Quest
Sequel to Maintaining
By Pixelgoddess

Summary: Maintaining sequel. Frieza has caused some incredible issues for the Saiyans to overcome, but they are trying. What will it take for them to finally become mates? Yaoi, Yuri. Goku x Vegeta, Chichi x Rezu (OC)
Disclaimer: If I owned it, don’t you think there would have been more decent girls to write about?
Warnings: *snickers* Whaddya got? Sex. Rape and its aftermath. Violence. Death. Bad words. Gay marriage. Krillin-bashing. Dyke Chichi. Straight Gohan. Confused Dende. Smart-ass Piccolo. I think that covers it – for now.
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Chapter 42 – Attack

Goku smiled to himself, practically purring as he fed Chichi and the baby ki. The last of the guests had gone home – it was just the three of them. Vegeta had decided to escort Goten and Trunks to Bulma’s. They had questions about how things might change now that their fathers were mated. His prince wanted to reassure them there wouldn’t be any big adjustments for them to make.

Chichi was leaning back against Rezu, the two women gently massaging her growing belly. He wasn’t sure why everyone felt the need to rub the curved skin, but Chichi didn’t seem to mind – almost demanding it sometimes.

“You should have said something earlier, Goku,” she gently berated him.

Once Chichi had realized his eyes were different there was no more putting off telling everyone they had finally mated. Vegeta had been bursting with pride – and accidentally let a beaming smile escape – when his prince had told their family and guests. Their tattoos had gotten lots of admiration although Vegeta hadn’t been happy when Chichi had touched Goku’s.

He smiled, slightly embarrassed. “We were going to announce our mating right away, Chi, honest. But then you told Vegeta about the baby, and… well, I didn’t want to take the attention away from you.”

Rezu laughed, “He’s got you there, babe. If he and Vegeta had just come right out and told everyone, you would have been pissed.”

Chichi stuck out her tongue. “Fine – you’re right. But you could have told me when I called yesterday. After all, I helped you get together.”

“Sorry Chi. Next time I get mated, I will call you while it is happening,” he grinned.

Chichi growled playfully and shoved him off his chair with her foot. “Smart aleck. At least you told me first.”

“Good thing, too. Otherwise she might have started crying,” Rezu said.

“Hey! What is this? Pick on the pregnant woman day? Can I help it if I am filled with baby hormones?” Chichi laughed, poking Rezu in the ribs with her elbow.

Goku picked himself up, laughing. “She’s your problem now, Rez. Good luck – you’re going to need it.”

Chichi tried to scowl at him, but she was in such a good mood she failed miserably. “I’m letting you get away with that today, Goku. Especially since you must not have told Vegeta you thought I was having a girl. If you had, I doubt he would have reacted like that.”

Goku smiled to himself, remembering. “We were kind of… preoccupied, Chi.”

“I’m glad Vegeta is happy about the baby,” Chichi said. “You know I hesitated even suggesting he be the father for a long time. I didn’t want to upset you or make things uncomfortable.”

Goku shrugged. “I admit I was a little jealous at first, but then I saw how much Vegeta liked the idea. Dairis were really important to Saiyans, Chi so your asking him was a huge compliment. It was considered an honor to be a dairi; they were highly respected.” He smiled broadly, “Once I realized we could have lots more kids this way it didn’t matter who the father was. Any cubs – children – would be ours.”

“Told you,” Rezu said, rubbing her belly. “I’m glad you and Vegeta showed up, Goku. The kids might keep her charged up, but the baby moves around so much she’s miserable sometimes.”

“Sorry Chi,” Goku said. “We’ll try to come by more often from now on.”

“It’s okay, hon. Babies move. The only time it is really a problem is when they forget and get too close while still powered up. Now that is painful. I swear she is trying to kick her way out.”

Goku frowned. “I’ll talk to the boys, Chi. They should know better than getting to close to people while Super – there is no telling how they will react to their ki.”

She shrugged. “It’s only happened a few times – I wouldn’t worry too much.”

They sat in contentment – he couldn’t keep himself from purring in happiness, Chichi humming along with him.

“Vegeta seemed to enjoy teaching today,” Rezu said.

Goku smiled at the memory. It was just one more sign of how much his mate had changed and relaxed. Pete had asked him to critique a kata he was developing for a tournament, which Vegeta had agreed to with a minimum of grumbling and almost no prodding from him. Once he had an eager audience, Vegeta had let himself be cajoled into demonstrating some fighting techniques. It had continued to the point where Vegeta had them lined up, practicing what he had shown them.

He grinned. “Yeah, he’s great, isn’t he?”

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Vegeta rolled through the sky, smiling broadly. He didn’t care if anyone saw him. He was happy – truly happy – for one of the first times in his life.

If someone had told him even two years ago he would ever feel this way he would have laughed bitterly and dismissed them out of hand. He never would have believed it possible. He had a mate, he had family; hell, he even had friends. It was amazing how much his life had changed since Kakorr had returned.

He’d never be the out-going person his mate was, but he was finding it easier to be more relaxed around others. He had never been able to show his son how much he cared before. He blamed much of that on the brainwashing, but because he had been exposed to so little affection growing up he honestly didn’t feel comfortable at it. Now that he did, due to the memory of Rouba’s caring and Kakorr’s influence, it was a joy seeing his son open up to him. And he would soon have a daughter – one that gave every sign of being just as powerful as her brothers; even in the womb, he could already sense her ki with little effort. He was looking forward to training with his family.

Even having real friends he could count on was such a new thing for him. The very idea someone would voluntarily inconvenience themselves, giving up their time for him, without any thought of reward or repayment was unheard of for him. Piccolo had taken it upon himself to protect them from any potential problems when he and Kakorr were mating. He didn’t even have to ask – the Namek had done it on his own.

He was half-way through another roll when he felt Piccolo’s ki nearby. Vegeta wasn’t comfortable with whatever was going on with him and Nail. It had obviously gone further than either one had intended, leaving his friend frustrated and confused.

He had met Nail recently; it was disconcerting to realize this person he was speaking to was usually inhabiting Piccolo’s mind. He seemed decent enough, and Vegeta probably could get along with him – but he didn’t want his friend to get hurt because of this.

He frowned when he felt Piccolo’s ki change. The Namek frequented this area, leaving background traces of energy, but this rose above that level. He increased speed to his friend’s location, trying to interpret what he was sensing, wishing he had Kakorr’s skill.

It was probably a huge waste of time. Knowing Nail, he had suggested some new sex game. Vegeta cursed when he felt Piccolo’s ki start to rise. Now he knew how the Namek felt monitoring them – was he arriving to help with a problem or catch them screwing? His doubts vanished at the taste of an unfamiliar energy, driving him to power up to the first level, allowing him to put on a burst of speed.

Even as he got closer, he found it difficult to pinpoint the location of the other energy – almost as if the source was trying not to be noticed. Just before he arrived, there was a powerful explosion of ki, making Piccolo’s seem weak by comparison. Then it was gone.

Vegeta landed and checked again to be sure. He couldn’t sense that unknown energy anymore. And Piccolo… he couldn’t locate him. He never developed Kakorr’s level of ability to read ki; the Namek had been here often enough to leave traces of ki in the area making him difficult to pin down.

“Piccolo!” he shouted, trying to hide his concern. Where in the hell was he?

A few feet ahead, he found evidence of ki burns. His tail lashed in anxiety. There had been a fight here. He scanned the scorched area, trying to interpret what had happened, letting out an involuntary moan when he found the body.

He was too late. The attack had been so powerful there was almost nothing left of the Namek.

“Piccolo…no…” This wasn’t possible. It wasn’t fair. His ki began to rise as anger and grief filled him. Who could have done this? Who would dare? His chest ached and he could barely repress screaming in anguish. His friend was dead.

Piccolo. Was. Dead.

“NO!” He roared his rage, ki rising; Piccolo had been taken from him.

“Vegeta.”

He glanced around. Had he heard that or imagined it?

“Vegeta. Help me.”

“Piccolo!” He had never been so relieved to see anyone, not even caring how it was impossible for him to be alive when the evidence otherwise was plain to see. The Namek stumbled out of the forest, pale and weak. Vegeta rushed over to help his friend stand. “I thought – I thought you were dead.” He started feeding Piccolo ki, strengthening his friend’s flagging energy.

Piccolo glanced over at the body before looking away, swallowing hard. “Nail…”

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure. Kami and I were arguing… I let myself get distracted…” Piccolo barely had enough strength to speak, his voice nearly a whisper. “When Nail… I must have passed out.”

Vegeta helped his shaken friend sit before he collapsed. He knew he should feel bad that Nail was dead, but his relief at finding Piccolo alive was overwhelming. “I’m sorry,” he said gently. No wonder Piccolo was in such bad shape – he had essentially lost half of himself.

“I don’t even know who did it.”

“They were masked, somehow. If I hadn’t been headed this way already I might not have sensed the strange ki at all,” Vegeta said apologetically, “it appeared and disappeared so quickly.” It had only taken an instant to hurt his friend like this.

The Namek seemed to collapse, “We had… talked… Nail asked for some time alone,” he said, pain obvious in his slowly spoken words, “Kami didn’t approve – I left him alone to argue with the old man. I was too far away… didn’t notice in time. It happened too fast.”

“He didn’t tell you who it was?”

Piccolo looked at him with hollow black eyes before shaking his head. “We don’t have telepathy when we’re split.”

Vegeta put his hand on the Namek’s arm, squeezing reassuringly. “If there is a way to bring him back, we will Piccolo. We’ll find whoever did this and destroy them.”

Piccolo sighed, “I feel…lost…like I’m missing a huge part of me, Vegeta.”

He hated seeing his friend so distressed, but he didn’t know what to do. All he could think of was killing whoever had done this. “I can’t feel that energy at all right now. It just seemed to vanish,” Vegeta frowned.

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“Goku? What’s wrong?” Chichi asked with concern. They were bringing in the last of the items from the picnic and he had been increasingly distracted the last few minutes. He suddenly froze in place, making a loud inhalation.

She knew his ki was starting to rise because she suddenly felt a stabbing pain, making her double over. She could only imagine how her little girl would react to ki after she was born, because she seemed to be thrashing about now. He was already golden before she could suck in enough air to speak.

“Goku…” she whimpered, “Stop.”

He instantly dropped out of Super Saiyan at her plea.

“Chi? Are you okay? Rezu’s in the house. Do you want me to get her?” he asked worriedly, gentle hands on her shoulders.

“No,” she said, rubbing the area where Tama had kicked so hard. “I’ll be fine in a minute.” She looked at him in concern – it wasn’t like Goku to forget himself like that. “What happened?”

“Sorry. That was Vegeta…,” he hesitated. “Something’s wrong, Chi. Piccolo...” He got that faraway look on his face and she was sure he was talking to Vegeta. “But who?” he whispered.

“Chi…Piccolo-” Goku broke off and stared over her shoulder, wide-eyed.

Breathing easier, she turned around to see what had surprised him.

“Krillin?” Goku asked uncertainly. Chichi felt bad for him – Krillin had hurt his feelings badly even though he tried hard to hide it. “What’s wrong? Can I do something to help?”

Krillin shook his head, frowning, “It’s too late to help and it’s all your fault.”

“Look Krillin,” she said, trying to keep her temper for Goku’s sake, “He’s tried to apologize to you more times than I can count. If you are going to be rude you can just leave.”

“You’re the reason this is happening. Do you realize that? You. This could have been taken care of years ago,” Krillin continued as if she hadn’t said a word. “I never should have listened to you. Now it is too late. Too late to run. Too late to hide. Too late to stop it. It’s time for this all to end. The threats have to be eliminated.”

“What are you talking about?” she demanded.

“I’m not talking to you, cunt,” he snapped. “This is your fault, too.”

Chichi scowled. She hated that word.

“Krillin…you shouldn’t talk like that. It isn’t nice,” Goku said sadly.

Chichi smirked and started walking towards the monk. “Don’t worry, Goku. I can stand up for myself.” She had had enough of his shit. If he couldn’t be civil she was going to make him leave, crazy or not.

As she got closer, she realized something was wrong. Krillin was smiling, not even moving to defend himself. She felt, rather than saw, the crackle of ki and Tama suddenly kicked hard, making her gasp for breath. No one but a powered-up Saiyan had made the baby react like that.

“Gotchya,” Krillin laughed, raising a hand towards her.

“Chichi!” Goku exclaimed. “Krillin! Stop it,” he pleaded, “It isn’t funny. You’re hurting the baby!”

“All threats must be eliminated,” he said, a ball of ki filling his hand.

This was insane; Krillin was actually attacking her in front of Goku. He’d have to be crazy to think it would succeed. Chichi crossed her arms, suddenly concerned, using a block Vegeta had taught her. She wasn’t helpless, but Krillin’s behavior was scaring her. Tama was moving unceasingly and she wondered if the baby was somehow trying to get away.

“There’s no escape. Everyone dies,” Krillin snarled, throwing the sphere at her, “You aren’t strong enough or fast enough to stop us.”

Instantly Goku was standing in front of her as the first wave of ki swept over them, arms curled around her protectively, his broad body a shield from the attack. Tama immediately relaxed and she realized with alarm he hadn’t powered up in order to avoid hurting her.

“It’s Krillin,” he whispered, barely heard over the crackle of ki. “Vegeta, he’s here.”

“So predictable,” Krillin laughed. “Mister Hero. IT away now and the blast continues on to the house. Not that I mind killing the Rezu bitch as well. What’s one more?”

Chichi felt the main impact, both of them being moved several feet, and made a little moan of fear. Krillin was threatening everyone she loved and she was helpless to do a thing about it. She had never known Krillin to be strong enough to affect Goku before. The blast struck his back, arcing around them and crackling with energy.

“Goku…” she cried, head against his chest, “Use your power. IT. Do something!”

“Can’t,” he gasped in pain, “Baby. Rezu.”

Tama renewed her frantic movement and she could barely breathe as the electric energy burned the air around them.

“It’s your fault, Goku,” Krillin shouted over the roar of energy, “You could have finished this years ago. Now I have to.”

The ki surrounding them flared brighter. Goku screamed and she saw his face twist in agony.

“Vegeta,” he whimpered even as he started to collapse, his weight threatening to crush her. He was nearly on his knees, Krillin’s attack intensifying, when he suddenly shoved her to one side, making her stumble and fall.

“You should have let me kill him!”

Goku fell to his knees and Krillin roared in triumph as the bolt he had been aiming at his back burst through the other side, continuing on its unrelenting path, blowing up the house behind them.

Chichi screamed in horror at the death and destruction his attack caused as Goku collapsed with a moan of pain.

TBC