Raditz, Kirillin, and Bardock took off following Roger, Gerald, and Jessica.
"Why is he in an adult form?" Kirillin wondered.
"I don't know for sure, but I have a theory." Bardock said. "Kakkarot told me the story about when he was wished back to being a child. Later, he became a Super Saiyan level four and while he was in that form, his body shifted back to being adult."
"Yeah, I remember all of that." Kirillin said.
"Well, my theory is that the energies of a Super Saiyan level four are too great for a child's body to handle. We Saiyans must have some sort of defense mechanism that changes our entire metabolic structure to prevent us from blowing up." Bardock surmised. "When Gerald powers down, he will more than likely become a child again."
"Sounds like a good theory." Raditz said.
Roger set down at the site of the palace and began to power up. He let his ki remove layer after layer of rubble and dirt and sent it flying a few dozen yards. Finally, an opening presented itself.
"That must be it!" Roger exclaimed as he flung himself headlong into the open elevator shaft."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Goku had not felt this weak and helpless since he collapsed from his heart virus while fighting Android 19. He couldn't fight it anymore; he was lying on his back slowly sliding into oblivion. What little energy he did have left was used to hold tight to Vegeta. Goku could no longer sense Vegeta's ki. It had gone so low that it wasn't impacting on Goku's senses. Goku chuckled. "Not that my senses are all that great right now." Goku thought to himself.
Goku started to hear a howling sound. It was an eerie sound that sounded like thousands of banshees wailing into the night. Goku looked ahead and with some difficulty focused his exhausted eyes. He saw a vast whirlpool of blackness that had only one purpose, to bring Vegeta's soul into the next dimension.
"At least King Yamma will grant us our bodies again when we get there." Goku thought.
Goku wondered briefly if it wasn't all for the best after all. He wondered if his and Vegeta's time was long passed. After all, by rights they should have probably have died of old age by now any ways.
But there was just something in this Saiyan that would not give up with out a fight. Something that seen death as a defeat, and he would never accept defeat.
Goku gathered up what little energy remained in his body and tried once again to stop their forward progress.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roger went down to what he thought was four floors when he came to the outer doors of the elevator. Wasting no time, he blasted the doors and flew into a large room that was filled with scientific equipment. Rows of beakers lined one wall full of shelves.
Roger's mouth dropped open at what he saw next.
Across the lab, on the back wall in three layers was what looked like about a dozen "sleeper" chambers, each one held an Icejin/Saiyan hybrid.
"Father!" Gerald gasped, his power began to rise immediately.
Roger watched his son and wondered how his power could be rising even further. Then he realized that neither he nor Gerald had engaged their mystic powers yet. Gerald was tapping into a deep well of power that lay beneath his Super Saiyan powers.
Gerald's power was still rising. The ground began to shake.
"Calm down son before you bring the roof down on us." Roger smiled.
Gerald was shaken from his reverie. "Oh, sure dad." Gerald smiled a crooked grin.
The rest of the team joined them and had the same reaction as Gerald.
"I've got a bad feeling about this!" Kirillin said.
A new sense of urgency swept over Roger. He sensed that time was growing too short, for them, and for Goku and Vegeta.
"Okay Icejin, where is it?" Roger shook Coldar.
"Where's what?" Coldar smirked.
Roger powered up a ki ball and pointed it right at the Icejin's face. "THE DAMNED ANTIDOTE YOU IDIOT!"
Coldar cringed back as if he'd been struck. "I-It's over there!" Coldar pointed to a shelf just above what looked like an operating table.
Roger flew over dragging Coldar by the scruff of the neck and tossed the table away. "Which bottle? Lie to me and you will die!"
"That one right there! The one with the green label! Coldar practically screamed.
Roger reached for the indicated bottle.
"Uncle Roger, he's lying. I don't know which bottle it is, but that one is not the antidote." Jessica said.
Roger broke; he'd had enough. Violently Roger threw Coldar to the floor and powered up. He then vaporized both of Coldar's legs, below the knees.
Coldar's scream caused everyone but Roger to cover his or her ears. It also shocked them. Never had mild-mannered Roger behaved this way before.
"Coldar!" Roger yelled to get the Icejin's attention. "This is your very last chance. I want that antidote, and I want it now. Lie again, and I will take off your arms."
"It's there! Right there! The orange bottle!" The Icejin wailed through his pain.
"Jessica?" Roger inquired in his mind.
"He's n-not l-lying this t-time." Jessica stammered, truly shocked at seeing Roger act so ruthlessly.
Roger grabbed the bottle and tucked it in his pocket.
"Good, let's get out of here! Everyone come here and make contact!" Roger ordered.
"You realize that these creatures were created for the sole purpose of destroying our race, don't you?" Bardock said morbidly.
"Yes, so?" Roger said already knowing where Bardock was going.
"So, if we let even one of them survive, it would be a grave mistake on our part." Raditz finished for his father.
"That's murder!" Roger exclaimed, but even as the words left his lips he knew they were right. He knew that the Saiyan race would know no peace until these creatures were destroyed, or the Saiyans themselves were destroyed.
"Wait! Goku would find another way!" Kirillin spoke up "He wouldn't just kill them!"
Roger knew that they were waiting on him to make a decision. They had accepted him as the leader of this group. Even Kirillin, Raditz, and Bardock had accepted his leadership despite the fact that they were older, and were original Saiyans.
Roger could see nothing but nightmares for the Saiyans if these hybrids were allowed to live, and worse, allowed the time needed to become adept with their new powers and skills.
"What would Goku do?" Roger mumbled. To destroy someone in a battle was one thing, but these creatures were in suspended animation or something, completely helpless.
But they were Icejins, which means that they would survive the destruction of this planet and could breathe in space.
"Kirillin. I'm not Goku. I can't let that dictate my decision. And unfortunately, I don't see much choice other than destroying these creatures." Roger hung his head and looked over at Coldar whose eyes were as big as saucers.
Suddenly there came a deep rumble in the planet's core.
"It's started Uncle Roger!" Jessica said.
A small quake shook the room.
"Raditz, you and Kirillin take the kids back up the shaft. Bardock and I will be up momentarily. " Roger said solemnly.
Pieces of mortar and stone fell from the ceiling.
"Hahahaha! You will never be able to get off the planet in time now!" Coldar raised his upper body off the floor.
Roger just stared past him, hating and regretting what he knew he had to do next. He powered up to Super Saiyan level five.
Roger began to power up as far as he could go, the whole time weighing the options in his head. He was desperately trying to find a viable excuse to let the Icejins live. In the end, he found nothing but gloom and despair for the Saiyans, and for the entire universe, if these creatures lived. Not even Earth would be safe from them.
A large ki aura built up around Roger. Roger calmly walked over grabbed Coldar by the scruff of the neck and threw him bodily towards where the other Icejins lay resting in their chambers.
Roger took a look into Bardock's eyes. Bardock seen the anguish and knew that Roger would be changed forever by this decision.
Roger turned back towards the Icejins.
"20X Ka.... Me..... Ha.... Me.... Haaa....."
"Wait! We can talk.... Stop!" Coldar looked into Roger's eyes just before he died.
Roger released a huge Kamehameha wave straight at the Icejins. The wave struck and immediately vaporized everything along the wall, including the wall. The wave traveled through the ground digging creating a huge tunnel, which collapsed in numerous places. The wave emerged from the ground and continued out into space in a straight line.
"May Yamma have mercy on my soul." Roger said.
Suddenly a violent quake hit causing the floor to crack and larger stones to dislodge from the ceiling.
Roger turned on his heel and walked up to Bardock. "Let's get the hell out of here." With a moment concentration, Roger and Bardock disappeared from the lab.
Kirillin, Raditz, Jessica, and Gerald felt Roger power up, they felt the Kamehameha wave build up, and they saw the attack tear part of the planet away. They also felt the kis of the Icejins wink out.
Roger and Bardock appeared in front of them. For an instant, Roger's eyes locked with Jessica's. He saw something there that he'd never seen before. Uncertainty, fear, and worse, fear of him. This hurt Roger deeply. It felt like someone stuck a knife in his guts and kept turning the blade. He looked into his son's eyes and seen something different. His son's eyes held a questioning look. Gerald didn't quite fully understand the import of what just happened. Roger decided to take great pains to explain it to him when they got back.
The planet in the meantime was breaking up. The team flew up into the air just as the ground beneath them became a sea of molten lava.
Roger looked at the planet. Even in death it was beautiful to behold. The green of vegetation and forest was gone, to be replaced by the oranges and reds of molten lava and explosions. Roger stretched out his senses for he learned long ago that a planet has a sort of ki of it's own. An energy of life, of heat, of wind, of rock grinding against rock and one could feel these things if they concentrated hard enough. Gohan had taught him that as he had learned it from his father.
Roger shuddered as he suddenly thought about what Gohan would think about his actions today.
"Umm... Roger? I'm sorry to disturb you, but we have to leave now." Jessica said. "We only have seconds left before this planet blows up."
Roger looked at Jessica, but he was looking through her instead of at here.
"Everyone make contact" Roger finally said with sadness in his voice. Everyone either touched Roger, or touched someone that was touching Roger.
"Everyone ready?" Roger tried to smile and failed.
Roger concentrated and the team disappeared.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Goku was all but drained of energy. His arms were on fire from maintaining his hold on the Saiyan King. Vegeta had not regained consciousness in quite some time and Goku had lost track of the King's ki some time ago. Had Goku not thought his own abilities to sense ki had not been impaired, he would have thought that Vegeta was already dead.
The spinning black vortex loomed large as they approached closer, and closer.
"Vegeta. I-I'm sorry. I t-tried. It looks l-like I can't win this one old friend." Goku said knowing that Vegeta couldn't hear.
"K-kakkarot." A weak voice reached Goku's sensitive ears. He looked down into Vegeta's face. His eyes were open, bloodshot and tired looking.
The briefest, smallest of smiles passed over Vegeta's features.
"G-Goku." Vegeta said weakly.
Goku knew that there was something Vegeta wanted to get off his chest. It was the only time Vegeta ever got sappy enough to call him by his given Earth name.
"Promise me we will w-we fight in t-t-the other w-world?" Vegeta asked.
"Yes we w-will, Vegeta. I'm sure that King Yamma will give us back our bodies." Goku said. "We will probably even be allowed to go to the Nexus, just like always."
Vegeta smiled again. "So, n-nothing will r-really change for us t-then? I'll k-k-kick your ass in life and d-death!" Vegeta stammered out.
"I wouldn't have it any o-other way, my King." Goku used Vegeta's honorarium.
A small smirk appeared on Vegeta's face. Goku remembered that smirk from the very first time he and Vegeta met. The memory brought a smile to his face.
"Y-You wait until n-n-now to s-show me t-the p-roper r-r-respect?" Vegeta kept smirking.
"No V-Vegeta. I have always r-respected you." Goku said honestly.
"Y-You a-are a g-g-good f-friend G-Goku." Vegeta slipped back into unconsciousness, a single tear slid down the King's cheek.
"As have you Vegeta." Goku smiled. Only once before had he seen Vegeta shed tears, and that was years ago. It made Vegeta seem more "human" to Goku. "I always knew you were just a softie."
It was only a matter of minutes now until they would be sucked into the vortex and taken from this life, probably forever this time. Goku braced himself and kept his hold on Vegeta. Wherever the Saiyan King went, Goku planned on going too.
Goku almost laughed. If he'd been stronger, he might have been able to do it. Goku slipped into unconsciousness, but even then his arms held tight to King Vegeta.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Turles, Nappa, Gohan, Chi-Chi, Abigail and Bulma sat in the room where Goku and Vegeta's physical forms were struggling to stay alive.
Bulma would look at the clock frequently. "Where are they!" She finally blew up.
"They've been gone over a day!" Bulma lamented. "There isn't much time left!"
Chi-Chi looked up from feeding Gotarm. "I don't know Bulma. They should have been back by now."
Suddenly several lights started flashing and a blaring alarm sounded above King Vegeta's bed. Bulma rushed over and examined the panel before shutting off the alarm.
"Dende help us! He's gone into Cardiac Arrest!" Bulma yelled to no one in particular.
"Nappa! Come here!" Bulma ordered.
"Yes my Queen!" Nappa took a position next to Bulma.
"See what I am doing? These are called heart compressions. Can you do these without breaking the King's ribs?" Bulma asked.
"Of course!" Nappa watched Bulma do a few more compressions as she gave Nappa specific instructions.
Bulma then moved aside to let the large Saiyan do the job. "Good Nappa! You're a natural! Keep doing it, I'll be right back!"
Bulma raced out the door and into a small room adjacent to the room where Goku and Vegeta had been put and momentarily ran out with a rather large looking cart full of what looked to be medical equipment.
"Your Majesty! Vegeta's stopped breathing!" Turles called out frantically.
Bulma raced back into the room with the crash cart in front of her. She immediately took out a bag-breather and without ceremony, shoved the tube down Vegeta's throat. Then she started to squeeze the bag at regular intervals timing it opposite of Nappa's heart compressions.
"Okay, Turles, squeeze this bag just like I'm doing it now. Understand?" Bulma asked.
"Yes your Majesty." Turles said.
"Good! That's good Turles, just like that!" Bulma exclaimed.
She turned around and grabbed to objects from the cart, and a tube of something else. She spread the stuff from the tube onto the paddles, and then on King Vegeta's chest and upper abdomen. She then put the faces of the paddles together and rubbed them around a bit.
"Okay guys, when I say clear, you take your hands off the king, do you understand? Make sure that no part of your body is touching the King, or the table he's laying on, okay?" Bulma said.
"Okay, we're ready when you are." Turles and Nappa said.
Bulma turned and twisted a few dials on the cart, then flipped a switch. A high pitched whine started to come from the cart. The whine grew in volume and frequency until it started to hurt the ears of the other Saiyans.
"Clear!" Bulma yelled and Turles and Nappa threw their hands up in front of them to indicate they were clear. Bulma pressed a little blue button on the side of the cart.
There was a crackle and the distinct smell of ozone in the air as Vegeta's body jumped a few inches off the bed.
Bulma took a quick look at the monitor, no heartbeat.
"Okay, go back to what you were doing guys!" Bulma ordered.
Nappa and Turles restarted the CPR.
Bulma looked back at the cart. Vegeta's Saiyan physiology wouldn't respond to normal human level voltage. She set the machine at its highest setting then flipped the switch again.
Again the power built up.
"Clear!" Bulma ordered.
Bulma hit her mate with the paddles again and his body jumped off the table almost a foot. Bulma quickly checked the monitors again. There was a weak but steady heartbeat.
Bulma breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't know how long it would last, but she had saved her husband for now.
All of a sudden, the room got six people fuller as Roger and crew materialized in front of the beds.
"Well?" Bulma looked hopeful at Roger.
"We obtained the antidote." Roger said coldly as he removed it from his pocket and handed it to Bulma.
Bulma took a brief look into Roger's eyes as she took the antidote. She didn't like what she saw there, but she didn't have the time for questions now. She took the bottle and rushed over to the cart. She opened up a drawer and took out a syringe.
"Are you sure this is the antidote?" Bulma asked.
"Reasonably sure, thanks to Jessica." Bardock answered.
Roger went to a corner of the room and kept quiet.
"Well, there's no time to test it and there's nothing to lose at this point." Bulma stated flatly.
Bulma loaded up the syringe and checked it for air bubbles. Satisfied, Bulma injected her husband.
Everyone crossed their fingers and waited for several long minutes.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Goku's eyes slowly opened. Something changed. Something was different. Goku suddenly felt stronger. The force pulling on Vegeta's body and the vortex were gone.
"What's happening?" Goku thought.
The mindscape seemed lighter somehow.
"Well, I guess there is no where to go except back the way we came." Goku tested his ki to see if he had enough to fly, and he did, barely, but he was gaining strength by the second. Gratefully, Goku noticed that Vegeta was also gaining strength. He was still shaky, but he could stay in the air. He flew as fast as he could back towards where they had started. Something told Goku there was something waiting for them.
Something Good!
