Madness

Chapter Seven

The sounds grew worse, as did Vegeta's desire for isolation. More than once Goku saw him completely lost in his own mind. He saw a need for escape. He didn't know, or even want to know, what was going on in there.

One afternoon, Goku found a smear of blood on the floor. It wasn't much, but he suddenly went cold.

"Vegeta!?" Goku raced around the Lookout in search of his mate. Bulma's words echoed in his mind: "They go forever without sleep, they eat themselves, then they drop dead. No, I don't mean cannibalism. I'm talking autocannibalism. It's not pretty." Goku came screeching to a halt. Mainly because he found Vegeta. He could only stare in horror and shock.

Vegeta stared back with a similar expression. He looked vaguely awkward, like a dog caught doing something it knew it wasn't supposed to be doing. He was also clutching an arm in his teeth. Just an arm. Not his own.

"What the fuck? How'd you get that?" Goku felt strangely relieved. He was too surprised to panic about the fact that Vegeta was literally holding someone's arm in his mouth, or even wonder who's it was. At least it wasn't his own. It was almost funny.

Vegeta seemed to know that Goku was not angry, for he relaxed a bit. He still looked very embarrassed at being caught in such a compromising situation. He trilled slightly, cocking his head. The movement made blood drip onto the floor. Goku made a face, suddenly feeling a bit ill. "Uhh... So, uh, how'd you get that, Vegeta? I don't think that that's someone from here. M'I right?" He shuddered and came closer, gently removing the arm from Vegeta's mouth. "I'll just take that and..."

Vegeta growled and chomped down again. Blood sprayed from his teeth and Goku let out a disgusted yelp, dancing away. "Ew, ew, ew, ew, ew! Ohh, Kami, that's so gross." He wiped the blood off his hand. "Piccolo! Could you give me a hand please?" Then he glanced at the arm still dangling from Vegeta's teeth and snorted. I really hope I'm not going crazy...

Piccolo came around the corner and exclaimed when he saw Vegeta. "Shit! Goku! What the hell is this!?"

"Long story short, I saw some blood on the floor and followed it here. Found him. But he wouldn't let go of it." Goku rubbed his neck. "Help me out?"

"You weren't kidding when you said 'give me a hand'," Piccolo muttered. He knelt in front of Vegeta, who growled softly. "Shh..." He touched Vegeta's jaw gently and began to rub the prominent muscles. Vegeta blinked. He purred slightly, then released the arm. "There." He picked up the severed appendage and handed it to Goku. "Mission accomplished."

"Eewww," Goku groaned, holding it away from him. "What the heck should I do with it?"

"Toss it," Piccolo replied and left. Vegeta trilled and bounced after him. Piccolo noticed and faced him, still backing away. "No, don't follow me. No. Vegeta, scat."

Goku snickered. Piccolo growled and generated a light ki blast, little more than light. Vegeta still stopped then hide behind Goku, glaring at Piccolo with a hiss. "Hey, don't do that," said Goku, petting Vegeta's hair. "He's actually being friendly today."

"I don't want him being friendly," snapped Piccolo. "He's still extremely unstable, Goku."

"True," Goku mumbled. "Sorry, Geta."

Vegeta exhaled and stared at the arm in Goku's hand.

"Uh, no. This is out of here."

~Timeskip~

The next day Vegeta had a chunk of flesh, presumably a bicep. No one bothered to take it away; he wasn't as cooperative as the day before. "Where the hell is he getting it from?" Bulma hissed, watching him in disgust. It seemed scarily fresh. He wasn't eating it, just holding it as if he wasn't sure what to do with it. "Oh my God, that's gross."

"He's getting off the Lookout somehow," Dende said, shaking his head. "If it were a day or two old, we'd definitely know. That's fresh. He's been on the surface, probably within the last hour. Look."

There was definitely a lot of blood. Vegeta's gloves were painted red with it and it was on his face. The image was not a pretty one.

"So is he attacking the infected?" Piccolo asked. "Or those who managed to escape it this long?"

"It's impossible to say," Bulma replied. "I'm not going down to look."

"Should I take him down this evening?" asked Goku. "I mean, he's going down by himself anyway; might as well have someone keep an eye on him."

"I'll go." Piccolo sighed. "You need to rest. I can watch him easily enough. He hasn't gotten any faster, has he?"

"Depends," Goku replied with a shrug. "If he's spooked or- oh, get off-  excited, he's pretty hard to catch, but he seems to tire out pretty easy." Goku frowned and again pulled Vegeta off his leg. "Vegeta, knock it off. Let go!" he laughed. Vegeta seemed determined to remain latched onto his leg. He wasn't biting him- he still had that chunk of meat in his mouth- but his arms and legs had completely captured Goku. Finally he left Goku alone, but he didn't seem too happy about it. He repositioned the meat and left grumpily. Piccolo followed him.

"Goku, if he tries to take a bite out of me, I'm blowing his face off. Got it?"

Goku knew to take him seriously. "Behave, Vegeta!" He felt a mixture of relief and apprehension at the break he was getting. He hadn't realized just how much work taking care of Vegeta required. Goku sat down and rubbed his temples. "Phew. Wow. Heh, I'm tired."

"I'm amazed you've lasted as long as you have without a proper break." Dende sat beside him, smiling. Just his presence was a balm to Goku's stress. "Vegeta has always been a handful, now more than ever. You've shouldered it so bravely. A lesser being would have caved, joined Vegeta in this madness." The young Namek leaned against Goku. "Don't give up on him. I think... Goku, I think he's actually getting better." When Goku looked at him in surprise, he went on. "Think about it. He's speaking, showing emotion again, trying to escape what's holding him. Can't you see it?"

"I do, now that I think about it," Goku murmured. "But... something is looking for him. Whatever is in their heads, it's looking for Vegeta. I don't know why. It keeps talking to them, but they don't understand it. It's screwed up their heads too much. I think Vegeta understands though, and that's why it's looking for him. He really doesn't want to cooperate, which is good for us and bad for it."

"How odd," Dende said. "Well, don't think about it for now, Goku; just get some rest. I hope Piccolo doesn't have to hard of a time with Vegeta..." 

Gotta love Vegeta... BTW, it was Tiger's idea for the arm as a laugh. It wasn't me! I love sleepovers so much... Goddammit Nappa!