Muten Roshi turned on his television as and flipped to the channel 6 news. The announcement
was unexpected- another city had been decimated. This time, Red City had been the target for an
onslaught of death. The remote fell to the floor as Kamesennin shut off the television and headed
toward the kitchen. In his mind, thoughts about what the force behind these attacks could possible
be eluded him. There was no doubt in his mind that the force he had felt before was the creature
that was destroying these cities. But what was this new power?
Muten Roshi went over to the refrigerator and pulled out a carton of milk. Before he could
swallow, however, there was a knock on the door.
"Who could it be at this hour?" thought Roshi, heading toward the front of the house and opening
the door.
A tall, menacing, black-haired figure stood on the porch, an evil smile covering his face.
"Greetings, Muten Roshi. I am looking for Kakarotto."
*****
Gohan stared at the spiraling towers of Kami's Lookout. It had been such a long time since he
had been there, yet it all felt so familiar, so warm, like a place he could imagine in his dreams. The
Saiyan stepped up in between the columns and stared at the door that stood in front of him.
ROSAT. He dreaded that room, its featureless depths, an empty chasm of white blankness,
beckoning its captured to dwell within its walls for all eternity.
Vegeta scuffed as he looked around. "What a joke! I don't need that infernal chamber to grow
stronger! I can beat Gojitto now!"
Ubuu frowned. "Despite what you think, Vegeta, you are not the perfect warrior. Gojitto might
be even stronger than he lets on."
"As if I'd listen to your advice, Buu!" the prince shouted back.
Ubuu stepped back. It was hurtful to him whenever Vegeta referred to him as Buu.' But yet it
was true, he was the reincarnation of True Buu, and nothing could change that. Ubuu lowered his
head. "I- I'm sorry, Vegeta."
"Damn straight!" shouted Vegeta, walking over and staring off the edge of Kami's Lookout into
the clouds below.
Gohan looked at Vegeta. How cruel! To act as though Ubuu was as evil as Buu was a terrible
statement, and it broke Gohan's heart to see Ubuu have to deal with that kind of thing.
"So, dad, are we gonna start training now?" asked Pan, tugging on Gohan's pant leg.
Gohan looked down at his daughter. "Pan, you aren't going to do any fighting. This battle could
get way too intense for you."
Pan's eyes welled up with tears. "DAD! I'm not a little kid anymore! I can take care of myself!"
"You wouldn't last a day in that room, Pan."
Tenshinhan spoke up. "Listen, this whole situation can only get worse. How about Gohan and
Trunks go inside ROSAT first, and then I'll go with Ubuu."
The others all nodded their heads.
Vegeta scowled. "Very well, fools, but don't be surprised if Gojitto's dead by the time you get
out!"
"How immature, daddy," thought Bra.
"Come on, Trunks, let's get going. It'll be a long year," said Gohan, ushering Trunks toward the
door. As Gohan prepared to enter, he turned to Dende. "Dende, contact Piccolo and Goten and
tell them what's going on. I'm sure they'll want to help out." Dende nodded in agreement.
"Goodbye, Trunks!" shouted Pan as he headed for the door. "I'll miss you!" She immediately
covered her mouth and blushed at what she had just said. She looked up, and saw Trunks' cheeks
were a little red too, and he waved to her before shutting the door.
Bra poked her in the ribs. "Someone's in love."
Pan smacked Bra in the head. "Shut up. I am not." Pan walked over to Mr Popo. "Will Trunks
and dad really be in there for a year?"
Mr Popo smiled and looked at Pan. "Inside, yes. But the rules of time and space are bent in that
room, so what is a year inside the room is only a day out here."
Pan stared at the door to the ROSAT. She felt an undoubted sense of fear. A whole year? Her
father must be incredibly strong if he could last inside there without any human contact besides
Trunks. Pan only hoped they would come back soon.
Vegeta stood up. "I've locked onto Gojitto's power. He's at Roshi's house. I'm going after him."
"ROSHI?!" Tenshinhan shouted. "NO! Muten Roshi's defenseless! Gojitto will kill him!"
"Most likely he's already dead," said Ubuu, hanging his head.
Vegeta turned Super Saiyan again. "Good luck, you two. Maybe that training will do you some
good." The Super Saiyan blasted off the ledge and flew off toward the Kame House.
"Wait! I'm coming too!" shouted Tenshinhan, following Vegeta. Ubuu looked at Dende and Mr
Popo. Dende nodded his head, and Ubuu soared off after the others.
*****
Gohan stared into the depths of the white void. It had been so long since he had entered there,
since he had trained for that long year that strained the limits of his sanity. He wasn't sure whether
he could go through that again. He looked over at Trunks. He was wide-eyed, staring just as he
was. Trunks had a lot of training ahead of him, thought Gohan with a smile. Trunks was strong,
but he was still only a Super Saiyan at best. If the boy hoped to stand any chance against Gojitto,
he would have to work harder than he ever had.
He then thought of Goten. He wondered when his little brother would arrive. Goten had been
shirking his responsibilities lately, said Chi-chi when Gohan had last seen his mother, and he
wondered if Goten was even at the point that Trunks was at. Gohan smiled. They all had a lot of
work ahead.
*****
Pan looked around. She and Bra were the only ones left now besides Dende and Mr Popo, who
had gone into a room to contact Piccolo in Hell. Pan grumbled. "I can't believe my dad! Doesn't
he think I'm strong enough to fight?! I've been fighting monsters for a long time, and I even
helped grandpa Goku!"
Bra grabbed her shoulder. "Pan, let them do what they want. You saw what they did to my father.
They will also do it to yours and my brother."
Pan looked her in the eyes. For the first time in a long time, Pan could see that Bra was actually
acting serious. Pan frowned. "Still, I'm going to prove that I'm a valuable resource. I won't give
up!" she shouted, running toward the ledge and flying off toward Muten Roshi's. Bra slapped her
head.
"That's what I get for being friends with her."
*****
Vegeta smiled as he approached the Kame House, stumped on its location on a small island in the
ocean. He laughed. "At last, I can have my revenge for what that fool did to me!" The Saiyan
sped up, blasting at full speed toward the house.
Tenshinhan and Ubuu followed closely behind, barely able to keep up with the eager Saiyan.
"God, I hope Kamesennin is still alive."
Ubuu looked at Tenshinhan strangely. "Why do you call him that?"
"What?"
"Kamesennin. Turtle Hermit. You've known him long enough to not have to call him that, haven't
you?"
"I guess. I just started doing it recently. I'm not sure why, though. But turn your sights to the
crisis ahead."
Vegeta dropped to the ground and ran up to the door, slamming it open and looking inside.
Tenshinhan and Ubuu ran up behind him, the three warriors staring in awe at the spectacle in front
of them.
Gojitto sat on the couch in the living room, facing Muten Roshi in his chair. Both were sipping
lemonade and chatting pleasantly. "So, you say that Kakarotto really is dead? Interesting,"
observed Gojitto.
"Yep. The boy gave his all," explained Roshi, pointing toward the roof to add emphasis, "and
now he's up there, watching over us all."
Vegeta stared in awe. "What's going on here?"
Gojitto turned to him and smiled. "Oh, nothing. I was just having a pleasant chat with Muten
Roshi. It seems that Kakarotto is really dead. For a moment, I thought you were just trying to
throw me off the trail. It seems though, that you told the truth. Too bad for me."
Gojitto stood up, and Tenshinhan and Ubuu backed away. Vegeta stood his ground, scowling.
"Let's fight."
"I'd appreciate it if you took the battle outside," requested Muten Roshi.
"Certainly," replied Gojitto, flying at Vegeta and knocking him out the door and onto the beach..
The warrior, angered by a surprise attack, flipped to his feet, his hair flashing yellow and growing
to ankle-length. Vegeta charged at the fusion, smacking him upside the head and knocking him
out into the water. Gojitto hovered directly above it, turning to look over at Vegeta. He was
gone. Gojitto scanned the general vicinity for his opponent, suddenly looking up in horror as
Vegeta unleashed a flurry of ki attacks upon his enemy from the sky above him. Caught in the
hailstorm, Gojitto disappeared beneath the huge waves of ki explosions, echoing screams of
bloodcurdling pain. Vegeta smiled, but refused to cease, continuing to pummel his opponent until
he had reached his limit for the moment.
Gojitto flew out of the smoke, stopping across from Vegeta, laughing. "Did I fool you?" he
asked, an instant before shoving his fist into Vegeta's chest. Vegeta choked and coughed up
blood. He looked at Gojitto through weakened eyes. The warrior hadn't even gone Super Saiyan
yet and already he was beating him! Vegeta flew back in awe. He realized that he had to use his
trump, but he didn't expect he'd have to use it so soon! Vegeta pulled a small object out of his
pants pocket, smiling as he did so. Gojitto looked at it. "Well, now what have you got there,
Vegeta?"
The Saiyan prince laughed. "My trump card. This pill in my hand is a new, high tech form of the
energy outputted by the Brute Ray."
"The Brute Ray?" said a stunned Ubuu.
"Of course," continued Vegeta, "you don't know what the Brute Ray is, so I guess you'll have to
wait and see." The Saiyan popped the pill into his mouth and swallowed it whole. Gojitto watched
the whole thing with a perplexed expression.
Vegeta clenched his fist and was soon surrounded by a dark blue aura, his hair turning back from
gold to black. Gojitto smiled in recoil, assuming Vegeta was getting weaker, and trying to stall.
Vegeta continued to power up, growling as his body absorbed the power of the Brute Pill into its
system. Then, suddenly, it happened: His muscles bulging, his hair growing long and thick, and his
shirt breaking off as hair covered his chest. Gojitto noticed that Vegeta now had a tail.
"WHAT?! NO!!" shouted Gojitto in shock as he now faced Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta.
"Amazing," commented Ubuu to Tenshinhan, "the process is completely different. That pill has
allowed Vegeta to turn Super Saiyan 4 without having to pass through Golden Oozaru stage or
even having to look at the Earth!"
Vegeta laughed mockingly at the startled Gojitto. "My power level is now far above even your
Super Saiyan 2 form. You cannot win this fight. And the pill allows me to remain in this form for
well over an hour. You can thank my wife."
"Bulma?" asked the dumbfounded Gojitto.
"Is there any other?" replied Vegeta, shoving his fist into Gojitto's face and knocking his
opponent senseless into the depths of the ocean. Tenshinhan and Ubuu stared in awe.
"Time for a real fight. GYARIKKU-HO!!" shouted Vegeta, firing his Kamehameha-type blast
into the water, creating a massive explosion that actually gave the others a view of the ocean's
surface for a brief second before the waves crashed back down. Vegeta smiled and cracked his
fist. He hadn't used that attack in ages.
Gojitto sprang out of the water, now in Super Saiyan 2 form, lunging for Vegeta's head, but
instead catching air. The Super Saiyan 4 warped underneath Gojitto, bringing up his fist and
punching Gojitto in the gut thirty or forty times before letting him fall lifelessly to the ground.
Tenshinhan and Ubuu gazed silently at the unmoving Gojitto, thinking the battle might be over.
Suddenly, Gojitto stirred, then hauled himself to his feet and gazed upward. He grimaced,
showing a sign that he knew that he wasn't strong enough. He raised his palms skyward, putting
them end to end, and muttering a sort of attack. "Final Kameha Bang."
A huge ball of ki grew from his hands, then suddenly, blasted off from his hands with the force of
a Kamehameha, splitting off into hundreds of smaller ki blasts and engulfing the figure of Vegeta.
"NO!!" shouted Ubuu as he saw their last hope fade away. Tenshinhan gripped his shoulder.
"Don't worry. Vegeta can take worse. Don't count him out yet."