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Whis lets his guard down enough to let the Sayains hit him and end the training for now. Of course neither one holds back, and Whis realises too late that he may have let his guard slip too much. Vegeta hits him and it takes all his strength not to wince. Goku hits in almost the same place and Whis feels bones cracking."Okay, boys, that's enough for now," Whis says, surprising himself when his voice doesn't come out strained."Alright! So we can we eat now, right?" Goku all but yells, already headed inside, presumably toward the dining room. Vegeta rolls his eyes and follows the younger Saiyan. Whis starts to walk in the same direction, but has trouble breathing. He takes a few slow, unsteady steps."Whis, why are-," Vegeta turns back in time to see Whis stumble and start to fall backward. The Saiyan Prince phases to the angel's side. "I've got you," he says softly, catching the angel before he falls. "What's wrong with you?"If the fact that he can barely breathe isn't enough to cause Whis to panic, the concern he hears in Vegeta's voice might almost be. He doesn't want to admit any of this, though."Whis, you are breathing far more heavily than normal," Vegeta says, voice even but full of concern, and perhaps a bit of annoyance. "There's clearly something wrong; tell me what it is! Or at least tell me how to help you!" Panic is edging into the prince's voice now."I... can... barely... breathe," the angel gasps out between breaths. He realises now that Vegeta is supporting almost all of his weight."When did this start?" Vegeta asks, picking Whis up completely and carrying him bridal-style. "Did it just start after training?" Vegeta didn't want the angel speaking anymore than he has to. He knows all to well the pain of broken ribs and punctured lungs. Flashbacks of his time under Frieza come to his mind but he immediately forces them away. Now is not the time! Whis nods feebly in answer to his question. Vegeta flies into the dining room to find Goku while being careful not to jostle Whis."Kakarot!" They find the younger Sayain already eating, his plate piled high with food. "Whis is injured. He needs a Senzu bean.""Whash wrong?" Goku asks with his mouth full, turning around. He almost drops his chopsticks when he sees Whis's weak form in Vegeta's arms. "What happened?" he asks worriedly after swallowing his food."I think he has broken ribs and probably a punctured lung," Vegeta explains briefly before Whis has a chance to speak. "Where are the Senzu beans?""I think we're out. We used the last of them yesterday, remember?""Go. Make. Sure," Vegeta says, anger and worry rising in equal measure. Goku immediately gets up and goes into their room. Vegeta follows for lack of anything better to do."Yeah, 'Geta, there aren't anymore," Goku says. They can feel Whis's ki fade partially as his hair falls out of the its normal gravity-defying fashion. He uses his energy to keep it up like that? Goku thinks in amazement, realising that means Whis is that small bit stronger than just the energy he puts into fighting. I'd like to fight him with his hair down like this. See how strong he is at full power!While Goku muses over Whis's hair, Vegeta tries to think of how to get the angel the help he needs without him having to ferry them to Earth. Wait that's it; his staff! It can be used as a communication device! "Whis!" Whis lifts his eyes to meet Vegeta's. "Would Kakarot or I be able to use your staff to communicate with Bulma?" Whis nods and shakily holds out his hand and waits for the staff to materialise.
"Oh, I get it. You're gonna get her to tell Trunks to power up again, right?" Goku asks. Vegeta nods.
"Just speak... into it," Whis says, moving the staff closer to Vegeta.
"Bulma?" Vegeta asks into the ball on top of the staff. "Bulma, can you hear me?"
"Huh? Vegeta is that you?" Bulma asks. "Where are you? When did you get back?" She looks around the room.
"I'm not back yet. We're communicating through Whis's staff. Is Trunks around?" Vegeta explains.
"Oh, yeah. I think he's outside playing with Goten."
"Good they're both there! That'll make it easier!" Goku pipes up. "Bulma, can you go tell the boys to power up? We need to come back to Earth."
"Oh, yeah, sure," Bulma says, already having left to find the boys when Vegeta asked about Trunks. "What's going on, anyway? Is Whis even with you guys?"
"Yeah he got hurt. And we don't have any Senzu beans left so we need to come to Earth to get some," Goku says.
"Oh, wow." Bulma sounds worried now. She finds the boys and tells them to power up.
"There they are!" Goku puts two fingers to his head as Whis and Vegeta each grabs a hold of his arm. In a second they're right between Goten and Trunks, who are both in their Super Saiyan forms and looking confused. "Alright! I'm off to Korin's place," Goku says as Whis and Vegeta let go of him. "Hang tight, Whis, I'll be right back!" Goku disappears again.
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"Steady, steady," Korin says to Yajirobe as the human adds another card to their house of cards. Suddenly, Goku appears right in front of him, knocking the whole thing down.
"Goku! That took us hours to build!" Yajirobe complains as cards rain down around them.
"Sorry, guys. Do you have any Senzu beans?" Goku cuts to the chase.
"I thought you said you'd bring pizza next time," Yajirobe grumbles.
"Sorry, Goku, but the beans aren't ready yet," Korin says. "You wanna stay and help us rebuild this house of cards?"
"Sorry, but this is really urgent," Goku says. "I've gotta get back and see if Bulma can help Whis." And with that, he was gone again.
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"Dad? What's going on?" Trunks asks as he and Goten drop back into their base forms. Bulma tells the boys what she knows then Vegeta fills in the blanks.
"We should probably get you somewhere that you can lie down properly," Bulma says to Whis and starts walking toward the Gazebo. All three Saiyans follow her, only for Goku to appear where they were just standing.
"They didn't have any," Goku says, voice lacking most of its usual cheer. Whis closes his eyes as he feels tears in them. Vegeta notices and holds him closer in attempt to comfort him.
"Okay, in that case we need to get him to my lab," Bulma says, calm but urgent. She leads the way and everyone follows.
"Don't worry, Whis," Vegeta whispers after he lets everyone pass them. "Bulma can take care of you."
Of course, Bulma had built a rejuvenation tank at some point, but it was years ago when the biggest person they knew was Goku. Whis would have to stand on his knees just to be short enough to fit inside, and of course, that would throw everything else off. Not to mention how uncomfortable it would be for him. She instructed her husband to lay the angel on her work bench, which doubled as an operating table in situations like this
The fear and pain have become too much for Whis to bear and he has no choice but to let the tears flow freely. He would cover his face in an attempt to maintain some semblance of dignity, but it hurts too much to move. He keeps his eyes glued to the ceiling above him, trying to forget the fact that he has an audience in this moment of weakness. As if it wasn't bad enough that Vegeta had had to carry him around all morning!
"It's okay, Whis," Bulma says, brushing his limp white hair out of his face. "You'll feel better in no time." She pulls a syringe out of a drawer and Goku backs away from his spot by her side. Bulma laughs. "Why don't you guys go find something else to do? I can handle this." Goku and Goten leave without a second thought. Trunks and Vegeta linger. "I'm going to give you something to help you sleep," she tells Whis.
Whis has heard of humans putting animals "to sleep" when they're injured, meaning they kill them. He's not sure that the poison will work on him but he doesn't want to take any chances. He struggles to sit up, only to have Bulma gently push him back down.
"Wh-why?" is all he can manage to say, voice hoarse.
"Because it'll keep you from feeling pain while I find out what's wrong with you and fix it," Bulma laughs until she sees how genuinely terrified the angel is. "It's only temporary. I'll wake you up after it's all over." Still wary, but knowing he didn't have any other choice in his weakened state, Whis drops it and let's Bulma do what she thinks is best.
The two Saiyan princes watch as Bulma pushes the needle into Whis's arm and, a second later, the angel falls asleep. Then Vegeta's stomach growls. He blushes as his wife and son look up at him.
"Dad, did you not eat this morning?" Trunks asks.
"We train first. Breakfast was the least of my worries afterwards," Vegeta explains, blush deepening.
"We'll, come on, let's go eat!" Trunks exclaims, pulling on his father's hand. Vegeta smiles and lets himself be dragged. "I bet Goku and Goten have already started." Vegeta glances back at Bulma and Whis. Whis looks more relaxed than he has in days and Bulma gives her husband a smile and a nod of reassurance as their son drags him out of the lab.
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
"Oh my...""What is it Mr. Popo?" Dende asks, joining him on the edge of the Lookout."Look there, towards the Capsule Corporation," Mr. Popo says and the young guardian does as instructed.
"I-isn't that.... Lord Beerus's attendant?" Dende asks. "It looks like he's in bad shape. I wonder what happened?"
"He does look hurt," says Mr. Popo. "I know he is good friends with Bulma, and that he trains Goku and Vegeta. Perhaps he got hurt during training?"
"Maybe. I'll see if Goku knows." Dende walks away and tries to contact Goku telepathically.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Just as Trunks predicted, they find Goten in the kitchen eating. Unlike the older boy's presumption, Goku is nowhere in sight.
"Hey Goten, where's your dad?" Trunks asks as he and Vegeta look for something quick to make.
"He went to the Lookout. I heard him talking to Dende. I think he's gonna heal Whis!" Goten says.
Why didn't I think of that before?! Vegeta thinks, angry at his own stupidity. He decides to make sandwiches.
"Oh, cool. I wonder what Mom'll think of that?" Trunks says, mostly to himself, as he gets a cup of instant ramen from the cupboard.
"I think she will understand," Vegeta answers his son's question. "She can get back to her other projects sooner this way." Vegeta goes to take a bite of his sandwich at the same time Goku pops up beside him with Dende in tow, almost making the Saiyan prince drop his food in suprise. He chooses not to say anything, though. Especially after searching for Whis's ki and not being able to find it.
"They should be in the main lab. You know how to get there, right?" Goku says to Dende, who looks up at him uncertainly.
"I can take him," Trunks says. "I still have to wait a few minutes before my food's done anyway."
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Bulma regrets not asking the guys to stay and help her, at least for a few minutes. She forgot she'd have to get Whis undressed. She manages to get his robes off so that he's bare-chested, but she leaves his tights on. After having to move him so much just get that far, she didnt have the heart to do it anymore. Even if he is alseep and cant feel it. It's his upper body that was hurting him, anyway. She runs the scanner over his body, seeing what could be the problem. To her surprise and relief, his anatomy resembles that of a human. It looks like Vegeta was right: the angel has some broken ribs, one of which punctured his left lung. She goes about gathering the tools she'll need for the operation: scalpels, tweezers, stitches and bandages for when she's done. She picks up the scalpel and-
"Mom, wait!" Trunks yells, running in. Fortunately she hadn't come close to cutting Whis open yet, because if she had, it would be jagged and probably not deep enough with the way she jumped when she heard her son. She looks up to see Trunks and Dende standing in the doorway.
"I'm sorry it took me so long to notice," Dende says, "but I thought it might be safer if I were to heal Whis for you..." Silence seems to stretch on forever to Dende, when, in reality it only lasts a few seconds while Bulma processes what's going on. "N-nothing against you, Bulma. I just thought that, in general, my healing powers are a safer option than, than surgery," he adds nervously.
"Oh, wow, yeah, I never even thought of that!" Bulma says, giving the young Namekian some room to work.
"That's what Goku said," Dende laughs as Whis is enveloped in the glow of the guardian's healing powers. "Should I wake him up?"
"I don't know. I gave him some medicine to make him sleep, and it makes people act really weird if they wake up before it wears off. Can your healing power make that go away?" Bulma asks.
"I think we should let him sleep," Trunks speaks up. "I mean, Dad and Goku are eating right now anyway, and I think I heard Dad say something about the blue guy needing rest."
"I guess that settles it, then; well let him sleep for now," Bulma says as she begins putting away her equipment. Trunks and Dende help her then they all three leave the lab. "Oh by the way, Dende, thanks for your help. Are you gonna stick around for a while?"
"It was no trouble, really," Dende says. "And thank you for the offer, but I should be getting back to the Lookout."
Beside him, Trunks laughs. "If Goku's taking you back, you might be here for a while," he points out.
"I can fly on my own. I only asked Goku to bring me here because I knew there wasn't much time," Earth's guardian points out. "Again, Bulma, I apologize for any perceived insult to your abilities."
"Oh, no, you were right; your healing powers are way safer," Bulma says. "I was liking the idea of testing my skills as an angel surgeon, but my main concern was Whis, so I'm glad you showed up when you did. Though maybe, next time, try to come before I'm ready to cut him open?" They all three laugh as they enter the kitchen. Goku, Vegeta, and Goten all look up from their food.
"Oh, hey, you guys!" Goku calls. "You get him taken care of, Dende?" The young Namekian nods, smiling.
"What was wrong with him, anyway?" Vegeta asks.
"Exactly what you thought it was, honey," Bulma replies. Vegeta nods, smirking. Of course he was right! And now that Whis is no longer in danger, he can be proud of himself for it.
"Wow, Vegeta, you're smart!" Goten pipes up. Vegeta rolls his eyes and notices Trunks doing the same. Kakarot's brat is a spitting image of him! he thinks, though he feels a small smile tugging at his lips when he thinks of how much his own son is like him.
"Well I should go now," Dende says. "It was nice to see all of you."
"Dende wait!" Goku is beside the Namek before he can even turn around completely. "I can take you back!" Before Dende has a chance to graciously decline Goku's offer, the Saiyan locks onto Mr. Popo' s energy signature and IT's to the Lookout.
"Thank you, Goku," Dende says.
"Nooo problem! And thank you for helpin' us by healing Whis!" They say their goodbyes and Goku IT's back to Capsule Corp.