Chapter 71

Hair sheds from the bodies of the Saiyans and their size decreases exponentially. Teeth shrink and eyes gain pupils with the Oozaru transformation reverting. The rest of the household appears in the doorway to the training room, with Yamcha and Misaki holding and detaining Washu with one arm each. Vegeta and Goku roar as their bodies change back to a humanoid state the yelling continues even then. Their very pores are on fire, every fibre of muscle cramps and tightens, the reformation of their bones sends spasms of agony through their systems. Goku clutches at his chest and gasps as he tries to fill his lungs yet his pulse has still not reset itself. Blood flows from Vegeta's bitten neck and other wounds, his limp leg is not responding to his commands. The cost of forcing an artificial transformation is being paid in full.

Chichi is quick to act being next to her husband. She kneels down next to his prone form and looks lost for a few seconds as she tries to work out what to do. Holding his hand as she thinks she feels his spasming heart rate. Her first thought goes to the heart virus that nearly claimed his life and then later took Bulma but that does not stop her as she begins performing CPR on her husband to try and stabilise his pulse. Thankfully it does not take too many rib cracking efforts from his wife to steady his heart with his body already hurting and wounded as is. Chichi collapses onto him and hugs now that that worrying time is over and her husband is safe and back to his normal self.

Ryoko stays well clear of Vegeta and his battered body as the prince deals with his pain, she looks over at Goku and learns what she wants and then watches as Ayeka checks on her prince. This will bring her some humour she very much needs at this moment in time. She takes some calming breaths and picks up her jacket she just discarded as it will now have a use. She hears Washu getting interrogated over the failed transformation and the risk she put them at, her reply is that simply she never had any Saiyans to test this on before so a few hiccups were to be expected. Kiyone remarks that performing experiments on unwilling and uninformed patients is an illegal practise and brings out some handcuffs – Washu is not threatened as she has done things like this for 20 millennia and never served a single sentence. Ryoko bites her lower lip and is quite surprised to find this scene is making her uncomfortable, she curses her weakness.

No words of warning come from Misaki as she is too busy dealing with her misbehaved friend, and her daughter stands over her fiancé offering a hand to help him up. His ki has drained and his thrashed body struggles to raise itself up to even reach her hand, not that Vegeta would take it. The Saiyan Prince stands of his own volition with his body screaming. Ayeka puts one of his arms over her shoulder to burden some of his weight with one of his legs refusing to move. Two increases to three. Internal screams are being let loose within Misaki's head as she turns her attention to her daughter.

"Looks like you've beaten me, Princess. Oh my, I never thought you would take the lead in such a bold and daring way holding our prince in that state. Well … at least I know now who really is second best." Ryoko allows a Cheshire grin to split her face ear to ear as she revels in coyly taunting those who have failed to realise something important. She twirls her jacket in her hand before holding it out as she bursts out laughing as it dawns on the two Saiyans and the women touching them what happened when they became Great Apes.

At the periphery of her vision she spies movement as Vegeta lurches a step forward. Ayeka follows Vegeta's arm she is holding to his wounded and battered chest and continues down the path that the open bite on his neck bleeds to his navel and below. Mistakes have been made. Vegeta and Goku are too far gone recuperating from a massive oxygen debt with fuzzy minds unable to perceive the world properly or think straight. Goku comments to his wife that it feels draughty and cold. Torn scraps of shredded clothing litter the tiles, none of which is currently on either Saiyan. Today is a day that Vegeta should have chosen to wear his elasticated training gear but alas he is still failing to realise what exactly is going on with his body in a world of pain when with a shriek he is left to heavily hit the floor. A hearty chortle from Ryoko follows this.

Chichi realises the same thing as she rises from her husband and finds her hand closer to something it should not be when in public, she nearly moves her own hands to cover it up but that would be an even worse decision so she moves Goku's hands to cover his exposed genitalia. A sheet of white with panic spontaneously combusts into the deepest of crimson as Ayeka's shriek cuts off. Like her prince now face down struggling to move her head is also feeling quite dizzy and disoriented. The worst follows when Ayeka, hearing Ryoko's teasing, remembers that her mother is present. All the things they privately talked about when the aforementioned pirate forced them to discuss the birds and the bees stoke the raging flames of her shame. This could not get any worse, to be compromised so heavily as a princess and a maiden before her doting mother by eagerly running up to touch a naked man. She muffles her following screams with her hands. Giggles circle over Vegeta as Ryoko teleports and drapes her jacket over the bare bottom of the Saiyan Prince.

Swooning nearly lands Ayeka with the same forceful greeting with the ground as she half plays up and exaggerates her reaction to this to aid her cause towards her mother. Ryoko holds and catches Ayeka half way through her swoon and mockingly makes a semi swooning action of her own. She tells Ayeka to stop pretending and playing it up or she will drop her on Vegeta. This proves enough of a threat to get Ayeka to open her eyes and to stop feigning unconsciousness. The feline pupils of Ryoko move past Ayeka and she waves at the mother caught in a sticky predicament of how to handle this. Ayeka freezes and goes rigid in Ryoko's arms. Ryoko smiles and starts walking with Ayeka in tow towards Misaki. Hiding her struggles so it is not obvious to her mother, Ayeka cannot stop this progress and wishes to curl up somewhere out of sight and fall into oblivion and away from this fate.

Supposing that it is his duty unless anyone else volunteers, Yamcha walks the other way past Ryoko dragging Ayeka and goes to Vegeta to get something covering him. Trying to stand with one uncooperative leg and a thrashed body are proving challenge to Vegeta, all the same he shoves at Yamcha for trying to aid him. The scar faced man ties Ryoko's jacket around the prince's waist as best he can, a task he did not want to do today. Ki charges in Vegeta's hand. Wobbling as he stands he points it to his foe. A hoarse voice croaks out for Goku to concede and surrender, some part of his head still trapped inside the mindset of battle. The threat of Vegeta fails to be intimidating as his blast sputters and wavers, his strength is not there nor is his ki. Goku heavily leans onto his wife who supports him and complains that he always ends up getting himself hurt and worrying her. She makes sure his hands stay where they are supposed to as any accidents in this position would look very compromising and starts walking to the entrance.

Ayeka gets plopped into her mother's arms by a grinning Ryoko having done her duty and she calls Misaki this new phrase 'Counteractor' and the princess 'Biter' to sweeten her fun. A spasm of pain runs through Goku and he clenches his teeth, his supportive wife calls out for someone to get a Senzu bean. A new harvest of those beans has still yet to occur, Washu answers that she has healing facilities that can fix them up in minutes – something Chichi is rightfully wary of since the scientist is responsible for this in the first place. Vegeta growls for his threat is being ignored, his eyes make out Chichi with Goku and that makes a forfeit in his eyes for accepting aid like that. Healing is something he could use, one of his lungs currently does not inflate as it should. Nothing has so far been said between mother and daughter. Ryoko beckons with her hand for Vegeta to follow her for healing, saying that she will take care of him like he did for her.

It is a slow procession with Vegeta hopping and hobbling his way under his own steam into the lab and with Chichi bringing up the rear for that is still an exposed part of her husband she will not let others see. Kiyone and Mihoshi branch off at this point for they do not want see these naked powerhouses any-more and have the excuse of looking for the absent children. Ayeka could light the way the amount her face is glowing. She cannot forget what she has done, her mother is next to her and immediately behind her are two naked men. She saw it again. Her mother saw it. Ryoko cannot at the minute, she walks beside the proud prince and it is oddly cathartic for her seeing him in this state. His eyes went red and he was the one to stay in control. Vegeta got bitten, not her, he lost the use of a limb, not her, and she got to help save the day. She was safe, and strangely enough it was light causing harm this time instead of darkness. Chichi is confused by the laboratory she finds herself in but stranger things have happened and her husband requires medical attention so her questions will have to wait.

Only one additional doorway they have to go through until they reach Washu's medical ward where with a flick of her wrist at her holo-top she summons two tanks from the floor. Blue-green liquid pours in and fills up the tanks. Ayeka and Misaki wait outside of the room for Goku can only get in one way and his wife cannot shield everything from their view. Taking but a short amount of seconds Ryoko vanishes and reappears with two pairs of boxer shorts from Vegeta's room, throwing one at Vegeta it just falls to the floor as he makes no effort to catch it or register its existence. She hands the second one to Chichi to do the honours of dressing Goku, Yamcha draws the line here – he will not repeat that task. Vegeta has already climbed in and strapped on the rebreather mask so Ryoko picks up and drops in the underwear for him to put on when he is capable. A bit of a struggle later and Goku is floating and resting as well. Ryoko whistles and calls the royals in now that the nudes are now in opaque containers, picking up her discarded jacket and throwing it over her shoulder.

Neither Ayeka nor Misaki are in any rush to enter, an awkward timidity holding them back. Washu tells Chichi that she shall throw in one of these healing tanks with the training room for Goku since he might need them with the simulations he will challenge himself against, that reassures the wife little. Around quarter of an hour or longer is what Washu estimates it will take for the full extent of their injuries to be healed.

"So now we gonna stand in silence or have a nice chin wag about all this, can't hide your head in the sand, Ayeka, or Queenie." Ryoko instigates a discussion for as much as Ayeka would rather to pretend nothing happened, this is too much fun not to tease the princess about. Since she managed to overcome her fear and trauma to aid Vegeta the Juraians can do the same regarding their prudish nature. Chichi steps up to stop this bullying before it begins, she is not in the mood to put up with this.

"Lay off 'em, I would say this is my Goku's fault but-"

"But I got in the way of stopping it, my own personal issues standing in the way of some anti-climatic end. My whole race was destroyed and my planet taken because of the Oozaru transformation. It does not bring back fond memories. Now I have made sure that threat is lessened with your bond helping him reign in his feral nature. Anything else, or can I go back to work now? … There is something, I can see it, yes I am a fully certified doctor in more fields than this planet would acknowledge, no you do not need to worry about money since Missy pays me plenty." Covering all that need be said and more, Washu's emerald eyes fix on Chichi as she explains the reasoning behind her actions and elicits sympathy so no counter argument can easily come back and bite her. Yamcha puts an arm around her for he could easily tell how it disturbed her seeing the Oozaru, though putting his friends in danger is going to take a bit more explaining then that.

The scientist goes on to explain the next question she predicts: the how. Saiyans absorb Blutz waves through their tails to fuel and control the Oozaru transformation and all she simply did was do some basic calculations to take advantage of the fact both Vegeta and Goku still have slim amounts of their tail remaining. Upscaling the amount of light to counteract the deficiency in tail and intensifying it to penetrate any none reflective clothing was simple. It all boiled down to the equation of more light for less tail and it took her a very short amount of time to throw together so reasoning that since there has already been one assassination attempt against her life she will disarm Kagato of Goku as a potential and fitting weapon to end her.

"Also, both Goku and Vegeta have a hatred of the Oozaru form so before they are capable I feel like I should make myself scarce." Washu throws this little tit-bit out there as she thinks it is time she makes a move.

"They hate it?" Ryoko is curious and so will bite and ask for a follow up, the more talk about the apes the more the royals have to face facts.

"Yep, detest it. Goku is guilty of manslaughter through it when the original Gohan died as he has no control over the form. Vegeta, it was a last resort to him, a move that meant his hand was forced and he was weak enough to require the Great Ape's strength – though they're not apes. Saiyans seems to have issues with naming things. Apes do not have tails. Just sounds more powerful to them I guess." She grumbles that inaccuracy to herself and Washu takes her leave and walks off for her data on Otherworld still needs collating and reporting.

Yamcha tells Chichi that he will talk to Washu and reprimand her for threatening their lives like that and the wife nods as she looks at the dark tinted tank housing Goku. Fingers drum on Vegeta's tank. Ryoko inspects the panel to see the display listing his wounds and the regeneration process he is going through but she cannot read it. She has seen both bestial sides of him now. Her predatory eyes gleam across to Ayeka and the princess averts her gaze.

"So, is his health less important than your false idea of purity? Vegey was all beat up and you stopped helping him, Chichi there didn't care and saved her man." A mean spirited taunt gets sent to the Juraians still not braving this awkward discussion. Her rival is Ayeka and so she shall either make her squirm or face the music and get on the same level as her. Ryoko taps on the glass again.

"I didn't see you stepping up to help." Quick to defend the uncomfortable women, Chichi retorts on Ryoko's own lack of involvement beyond dropping her from a great height. A slight shrug is all Ryoko gives, Chichi is not the prey that Ryoko wants to entice.

"I did my part. At the minute I suffer a few niggles around touching Vegeta and so grabbing hold of my naked rapist was just a bit too far for me to want to do. Not even you, Queenie, wanted to help your son."

"Miss Ryoko, please -"

"Nope, I'm having fun tearing down your empire brick by brick. And mummy can't ignore what her little girl does now - all grown up and ready to seize life by the balls." She cackles. Bringing such a horrified and submissive look onto the Queen of the Juraian Empire's face pleases her to no end. Ryoko holds the upper hand over both due to them accepting a cultural fantasy and letting it bind them. She will use those bonds to make them see their empire for what it is, to see it in the broken state she perceives it as, and she will get them to see Vegeta for what he truly is.

Pale as a sheet with a cold sweat clamming up her face, an unmitigated panic sets deeper into Ayeka. She is on the verge of tears. She only tried to do what was right and now she has done the unthinkable and taken a step over a line she never meant to cross. There is no going back for her in her mind. Her purity has been tainted. The teasing of Ryoko also echoes loud in her ears: that she let a crippled Vegeta fall for purely self centred reasons. All of this before her loving mother and everyone else, she does not even know what Vegeta thinks of her actions and what he will say – how against another woman beside his wife touching him he might be. She has no words to say. Her throat is dry and empty. Ayeka covers her face with her hands. Warm arms hug her close, Misaki equally has no clue what to say but she will forever be there for her daughter. Dangerous eyes glare at the pirate. The Queen has felled Ryoko once and she can do it again if given just a bit more provocation.

He pulls the skintight fabric taut and lets it twang back against Ryoko. Clearing his throat, the most powerful warrior left standing begins enforcing the peace on the miscreant. Yamcha looks at her as she hisses and rubs at the place he touched her. Her fun is being spoilt. Washu invited them into here for healing, not for Ryoko to cause additional pain, and Yamcha is more than capable of showing her the door. He firmly puts a hand on her shoulder to let her know he is not messing about. She stares at this hand on her. This does not feel nice, to her it almost makes her skin crawl like if Vegeta were touching her, the same overpowering strength being used against her.

"You did good, Ryoko, don't need to put a show on now and ruin your moment. Real brave what you did, attacking them ain't helping you. Settle down or I'll kick you out." Yamcha gives her the option to take the out of facing her fears and helping to save the day. To him all this looks like someone trying awfully hard to suppress any sign that the paralysing fear that gripped her is still there. He removes his hand from her and lets her make her choice. Reading her expression he can tell she will not back down, she does not like her fear being called out, he subtly raises his ki so that only she can tell with her sensing abilities.

" … I've still got lots of time to kill, having Vegey say that praise to me would be nice. You and Washu seem to have done a lot of planning about your special day, I wanna know. Tell me 'bout Earth weddings."

"Ryoko! Not now. Please, shut up, don't! … It's not fair." Fury replaces some of her shame, her timorous voice still quavering as she yells in outrage at the stunt Ryoko is trying to pull before her. Ayeka almost breaks out of her mother's hold. She will not let the pirate ask that question. She will not let any of those fantasies be indulged, and not when Vegeta made his opinion so clear and he is right there next to Ryoko healing from a near death experience.

A small victory is had by Ryoko for she has got Ayeka to find her tongue. She wants this information and she knows that Ayeka desperately wants to know the same as well. In a split second her win is wrenched from her. Something cold and hard, spherical and and an inch in diameter is being firmly pressed against the nape of her neck. All of her strength leaves her body, her ki sapped in an instant. Yamcha takes back the energy absorption gem of Dr. Gero and lets Washu's systems warp it back into her inventory. He has adapted to this place and knows a few tricks. Ryoko hatefully stares at him as she props herself up against the tank containing Vegeta. He tells her where she can find the exit. To feel so weak and debilitated, she loathes this, and the cracks begin to show in her bravado. Juraian logs hum in the air encircling the pirate. Ayeka is no longer the weakest here, she will shut Ryoko up and stop her from being shamed further by this dirt spewing mouth.

"He can hear you. I have saved you thrice, no fourth time will come if you continue this path. Silence yourself or I shall have Yamcha dim the lights." The princess fully grasps and seizes the initiative. She spawns a containing barrier to encapsulate this weakened Ryoko as she angrily spits her threats. The shield constricts and her Juraian logs guard its perimeter, Ayeka glowers at the one who taunted her and repays the favour – no allies shall come to Ryoko's aid.

Ryoko loudly taps on the glass once more, she is well aware of where Vegeta is and the provocative words she speaks. She defiantly proclaims her want to know and that if Vegeta wanted to stop her he would have spoken out by now, she will not hide in the shadows she will ask this before him to let her intentions be known. In turn she points at both Misaki and Chichi and questions if they will tell her about weddings. Misaki coolly smiles at Ryoko, rests her head on top of her daughter's and says that she could not tell Ryoko what being a bridesmaid is like and so sees little information she could offer to Ryoko. The pirate opens her mouth to argue back and the barrier around her decreases in size substantially. Ayeka is not going to play around or allow Ryoko to speak further. The energy presses against Ryoko from all sides and leaves her hunched over with no room to move. She has no strength to push back against it, she is completely trapped. Ryoko is stuck and cannot escape.

Shaking her head, Chichi steps up and slams a fist into the shield so that it shatters. Ryoko crumples to the floor.

"You've been spending too much time with Vegeta. She's scared, let her be. Bullying her back will only make this worse."

Chichi will be the reluctant saviour of Ryoko. This scene devolved nearly as fast as the Oozaru fight, too quick was force used to silence this wicked tongue. Inside that shield Ryoko looked the same to her as she did when she attacked her when Gogeta was about, frightened and lashing out to try and destroy the source of the fear. They all saw the true mental state of Ryoko when the Great Ape transformation took place, she is not someone who should be treated with attacks just because she got under their skin.

The logs dissipate. Under her breath Ryoko begins muttering and cursing about Juraians and their proclivity for over the top punishments and binding and trapping her. Chichi turns to Ryoko and with her best understanding of what is going on tells Ryoko that weddings do not magically solve all problems nor will it erase the horror that happened to her. Ryoko goes still for a second and then shakes her head and says that she knows that. She slouches back against the healing tank and meets the harsh gaze of Ayeka. Ryoko keeps her tongue and closes her eyes, her body feels so drained and fatigued. There is no conversation to be had. The void of Ryoko's insults leaves them to either fall back on discussing the Oozaru event like she taunted or to go back to another disconcerting topic of Misaki being shunned by a Kai. Ryoko pushes herself up and uses the console on the tank to help her. She stops and blinks and stares at the readout. The image is showing something it did not when Vegeta entered.

Moving her chin against her daughter's scalp, Misaki whispers to her daughter that for a few minutes they should talk. There is to be no avoiding of this. She tenses up, and then the princess nods with her face showing a pained and distressed expression. The royals walk out the room to seek privacy for this matter. Ryoko sees that part of her job is done, though this image is still keeping her attention. An idea comes to her. She might have a solution, finally, this could give her something to use. Ryoko teleports out with the excuse that the skintight battle outfit she is still in is getting uncomfortable.

Two people are left, bar those healing and currently out of commission. Small talk gets the job done, Yamcha asking how Chichi and her family are faring currently and she can enquire more on this revelation that him and Washu are engaged to be married. She asks where Puar is for it is unusual for Yamcha to be separated from the cat and he replies saying he is at Kame house with Oolong for he did not get along too well with Washu or her want to experiment on new things. Chichi tallies up the cost that this experiment involving her husband has caused, a whole outfit of Goku's shredded, and she can add this to her ruined shoes and a spare button and all the stuff she will need to attend Yamcha's wedding. There is no spare income for her to have a day out with her husband. She asks how long for her husband's training room to be ready, for she wants to leave as soon as she can before more trouble arises, and Yamcha can only shrug.

With several minutes having passed the pirate flies back onto the scene. Back in her summery yellow dress she hums to herself as she follows Yamcha's ki to find her way back to where Vegeta is healing. Around her waist she wears her tail accessory that took her a bit to find since it fell out of fashion when she fell out with Vegeta. The healing is still underway and neither Ayeka nor Misaki have returned from the mother-daughter talk. Yamcha tells her that it should not be long now. Her ki has returned to a partial degree and she can sense Vegeta's growing presence alongside Goku. She asks Yamcha if Washu would be free sometime this afternoon to have a lengthy chat with her about things and this time he does not shrug and tells her that she will make time so that they can. Chichi questions if the children have returned yet and Ryoko shakes her head.

A subdued Ayeka returns with a minute remaining till the healing completes, her mother having left the laboratory to aid the police in searching for her darling Sasami and to give her eldest the much needed privacy she wants. Ryoko looks across at her, the obvious and tempting joke about Juraian culture using green as a standard bridal gown colour instead of white and the connotations of that she leaves to be only uttered in her mind. There is movement within the tanks, the restless Saiyans are stirring. Ayeka is timid at this reminder of Vegeta's proximity.

Not allowing himself to be outdone, not even in this aspect, Vegeta impatiently exits the healing tank prematurely with the underwear Ryoko gave him now covering the bare essentials. He hops down with his wounds healed and his major organs functioning as they should and dries himself off with a burst of renewed and strengthened ki. He grins and clenches and unclenches a fist. Zenkai has occurred. It is ever so slight but power has been gained, same too for his rival. A humble and awkward apology is given by Ayeka to him before anything else as she confesses her wrong of furthering his injuries and ceasing her aid of him for her personal reluctance. His recollection of the tail end of the fight is fuzzy and that does not matter so much to him as aid is something he should do without regardless, though this brings to attention public nudity occurred. Looking at his other fiancé he sees her eyes focused on something and then he feels something very delicate and furry touch him in a place no woman previously has.

She smiles widely at him. Softly she wraps her fake tail around the new furry appendage poking out from the top of Vegeta's single item of clothing. No longer is he concerned about people having seen what hangs at the front between his legs for something has returned to him that he thought was lost forever. Curling through the air in a listless pattern is his tail. Washu's healing tanks are far too effective in what they do added with his body being nearly driven to destruction due to not having a tail the rear half of his spinal column is back. He is frozen with surprise. Chichi looks to the pod with her husband in and starts hoping in vain as she hears him moving about. The smile on Ryoko's face stays – this is working exactly as she hoped.

Wearing a fake tail allows her to control it with ki yet she gets no sensory information from it, she can touch Vegeta with it and it does not provoke any strong reaction from her. Ryoko binds her tail about his. Climbing out and jumping down to the tiles, Goku does not realise what all the fuss is about when an inquisitive hand reaches out and grabs and Ryoko tightens her grip on Vegeta. Two Saiyans are felled. Writhing on their knees as the most sensitive parts of their body are held, the two warriors grimace through the pain. Quickly Goku finds out he has his tail back and a bit after that they both see that these new and freshly grown appendages have not been physically trained or strengthened and are as weak to the touch as when they were children.

A smug smirk plays across Ryoko's lips at unintentionally defeating Vegeta. He whips his tail from her own and wraps it about his waist as is customary for Saiyans as he stands. Chichi dichotomously stares at this fresh wave of nostalgia seeing Goku's tail again and fear at what this tail entails, she lets go and keeps inspecting this new part to her husband.

"Ayeka, does Jurai have any moons? We might have hit a complication to the tournament." Vegeta fires off a quick question to check whether his planned time on Jurai will involve further difficulties. By his side Ryoko mimics his action with her tail and wraps it around her like a belt. His near naked form and the shock of this fuzzy part of his body causes Ayeka to hesitate before answering.

"It ... No. No it does not. Your- your tail …"

The Saiyan nods and looks across to his rival, their destined match can go ahead without this causing any interference. He checks across at Ryoko to make sure she is not misbehaving, she smiles at him and proclaims her finding that she can touch him with her tail. That is not the best news for Vegeta as now she can cause him more trouble with this loophole in the massive barrier that are her intimacy issues, he tells her to keep her tail to herself and to stay away from his until it is trained. A telepathic message is fired at her informing her that to touch his tail is akin to touching her ears and she nods respecting that want, for now. Chichi is questioning Yamcha as to how this could have happened and the man has no idea how most of Washu's inventions work so can only guess that it fully healed what it saw as an injury. She looks back at her husband, he is happy and testing out this long lost prehensile limb of his, this worries her but if Goku is fine with it then it is his body. Her main cause for concern is the Saiyan Prince she turns her attention to.

"What is it woman? Going to have the clown mutilated again? Don't fret, I'll only create an artificial moon outside your house every other night." Vegeta confidently asserts his point and his power. His foe shall be a true Saiyan and not some castrated pet. He hits the nail on the head about her worry and snickers at this ultimate control he has as the only being on the planet capable of casting a power ball for Blutz waves.

Sitting atop his tail cross legged, a rare look of consternation passes over Goku. With this tail he could be a threat to his family if he is as slow to reign in the Oozaru as this time. This is a challenge he will not fail again. He lowers his feet down, stands by his wife and smiles at her. His tail instead of wrapping around his own waist goes about Chichi's and heat comes to her face in reaction to this, she will acquiesce on this point of him keeping his tail as uneasy as it makes her. Ryoko warns Vegeta to not get any ideas with that and says that she is still waiting for praise for her saving the day. Instead he transforms to Super Saiyan 3 and threads his tail into his long spikes of hair to test if this planned disguise for the tournament will hold, it proves satisfactory but requires some work. The pirate taps her feet impatiently.

"Vegey. Time's wasting. Either address little Miss Budding Flower over there or reply to what you heard me ask after I rescued you."

"And why do you suppose I am some fountain of knowledge about that which you seek? I will not humour this. Washu's got terminals for you to research away on." Vegeta is dismissive in his treatment of her. He heard her yelling her wants and he is not impressed. The scent of fear is still so strong about her body and he can sense the weakness still with her after her ki was absorbed.

"There's one you know of. You ain't told us jack about that. Something that important to you shouldn't be secret. I'm not asking for that, yet, just for a bit of info. Or, I research in here to find what ya keepin' from me as Washu will have it."

He will not give into her threats this time. If she wants to find out then she will do so on her own, Vegeta will call this bluff as she will only want to hear it from his mouth. The prince looks to Yamcha and barks at him to get Washu to hurry up production of Goku's training room so his nemesis can leave. Being reminded of training, Goku asks his wife to very gently holds his tail. She knows this will cause him pain and so is reluctant to do so, until he insists that this is the way for him to get it accustomed to touch and trained so it will not be a weakness. Chichi weakly holds his furry tail, it is soft. Following a pause of a second he tells her to increase her strength and she does, pain shoots through Goku but he manages to stay stood up properly with his teeth gritted. Vegeta snarls at his rival taking the lead before he can start his own training – for he shall do this without the help of anybody else – and looks about before asking where his son is. Ryoko is quick to reply that he flew off somewhere so that ape Goku could not get a Super Saiyan beat-down.

"Look, you almost killed her Vegeta, least you could do is talk to her a bit about one of your weddings." Impatience is getting to Chichi, this has in no means been a pleasant visit and she wishes for the same thing Vegeta does which is their swift departure. Not wanting a displeased Ryoko to start abusing all around her and make things worse, she asks him to pay the lip service and get it over with – not aware of the many things Vegeta has yielded to the pirate. She moves her hand along her husband's tail in a slight stroking action whilst retaining the strong grip he desires.

Two sets of eyes fix on Vegeta as he curses the loose lips of Chichi. A soft and satisfied purr comes from Ryoko's throat, more horrified and shocked sounds come from the Juraian Princess taken aback by this. There is not going to be any easy escape from this, but neither is this something he has the time to waste on. Goku is training his tail and he is lagging behind already – that is what is important not him wasting more time chatting. He points to Chichi and since she raised this he tells them she will explain further and then immediately leave his house. Instant Transmission grants him his freedom to pursue his eternal goal. Ryoko raises a hand to pause Chichi as there is something she has to do.

"Quick question, tugging on that tail are you thinking of Ayeka or me?" Appearing in the doorway just as Vegeta goes to seal himself off for training, she gets this joke fired off at him. He ignores her and continues what he is doing as she laughs before teleporting back.

For some reason Goku is looking sheepish as she returns after her few seconds of teasing. Ryoko looks about to check she has not missed anything but it all seems the same except Yamcha has gone off to find Washu about the production of Goku's training room. Ayeka is looking quite nervous as she earnestly asks Chichi to now explain herself after mentioning that Vegeta has had multiple marriages. The housewife blinks for this should not be a shock to them. She looks across to Goku and he tries to look about distracted by the machines to get out of having to say it.

"He shoulda told you. … It's nothing much really, just one of my Goku's ideas. It- you know how often death happens, this- it's – well it's just our way of dealing with things. Y'see when Goku came back after Frieza and that Yadrat planet he was … distant would be the word. A year of him gone, then him in a hospital before a year away learning to teleport, it really hurt me but Goku wasn't being mean. Turns out big lug here was thinking of me. Got himself stupidly worked up about one line, one silly line in our marriage: 'Till death do us part'. He thought we weren't married and was scared about it and how he acted to me if we weren't … so we renewed our vows. Second marriage, third now. 18 and Krillin did it and so did Vegeta and Bulma following Buu." Chichi tells them this facet to the lives of the fighters that she assumed Vegeta had already informed them of. Their own personal way of fighting back against death and celebrating their resurrections. It is not the happiest of things for death is a prerequisite but she cannot help but smile thinking of her last renewal of vows where Goten and Gohan got to be there, thanking her fitness for her ability to still reuse her original wedding dress.

" So he married Bulma twice, you had us worried there. Should phrase things better, misleading Ayeka isn't kind when she's in this state. … Well, if it's a Kakarot idea there's your reason he won't talk."

A sigh of relief is exhaled by Ayeka. That caused worry mention of some secret second marriage but with this being the truth it is actually revealed to be a romantic gesture between couples proving victorious against death's attempts. She hopes, as does Chichi, that such an occurrence will be never be necessary in the future. The married Saiyan smiles at his wife – looking embarrassed at this outing of his idea – and nods agreeing with Ryoko's statement that Vegeta was not keen on it for that sole reason. In her own mind though Ryoko further reasons this to be another proof of the separation of Vegeta and Bulma, death has parted them so it is her turn. She supposes there is not anything else she can gain here talking to Chichi, except an opinion on the ditch she has dug for herself. This is an area she could definitely use help with.

"Chichi, I've done a naughty thing to Vegeta, could ya hear me out about it? I'm not really myself sometimes and I didn't know what I was doing … I make bad choices, Vegeta might be one of them. … So, how upset would you, or Kakarot – whichever – be if say I wore some super special outfit from your childhood that is like also something really important to your relationship? I might've done that."

"How do you know 'bout Chichi's bikini-"

A hand 'accidentally' clamps down with a bit of excess pressure onto Goku's tail and silences him before he can speak of what she was wearing as a child. Chichi coughs and clears her throat as she eyes Goku. Ryoko seems interested by this potential bit of dirty laundry and a seeming correlation between both Saiyans yet with Chichi she knows better than to push and anger her. The wife sighs and looks at Ryoko. Honestly this only serves to cement her opinion on Ryoko and Vegeta.

"I thought my marriage was quite messy, you've given me a lot of confidence surrounding my own relationship, Ryoko. You're in trouble, and he's in trouble. … Do whatever, I have no clue about these domestic issues and I don't wanna. I'm not cleaning your mess up." It might sound callous but those are Chichi's honest thoughts. She shall maintain her marriage and either Ryoko or Ayeka can deal with a Saiyan she has no love for. A rape attempt and disgracing Bulma, she does not see a way out from that pit of doom. She gets a disgruntled tut from Ryoko at her lack of help.

Goku tells her that it is a bit harsh not helping yet Chichi stands by her words. She asks him if he lost some of his weighted clothing when he transformed and Goku nods. Those are the hardest to replace and will require a trip to Kami's Lookout. Not a word is said by Ayeka as she keeps to herself and her own thoughts, trying to remain as much out of the spotlight as she can. Ryoko asks Ayeka if she is OK. The princess pauses and warily observes her rival to see if this is some other trap to humiliate her further. She apologises for teasing so much and says she was scared but that Ayeka's main issues are caused by the culture of Jurai she loathes and will make her see the fault of it even more so than the princess' prior disagreements against things like polygamy. Ayeka does not respond.

Three items are in his hands as he returns. Finding Washu can be a challenge when she does not want interrupting but he managed and Yamcha has completed his task now. Heading to the married couple he explains that Washu set the healing tanks on the maximum setting in light of their heavy injuries and so caused the unintentional growth of tails and she has a few extras to make amends. Goku gets a capsule containing his own gravity and simulation training room and grins at the thought of what he could accomplish with this. Not having been expecting anything Chichi finds two objects for herself. Yamcha quietens his voice and says the first small box is some medication Washu apparently found that Chichi might want however he himself does not know what it is. She hurriedly puts it away in her shirt's breast pocket. Someone has been snooping on her private questions to GP's and internet searches. The second thing she gets she adores and holds up for Goku to see.

She lost the original copy when the Ox King's castle burnt down. A small replica sits in a basic frame. In the palm of his hands the Ox King holds a woman who in turn is holding a baby girl. This family portrait has long since been destroyed and the single item she had to remember her mother by was the wedding dress she married Goku in. This effort from Washu touches Chichi. All she can say is a half hearted joke that she looks older than her mother does. Yamcha smiles and tells her to go show it to her dad, and Gohan and Goten, she nods and Goku raises two fingers to his head and says goodbye to his friend Yamcha.

Ryoko holds out a hand to Yamcha. In no uncertain terms she asks if she can get any gifts since she was also badly affected by seeing Vegeta and Goku transform into Oozarus. He shakes his head, he was not given anything and if there is something then she will have to come back later as Washu is in a do not disturb mode typing up her findings from Otherworld. Not one to pass up any opportunity to gain material possessions, she says she will cash this in later when Washu is available and then goes to Ayeka.

"Hey, you're spacing out a lot. You gonna be up for your shopping trip?" With what has transpired both between Ayeka and Vegeta and her own mother, Ryoko wonders if the planned event for today is something they will be comfortable going ahead with. She does not say in this in a jeering fashion, she clicks her fingers to get Ayeka's attention. Ryoko then says that they should get Vegeta to tell or show them at least one of his weddings.

A shiver runs up Ayeka. Then she turns and starts walking to where she believes an exit to the laboratory is. Ryoko starts to fly after when a finger prods her and gets her attention. Yamcha tells her to wait and not to push and rush things or she will just make them worse. She acquiesces to this and nods and says she will be back soon to have her chat with Washu.

Teleportation takes Ryoko to Trunks and the wayward children. Both boys sit about in the heather of a moorland with the young Princess of Jurai curled up and napping on a large stone. Her second early start is affecting her, being so young she needs a lot of sleep and Sasami catches up on it in an unusual environment. Trunks and Goten wait for they cannot leave her and trying to move her to return will wake her so with no rush they let her sleep. The pirate arrives on the scene and tells them their parents are looking for them. Quick to retort Trunks says it is a lie that his dad is, Ryoko shrugs and says that there is a big surprise waiting for the both of them. Goten gets excited by this, Trunks not so much. She spills the beans on the new body parts of their father's and teleports Sasami back to the lakeside with her as they fly to see this for themselves.

An inconsolable giant of a man sheds tears of joy as he pleads for Goku to take him so he can pay his thanks to the marvellous scientist who let him see a picture of his long deceased wife after so long. Goku would if not for the very real threat of Vegeta and on that point Chichi agrees. She says that she shall call Gohan after he has finished for the day so that he can see his grandmother for the first time and at that point an eager Goten flies into the house. A slight scolding from his mother about using such reckless speeds near the house is ignored as he asks to see the new and exciting thing that Ryoko told him of. Loving that he is so enthusiastic about this Chichi holds out the photo to Goten. The kid does not understand and peers around at the side and sees the furry appendage he was after and his eyes light up in wonder. Grubby fingers get too close and Goku has to turn to defend himself from not being immobilised. A tail smacks Chichi in the face and the organised anarchy of the household resumes.