Worlds Collide | By : TheBatcave Category: Dragon Ball Z > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 777 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0 |
Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. |
Chapter 27: Forever
When Gohan awoke that morning, the first thing he felt was nausea. Then he felt horrible pain in his back and legs. He felt bruised. And above all else, he was alone.
He remembered... nothing.
The last memory he had was from a couple of days ago, the morning after his unexpected threesome experiment, then everything was either fuzzy or blank. He hissed with pain as he tried to sit up, it took a long time for the room to catch up with him. He managed to stand eventually after putting his pants on.
Gohan stumbled across the hall into the bathroom closest to him, turning the shower on. He kicked off his pants again, stepping into the shower to be hit intentionally with ice cold water. He woke him up a little more. He had to hold himself up, using the wall. He warmed up the water a little, enjoying the sensation of the water running down his slow back. But as he opened his eyes again, he saw the water running red at his feet.
"What the... "
He had a gut feeling what it was, reaching around and behind himself, bringing his finger back to see dried blood. He tried to remember; the last time this happened was after he'd taken on the two Cells. He pretty much figured that they'd had sex again since then, but couldn't recall any of it. Maybe he hadn't healed enough from last time before they did it again.
Upon checking his finger, he then noticed very light bruising on his forearm, as if he'd been gripped hard. But before he could fathom this new mystery, his vision blurred, and he passed out.
Cell was hiding himself away on the other side of the lookout in one of the unused store rooms - that was where he was keeping the antranide, hiding it away where Gohan couldn't find it. His addiction got to an even worse point that it did previously, he seemed to be binging on them a lot more than he used to. He was so paranoid that Gohan had been stealing from him without him knowing that he developed a habit of counting the pills, making a mental note of how many he had and how many he'd given to Gohan.
But in his latest bender, he hadn't realised just how much they'd got through the past few days - there were 14 pills left. He thought about going to hell to get more, but something stopped him, it was a number of things in fact: he had no ki he could lock onto to get nearby as everybody who was ever sent there had escaped, the antranide had got so nested in his system that he couldn't control his powers very well, and finally, something in the back of his head wanted it all to stop. He didn't want to rely on these things just to get from one day to the next.
Gohan was onto something when he suggested that Cell hated himself months ago. Whenever he wasn't high, he despised what he had become, and so got himself stuck in a vicious cycle.
Even so, he took one pill and hid the rest away, then headed back to his room.
Gohan woke up in the shower soon after he blacked out, and stayed to finish washing himself. He managed to sneak into the laundry room in nothing but a towel to grab himself some fresh clothes - a dark long sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans that hung off his malnourished body. He got back to Cell's room, nursing his hangover with water, since that was all he could stomach.
"Back for more?" snarled Cell, his sunken eyes mirroring Gohan's; the whites of his eyes were also a weird grey-blue colour.
"No... I'm not feeling very... I'm hurt."
"You're hurt?" asked Cell, requiring some elaboration.
"Uh, did we sleep together last night?" Gohan replied slowly, feeling a little embarrassed that he didn't remember anything. "I think maybe... I've torn something."
Cell didn't let on in his face or body language, but the memories from the night before came flooding back to him. He and Gohan did sleep together... but then he remembered that he crossed a huge line afterwards. He remembered exactly how it felt, how confused and unaware Gohan was, how he struggled and drifted in and out of consciousness, the power he felt as he held him down. Cell had always had dark thoughts about forcing himself on Gohan, but never acted on it. But it seemed that the antranide had finally pushed him to act on those thoughts.
He recalled every second of it. But what astounded him the most was that Gohan had no idea that he was raped. And Cell decided to keep it that way... he didn't want Gohan to stop sleeping with him of his own free will. Though he relished that power he had over him, rape was just yet another form of violence.
"Yes," he answered eventually. "I'll admit, I didn't exactly handle you with care."
"You say that like you ever do," said Gohan, drinking his water.
"Maybe it was too soon after our... misadventure. You were pretty delicate after that in the first place."
"Maybe."
"Was that all you wanted, or are you here for another fix?"
"Well seeing as you asked... " he said Gohan, putting his empty glass down. "How do you want me to pay for this one?" he asked, his face straight and drained of all emotion.
"As much as I enjoy your offerings, I'm afraid I have some grave news for you. I've run out," he lied. He had no intention of sharing his last pills with him. He wanted his high to last as long as possible. Gohan rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Great," he said, both disappointed and anxious about how ill he was going to feel soon. "What's it like coming off it?"
"I won't lie to you, it'll be the most painful experience you'll ever go through. Maybe it's best you find somewhere quiet to ride it out for the next few days."
Gohan didn't like the sound of that one bit, the longest he'd gone was barely 24 hours and he felt like he was going to die. As he got lost in his bleak predictions of his withdrawal, Cell approached him.
"I'll see you on the other side," he said. He slipped his hand under the hem of his shirt, caressing the skin on his stomach. "Then we can enjoy each other again."
Gohan looked into his eyes, neither of them were entirely there. He leaned forward, his hand taking the side of his face, and he kissed him slowly. Cell's hand slid around to his back, still under his shirt, holding him close. Gohan gave him one last look, then left, finding the bathroom he usually slept in to lock himself inside.
It turned out that Cell wasn't wrong. More than 36 hours passed, and Gohan was shaking like a leaf. He was still in that bathroom, curled up by the toilet as he felt like he was going to be sick. Every muscle in his body began to spasm randomly, he was sweating profusely and he couldn't keep himself still.
Another wave of nausea hit him like a train, he moved quickly enough to throw up into the toilet, not that much came up, he hadn't eaten in days. He wanted this to be over so badly. He seriously considered suicide just to see if that would heal him automatically, but since this drug seemed to bypass life and death, he figured it wouldn't make much difference.
Time passed quickly for Cell, it had now been three days since he last saw Gohan. The third day was always the hardest, and he did wonder if he'd make it through.
The android, on the other hand, stared at the ten remaining pills in his hand. At his usual everyday dose, he'd take two a day, which meant he had another five days at the most until he'd have to quit cold turkey as well. He didn't want to go through that a second time, he barely made it through the first time.
He'd been stood there wondering what to do for the best. He hated what he had become, he wasn't sure if he wanted to carry on knowing that when he eventually got sober again.
Cell stared at those ten pills and had a very dark thought, even to his own standard... what if...
It would stop him from having to go through the withdrawal, it wasn't as if he wanted to come out the other side, because he had nothing left to fight for. What would sobriety accomplish? The cherry on top, was that should Gohan make it, he would be destroyed at losing him for good. He wasn't even sure it would be a permanent solution, but seeing how damaged his body already was, he was willing to take the chance.
Taking a breath, Cell took all ten at once.
He lay down on the bed and peacefully waited for the vast nothingness to take him. Hopefully forever.
Gohan woke up on the bathroom floor later that morning, on his third day off the antranide. He recalled that he'd passed out for the eight time in the past 12 hours. He felt feverish, nauseous and achingly tired. He wanted to sleep but his body wouldn't let him, the spasms in his muscles getting worse and worse. His bangs were wet with sweat, some hair sticking to his face.
He dragged himself to the toilet, pulling himself up onto his feet as if an intense gravity was preventing him from doing so. He looked upon himself in the mirror, seeing two to three of himself as the room began spinning again. He looked like death.
Gohan's skin was so pale it looked a little translucent, the white of his eyes and the skin surrounding them a disturbing blue-grey. The antranide still hadn't fully left his body, still clinging on to him. Judging by the fever he was having, he began to assume that the remainder of the drug inside him was slowly poisoning him.
Then he heard something. A baby crying. Suddenly he was reminded that he had a newborn brother who he hadn't seen since the day he was born. He wasn't even sure if what he was hearing was real or not, he spent most of the night hallucinating as it was. He had an overwhelming urge to go to him. He stumbled towards the door, but when he let go of the counter, he fell onto all fours again as the vertigo caught him. He crawled to the door, using it to pull himself up again, and for the first time in three days, he finally left the bathroom.
Gohan dragged himself along slowly, using the wall, wrapping his free arm around his torso as he shivered uncontrollably, his voice coming out as his body randomly spasmed as he walked.
He could hear Goten this time, laughing happily. He could hear chatter. Then his hearing dulled, as did his vision, and his body gave up altogether as he passed out again.
"Look, I dunno, maybe using the time chamber is a bad idea," said Krillin.
"Why, though?" asked Jeice as they walked through the halls.
"Have you any idea what that place does to you?"
"What the fuck?"
"What is it?"
"Krillin look!"
Jeice spotted someone lying on the floor as they turned the corner.
"It's Gohan!" said Krillin as they ran over to him. "Gohan? Can you hear me?" he asked, shaking him by the shoulder.
"Recoome!" yelled Jeice as loud as he could. Recoome didn't waste any time getting there as Jeice knew he was nearby.
"Captain?"
"Get Gohan to the infirmary now," he ordered. "Krillin, go and get Bulma."
"What happened?" asked Bulma, as she ran into the infirmary.
"Uh, we found him like this on the floor. We don't know how long he'd been there," said Krillin.
"He's feverish, that's for sure," she said, grabbing a thermometer and placing it in his ear. "105?! He's in serious danger here! That's way too high."
Gohan hugged himself on the bed, laying on his side as he drifted in and out of consciousness. His vocal chords began to spasm as well. He was in so much pain it was becoming hard to stay aware. Bulma got some medication together to help lower his temperature, she had trouble finding a vein to put the cannula in to administer it as his body was so shut down, but she got there eventually.
In the mean time, word had quickly spread of Gohan's condition, and Chi Chi was the first to attend, baby Haru against her in a sling. Goku soon followed, along with Piccolo, Vegeta, Trunks, Tien and Yamcha. Dende entered as well as Guldo, who assisted Bulma.
"Can I do anything?" asked Dende.
"Could you see if your healing powers help him?"
"I can try."
Dende put his hands over a quivering Gohan, but nothing Dende did made that situation any better.
"This is odd, there's something in his system that's blocking me."
"Yeah, the skin around his eyes is a really weird colour too, they're almost blue."
"I know what it is... " confessed Jeice. "You won't like the answer though."
"Well, it can't get any worse than this! What do you know?" pressed Chi Chi, who remained firmly at Gohan's side.
"He's taken something. He's been on it for weeks."
"Are you saying this is drugs?" asked Bulma. Jeice nodded slowly, but Chi Chi didn't seem to believe him, which prompted Bulma to finally tell her the truth about his previous collapse months ago. "I'm sorry to tell you this, but he's got a history. When Jeice and Trunks found him months back and brought him to me, I found cocaine in his system."
"N-no... " Chi Chi covered her mouth as she teared up. The others in the room reacted in disbelief.
"What has he been taking? We need to know so we can treat him," said Bulma, trying to remain calm.
"Uh, it's called antranide. It's an opiate narcotic found in hell - "
"You knew about this?!" shouted Vegeta accusingly.
"I sussed him out a couple of weeks ago, but he made me swear not to tell... "
"He does that a lot with you. How could you not tell us about this?!"
"Because I'm the only person he trusts!" argued Jeice, fighting back, no longer the coward he used to be. "Who would he have to talk to if I went running off to tattle on him every time he did something stupid?! He trusts nobody."
"But how has Gohan been getting hold of a drug only found in hell?" asked Piccolo.
"Cell's been supplying him. He's been addicted to the stuff for years," said Jeice. "That's why he looks so different to how he used to. The antranide messes with your appearance after a while, and it's permanent if you've been on it as long as he has."
"Cell's a junkie?" exclaimed Tien.
"Hell's full of junkies. It's full of all sorts," said Guldo.
"Cell's been dealing him drugs all this time?" asked Chi Chi.
"I think this only started since we got here to the lookout, maybe a bit before?" said Jeice.
"I'm going to kill him!" seethed Piccolo angrily, turning to leave.
"Where are you going?" asked Bulma.
"To find Cell! This has to stop now!"
"Count me in," said Vegeta. "Jeice, you too!"
Jeice led them to Cell's room. Goku, Tien, Burter and Recoome joined Piccolo and Vegeta on their quest to get answers, or at least react violently to the android's actions. They didn't bother knocking.
"Alright, Cell. Game's over!" said Vegeta, entering the room.
But what the found, was Cell on his side on the bed, out cold.
"Wake up!" he shouted, pushing his shoulder. Cell didn't respond, didn't even flinch.
"Cell?" Jeice went over to check him, noticing the same blue-grey markings around his eyes. "He needs to go the infirmary, something's up."
Gohan began to wake up a little, his temperature had lowered slightly.
"Gohan, sweetie?" said Chi Chi softly. She put her hand on his shoulder, feeling him tremble under her fingers.
"It hurts... " he mumbled, not even having the strength to speak anymore.
"Gohan, how much antranide have you taken?" asked Bulma right away. She needed to know before he passed out again. His heart rate was through the roof. "I didn't take anything... "
"Gohan, it's okay, nobody is angry with you, we're just trying to help you feel better," reasoned Chi Chi.
"I didn't take... I stopped taking it."
"Wait... when did you stop?" asked Bulma, clocking on.
"Three days ago," he muttered, grunting in pain. "I feel... weird... "
"Gohan?"
Gohan suddenly began to convulse violently on his side, his eyes in the back of his head, his arms and legs seized up.
"He's having a seizure!" said Bulma, quickly administering a strong sedative, enough to stop a saiyan from fitting anyway. It worked after about ten seconds, Gohan settling again into a deep sleep. "This isn't the drugs, this is withdrawal."
"What?!"
"He said he stopped three days ago. If you take a strong opiate for weeks and then suddenly stop, it can be dangerous."
"Oh, Gohan... " she sobbed. "Why didn't you tell me?"
"Coming through!" yelled Recoome, running in and wheeling the bed next to them out.
"What's going on now?" she said.
Her questions were soon answered when Recoome, Burter and Jeice brought the bed back in with Cell on it.
"What the hell?!" cried Yamcha. "Now what?!"
Bulma got Gohan settled and then turned around, seeing Cell lying unconscious on his side.
"What's he doing here?" she asked, her voice quivering with fear.
"We found him like that, we don't know how long he's been like this for," said Jeice.
"Who cares how he got like that!" said Vegeta. "After what he's done to Gohan, he can stay that way for all I care!"
"We need him in this fight, Vegeta," said Goku, who could stop staring at Gohan, he seemed to be in shock.
"Like hell we do!"
"Well he's not shaking like Gohan is... so it isn't withdrawal... or maybe he reacts differently to it, I don't know!" Then she had a brainwave, grabbing a syringe. "I've got this machine that can isolate foreign substances in blood. Guldo, can you go into the third drawer and open up capsule 15 on the table for me?"
As Bulma drew a vial of blood from Gohan, Guldo prepped the machine; it was quite compact with a scanner and a screen. Bulma placed the vial into it and waited for it to work. The machine identified the antranide, presenting its findings on the screen.
"According the the archives I have in here, it's pretty similar to morphine. But it looks like they've been taking it in its purest form."
"What does that mean?" asked Krillin.
"It means compared to the typical strength of morphine you'd get on the street on Earth, antranide is about ten times stronger."
"Whoa... " gasped Yamcha. "I've seen what morphine does to people, I mean, I spent a lot of time on the streets. It's a wonder that Gohan's still alive."
"Well, according to this analysis, there's only slight traces of antranide in his system. He's almost completely clean, but it looks like this stubborn stuff. His body is working hard to get rid of it, hence the fever."
"What about Cell?" asked Piccolo. "Like you said, he isn't reacting like Gohan is."
"I'll need a blood sample... I could maybe get it from his hand but... " Bulma's words trailed off, she was scared of going near him just in case he woke up suddenly.
"Don't worry, we'll watch him," said Goku, who finally took his eyes off his son for a second. Vegeta and Goku stayed close as she moved forward with a new needle, she figured she could place a cannula in him in case he needed treatment as well. She managed to get it into the back of his hand without much trouble, a little unnerved by how cold his skin was. She drew a vial of dark violet blood, and placed it into the scanner.
"Wow... okay. He's not withdrawing."
"He's not?" said Vegeta.
"No this is... let's put it this way, if this was morphine, this would be a fatal overdose."
"So he's high?"
"He's not just high, he's unresponsive and unconscious. It's like he's in a coma. If he were alive when he took it, it would have killed him."
"Isn't he technically dead, where's the harm in just leaving him like this?" asked Piccolo. "Wouldn't he wake up eventually? Days or weeks from now the drugs should have worked through him by then."
"Antranide doesn't work like that. It's a drug taken by the dead. If he has overdosed, it'll be doing some serious internal damage," said Jeice. "Even if the drugs do eventually leave his system, he could be stuck like this for good."
"I hate to agree with Kakarot, but he's right. We need him in this fight. Besides, I want to have words when he wakes up. It's about time I did," said Vegeta.
"Well, I'll use a medication that we have on earth that works against our opiates, maybe that'll do something."
Bulma drew up the medicine, taking Cell's hand to administer it slowly. When it didn't work, she tried four more doses, and that was when Cell began to finally stir.
"Yeah, that's done something - " She jumped and dropped the syringe when Cell suddenly opened his eyes. The whites of his eyes were the same as Gohan's. Before anybody could say anything, he closed his eyes again.
"So, it worked, right?" asked Tien.
"I think he's asleep... " said Bulma. "I can see his eyes moving. It's not surprising though, something like this will probably knock someone out for weeks if it doesn't kill them."
"Maybe he needs to regenerate, you said it yourself Jeice, those drugs would have been causing serious damage."
"We'll just have to keep an eye on him. I'll keep Gohan here too. He seems to be settling finally."
"No!" objected Chi Chi. "I'm not having that thing near my son. It's his fault he's in this state!"
"Chi Chi... "
"Can we settle him in my room, I'll watch over him. What does he need?" she asked. Bulma complied, seeing her point - it wouldn't be in Gohan's best interest to keep him with Cell.
"He needs fluids, medication to keep his temperature low, I'm gonna give him some antibiotics too just in case he has in infection," she said, gathering everything together and placing it on the bed. "I'm going to give him some vitamins too, because I doubt that he's eaten anything in days. I can give him all this with shots and cannulas, so he doesn't need to do anything but rest. He's probably not going to move for at least a week."
"I'll take care of him. He's my baby," she said.
"Take him through to your room and get him settled, I'll be through soon to set him up."
Goku immediately marched over, taking hold of the rail at the head of the bed to push it out of the room. Chi Chi half smiled at him - Goku didn't know how to react to all this, or what to say, all he could do was small physical things, like take him to his and Chi Chi's room.
"Not you!" she said, pointing at Jeice as he went to go with them. "You should have told me... "
Jeice looked hurt as Gohan was taken out of the infirmary, Goku and Piccolo wheeling the bed out with Chi Chi and Dende following along. Bulma placed his hand on his shoulder.
"She's been through a lot this past week. A new baby on top of everything that's happening, and now this. Give her some time and she'll come round."
"I thought I was doing the right thing," he sighed. It turned out he still had much to learn.
"We understand that you wanted Gohan to have someone he could trust and talk to," said Krillin. "But there's a line. There's confiding in someone, and then there's a situation like this where he's in real danger."
"Yeah. I should have said something. I'll stick around and help you with him," he said, looking at Cell, who was still out for the count.
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