Chapter Four: Horrible Weakness
Vegeta rubbed the blood from his brow and looked at the two super warriors facing off.
"Now what in the Hell?" he asked no one in particular, "I'm serious, now what in THE Hell?!"
Broly had somehow returned, once again, after his numerous defeats by the Z-Warriors and now he not only seemed to be super powerful, but he also happened to be fighting for the side of good. Well, call it what you will.
Goku quietly flew around the unmoving Broly and touched down in the Red Ribbon helicopter. "YOU!" the guys in the helicopter said in unison.
"Me." Goku smiled back, "I'm a little confused. Um... well, Broly?"
"Yeah," said Tao Pai Pai, "You're probably wondering how we came upon this guy. Well, you see, we've been plotting to kill you guys since, like, forever and one time, when we were meeting, this guy just crashed through our roof!"
"That's it?" asked Goku. Tao nodded.
"We were a bit astounded at first," Mai continued, "but when he finally came to we realized that he was, well, um, insane. So we used the technology Tao Pai Pai had stolen from Dr. Gero and used it to create a device that can enslave Broly!"
"Like, two people have already tried that." Goku remarked. The villains fell silent. Suddenly a small frog in Saiyan armor jumped on the top of Tao Pai Pai's seat and began ribbiting at the top of it's, um, lungs.
"Wow." said Goku, "You guys are the most ragtag group of villains I've ever seen. I mean, Captain Ginyuu? That's pretty low." The frog began hopping madly. Suddenly the helicopter was thrown back by the force of Broly's body flying into the side of it.
"THIS CAN'T BE!" Pilaf cried, "HE HAS TRAINED TIME AND TIME AGAIN IN OUR SIMULATIONS! HOW CAN HE BE BEATEN?!"
"That guy's really strong." said Goku, "Idiots." Goku flew out of the helicopter and stood beside Broly.
"Listen Broly," said Goku, "I know that deep down you can hear me. Somewhere in that twisted little mind of yours you know what I'm saying. Listen, I'm going to telepathicaly tell you how to perform an attack that might give us a bit of an advantage, and if you do this for me, I'll make sure to free you from those guys' control."
Broly eyed Goku, his head not moving. "Kakarot..." he slowly mumbled, "... for now..."
Down below, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien were firing everything they had at Kakarot, to no avail. Piccolo joined the fray as well, and then Master Roshi and Ubuu. Chaozu, the Androids, and Videl were blasting from above, their beams being swatted away. Kakarot looked down upon them, not taking notice of Goku and Broly, who were posing a bit.
"Impudent fools." Kakarot said to himself, "I could wipe them out with one fell blast, but this is kind of fun. I mean, I was modeled after this world's Goku, so I might as well see what this guy can do. But, where are the other Saiyans? Vegeta, Trunks, Gohan, Pan, and Virudo are gone. That's... wha?"
Kakarot turned around just in time to see the bright flash of light coming from in front of the helicopter. "I'M BLIND!" Shu cried. Mai smacked him in the back of the head.
"Oh no..." Kakarot said, "Oh no..." And then...
"FU-SION!"
When the light faded, Goku and Broly were gone, replaced by an overly large Saiyan of unsurmountable power.
"Amazing..." muttered Piccolo, "Broku. Heh."
Standing in front of Kakarot was the fusion of Goku and Broly, two eternal enemies brought together for a single purpose. To, well...
"KILL KAKAROT!"
"Still all you can say?" asked Kakarot, "Funny. Anyhow, I haven't noticed too much of power jump in you, so there shouldn't be a problem. So, let's do this."
Kakarot waited for Broku to charge when all of a sudden he felt three blasts in the back of his head. Gohan, Vegeta, and Pan stood with their hands held outward. Kakarot turned and let loose some of that good old unbridled fury and pierced a hole through Vegeta's chest.
"AHK...!" he gasped. The battle fell silent as the Saiyan Prince fell. He fell past the ground of Sky Palace and towards the Earth below. However, Mr. Popo soon came up with his body on his magic carpet later on.
"Is he...?" asked Krillin, despondently. Mr. Popo shook his head.
At that same moment, Bulma arrived. She stepped out of the Air Car to see her husband lying on the ground, lifeless.
"Vegeta?" she muttered, "Vegeta... no! No! No! No! No! Noooooo!" She fell to her knees and put her hands on her ears. Krillin and Mr. Popo tried to comfort her but she pushed them aside.
"I can't take this again! I CAN'T!" Bulma's tears splashed across her shirt, and in the loud silence, it could be heard. She reached into the Air Car's trunk and pulled out Trunks' sword.
"Damn it!" she screamed, "Vegeta! YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME AGAIN! YOU CAN'T LEAVE ME ALONE!" She raised the sword to stick it in her chest, but she felt a hand suddenly pull her back. She turned to see Virudo.
"Listen," he said, "You're acting irrationally. I know what's been happening to you. It happened to the you in my world. It's effecting your mind. I won't tell them yet, but, well, you need to let Vegeta get wished back, and then live out what you've got left." Virudo put his hand on Bulma's shoulder. She put her hand on her head and pecked him on the cheek.
Suddenly a sarcastic laughing broke through the silence. Everyone turned towards Kakarot, his sadistic smile totally uncharacteristic of the man he looked like.
"This whole thing brings a tear to my eye." he smiled, "Now am I going to kill you, or am I going to kill you?" Bulma walked over to her husband to hold his head and then...
BOOM!
Bulma felt her body being ripped apart by the force of Kakarot's blast. Nothing was left of her.
"Reeeeeeejected!" Kakarot mocked, "Well, let's see how much of the Briefs family we have left to send to Hell. Trunks, Bra, and Virudo. Well, than there's the extended family, Yamcha and Upuar. Heh. Easy pickin's. Then we've got Krillin and his family. And then Mr. Satan and Ubuu and..."
"Shut the Hell up!" Gohan suddenly yelled, kicking Kakarot into the far wall of Sky Palace, "God, you like to hear yourself talk, don't you? You left out the Son family. So come and get a piece of us!" Pan, Piccolo, and Broku suddenly rallied behind him, followed by Krillin and his family, then Videl and hers.
"Enough!" Kakarot said, "There's not enough time in my day to sit around and wait on you all to die, so I'm going to kill you all now!" Kakarot suddenly unleashed a thousand Kienzans at once, trying to demolish the Z-Warriors. The speeds of the disks were faster than Goku could've ever dreamt of throwing them. The Androids, Ubuu, and Master Roshi soon fell dead, and not long after that, Chaozu and Yamcha.
Upuar and Tien soon rallied an effort that pooled her powers, fueled by the rawest emotions, with Tien's pain over Chaozu's death yet again. Upuar powered up past her limit, her blueish black hair turning full red. She charged at Kakarot and knocked him into the tiled ground. She began repeatedly punching him in the chest, burrowing into the rooms below.
Piccolo rallied the others to join and soon everyone was fighting. Broku, Gohan, Trunks, Videl, Bra, Tien, Pan, Chi-Chi, Oolong, Mr. Satan, Yajirobe, Karin, Dende, Mr. Popo, Marron, and Krillin. The large black helicopter landed and the villains joined the fray. Broku couldn't help but crack a smile when he saw the small frog in Saiyan armor attacking Kakarot's ankle.
Virudo, however, decided to stay back. Like his grandmother and great grandfather, he posessed a great mind and he had been analyzing the situation carefully. Suddenly, he realized the flaw in Kakarot's armor.
"Of course." he said to himself, "That's why he hasn't been attacking Broku! But can I allow myself to do this?"
Suddenly, the heroes were tossed aside by Kakarot's sheer strength. Captain Ginyuu, Pilaf, Karin, and Bra were all killed by the mighty force of Kakarot's ki flaring up once more. Broku readied himself for one more attack against Kakarot when he felt a sword go through his chest. The fusion broke. Goku and Broly turned to see Virudo holding a bloodstained sword.
"Virudo?" asked Goku, "What?"
"Listen Goku." said Virudo, his eyes darkening, "I've realized that our enemy was not cloned using your genes or your DNA. He was cloned from your spirit, or your soul. His body is totally artificial and therefore his existence depends on the soul's well-being. Thus, his soul is connected to yours. So, the way I see it, and I don't like this one bit, but the only way to weaken Kakarot enough to kill him, would be to kill the original soul. In other words, you have to die, Goku."
Mr. Satan stepped forward, "So in effect," he said, "You're saying that the only way for us to kill this guy is to kill off our strongest fighter?"
Virudo nodded. Goku stepped up, "Y'know, I think he's right. I mean, you can just wish me back afterwards. It'll be okay." Kakarot stood silently, sneering at the whole turn of events.
"I hate to say this," said Kakarot, "But the kid's right. That would weaken me. But I can't just let you guys have SOME way of winning. So..." Kakarot suddenly blasted Dende away, taking Popo and Yajirobe with him. He then turned towards the stars, shooting a blast towards space. A nearby planet. New Namek.
"NO!" Goku yelled, "You killed all the Nameks! And Dende! I have to hand it to you, though. You were the first one smart enough to think of that. Now all the Dragonballs are gone." Goku blinked and twitched a bit. Kakarot raised his eyebrows.
"Okay." said Goku to Virudo, "I'm ready." Virudo suddenly put his hands above his head and formed and attack.
"SHOCKWAVE PULSAR!"
The blue green blast fired at Goku, who had taken down all of his shielding. The beam evaporated the Saiyan hero in a blinding flash of light.
Goku was dead.
The Z-Warriors stood in silence for a few seconds before being rocked once again by Kakarot's blasts. Marron, Mai, and Shu fell dead.
"FOOLS!" he yelled, "I'M STILL AS STRONG AS EVER!"
"He's bluffing!" retorted Piccolo, "I can feel his power draining by the second!"
Kakarot, filled with anger, rushed at Piccolo and backhanded him. Piccolo stopped himself before he hit the ground and charged at their weakened enemy. Kakarot couldn't stop Piccolo's Makanposappo before it knocked him into the air.
"Damn you!" he yelled. Kakarot hovered down and repeatedly beat on Piccolo's back, sending him slumping to the ground. Broly suddenly flew at Kakarot.
"KILL KAKAROT!" he screamed.
"Fuck you!" Kakarot replied, finally ending Broly's life in one gigantic Kamehameha. Suddenly his ki flared up again and the arena was cleared of all opponents, save one.
Chi-Chi. She slowly walked towards this hulking lookalike of her husband. She stared him up and down.
"I bet you aren't half the man Goku is." she sneered.
"Wanna try me?" Kakarot replied. Chi-Chi smiled and pulled out a miniature version of the Capsule Brute Ray, which Bulma had given to her. Chi-Chi used it one herself and gave a thunderous kick where it hurts.
Kakarot fell to his knees in pain as the heroes (And Tao Pie Pie) attacked Kakarot full force.
"NO!" Kakarot yelled, his voice getting quieter and quieter, "MY MASTER WILL DESTROY YOU ALL! YOUR FATES WILL BE WORSE THAN DEATH! THERE IS NO..." And in a great, silent explosion, Kakarot died.
A few minutes passed as the living tallied up the dead, and they found that the ratio wasn't too promising. Of all the Z-Warriors at the battle, only Gohan, Videl, Piccolo, Chi-Chi, Trunks, Krillin, Tien, Upuar, Mr. Satan, Tao Pie Pie, Oolong, and Virudo had lived. The death count was a thing to behold.
The red sky and the gale force winds soon died away on the planet, and the sun rose over the newly blue sky. Tien walked over to Tao Pie Pie and stared at him.
"You were brave today." he said, "I have to applaud that. Let's put our past behind us, eh, brother?" Tao hadn't heard his Tien actually refer to him as his brother in decades. They shared a lot of animosity towards eachother, but on this day all that fell aside. Tien extended his hand and Tao grabbed it, getting to his feet.
The others mourned their losses. Krillin had once again lost his entire family, and now Master Roshi was gone too. Trunks had lost everyone as well. Mr. Satan relished in the fact that his daughter and son-in-law had survived, but there was no way he would have the gall to rub it in.
And so the days passed. One week, in fact. The Earth was without a God, and that couldn't be good.
In the Afterlife, the fallen heroes and villains huddled to watch the goings on of the living. But for some reason, something was missing. Something very important.
In a vast blackness, Goku walked alone. He could hear that voice calling to him again, but once again he denied it. He was not in Heaven, Hell, or anyplace in between. He had been transported beyond Eden.
Suddenly a bright light blinded Goku. He covered his eyes and when he removed his hands he gaazed upon the presence of an almighty being never seen by the eyes of a mortal
"I am reality." Goku heard, "I am your end. None can withstand me. I am. I... am..." And Goku heard nothing more. Not for a long time.
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WAIT! DON'T GO! That's not the end of this story! Well, that's the end of Future Shock, but not the end of the story! You see, the events in here will continue in the next installment of Dragonball Zero: Eternal Struggle. So stay tuned!
Well, that's probably going to be it for a while. Summer Vacation's coming up and I STILL don't have the Internet at home so I can't post until I go over to my friend's house (Oh man. I know they're going to cancel my Hotmail account. I can just feel it.) Anyway, feel free to E-Mail me at Superguymatt . Visit my site at rpg/MATTSPAGE. Well, that's it! Catch you on the flip side (Okay. I'll never say that again. i'm sorry.)
BOOYA! - Matt Ryan