Dr. Gero\'s Masterful Revenge

Ah, my dearest children. Once again inspiration has taken a hold of me and forced me away from the story you are all waiting for.

On this one, I must blame my lovely curious bunny, for she introduced me to a story of this fandom that has grabbed my attention and teased me into writting this story. Of course then, Curious Bunny, this piece goes to you. Happy Birthday Ran Mouri. May this year bring you many moments of great happiness.

Chapter one


If someone were to ask Son Gohan how his peaceful life had turned around. He would be hard pressed to answer. Most would immediately assume the little Earth utopia that the last remaining Saiyajin enjoyed was, obviously, destroyed by a powerful enemy from another plan, dead set on terminating their race. Or maybe a demon who had sworn to end all life on their beloved foster planet.

Gohan, however, would only shake his head and sigh. Earth remained as peaceful as always. His father would always protect it with all his might.

Son Goten, however, would scowl a little at his brother's reluctance and answer, quite truthfully, that their happy lives, their loving family, had been destroyed the moment their prince had been taken away from them. No one would have thought it would happen then, to most, if not all, Vegeta was a comrade, a fellow fighter, maybe a father figure to the youngest, but never an important, almost essential part of their group.

Gohan remembered the date with utmost accuracy, even though he was ashamed to admit it. It was the same day he had taken his daughter for her first day in High School. Pan had protested, she said she was old enough to go by herself. Gohan, on the other hand, whined about his little princess and how much he wanted to watch over her. With a reluctant sigh, his daughter had agreed.

It was then, he knew, he was sure, that their lives had taken the turn for this new existence they all shared.

Bra had been stading by the door, her face twisted in a pout, when asked about it, she replied she had forgotten her lunch at home and her mother was sending her father to school with it. Gohan knew Bra had enough money on her to by her own food, but he could guess that the idea of her beloved father leaving his constant training just to deliver her lunch made her so static that she would agree immediately, just to experience some of the adoration her father had for her.

Gohan had idly wondered if he would have been that static if it was his own father delivering his lunch while he was at school. Most likely not.

Vegeta was, despite all appearances, a much better father than Goku would ever be.

He was almost envious of the Brief children.

Not that he would ever admit it.

"Still," Bra continued, her arms crossed over her chest. "Dad should have been here almost half an hour ago!" Gohan smiled a little and patted her on the head.

"Maybe he got distracted with something," he said gently. He was almost sure Vegeta had been either intimidated by the large teenage crowd around school (Who, much to all of their surprise, seemed to think he was a rock star and continuously stalked him) or he got into an argument with his own father and both of them were somewhere sparring.

He could almost bet on the second one.

He had called his father to confirm as soon as he left Pan in her classroom.

Goku had said that, no, he had not seen Vegeta that day, but he was most likely off in one of his common training intergalactic travels and would most likely be back in a year or so, Gohan was hard pressed to agree, but when Bulma herself dismissed his concerns with the same reason, he was forced to agree.

Vegeta would be back, there was nothing to worry about.

A year passed...

... Vegeta was nowhere to be found.

Two years later, not a word from the former prince.

Bulma fell ill due to her old age, Gohan bit his lips as she died, holding her children's hands and staring ahead, most likely waiting for her husband to be back.

Chichi followed soon after. Both of her sons stood by his father as he cried. Gohan stared at his wife's hand, already showing signs of her age while his own remained smooth, he still looked around twenty, she was nearing her fifty.

He finally understood the words Vegeta had told him the day he and Videl had married.

"You are a half-saiyajin man, Gohan," the prince had whispered as he passed him. "Enjoy the years you will have, because they'll be gone without you noticing. Just pray that your future children will have enough of your saiyajin blood to inherit your longevity, or you'll suffer for each and every one of them."

He had thought the older man just wanted to scare him, he had thought he was just been a bastard.

But his father's youthful face twisted in agony as he cried over his mother's corpse told of a different story.

With dread he realized he would too watch his wife die and there was nothing he could do about it.

Despite Videl's protests both he and Goten had decided to move back to his father's house, he was alone now and they didn't think it would be fair to leave him to his solitude, specially now that all the people he had ever held dear during his childhood had abandoned him.

Goten had been specially understanding when their father refused to get out of the house, refused to eat. Witnessing his mother's death had shaken the young man into action. Or so Gohan thought since Trunks visited them more often than ever. Both would remain with eachother, none would want to live through the death of your beloved due to old age.

Gohan cursed his inability to help his father like Goten could. Specially when Trunks would stare at him his cold blue eyes and sneer that his father would have fixed the problem in seconds, and Goten would agree. Vegeta had always had the ability to force Goku into action whether he liked it or not.

Gohan held Videl's hand when she told him about her cancer, Pan was already at college, he had not aged a single day. Goten sat meekly by his father's side, continuously running a hand through his hair as he slept. Trunks stood with his back to them, the years alone had forced the lively child out of him and while Bra took care of the company their mother had left them, he had frozen his heart and declared that he would hold his father's title as the Saiyajin prince and make Vegeta proud wherever he was.

Gohan stared at them and wished for a second they were still the happy children he had met during his childhood. But it was the way things were and there was nothing he could do.

Ten years later was the first time he ever wished Vegeta had not left.

He came into the house that night to find Goku sitting on the couch, staring at his hands.

"Father?" he asked, sitting by his side. Goku did not move.

"I... didn't know what to do," the man said slowly and Gohan was so horrified to realize this same thin, pale man with his soft voice was his strong hero of a father.

"What happened?" he asked then, taking his father's pale hand in his own. Goku shook his head.

"I remember it happening to me once, I was with your mother then... I guess it was the moment your brother was conceived, actually. I remember I woke up and Vegeta was standing by my bed he said it was completely normal and I just had to relax, he gave me something to drink, he said it would hold out the effects." Slowly, crystalline tears made their way down Goku's cheeks. "He said it was his duty as our prince to look out for his subjects, I felt so strongly for him right then and there, it was like I could do anything he asked me. He said I would be ok, and that he would test you immediately, he didn't want this to happen to you."

Gohan's eyes widened, of course he remembered his father's screams in his room as his mother hid with him in his bedroom. How Vegeta had taken a blood sample from his arm, given him something bitter to drink and had left without another word. His father had been the same the morning after and all of them had been pressed to regard the episode to his heart disease.

He had almost forgotten about it.

"Why are you telling me this?" Gohan asked when he was suddenly alerted of the pitiful shrieks coming from Goten's room, how come he had not heard them before?

"Don't go there," Goku warned him. "Don't you dare, Gohan."

"Wha- Why? Goten seems to be in pain!" he cried, staring at his father as if he had never seen him before. Suddenly their door burst open and Trunks strolled in, his eyes hard. Goku signaled him to Goten's room and nodded meekly in his presence, Gohan had never seen something like that.

Trunks opened Goten's door and Gohan had to gasp, his little brother was laying on his bed, completely nude, his ass in the air as he trusted unconsciously towards Trunks.

"My prince," he moaned, his cheeks flushed. "Please, my prince." Trunks stared at him silently, his eyes regarding his naked body thoroughly before setting on the black, furry tail waving eagerly. Gohan covered his mouth, suddenly horrified.

"Leave us," Trunks had said then, closing the door behind him. Goku had taken his arm then and had dragged him out of the house, as far as he could to escape Goten's delighted moans and screams.

"What the hell, dad!" Gohan had screamed then, his eyes wide. Goku just shrugged, his eyes downcast.

"Vegeta said it is sort of a Saiyajin maturity thing," he said softly. "Something all saiyajin go through to form bonds with their King, he said I went into it and gave me a serum to prevent me from going into heat and searching him out. He said that since we were the only ones it was completely unnecessary, he was no King."

"And he gave that same serum to me, just in case," Gohan finished for him. Goku nodded.

"Why can't we give Goten that serum then!" the younger man demanded, horrified that his father had left his brother alone like this. "We can stop it, can't we?"

Goku sighed and looked at his son.

"We can't, Gohan, Vegeta was the only one who knew how to brew that thing, he's the only one who knew enough of Saiyajin culture!" Gohan stood there, shocked.

"So, you called Trunks," he surmised.

"My youngest child was calling out to his prince," he answered simply. "He was hurting himself, I didn't know what else to do."

Together, they sat on the grass, waiting for the night and the heat to be over, both wishing the proud Saiyajin prince had been there. Things would have been easier that way.

The following morning Goten had woken up, but he was changed.

Gone was his sweet and energetic younger brother, in his place stood a proud warrior, his prince's sword.

Gohan wept, alone in his room.

Unable to understand what had taken place.

Goku, on the other hand had just sighed and muttered to himself that Vegeta would have surely solved it without bating an eyelash. How he missed him.

It took years for things to get a new, almost normal pattern. Goku began training again due to Trunks and Goten's insistence that as a Saiyajin he should be ashamed of himself.

"Our King would be so ashamed if he saw you now," Goten had sneered one day earning a slap from Gohan that was promptly stopped by Trunks.

"Know your place," the younger boy had hissed. His eyes freezing in their intensity.

Goku had stood there, his own eyes dull.

"Let's train, then," he said softly. "Should anything happen on earth we must be ready to face it."

Gohan went back to work that same week, someone had to earn the money to support two full grown saiyajin in need of nourishment after training.

Videl had died the same year a demonic alien had attacked earth, claiming it for his overgrowing empire. Trunks and Goten had leaped to battle, stating proudly that as the last Saiyajin they would protect their new homeland. The bastard had the audacity to laugh at their faces, he had known the former prince, he said. He had seen him under Freezer's leash and enjoyed it immensely, his mocking laugh echoed, which enraged the new prince.

Goku had delivered the finishing blow, but the spark of excitement was gone from his eyes.

Gohan finally understood his father needed something none of them could ever give him.

That night he went to bed with thoughts of the former Saiyajin prince. Wishing he could contact him. He knew Vegeta would be able to fix the mess his disappearance had left.

He only wished he was the only one with such thoughts.

Goten, Trunks and himself had to stop their father several times as they found the dragonballs hidden in his room. No one dared to ask which was the wish he had decided upon. None were certain they wanted to hear him. Gohan feared his father had finally snapped and was to wish for his dead wife or friends.

Prolonging their agony would be too harsh on them.

Android 18 came with salvation the same year Pan's second child was born, he remembered. Her face had been the same as he remembered, and he guessed by her surprised eyes that so was his. What surprised Gohan, however, was that Piccolo had come with her.

He had really missed his former menthor, he knew now as he stared at his aging face.

"We need you to come with us, Gohan, but make sure no one knows where you are going," the Namek had said softly, his face expressionless. Gohan nodded and gloated to Trunks that he had yet to achieve true third level. He knew the now cold prince would immediately drag Goku for training and Goten would follow.

As soon as they were alone the were on the air, Piccolo remained silent while number 18 tried to explain her presence in the whole affair.

She had been working on her maintenance, she said. As she had promised her late husband she would take care of their family. When she had discovered a misused memory chip in her brain and had immediately run a scan through the programing.

With shock she had found out a well organized plan that her creator had left installed in case of his death. One that she had overrun when she had been deactivated lightly, but most likely her brother had still in him. Curious she had thought out her brother and much to her horror she realized he had gone through with it with utmost accuracy.

The plan, she explained. Had been a flawless strategy to weaken the saiyajin structure to bring them to misery but not to death. Her creator had thought out the best way to make their lives miserable and also ensure they would be unable to seek out a merciful death due to their duty induced upbringing.

When Gohan asked about it, she lowered her eyes.

Piccolo interrupted them, his expression grim.

Dr. Gero had decided, after much deliberation, that the best way to drive Saiyajin, specially Goku, into despair was to remove the older saiyajin prince from their group, as he was the only one well versed in tradition and most likely would be the only one to know how to deal with their longevity and any other change that could occur to them over the years. It was obvious, the Dr. had written, that with Vegeta around all saiyajin would find a way to deal with their loved one, as all saiyajin had an overpowering instinct of rank and hierarchy that would keep them level headed as long as their King was by their side to order such tranquility.

He had theorised that, Goku specially, saw Prince Vegeta as the only worthy adversary he had, his own security blanket, and as the other man was going to live almost as long as he was, it would keep him happy to have him by his side.

Of course, making Vegeta disappear would be the perfect choice.

Gohan covered his mouth, suddenly ill.

It was almost exactly what had happened to them. He could see.

Vegeta would have kept Trunks' innocence intact. He would have stopped Goten's heat and thus his brother would remain the carefree boy he always was.

He could even understand his father's now dull eyes. Every time he had fought before then, Vegeta had been there to smirk, congratulate, even guide Goku with his flawless strategies, his warrior logic.

Without him, his father felt lost. Battles, the most important thing to a Saiyajin, lacked passion for the older man without the Prince there to watch him.

Dr. Gero had guessed right, Gohan thought. His father was miserable but unable to seek death as he had his children to look after, Earth to protect.

Now he understood why his father sought the Dragon Balls so insistently. He didn't want to return his family and friends to life. He wished for Vegeta's return.

He idly wondered if his father was aware of it himself.

"You said your brother had followed through that plan," he asked then, his eyes wide. Number 18 nodded.

Piccolo signalled for a hill for them to land.

A desert, Gohan noticed.

Just besides a beautiful oasis.

A white house in the middle, not very big, just enough to house...

He swallowed.

... just enough for two people to live comfortably.

"I don't understand," he whispered as number 18 made her way downhill. Piccolo put a hand on his shoulder.

"There is only one way for Dr. Gero's revenge to be completed, Gohan," he explained gently, his eyes following the blond android's steps as she neared the house and knocked on the door.

"What way?" he asked.

"For all of you to see what he has taken from you, for you to feel true despair," the Namek sighed. Gohan frowned, not really seeing his point until the door was opened and Number 18 was embraced by her brother, Number 17.

Piccolo shook his head.

"Watch," he said.

And Gohan did, feeling bile rise to his mouth as a second figure emerged from the house, happy black eyes and a black tail waving happily as he also greeted the woman with a loving "sister, it's good to see you,"

Number 18 smiled sadly, caressing the newcomer's black hair, her fingers gently tracing the scar across his forehead.

"Have you missed me, Sanzo-kun?" she asked gently, her eyes sad as the other man nodded happily and took her hand.

"Brother has been so bored without you here, sister," the man said gently, kissing her cheek. Number 17 rolled his eyes lovingly and wrapped an arm around the shorter man.

"Don't listen to Sanzo, sister," he said teasingly. "He missed you the most, I can do pretty well with just the two of us here."

Number 17 sighed.

"Of course, brother, I don't doubt it."

Gohan wanted to scream, he wanted to go there and rip Number 17 from the other man, but Piccolo's hand on his arm stopped him.

"He won't remember you, Gohan," the Namek said, flinching as his former pupil's accusing eyes turned to him.

"What do you mean he won't remember me! What is going on!!" he demanded.

The other man sat on the hill, his eyes downcast.

"I read Number 18's file myself, Gohan." he explained. "He was taken almost thirty years ago and has been manipulated since. Can you see that scar on his forehead?" he asked. Gohan nodded.

"What does it have to do with this?"

"He was taken into a lab, Gohan, all his memories are gone."

Gohan could not believe it, it was impossible. But that man was smiling so sweetly, his eyes were so clear. Nothing like the stormy and bitter black eyes he remembered, he was even wearing a pair of faded jeans and a white t-shirt, something he would have never imaged him to use before.

"I have talked to him," said Piccolo after a pause. "His name is Genjou Sanzo. Fitting, don't you think? He lives with his older brother and is currently studying to become a doctor."

"What are you trying to say, Piccolo-san," Gohan snapped.

"I'm trying to tell you that this is Dr. Gero's perfect revenge, Gohan. He is alive and well, as you all wished, but you'll never have him back. Vegeta will never be there for you all. He will never remember you. And even if he did, Number 17 and Number 18 will never hand him back, that's the only flaw in Dr. Gero's plan. They love him dearly, they want to protect them from you."

Gohan fell to his knees in shock.

His eyes fixed on the former Prince Vegeta as he happily carried a chair to the front door and sat to read a book, enjoying the cooling shade of his garden.

He could never show this to Goten or Trunks, it would kill them to see their role model, their King, reduced to a subdued human.

And his father...

He would be driven mad!

Once again, Gohan wept, holding Piccolo's hand in his.

Both unaware of the pair of surprised black eyes that were staring behind them.

It had been a good idea to follow those two.

A small hopeful smile lit the man's face.

"My King," he whispered before disappearing.

To Be Continued.

There you go. interesting premise, I hope.

In case anyone is wondering, Genjou Sanzo is a character from the Manga/Anime Saiyuki. I thought it would be very fitting considering Kakarotto himself was named Son Goku, that Vegeta would have another Saiyuki name.

As always all types of encouragement or critique are greatly appreciated.