Chapter 28 – The Universe's Last Hope
"No!" cried Gohan and Gotenks simultaneously.
"They barely have any power left!" yelled Gotenks.
"He'll kill them," said Gohan gravely.
They looked at each other for a moment. Then they blasted off toward Omega Shenron, powering up as they flew.
All was silent. Omega Shenron floated in midair, injured, but intact. He watched Goku and Vegeta struggling vainly to stand on the ground below. He laughed, though it hurt his chest to do so.
"At last," he said quietly. "We come to the end. You two had me quite terrified for my life, I freely admit it. But now it's all over." His fists began to glow and crackle with energy.
Suddenly, there was a rush of wind behind him. His eyes darted behind him, and he turned with a roar, slapping Gohan and Gotenks away with one arm. They floated next to him in the air, breathing heavily.
"Welcome," said the dragon. "You're just in time to watch helplessly as I kill these two. And then your turn will come."
"You're not as strong as you were before!" yelled Gotenks. "We all took a lot out of you!"
"How wonderful for you," replied Omega Shenron sarcastically. "Now I'm only twice as powerful as the two of you put together." He turned back to Goku and Vegeta. "Now, if you'll excuse me for a moment."
Gohan and Gotenks floated there, unsure of what they could do. The dragon prepared his fists again, then stopped. A thought crossed his mind.
"No..." he said slowly. "Here's a better way..."
He turned back to Gohan and Gotenks. "I'll destroy you all at once." His entire body lit up with a glowing white hue. "Along with this planet."
Gohan started. "W-what? But this is Planet Mutek! It's practically indestructible!"
"Oh?" said the dragon, his voice growing louder as the ki in his body swelled around him. "Haven't you seen the craters that have been forming throughout this battle? You don't think I have extra strength in reserve, to blow the whole thing away?" He was yelling now; the wind from the energy blowing around his body made it hard to hear much of anything. "Go on, try to stop me!"
Gohan and Gotenks yelled battle cries and rushed forward. They didn't even make contact with Omega Shenron's body. The ki surrounding every inch of him blasted them backward before they could get close enough.
"BWAHAHAHAHA!" crowed the dragon. "Now it's ready! So long, you annoying pests!"
He brought his arms and legs inward, crouching into a ball in midair. At that exact moment, a long rope of ki snaked upward from the ground, wrapped itself three times around Omega Shenron's left arm, and yanked it backward. The dragon gave a yell as the ki around him reverted back into his body, his concentration thrown off.
Startled, he looked down at the source of the ki rope. At the other end of it, lying on the ground, with his arm and finger outstretched, and a fierce, determined look in his eyes, was Son Goku.
"You're still alive!" raged Omega Shenron.
"V-Vegeta! Help me!" yelled Goku.
"What? Like this?" asked Vegeta quickly. He lifted his arm, grunting with pain as he did so, and shot his own ki rope from his finger. Omega Shenron made a grab for it, but it snaked out of his grasp and wrapped itself three times around the dragon's right arm.
"What is this?" growled Omega Shenron, both arms ensnared.
"Ki...Kisaku," breathed Goku. "Uub's technique. A good teacher...should be able to learn...from his student."
"How touching," sneered Omega Shenron. "Unfortunately for you, you're too weak for it to have any effect. This is a flimsy technique and you know it. I could break out of this right now." As if to demonstrate, he brought his arms together. The twin Kisaku ropes crackled slightly.
Goku and Vegeta closed their eyes, pained expressions on their faces. Their fingers glowed. Omega Shenron watched them, puzzled, before he realized that the Kisaku were lengthening, spreading up both arms and across his chest. They joined together, pinning his arms to his sides, holding him in place. Omega Shenron tried to yank his arms back out, but was surprised at how strong the ki ropes now were.
"What the...?" he exclaimed in disbelief. But it was Gohan who spoke next.
"You've got no ki signal!" he cried out, alarmed.
"No," said Goku, his voice almost a whisper. "It's all going into this."
The dragon's eyes widened. "It's true!" he yelled. "You're using all your energy, you fools! As soon as you let go, you'll die!"
"Yes," said Vegeta. "We know."
"Don't tell me you plan to sacrifice yourselves!" roared Omega Shenron incredulously. "It won't work!"
"HYAAAA!" yelled the two Saiyans, yanking the Kisaku ropes back toward them. Omega Shenron crashed onto the ground in between them, still unable to move. Goku and Vegeta's arms lay stretched out to their sides, still connected to the ropes.
"Now it's up to you!" yelled Goku to Gohan and Gotenks.
"No!" yelled Gohan, Gotenks, and Omega Shenron at once.
"Kakarot," said Vegeta. "We've both been granted...a one-day return to Earth before, haven't we?"
"Yeah," said Goku. "And we've both been wished back...by the Dragonballs?"
Vegeta smiled. "Multiple...times."
"Then...I guess this is really it. Goodbye, our children. It's about time we passed the world onto you."
"Dad..." began Gohan.
"You...can't..." said Gotenks.
Suddenly, a fierce light blazed back into Vegeta's eyes. "Now!" he screamed at them. "Finish it! Do it now!"
Gohan and Gotenks were startled into action. "All right!" yelled Gotenks. He surveyed the three of them lying on the ground, figuring out what to do. Coming to a decision, he puffed up his cheeks, breathing out a shimmering white copy of himself. It was identical, although a bit smaller, with shorter hair, and it's torso ending in a waving, ghostly tail.
"Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack," he laughed to himself. "Childish...but it'll get the job done." Steeling himself, he breathed out more and more ghosts. After almost a minute, Gohan had trouble counting them at a glance. Finally, Gotenks stopped, breathless.
"Twenty...five...ghosts," he gasped. "Should be...enough."
Gohan heard Omega Shenron struggling and grunting beneath them.
"No," he said suddenly. "Omega Shenron's too resistant to attacks. If you send those ghosts after him, all you'll do is kill Dad and Vegeta. What we have to do is lower his defenses, then strike."
"Well...we'd better do it...quickly," said Gotenks nervously. "My fusion's...practically up."
"Hold on," said Gohan. He waved his palm once over the mass of ghosts, spreading a translucent ball of ki around them.
"There," he said. "They won't explode until they hit their target." He took a deep breath and cupped his hands at his sides. "Now all we have to do is launch it."
Gotenks' eyes widened as he watched the ki begin to grow in Gohan's palms. Watched his eyes, determined.
"All right," he said, a tear forming in the back of his eye. He joined Gohan. They recited together.
"Ka..."
"No!" shrieked Omega Shenron. "It can't end like this!"
"Me..."
"Kakarot," said Vegeta. "When we meet in the next world..."
"Ha..."
"...we're going to have a real fight. And we will finish it!"
"Me..."
Goku laughed, allowing his head to rest on the ground. "Deal," he said.
Omega Shenron twisted desperately in his place, but remained where he was. Cold terror gripped him as he realized that, with his ki so low, he would not survive this.
High above him, Gohan and Gotenks threw their hands forward.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
The two immensely powerful beams flew from their hands at diagonal angles. A few yards above the Ghost Ball, they collided, forming a new, even larger and more powerful Kamehameha. It shone a brilliantly bright shade of blue and shot straight at the Ghost Ball, hitting it with its full force.
Gohan and Gotenks did their best to keep the beam steady as it forced the ball lower and lower. It shot toward Omega Shenron at blazing speeds. A few feet before it hit, however, Gohan and Gotenks could already feel it slowing down.
"What's happening!" yelled Gohan.
On the ground, Omega Shenron lay with his teeth bared fiercely, emitting a soft growl. His entire body lit up white again, and the whirling mass of white ki began once again to surround him. His body, though still fixed in place by Goku and Vegeta, was visibly trembling. His eyes were focused unblinkingly on the ball in front of him.
"RrrrrrrRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he snarled, as the ki swirled all around him and Mutek began to shake again.
"No!" yelled Gohan. The Super Ghost Kamehameha was being driven back by Omega Shenron. He glanced to his left for a moment and saw Gotenks beginning to weaken his grip.
"Keep it together, Gotenks!" screamed Gohan.
"Easy for you to say!" he shot back. "You're not past your fusion limit!"
They both turned their attention back to their beam. They pushed harder than they ever had in their lives, their muscles bulging and straining with the effort. The beam began to slowly inch back toward Omega Shenron.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" screamed the dragon, increasing his ki still further. Mutek began to crack in certain areas along the surface, and the Super Ghost Kamehameha was forced back toward Gohan and Gotenks.
The ghosts inside the ball looked helplessly on, doing their best not to crash into each other. "Go! Go! Go!" they cried.
Gohan and Gotenks were slowly losing their strength. The planet was cracking more and more, and they could not overcome Omega Shenron's enormous ki.
"Push...just...a little...more!" yelled Gohan.
"I'm...trying!" screamed Gotenks.
"Vegeta!" yelled Goku on the ground. "Help me!"
"What!" yelled Vegeta, unable to lift his head.
"Move...your...arm!"
Vegeta struggled with all his might. "Hhhhhk!" he grunted.
"Come on...Vegeta! We can do this!"
"This is it!" screamed Omega Shenron. "I will be free! Goodbye, you miserable planet! AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
AAAAAAAAAAAH!" yelled Gohan and Gotenks.
AAAAAAAAAAAH!" cried Goku and Vegeta. And, with a final burst of strength, they threw their arms forward.
"W...what!" shrieked the dragon as he was hurled into the Ghost Ball. "Wha--" He broke the seal.
Omega Shenron's scream was drowned out by the sound of the explosion. Twenty-five Super Ghosts crashed into him in rapid succession, immediately followed by an unusually powerful Kamehameha. The explosion destroyed the ground all around them, rocking Planet Mutek to its core. A wave of energy emanated from the impact spot, hitting Gohan and Gotenks. They were thrown to the ground.
Gotenks split on impact; Goten and Trunks lay gasping, coughing, and clutching their chests on the hard ground. Gohan was on his hands and knees, coughing at the ground.
Finally, the noise died down. There was only immense clouds of dust swirling around the area of the explosion. They could see nothing.
After a few minutes, a figure flitted into view in front of them. Gohan looked up slowly, and saw a tall man with long hair, purple skin, and an extremely serious look on his face.
"Ki...Kibitoshin!" gasped Gohan. "Is it...over?"
"I don't know," said Kibitoshin quietly, his eyes narrowed, staring at the dust in the distance. "There is only one person who can know now."
Without another word, he stooped down and grabbed Gohan, Goten, and Trunks. He put two fingers to his forehead, and teleported.
Earth was completely devastated. There were very few humans left alive. All the cities and buildings had crumbled to the ground; the planet was a wasteland. The only part that was unharmed was Dende's lookout, which was the only structure that had not been in contact with the ground. It was here that the other fighters had taken refuge.
Piccolo stood quietly on the edge of the lookout, watching the wreckage of the Earth. Uub wandered idly around the lookout, inspecting various things. Yamcha and Tenshinhan were talking quietly. Krillin and Android 18 stood nearby, their daughter Marron with them. They had picked her up and brought her to the lookout when the Earth was in danger of being destroyed. Pan and Bra sat on the ground, occasionally talking, and watching Uub. Hercule and Buu were stting on the ground near them. Chi-chi, Bulma, and Videl were talking to Dende and Mr. Popo.
Kibitoshin appeared unexpectedly in front of Dende. Immediately Chi-chi stopped talking, took one look at Gohan and Goten, and screamed. "Oh, my boys! What happened to you!"
"Gohan!" cried Videl. "You—"
"Dende," said Kibitoshin, cutting her off. "Can you sense anything still?"
Dende closed his eyes, concentrating. Everyone was silent, waiting. After a few moments, Dende opened his eyes.
"No," he said. "It's over. The Dragonballs have been destroyed."