Chapter 27 – The Return of Fusion
"Vegeta, he won't give us time to fuse!" yelled Goku. "Listen! Can you move at your top speed and keep in the same position?"

"While doing the Fusion Dance!" yelled Vegeta incredulously.

"Come on, Vegeta!" cried Goku. "If you can achieve Super Saiyan 4" --Vegeta's eye twitched slightly-- "then you can do this right now!"

They righted themselves and landed lightly on the ground. Omega Shenron sailed after them, both of his arms and all of his spikes glowing white.

"All right, Kakarot!" yelled Vegeta. "Let's go!" They both disappeared from view.

Omega Shenron landed on the ground with a loud thud. He looked wildly around, until he finally found Goku and Vegeta, high up in the sky. They were floating a few feet apart, with their arms over their heads.

Cold terror struck Omega Shenron. He frantically aimed a ki blast at them. But they moved. In dismay, the dragon saw that the image of them was still in its original position, and a second one was in an entirely different part of the air. More and more after-images of the two Saiyans appeared as they moved around at impossible speeds.

"Fu..." said the images simultaneously, beginning the Fusion Dance.

"No..." said the dragon.

"...sion..." said the images again, as more and more of them appeared, dotting Omega Shenron's entire field of vision. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to find the real Goku and Vegeta, but it was impossible.

"N...NOOOOOOOO!" he screamed, throwing his hands forward. A gigantic wave of ki flew from them, a mile wide and extremely powerful. Almost instantly it covered all of the after-images, vaporizing them.

Omega Shenron looked around in front of him. There was no trace of Goku and Vegeta anywhere. The air was still and quiet around the dragon. At last he breathed a sigh of relief.

"That was too close a call," he said. "I'd better get rid of the other two before they come up with any ideas."

Suddenly his blood froze as he heard two voices directly behind him:

"HAAAAAAAAAA!"

Omega Shenron whipped around in time to see Goku and Vegeta's fingers joined as an overwhelming flash of light enveloped them. He stood rooted to the spot, trembing violently. He could feel the power coming off of Goku and Vegeta even before their fusion was complete. When the light finally faded and the dragon got a good look at the new being standing before him, he backed away a few steps.

The being was covered in brown fur which left his chest bare, and had fire-red hair draped all over his head, neck and shoulders. Under the hair could be seen the same black-and-yellow vest that Gotenks wore, and the same white pants, out of which protruded a furry brown tail.

He reached up and pulled a lock of hair in front of his face. "Red hair," he said, in both Goku and Vegeta's voice. "That's odd."

"Wh-who are you now?" asked Omega Shenron.

"Who am I?" asked the fused Saiyan. He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm. Good question. My name is...Vegito? No...this feels different." He scratched his head. Suddenly his eyes lit up, and he looked back at the dragon, grinning. "You can call me Gogeta."

"Gogeta," repeated Omega Shenron. He snapped out of his trance and remembered the situation he was in. He had to act now. "You did quite well to fuse without my stopping you."

"Thanks," said Gogeta nonchalantly, looking himself over.

"But enough talk. It's time to get down to business, so I can see what you can really do."

"What's the rush?" asked Gogeta, throwing his tail from one hand to the other. "Don't you want more time to charge that ki blast you've been building?"

Omega Shenron gave a start. "What!" he demanded.

Gogeta dropped his tail and snapped his eyes back onto the dragon's. His smile vanished. "You thought you'd catch me off-guard? I can sense ki better than Goku or Vegeta, even if you're trying to hide it. I'd be pretty stupid if I let you hit me with that."

The dragon snarled and tried to make a move. In a flash, Gogeta dashed forward, brought his knee up into the dragon's chest, and slammed him to the ground with his elbow. Omega Shenron leapt back onto his feet and, seeing Gogeta still floating in the sky, fired the enormous ki he had had saved in his hands.

"Impressive," said Gogeta, who was standing next to Omega Shenron with his arms folded, watching the blast scorch through the sky. "If it just had more speed, it would have been perfect."

Omega Shenron wheeled around. "Arrogant bastard!" he spat, and punched. Gogeta disappeared, reappearing on top of the dragon's outstretched arm. He casually kicked him in the face.

"Are you even being serious!" raged the dragon, as he punched and kicked in a frenzy. Gogeta weaved in and out of every attack, finally placing his foot on the dragon's chest and pushing off. Omega Shenron bounced along the ground, getting back up with a groan.

"Would you like me to?" asked Gogeta. He crouched and clenched his fists. "HAAAAAAA!" he yelled, as flames seemed to envelop him. The ground around him cracked, and a crater began to form where he was standing. Planet Mutek trembled in his wake.

Farther away, Gohan's eyes snapped open. He sat bolt upright.

"Gotenks!" he yelled. But Gotenks was already standing a few yards away from him, staring off into the distance. Gohan approached him.

"You feel that power?" he asked in wonderment.

"Yeah," said Gotenks. "It's...incredible. The largest I've ever felt. It's probably a good thing we're keeping our distance."

"It's too big to be Omega Shenron, you know," said Gohan.

Gotenks smiled. "I know," he said. "It's Dad."

Omega Shenron staggered backward. "N-no..." he said. "It can't be...having that much power is impossible!"

"Once you've said that enough times, you learn to accept that it's not true," said Gogeta. "Believe me, I know."

"But this won't last forever," said the dragon, making an attempt at a confident grin. "You're in such a powerful transformed state, this fusion will only last you a few minutes."

"Oh?" said Gogeta, raising his eyebrows. "I don't think so. You'd be amazed how natural it feels to be a Super Saiyan 4. But, I am new at fusing this way. I'd give myself about twenty minutes. More than enough time to finish you."

Omega Shenron gulped.

"Now," continued Gogeta. "What was that you said about getting serious?"

He flitted out of view, reappearing an instant later in front of Omega Shenron. He gave a small jab to the dragon's stomach, leaving him winded. With his other hand he punched his enemy into the air and chased after him. Pulling up ahead of Omega Shenron, Gogeta waited for him to fly up to his level, then slapped him across the face with his tail. Omega Shenron recovered, rubbing his face.

"Had enough yet?" asked Gogeta with a smile. "Should I just end it now?"

Omega Shenron's eyes narrowed. "You weren't so confident when I was beating the hell out of you earlier."

Gogeta laughed. "True. But you're forgetting one thing." He appeared right in front of the dragon. "That was Goku and Vegeta. Remember? You're stronger than either of them alone. But together, nothing can match our power!"

At that moment, Omega Shenron shot two beams of ki from his eyes. Floating with his face so close to the dragon's, Gogeta didn't have enough time to duck completely. His forehead was singed, and he rubbed it furiously, grunting with pain. Omega Shenron took his moment. He roared with savage fury as he punched Gogeta in the face as hard as he could. Gogeta's head snapped back, and the dragon set upon him, attacking him with more ferocity than he had ever known, hitting every inch of him that he could reach. After a few seconds of this, Gogeta performed a roundhouse kick, hitting Omega Shenron in the side of the head and knocking him to the ground.

"Whew," said Gogeta, wiping his brow. "I should watch it from now on. You almost hurt me there." He threw a few ki blasts downward, and the dragon, who had been trying to get back up, crashed back down to the ground, a small crater surrounding him.

"Wow," said Gohan, watching from a distance. "This is incredible! I can't believe he's actually winning!"

"Yeah," said Gotenks, relieved. "And a good thing, too. I only had about eight minutes left of this fusion. Now I can relax." A glowing light began to envelop him.

"Wait!" cried Gohan. The light faded, and Gotenks stood there, looking confused.

"What?" he asked.

"Don't diffuse just yet," said Gohan.

"Why?"

"I don't know," said Gohan, frowning. "I just...woudn't jump to conclusions just yet. Stay fused a little longer, just to be safe."

Omega Shenron screamed with rage and flung himself at Gogeta. Gogeta threw his torso backward, and the dragon sailed straight past him.

"Don't think you're getting away just yet," he said, wrapping his tail around the dragon's leg as he passed. He yanked Omega Shenron back to him and punched him in the chest. He appeared behind the dragon, kicking him in the back so that he was thrown forward. There was Gogeta again, to grab the dragon's arm and swing him around in circles. Spotting a small hill in the distance, he released Omega Shenron, he flew toward it uncontrollably. An instant before he hit the hill, Gogeta appeared there, stopping the dragon in his path.

"Hi," he said, placing his hand on the back of Omega Shenron's head and slamming it into the hill, which collapsed on him. Gogeta flew a few yards backward.

"Ready?" he said. He drew his arm back, and a ball of ki began to form in it. Omega Shenron could not move.

"Here it comes!" yelled Gogeta, thrusting his arm forward. The ball exploded into a beam, which hit the dragon at point-blank range. There he lay, in a huge crater, bleeding profusely.

"Still in one piece?" asked Gogeta, hovering over him. "I forgot, you're resilient. Well, I guess I'll just have to put a bit more power into the next one."

"No..." whispered Omega Shenron to himself.

"Ready, Omega Shenron?" called Gogeta. He drew his hands back over his head, and a pale blue ball materialized in them. "When this hits you, you'll be destroyed! Here it comes!"

The dragon lay in the crater, cursing Gogeta in his head for patronizing him this way. Nevertheless, he was going to make him pay. Slowly he began to create the technique in his hands.

Gogeta's attack was now fully formed. "Here we go!" He brought his hands downward. "Big Bang...Kamehameha!"

The ball seemed to fired a Kamehameha from within it. Omega Shenron could feel the enrgy coming at him before it left Gogeta's hands. Reacting quickly, he spun onto his front and, still lying down, released the dark purple ball in his hands. It collided with the Big Bang Kamehameha and sent shockwaves rippling across Mutek. Gohan and Gotenks, standing far away from the battle, felt the energy from the collision vibrate off of them.

To Gogeta's surprise, his attack was being driven back by Omega Shenron's. The dragon was laughing, looking triumphant. Gogeta couldn't figure out what was wrong, until he realized that the Big Bang Kamehameha was rapidly losing its power. With a yell, Gogeta poured more energy into it, and it finally overtook the dragon's attack and smashed into him.

When the dust cleared, Omega Shenron got up. He was injured even more than before, but he was laughing.

"Like it?" he asked with almost savage pride. "It's my Minus Energy Ball. It weakens the power of anyone and anything it touches. You should consider yourself lucky it didn't make contact with you."

Gogeta frowned. "So now you actually have an attack that can hurt me," he said. "Well, I guess it's time I stopped playing around."

"What?" asked Omega Shenron in alarm.

"Well, it's been fun toying with you," continued Gogeta. "But I've got the rest of the universe to think about too. It's better if I just finish you off right now." In a flash he disappeared and reappeared behind Omega Shenron, kicking him into the sky.

"No!" cried the dragon, uncontrollably flying upward, watching Gogeta come after him.

Gogeta pulled up ahead of Omega Shenron, lifted both hands over his head and clasped them together.

"HAAAAAAA!" he yelled, slamming them down on the dragon's head. He smashed into the ground.

"It's over!" yelled Gogeta. He formed another Big Bang Kamehameha in his hands. Omega Shenron was only dimly aware of it, and knew that he would have no time to block, counter or dodge it.

"BIG BANG...KA...ME...HA...ME...HAAAAA!" yelled Gogeta. The tremendous attack shot forward toward the dragon.

"NOOOO!" yelled Omega Shenron. Suddenly, he remembered something. His feet glowed white and expelled two powerul blasts of ki. Using Gotenks' ki jet technique, he blasted out of the way of the Big Bang Kamehameha, rocketing far away from Gogeta.

"What?" asked Gogeta in surprise. He saw the dragon shooting away at unimaginable speeds. With a shrug, he raced after him.

Omega Shenron came to a halt. He could sense Gogeta coming after him. And suddenly he had a solution.

"Now it ends, Omega Shenron!" yelled Gogeta, racing toward him with his hand drawn back, a powerful ki ball pulsating in it.

"Yes, it does!" roared his enemy. "I'll show you the power of a dragon!"

He clapped both hands together, and a narrow, purple beam shot out from it. Gogeta came to a halt, spluttered, and looked down at himself. The beam had pierced his stomach and chest, leaving a thin vertical slit where it struck. It was still in him, poking through his back. Gogeta looked at Omega Shenron in alarm.

"Grrr...GRAAAAAAAAH!" screamed Omega Shenron, spreading his hands in a sudden display of power. Gogeta gave a terrible cry of pain, and split into two halves. Goku bounced along the ground and came to a halt on his back. Vegeta did the same, ten feet away.

"Aah...ah!" yelled Goku, as his body went limp, and his breathing became more labored.

"N...no," gasped Vegeta. He let his head fall back on the ground. Neither of them had the strength to move.