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Dragonball: Vertigo	By : Lucythebeast Category: Dragon Ball Z > Yuri - Female/Female Views: 2501 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own DragonballZ, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 37
- 38
- 39
DragonBall V: A World both Familiar and Foreign

Chapter 38: These
Wounds Won’t Seem to Heal

Krillin cracked
open his eyes and winced at the bright light shining above him. After blinking
several times and bringing up a hand to shade his eyes, he realized the light
wasn’t that bright at all. He slowly sat up and groaned, feeling as if his
insides had been slow-cooked.

The monk looked
around and saw several of the Z warriors still recovering, especially Peasa who
looked like she had been locked in a cage with a ravenous tiger. He winced in
sympathy and paused when he heard talking. <Sounds like 18’s voice… and Bulma.> He got out of bed and looked at his shredded but
still decent fighting gi and padded softly across the
cold floor of the Capsule Corp. infirmary to listen in.

“I’m fine, really.
I should leave though. I’m more than a little responsible for what happened.”
18 said, turning away from a tired-looking Bulma.

“That’s your
decision, but would you at least let me check you out first? You went through a
hell of an ordeal.” The blue-haired woman offered.

18 shook her head.
“It’s best if I just go somewhere quiet and live out my days in peace. Or…
perhaps I should be shut down. I don’t know if I’ll end up like my brother or
not.”

“No!” Krillin
protested, stepping forth. Both women turned and looked at him, shock written
on their features. “Eh… sorry. I didn’t mean to shout.
Just… don’t leave, ok? You’ll be fine. Stick with us. You helped just as much
as everyone else in taking down Cell. We couldn’t have done it without you.”

The blonde android
sighed and leaned back against a counter. “How’s everyone in there?”

Krillin glanced
back into the infirmary but Bulma answered for him. “Tien and Chaotzu already left. I
think Tien was eager to return to Lunch for some
catching up. Peasa will recover but she’s in pretty bad shape. Yamcha should
wake up soon. Videl woke up earlier and is sitting with Gohan whom hasn’t woken
up yet.”

“What about
Piccolo? I didn’t see him in there.” Krillin looked back into the infirmary in
case he had somehow missed seeing the green man.

“Mr. Popo came and got him before he even woke up. He was just
starting to come to when they left. It seemed urgent.” Bulma
supplied.

The monk frowned
and scratched the back of his head. “Why isn’t Peasa in a regeneration pod? Or any of us, in fact.”

“They got damaged
when I had a little… accident when I was building the Moonlight Cannon.” The
blue-haired genius replied, looking a little embarrassed.

Krillin checked
himself and found the pouch of senzu beans. “You
could have given these to us.” He held up the pouch and shook it slightly. He
blinked and looked at it, wondering why it felt so light. Then he realized a
hole had been torn into it at some point and all the beans had fallen out.
“Oh…”

“None of you were
in critical condition but I didn’t want to leave your side to get beans from
Korin unless I had to. Assuming he’d even give me some.” Bulma
shrugged and turned to 18. “I haven’t had a chance to run diagnostics on you
yet. May I?”

A momentary mental
picture of Dr. Gero leering down at her as he his
hands were in her chest cavity came to Android 18, but she shook it off. “That
may not be a good idea.” She paused when the blue-haired woman’s expression
became crestfallen. “No… look… it’s not because I’m uncomfortable with it,
though I would be a little, it’s because… Dr. Gero
implanted a bomb into me to activate in case I turned on him. And… you might
accidentally set it off. I don’t know how it works.” The blonde android sighed
and looked at Krillin, whose expression turned a little fearful. “I’ll get out
of your way. See ya.”

When she turned to
leave, a word tore it’s way out of the monk’s throat
before he could even think about it. “Wait!” Once again, he gained the
android’s attention. “Bulma will be careful. Maybe
she can remove it.”

18 chewed her lip
thoughtfully, a trait left over from when she was human. “I’m afraid.” She
finally admitted, casting an apprehensive eye towards an exam table.

Krillin looked at Bulma and nodded. “Don’t worry 18,
I won’t leave your side.”

The android gave
the monk a half-grin. “Even if I’m about to go critical?”

“You won’t.” The
short man said with as much certainty as he could muster. “Let’s do this
thing.”

<He’s risked so
much for me… why?> Android 18 nodded finally.

“This is so
exciting!” Bulma nearly did a dance as she pulled a number
of diagnostic tools from various drawers and cabinets.

“She’s really very
professional.” Krillin whispered behind his hand to 18 and gave her a playful
wink, earning a soft giggle. <Wow… I’ve never heard anything so beautiful in
my life. Oh man…>

“Hop up on that
table.” The blue-haired genius instructed as she checked and calibrated some of
the more sensitive equipment.

“Should I… take off
my clothes or anything?” 18 asked after sitting down on the exam table.

“If
you like. It would make
things a little easier but I can work around it if you’re uncomfortable.” Bulma slid over on a chair and pulled a cart over that now
held most of the instruments she was going to use.

The blonde android
gave Krillin a sheepish smile. <Why am I feeling self-conscious? I should
feel perfectly comfortable tossing my clothes to the side and not giving a
damn. But Krillin… what is it about him? This is so frustrating!>

“Eh… you want me to
leave, 18?” The monk inquired politely.

Android 18 shook
her head. “No… but um…”

“You don’t have to
remove anything yet, sweetie.” Bulma informed her.
“Hold still.” She passed a wand like object all around the android’s body while
looking at a hand-held device. “No radiation other than the normal…
interesting… infrared readings.” The scientist gave the blonde a reassuring
smile and slid her shirt up just enough to expose her belly. She then pressed
her palm to it. “Interesting… warm.”

“No radiation? I
was under the impression that I had fusion generators in my body.” 18 blinked
in confusion.

“Yeah you mentioned
that before.” Krillin supplied, reaching out hesitantly to hold the android’s
hand. “You are warm…” He muttered as an excuse. <Hot, would be the better
adjective. Hehe…>

“If it’s fusion,
then something is soaking up all the emitted particles.” Bulma
replied. She gently pressed the skin of the android’s wrist and pursed her lips
thoughtfully. “Feels like real skin. Soft, but obviously just
as tough as Krillin’s. It’s too bad Gero was crazy… because he was one hell of a genius.”

“It’s my real skin…
I’m almost positive. I looked like this before I met Gero…
of that I’m sure. My skin may be enhanced, but it’s…” Number 18 was commenting.

“Enhanced! Of course… let me look at a skin sample.” Bulma scraped off a few skin cells and looked at them under
a nearby microscope. Then she flipped on a monitor and pointed at it. “Just as I thought. It’s real skin. There are microscopic
fibers in it though… and some nanobots as well. Wow…
the nanobots died… they can’t live away from your
body. That’s good, it means we don’t have to worry
about them getting on or in someone else.”

18 blinked. “Um…
ok.”

“Just nod and
smile.” Krillin told her behind his hand again.

“I heard that!” Bulma glared at the monk then smiled and shrugged. “Let’s
get back to it.” She ran some more tests and scratched her head. “You’re
basically human… but enhanced. It’s really quite amazing. I wouldn’t be
surprised if you could even have children.”

Krillin suddenly got
a huge grin on his face but coughed and managed to look normal when 18 turned
to look at him. “That’s cool, you know, if you want
kids.”

“The
bomb?” Android 18
inquired, having more pressing concerns on her mind than rug rats at the
moment.

“Getting
to it.” Bulma assured her. She tapped a sequence on a nearby keypad
and an x-ray machine came out of the wall. She took a few moments to take some
precautions, such as having Krillin don a lead skirt, and then took an x-ray.
“Oh Kami-sama…” The scientist murmured, covering her
mouth with her hand as she looked at the x-ray.

“What?!” 18 demanded, getting up to look at it
herself. “…What’s that bright spot in my chest?”

Bulma looked at Krillin with a frown on her face
then turned back to 18. “I’m sorry to tell you this… but I can’t remove your
bomb without killing you. Not only is it attached to your pulmonary artery, but
I can tell that any tampering with it would cause it to detonate.”

18 sighed and
stared at her feet as she heard the man beside her gasp and squeeze her hand.
“So… any chance that it won’t go off?”

The blue-haired
woman squinted at the device and shook her head. “It’s likely set to go off
under certain conditions. For example… failing to complete the duty Gero assigned to you.”

“Which
would be killing Goku.” Number 18 stated with a heavy sigh.

“It’s also likely
on a timer of some kind and will go off eventually.” Bulma
added.

“So what can we
do?” Krillin inquired, wanting to scream in frustration. <She’s too nice to
die like this…>

Before Vegeta’s
widow could speak, 18 replied on her own. “I’ll go somewhere secluded and
self-detonate so I don’t hurt anybody.”

Bulma bit her lip. Unfortunately, it was the only
humane option, much as she hated to admit it. “Sorry,
sweetie.”

“There has to be
another way!” Krillin cried, standing up and fighting back tears.

The blue-haired
woman shook her head. “If the dragon balls were still around, we could wish for
the dragon to remove the bomb. But, that’s no longer an option.”

18 smiled sadly.
“Well, it’s probably best this way. Thank you, Bulma-san.
You are very kind.”

“Bulma…” Krillin looked at his oldest and dearest still
living friend. “Is there any chance that the planet Namek is still around and
we just can’t sense it from here?”

Bulma shrugged. “I doubt it. Unless
they made a wish to disappear from detection.” She frowned and looked
thoughtful.

“Which they might
have done, if they figured Frieza might not be the
only bad guy looking to score with the dragon balls…” Krillin added. “I’m going
to Namek. If it’s not there, it’s not there. But if it is…
I’m wishing for 18’s bomb to be removed. And wishing the guys
back to life.”

Hope ignited in Bulma’s eyes. “I’ll ready the spaceship for launch.”

“I’m going with
you.” 18 told Krillin after Bulma left.

“It might be dangerous…”
He informed her. She didn’t look intimidated so he added, “We might get stuck
out there.”

18 shrugged. “You
said you wouldn’t leave my side even if I was about to go critical. If you’d
rather I stayed here, I will. But, I want to go.” <I want to spend my last
days with you. I know that’s selfish… but it’s how I
feel.>

Krillin nodded.
“Let’s go then. I’ll say goodbye to the guys. You might want to go into town
and buy some extra clothes. Ask Bulma about it, she’s
got a tab at several of the nice stores in town.”

18’s eyes lit up at
the thought of new clothes and rushed off to track down Bulma.
The monk chuckled and walked back into the infirmary area and saw that Yamcha
was sitting at Peasa’s side. “Hey, big guy.” Krillin
greeted his old friend.

Yamcha grinned.
“Hey. She still looks pretty beat up. Didn’t you give her a senzu
bean?”

The short man
laughed nervously and held up the empty bag. “Seems they
didn’t make it. But Bulma said she’d wake up
soon. She’ll probably have the regeneration pods back online by then.”

Krillin decided to
stop in to see Gohan then on make a quick stop at Kami’s
lookout to talk to Piccolo. He walked into the private room where Gohan was
recovering and winced in sympathy as he saw devices hooked up to the boy. “Hey Videl. No change, huh?”

The 8 (almost 9!)
year old looked up and gave the formally bald man a tired smile. “He knows I’m gunna kick his butt when he wakes up. That’s why he’s still
asleep.” She joked half-heartedly.

Krillin nodded with
a gentle smile on his face. He ruffled the boy’s hair and smiled. “If I find
Namek and you aren’t awake yet, maybe the dragon can wake you up.” He turned to
look at Videl and nodded. “Take good care of him. I’ll go let Chichi, uh
Gohan’s mom, know where he is, if she doesn’t know already. I’m sure she’ll
want to be here at his side as well.”

Videl nodded. “Good
luck, Mr. Krillin.”

The monk then flew
to Kami’s lookout. “Piccolo, I’m glad to see you’re
ok.” He greeted the green man.

Piccolo nodded. “Yeah,
I just got a little wiped out like the rest of you. I can tell from here that
Gohan is still…”

“Yeah.” Krillin nodded, unable to say it. “How’s
Chichi?”

The Namek shook his
head. “She’s in bad shape. About as can be expected given her
loss.”

The short man
nodded with a heavy sigh. “Well, 18 and I are going to Namek… or where Namek
use to be, whichever the case may be. We’re hoping that the Nameks
are just hiding from future Friezas, and not actually
dead. It’s about our only option now.”

Piccolo nodded and
was about to comment when Mr. Popo approached them.
“Krillin, if there are Nameks still left, you should
see if one of them will come back to Earth with you to become the new Guardian.
Then we will be able to bring back the Earth’s dragonballs!”

Krillin gave the
genie a big grin. “That’s a great idea, Mr. Popo! I
sure hope they’re still around.”

“Krillin, we’re
going to have the funeral for Goku, Vegeta, and Trunks tomorrow. You’ll stay
until then, I trust?” Piccolo inquired.

The monk nodded. “Yeah, yeah of course. Too bad Gohan probably won’t be awake
by then. Well, Bulma gave me a capsule that has a jet
in it so I’ll take Chichi and the baby to Capsule Corp. with me.” He then went
into the nursery where Chichi and Okura were and winced in sympathy when he saw
the despondent look on Chichi’s face.

She jumped up and
hugged the man close, fresh tears pouring from her eyes. “Why
does Goku keep leaving me!?” She demanded between sobs.

Krillin shook his
head. “I don’t know… I’m sorry, Chichi. Goku gave his
life to save Gohan’s.”

Chichi looked up
with a fierce intensity in her eyes. “Take me to my little Gohan! He’s hurt… I
just know it.”

Krillin nodded and
they left to return to Capsule Corporation, each both of them lost in thought.

************************

“Mmmph… Vegeta?” A strained and
hoarse voiced floated up into the dimly lit room.

“Peasa… are you
waking up?” A marginally familiar voice came back to the Saiyan girl.

She cracked an eye
open and winced as pain lanced through her head. “Ah… shit. That hurts.” The
Saiyan opened her eyes fully and she realized she was looking at Yamcha. “What
the hell?”

“I usually prefer
the greeting of ‘Hey Yamcha, nice to see you.’ But, at least you can talk.
That’s a good sign.” The former desert bandit quipped.

Peasa stared at
him. <Why is he talking to me?> “Is Cell… gone?” <Oh please… let him be gone. I don’t think I can go another round with a fruitfly, let alone that monster.>

Yamcha nodded.
“Yeah, yeah we got him. Can you sit up?”

“Or course.” The
last full-blooded Saiyan asserted, sitting up a little too fast. “Ugh… oh Kami-sama…” She rested her head against one of her propped
up hands and let out a long, labored sigh. “Something wrong with the
regeneration pods?”

“Yeah,
a little accident sweetie.” Bulma’s voice floated in as she peeked
into the room and gave her adoptive daughter a warm smile.

“Oh… hey Bulma… er… I mean mom.” Peasa
greeted her. <Damn… what a time for them to be on the blink.> She noticed
then that Yamcha was still staring at her. “What’s wrong?”

“Uh…
nothing… nothing. I
wanted to make sure you woke up ok. I’ll get going.” The former desert bandit
stood up and smiled sheepishly.

<Humans are so
strange…> “Ok… thanks. I don’t suppose Gohan is up and about yet?” The
Saiyan princess inquired.

Yamcha shook his
head. “Still down for the count. You should go in and
say hi. He might be able to hear you. Well… see ya.”
He wandered off, looking a little lost.

Peasa took a deep
breath and then stood up. “MOTHER OF KAMI!” She cried,
losing her balance and ending up face first in the bed that was beside her own.

“Take it slow,
Peasa! Geez… what is with you Saiyans?!” Bulma cried, rushing into the room and to the girl. “Easy…”

“I’ll be all right.”
The Saiyan stated a little harshly, fighting to stand up. “As soon as the room
stops spinning… I’ll be fine.”

The blue-haired
woman clucked her tongue and shook her head. “Just lie back down and get some
rest. There’s no hurry.”

Peasa, however, forced
herself to stand up. “I’m fine.” She choked out, taking a few unsteady steps.
She made no comment when Bulma held onto her arm,
helping her walk. “Where’s Gohan?”

“Through here.” The
older scientist led her into the room where Gohan was sleeping peacefully and a
tired looking Videl was beginning to nod off in a comfortable-looking chair.
“Videl… sweetie… you should go home and rest. You’ve been through a lot.”

The young Satan
sighed and glared at the demi-Saiyan. “You better
wake up soon, Gohan, so I can kick your butt.” She grumbled to the boy. She
stood up and bowed slightly to Peasa and Bulma.
“Thank you for allowing me to stay. I’ll be back to check on him in a few days.
Oh… this is a number you can reach me at… call me if there’s any change.” She
handed Bulma a card with the beach house’s number on
it and left quietly. She was halfway home before she realized she was flying
and that she had flown to the location of the battle with Cell as well. “Whoa…”
Was all she could say.

Peasa sighed and
ran her fingers through the boy’s wild hair. “Hey… how’s it going in there?”
She glanced up at some medical equipment that Gohan was hooked up to and
frowned. “I guess it’s just a matter of time.”

“Peasa, you’re up!”
Krillin’s voice sounded from the door.

The Saiyan princess
turned and was about to greet her former lover when Chichi ran past her. “Oh my precious boy! Wake up for mommy! Wake up, Gohan!!!”

Peasa bit her lip
nervously and backed out of the room, giving the mother peace to cry over her
son. She paused when she spotted Android 18. “Oh… it’s you. Come for a
rematch?”

18 raised an
eyebrow and looked the girl over. “I won’t refuse a fight but you hardly look
in the shape to challenge anyone, let alone me. I have no quarrel with you so
it’d be best if you just let it be.”

The Saiyan princess
growled and advanced a step. “Whoa! Hey… she’s a friend. She only fought Vegeta
because he challenged her. She’s turned over a new leaf… or close
enough anyway. Just let bygones be bygones, ok?” Krillin pleaded, trying to
keep the peace between the two ladies.

Peasa raised an
eyebrow. “Fine. I do want a rematch with you soon,
android. Friendly or whatever.”

“I’ll look forward
to it.” 18 replied with a grin.

“I picked up a senzu bean for ya, Peasa. And another for Gohan. I don’t know if it’ll help or not,
but it can’t hurt.” The monk tossed her a bean.

Peasa grabbed for
it and winced as pain shot through her broken ribs and bruised spine. “(The
following was a line of curses so coarse and offensive that Censorship Gnomes
placed this parenthetical notation in to cover the hideous words)!!!”

Krillin paled. “Oh… sorry. Damn… and I thought I could curse…”

The Saiyan’s hand went numb before the bean made contact with
her mouth and fell. 18 deftly caught it and gingerly placed it into the girl’s
mouth. “Here… call it an apology for kicking your ass a few weeks ago… as well
as being partly responsible for that monster Cell.”

Peasa grimaced and
chewed the bean and sighed as her wounds and pain vanished. “Remind me to give
Korin a big kiss.” She gave 18 a nod of respect. “I’m going to fix the
regeneration pods then I have some ideas on how to upgrade the gravity training
room…” The girl wandered off, eager to exercise her mind and then her body.

Krillin shook his
head and laughed nervously. “Saiyans… gotta love em.”

Android 18 shrugged
and leaned against the wall. “So um… until we launch into space… where am I
staying?”

“You can stay here
if you like.” Bulma offered as she walked out of
Gohan’s room. Watching Chichi cry over Gohan was getting to her and making her
think of her own losses so she decided a stealthy exit was in order.

“Oh… thanks.” 18
looked around thoughtfully. “If you could show me to my room, I think I need a
little more sleep.”

“Good idea, I could
use some shut eye myself.” Krillin agreed and waved as he left for his room.

18 followed Bulma to her room. “Thanks… good night. And…
sorry about Vegeta.”

Bulma nodded. “Thank you… and Trunks.”

“Oh… I didn’t know.
Sorry about him too.” The android sighed and went into
her room to spend a night filled with restless dreams and half-memories. She
didn’t remember her slumber being this restless when she spent that first night
with Krillin in the mountain cabin.

************************

Another chapter
comes to a close. A bit of a transition chapter, but that’s ok, right? Haha Anyway, I mentioned this on my livejournal
and in my Eva fic, but there’s a forum on this
message board where I’m an admin where you can discuss my stories if you feel
like it. Come by for a visit and check out the rest of the board while you’re
at it: Anyway, Next Chapter: Funerals
and Krillin and 18 launch into space and Videl resumes her training with a
vengeance. Poka!
- 37
- 38
- 39
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Dragonball: Vertigo