A.N. There is nothing more encouraging than the continued story hits, and your more personal reflections and motivational reviews.

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Chapter 7: Seoxyrium-Impetus

Throughout the lengthy and at times, repetitive explanation, Videl had re-positioned herself into as many comfortable ways to sit imaginable. She'd even devoured the entire bowl of the protein porridge in-between answering the Saiyan's numerous questions and confusions. Gohan however, hardly moved an inch. Well practiced in remaining stoic and alert, only his facial expressions and the inflections in his vocal tone, gave away his dedication to getting the facts straights.

"So, every human …foetus, has a tail?" He'd ask for the third time, and once again, she'd repeat herself.

"Then there is no history of changelings?" Videl had only thought it right to explain that all sorts of myths existed; about werewolves and vampires and Kame knows what else. But it was all just fictional babbling. Humans were just humans. One body, one soul, one life. She hadn't realised the simple discussion into human behaviour, could grow into so much more. She could debate religious theories and social politics. Dents in history and world wars, thanks to territorial human behaviour. And the ever-attentive Gohan, wanted to know everything. He considered every possibility, much to Videl's annoyance. His appetite for information was just insatiable.

"But how can you be sure? Why would you de-evolve? What is there to gain from the loss of your tail? What if we'd shared more in common than we think?"

"Ugh!" The frustrated sound accompanied Videl's descent, as she flopped back against the bed. "You're impossible!" He watched her carefully, and she failed to notice his softer smile. "Why don't you just fly back to Earth and pick up a scientist and historian and…Kame knows what else you need!"

He answered her with the un-expectant shifting of his form, lowering to his side to face her with an elbow propped. A single, repetitive thumping sound, was his tail, tapping playfully behind him.

"A wasted journey," he spoke matter-of-factly, and his trademark grin returned. "I already have everything I need."

Videl quickly twisted and rolled off the side of the bed, peeling the long-forgotten and mostly unused gel-pads from her arms. "I'm tired," she flatly announced, as she focused on the brief task. Gohan just silently watched her, giving in to the obvious temptations that her bodysuit displayed. They were only really designed to support the additional weight and texture of Saiyan armour, but it was all the ship had to offer in the form of clothing, and he didn't exactly resent that fact. Though she wasn't as muscular as the females of his species, it was clear how she took very good care of herself.

"Don't you keep any blankets anywhere?" Came her next question, as she stole a pillow. His blank stare answered for him. "…Never mind."

Then she felt his continuous stare on her back, as she settled herself across the long, sloping arch of the reclining chair, and pulled her knees up in a more comfortable, foetal position. The thumping of his tail continued, even as she closed her eyes, trying to force wanted sleep. Had even half a day even passed? How many more days would this project take to complete? Videl reminded herself that it was probably best not to keep count. How could you even try when time was lost in space? She'd seen no clocks, and had only the revelation of nine days to go by. Besides, Kari was in charge. Anything could happen, as Gohan so adequately put it. Tensing as she heard his body shift, she listened carefully to the direction of his footsteps, until the echoes of his boots reflected the hollow quality of the shower steps. When the light hum of the shower nozzles kicked in, she closed her eyes again, and relaxed her head against the pillow. Somehow, the hypnotic repetition of sounds and her genuine exhaustion, sent her calmly into a heavier slumber than expected.

Gohan meanwhile, mulled over his findings. Not wanting to disturb the sleep she'd earned, he'd silently tasked himself. First, a much-needed cure for his groaning gluttony, followed by several stress-easing exercises in the abandoned training room. It stunk of recent tension and stale sweat, but his limbs needed the equal attention he'd given his brain. When he was satisfied with the solo work-out, he re-turned to his pod, where he re-read every word the human had spoken, usefully recorded onto his touch screen. It was fascinating, even the second time through, and worthy of superior attention. Gathering all his data so far, he forwarded everything to Kari. Even if she didn't read it right away, it would be the evidence needed to continue his studies. Part of him feared the woman would soon bore of her newest plaything before he could withdraw the knowledge from it. Another part of him, feared why the fate of the human suddenly concerned him so much.

Eyes drifted to the object in question, as his tail gave an involuntary whack at the bed behind him. She hadn't moved from the chair, but had at some point fidgeted to lay more loosely on her side. Waist twisted awkwardly to turn her rear view, while one arm limply draped off the edge. Gohan answered his curiosity; moving closer to tilt his head. She didn't react to the sound of his approach, but merely continued to breathe calmly and steadily. In a fluid motion of agonising slow and silent movements, he was crouched over her. Her natural scent was easier to inhale, enhanced by the mixed oils of his home planet's flora. She was fascinating, which of course, led to her hand being lightly grasped in his own in a matter of disobedient seconds. He knew he shouldn't be touching her, but such thoughts were over-ridden by the sensation of her skin. His thumb brushed over the defining bumps of her knuckles, remembering the repetitive injury she'd endured in the hope of causing him pain. He had to be so gentle with her, beyond what he thought he was even capable of. Experimentally, he traced his fingertips along the length of her forearm until he found a fleshier patch, and then pressed against the skin. The taut texture bounced back against the dent, leaving only the lightest shade of faded red, as the very temporary evidence.

"Mm…"

Her murmur caught his guard off, forcing the Saiyan to immediately retreat. Gingerly, he stood, resting his palm over the back of his neck. A trait he seemed to inherit from his father. The human merely shifted, rolling further onto her front. 'Enough,' he told himself, chastising himself with a hissed breath for his lack of control. Clearly he needed to beat this out of his system. That night, the training room found no rest.

Kari gave word to bring the Earthling to the medical bay early the next day, and the order was instantly met. Apparently she'd read his research archive, but when he arrived with the hope of her questioning either him or the 'subject' further on it, Gohan was left sorely disappointed. Instead, the dominant Saiyan had wasted no time in ordering the human to sit at a small examining table, and lifted a box containing various filled bottles of perfectly clear liquid. Gohan had swallowed back hard, once he recognised the distinctive symbol printed on the white box.

"Seox-H?" The foreign word didn't help to calm Videl's nerves, as she instantly fidgeted on the high stool. More apparatus followed in the form of glass tubes and thin metal needles, that the Earthling instantly recognised.

"What are you doing?" The human demanded, not noticing the closer presence of Gohan, who'd moved to protectively stand behind her, radiating a calming warmth.

"Silence," Kari spat, showing no sign of pain as she stabbed the needle into her own arm, drawing her own blood. Videl only needed to see the lone apparatus to already felt slightly faint, so she was quick to hide her face behind a raised shoulder from the actual scene. When she'd taken more than enough, Kari emptied the crimson essence into one of the bottles, and shook the concoction rigorously. The chemicals reacted with a hiss. Lightly slanted, onyx-black eyes watched the human a moment, as she filled a new needle syringe with the now, light-pink shade of fluorescent liquid.

"Hold it still," she demanded, knowing full well how the human would react the moment she advanced towards her with the needle pointed suggestively. Videl's brows rose over her completely horrified expression, and she immediately reclined backwards into the barricade of Gohan's chest. Her efforts to lift herself from the stool were answered by his palms resting over her tensed shoulders, simply pressing down lightly.

"NO!" She practically screamed, lashing out with her kicking feet at the advancing female, while trying her very best to wiggle out of Gohan's grip. Kari had to stop in her advance, as the human managed to topple herself off the stool and fall clumsily onto the cold floor. Gohan was swift to effortlessly pin her at the waist, pressing her stomach against the floor. Burnt sepia eyes glared up at Kari, as she slowly circled round to the human's nearest, flailing arm.

"Stop it! Ugh.. LET ME GO!"

Although Kari was clearly blocking out every word the human yelled, Gohan's loyalties were swayed. He knew he had to do as Kari wanted, and had co-operated so far. But he couldn't stand by and hold his tongue anymore. Because the fact was, he just hated the idea of letting her fulfil whatever demented plan she'd formed overnight. Especially when the effects could be the worst kind of irreversible.

"It could kill her," he exclaimed in sudden protest. "We haven't even tested her immunity or… we don't even know how humans react!"

"I know more than you think." He blinked at her response, but her words meant nothing. Not only did he lack trust, but he only succeeded in fuelling Videl's physical and vocal protesting, which irritated Kari further. Well, if the human was going to flail her arms around everywhere, she'd just have to find another patch of skin.

"But why did you…Kari, your blood is too st-"

"Oh Kame, please don't! Please-I…I'll do wha-"

"What part of silence don't you understand? Do I need to remove your flapping tongues?" Gohan's jaw clamped shut, and Kari's shoulders lifted with a huff. Videl on the other hand, didn't give a damn. Her panic had reached critic levels; nails clawed at the floor while she squirmed and wiggled to no success.

"- whatever you want! I'll tell you anything j-just, don't do this! I don't want to…I…No! Why are you … What are you gonna… OWW!"

It was too late. Kari had already rolled the obstructions of material away, and gave the syringe a final flick to disperse of any air bubbles. The sudden and ruthless prick of the sharp metal point into the flesh above the human's rear, did it's additional job of finally shutting her up. Gohan watched with a bated breath, focusing on the sound of the human's irregular breathing of mostly exhausted pants. He hadn't realised his grip had tightened around her, as if the complete closeness of his warmth would somehow help and protect her. The jab was slightly more prolonged than Videl was used to, and the stinging sensation failed to calm down, even as the needle was quickly withdrawn.

"Well?" Kari snapped as she fluidly rose back to her full height, "it's still breathing, isn't it?" Gohan said nothing; just kept his eyes on the human and expelled a relieved, slightly shaky breath. "Hmph. Pathetic. I didn't think the human would rub off on you so quickly."

Videl of course, still in her panicked state of mind, expected the shot to immediately do something to her. But whatever had been injected into her bloodstream, was yet to show any adverse effect on her.

"Take it to the training room," Kari ordered as she ignorantly sat herself back at the examination table. Apparently she didn't seem to care about watching the human any further, as if she already knew exactly what to expect. "Set the gravity to Earth times two, and try to wait for me before you try anything stupid."

Gohan hesitated with silent stammering for a moment, as he stared up at the stoic and relaxed Saiyan. Not wanting to evoke more of her wrath, he finally stood, taking the very-much in shock and therefore fully compliant human with him. She seemed far too absorbed in trying to twist around to inspect the red dot at her lower back, to physically complain anymore about his handling of her. He wanted to question Kari further; ask her what she was trying to prove here. His extended presence didn't escape her attention however, and she made sure she reminded him just who he was working for.

"What now… Do I have to blast you out of my sight?"

The human simmered in her uncomfortable silence as she was escorted down the corridor moments later, feeling nothing but a dry throat from her elevated and stressed vocal chords. When she failed to keep up with the quick pace, a hand simply shoved her shoulder from behind, and she merely cast the reaper's glare back. Gohan said nothing in return. What could he say? He was lost for words himself, and of course, she was blaming him for all of this. Their target location turned out to be a large, dome-shaped room, at the end of a corridor she was sure she hadn't travelled before. By now she'd learn that the spaceship was designed to be perfect circle, which explained all the curving walls. The training room door seemed to be at the rear end of the ship, mirroring the frontal control room. It was of course, completely white, perhaps whiter than usual, Videl noted, as she rubbed at her eyes. Or maybe, as she soon realised, the brightness was only a matter of her own opinion. Stumbling sideways until she felt hard metal block her shoulder, her hand rose to the side of her head with her struggles to find her balance again.

Gohan had only left her for a second to inspect the gravity control panel, and no sooner than his back was turned, his ears had pricked to shifting of clothing and the thumping sound of what turned out to be her body colliding against the wall. Videl groaned at his louder voice; at least, that was how it sounded to her. His hand touched her shoulder, and she flinched at the sparks that instantly frazzled up her spine, to quickly jerk her back fully against the wall. The room spun; three Gohan's wavered in front of her, as her vision focused in and out from a kaleidoscope of high contrast, colourful particles. Gohan was now certain the dose had been far too strong, as he roughly reached out to hold her head still with both hands, and stared directly into her already heavily dilated, dark pupils.

"Don't touch me!" She instantly rebuked with an unrelenting onslaught of slaps and shoves against his arms. The Saiyan refused to retreat, moving his palm to rest over her forehead instead. When her blurred sight re-focused again, she shoved against the Saiyan's chest in her attempt to move away from her comfort-spot, along with forcing meaning to her request. Videl wanted him gone; out of her sight completely, and his failure to even budge only incited more attacks.

"You let her do it!" She screamed accusation ally at him, changing her attacks from palm shoves, to a full-out out, shoulder barging tackle of strength and willpower. The human growled through her grit teeth, as she only proved to be more determined to force him away from her. "After everything I…nn-ugh…I did for you!" Her breathy retreat was swiftly followed by the propelling lunge of her balled fist. His palm caught the attack full on; but when he failed to even prevent her from trying it again, she accepted the welcome opportunity, fruitlessly.

"I'm not your bodyguard," he finally verbally countered, as he caught another strong fist. "What else did you expect me to do?"

"ARGH!" Stepping back with all her pent-up frustration, she gathered power in her next attack; bringing her fist far behind her head, and twisting at the waist slightly, before hammering forwards. He caught the attack before it could do any damage, but that didn't mean he hadn't felt it. Brows twitched, but the defeated and oblivious, Videl stumbled back again. She hit the wall, heaving heavy and irregular, emotional breaths. She'd trusted him. She played his games and did as she was told. All in the hope that if she co-operated as best she could, if she make things easy, if anything she'd be avoiding putting herself in anymore of those horrible situations that he'd originally initiated her into.

"I told you," he tried to reassure her, but wasn't very well versed in a more comforting vocabulary. Despite Gohan's best intents, he only came across cold and matter-of-fact as his eyes bore through her. "You belong to Kari."

Despite wanting to keep using him as her punching bag, Videl was forced to retreat even further. A single toned, high-pitched note, had begun to ring through her ears in what became a lengthy, drawn out tinnitus. Knees bent for her rear to cushion her fall, as she inevitably slid down the wall. The signs were clear, and Gohan wisely chose to keep his distance this time.

"You were injected with a toxin known to us as Seoxyrium-Impetus." He folded his muscled arms as he finally gave her the explanation she'd by now earned. "The traders call it Seox-H. Your body is reacting to a surge of increased hormone cells in the blood." He paused, tail twitching, at her sudden, very primal yet strained growl. The Saiyan had to swallow back, and tear his eyes from the vulnerable creature, as he paced slowly back and forth.

"The creators of the drug designed it for the sole purpose of destroying any force physically too strong for them. Even then, they were hardly a match for us."

"I don't give a flying fuck about the creators!" She hurled back, teeth gritting again with her heavy, uncontrolled breathing. He cut her off before she could yell any further, knowing exactly what it was she needed to hear.

"You're experiencing a rapid increase in Epinephrine…. Adrenaline. Your heart rate will increase, your blood cells will contract, and you're going to find it harder to breathe."

"No shit Sherlock," she panted, clutching at her ribs as her lungs strained with the short, mediocre breathes she was providing.

"Failure to control your emotions will only prolong the turn-."

"I can't breathe!" Gohan couldn't take it anymore. As pathetic as the woman was, he was kneeling beside her in seconds, responding to her state of heightened panic with his palm, roughly rubbing up and down between her shoulder blades.

"Focus!" His voice hissed firmly, increasing the pressure against her even at her unexpected shifting. Small hands lifted, coming to rest on his shoulders for the much needed support, as she hung her head and tried to take deeper breathes. In seconds, it had felt like she'd ran several miles at the same, body-testing speed. It was worse than any work-out her cruel instructor could ever design for her, as her chest burned relentlessly.

"Don't fight it." Her hands pinched at his deltoids; her body continuing to tremble as she pressed the top of her skull against his chest. "You have to let it happen."

"I CAN'T!"

"You must!"

The Saiyan's body failed to trap the strong, birthing yell that erupted from the crouched over human. Not even the training dome walls could succeed in containing the loud and guttural sound. The sudden surge in ki rippled through Gohan in warm vibrations, as the trembling human reached the high point of the Impetus Transferral. But he was not the only Saiyan to keenly sense the sudden intrusion of increased energy. The snoozing Nappa tumbled off his bed, instantly rolling into a fully-prepared and growling battle stance. In the control room, Radditz finally managed to beat his brother in a game of arm wrestling, as Kakarot responded to the risen ki signature through frozen distraction. His porcupine brother's victory was over before it begun, as both sets of eyes stared in unison towards the direction of the training room. But the doors there had already opened, to reveal the unimpressed, short stature of a certain female. Before Gohan had time to recover from Videl's 'transformation,' he was faced with the task of protecting her fragile body from the suddenly incoming ki-blast. The ball hit his back square on, but he hissed the burning pain back while Kari followed with the after shock of her raised and demanding voice.

"On your feet warrior! It is time to see what the Earthling is capable of…"

To be continued…