Chapter 53
Death of a Hero: Part Two
Day One in the Month of Strength, 18:10
It always hurt. Every time she had ever used the Kaio-Ken it had hurt. The very first time she had succeeded to perform the power-up, her ear drums had burst and Dende had been needed to heal her. The way the Kaio-Ken felt was like a combination of horribly bad sunburn, frostbite, and electrical shock all jumbled up in a few moments where the extra ki produced was forcibly created and put to use.
This hurt worse.
In the past few hours, Ichigo had encountered mental and spiritual pain in enough quantity to smash down her barriers. She had thought that the transformation into a Super Saiyan had been harsh, but now, as the capsule ship's burning debris fell from the sky, Ichigo encountered a wall of pure physical pain. The moment she focused her mind and began the Kaio-Ken the needle pricks started. The needles of pain intensified to burning searing points of pain within her muscles and bones.
'Roshi died for me. The people on that ship died because I failed. I will not fail again!' Ichigo thought resolutely as she focused her mind and pushed away as much of the pain as she could.
Ichigo focused her rage and her pain on Blizzard and shot at him like one possessed by a demon. She sped around the arc of his defending arm and slammed a roundhouse Ki Punch into his left eye. He brought up his arm to block and she flipped around it to drive her knee into his stomach followed by an uppercut to the point of his jaw.
Ichigo felt her middle finger pop as it dislocated and the surprise caused her to drop out of the Kaio-Ken.
The world seemed to instantly speed up as her mind adjusted to the sudden drop in power and speed. In that moment of adjustment, Blizzard finally hit her for the first time since she had gone Super Saiyan.
* * *
'What in the nine hells did I get myself into?' Max thought to herself as she dodged a tail swipe from the serpentine creature she was now fighting. The creature had the head and body of a snake while also having four arms. To make matters worse, it also had golden scales that scintillated in the sunlight, making it hard to watch its movements.
Max rolled out of the way of an over-head two-fisted slam and kicked it in the middle of its chest.
The creature grunted and fell back onto its back, but quickly rolled and righted itself.
'This could take all day.' Max thought moments before Nail dropped onto the snake-thing's back. Several popping noises indicated that its back had shattered. Nail stomped on its head and it stopped moving altogether.
Max shuddered. "You make that look too easy."
"What?"
"Killing. Compared to you, that thing didn't have a chance."
Nail glared at her for a moment. "Now is not the time to allow yourself to get into a moral dilemma. That creature would have had no compunction against killing you or I had the situation been reversed."
Nail looked off towards where Goshu was fighting alone. "While killing should never be easy, tell me this, which is worse, a harsh act that stops evil, or allowing evil to remain unfettered?" Nail asked before backhanding a warrior who had dared to get to close. "These solders serve the Changelings, remember that and look at what they willingly did to this world before you question the fairness of what we now do."
Max glared at him. "Damn it! Don't you think I know that!?!" She shook her head, red hair jostling in the wind, before turning to kick a puce skinned warrior in the face.
The warrior fell backward and collapsed in a heap before he rolled to his knees and tried to stop the flow of blood from his shattered nose.
Max kicked him again and his neck shattered under the blow. She then glanced back at Nail again. "Damn it, I know, but it doesn't make this any easier!"
* * *
Roshi absentmindedly clenched down on Goku's arm as he watched Ichigo continue to fight. 'Ichigo just fight him. You don't need the Kaio-ken!' Roshi pleaded in his mind before he turned to shout at Goku. "Damn it all! This isn't working! She's getting herself killed!"
Goku looked over at him. "Maybe you just need to relax and see what happens."
Roshi looked back at the planet to watch as Ichigo bounced off of a marble pillar to land on her stomach and slowly skid to a stop in the middle of what had once been a grand avenue through the Capitol.
"Get up! Get up!" Roshi yelled turning back towards Goku. "What do you think is going to happen? Ichigo's going to end up dead!"
Goku just shook his head and Roshi was forced to grab back onto his arm to continue to watch from the heavens as Ichigo fought.
"Is that all you have?" Blizzard laughed mockingly. "For all your brag and all the stories this is all the highly acclaimed Super Saiyan can do?"
Ichigo slowly pushed herself up onto her feet. Blood dripped from her nose and mouth, causing her breathing to be ragged and gurgled. Because of this, her reply was lost in the wind.
Ichigo screamed in pain as the red-orange aura of the Kaio-ken burst forth from her as she shot at Blizzard.
"Stop it. Stop it now the Kaio-Ken is going to kill you!!!" Roshi yelled to no avail.
Blizzard had only just started to move when Ichigo drove her knee deep into his stomach, and brought her hands down on the front of his forehead.
"Blaze!" She screamed as she sent forth an enormously large stream of fire directly into Blizzard's eyes.
"AAAAGGGhhhhhhhh!!" Blizzard howled in pain as he swung blindly at her.
Ichigo ducked out of the way and jumped back to catch her breath.
As Ichigo bent at the waist to catch her breath, Roshi started swearing on the Kaioshin's planet. "Damn it all to Hell and back! Ichigo! Stop using the Kaio-Ken, it's going to kill you!" Roshi screamed as he noticed Ichigo's nosebleed had gotten worse and she was now bleeding from her ears as well.
Chill landed on her and drove her into the ground. He was about to kick her in the head when Blizzard knocked him away. "I said the monkey bitch was mine! Interfere again and I'll kill you for the slight!"
Goku laughed, "Changelings were always too confident."
Roshi let go of Goku's arm and gaped at him. "How can you be laughing? What could possibly be funny about what is happening down there?"
"Ah, I think, young Roshi, that in Goku's experiences, to steal a phrase from opera, things are not over until the fat lady sings. There is still a lot that can happen to change the battle that is now in progress. All is not lost yet." Kaioshin replied as Roshi continued to stare incredulously at Goku.
Much to his chagrin however, Roshi knew that the Kaioshin was right; there was a lot that could still happen. Even so, even with knowing how good of a fighter and how stubborn Ichigo was, he was quite certain that it would take much more than a miracle for her to beat the Changelings now.
Roshi glared at Kaioshin for a moment and then almost did a double take as he realized he was standing next to Goku, THE Goku. He was on the Kaioshin's planet next to Goku. He was standing not more than a few meters from not only Goku but also the Kaioshin himself, and then there was the Rou Kaioshin, and Buu. Compared to them the Changelings were nothing more than fleas.
"But you're laughing? How can you just stand there and laugh at Blizzard when he's practically ripping Ichigo apart? Aren't you going to do something to help?"
Goku turned and looked over at Roshi. He started to open his mouth to say something when Kaioshin cut him off. "No he will not! He has already done far too much as it is!"
Roshi stared at him with an incredulous expression on his face. "What? What do you mean he has done too much? You're a God! You're the Guardian of the Universe! How can you possibly say Goku has done too much?"
Kaioshin half-closed his eyes. "Stop being snarky with me young man. Goku, what did you ever hope to accomplish by bringing him here. You know you are forbidden from interfering in this battle."
"Forbidden? Why would you forbid him from helping? Don't you care? The Changelings are going to kill her! They're going to kill my Dad, and Slip, and Nail, and Max, and Tee, and Boxers, and and everyone!" Roshi turned to Goku. "You mean you're just going to stand there? You're not going to do anything?"
Goku put a hand on Roshi's shoulder. "Have patience. The fight is not over yet." He turned to Kaioshin. "I just thought Roshi would like to watch the fight. I didn't think it would hurt anything. You're not going to make me take him back are you?" Goku asked sounding much like a small child trying to keep his stray puppy.
* * *
"Hey you guys, I need some help here!" Slip shouted out of the compound.
Max turned and looked back at her younger cousin. "I'm kinda busy out here. Can't you just blow open the back wall and get the prisoners out of there?"
"That's the problem! They're all unconscious!" Slip yelled back.
Max's head jerked back as she turned back to Slip, "say what?"
"All the Saiyans are unconscious!"
"But they are alive?" Nail asked tersely.
"Yeah, the few I checked are. Other than looking starved, there's nothing wrong with them. But there are thousands of them in there, and I can't move them all myself!" Slip yelled as she darted back into the bunker like building Blizzard had been using to hold the Saiyans.
Nail turned to look back at Slip. "We have half an hour to get as many of these people off of this planet as we can. Fifty if we really stretch things out. Stop talking and get moving!"
* * *
Kit landed the ship next to the building the scouter had indicated was hiding Saiyans within.
The building was in the middle of a suburban area that almost looked like it could have been on Earth. Kit looked at the little scanner thing-a-ma-bob Slip had given her and walked into the darkened building.
"What the heck? This is a sporting goods store!" Kit gasped in shock as she looked at the racks of swimsuits and other various sporting goods. Kit quickly tried to get the mental image she had of the warrioress amazonian Ichigo represented to mesh with the rather happy looking docile images portrayed by the manikins in the store.
'Well I guess they can't ALL be like she is.' Kit thought to herself moments before a pipe came crashing down on her head.
* * *
Blizzard held Ichigo up by the throat, and laughed into her face. "You have gone from being a mere annoyance to being an actual bother."
Blizzard held her up to the rest of the Changelings. "So, how should I kill her?"
"I think you should..." Thunder started.
"It was a rhetorical question you nincompoop! I already know how I'm going to kill the bitch. Nice and slow." As he said this he clenched down on her neck and laughed.
He then reached out and grabbed the top of her armor at her neckline and yanked the front of her armor off of her. This left her with only her skinsuit on. Her armor had been cracked and pitted and nearly destroyed anyway, but it had been some degree of insulation. Even as a Super Saiyan, Ichigo began to get cold.
Ichigo was trying to keep her teeth from chattering when she realized Blizzard had ripped her pendant off of her. "Give that back you slime." She wheezed through his choking grasp.
Blizzard turned to look at her and snickered as he dropped the piece of armor and the pendant. "What this?" He asked before he started to grind it beneath his feet.
He ground his foot into the ground shattering the gemstones and destroying the pendant.
"Oh, did that mean something to you? I thought it was just a dead symbol of a dead race of stupid monkeys. I think you should go the same way it did. Ground to dust."
As he spoke, Blizzard pulled Ichigo closer to him and spit into her face. Ichigo shrieked and thrust out her arm to jab him in the nose. "I am not dead yet you bastard!" She yelled hoarsely as he dropped her.
Ichigo back-flipped away and kicked him in the crotch.
"That attack doesn't work quite as well on me monkey!" Blizzard roared as he threw out a beam of ki, which vaporized a swath of snow, yet missed Ichigo entirely.
"My people are not dead! We will never be ground to dust by you or any other tyrant!" Ichigo screamed at him after finding a sudden burst of energy. "Kaio-ken!"
The red-orange aura exploded out from her as Ichigo pushed herself harder than she had attempted to previously. She could feel blood start to ooze from her eyes, but she didn't care. If this fight was going to kill her, she was going to take at least one of the Changelings with her.
"Kamehameha!!!" She yelled as she threw the brilliant blue spinning beam of energy at Blizzard. It hit him and knocked him back into Ice and Chill. The three Changelings were pushed through a building, which then collapsed on them.
Ichigo smirked. 'That was almost worth the pain. I just wish Roshi was here to see it.'
She kept pushing it out of her mind, but she could almost swear she could hear Roshi's voice.
* * *
"You thought I would like watching this? Are you sadistic? Who would want to watch, as his friends and family get ripped apart? Who besides someone like Blizzard LIKES to watch others suffer?" Roshi yelled at Goku as he paced back and forth for a moment.
Roshi grabbed onto Goku's arm again. "My dad is fighting several thousand warriors alone. Max and Slip seem to be up to their necks in unconscious Saiyans, while Nail protects them. Kit is... Oh great, Kit's on the fucking planet too! And look! She's getting beat on by Saiyans who think she's part of Blizzard's army, just like I told her she would be if she went down to the surface! I don't even want to look at Ichigo, Boxers, and Tee, cause I half suspect they will be joining me up here shortly! And you thought I would LIKE to watch this?" Roshi relented and grabbed Goku's arm again to see how Ichigo was doing.
"DAMN it Ichigo stop doing that!!!" Roshi turned to Goku. "Can't you do anything?"
"Well ah... I... ah..." Goku just started to say.
"I... I just don't understand how you can just stand there and watch." Roshi grabbed onto Goku's arm again and looked down at the planet. "How can you just stand here and find hope watching this? Ichigo's killing herself. My dad and Slip, and Max and everyone else are fighting against impossible odds. I don't understand how you can just watch this and claim that there is hope!" Roshi shouted as tears welled in his eyes.
"How can you just stand up here watching all those people die? How could you? How? All the stories... I grew up to all the stories about how great and noble and fucking perfect you were and now... now you just stand there doing nothing! You're no hero." Roshi yelled at Goku.
"Now listen here young man! I have just about heard enough out of you! Goku is a hero. He did do all those things in all those stories you grew up to." Kaioshin replied smartly to Roshi.
Roshi turned to look at Kaioshin. "And you. You're the Guardian of the Universe! You could change all of this, but you just sit and watch. And to make matters worse you've forbidden Goku from stopping it! How can you be so cruel?"
"Can you see the future Son Roshi?" Kaioshin spat back tersely.
"No, but I can sure the hell predict it. If you do nothing and you don't allow Goku to do anything Ichigo and my family will die!"
The Kaioshin did not reply so Roshi grabbed Goku's arm again and watched as a massive ki blast knocked Ichigo back. The fight had moved out of the city and was now in a region of forested hills. Ichigo made a wide cone of destruction as she slid to a stop on the top of a formerly forested and snow encrusted hill.
"How can you watch her fight so hard and do nothing to help her? How can you stand there and watch the hopes and dreams of a whole race of people just die?"
"How can I not. It is not my place to stop this." Kaioshin replied.
Roshi looked at Goku and he could see that the legendary man agreed with him. But he also realized that as long as the Kaioshin forbid it, Goku would do nothing. It all seemed so very wrong.
"Doesn't their suffering mean anything to you? Don't their dreams mean anything to you? How can you say that there is always hope in this fight if the very things in which that hope is based mean nothing to you?"
Kaioshin slowly shook his head. "Roshi, you misunderstand me. My hand is not stayed because of desire, but because of need."
"Need? Are you saying that Ichigo and her people need to die?" Roshi gasped in shock.
"No, they no more need to die than anyone else."
"Then why can't you save them? Why can't you save her?" Roshi pleaded.
Kaioshin stared hard at Roshi for a few moments. "Ah, tell me Roshi, why is saving Ichigo so important to you?"
This question surprised Roshi and he actually had to think for a moment. "Because! Because she has had so much pain in her life. She deserves a chance at happiness."
"And is it my place to ensure that all people are happy?" Kaioshin asked with an arched eyebrow.
"No."
"Then why do you plead so incessantly that I or Goku save her?"
"Because you can. Do you need anymore reason then that?"
"Why? Why should I stop their deaths? Heroes such as yourself die every day on countless planets. Not even I can save them all. Why should I get involved here but not elsewhere?"
"Because! Because you can make a difference. Even if you can't save everyone the ones you do save will be able to make a huge difference!"
Kaioshin looked at him doubtfully. "And how should I know who needs saving? Should I just look after the weak? Or, should I just save the noble? You say that this Ichigo deserves to live, and to be happy. How then do I determine who is deserving? How do I tell who needs to be saved?"
"I don't know, but that still doesn't mean you shouldn't stop Blizzard!"
"Oh? So why should I stop Blizzard?" Kaioshin asked sounding perturbed.
"Cause he's evil and he delights on killing anything that isn't as strong as he is, which is nearly everything.
"Oh, and just how should I stop him?"
"Well kill him duh!"
Kaioshin actually smiled. "So, I should just go and kill all the people who do evil acts and harm those weaker than themselves?"
"Well it would be a heck of a lot better than just standing here and doing nothing!" Roshi yelled back still quite perturbed.
Kaioshin nodded. "Ah huh."
"Ah huh what?"
Kaioshin slapped his forehead in frustration. "Tell me Roshi, are evil people always evil? And what exactly makes a person evil? Is it one act, or is it the intent of the act? If it is the intent how do you tell when the result isn't what one intended? Should I have gone to Earth and broken your nose for your fight with Rock?"
Kaioshin turned and looked back at Roshi. "Should I have shown up and stopped Ichigo from blowing up your moon and accidentally killing all those people? Or rather should I have killed her for killing the people on that ship, or on Namek? Or what about Vegeta, Vegeta killed billions of people before he met Goku. Should I have killed Vegeta? Or perhaps a hundred years before Goku was even born when the Saiyans were rampaging and killing innocent lives to steal planets for Frieza. Should I have killed them all then?"
Roshi didn't know what to say, "Well ah..."
"Unless you can see the future and you can tell me everything that will happen given every single choice everyone in the universe makes every moment, do not presume to lecture me about how I fulfill my place in this Universe! Had I listened to your own advice you wouldn't even exist!" Kaioshin yelled back into Roshi's face. "I make sure the universe will continue to exist. Beyond that I just watch. There is nothing else I can do."
"But no, you... you can't just let them all die!"
Kaioshin shook his head sadly. "Roshi, were you not listening, I can, and I will. It is not my place to stop the events that are now unfolding. It is not Goku's place either. You had your chance and you gave your life for your cause. You do not seem distraught that you yourself are dead. Death is not the end. It was not for you and it will not be for them. Do not fret."
Roshi knew the Kaioshin was trying to calm him down and cheer him up, but those words rang in his head with the finality of the last nail in a coffin.
* * *
Nail felt Goshu go down. By extending his ki, he felt the jarring impact as Goshu's shoulder slammed into the rocky ground. More times then one could count Goshu had been hit in this battle. More times then one could count he had been overwhelmed and been knocked down. Only this time he wasn't getting back up.
"Damn it we're out of time! Goshu is down, I'm going to get him and then we are getting off this rock. Grab as many as you can and get aboard the ships. Now move!" He shouted behind him as he took off through the crowd of warriors who had been lining up to fight him. He took some comfort in the fact that the shockwave he had created had knocked several of them out and many more of them down.
A sudden burst of ki off to his left distracted Nail for a moment. He started to look off in that direction when he was suddenly struck by a huge blast of ki.
"Where are you going so fast little man?" The Chartashan warrior asked as he flew up to slam shoulder first into Nail.
"To kick your ass for getting in my way, but first, I have a friend who needs help." Nail grunted before he knocked the enormous warrior back.
The Chartashan laughed. "I saw him go down. He isn't getting back up."
"And you think that's funny?" Nail asked with a snarl.
"I think you aught to worry less about your dead friend, and more about your own chances of surviving."
A distant rumble built slowly as the planet began to shake. "Goshu's not dead." Nail replied calmly as he blocked an uppercut, and kicked the Chartashan in the side.
As if it had been called by Nail's words, a huge explosion lit the sky to the east. Bodies of Blizzard's warriors flew through the air as steady yellow glow lit the air.
"Are you people so ready for death that it is all you know?" Goshu screamed as he jumped into the air. "Is that all you look forward to? Is it all you can hope for? Have you nothing better than to throw your lives away?" He screamed furiously.
'I've never seen Goshu lose his temper before.' Nail realized as he dodged out of the way of a fleeing warrior. 'He isn't holding anything back now.'
"If you so want death, let me show it to you!" Goshu yelled before splaying his hands out and letting loose with a stream of thousands of tiny balls of ki. These tiny balls of ki may have been small in size, but they packed a wallop and within moments nearly a third of the remaining warriors were dead or dieing.
"What is he?" the Chartashan asked to himself as he knocked away a ki blast.
Nail actually laughed, "That is what your Changeling masters are afraid of. That is a Super Saiyan."
"So the legends are true." The Chartashan replied. "No matter, if the Changelings had known my true power, they would have had far more to fear than a mere Super Saiyan."
The huge green warrior suddenly spun and kicked Nail in the center of the chest. Nail had barely even registered the attack before his chest compacted and all the air forced from his lungs.
* * *
'I am bleeding to death.' Ichigo realized as she struggled to pull herself upright and out of a snow bank. It was so cold. Needles dug into her skin as she fought to remain conscious.
Her vision swam and her ears rang. The world had been reduced to a dull buzzing din of pain. More and more she was convinced she could actually hear and see Roshi yelling at her.
Blizzard kicked her in the face.
Ichigo felt her nose collapse as bright flashes of pain stabbed into her perception. Her head felt like it was about to cave in, and yet there was Roshi, just out of reach, yelling words lost to the din. 'Sorry... Roshi… I am so sorry... I...' Ichigo started to think in a moment of weakness. In that moment she almost gave up. But then the moment was over and she knew she would never give up. 'Must keep fighting.'
The world wouldn't stop moving about her, but she knew she had fallen flat on her back. Ichigo rolled over and forced herself to cough, anything to keep her from drowning on her own blood.
"So this is it? This is the best you can do? I'd almost kill you now, but you haven't suffered enough." Blizzard mocked.
He grabbed her by the ankle and shook her for a few moments before he threw her the boughs of a large tree.
"I think I'll come back for you after I've killed all the cowards fleeing in those ships." Blizzard said as he started to walk away from her.
Ichigo pulled herself out of the tree and fell face-first into the snow. "No! I... won't... let... you!" She yelled between fits of coughing. Ichigo couldn't even see Blizzard, her vision swam too greatly, but she was not about to just lie down and die. "Fight... me!"
A pleased grin grew on Blizzard's face. "That's what I always liked about you monkeys. You were always too dumb to know when to give up. So now you will die for your stupidity monkey!"
"Bring... it!"
* * *
"Look Roshi! Your father's a Super Saiyan!" Goku cheered happily. "Isn't that great?"
"Yeah, I guess." Roshi replied without looking up from where he now sat hunched up beside Goku.
Goku kneeled down beside him. "Roshi? Roshi, what's wrong? Don't you care?"
Roshi looked up and for half a second glared at Goku in anger, yet even with Goku's seemingly incapability to see even the most obvious things, Roshi couldn't stay mad at him.
"You don't understand. I can't. I can't watch anymore. I won't watch anymore. I'm glad that my dad's a Super Saiyan. At least with him there Nail, and Slip, and Max will be fine. But he's on the opposite side of the planet from Ichigo. Even if he went now, he wouldn't get there in time to save her. And once Blizzard kills her he'll remember Tee, and Boxers. I can't watch him kill them. It hurts too much."
"I know." Goku replied somberly.
"You... what?" Roshi looked up surprised.
Goku pulled Roshi to his feet. "I have watched far too many of my friends suffer when I could not be there to protect them. When the Kaioshin asked me to help him, I thought I could keep everyone safe." Goku laughed. "I guess I was wrong." He added while scratching the back of his head.
"Roshi, you remind me of Gohan very much. He always blamed himself for everything. He tried so hard and anytime something went wrong he blamed himself. You remind me of so many things." Goku got a far away look in his eyes. "And I have an idea."
"You have an idea?" Roshi repeated hopefully.
Goku looked at him and smiled. "Don't worry, everything will be ok, you'll see."
"Hey Buu! Rou Kaioshin, could you guys come here and help me?" Goku called out.
Kaioshin quickly rushed over. "Goku, what's going on?"
"I'm going to help Roshi." Goku replied cheerfully.
"Oh no you are not! I told you that you were not to get involved!"
"But I'm not, Roshi's going back."
Kaioshin's jaw dropped and he did a double take between Goku and Roshi. "Roshi can't go back! He's dead!"
"Oh, well, he won't be in a bit." Goku replied.
Roshi watched on feeling very confused while the Kaioshin suddenly started turning white.
"I think it's a great idea." Rou Kaioshin replied. "When do we start?"
"No!" Kaioshin burst out, "Goku, you have got to be fucking joking!"
Goku looked at Kaioshin with a confused look on his face. "No, I haven't seen Chi Chi in ages, and not even King Kai laughs at most of my jokes."
"Gah!! Goku how you could possibly so abysmally momentarily and situationally stupid is beyond me, and stop blocking me! I hate it when you block me! How can I tell what dumb plan you are thinking about when all that's on your mind is FOOD!" Kaioshin yelled.
Goku just scratched his head. "Um, Kaioshin, what's wrong?"
"Just tell me one thing. Without using the Dragon Balls, just how is Roshi going to come back to life so that he can go back?"
Goku smiled. "Um well when we were fighting Buu, I was dead and then Rou Kaioshin brought me back to life, so I was thinking I could do the same thing."
Kaioshin slapped his forehead. "Goku, then you would be dead!"
"Um, yes, and then I could go stay with Chi Chi and Gohan and everyone again."
"And who would keep things like Buu from ever showing up again?" Kaioshin screamed at Goku at the top of his lungs.
"Well um Buu can." Goku replied.
A huge sweat drop appeared on Kaioshin's face and he fell over. "BUU!! NO way! Never! I won't allow it!"
"But Buu's basically the Dai Kaioshin anyway, you said so yourself. Isn't the reason he's fat cause he ate the Dai Kaioshin?" Goku sounded confused.
"YES!!! Why to you think you're here keeping him and things like him from destroying the universe?!?"
Buu jumped between Goku and Kaioshin. Little puffs of steam vented from his vent-holes. "Kaioshin dumb. Buu not evil. Mr. Buu is good!"
Roshi was looking from Buu to Goku to Kaioshin, and catching very little of what was actually being said. "Um, could someone explain what the heck is going on?"
Goku looked over. "Ok, um, I'm going to give you my life energy and then you can go save everyone and I can go see Chi Chi and Gohan and Kurrin and everyone."
Roshi stepped back from Goku. "But... but no! I don't want your life! Why can't you just go down there and kill the Changelings and then come back?"
Goku scratched the back of his head. "Cause that's not my place. That's your place. I should have died a long time ago. I miss my family and I want to see them again. I'm not needed. But you are."
"But I..." Roshi was at a loss for words. "You can't do this for me! I'm not worth it!"
Goku smiled. "Yes you are." He said as he placed his hand on Rou Kaioshin.
"Ok, here we go." Rou Kaioshin said as he grabbed Roshi's arm.
There are many ways a hero can die. Some heroes are made by the way they die, others by the way they lived. Goku was both. In everything he did he was a true hero. In that moment amongst the perfect serene beauty of the Kaioshin's world, over the objections of the Kaioshin himself, Goku, the greatest hero to have ever lived, died for the last time.
"Cool, it worked!" Goku said before he started jumping up and down. "WhoHooo!"
Roshi just stared at him with his mouth hanging open. 'Wow, that's kinda surreal. Rather hard to feel bad about this with him looking so happy.'
"Can Buu, go take Roshi to Ichigo? He can use the Instantaneous Movement." Goku asked.
Kaioshin looked like he was sucking on a sour grape. "Oh, alright. Just don't do anything but take him down there and perhaps heal the girl."
"Whoo hoo!! Buu be good!"
"Wait!" Goku said just as Buu grabbed Roshi.
Goku walked over and gave Roshi a hug. "It took me a long time to figure things out, but I think I understand now. Why are you so worried about Ichigo?"
Roshi scrunched up his face. "I... I don't know, I... I just want to see her happy I guess."
"So that's why you died for her?"
"Yeah, in a way I guess."
Goku nodded. "Good. You died for her last time. This time, if you truly want her to be happy, you need to do more than save her life. You need to save her soul." Goku turned around to walk away.
"Goku I... I don't understand."
Goku turned around and smiled while scratching his head. "You're a lot smarter than me. I'm sure you'll get it." Goku turned to Buu. "Go now, Roshi hasn't much time."
Goku started to wave and the world started to diffuse. "Roshi, don't just save her life, save her soul."
* * * * * *
Well there you have it...
Sorry for the wait. Please review.
Smooster
