Cyborg Gothic

Part 23

I felt somewhat awkward while bathing in the hot springs because I knew that the princess was watching me get cleaned up. She was hidden from sight but not from my other senses. Not only could I hear her breathing but, her Ki was giving her away.

Before I'd died I had not been so good at sensing people, but I didn't think it was my death that had awakened these talents. I figured that going all Super Cyborg had elevated me not in power, but in other ways. I was sure that over time I'd come to understand fully what this change meant.

"Did you want to join me, your highness!" I called out.

The princess tried to hide her face as she stepped out from behind the boulder, however I could see that her cheeks had turned bright red.

"No it wouldn't be proper" she insisted "I just came to tell you that dinner is ready".

Given that she'd been watching for at least a quarter of an hour I figured dinner would be getting cold by now. Not that it mattered to me as I didn't even eat.

"You waited fifteen minutes to tell me that there's food waiting for me?" I asked.

My voice hadn't been judgemental, but I could tell that Snake was embarrassed, or at least that she was good at faking it.

"Forgive me" she apologised "I was distracted by... the sky. Its a lovely evening isn't it".

I'd travelled Snake Way for a month, and never once had it gone dark. So that meant the sky here was illusion or I was in fact in somewhere else. A place that had night and day, like say a planet.

"I've missed the stars" I admitted.

Although for understandable reasons I had gone off space travel.

"Oh yes there was something else" the princess then told me.

She placed a small package on the ground near the towels that had been kindly provided for me.

"I brought you some new clothes, I hope they fit" Snake said.

With that the princess scampered off and after checking that she was actually gone I stepped out of the hot spring and dried myself off. Then I opened up the package and I took out the clothes.

"Guess I have to dress up for dinner" I remarked.

Which made sense as this was a palace and I was dinning with royalty. I could only hope she wouldn't be offended when she found out that I didn't actually eat.

(Line Break)

When I walked into the dining room it felt somewhat like I was going on a date, as I was certainly dressed for such an event what with my new suit, and that idea was supported by the fact that the room was lit by candle light making it all romantic. Also I noted that there were only two chairs at the table, and one was already being occupied by the princess. Apparently this was actually an intimate dinner for two, and therefore a date.

"Commitment alert" I whispered.

I'd just gotten out a long term relationship so while having a quick fling did apppeal to me, I didn't really want to get a new girlfriend especially when 18 might be waiting for me to come back to her. Given what Broly had done I wasn't sure if I could just carry on with 18 were we had left off, but I hadn't ruled it out either.

It wasn't really confusing to the person in a relationship who had died. When it was the other way around a person would moarn and then move on when they were ready. However when you were the one who had died it was more complex.

The fact that I was going to come back to life made it even worse. I was single, and therefore free to do as I wished, but now that I was actually trying to move on with my afterlife it felt a little wrong.

"Good evening your highness" I said more loudly.

Snake gestured with her hand for me to come and sit down, which I did. The princess then clapped her hands twice and a large meal was brought out by the serving girls.

"Maybe I should have mentioned this sooner..." I start to say.

The smell of the food made my stomach rumble, and that nearly made me jump of my chair as that was a sound I'd not heard for over a year. My only theory about this was that the rules that governed reality were different here and that allowed me to feel hunger and to eat even thought when I'd died I'd not had a stomach.

"Mentioned what?" asked the princess.

I quickly came up with a lie.

"That I don't have great table manners" I said.

Which wasn't true as I did, but I doubted they'd be up to royal standards so it would be believable. Still I did my best to eat like a gentleman, and that was hard because I hadn't eaten for so long. Every fibre of my being wanted to devour this massive meal as quickly as I could.

"Well I think you are well mannered," she complimented "Unlike the oaf who was my last guest".

I was under the impression that not many people travelled along Snake Way so I wondered who had been her last visitor.

"Well I am very grateful for your hospitality" I said.

She might have an evil plan brewing, but aside from that so far she had been a wonderful hostess.

"You're such a polite young man" praised Princess Snake.

To my surprise I found that I was not only feeling warm, but also that I was blushing. Which was odd because ever since I had become a cyborg the only person who'd been able to fluster me like this was 18, and she'd been programmed to do it.

"So what is King Kai like?" I asked.

I felt that a change in subject would be wise at this point.

"Umm...well... he's a..." the princess stuttered before organising her words "We've never been close as he spends so much time at work".

I imagined that ruling a planet kept a man busy.

"Oh I see" I replied.

I would have said more only it was getting really warm and I was starting to feel sleepy, which was impossible since I didn't sleep. At least not like a human did.

"Your journey must have worn you out" the princess was now saying "I think you should retire early. We can talk more in the morning".

I wanted to resist, but I couldn't it was as if all the sleep I'd missed out had been kept behind a dam, and now it was crashing down.

"Need..to" I muttered.

The last thing I did was crash face first into some food, and while I tried to get up again I just couldn't move.

(Line Break)

When I woke up I had no idea how much time had passed, but I did know that I was okay as I was lying fully clothed on the bed in the room one of the princess's serving girls had shown me to.

I got up and patted myself down to make sure that nothing was missing, and then hundreds of images passed through my head as I recalled parts of the dreams I'd had.

Some of the images made sense as they were just scenes from my past, and it was mostly the bad stuff as well as some stuff about 18. Which was all fine as dreams were the minds way of processing a person's experiences, but what wasn't okay was that I had seen many things that didn't make sense.

Some of the most intense imagines were about Vegeta being a dick, a big pink baby man killing people, a cat man destroying the Earth, and some golden alien also destroying the Earth. It was like a highlight reel of some really nasty things that hadn't happened yet, or maybe they were warnings.

If that was what they were then I knew that I had to become as strong as possible, because some really bad stuff was going to happen, and I had to be there to help stop it.

"Sixteen" I said "Are you there, buddy?" I asked.

Thankfully he was.

"Affirmative"

I smiled and then focused my senses so that I could find out what was going on in the house. The princess hadn't harmed me, even if she had drugged the food, so I wouldn't hurt her unless she tried to stop me from leaving her home.

"Girls," the Princess Snake was saying "Tonight our guest decides his fate, I hope that everything is prepared for the ritual".

I assumed she meant a wedding. I knew this that she was seeking a prince, and while it would be nice to be a royal, so that I could rub it in the face of Vegeta when I got back, getting married simply wasn't possible as I had to get back to Earth.

"Everything will be to your liking," said one of the girls.

Sadly for snake I wouldn't work out.

"Good, I shall prepare" the princess went on to say "You girls need to make sure that Gothic is ready. Ensure that he bathes and is dressed for the ceremony"

I couldn't recall telling her my name, so I had no clue how she knew it.

"Did she read my mind?" I wondered.

That was when I heard some footsteps heading my way. It sounded as if a horde was coming up here to rip me apart, but the laughter made me think that it wasn't quite that bad.

"Gothic, are you awake?" one of them asked.

I could sense the power of the serving girls, and while they were stronger than any normal human, even combined they were no threat to me. In fact I felt stronger than ever after my nice nap.

"Come in" I casually replied.

Only one of the servants entered the room, the rest waited outside

"We must ensure that you are prepared for tonight" she said "You will need to bathe and to dress in the best clothes we can provide".

It was tempting to just walk out the front door, but I did really need to find out how far I still had to travel before I made it to King Kai's planet, and I also wanted to avoid a fight if I could.

My dreams had reminded me that that I'd not been worried about fighting the Super Saiyan, but then I'd ended up facing something even more powerful than myself. I didn't want to make the same mistake again so I would handle Snake more carefully.

"You must look your best because King Kai will be here tonight" the servant then said.

I smiled upon hearing that lie.

"Thank you, I'll go bathe after I eat" I said "If you could have some food prepared I'd appreciate it".

I'd missed eating so much that I was willing to risk being drugged again. I was still very foolish sometimes it had to be the Saiyan in me.

(Line Break)

After eating and bathing I returned to my room to find a very formal looking outfit lying on my bed along with a note saying that I had to be well dressed to met King Kai, which wasn't totally unbelievable as people did tend to put on their Sunday best when they met royalty.

While I had decided to play along with this charade, as to avoid even more violence, my patience was now being sorely tested, the suit made me feel ridiculous. I could well imagine 18 making some scathing comment about the outfit should she see it.

Since I now wanted to get this all over and done with I headed out to find Snake. Oddly none of the servants seemed to be present within the house so I reached out with my ki senses in order to locate them.

Following the reading I got I reached a door and pushed it open. I was shocked at what I saw inside. The room contained a massive alter, and standing in front it was the princess who was wearing a long white gown. She also had a big a bunch of flowers in her hand.

"I've been waiting for you, my husband," she said with a girlish squeal of delight "Its time to get married".

It took a lot of effort not to blast her.

(Line Break)

As I stood there I could feel the stare of all the servants and the lustful intentions of the princess. As I approached the altar I could sense something in the air that was energy, but it wasn't any form of ki.

"I'm glad you could make it" said the princess with a smile. "I was afraid you wouldn't come".

Given that I hadn't even know what room I was suppose to go to her words seemed strange.

"So is King Kai performing the ceremony?" I asked.

The Princess smiled.

"Come now you're a bright young man" she replied "You know I was lying about him being my father".

Since I had I made no comment. Instead I simply looked at Princess Snake and started to power up. Her face when from a sultry smile to a gasp of terror in sheer seconds.

Clearly she had some ability to sense ki energy and now that I was preparing for a fight mine was plain for all to see.

"I know what you want" I said to Snake "But I don't why you want me to marry you. Tell me or I'll blow you and your house to pieces".

While it was mostly a bluff that didn't matter. What mattered was that people needed time to lie. The truth was most often blurted out in a moment of panic.

"I want a baby!" the princess admitted.

That shocked me so much that I powered down. Thankfully everyone was still too scared of me to try anything.

"Then why try to trick me into marrying you?" I asked "I'm dead I can't have children".

Which made what happened to 18 all the more tragic as I had been a sort of father, at least for a few hours.

"Of course we can have children" Snake told me "But not outside of wedlock, otherwise the child couldn't be my heir".

Now things were starting to make sense,

"Let me get this straight, you want someone to marry you, so the kid can take over from you" I realised.

I didn't understand why Snake was a princess, but given that she lived next to Snake Way there had to be some sort of connection between it and her, and being royalty was hereditary so this kinda made sense.

"Yes" she replied "And I've chosen you to be my prince. I've been without a man for more than a thousand years so I won't take no for an answer. Will we preform the ceremony and tonight you will father me a child".

I thought fast.

"So if I marry you, and you get pregnant tonight, then tomorrow I don't really need to be here" I said.

I was only considering it because I was sure that she'd been telling the truth about not having a man for more than a thousand years. That was enough to drive any woman crazy. I felt very sorry for her.

"No I guess you wouldn't" said the princess "We'd still be married and I'd have a child, and once you've finished your business with King Kai you could always visit again".

I decided to encourage this line of thinking as it wouldn't result in massive property damage.

"Plus I am bound to die again" I said "and I can only be brought back the one time, so the next time I snuff it I could come stay with you for much longer".

The Dragon Balls could only bring a person back from death once, at least as far as I knew, so that was an option.

"Its deal" the princess decided "Now let's get married".

I was only doing this for the title, and for the chance to have a kid who wouldn't be killed before they could even be born. Besides if marriage was made invalid when either the wife or husband died then had to work that way if one person in the union then went back to being alive again, or so I figured.

Either that made some sense or I had been drugged again, and my judgement was being impaired. If so that I might live to regreat this.

"Okay fine" I said "But if you don't let me walk out of here tomorrow then I will blow everyone up".

I might be trying to avoid volience now, but I had my limits and so called domesitic bliss was one of them.

Author Note

I wonder if anyone else ever figured out that since Goku died his marriage ended, so he's not actually married to Chichi anymore.

Did they ever remarry?