Thank you to SpaceCat710 (I have to say that I'm so thankful for your indepth review. I will have to say that I'm still thinking about bringing Nappa back, but it might be too much for me to juggle because the Z gang are about to head to the World Martial Arts tournament and that's lots of mayhem already. I'm also happy that you enjoy my story so far.), and to gokuspasm (I'm glad you liked that ending. I've been trying write the chapters like an episode of the series, so I hope my characterizations are good so far.)
R&R, it's much appreciated.
Chapter 4: Show me to the Shipwreck
There was blood splatter on the floor of the gravity room. Grunts of pain echoed off the metal walls as two men tried to beat each other into submission. When it seemed like the battle would go on forever a body was flung to the ground at a high velocity, cracking the tile floor underneath him. Raditz gasped for breath, having had the wind knocked out of him. He spat up blood and sat up, pulling his reluctant body off the floor. Taking a few more breaths to recuperate, he tried to stand, but found his legs weren't cooperating with him.
"What's the matter Raditz? Finally realize what a weakling you are?" Vegeta stood before him with a taunting sneer. As the Prince of all Saiyans, it was his duty to beat his subjects into submission. The extreme torture felt extremely gratifying to the prince. With each night that passed and the moon got closer to becoming a full moon, his blood lust increased along with it. The moon cycle didn't just affect him solely. Lately Raditz had become so easily agitated that Goku had to intervene in a couple of disputes between him and Gohan.
It wasn't graceful or elegant, but with each taunt Raditz pulled himself up and launched himself at Vegeta. It hadn't been expected or anticipated, so he managed a full body slam. The long haired warrior felt like it had been a good solid hit, but he was flung downwards once more, indicating that his last attempt at a take down was futile. A sudden surge in power alarmed him and a bright light filled the room, making him that much more worried. Vegeta had gone super and there wasn't anything within miles that could stop him from pulverizing Raditz into a comatose vegetable. In an instant Vegeta's elbow slammed into the front of Raditz's jaw. A sickening sound came from his the hinges as his jaw broke away from his skull. Soon the rest of his body took more of a beating. A disgusting melody of bones breaking played in the air. A few ribs cracked, then it was a dislocated hip, next was a burst eardrum from the force winds of impact. Another fist went barreling at his face as he braced for impact; he cringed, but the blow never came. Opening his eyes he saw Kakarot, unchanged, his hand cradling Vegeta's closed fist.
It was in that moment, seeing his brother in his original form, he realized that Kakarot was a lot stronger than he'd imagined. Passing out from his brutal assault, he was blissfully unaware of his nerves firing off their pain signals from all over his broken and battered body.
Looking down at his older brother, even Goku couldn't help but feel sick to his stomach when he saw where all the weird angles his arms and legs were at. It was deathly quiet in the gravity room.
"Were you trying to kill him?" His voice was low, but Vegeta heard him easily.
He powered down and crossed his arms. "It's not my fault he's utterly useless in a fight."
Goku fought to retain his composure. "How could you? He was your comrade and you try to kill him? What is your problem Vegeta!"
The Saiyan prince let his comment roll off his chest as he turned to leave. "Even if he was my comrade, you saw what I did to Nappa didn't you?" Goku stared after him, but turned his attention to his brother. Lifting him up from the floor he slung him over his shoulder. It was hard even for him to carry his dead weight. He knew that Bulma had some type of infirmary for Vegeta when he almost killed himself during training. Walking into the back of the house, Goku flung open the back door. He saw Bulma's mom stirring some lemonade in a clear glass pitcher. The blonde woman looked up and shook her head. She was used to seeing these boys get hurt, but she always thought it was so silly how they pushed themselves too far.
"Mrs. Briefs? Can you tell me where I can put him?" His knees were locked. It was hard holding onto someone who was so large. Bunny wiped her hands on her pink apron.
"You boys play so rough. If it goes on like that someone will get really hurt you know?" Goku snorted at her. Sometimes he didn't know if she was trying to be funny or if she was really serious. "Bulma and her father are down in the lab. It's the third door on the right, down the hallway."
"Thank you Mrs. Briefs!" He started down the hall Bunny called after him.
"Can you tell Bulma that it's almost lunch time? I can make some for you too!" Goku was never one to turn down a meal.
"I sure will!" There was a little more pep in his step after that. Going down the stairs he heard the sounds of circuits being soldered together along with a string of curse words. A the bottom of the stairs Goku saw Bulma under some type of new invention. Trunks looked on from across the room, sipping from a juice box. "Hey Bulma, could you spare a minute?" Mr. Briefs looked away from the research on his computer to see his daughter's best friend.
"Oh Goku, what happened to your brother?" A cigarette was hanging out of his mouth, smoke rising from the end of it. Not wanting to rag on Vegeta in front of Trunks, he left it at saying that it was a training session that went a little out of hand. Bulma rolled out from under the piece of machinery she was working on to look at the damage she knew her lover had caused.
"Holy shit, put him down on the examining table Goku!." Quickly rising to her feet she went to grab an emergency kit she kept on hand for events such as this. With a grunt Goku rolled his brother on the table. It was sickening to look at his brother. He looked like a broken rag doll. Trunks stood on the tips of his toes to see the down warrior. Evaluating the damage himself, he let out a puff of air that ruffled his hair.
Looking up at Goku he remarked, "My dad really kicked his ass." The lavender haired boy looked on in pride that his father was capable of bringing down a man that was probably three times his size. His mother had thrown the bag near the end of the table. Bulma scolded Trunks while tending to Raditz's wounds.
"I'll ground you for a week if I hear you say that word again young man." Trunks frowned at her.
"But you and Dad say it all the time."
Her voice rose a couple octaves higher, making Goku and Trunks cringe. "I don't care if I say it. I am an adult and you are my child, and if I say you shouldn't do something, then you shouldn't do it." A manicured finger pointed up the stairs. "Go to your room right now." Trunks tried to protest, but Bulma wouldn't hear of it. When he left she turned to Goku. "Trunks was right, he really did kick his ass." Grabbing Raditz's jaw, she pushed on it until she felt it was in the right area in his skull. Goku looked on, feeling a bit helpless. All he knew was the senzu beans could fix him up or that throwing him in a rejuvination tank would help the healing process speed up.
Watching her handy work, he questioned her. "Why are you doing all that?"
Bulma put all her weight into popping his leg back into his hip socket, but it wasn't budging. "I need you to push into his leg Goku, I'm not strong enough."
Bulma held the massive leg in place, looking at the orange clad warrior expectantly. It wasn't every day that he was asked to play physician and he certainly didn't want to hurt his brother any more than he already was."Are you sure?" Goku knew he could do it, but it never hurt to double check.
Getting frustrated, Bulma started to yell. "He can wake up any minute now. Can you get this done so we can put him in the rejuvenation tank?" Springing into action he put both hands on the leg and pushed harder than he would have if he was dealing with a regular person like Bulma or ChiChi. Goku could feel the bone sliding in, but it made him feel sick. If there wasn't a needle around, then maybe he wouldn't have to teleport out of the lab. There was a loud pop. Cocking her head to the side, Bulma looked on deciding that his leg looked anatomically correct.
"What do we do now?"
Bulma walked briskly to a computer and started typing information in. "I've done all I can do. You need to put him in the tank while I put in his information." Picking Raditz back up, Goku looked around for the rejuvenation tank but couldn't find it.
"Bulma? Where is it?" Without looking away from the screen she replied that it was behind the door on the far side of the room. Going to the area he was directed to. He opened the door and saw the healing machine. Goku dropped his brother once more into the machine. He could feel his ki dropping dramatically. He shut the front of the tank and told Bulma that she needed to start the contraption. The mask dropped down and attached itself to his face. The oxygen blew into his nose while his unconscious body waited to be immersed in the water like substance. Goku stared at his brother. He knew that almost dying would help increase Raditz's power level greatly, but he would have preferred that Vegeta didn't try to obliterate him.
Bulma came in from behind and observed her newest patient. She was used to putting Vegeta back together after his training sessions, but putting back together a victim of his assault was a little bit unsettling. Thinking on it, she decided that she would have a few choice words with her mate about his anger management. The pair stood there for some time in silence before Bulma spoke."We had to set his bones back in the right place, or else his bones would have healed wrong."
Goku put his hand on the glass. "Thank you Bulma." Looking down at her he asked her. "Why would Vegeta unload like that?"
The blunette looked at him with exasperation. "He always gets moody when the moon gets close to being full. I wonder why you don't seem to Goku." Contemplating for a moment, he announced something surprisingly clever.
"I've gone almost all my life without my tail, maybe Vegeta is still going through the oozaru changes, but without his tail. When he transforms he probably releases a lot of his pent up aggression." Bulmas mouth dropped open in shock. Goku scratched the back of his head, " I know it sounds dumb, huh?" he backed away from the tank and jogged his way up the stairs. "I'm starved! Your mom said it's lunch time, I hope she made enough for all of us!"