liquid.
"What's that?" asked Vegeta.
"A type of Reactant isn't it Bulma?" Gohan questioned.
"Smart boy Gohan, you're correct" Gohan smiled as his mother beamed proudly at him, "It's called Iodontinum. It possesses a powerful catalyst that speeds up the reaction between two substances. By mixing these two, the outcome will tell me if that black stuff is Vemontanium or not"
"So, when have you seen this black stuff before?" questioned Piccolo, quite interested.
"Well, VT has been around a while. Usually it's used for killing very dangerous and harmful bacteria and it's used to kill diseases, like the Heart Virus Goku had. I believe the antidote Trunks brought back from the future had a very small quantity mixed up in it"
"Is that why it was dark coloured?" asked Krillin.
"Well, not necessarily. The colour could be caused by flavourings and Goku did say it was blackcurrant flavour. But in this case, the colour is the difference between life and death"
"Death?" Chichi questioned.
"Yes Chi. Venomtanium is a killing fluid. I think that's why Wilhem wanted it done" Bulma said, taking the tube out of Vegeta's hands and adding the black drop to the Iodontinum. She swished the tube around, the room remaining quiet until she spoke.
"Once this chemical is inserted into his blood, it'll kill everything in its path. His heart is all that stands in its way. It'll eat it away, slowly and painfully" Bulma whispered, suddenly afraid of her own words.
"So what your saying is…this stuff's gonna kill em?" Krillin asked in a quiet tone.
"Yes Krillin. It's going to kill him"
"You're lying" Chichi whispered, her eyes watering up.
"I'm sorry Chichi, but it's the truth. There is no way his heart can stand up to this. It's too powerful and there's too much of it, it'll spread"
"No, I don't believe you! He can't die! He can't die now!" Chichi cried, a tear cascading down her left cheek as she held her husband's cold hand. Bulma sighed, a sad frown upon her features.
"I'm sorry Chi" she said, "But let's not loose hope. It might not even be VT" she said, looking down at the test tube. But she knew she had spoken too soon. The mixed liquid had turned black. She gasped.
"Oh no" she whispered.
"It is isn't it?" Gohan quietly asked.
"Yes" Chichi's face dropped some more if it was possible. Why? Why was this happening? First he is thieved of his power and then beat up, now he has been injected with some poison and he was going to die…Why Kami why? How did he deserve this? How did she deserve this? Didn't Dende understand how much she loved him? Didn't he understand how important her Goku was? She cried…no…she sobbed, letting the pain wash down her face. Her form trembled as she did, her hand still holding his. He felt colder than before. Colder than ever. Yamcha sat by her and put his hands on her shoulders murmuring things she refused to hear. She couldn't take this. Kami knew she couldn't take this…she wouldn't take this…she shouldn't have to take this…he was her husband…she was his wife. Without the other they were incomplete…he needed her, she needed him…they loved each other…how did they expect her to handle this. She pushed Yamcha away and quickly walked out of the room, leaving the others behind in sorrow. They knew this would be hard for her…but they didn't' know how hard…
She ran outside, the coldness of his hands still cursed upon her.
"Momma" Goten spoke. He had been told to stay outside with Trunks and Mr Popo. Chichi looked at him briefly before walking off to be alone. Goten felt rejected but when his brother came and explained…he understood why…
She collapsed to the hard tiled floor and sobbed her heart out. She held herself, wishing it was her husband's hands instead of her own, but she knew that was impossible now. She knew that no matter what…it wasn't going to be okay…
"How long does he have?" asked Piccolo peering over at Chichi. Bulma sadly looked up at him.
"Not very long. Maybe three, four days. I'm not sure" she whispered.
Chichi held her heart as her tears refused to stop falling. This was one big nightmare. She wanted this to end. All she wanted was to have her Goku back and to go home and live happily ever after. Was that too much to ask?
Guilt hit her now. Guilt because all of this was her fault. If she hadn't come back Goku wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself like that. Why? She kept asking herself over and over again. Goku was pure hearted, the saviour of Mother Nature, the hero of Earth. This wasn't meant to be his fate…not like this…now she wished she could turn back time…
…Now she wished she was dead…