Maintaining: Torture

Chapter 39 - Torture

Goku struggled to wake up, but he felt muzzy and couldn't seem to get his brain functioning. He couldn't remember ever feeling this weak. His head throbbed so much he felt nauseous. Even breathing seemed to be an effort, his gasping breaths not enough to fill his lungs.

He groaned as he tried to move - then snapped to clarity in an instant. He was blindfolded and naked, kneeling on what felt like a cold metal floor. His hands were chained over his head, supporting most of his weight, holding him up so he couldn't sit. Something - he couldn't see what - was keeping his feet and knees spread apart. His tail twitched with anxiety.

The last thing he remembered was holding Vegeta. The scar - Vegeta had remembered where it came from and the memories had flooded into his own brain through their bond. His prince had had such a look of anguish and defeat on his face. He wanted to comfort him, but it just sounded like empty words. That bastard Frieza had hurt Vegeta so deeply - how could he ever make things right for his prince?

He tried to feel Vegeta through their bond, but all he felt was emptiness - not even a sense of being blocked. ::Nothing! What happened to him?:: Goku fought with his fear, trying to concentrate, but he was overwhelmed by panic when he realized he couldn't feel Vegeta's ki.

Goku pulled on the chains, but they were too strong. He flared his ki to break free - but it was gone.

"Well, well..." said a voice from behind him.

::I couldn't even sense there was someone here!:: He couldn't sense ki at all. He shuddered as fingers wrapped around the base of his tail, slowly moving...

"It looks like-"

The fingers slid gently towards the tip...

"-my little-"

The voice's owner moved to his side...

"-monkey-"

The fingers stopped, settling in a firm grasp, just at the edge of discomfort...

"-is awake."

The voice was in front of him, the breath on his face.

"Wh-Who are you?" he stuttered, nostrils flaring as he tried to scent his captor. His head snapped back as a fist slammed into his face, hard enough to break his nose. The grip on his tail got tighter, crushing it, making him moan with pain.

"I did not give you permission to speak," the voice hissed.

"Where is Vegeta? What did you do to him?" Goku demanded, licking away the blood, struggling to ignore the increasing pressure on his tail with each word.

The voice chuckled - cold and evil, sending chills from the hold on his tail up his spine.

"Tell me!" He suddenly felt heat radiating from a hand resting on his chest. He knew what it was, but he couldn't move away or protect himself.

"Foolish monkey," whispered the voice in his ear.

Then he felt like he was being electrocuted as the ki blast ran through every nerve. His body trembled and shook from the pain as he screamed. It seemed to go on forever - when it finally stopped he struggled to breathe normally but all he could do was make gasping breaths that didn't provide enough air.

He strained on the chains again when he felt the ki charged hand brushing against his skin. His muscles twitched involuntarily in anticipation of the pain he knew was coming. His ki was gone and he was too weak to escape - he couldn't even get enough leverage to use his body's strength to break them.

"Where's Vegeta?" he asked hoarsely, throat already sore from screaming.

There was a hiss of anger and the hand left him. There was no warning before something slammed against his ribs. He couldn't resist, couldn't ride it out and he grunted in pain as he heard bones crack under the assault.

"I-"

Another strike, this time on the right side, shattering more ribs.

"-did-"

A blow to his stomach made him retch in agony.

"-not-"

His ribs were hit again and he was sure his lung had been punctured.

"-give you-"

A strike to his kidneys and he nearly wept at the pain.

"-permission-"

Something slammed against his gut with enough force he thought it would go all the way through his body.

"-to speak."

His jaw was struck and he could taste blood as broken teeth cut his mouth.

"You will not say another word, monkey," the voice said, leaning close to him, hissing in his ear.

He couldn't even if he wanted to. He couldn't breathe at all, muscles spasming as he tried to control them, trying to take in a lungful of air through the blood that filled his mouth. He felt the hand on his tail and he hurt too much to care - he was panicking at the lack of oxygen and his inability to catch his breath.

This was like Vegeta's nightmares. Frieza had done this to his prince and he had fought back and survived. But Vegeta was so much stronger than he was. His prince had learned to rely on himself but he couldn't. He needed friends and help and constant reassurance - and now he was totally alone. He was afraid - captured and beaten without ever having a chance to fight. He wanted Vegeta to be proud of him, but how could he now? He nearly wept in shame - compared to his prince he was weakling and a coward.

He desperately wanted to know what had happened to Vegeta, but he didn't dare ask again. He couldn't survive another assault like that without his ki. He was beginning to doubt if he would survive this one. He tried to control muscles he had no control over, to get even a tiny amount of air into his starved lungs.

He was so busy concentrating on relaxing that he almost missed his captor stroking his tail. He wanted to whimper and whip his tail out of those hands but he was firmly held. After several minutes he could finally breathe again between spitting up blood.

"Feeling better? Are you ready to continue, pet?"

He shivered as a spark of ki traced a path up his spine. "Why?" he gasped before he remembered the penalty and tried to shrink away from the power behind him. A sob of fear escaped him before he could silence it. The sob was nothing compared to the shriek of agony he made when the hand still on his tail burned him with ki, sending it up his spine as liquid fire.

Pain. All he knew was pain. The assault continued, ki flooding through the soles of his feet, under his arms, through his tail, up his ribcage... He screamed, not able to hold in his cries of anguish. He screamed so much his voice was gone, mouth open but no sound coming out. His attacker laughed and called him monkey and ridiculed him for the tears that soaked his blindfold.

::I'm sorry Vegeta.:: He didn't know what happened to his prince and he doubted he ever would. He couldn't fight and he couldn't hold out against an assault like this. He was going to die. At least when he died he would be able to jump off the Snake-Way and go to hell to destroy Frieza for Vegeta.

"Giving up already monkey?"

His attacker was behind him, fingers twisted in his hair. He couldn't stop himself - he cried out when his head was fiercely jerked back.

"Weakling."

A line of ki traced a path down his back like a laser. He shrieked when it touched the base of his tail.

"The little prince didn't make nearly as much noise as you are."

Vegeta. Oh GodS! Had Vegeta gone through this again? Had his prince been robbed of his ki and tortured too?

"Where's V-?" he whispered, only to be cut off by a scream of agony as a bolt of ki burned all the way through his body.

"No chance for you, monkey."

He felt his attacker's body heat as he stood close and trembled when soft hands held his hips. He wailed in pure anguish when he was entered, ripped open and impaled.

"You are going to die, love."

He wept as he was brutally raped, hands on his hips crushing bone and muscle. With every thrust a line of ki was burned into his skin, branding him. Fingers were buried in his hair ripping out huge patches, dislodging the blindfold so it hung around his neck.

He opened tear-filled eyes to look across the room, wanting to focus on anything but the pain being pounded into him. There was someone there, watching him. Leaning against the wall, smirking, tail curled lazily on the floor. White and purple with burning red eyes...

"Frieza," he gasped, disbelieving. The torture had made him delirious - it had to be. He couldn't really be here.

Frieza just laughed. He howled in agony as another bolt of ki stabbed through him.

"Where's Vegeta?" he sobbed.

There was a chuckle from behind him as his rapist pulled out of his body. He felt the blindfold being grabbed and twisted, strangling him. The noose never loosened as his captor stepped in front of him. He made a mournful cry when he saw the empty eyes of his attacker.

"Vegeta?" he gasped as he sunk into darkness.

TBC