Chapter 25: A Time of Peace! Or So You'd Think!
There was a note sitting on the floor. The rest of the house was pretty much left as per usual. Sonic picked it up and began to read. "Dear Team Sonic, lately I have had a small change of heart. All these years of fighting you have taken a toll on me. I've wasted tons of money on robots and machinery that don't even work. Then, all of a sudden, a pink light came towards me. I didn't even see it coming. Then, I was sent hurtling upwards to a place full of white light. Then nothingness. I now realize that Majin Buu must've killed me. When you guys revived me later on, I had an epiphany. If you were good enough to revive me, the man who has been tormenting you for years, then you guys might not be half bad. So, as of today, I have officially retired from my evil ways, and would like to form peace with you. Thank you for saving me. For that, I have given you a special gift I found. Enjoy it! Sincerely, Dr. Eggman." Sonic laughed. "I guess ol' Eggman has finally turned over a new leaf! That's great for us! At least we don't have any strong guys to worry about anymore! Let's see what he left for us." Sonic looked around, and saw three monitors sitting on the floor nearby. They were Extra Lives. "Oh wow! He left us some Extra Lives! Seems like he really has turned over a new leaf!" Sonic said. Tails opened up his monitor, and was surrounded by a bright white light. Sparkles rose up from his body and his fur stood on end. And as soon as the light appeared, it disappeared as Tails was bestowed with an Extra Life. Sonic and Knuckles did the same. "So, Sonic? Is there anything good to eat here?" Goku asked. Sonic pointed to the fridge. "There should be some food in there. Me and Tails went shopping last week."
Goku ran over to the fridge and threw the door open. He raided it for anything to eat. Meanwhile, Vegeta explored Sonic's house. "Hm. Nice house you got here, Sonic. Where do you train?" Sonic pointed his finger at Tails while chomping down a chili dog hungrily. "Yeah, Vegeta! I can show you the way!" Tails and Vegeta went outside and once again pulled the lever that led to his armor room. The ground split open and revealed a set of quartz stairs. "What is this for? I don't want to go to your laboratory, I asked to see your training area." Vegeta said, indignantly. Tails just went downstairs, followed by Vegeta. Instead of going down the hallway towards the armory, he took a left turn into another hallway. At the end of the hallway, there was a giant steel door. Tails entered a code into a touchpad next to the door, and it slid open with a huge grinding noise. The training room was huge. It had a big console in the middle of the room with many buttons. Other than that, it was pretty empty. "Nice place. How many G's can it pull? Does it have training bots?" Vegeta asked. Tails nodded enthusiastically. "Yup. It has all that and more! Wanna try it out?" Vegeta smiled smugly, which was a very rare occurrence. "Yes, I do. Get Kakarot in here, and we'll start immediately!" Tails hesitated for a moment. "Go and get him right now!" Beginning to become scared of Vegeta, Tails ran back upstairs and burst through the door. "Hey, Goku! Vegeta says he wants to train with you! Come with me!" said Tails. Goku looked shocked. "Huh? Vegeta wants to train now? We just got back and I'm still hungry!" Goku whined. Tails shook his head. "You can take your sandwich with you. Let's go!" Tails grabbed Goku's arm and dragged him all the way to the Gravity Training room. He opened the door to find Vegeta writhing on the floor in extreme pain. He held his head and groaned meaningless words. "Vegeta? What's happening to you? Do you need a Senzu Bean?" Goku asked. Tails hurriedly tapped his shoulder. "Goku! I've been needing to tell you something! Back when we were fighting Buu, I sensed a slightly evil Ki in Vegeta. And then just now when he sent me to go get you, he got angry and just yelled at me for no reason. I didn't notify you immediately because I thought you would freak out. I think Buu's got to his mind again!" Tails said quietly. Goku's eyes grew wide. "Go get Knuckles and bring him down here. Quick!" Tails rushed upstairs to go grab Knuckles, who slept on the couch. Tails shook him awake. "Knuckles, Knuckles! Wake up! Come to the gravity room quickly!" Knuckles dragged himself off the couch groggily and walked slowly towards the door. Suddenly, the ground began to shake and the sky darkened. Knuckles snapped out of his half-sleep. "Whoa, what's going on out there?" Knuckles looked out the window and the sea surrounding Sonic's island raged.
"Knuckles, let's go!" He turned around and followed Tails downstairs. MEANWHILE… Vegeta still struggled with the mysterious force that was assaulting his mind. He yelled fiercely and groaned in pain even more. Then, he went Super Saiyan in an attempt to alleviate the pain. "HAAAAAAAH! What is this feeling?! It's overtaking me! The great Prince Vegeta will not be taken down like this!" Vegeta's aura flared up and became more flame-like. Finally Tails and Knuckles entered the gravity room, and Goku filled them in on the issue. Knuckles thought for a moment, and he began to work his magic. "Goku, I'm going to use the power of the Master Emerald to help him resist mind control! It should work out well!" Knuckles held his hands out; palms facing the currently agonized Vegeta. Green energy surrounded his hands and began to pour out; flowing around Vegeta. Knuckles began to mutter some sort of chant in ancient Echidna language. Vegeta seemed to start to calm down, but Knuckles' attempts were to no avail. Vegeta let out one more monstrous yell, and he collapsed on the floor. Goku started to walk over to him when he suddenly stood up, clenching his head. "Vegeta! Are you okay?!" Goku approached him. In an instant, Vegeta lashed out with his left leg and sent Goku to the floor. Goku rubbed his face. "Ow, what was that for?" Vegeta finally took his hands down off his face, and revealed the horror Tails had been dreading. A big, black letter 'M' mark was imprinted in his forehead, perfectly matching the point of his widow's peak. "Do you see me now, Kakarot? I'm finally more powerful than you...again. I don't know how this happened to me this time, but I'm okay with it. At least I've learned to overcome the negative side effects. I think…" Vegeta scratched his chin. Goku sighed. "Vegeta, why'd you let this happen to you? What good could it possibly accomplish for you? More power? Is that it? That's what training is for! Vegeta, you didn't need to go this far. All this was meaningless! Goku said. He was clearly quite upset. "MEANINGLESS, HUH? WHAT DO YOU KNOW OF MEANINGLESS? Spend most of your life ruled by another! Watch your race dwindle to a handful! AND THEN, tell me what has more meaning than your own strength!"
He released his aura which towered around him. "Did you hear me Kakarot? I now know who I truly am! My father was right. I am the greatest warrior that ever lived! AHAHAHA!" Suddenly, a loud voice from seemingly nowhere. "Vegeta, kill Goku! Kill him now! I don't want even one single hair left of him when you're done!" said the voice. "Hey, who said that?" another voice said. It was Sonic, who had run downstairs as soon as he heard Vegeta's powerup yell. "Whoa, Vegeta! Nice tattoo! What, did someone brand your face?" Sonic laughed. Vegeta looked none too pleased. Tails got scared. "Sonic! Don't make jokes like that! He's been possessed by a Majin! It couldn't be Buu, could it?" Tails asked. Vegeta began to walk towards Sonic and Tails slowly. His smile became more and more creepy and twisted. Vegeta's laughter sounded more and more maniacal, as Vegeta's power level rose. "Uh, Vegeta? What are you doing? Why are you walking towards me like that?" Sonic asked. "I was instructed to kill you. So that, my friend, is what I must do. Nobody gets in my way, unless you want a massacre." Sonic suddenly went into fight mode, and took up a fighting stance. "Alright, Vegeta! If it's a fight you want, it'll be a fight you get! But be warned, I won't hold back one bit! Let's go!" Vegeta straightened his body and smiled again. "Now that's what I want to hear. Prepare yourself, hedgehog! This'll be the last fight you ever have!" Vegeta said. Right before the two beasts began to fight, Tails stepped in. "WAIT! Before you two fight, take it outside! You'll destroy our house!" he yelled. Vegeta groaned. He looked upwards, and flew straight for the ceiling of the gravity chamber. Surprisingly, his head, and subsequently his entire body, smashed right through the ceiling. He rose about fifty feet straight up through a layer of rock and dirt, and emerged in the bright daylight. Sonic ran all the way upstairs to meet Vegeta, leaving Tails, Goku, and Knuckles in confusion. "So, does anybody know what just happened? Because I sure don't." Knuckles said. Goku and Tails just shrugged. Up above the underground gravity chamber, Sonic and Vegeta prepared to fight. Sonic transformed into Super Sonic and prepared to fight Vegeta. "So, it seems like you're ready and raring. Let's do this Sonic."
Super Sonic and Majin Vegeta are up for battle! Will Sonic prevail, or will Vegeta's newfound power overwhelm our hedgehog hero? Find out now.