Dragon Ball SS

Credits: Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z are copyright 1984 by Akira Toriyama and Bird Studio, and were first published in Japan in 1984 by Shueisha, Inc. Series licensed for English release by VIZ Media, LLC.



Chapter 2



Vegeta woke to the sound of Goku\'s voice. He opened his eyes and looked around but could see only darkness around him; he wondered how long he\'d been out. From somewhere in the distance, Goku\'s voice called to him again.



“Vegeta! Vegeta, what\'s wrong?”



“Kakarotto?” Vegeta asked. “Where are you?”



“Vegeta, I\'m right here!” Goku replied. “You\'re unconscious...but I can hear you.”



“Unconscious?” Vegeta turned and looked around again. “That\'s impossible! What\'s going on? I can hear you plainly, but I can\'t see you...I can\'t see anything.”



“Hang on,” Goku said. “I want to try something.”



“Kakarotto!” Vegeta said in alarm. “Don\'t try anything! Just stay put!”



Goku didn\'t reply. Vegeta looked around frantically, trying to find some indication of light or direction that might tell him where he was or how to get out.



Suddenly, Goku appeared in front of him. Vegeta startled, then narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “What\'s going on, Kakarotto?” he demanded.



“I wondered if it wasn\'t something like this,” Goku said. “I learned this technique while I was training Uub. We didn\'t go anywhere except inside ourselves...and somehow, the two of us are connected inside.”



“Inside ourselves?” Vegeta asked incredulously. “And what do you mean, \'connected\'?”



Goku scratched the back of his head and looked around. “I\'m not sure, actually. I thought this was something that could only be done solo. It\'s interesting...but I don\'t know why it works.”



Vegeta sighed in irritation. “Useless,” he said. “Since you know so much about getting into this situation, how do you get out?”



“You have to concentrate,” Goku said. “Focus your energy in the center of your body, and start reaching out gradually with your senses to feel the world around you. You can\'t just come out of it all at once.”



“Wonderful,” Vegeta replied. He straightened up and closed his eyes, then began to gather his energy inward. “Like this?”



“Right,” Goku said. “But take it slow. Don\'t try to force it to happen quickly.”



“I heard you the first time!” Vegeta snapped. “Now get lost!”



Goku fell silent, and Vegeta focused once again on gathering his energy. He could feel the warmth of his energy pulsing deep within his core, and his focus centered on containing the blazing light that he sensed more than saw.



Slowly, he let the energy creep to the edges of his consciousness and poke at the world around him. He became aware of the grass pricking at the skin on his back and the sound of birds calling above. Leaves rustled as some small animal rushed through the branches of a nearby tree, and the hot air that had been stifling the countryside assailed his face. He stretched his hands slowly and realized that he was fully aware of everything around him, then opened his eyes.



Goku was back at the edge of the lake, pulling his wet but relatively clean gi back on. As he tied the sash around his waist, he glanced back at Vegeta. “Oh good, you made it,” he said.



“Of course I did!” Vegeta shot back. “A worthless technique like that is nothing to master.” He pushed himself into a sitting position and frowned. He didn\'t want to spend any more time with the other Saiyan than necessary, but it was obvious that Goku wasn\'t going to leave him alone. He was going to have to suffer the indignity of having Goku take him back to Capsule Corp.



Goku was obviously thinking the same thing. “Come on,” he said. He walked over and held his hand out to Vegeta. “I\'ll take you back to Capsule Corp. It\'s obviously going to be the only solution to this.”



“All right, already,” Vegeta growled. He reached up and grabbed Goku\'s hand and pulled himself to his feet. He leaned against Goku\'s arm for support as he steadied himself.



Just then, a sudden rush of air blew down from above, and Gohan landed in front of them.



“Gohan!” Goku exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”



“I was passing by this way and sensed the fight you and Vegeta had. Is everything all right?” he asked.



“Yeah, yeah, nothing to worry about,” Goku said with a dismissive wave. “Just some sparring to blow off steam.”



Gohan noticed Vegeta leaning on Goku\'s arm and looked him over carefully. “Vegeta, what\'s wrong?” he asked in concern. “Are you injured?”



Vegeta grumbled under his breath, and Goku laughed in response. “Just his pride,” he said. “But he is feeling out of sorts today. Help me get him back to Capsule Corp,” he continued. “I\'ll explain the whole situation later.”



Gohan moved to stand on the other side of Vegeta and lifted the smaller Saiyan\'s arm around his shoulders. Amidst Vegeta\'s grumbling, they lifted him off the ground and headed back to Capsule Corp.



There was no one in sight when they landed, much to Vegeta\'s relief. As soon as they\'d crossed the threshold into the main house, Vegeta pushed away from them and stumbled to the nearest piece of furniture to support himself.



Bulma walked into the room and looked at three of them in surprise. She started to greet Goku and Gohan, then noticed Vegeta\'s appearance. “Vegeta, are you all right?” she asked.



“Fine,” Vegeta replied. “I need a shower.” He brushed her aside abruptly as she tried to take his arm and made his way awkwardly out of the room.



Bulma turned to Goku and Gohan for an answer. “I know he doesn\'t like help when he\'s injured,” she said, “but he seemed like he was able to walk, and there\'s no blood on his clothes. What\'s going on?”



“It\'s kind of complicated,” Goku replied. “At least, when Vegeta was explaining it to me, I didn\'t understand all of it entirely.”



Bulma smiled wryly and motioned for them to follow her. “Come sit down in the kitchen and explain,” she said. “I\'ve got all night; it seems the kids plan on being out late. I\'ll find something in the fridge for a snack.”



“That\'s great, thanks, Bulma!” Goku exclaimed. “I am starting to get hungry.”



“Son-kun, I\'d be even more worried than I am if you hadn\'t said that,” Bulma replied.



Goku and Gohan sat down at the kitchen table and Bulma went to the refrigerator. After examining the contents for a moment, she pulled out two large, covered trays and brought them to the table. “Leftover roast and apple salad,” she said. “Help yourself to anything you want to drink in the refrigerator.” She started to say something else, but she was cut off by a shout from Vegeta.



“Woman!” he called. “Where are the towels?”



Bulma rolled her eyes. “I\'ll be right back,” she said. “He may be able to destroy a planet single-handedly, but he\'s virtually helpless around the house.”



Goku and Gohan watched her leave, then Goku turned back to the cold roast before them. He tore off a large chunk and stuffed it in his mouth, then pushed the platter toward Gohan. Gohan waved it away; Goku frowned and swallowed before speaking.



“What\'s wrong?” he asked. “You\'ve been quiet tonight as well; did something happen before you ran into me and Vegeta?”



Gohan looked unhappily at the table and folded his hands in front of him. He hesitated for a moment before he spoke, and when he did, his voice shook.



“I\'m...I\'m not ill, I don\'t think,” he said. “But...something\'s not right with me.” He paused, and Goku waited patiently for him to continue. “I...I did something today that I thought I would never do...that I never wanted to do.” His shoulders shook, and he brought his folded hands up to press against his forehead. “I still don\'t know what happened myself.”



Goku watched him carefully as he spoke. “Videl\'s not back from her trip yet, is she?” he asked.



Gohan looked up at him, startled.



“I could tell, when you helped me lift up Vegeta,” Goku said. “You were close enough that I caught the scent strongly. I didn\'t say anything, because I knew that Videl was still away from home, and I didn\'t want to ask any uncomfortable questions until you were ready.”



Gohan put his face into his hands. “You\'re right,” he said. “I was unfaithful to her. And I don\'t know how I\'m going to tell her, I just know that I have to; it\'s already eating me apart inside.”



“You\'re going to have to tell her regardless,” Vegeta suddenly said. He straightened from where he was leaning on the doorway and walked to the table. He sat down facing Goku and Gohan. “That Namekian is hardly a suitable partner for your needs.”



Gohan turned red. “You could tell, too?” he asked meekly.



“Idiot,” Vegeta said with a smirk. “I was closer to you than your father was on the way back.”



Gohan ran his hands through his hair in distress. “It\'s not just that I cheated on Videl,” he said, “or that it was with Piccolo. If that were only the case, I wouldn\'t be in nearly as much trouble as I am now.”



Vegeta\'s eyes narrowed and he watched Gohan\'s expression carefully. “You raped him,” he declared. “He didn\'t want it and you lost control of yourself.”



Gohan choked up and couldn\'t speak. He nodded quickly and pressed his fists to his eyes. “I don\'t know what happened,” he finally said with a gasp of breath. “I\'ve never lost control like that; I don\'t even remember most of it clearly. When I snapped out of it, Piccolo was on the ground in front of me, unconscious. I...panicked, and left.”



Vegeta sighed and leaned back in his chair. “It\'s not particularly surprising,” he said, “but it\'s going to be an annoyance. Piccolo\'s not the type to just let an attack like that go unanswered. You certainly have a way of getting yourself into trouble, boy,” Vegeta said.



“Vegeta, does this have anything to do with what you told me earlier?” Goku demanded. “Is Gohan affected by the same thing because he\'s part Saiyan?”



“And what exactly might that \'same thing\' be?” Bulma asked. She came into the kitchen carrying a small white box. “Does it have anything to do with why I found you under ice water in the shower?”



“Hn,” Vegeta replied.



“Don\'t even start with the attitude, Vegeta,” Bulma countered. She walked up to him and put her hand to his forehead. “Just as I thought, you have a fever.” She pressed a button on the front of the box and a digital thermometer slid out of it. “Hold this under your tongue – and don\'t bite down on it,” she instructed.



“Woman, I don\'t need -” Vegeta began. His rejection was cut off when Bulma stuck the tip of the thermometer into his mouth. Vegeta rolled his eyes and sat back to wait for the temperature reading.



When the thermometer finally beeped, Bulma leaned over and looked at the display. She frowned, then took the thermometer and examined it more closely. “You\'re definitely running a temperature,” she said. “Your average is slightly warmer than a human\'s anyway, but this is high even for a Saiyan.”



“It\'s normal,” Vegeta said sullenly. “I\'ll be that temperature for a while. I expect these two are the same way; the high temperature can affect our thinking, which is why I\'m not surprised that Gohan lost sense of what he was doing for a while.”



Bulma pinched her chin thoughtfully. “And the cold water of the shower leveled you out long enough to regain your balance and make you able to function almost normally,” she realized.



“For a while,” Vegeta conceded. “It\'s not a permanent fix to the problem.”



“You still haven\'t said what the \'problem\' actually is, Vegeta,” Bulma pointed out.



Vegeta grumbled and grabbed part of the roast from the table. He looked disgruntled as he ate, then finally decided to answer Bulma.



“Saiyan biology can be influenced by the weather when it comes to reproduction,” he finally said. “Planet Vegeta had regular cycles in the weather that made it ideal for our race to thrive, or so I\'m told; I was too young when the planet was destroyed to have knowledge of it firsthand.” He paused to take some more meat from the table. “The effects will pass when the weather changes, or when we have a pregnant companion, whichever comes first.”



“But why would that involve someone like Piccolo?” Gohan asked. “He\'s neither a woman nor a Saiyan.”



“It\'s because of what you said earlier, right, Vegeta?” Goku asked. “You said that having sex with anyone can help.”



“It relieves sexual tension,” Vegeta clarified. “And it has a similar effect on the mind as cooling it down does. I don\'t know why it works, and neither Raditz nor Nappa were smart enough to even question it.”



Gohan sighed and sat back. “Even if Videl were home right now, I don\'t know what I could do about it,” he said. “She hasn\'t really wanted another child; that\'s why we only have Pan.”



“You managed to get yourself in a sticky situation already,” Vegeta pointed out. “And you\'re not going to be able to avoid talking to her about it. For now, however, I recommend you find somewhere to isolate yourself until you learn to keep control over your mind.”



Goku stood. “We should get back home,” he said. “If Gohan is affected, then there\'s a good chance that Goten is as well. Gohan, you can stay with us; you can have your old room back until Videl and Pan get home from their vacation.”



Gohan sighed, but nodded. “All right,” he said. He stood and joined his father. “I\'m sure I\'ll have more questions once I\'ve slept on it and cooled my head. Are you going to be here tomorrow, Vegeta?” Gohan asked.



“Hn,” Vegeta replied. “Even if it weren\'t our season, this planet is mind-numbingly boring as of late. I\'ll be here.”