Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Second Soul ❯ Chapter 15

You may be interested to know that I finally have figured out how many chapters are left. There is going to be two (including this one) as well as an epilogue.

On another note, I've heard about the fusion dance and Super Saiyan Three, but I haven't seen any episodes with them, so I hope I don't mess up anything. In the main part I was very very very very very very very very (times a thousand) nervous when it came to writing this chapter. I had plenty of inspiration, but I was scared it wouldn't live up to expectations that I had for it as well as the ones you guys have.

For such a moment, there couldn't have been a more odd place. Here they were standing among a quaint living room set, complete with couch, T.V. and comfy chair. There even was a few bookshelves for a little library, and all the while battle was on the horizon. A fight that neither of the room's occupants were looking forward to.

Does he have to look at me like that? wondered Gohan, eyeing Vegeta. "So are we going to do this?" he asked impatiently.

Most people when looking at the Vegeta would have thought that he was perfectly calm, Vegeta was a master of hiding everything but the most intense of emotions, when they wanted, and even then, very few of those got out, yet Gohan had been around the prince too long. He was hiding something.

"Well?"

Vegeta's firm gaze gripped onto the younger saiyan. "I don't think you know what you're getting us into."

Gohan frowned. "Of course I know what I am getting into. I am trying to save the lives of my family and friends as well as yours too. There's nothing more to it than that."

"You've never fused before. It is not as simple as have two minds in one body and having the strength of both people. All our wants and desires won't simply be mixed, some traits will come out dominant, while others will be buried completely. If you have any doubts about what you want to happen, then it could seriously harm what we do in our fusion," said Vegeta.

Uneasiness filled Gohan. "You don't think I plan to betray you all? That is not going to happen. I don't know what made him turn into a monster, but I will never do that, especially with what he did to my brother." He couldn't truly blame the prince. Tousan had supposedly been a good trustworthy man, and suddenly turned on them. If Vegeta thought that he might do the same….

Vegeta snorted. "I am a fighter not an lawyer. I can't afford to go around always assuming that everyone will betray me at once. That's not it in the least."

"Then what?"

"I've known you for quite a while, brat. I was there at most of the fights that you were involved in, and every single time you blathered on about your father was going to win, or that your father was coming. You've relied on him and trusted him too many times for a couple hours to make you see him as the enemy."

He had point. Gohan disliked it but it was all too true. Could he fight against the very person he had laughed with and been raised by? It wasn't as simple as black and white. True he wanted to stop Goku, but part of him was fervently hoping that that someone like Ginyu was on the ship, so he could say that the man doing this wasn't his father. A person that he loved.

No, he couldn't so much as care for something that had done this. The people he loved were good people, honest people. His incredibly blunt mother, his spunky wife, his little daughter with those beautiful wide eyes that he delighted in, and his little brother whose life was hanging in the balance.

Gohan remembered the horror of seeing Goten lying there, completely limp like a broken doll, clinging to life by a sing thread. Anything like that could do such a thing didn't deserve to live.

"I will do what I have to," he said, meeting Vegeta's eyes and there was an unspoken agreement that passed through them. Warrior to warrior.

They shifted into their first stances and the dance began. Carefully in a delicate, beautiful manner, like two birds in flight. It was strange to watch these two powerful men, moving gracefully from pose to pose, lightly pushing their feet through each individual step. Every single second in perfect synchronisation. Suddenly they whirled around and their fingertips touched.

"FUSION-HA!"

Ki flashed, swirling around where the figures stood. Like a hurricane, bright colours, purples, reds, greens, oranges, yellows, and blues all swept around Gohan and Vegeta, quickly blotting them out from the world. As power rose, paper, clothes, and furniture was blown from their positions bashing into the wall, as if trying to run away.

The wind subsided and the ki went with it, leaving only one man in its wake. His muscles were not so much huge, but incredibly well defined. His thick hair stood up from his head, forming a small ebony flame with random spikes sticking out from its main body. His height was slightly smaller than Gohan's, while his face shape was slightly softer than Vegeta's, but there was nothing soft about those dark eyes. They blazed forth the anger of a hundred men.

A hand moved close to the man's face and he examined it with wonder, taking in the sight of the rough callused palms and flipping the hand to see the back, noting the scar that he had got a few years back when training with his son….

Or was it Vegeta's son? It didn't really seem to matter. Trunks was his son and wasn't. Pan was his daughter, but at the same time it Bra instead. Goten was his brother and was not as well.

You would have thought it would be confusing, Gohan had thought it was going to be like that, but now it was so very natural. He was Gohan and Vegeta, yet in some way, he was something more. It was as if it had always been this way, like there had never been anything else. The main amazement he felt wasn't because the strangeness of being two beings in one, but because he didn't feel strange in the least bit.

Who am I? he wondered and the answer came swiftly without a second of delay. I am… Gogeta. The name that the fusion of Vegeta and Goku had once been called. It seemed like the original Gogeta was getting revenge for one of his creator's betrayal.

Forcing the hand to his side, he focused on the combined power inside him. He wanted to marvel, but one thing he knew was now he had twice the responsibility. Yellow aura flashed around him, filling the chamber to its brim and black eyes turned to icy blue. Power pulsed through the room like a like the heat of a gigantic fire, and a wave of golden hair fell down his back. It settled there, lazily caressing the back of his legs.

He would have liked this to end some other way but there was no other choice. He didn't know which part of him was making this regret, Vegeta, Gohan or both, but every ounce knew this: Goku had to pay.

Kakarot chuckled as he felt the huge power approach. It was finally happening. His dream was finally coming true. After so many years of watching his life being played out by another. After all that time of waiting and waiting and waiting. He was finally allowed to be truly alive, to make actions, experience things. Before he had only looked and now he could do things.

A part of him wanted as soon as he got to Earth to go to an ice cream parlour and buy an ice cream cone. So simple, yet he longed for it. It wasn't that he didn't know what ice cream tasted like. It was that he wanted to be the one moving his tongue over its smooth cool surface. His entire life had never been his.

The universe would know him for who he truly was. The being that was Goku would a dim memory beside him.

A tear fell down his cheek and over the breathing masks attached to his mouth and nose. Normally it wouldn't have moved so fast, but the gravity definitely effected the little drop of water.

It had been a long time since he had effected anything. A very long time.

The gravity room's door knob turned and the door swung open, in a undramatic fashion, but you didn't need drama with the fury radiating off the figure standing there.

Hello Gogeta, Kakarot thought calmly, though he felt a little joy build inside him as he looked the man over. Gogeta looked very agile, powerful, even without feeling his ki, and he wore some helmet over his head, which seemed to allow him to breath. Where had he got that anyway? Oddly enough he felt a pang of pride at seeing that he was a Super Saiyan at level three. Gohan was stronger than he had thought to make the transformation possible.

Maybe he would have some fun after all. Fighting had always been fun. The rush of battle, the feeling of yourself being strained to your limits. It wouldn't have been interesting if either Gohan or Vegeta on their own, but now him would be able to enjoy this and he would also get to disable two of his opponents at once without needing to chase after the other.

You know why I am doing this? he wanted to shout at the saiyan before him. Do you know why I deserve this?

He wasn't a fool, even without the mask there was no way the other could have heard him, not with the air jammed to the floor. Even as Kakarot powered up to level three himself, no sound reached the other man. A little disappointment on his part. It was silly but he wished that Gogeta could understand what this meant to him. It didn't make sense why he denied the logic of it all. With the power that he had, he was suppose to rule, to be in charge of the future, and he out right refused it.

Without warning, Gogeta charged forward, his right fist rushing towards his face. Kakarot leaned back, dodging the punch, in the same movement letting a leg come up and go deep into Gogeta's gut. The warrior started to fall, but managed to recover enough to jump back and shift into position for a brief second. Once again he was off, this time disappearing, and reappearing close to Kakarot, aiming for his groin. Kakarot frowned and blocked.

So this was how he was going to play. No holds barred. No honour. Everything to win. Everything to save his loved ones. So he was running on pure desperation and adrenaline too. He really should have known better. That sort of thing clouded judgement and made you tire quickly.

Kakarot attacked, driving Gogeta back with punches and kicks moving at lightning speed, too fast for anyone to grab onto with ease. Gogeta attempted to stop the blows, and succeeded to do so with most of them. Even then valuable energy was sapped as with every single one. It was a dance itself, though very different from the fusion dance. With this grace, and exact steps, what else could it be called?

Gogeta tried to land a punch and succeeded, but at the same time twelve more hit back right under the ribs. Gogeta ducked, as one came at his jaw, and managed to send a foot rushing into Kakarot's shin, driving him back for a moment. He used the advantage to get behind him and bash him in the neck.

Kakarot let himself go down with the hit, and landing on his hands and knees, used his feet to grab Gogeta's, and knocked the other man to the floor. He jumped up, then came down hard onto Gogeta's stomach with his elbow.

You know how beautiful this is? I know it hurts and so many hate pain, but that is what makes it so great and so wondrous. It is more real than you can imagine. You take it for granted, don't you?

Getting up, he offered his opponent his hand. Instead of taking it Gogeta sent a bright purple blast into his face, momentarily blinding Kakarot, and used the distraction to attempt to bash him in the head, but Kakarot was too fast and he launched a tiny ki ball straight for Gogeta.

It zipped right for Gogeta, slicing neatly into his shoulder and the warrior instinctively clutched the hole where the ball had gone straight through, barely dodging as the little ball came right back at him. It stopped and went backwards slicing his shoulder once more. Gogeta went after it this time; nimbly moving out the way every time it made a pass at him, yet he wasn't always fast enough. Finally he threw his own ball of ki, disintegrating it.

Despite the small victory, his clothes sported many blood-drenched marks, and the delightful salty smell filled the air. The shoulder wound was the worst, and frequently drops of dark red liquid plopped onto the ground.

Kakarot smiled absentmindedly as Gogeta ran at him with all his speed, and he dashed at the fused fighter. Before another breath was taken, they entrenched in combat. Arms and legs were became blurs, and gold aura blazed so brightly that there wasn't a shadow in the room. So bright it that every move depended purely on sense and intuition.

Yes, this was what a battle was suppose to be, Kakarot decided as he kneed Gogeta in the ribs. Two warriors ready to do anything to win. This was how people like him earned honour. This how they got what the deserved. He was meant for power and he knew it to the bottom of his soul. After everything he would get his reward.

Gogeta jumped up, and began a familiar chant. A chant that Kakarot had long since learned to despise. "Kaaaaa…..meeeeeee….haaa…" Yet he allowed his smile to become smirk. Little Gogeta had made his first and most likely last major mistake, and he was going to suffer for it.

If this were Earth the action wouldn't have been a bad move, yet in this gravity…

As the Kamehameha wave approached, he dodged it, grabbed Gogeta by the legs and twisted him down into his own attack using the intense gravity to aid him in plucking the saiyan out of his perch. In the same action, he added his own power.

Gogeta tried to break free, but the ki hit him hard, stunning him. Kakarot wasted no time and immediately started pummelling the down man. He must have hit him a hundred times before he stopped with Gogeta barely clinging to consciousness, but strangely still struggling to get up.

Why are you doing this? Kakarot wondered, looking down at the fallen warrior. Don't you understand? Why doesn't anyone understand? Why don't you realise why I am doing this? It wasn't fair until now. That's why I am here now. I was given a chance to make things fair for me.

Not thinking Kakarot dug his fingers viciously into Gogeta's shoulder wound, making him silently cry out in pain. Don't you get it? DON'T YOU? ANSWER ME! He pushed his fingers in deeper into the tender flesh, and Gogeta only glared at him stubbornly.

Why wouldn't he answer? How come he didn't understand? Kakarot found himself sobbing, gasping air from his breathing mask

He needed Gogeta alive, he told himself, and managed to push the onslaught of anger and confusion aside. He would wait until Gogeta unfused, then he could tie Vegeta and Gohan up again, this time he would keep them with him to keep an eye on them. This time everything would be all right. Everything would go perfectly. It had to be.

He would first check the hall, he decided, and started walking. A moment later he realised he was going the other way. He started to look at the door, but instead his gaze shifted to Gogeta. What was going on here?….

Goku!

Kakarot frantically faced the door only to see two auras flying towards him, one white, one gold.

In milliseconds he was knocked to the ground, and saw the image of Gogeta weakly lifting his arm to form a blue ki blast.

The battle was done.

There was no time to think as Gogeta spotted Krillin and Trunks lying on the floor next to Goku. Using the last of his strength he crawled over to the gravity machine and punched in the number 1, then ENTER. The gravity eased up instantly, allowing him to stand, with a great deal of pain, but stand none the less.

Trunks managed to get up a little afterward, going over to his still knocked out human companion. The boy examined his friend and looked up at Gogeta and said "He's okay, but he'll have to use the healing chamber after Goten."

Gogeta nodded, then glared at the brat. "I thought I told you to stay away from the fight," he half-growled.

"You did, sort of," admitted Trunks, and shrugging with a small grin, "but when you went, me and Krillin decided that if we were all going to die, we might as well do it together. - We put Goten in the healing chamber, so now all you have to do is turn it on and he'll start getting better."

The brat had a point and if they hadn't come, they would have all died. It would have been a true victory if only…

Gogeta turned to look at the unconscious Goku lying on the floor, injured almost as badly as Goten was. He uncomfortably noticed the rise and fall of the traitor's chest.

"He's still alive."

"Gohan?"

Goku stood surrounded by darkness. He looked left and right, up and down, but all he saw was darkness. It seemed to pulse threatening to swallow him up.

"Vegeta?"

What had happened? The last thing he remembered was using all his will power to try and stop Kakarot and now he was here, but where was here?

"Anybody?"

"They can't hear us here, Goku, nobody can."