Madness

Chapter Eight

"God fucking dammit, Vegeta!" Piccolo roared as the Saiyan fearfully skittered out of reach. Another limb was in Vegeta's mouth, this time a child's leg. "What the hell!? What is wrong with you!? Where did you get that!?"

Bulma came to see what was wrong and shrieked, scaring Vegeta even more. His dead ki flickered slightly in warning. He dropped the leg and fled. Goku appeared on the scene. "What is going on?" he asked calmly. He saw the blood and the leg and sighed. "Nevermind. Anyone hurt? Physically? No? We're good then." He went to find Vegeta.

The Prince was in the dark of their room, shivering and growling. "It's just me," Goku whispered. The growling immediately ceased, replaced by raspy whimpers and mutters. He did not sound happy. Goku scooped him up and cuddled him. "Oh, poor Vegeta. Everyone's yelling at ya and ya don't even know what ya did wrong. It's ok, you didn't do anything. They're just cranky." He kissed Vegeta's cheek, ignoring his responding snarl.

"I sure hope you're not in there coddling him, Goku!" Bulma shouted. "This is getting ridiculous! He's not an animal!"

Goku ignored her. Vegeta continued to grumble under his breath, obviously upset. "Shh, it's ok," Goku murmured. "Ignore her. They don't get it."

Find him find him find him find him-

Feed. Find him find him find him...

Goku held his little mate tighter. "Shh, ignore it. It's ok. I know you're hungry. Wanna try something of ours?" he chuckled. He carried Vegeta to the kitchen, where he wiggled out of Goku's arms and slinked around, watching him. Goku set a plate of food on the table. "There ya go."

Vegeta stared at him. Goku crossed his arms. "Oh, you know better than that. I baby you, but I'm not going that far. Bulma's right in that matter; you're not an animal."

Vegeta rolled his eyes and started to leave. Goku caught him. "No. Eat." Vegeta turned suddenly and bit him sharply. Goku yelped, letting go. "Sh-!" He looked at Vegeta. Vegeta gaped at him, as if realizing what he'd done. He made a squeaking sound and backed away, as if afraid that Goku would be angry... or putting a safe distance between them. Goku glanced at his hand; he hadn't even broken the skin. "Shh, you're ok, Vegeta, you're ok. I'm fine. Shh. Shh..."

Vegeta trilled, continuing to back away. His eyes shone in distress. Goku ignored the warning and ran a hand over Vegeta's head. "Shh. You're fine. It's ok." Vegeta began to look around almost frantically. Without seeming to think, he brought his hand to his mouth and began to gnaw on his finger, then yanked his hand away with a yelp.

Goku couldn't move. Was Vegeta not improving, and instead getting worse? The little Saiyan panted anxiously and began to pace. The volume of the brash, demanding voice grew, as did the random mutterings in the background. Goku felt an ache in the back of his mind. The call was more insistent. Was he beginning to cave?

~Timeskip brought to You by Shrek the Musical (which I'm actually performing as I write this lol)~

There was blood on the door. And on the floor leading down the hall. It stained the pristine white walls. Goku felt as if he was moving in slow motion. The sunlight looked strange now with the red splashes littered around. Then he heard a wailing cry. It was Vegeta. He went dashing to the location of the sound. The Prince was clawing at a closed door, streaking huge amounts of red across it. "Vegeta!" Goku cried, sprinting forward and catching hold of him. Blood covered his hands, poured out of huge gashes that looked conspicuously like teeth marks.

"No, no, no," Goku gasped. It was all over Vegeta's mouth as well, which sealed the blame. "Hang on, let's get a senzu."

Bulma was silent upon seeing Goku dragging Vegeta in. He forced one of the healing beans into Vegeta's mouth and down his throat. A few moments later, the wounds faded. Bulma narrowed her eyes. "I told you," she hissed. "He's doing it now too. It's getting worse, Goku." She relaxed somewhat. "I do have some good news though. I salvaged some of my equipment from Capsule. If you could charge some batteries for me, we might be able to do some tests on Vegeta... maybe... start looking for a cure?"

Goku's eyes sparkled. "Where are the batteries?"

~Timeskip- crap, I'm on~

"Ok, light 'em up!" Bulma called. Goku clutched the wires tightly and channeled ki through his body. The battery smoked slightly, and Goku stopped. "Eh, whoops."

"It's probably fine," Bulma called. "These helped power Vegeta's gravity chamber; I don't think anything could blow them." She began hooking things up to her machinery. Vegeta poked his head into the room. Goku did a double take.

"Why the fuck is he wearing a muzzle!?" Goku roared, almost going to Super Saiyan in his rage.

Piccolo showed up behind Vegeta. "Oh, excuse me for saving your mate's sorry ass. He was tearing himself apart again. You're welcome. He bit me while I gave him a senzu. I almost didn't; but it might have gotten infected, so I decided to give him a hand."

Goku's anger cooled immediately. "I'm sorry, Piccolo," he said softly. "Thank you."

Piccolo nodded. Vegeta trotted over to join him, then pawed at the muzzle. Goku gently moved his hands away, shaking his head. "Don't do that. Hey, I'll make you a deal. If you stay still and help us, I'll take that muzzle off. Ok?" Vegeta trilled happily, shaking like a dog. Goku chuckled and removed the metal. "There ya go, Vegeta."

"Hey, Vegeta!" Bulma chirped, putting her hands on her hips. Vegeta came over to be beside her. He'd taken to slinking about on all fours, rather like a cat. Vegeta bumped his head against her hand in greeting. "Come up here for me." She partially lifted him up, nearly falling over with the effort. "Goku! Get your- uh!- pet up here!"

Goku easily picked him up and set him on the table. "Just lay down, baby." He looked up at Bulma. "Is this basically just a lookover?"

"Pretty much," Bulma replied, firing up the machine. Vegeta jumped and tried to get away, but Goku stopped him. "Hey, it's ok." Vegeta relaxed a bit, but still seemed apprehensive. Bulma did a brief x-ray, then scowled. Goku crossed his arms. "What's up? Is he..." He trailed off.

"Uh... yeah." Bulma pursed her lips. "How did he break his neck, exactly?"

"Holy shit," Piccolo said softly. "His neck? I- I just fed him a senzu..."

Vegeta glanced back and forth, not seeming to be in any kind of pain. Goku also couldn't feel a thing. Bulma looked closer at the x-ray. "There's no way that could be possible. His neck is broken. Either the senzu didn't heal it or- What the fuck!?" Bulma shot to her feet, staring at Vegeta.

He stared back, looking a bit scared.

"Guys..." Bulma whispered. "Oh my God..." She looked at the printout. "This is impossible." She looked at Goku and Piccolo, horrified. "You're not going to believe this... Every bone in his body is shattered."