Disclaimer: I do not own Dragonball Z.

Author's Notes:  WHEW!!  This one was long in coming, but it's my longest chapter so far.  Believe me when I say I've worked long and hard on this one.  I thought about breaking it up into smaller chapters, but I didn't have the heart to do that.  I just wanted to plow on through.  You will find this chapter extremely strange.  I tried to explain all the references enough so that you could understand it, even if you haven't done research into underworld mythology.  I… have.  Believe me I have.  And that just brought out my odd sense of humor even more.  Needless to say, this chapter isn't the usual fare of angst.  Plenty of angst and drama in it, don't you worry about that.

I feel I need to have a second disclaimer.  As luck would have it, as I was writing this chapter, I would also read chapters of Mythic Descent by Dragoness Eclectic.  I believe Tonifranz mentioned this fine work earlier.  I was horrified to find that what I'd just written was similar to some parts in the Dragoness's epic of Vegeta's journey through the Underworld.  But I didn't change it.  I didn't have the heart to change it.  So, I'll simply say that any similarity between this chapter of "The Soul" and any part of "Mythic Descent" is honestly and purely coincidental.  There.  Now that my conscience is clear, I can get on with the chapter.

Chapter 36: Levels: Journey through the Underworld

Darkness.

And… cold.

But not silence.  Once on Earth I could find reprieve from him.  Now…

I can't.

Ever.

Jita lay in the darkness – so dark and cold that she couldn't even tell if she had a body anymore.  She could barely feel the hard gravely floor against her back and her head, but what if those were just phantom pains?  What if her body had really been taken away, and now she was just a free-floating spirit in the lower realms of hell?

AND WHAT IF THIS IS ALL A DREAM, HMM, JITA? 

A dream…

WHAT IF YOU'LL WAKE UP, AND FIND YOURSELF LYING ALL COZY NEXT TO YOUR HUSBAND, AS YOU HAVE SO MANY NIGHTS BEFORE WHEN I'VE JUST BEEN TRYING TO TALK WITH YOU OH SO PLEASANTLY. 

Yes.  That must be it.  It… it's been too short a time.  I'm not ready to die yet.  I planned to live a full happy life with my family before this happened.  Well… it can't have happened.  It hasn't happened.  I'm all right.  I'm just…

MAYBE IT'S STILL THE NIGHT BEFORE THE BUDOUKAI. 

I'm just having a restless night from the excitement. 

YOU KNOW HOW I TORMENT YOU ON RESTLESS NIGHTS. 

And…

…JUST BECAUSE…

…I've dreamt of dying at the Budoukai…

…CERTAINLY DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU'VE DIED AND GONE…

Suddenly, the pain began, forcing the agonizing awareness of the existence of her body onto Jita's unprepared psyche.  Through the white-hot and equally cold lightning streaks that were flashing through every inch of her body, Jita managed to strangle out the end to the sentence.

"…to Hell…"

                                                         *****

"So this is what Hell looks like."

Goku cocked his head quizzically as the two Saiyans flew through and past the Nimbus-looking clouds into the very upper reaches of Hell.  "I thought you'd been here before, Vegeta."

Vegeta snorted and shook his head.  "I was hardly dead long enough to even get through the line at King Enma's place, much less go on to Hell.  So that's it.  We're going to have to navigate our way through a place that neither of us has been."

"Oh, I've been to Hell plenty of times," Goku said casually.

The two landed neatly next to the Hell check-in station.  The office demon there smiled when he recognized Goku.  "Hello, Mr. Goku, sir," the strange lisped voice rang out, belying his demonic appearance.  "Long time no see.  Frank and I were just talking the other day, wondering when you were finally going to die.  Are you close yet?  I really can't keep up with how various mortals age."

Goku laughed nervously.  "Probably not gonna die any time soon, Bob."

Bob smiled the creepy smile that only office demons could pull off.  "Yes, I'm certain with a strong buff body like yours, you won't be dropping off any time soon.  Still working out?  And just who's your friend?"

Without giving any sort of answer, Goku mouthed to Vegeta, "Let's go," before there was an awkward situation.  "See ya!" he called back to Bob, who was looking a bit put out.

Vegeta's eyes widened slightly as he interpreted the whole scene.  "What…?"

Goku laughed slightly.  "They're pretty much all like that.  You get used to it after a while.  It is weird, though.  That guy's been after me since he guided me to Snake Way the first time I died."

Vegeta shot a glance over at the tall Saiyan and shuddered.  I don't want to know. "So, Hell," he quickly changed the subject.  "What, were you being punished in the afterlife by having to spend time in Hell?  And what would the pure-hearted perfect "Goku" have done in the afterlife to deserve that?"

Goku laughed.  "Nah, it wasn't punishment.  We have guard duty for mortals for that.  When you're a Warrior of the Dead, going to Hell is an honor.  We're sent to quell rebellions when the demons can't handle it.  I've gone to several levels of Hell, but not as far as the Lower Realms.  Me and Pikkon were sent down most times.  Nothing more fun than taking on some of the stronger of the damned."

Vegeta grunted.  "The way you talk, Kakarrot, one would almost think you missed being dead."

Goku gave Vegeta a shadowed look, quickly hidden.  Vegeta uncharacteristically shut off that line of conversation.  He remembered how Goku was during those first few months when he'd been brought back to life.  It seemed like he just didn't know how to be alive anymore.  He'd go without food or sleep, just from not remembering to take care of himself.  He'd pulled out of it, but being dead had obviously affected him in so many ways that he'd just never been the same as he was eight years earlier.  Probably never will be the same… must be why that son of his has so many problems with him.  Thoughts of Goten pulled Vegeta's mind back to their current mission.  "If you're such an expert on Hell, Kakarrot, then how exactly do you find west in a place with no sun or moon?"

Goku grinned and scratched the back of his head.  "That's easy, Vegeta.  You just follow the signs.  They're never wrong."

Vegeta stopped in front of a sign – the only sign he could see in any direction, and read the big bold YOU ARE HERE printed in great red letters.  He quirked an eyebrow up at his rival.  "How exactly is THAT supposed to help us go west?"

At the words 'go west,' the seemingly useless sign perked up, flashed to a brighter red, and began gliding on Hell's floor in a direction, presumably west.  The sign hesitated mechanically, seeming to wait for the two Saiyans to start following.

Vegeta gave a dead-pan expression.  "You've got to be kidding me."

Goku, taking up the prompts from the sign, looked back at Vegeta.  "What?  What did you think I meant?"

Vegeta shook his head, realizing that he'd probably never get anything sane out of Goku, no matter where he was.  "Never mind.  Just… lead on."

And so, the two headed west.  Long silvery spikes and an otherwise desolate wasteland surrounded them, peppered and contrasted with… parks?  And ice cream shops.  And lemonade stands.  And nice cultured groves of trees, seeming to grow without any nourishment from the barren rocky ground.  Finally, Vegeta had had as much as he could stand.  "Kakarrot… what is all this?!"

Goku looked at Vegeta quizzically.  "What?  Oh!" he exclaimed as he realized how weird this much look for a newcomer.  "This is the Home for Infinite Losers – always the first level of Hell.  Mostly lesser demons run this place, so it has the most rebellions.  Since just being here and having only a fraction of the power you had in life is punishment enough, the demons try to make it look nice.  We… may be meeting some old friends here."

Suddenly a blast of energy enveloped the two.  It might have knocked them off their feet, if they hadn't been as powered up as they could be in their normal form already – just as a precaution.  Instead, the flashy yet weak blast faded out, to show some very frightened members of the Ginyu force.

"Hey!" Goku said cheerily.  "Long time no see!  What'd you do that for?"

After a moment of gaping, the four members of the Ginyu force gave each other a look, and nodded.  The large redhead, Recoome, suddenly screamed, "DANCE OF RETREAT!!"  In a flurry of complicated and choreographed movements, the four Ginyu members, who seemed to have filled in the gaps in their left routine left by their absent captain, quickly completed their dance and flew like mad away from the two Saiyans.

While Goku was still recovering from watching the ludicrous display, Vegeta took a moment to laugh at the fleeing dead warriors.  "Never thought I'd see the day that the members of the "mighty" Ginyu Force would be this pathetic.  I actually once considered them formidable opponents."

Goku shrugged.  "Well, they're probably off to warn the others.  So, we can either expect an ambush or nothing at all.  Depends on if Frieza and Cell feel lucky today."

The sign had resumed its course, and the two began following it once more.  Finally registering what Goku had said, Vegeta eyes went a little wider and his voice went almost imperceptibly quieter.  "Frieza's here?"

Goku looked over at his rival and nodded, noting the sudden tenseness in Vegeta's posture.  Of course.  Even though Vegeta had FAR surpassed his old master/tormenter after all this time, it WOULD be hard to face him for nearly the first time since Frieza's had killed him.  Goku grinned and shrugged to himself.  He wasn't worried.  Maybe it would be liberating to see how much of a joke Frieza was now.

It didn't take long until Goku spotted the familiar sight of the Pool of Blood, and surrounding one-story office buildings, the gym for demons, and the more elaborate amusement park.  The park was in various stages of repair, as it always seemed to be in ever since the fight on Namek, when so many of Frieza's minions died.

Goku looked around for the usual crowd of defeated enemies.  The place was strangely empty, even of the disembodied souls that were always underfoot.  "There was probably a panic when the Ginyu force reported our presence," Goku remarked thoughtfully.

A low laugh came from around King Enma's peach tree.  "You're right, of course, Goku," said the oddly accented man.

Vegeta gave a start.  "Zarbon?"

The effeminate former right hand man of Frieza walked out from the tree's shadow.  "Good to be remembered, really.  Hello, Vegeta.  How've ya been?"

Vegeta regarded the man he remembered so differently with a single raised eyebrow.  "I've been better.  So, why didn't you turn tail and flee like the others?"

Zarbon snorted.  "Why should I?  The only way that I'd need to fight you and subsequently get beaten to a pulp is to provoke you.  Of course, Frieza was probably smart to run.  Knowing you, Vegeta, you'd probably make his immediate future miserable just for the fun of it."

Vegeta smiled at the idea.  It would be fun, just time-consuming.  Once he got started on that, he probably wouldn't want to quit any time soon.  "So it isn't Lord Frieza any more?" he said mockingly.

Zarbon shrugged.  "Why should it be?  Soon as I died, I considered myself completely free of him."  He sighed.  "Listen, Vegeta, you and I were never exactly chums, but I always thought we had a certain understanding.  Neither of us could raise a hand to Frieza… yet… so both of us had the smarts to stay alive, which required both of us to play his little games.  I almost assumed that if it came down to rebellion, and if I was sure that we were going to win, we'd be on the same side against him."  Zarbon laughed bitterly.  "I guess I was wrong."

Vegeta crossed his arms, refusing to feel guilt for killing the man.  "It wouldn't have worked anyway."

Zarbon smirked.  "I suppose it wouldn't have.  So, what are you two doing here, anyway?  Neither of you are dead.  What, is it some demon rebellion that Pikkon and Olibu couldn't handle?  Or maybe the soul washing machine got backed up and all the evil possessed an office demon?"

Goku laughed.  "When would that ever happen?  Nah, I bet those two have everything under control.  We're on a rescue mission to the Lower Realms of Hell."

Zarbon's smirk melted into a look of surprise.  "The Lower Realms…?  Who in Hell would be in the Lower Realms that you'd need to rescue?"

Vegeta scowled.  "Long story.  Remember my sister?"

Zarbon nodded.  "Yeah.  Um… Jita was her name?  Oh!" he suddenly exclaimed.  "So that's her that I keep hearing.  The demons keep saying that a resurrected servant of the Lord of the Lower Realms of Hell has recently died and greatly displeased her master."

Goku cleared his throat.  "Umm… you said you keep "hearing" her?"

Zarbon nodded.  "For those who are used to listening, and when it's really quiet, you can hear the screaming…"

Vegeta immediately snapped back into action.  "Kakarrot, we are wasting time.  We need to save your son and my sister before it's too late."

Zarbon cocked his head.  "Son…?  Right.  Long story.  Well, as long as the usual guard demons are away…" Zarbon floated up to the branches of the peach tree, picked four peaches, and deftly tossed them to the two Saiyans.  "This may be the last food you can eat if you're going through the levels of Hell.  May come in handy.  Plus, some of the Hell fighters are restless for some reason.  You may need quick healing after a while."

Goku and Vegeta bemusedly stowed the fruit away for later eating.  "So," Goku asked, "how many levels are there now, Zarbon?"

Zarbon thought for a minute.  "A few of the cultural levels were moved to another dimension, along with the ambiguous levels of other ages, so I think the last count was six, including H.F.I.L. and the Lower Realms.  They squished all the circles of Dante into one level, so that should save some time.  I think I heard that Hades was having his weekly poker game a bit early, so knock before you go into the palace.  I… guess that's all that's going on.  Pretty slow in Hell, to tell you the truth."

Goku grinned.  "Should make King Enma pretty happy.  Well, see ya!  And thanks!"

Quicker than a thought, a small ki ball flew past Zarbon.  He tensed, thinking that the Saiyans had changed their minds and attacked him, but no.  Neither of them would have missed.  Instead, a white and purple figure had fallen from an outcropping above the prison cave.  Zarbon laughed at the plight of his old master, and at the glee in the eyes of Vegeta, who was already turning away.

"Nice shot!" Zarbon called out after the departing Saiyan.

Vegeta looked over his shoulder and gave a nod.  In all his life, he'd always wanted to do that.

As the two neared an ornate staircase with a sign over it flashing LEVEL TWO and the guide sign came to a rest, tilting slightly to point downward, Vegeta shook his head slightly.  "I wonder…" he trailed off.

Goku regarded him.  "Wonder what?  How Hell can change a person like that so much?"

Vegeta shook his head in negation.  "I wonder if he was always like that."

                                                           *****

Goten sat shivering in the dark, rocking back and forth, back and forth.  His low bed seemed harder that night, and no matter how hard he'd tried to fall asleep before the nightly terrifying sounds began, he couldn't.  His bed was just too hard, and it was too cold and too dark.

Where am I again?

Oh, yes.  At home, where he should be.  He laid down and curled up, willing himself to go to sleep, and feeling around for… who?  No one slept with him in his bed.  Gohan was sleeping in the next bed, but he was lost to the world in a book.  Soon, he'd put the book down, turn his reading light off, and feign sleep.  But Goten knew his brother would take a long while in actually getting to sleep.  Gohan wasn't the only one who feigned sleep.

"Gohan?"

There was no answer.  Of course there wasn't.  Gohan probably hadn't even heard the boy, so intent was he on that book.  Goten thought about calling a few more times a bit louder to get the older boy's attention, but it didn't seem worth the effort.  Goten was just so tired…  He knew he'd drag in the morning, probably causing his mom to go into a worrying fit.  Just as long as she didn't call the local doctor.  That man was creepy, and Goten hated needles.  Of course, he never vocalized that fear any more.  Not when every time he did so, his mother would look at him so strangely and AGAIN tell him how like his father he was.  That just made Goten… so uncomfortable.  He didn't even know the man, but if he was anything like his mother – and everyone else – said, he'd be too good to live.

Goten flinched in his bed when the wailing started.  First low, then growing in intensity, broken by short gasps of breath.  In the dimness, he saw his brother tense up in his bed.  Goten pulled tighter into a ball, willing himself to tune the sound out.  He gave up when he heard the sobs in the bed adjacent to him.  He knew that would go on for some time, and he just wanted to get some sleep.

Casting around on his bedside table, nearly knocking his alarm clock to the floor, he finally found the headphones and cassette player – hand-me-downs from Gohan.  The headset was originally a study tool for Gohan, to educate him in his sleep, but he had long outgrown such equipment.  There were no music cassettes at the house, so Goten kept the study tapes in.  They didn't make him any smarter, but they DID help him get to sleep.

Goten pulled the headphones on and pressed play, not even bothering to rewind the tape. 

Je n'ai pas une âme.  I have no soul.

The strangely comforting feminine voice rang out in intermingled French and English, first providing a French phrase, then supplying the English translation. 

Je m'appelle La Voix.  My name is The Voice.

On and on the voice droned…

Tu es mon prisonnier.  You are my prisoner.

…slowly but surely growing increasingly more masculine…

Je dévorerai ta vie.  I will devour your life.

…and more mocking…

Ta femme et ton fils te détestent.  Your wife and son detest you.

… until it was too much to bear…

Ils ne sont pas des âmes…

Shaking, Goten pulled one headphone off an ear, listening into the darkness.  Gohan's sobbing had stopped, but his mother's wailing and sobbing and crying continued louder than before.  Goten frowned in frustration.  How am I supposed to find peace with that woman wailing her lungs out all night?  Can't she just get it through her head that he's dead, and I'm not him?  Can't they just get over my oh-so-caring father that didn't even want to come back to life?  How can he be so great if I can't sleep because of the crying that HE'S caused?

Goten blinked, realizing his hard cold bed was gone.  So was the bed next to him, along with his brother.  So was his room.  So was the whole house.  He was lying on a cold stone floor, feeling much older than six, and practically dying for a drink of water.  All that remained was the woman's cries.

Why won't she just shut up? Goten thought.  How am I supposed to sleep?  I can't even find quiet in Hell.

STOP CARING FOR THE PERSON, AND THE CRIES WILL GO AWAY.

Goten laid back and sighed.  The cries grew slightly dimmer.  In the back of his mind, though, he thought, What would Mom be doing in Hell?

Somewhere in the darkness, not too far away from the curled up demi-Saiyan, Jita continued to cry.

                                                           *****

The first thought Vegeta had upon entering the second level of Hell was, How can Hell have a sky?

The second thought was, Why does this place look so extremely familiar?

His third thought was tinged in irritation.  Why is Kakarrot grinning at me?

Vegeta's initial confusion was understandable.  It certainly didn't look like any level of Hell.  Even on the top level of Hell, you would never be treated to a clear starry sky, with a weak quarter moon hanging on the horizon just as the last remnants of sunset were fading.  While, to anyone else, the red cliffs and dangerous looking plant life would be the archetypical Hell, or at least Perjury, to Vegeta it was comforting.  Inviting.  Familiar.

"Prince Vegeta.  Kakarrot.  Welcome to the Saiyan level."

Vegeta whipped around to be greeted by the sight of his long-dead partner and bodyguard…

"Raditz.  What are you doing here?"

Raditz smirked.  "I'm dead, Vegeta.  And evil.  Hence my existence in Hell.  I should be asking you that question."

As Vegeta scowled, ready to go into a long detailed description of why Raditz was not worthy of speaking to him like that, Goku intervened.  "Raditz, you know what he means.  How did you know that we were going to be here?  We were kinda going for a secret journey through Hell."

"Dad told me to meet you.  He said what you were seeking would be found in the palace, so if you'll follow me Prince Vegeta," he said with a slight bow.  "Brother," he said as an afterthought.

"Oh, that explains it," Goku said knowingly, and wordlessly began to follow his brother.

Vegeta shook his head in frustration and walked with them, frowning that he had to walk at a quicker pace just to keep up with the two tall Saiyan brothers.  Why had he never noticed how alike Kakarrot and Raditz were?  "And why does that 'explain it,' hmm, Kakarrot?  Why exactly is it so conceivable that Bardock would know of our arrival, and not Raditz?  And when have you started being so chummy?  Last I knew you were trying to kill each other… and did."

Goku sighed.  "It's a long story…"

"Dad has vision, and Kakarrot and I made up when he died the second time.  He's spent a lot of time in the Saiyan level, just getting to know mom… dad… the other Saiyans…," Raditz interrupted, impatient with unneeded conversation.

"Visions…?" Vegeta prompted.

"Well…" Goku began.

"A thing that Dad was supposed to kill on a purge mission cursed him with the ability to see the future in flashes.  He still has 'em in Hell."

"Will you let me say something?" Goku asked a bit forcefully, the barest unfamiliar note of exasperation edging into his voice.

"Talk faster, little brother," Raditz said simply.

Vegeta laughed under his breath.  It was refreshing to see the oh-so-confident Goku get shaken by someone other than Chichi, but he didn't get into family quarrels.  That was one of the classic blunders.

Once they had gotten out of the area where ptakis hunted (birds native to Planet Vegeta with poisoned talons that could breathe acid fumes), the three Saiyans took to the sky.  On the horizon they could see a graceful, yet somewhat severe city outlined in the lingering red of moonlight reflected off the Blood Cliffs – known both for its color and for the high number of Tsufuru executions that had taken place there, or at least on their counterparts in reality.  Vegeta wondered about the perfect recreation of his home world from so long ago.  Had it been created through the magic of Hell by the very will of the Saiyan race, or… had the Planet Vegeta become so connected with the race that had conquered it and wrested it away from the hands of the Tsufuru, that it had almost formed a life and consciousness of its own, and had gone the way of all life once swept away?

And why exactly did the Afterlife always make Vegeta so philosophical?

"Raditz," he asked, "why are we in an exact replica of Planet Vegeta.  This seems more like Heaven than Hell."

Raditz grinned.  "Well, my Prince, it's still Hell, but it's not all that bad.  We get to live here, with our own level and everything, as payment.  We have a purpose here, and it's not killing people either."

Vegeta shook his head to clear his mind and focus once again on his mission.  Rescue Jita.  …And Goten, of course.  Though, that was why Goku was here.  He could save Goten… he was his father, after all…

I'm going to see my father.

The thought came unbidden to Vegeta's mind, and once there it couldn't be shaken loose.  His father – the king.  Vegeta had gone through layer upon layer of how he felt for his father.  When he was a child – truly a child, before the lizard had taken him and every vestige of childhood – Vegeta had practically worshipped his father.  The king was everything he was supposed to be – everything he wanted to be.  The man had seemed huge to the nine-year-old child.  And, though Vegeta bested his father in potential at the time, King Vegeta was still the stronger and more experienced.  Every moment spent with his son, every glance and word, Vegeta had been eager to drink it in.  Even the disregard King Vegeta showed the Princess Jita was in no way an impediment to the hero worship Vegeta held for his father.

And then there was Frieza.  While promising a world of pain and death for his father if the prince did not follow every command, Frieza made it perfectly clear to him that King Vegeta had sold him – to save his own hide.  At first Vegeta had laughed it off, but the constant insistence of the truth of that one dark deed of his father – as well as the open hatred Jita often voiced for the man – all combined into a resentment, if not hatred, within Vegeta for his father.  The news of his father's death did not change Vegeta's feelings in the slightest.  Not while Frieza was teaching him so carefully to hate.

And then there was Earth.  Vegeta's failed attempt at rebellion against Frieza had given Vegeta a new respect for his late father.  He had blamed King Vegeta for his imprisonment, his slavery, and even the destruction of planet Vegeta and the deaths of all the Saiyans.  He'd always been convinced that King Vegeta could have and should have stopped it all.  But he himself – the Prince – stronger and more schooled in the art of war that his father had ever been – had failed and died himself at the hands of the man who had killed all the Saiyans.  His return to life had given him the chance to reevaluate his opinion of his father – and have respect for him.

But what would be the King's opinion of his only son?  Would it be shame?  Respect?  Pride?  Indifference…?

"We're here," Raditz said, pulling the doors to the palace open all too soon.  Vegeta, in his reverie, hadn't even noticed the many Saiyans looking on in the city surrounding the palace… all ghosts he could barely remember from his childhood.  It DID feel a little spooky being able to see them, in a place in Hell that seemed less like Hell and more like home, and not be able to feel them in his head, like he had so long ago.

As the three entered the main chamber and throne room of the Palace of Vegeta, they were greeted by the entire Saiyan Court – all the elites and most of the first-classes.  Vegeta surprised himself when he could remember most of their names… Quata, his tutor; Lymonia, an older woman who was one of the few to actually raise her voice to Vegeta when he was a child; even, to Vegeta's amazement, some of his childhood friends, still trapped in the youthful body they'd died in – never able to grow.  Kakra in particular was yelping jovially at his former best friend, not deterred in the least that Vegeta's body had far surpassed him in age.  But he held back, for which Vegeta was partly relieved and disappointed.  He wasn't sure how far he wanted to remember even the good times in his childhood.

"Prince Vegeta," a gravelly voice called to him from the front of the room – though not in a shout of recognition.  This was a voice used to command.  Vegeta turned away from the throng of Saiyans to greet…

"Nappa…"  Vegeta cleared his throat.  "General Nappa," he said a bit more formally, finding that facing Nappa was a bit harder than facing all the other Saiyans… even Raditz.  He still remembered the look on Nappa's face as he'd been flung into the air and killed at the hands of his prince…  Funny how Vegeta hadn't even given a thought to seeing his old mentor before.

"And Kakarrot," Nappa continued, as if he hadn't caught the look in Vegeta's eyes.  "Welcome to New Vegeta, or what most people would call the second level of Hell.  I regret that I must inform you that the King and Queen are indisposed in another level of Hell and cannot greet you now.  Now, if you'll come this way… I know you don't have much time to waste."

Vegeta followed numbly, along with Goku and Raditz.  He'd built himself up to seeing his parents so much, that it just seemed unreal that he wouldn't be able to see them.  Of all days for them to be gone…

After a few corridors, Vegeta knew exactly where they were going.  He wasn't at all surprised to enter a room filled with scientific equipment… and a very familiar Saiyan standing there with a very familiar grin.

Raditz pulled on a grin to mirror the other's.  "Hey, dad.  They're here, just like you said."

"When has Bardock ever been wrong?" Nappa said off-handedly, annoyed at Raditz's obvious statement.

Bardock, ignoring the banter between his son and the general, bowed at the waist quickly before Vegeta.  Although not particularly a traditionalist, always finding such attitudes silly from one who spent most of his life talking business with the king, Bardock deliberately said the pledge to royalty to the one to whom he'd never directly sworn fealty.

After the ritual had been concluded, Vegeta smirked at Bardock's youngest.  "You should learn from your father, Kakarrot.  At least he knows respect."

Goku just laughed.  "Vegeta, you know I don't go in for all that."

Bardock laughed briefly, ignoring the glare from all around.  "Kakarrot, my son," he said easily, contrasting the strict formality he displayed before the prince and going back to his usual ways.  "It has been a long time since you've come to see us.  Your mother has been worried that you'd never come around again."

Goku grinned.  "Sorry, dad, but it's hard to get down here when you're alive.  I only got permission to go through Hell so we could go to the Lower Realms of Hell and save Jita… and Goten."

Nappa sucked in breath.  "The princess?!"

Bardock had a similar reaction.  "Goten?  My grandson?!  Why is he in that forsaken place?!" 

Raditz merely looked away, his eyes wide.  "He followed her?" he whispered, unaware that he had spoken the thought aloud.  The whisper, however, was not too soft for the other Saiyans to hear.

"Raditz," Bardock began suspiciously, "what do you know?  Why would Princess Jita be in the Lower Realms?"

"You mean," Vegeta cut in, "you don't know?  You're in Hell.  Isn't it pretty hard to miss?"

"Miss what?  What are you talking about, my liege?" Nappa said in confusion.

Vegeta didn't answer, but looked at Raditz.  "How do you know?"

Raditz bit his lip.  "I… searched for her when I came to Hell, not finding her with the other Saiyans.  I thought that the King had banished her from this level of Hell, but from what I could tell, his Majesty wasn't even aware that she was dead.  None of the Saiyans were.  Then I thought," he laughed bitterly, "that she had been sent to Heaven.  I don't know why, but I thought a soul as pure as hers…"

"You loved her," Goku interrupted his brother.  "Is that why you never told me about her?"

Raditz kept his gaze away from everyone.  "It doesn't matter anymore, anyway, but… I… cared about her.  Still care about her.  I thought… when she was alive… that we could join.  Continue the Saiyan race… once our age difference didn't matter as much.  She had just grown old enough when…"

His voice trailed away as Bardock stared at his elder son in open shock.  Both Vegeta and Nappa had been aware of Raditz's feelings in life.  Nappa had been leery of the projected union, as well as incredibly sympathetic to the poor sap who was voluntarily dooming himself to being linked to the volatile princess who didn't even love him.  Vegeta had felt a bit the same way, but was willing to accept the union.  He'd wanted his sister to have someone to trust – besides himself – and Raditz was loyal to the point of fanaticism to both royals.

Not that it mattered now.

Bardock recovered quickly.  "Raditz?"

Raditz cleared his throat.  "I'd heard rumors of the Lord of the Lower Realms of Hell taking an… 'apprentice'… around the same time she died.  It didn't take much longer to find out that it was she.  I saw her come back to life.  I saw her join with my nephew.  I was… glad that she at least found one of my blood to find peace with."  Raditz looked up at Goku.  "She's dead, isn't she?"

Goku nodded slowly.  "They're both dead."

"Killed by a leech," Vegeta supplied gruffly.

"And the child?" Raditz said softly.

"Taken by the same, no doubt," Bardock supplied, lost in the enormity of the situation.  "And they're both trapped down there.  So now the vision makes sense."

Amidst the silence that had settled over the Saiyans, Bardock crossed the room.  He opened a door that looked for all the world like a supply closet, if not for the complicated ki-shield that protected the narrow staircase descending into darkness.

Vegeta stared at it a moment before realizing what it was.  "The third level?"

"Yes, Vegeta-sama," Bardock replied, working with Nappa to dissipate the ki shield.  "Not only the third level, but the gateway to the Middle Realms of Hell.  That's why the Saiyans populate the second level of Hell.  We are the guardians of this portal.  Only those who have proof of permission can descend."

Vegeta frowned.  "So that's the all-important job that Raditz was talking about.  What stops beings like Frieza from simply tearing through all your defenses?  Your power has not grown in death."

Nappa snorted and nodded.  "It can't, either.  That's part of the punishment of Hell.  But we are united, in a way that didn't seem possible in life.  Frieza killed us all because we were disorganized.  Plus… I'm sure you haven't noticed, but there are far more Saiyans here than even the large population that died with Planet Vegeta.  Every Saiyan that ever existed is here.  Every.  One.  All the kings, though your father keeps his position through superior power and intellect.  And even the Saiyans that died thousands of years ago.  Including…" he paused for effect, "the Legendary Super Saiyan."

Goku grinned at that.  "Is he still keeping to himself?"

Bardock nodded.  "The Nameless One prefers to keep to himself.  But he'll come whenever we need him."  Bardock smirked and added.  "Or maybe when a certain Super Saiyan STAYS dead and he wants a good spar."

Vegeta wanted to ask more about this astounding fact, but the ki shield was gone.  He knew it was time to go.  "Come, Kakarrot."

"Just a minute," Goku said quickly.  "Hey, Nappa, you usually keep up with these things.  What are the other levels now?"

Nappa thought for a minute.  "It changed recently.  The Muzak level was moved to another dimension.  The level for authors who don't write fast enough to please their fans was deemed unnecessarily cruel, so… OK, I got it.  After the Upper Levels – HFIL and the Saiyan level, there's Neter-khertet, Hades, the Inferno of Dante, and then you get to the Lower Realms."

Goku grinned.  "Thanks Nappa.  Don't worry.  We won't get back without both of them."

"I'm certainly not worried," Bardock smiled.  "The Prince of all Saiyans and my ascended son can do anything."

Impatient, Vegeta had already left the chatting Saiyans, so Goku had to catch up.  Once Goku had bounded down the stairs to walk alongside the prince, Vegeta regarded his with a raised eyebrow.  "Tell me, Kakarrot.  Whatever happened to Mr. I'm-not-a-Saiyan-I'm-just-Goku?"

Goku laughed and shrugged.  "It was after I died the second time.  I kept my promise to visit my dead grandfather, and it turns out that he'd journeyed to Hell to see my true family long ago.  He forced me to visit my parents… and Raditz… and make peace.  I went to visit the Saiyan level pretty regularly ever since.  I know Mom's gonna be pissed that I didn't see her this time around."

Vegeta shook his head.  "You could have told me."

"I wanted it to be a surprise!"

"I hate surprises."

Goku rolled his eyes.  "Well, now we know what's ahead, so no more surprises."

"There had better not be," Vegeta said grumpily.  "We can't afford any delays."

A scream stopped the two dead in their tracks.  I reverberated on the walls, but seemed to pass above them as well.  They both recognized it instantly.

Jita.

Goku blanched white.  In all the reminiscence about visiting the place in which he'd spent quite a bit of his dead time, he'd almost forgotten…

"Yeah," Goku said weakly.  "No time to waste."

With that, the two surged forward into the Middle Realms of Hell.

                                                     *****

Dende twirled the leech's knife in his hand, holding it up for Piccolo, Gohan, and Trunks, the slightly reddened blade catching the light ever so slightly.  The young kami had almost washed the blood off, but Mr. Popo had stopped him just in time.  The older servant was now searching through a number of books most people didn't even know he owned.

"I talked to King Kai," Dende continued his report wearily.  "He didn't really know what to make of it, and the Leech-fighter Pikkon barely recognized it."

"Pikkon," Gohan interrupted.  "Isn't he the one that Dad mentioned fighting sometimes?"

"Yes," Dende affirmed.  "They were friends, and slight rivals, though nothing like him and Vegeta.  They worked together to keep peace in the afterlife.  In life, Pikkon had fought and killed three leeches before the creatures could take acolytes.  He dealt the finishing blow to two who had taken acolytes, and killed the resulting acolytes-turned-leech.  He was finally killed by a leech, so he knows a good bit about the creatures.  Says this blade probably comes from a fairly new order, before his time."

Mr. Popo cleared his throat and murmured under his breath.

Dende sighed.  "Popo, however, disagrees."

"Listen to him, kid," Piccolo said.  "Mr. Popo is about the oldest person I know in the living universe.  He's also the greatest expert in artifacts you can find anywhere.  He has a better understanding of the dragonballs than any of us, even the creators of the things."

"I think I've found it," Mr. Popo exclaimed.  "I'm sure of it.  It's very VERY old, and not of leech design either…"

Trunks was barely paying attention to Popo's voice.  All he could do was stare at the knife, twirling in Dende's hands, covered in Goten's dried blood…

… covered in blood…

His father stood in the wind and ki-swept desert, the remains of Babadi's ship mere bits of metal that looks oddly like silver confetti.  Trunks looked fearfully at the man he'd just pulled out of the horrible, putty-like pink substance that he been wrapped around him by the cartoon-like monster.

"Papa?" he queried.  Oh, kami, he was covered in BLOOD.  Not the usual fare that normal training sessions brought.  These were wounds cut deep, not for further strength, but to cause destruction.  To cause pain.  To kill.  Had it been merely the Buu monster who'd caused all this?

A hug enwrapped him, and for once he felt good and safe… TRULY good and safe.  He leaned into the warm bloody arms, relishing the feeling – the pure feeling of trust.  His father would never let him down… never hurt him… never strike him…

With an anguished shock, through the skill from his father's training, he saw his father's hand move inevitably toward his neck in a move of such violence and he could do nothing to stop it… nothing…

"Trunks!  Wake up, Trunks!"

Trunks came shudderingly back to reality, the strikes on his face, not his neck.  And not from his father, either, but from Gohan.  Trunks let it happen until he found the presence of mind to grab Gohan's wrist.

Dende had stopped twirling the knife.  In fact, it had been wrenched from his grasp by Mr. Popo as soon as he'd read the magical qualities of the blade and seen the hypnotic effects that were enslaving Trunks.  A few more seconds, and Trunks might not have been so easy to revive.

Dende grabbed Trunks's hand as the young man regained his composure, providing an anchor for Trunks to stop his spasmodic shaking.  "I'm sorry," Dende kept repeating.  "I'm SO sorry.  I didn't know…"

"It's ok," Trunks said weakly, almost fully recovering his body.  "I'm fine now."

"Well," Mr. Popo said briskly, relieved that no lasting damage had come to the demi-Saiyan.  What would happen if someone that powerful would truly lose his mind?  "Now we'll know not to irresponsibly handle unknown relics left behind by mysterious murderers."

Dende looked abashed, but at least he stopped apologizing.

"What's going on in here?"  Having heard the commotion, Bulma burst through the doors of the primary training area in which the gods and warriors were meeting.  Chichi wasn't far behind.  The only reason the rest of the group wasn't crowding in after the women, or attending the meeting, was simple.  No one else was there.  Tien and Chaotzu had taken Darjili home, Videl had taken Pan home, and Pecon had gone to meet the many Spider students that were congregating at the school.

"Everything's fine," Gohan replied.  "I thought you two were going home."

"Bull!"  Bulma immediately crossed the room to her son, feeling his forehead.  "You're white as a sheet, Trunks!  What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong now," Piccolo rumbled.  "He just discovered the hypnotic powers of the leech's blade.  We pulled him out just in time.  No danger came to him."

While Piccolo was quite a good liar, Bulma saw right through it.  "Well, you people be careful with that thing.  After all, it could kill a Super Saiyan… level three!"

She turned around at the sob from behind her.  Chichi had sunk into a simple wooden chair, her tears renewed at the fresh mention of her son's death.  Bulma rushed forward.  She'd been so upset with what could have happened to Trunks…  "Oh, Chichi, I'm sorry.  I didn't mean…"

Chichi waved her off.  "That's all right.  I'm… being silly.  Goten's not lost forever," she continued bravely.  "Goku's going after him.  Everything will be all right…"

As Bulma led Chichi back outside of the room, knowing discussion of her son's murder instrument would only upset her further, Piccolo nodded to Mr. Popo.  "You were saying?"

Mr. Popo laid the weapon down carefully to turn a page in his book.  "This is a knife used by some of the first kais, long before even the time of Rou Dai Kaioshin that came from the Z Sword.  I wonder…" Popo trailed off, "if one of those kais could have been turned to a leech, or even been the original leech, and the leech that we've met could be an ancestor from said kai."

Gohan cocked his head.  "Wouldn't such a lineage produce a creature that would have destroyed the universe before Buu and the wizard Bibidi could even get a chance to?"

Dende shook his head.  "What you have to understand is the time frame.  For one, there's the dormancy of a thousand years once an acolyte ascends into a leech.  The leech has ridiculous longevity, but he must not be killed before he's ready.  I guess that's why the dimension that only a leech can use – to give them a hiding place if needed until time."

"Also," Piccolo continued, "the power levels were not as high as they are now.  Life had not truly been created on all worlds, and the majority of worlds for a long time were only inhabited by single-celled organisms.  That would discourage any radical energy-collection.  This leech COULD very easily be a descendant of that very lineage, judging from the knife."

"Or," Popo continued, "he could be a very clever and ambitious thief.  Who knows who's been guarding this, and where it's been?"

"There is one thing, though," Gohan said gravely.

"What's that?" Trunks asked, not even daring to look at the knife, afraid of going into another flashback.

"That leech KNOWS he's going to win."  Gohan looked at the knife, which had been arrogantly left in his brother's corpse.  "Otherwise he wouldn't have left such a valuable possession.  He knows he can get it back from us."

Piccolo nodded.  "We'll just have to use it against him."

And the others went back to strategy and planning.  Anything to keep them from thinking of the two Saiyans trapped in Hell, and the other two trying to get them back.

                                                           *****

There's no way I can let this happen.

Jita surged to her feet from the floor of Frieza's throne room and main audience chamber, surrounded by those she hated… despised… and in some way pitied.  They were all victims of the Lizard King.  But they didn't understand.

Jita faced the one she loved.  The only one who could ever love her.  But was he joining her in the path that she was so sure was right?  Hell, no.  He was facing her… not in fraternal love, but in combat.

There's no way I can let this happen.

She was going to die by her brother's hands.  By those hands that had held her on those too few times that they needed to stave off cold… or hunger… or…

… pain…

It went ripping through her as the merciless beams cut into her skin.  It wasn't so much the pain anymore.  She could handle that.  She'd felt far worse in friendly spars.  It was her brother's eyes going slowly into murderous intent.  She was going to die…

There's no way I can let this happen.

The sentence kept her going.  She wanted to simply give up and die.  Surely even Hell could be better than having a brother who was willing to kill her for that lizard.  But she kept fighting anyway.  She deflected blow after blow, both of ki and flesh, and traded some of her own.  Until…

… that foot…

… her brother… breaking his vow… going Oozaru…

Her entire body crunched, like a roach tread on by a stiff-soled shoe.  Her bones collapsed, and all that was left was a dim awareness of her brother – now himself – staring over her.  She heard herself cursing and swearing vengeance…

… vengeance…

THERE'S NO WAY I CAN LET THIS HAPPEN!!

Jita surged to her feet from the floor of her familiar Hell and attacked the image of Vegeta.  She knew it wasn't him.  It was Him.  The Voice.  Her tormenter.  Her almost-master.  And she, his unwilling slave.

She pressed her attack, ripping and flesh and hitting the oh-so-solid figure in every way she knew how to deal pain.  Not only pain, but the closest to death-agony one could experience while still living.  He'll regret teaching me that, she thought in vehement triumph.

His presence left, fleeing from the body as she finished serving the worst of the damage.  She halted her attack, staring down at the broken form of her beloved.

"Goten," her voice cracked out.

All illusion left, and she sat next to the bleeding and pain-wracked form of her husband, who took no notice of her.  It was all her fault.  She knew he'd followed her.  She knew the Voice had plucked him out, by the strings that tied husband and wife.  And she knew that he would torment them both for all eternity.

But no!  I'll fight Him.  I have to.  I'll fight Him as long as I still have strength in me, and even after that.  He won't hurt my husband.  He won't.  There's no way…

THERE'S NO WAY I CAN LET THAT HAPPEN, the Voice supplied mockingly.

Suddenly, the illusions shifted, and it all began again.

                                                              *****

RRREEAOOOWWRRR!!

Vegeta hissed and drew back, just as the unfortunate creature he'd trod upon did the same.  "Kakarrot," Vegeta said, trying to control his breathing from the shock of stepping on something very furry and warm.

"Yes, Vegeta?" Goku replied, picking up the creature that Vegeta had stepped on and petting it.

"Why is Hell covered in CATS?!"

The feline in Goku's arms hissed suddenly and crawled up the Saiyan's shoulders to the back of his neck.  Unperturbed, Goku pried the shaking cat from his neck and began comforting it.  "Aww, it's all right, little guy.  He didn't mean to scare you.  Vegeta, shame on you.  I thought you didn't pick on poor defenseless little creatures any more.  It didn't do anything to hurt you."

Vegeta snorted.  "Cats are NOT defenseless.  That thing nearly clawed my leg up."

"Well, how would you feel if someone stepped on YOUR tail?" Goku retorted, putting the cat down.

"Not funny, Kakarrot," Vegeta warned, kicking the cat to the next wheat-covered island.

"What do have against cats, anyway?"

Vegeta started following Goku, hopping the islands, trying to avoid the cats that seemed to prowl everywhere.  "I am NOT a cat person, Kakarrot."

"But you live at Capsule Corp…" Goku began.

"I barely tolerate cats there, but I make it clear that I don't like them."  Vegeta smirked wryly.  "Sure did make it difficult to explain when I accidentally killed that cat that was always hanging off Dr. Briefs's coat…  I think it was the loss of that cat that killed him."

Goku scratched his head.  "I thought he died from lung cancer years after that…"

"Kakarrot, you still haven't answered my question!  Where are we, Cat Hell?!"

Goku shrugged off the sudden change in subject.  "Nope, but close.  This is Neter-khertet, the Egyptian underworld.  Egyptians worshipped cats, and a lot got mummified.  It's a good thing that it's night in Egypt, so we can just go against where the sun is headed."

"Kakarrot…" Vegeta said slowly, calming down now that they had left the cats behind, "I know I don't pay attention to the cycles of Earth much, but wouldn't we need to go WITH the sun?  It goes from east to west.  We want to go west, remember?"

Goku had pulled one of the wheat stems from an island and was now chewing on it absently.  "Not here, it doesn't.  See, the sun goes from east to west in Egypt, so it has to finish going in a circle in the underworld."

Vegeta sweatdropped.  "Kakarrot, you know that doesn't make any sense."

Goku grinned, pushing the wheat stem to one side of his mouth.  "Doesn't have to.  This is Hell.  Well… THIS place is called Aaru.  It's like Egyptian heaven.  That's why there's so many cats here.  Cats are animals.  They can't be evil, so they get sent to the good part of the afterlife.  All the people must be somewhere else right now.  Over there," he pointed, "next to that desert is Duat.  That's where Osiris lives and judges souls.  Around there should be the staircase to the next level."  Goku paused in thought.  "Wonder if Osiris is even there.  Depends on what season it is in Egypt."

Vegeta shook his head.  "That's it!  I give up on logic.  Nothing will ever make sense when you're around, and I may as well give in to the insanity while I still have my wits intact."

Goku clapped Vegeta on the back, who glared at him for such familiarity.  "That's the spirit, Vegeta."

After the two passed the wheat-covered fields of Aaru, they came upon a bizarre sort of check-in station made entirely of wood.  Behind it stretched a seemingly endless desert of sand.

"Hey, Ament!" Goku shouted into the station.  A bored-looking Egyptian woman within the booth shook awake suddenly, dropping her copy of Cleopatra's Guide to Beauty After Death.

"Oh, my," the greeter of the dead exclaimed.  "Goku, I told you never to do that!  Ever since you knocked down my tree and I had to make it into this ugly booth…"

The goddess collected herself.  "Osiris isn't here right now," she said, turning back to her magazine.  "You may see him down a level."

"Thanks, Ament!" Goku shouted cheerily.  The two walked toward the staircase, Vegeta casting dubious glances behind him.

Ament sat up in her chair.  "Oh, and watch out for the…"

A metal crashing sound filled the air as Vegeta sank almost through the ground.  He looked around wildly as to the cause of the floor suddenly giving way underneath him, and spotted a huge scale, with a mere feather at the other end.

"… the Feather of Truth," Ament finished weakly.

Goku laughed at his rival's predicament.  "You better be glad Osiris isn't here.  He'd have you down Ammit's throat before you could even think!"

Through the logic he had sworn off, Vegeta reasoned out the purpose of the scale, going along with most other underworld mythology, and shot a murderous look at Goku.  "Not another word, Kakarrot," he growled warningly.

Goku could still be heard laughing as the two made their way down the staircase into the next level.

                                                           *****

If He had flesh any longer, and bone, He would feel the coming of the two warriors.  It teased Him with slowness, provoked Him with promise of power…

Power…

He was a Voice alone, with no flesh and bone, no substance, but all reality.  Locked away in the prison He subjected to others, most of the time for spite.  If He was going to suffer, He would not do it alone.

Until Jita.

In Jita, He'd seen His chance.  While His plans of imprisoning both brother and sister had not worked, the new events unfolding provided for more power than He could EVER have planned.  The opportunity to begin His reign of the universe anew with not the power of two Super Saiyans… but FOUR…  If He'd had breath, it would have taken His breath away.

Patience, He told Himself.  Listen to what you've taught Jita.

The Voice laughed, poking the two Saiyans under His mercy again, watching them writhe in pain and torment and memories.  He really didn't need to fabricate anything.  There was enough pain that was real and had already happened to them and their loved ones and all He really needed to do was to remind them.

Soon I'll have them right where I want them.  They'll play their part, I'll suck them dry, leave this Hellhole, kill the one who imprisoned me here, and then…

… ah, sweet bliss…

To feel some of the bliss already, He gave a mighty twist to His torment, sending husband and wife into sobbing convulsions.

                                                           *****

Vegeta collided against Goku's back as the taller Saiyan came to an abrupt stop on the narrow staircase.  "What now?!" he growled.  He looked past Goku's shoulder.

"Well, of course," Vegeta laughed sarcastically.  "Hell already has a playground, my home world, islands full of cats, and a desert.  Why not a river?"

"Hey, you!" an old man pushed past them.  "Get out of my way!  Don't you see I have a ferry to operate?  Some of us have jobs, you know!"

"Do you have any idea to whom you're talking?" Vegeta asked, dangerously calm.

The old man stopped halfway on the steps to his ferry and turned back to glance at the Saiyans.  "Well," he said after a moment of consideration, "you're not dead, and you're not Greek or Roman either.  You don't even look human.  That means you have no business here."

"Aw, come on, Charon," Goku said easily.  "You don't really mean that, do you?"

Charon's eyes focused on Goku.  "Oh, so you're back.  Well, if you think that you're getting any free rides across Acheron, you have another thing coming.  Where's that obulus you promised me the last time?  Conveniently forgot it on the Grand Kai's world, did ya?  Well, get on already.  You're rude friend, too.  I can't wait all day!"

The two blinked for a moment, but got on anyway.  Once Charon started the ferry going, he regarded Goku.  "You're Saiyan, aren't you?"  Goku nodded, and Charon looked back at the river, steering to the other side.  "I should have noticed it a long time ago.  You Saiyans put me out of work.  Ever since those Saiyans started guarding the gates to the Middle Realms, no new souls can get past.  Pretty soon, all we'll be known for is mythology taught in school books.  Only people I ever ferry across anymore are Hellfighters.  Ungrateful young 'uns they are.  I haven't seen one shine of an obulus since the third rearrangement of Hell.  Heck near forgot what one looks like.  And another thing…"

Charon looked up, realizing that he had reached the other side, and he was now talking to himself.  Perturbed, he turned the ferry around and continued muttering.  "Ungrateful young 'uns.  Hope Cerberus eats 'em."

The two Saiyans were no longer listening to the ferry of the dead.  Oh, no.  They were much more involved in their next obstacle.

"Well, Kakarrot," Vegeta said quietly out of the corner of his mouth, barely daring to move a muscle, "what do you propose we do now?"

Goku's visage hardened in determination as hot breath washed over him, ruffling his stiff hair.  He stooped down to the ground, feeling around in the dirt without taking his eyes off the monster he was facing.  Finally his hand closed on a femur (possibly human).  Ever so slowly, he raised up to a slight crouch and said,

"HERE, BOY!  GO FETCH!"

Vegeta watched in amazement as the slobbering three-headed dog that had been towering over them, growling menacingly, suddenly let out triple yelps of delight and jumped for the bone.  The middle head snatched it up, but Goku was quick to answer with two other bones before there was too much trouble among the heads.  The dog suddenly tackled Goku, all three heads vying for the opportunity to affectionately lick the laughing Saiyan.

"Good Cerberus!" Goku exclaimed, trying to regain his feet under the slobbery assault.  "Good dog!  Yeah, I missed you too, boy."

Vegeta shook his head.  "Kakarrot, I believe that you could befriend the thunder and lightning and invite them over to dinner."

Goku finally got the hellish hound calmed down a bit.  "What was that, Vegeta?"

Vegeta sighed and made sure there was enough distance between him and Cerberus, should the dog decide to start a game of catch with him.  "Nothing, Kakarrot.  We're wasting time.  If you're done playing with your 'little' friend…"

Goku gave all three heads of Cerberus one final pat on the nose(s).  "Alright, Vegeta.  I'm coming."

The two walked along a river, finally delving into their share of King Yemma's peaches.  "Kakarrot," Vegeta said slowly, tossing the pit of his peach into the river, "for Hell, there sure doesn't seem to be enough dead people around."

Goku frowned and took the last bite of his peach.  "You know, I've noticed that.  Something must be scaring them into hiding.  I thought at first it was us, but people here are used powerful creatures.  There must be something else…"

Goku was about to drop his peach pit on the ground, when a strange man made out of metal approached him.  "No littering along the banks of the river Styx."

Vegeta looked the machine over and snorted.  "You've got too much time on your hands."

The robot clankily shrugged.  "I'm just a blue-collar man."

By this time Goku had found a waste receptacle.  "Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto," he called after him.

Because Goku was still so well-known, the two Saiyans passed Hecatonchires without any trouble (Goku being friendly with about 45 of the 50 heads), into Tartarus.  Vegeta only half-listened while Goku prattled on about how the demons had had to make Hades narrower and put Tartarus along the path leading to Hades' palace and Elysium.

In order to not attract attention, the two avoided flying.  While they could pretty much take care of any of the Titans and other monsters that would give them trouble, it would take more time than simply walking.  Though, when the ground they were walking on sloped up into a steep hill, the going went a bit more tedious. 

"Kakarrot, do you really think that ANY challenger could take more time than this?  I mean, this hill just goes on forever!"

"Tell me about it!" came a voice from Vegeta's other side.  "Try pushing a boulder up sometime."

Vegeta turned to regard the burly man, dressed in a Grecian costume, struggling with a boulder about five times his size.  "Why would that make any difference?" he retorted.

The man, looking indignant, almost fell under the weight of the rock when he tried to give Vegeta a piece of his mind.  "Watch out, Sisyphus!" Goku yelled just in time.

Sisyphus quickly regained his footing.  "Thanks, Goku.  Didn't know you were dead again."

"I'm not."

Vegeta was still staring at the boulder.  "Why exactly are you pushing a boulder up a hill?"

Sisyphus sighed.  "I ask the same question.  I mean, ok, there was some stealing… and a little killing… but that's no reason to treat me like this!  Some of those up in the first level have done far worse than me, and they just sit around all day!  They have the nerve to call THAT agony!"

Vegeta smirked.  "If they ever tried to get ME to do that for all eternity, know what I'd do?"

"What?" Goku and Sisyphus said together.

Next thing Sisyphus knew, the weight he'd born through all eternity was lifted from him.  In a flash of light, the physical source of his torment was disintegrated at the hands of the Saiyan prince, leaving only a few specks of dust behind.

"Of course," Vegeta continued, "I'd include the people assigning punishments along with that blast, but that was the general ide…  HEY!  GET OFF ME!!"

Goku pulled back the damned Greek, who looked like he still wanted to hug Vegeta.  "Thank you!" Sisyphus exclaimed in a combination of joy and disbelief.  "I'm free!  How can I ever repay you?!"

Vegeta dusted himself off.  "Never do THAT again, or I'll have to carve you out another boulder."

Sensing that they'd done enough damage, Goku and Vegeta left the sobbing Sisyphus.  Goku regarded Vegeta in a slightly new light.  "Vegeta, that was really decent of you."

Vegeta shrugged.  "What?  You think I made any difference, did you?"

As he was talking, an even larger boulder rolled past them as they reached the summit of the hill.  The unmistakable sound of the huge rock colliding with the unfortunate Sisyphus could be heard, as well as the shouted question "WHY?!!"

"No, I guess not," Goku replied.

The two neared a mysterious grove of trees overhanging a pristine pool of water.  "Ah-ah," Goku said, steering his direction to bypass the oasis.  "Let's try not to bother Tantalus.  He has enough problems."

"Like what?" Vegeta said absently.

"Like being surrounded by food and water, and never able to eat or drink, no matter how hungry and thirsty he gets."

Vegeta shuddered in spite of himself.  Of everything he'd seen so far, THAT was the closest to Hell he'd come across.  Spooked by the thought of anyone suffering such a fate, he gave the flaming wheel of Ixion a violent spin ("AAAAUUUUGGGHHHH") and was more than happy to leave Tartarus.

Suddenly Goku shouted, "Hey!  Olibu!  Over here!"

The violet-eyed hero approached them.  "That's Hercules, here, remember?  No one messes with me if I go by Hercules."

Goku nodded.  "What are you doing down here?"

Olibu shook his head.  "Someone trying to market a new type of bottled water in the Otherworld.  Took on the slogan 'Forget all your troubles.'  No kidding, since they're getting the water from Lethe.  Listen, if you're going on remember that Hades is having his poker game, and the women are there too.  Knock before you go into the palace."

"We'd heard," Vegeta said dryly.

In a flash, Olibu ran in the other direction.  "Hey you!  With the bottling machine!  Stop right there!"

                                                           *****

"Hey Vegeta," Goku said as they walked up the stairs to the palace.

"What is it, Kakarrot?"

"You may be surprised at who's at the poker game, if it's still the regulars."

"Kakarrot," Vegeta said offhandedly, "I have seen so much in Hell – ALL levels – that nothing will surprise me in the least."

Goku shrugged.  "Well, don't blame me for surprising you this time."  With that, he knocked at the majestic door.

After waiting for a few moments, the door slowly opened to show a petite woman with dark hair.  It didn't take even that long for Vegeta to go flying onto the ground, tackled by said woman.

"Vegeta!"

"Mother?!"

                                                           *****

The Saiyan King sighed.  "I don't know why we play this idiotic human mortal game."

The Egyptian god Osiris laughed and patiently put his fallen ear back on his head.  "You're only saying that because you're losing."

King Vegeta quirked his eyebrow up at Osiris.  "Stop gloating, O Dismembered One.  You're not the one who is winning."  He shook his head.  "I fold."

The stern, dark-haired god sitting next to him shook his head as well and threw down his cards in exasperation.  "Even in my own kingdom… you'd think I could win more than this."

Osiris rolled his eyes (carefully).  "It's your fault for inviting him in the first place.  You should have stuck with Satan.  HE only burns up the cards.  Instead of…"

The final member of the card game showed his hand and began scraping the winnings with a skeletal arm from the middle of the table.

"A bluff!" King Vegeta said incredulously.

"What do you expect from the best poker face anywhere?"  Hades stared into the fathomless hood of the winning player, Death.

"Just as long as we don't play Battleship," Death said mysteriously.

"Hon?" a sugar-sweet voice came from behind Hades as fair arms curled around his neck.

Hades sighed.  "Persephone, didn't we agree that if all the women were here, we'd leave each other in peace?"

Persephone backed away from him and crossed her arms.  "It's not like you notice me, or anything else, when you're playing cards.  Every time a mortal trespasses in this realm, it's because you're playing cards."

Cards went flying as Hades missed at shuffling the deck.  "Mortals?!  Where?!"

"Here," Persephone said with a note of triumph in her voice.  "In the palace."

Hades growled and picked up his bifurcated weapon.  "Send these mortals in," he said with due menace.

"Who are you calling 'mortals'?"

King Vegeta jumped at the voice, staring seemingly into a mirror.  "V-vegeta?!"

Goku and Vegeta walked into the room, accompanied by Queen Okakra, Isis, and Death's Mistress.  "I was wondering when you'd sense their presence," Okakra told her husband with a smirk.

Vegeta approached his father, regardless of the various gods and goddesses inhabiting the room, and bowed slightly.  "Father, my King."

Goku's eyes widened.  He had NEVER seen Vegeta give so much deference to… well… anyone.  He realized that this was the only person in existence that Vegeta considered to be higher in rank than himself.  Goku shifted uncomfortably.  "Umm… hi, everyone."

King Vegeta turned to his host.  "Hades, if you will excuse us…"

"Of course," the god of the underworld replied.

Goku watched the royal family leave the room and grinned.  He was certainly happy to see Vegeta reunited with his family after all these years.

"Goku," Hades said in the uncomfortable silence.  "It's been a long time.  Last I saw you, you were battling the monster Buu… alive."

Goku nodded.  "Yeah… a kai gave his life to give me life.  It was kind of a spur of the moment thing."

Isis walked over to her husband and helped him but one of his hands back on his arm.  "At least your wife didn't have to go all over everywhere searching for body parts."

Osiris grumbled.  "And you still can never find one of them."

Isis smirked.  "But we get by, don't we?  Besides, imagine if THAT kept falling off like all your other parts."

Osiris blushed and nodded.  Goku gave a quizzical look to Persephone, who just shook her head and gave him a look that said 'you don't want to know.'

"What does bring you to the afterlife before my visit to you, Kakarrot?" Death said.

Goku rolled his eyes at Death's insistency of calling him by his birth name (just to keep his records straight).  "Rescue," he replied.  "You visited Jita and Goten recently, didn't you?"  Death nodded.  "Well, they're in the Lower Realms right now and can't get out.  We're going the long way around to surprise the Lord of the Lower Realms."

Death's Mistress shuddered.  "Be on your guard around that one.  He's… creepy."

Coming from the frightening woman immortalized in a VERY creepy scene from a Coleridge poem, this was certainly a warning to be heeded.

"Do you think my helmet will be of any help," Hades said thoughtfully.

Goku smiled.  "Thanks, but nah.  There's two of us, and I don't think the Voice will be fooled by your invisibility helmet."

The royal family suddenly swept out of the private room that hosted their reunion.  Both Vegetas were in extremely bad tempers, and Okakra looked as pale as a ghost, quite a feat considering she had the tannest skin Goku had ever seen on a Saiyan.

"Come on, Kakarrot," Vegeta growled.  "Let's get the Hell out of here."

Goku looked like he was about to protest, concern pouring from his eyes, was stopped at the look of Vegeta's face.  He quickly bid everyone goodbye and led them both to the stairway to the next level, which simply looked like some stairs leading to the basement of the palace.

"Heed my warning, my son," King Vegeta called after him.

Vegeta paused in his tracks, not even looking back.  "You never acknowledged her anyway.  Why did I think you would be any different now that you're dead?"

King Vegeta's visage hardened.  "That tailless fool dug her own grave.  Get Kakarrot's son, and then get out of there.  The universe isn't worth that deformed child."

Queen Okakra glared murderously at her husband.  "Do what you have to do, my son," she said slowly and evenly.

Vegeta looked back at his mother and gave a sad nod.  Then, without any further words, he descended the dark stairway.

Goku watched as his prince left him behind.  Making sure he was out of earshot, the Saiyan faced off with the father of his rival.  "My king," he said coldly, making anyone who knew the cheerful Goku jump, "kami knows I'm not the one to give advice on being a father, but I know what it's like to alienate a son.  I just hope he's not lost to you… for your sake."

With that, Goku followed his prince, leaving a stunned king in his wake.

                                                           *****

Please… I'll do anything.

Physical pain racked Jita's body, forcing her to her knees.  But she had long since moved past physical pain.  It didn't overcome her.  She still cradled her husband's body in her arms.  She refused to let go.  She had to save him… somehow.

Please… I'll do anything.

Guilt poured down upon Jita as she came face to face with the people whose lives she had destroyed without a thought or a tear.  Thousands… millions… billions…  Each face and race burned into her psyche from long ago – all pointing at her – accusing her – suffering and dying at her hands…  But she had long since moved past the guilt.  It didn't overcome her.  She was still holding her husband's body in her arms.  She refused to let go.  She had to save him… somehow.

Please… I'll do anything.

The deadly tendrils of illusion clouded Jita's vision, and in her arms she beheld all that was evil… all that she hated.  The form of Frieza… the visage of each elite who had raped her as a child… demons and creatures tainted by the very depths of Hell… the very man who killed her and took her son…  But she saw through the illusion, had long moved past it.  It didn't overcome her.  She continued to rock her husband's body in her arms.  She refused to let go.  She had to save him… somehow.

Please… I'll do anything.

Soon visions were overtaking Jita.  Visions of…

Oh…

No!  Please… I'll do anything.

Jita was overcome.

                                                           *****

"Abandon all hope, you who enter here."

Vegeta hmphed at the sign over the gates.  "Well, that's cheerful.  What did Nappa call this place again, Kakarrot?"

Goku eyed his friend cautiously.  He'd tried to get him to talk about the less than happy reunion with his father, but Vegeta was acting like it hadn't happened at all.  "Dante's Inferno," he replied.

Vegeta nodded.  "I think I remember Jita reading that.  She said it was full of crap."

Goku frowned.  "I remember Gohan going on and on about that.  He really liked it.  I thought that it was a classic."

Vegeta shook his head.  "No, that's not what I mean.  I meant that most of the punishments in the book involved feces."

"Oh!"  Goku grinned.  "Well, that book was right about that!"

Vegeta groaned.  "Hopefully, this stuff won't talk to us, like inside Buu," he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing, Kakarrot."

The two entered the gate and walked through the Ante-Inferno, where the souls who could commit neither good nor evil in life were chasing after a banner.  Hornets chased after them, and the people were covered with worms.

"Hey, that's supposed to be a blank banner," Goku said.  Instead, someone had apparently written "Kilroy was here."  Above the inscription was the figure of a head with his nose over a fence.  Some demons were chasing after the banner in order to wipe off the graffiti, but to no avail.  They could do neither good nor evil either.

"Hey, you young 'uns gettin' on the ferry or what?"

Vegeta did an actual double take, for there was Charon, looking just as old and as ornery as ever.  "Weren't you just…" Vegeta began.

"Y'ever hear of someone being so busy they're at two places at once?  Well, I'm so NOT busy that I can do the same thing," Charon responded, used to having to explain his double existence.  "Besides, it's all in the book."

Vegeta and Goku boarded the ferry… again… and waiting through the old man's harangue.

"And don't you think of runnin' off without so much as an "o river."  I know your type.  Yer just impatient, that's all.  Ye got a lot to learn, if ye think that you'll get there any faster by runnin'.  Time works different here.  Sometimes ya meet yerself comin' and goin'." 

As soon as the accent reached new levels of stereotype, the Saiyans had jumped off the ferry and reached the other side of Acheron without any trouble.

"Dagnabit!" the ferryman exclaimed.  "They did it to me again!"

The two walked through Limbo pretty quickly, meeting with no resistance from the various dead poets, and the annoying rasta music spurring them onward faster.  They hopped into a small hole in the ground, leading to the next circle of the Inferno.

"Ow!" Goku said indignantly, rubbing his head.  "Why's the ceiling so low?"

Vegeta looked up slightly.  While Goku was having to stoop over, only the tip of Vegeta's hair was brushing the top.  He shook his head, long since giving up on feeling angry about something that he couldn't control, such as height.  "Well," he theorized, "Zarbon said that all the circles were stuffed into one level.  There are, what, nine circles?  That makes for very little space if you want to keep it a descent."

Goku glared at the low ceiling, still rubbing his head.  Then he looked ahead and spotted the check-in monster.  "Hey, Minos!  How's the headroom?!"

The rather large monster grumbled.  He didn't like all the jokes lately, as well as the fact that he hadn't been comfortable for years.  Out of spite, he curled his tail around himself nine times.

"Aw, don't be like that, Minos," Goku said lightly.  "I hate the cold."

Before the cramped monster could respond the two Saiyans were past him and watching the Lustful go around in a storm.

Vegeta snorted.  "Why isn't your annoying old master in there, Kakarrot?"

Goku frowned.  "That's not very nice.  Master Roshi was harmless."

"Tell that to all those women who sued him for sexual harassment," Vegeta laughed.

They didn't stay there long.  Goku was longing to get out of that circle, and hoped that the next one wasn't so short.  Pretty soon, they got to the dropoff.

However, the Third Circle had even less head room, as all the inhabitants were prone in mud.  Two demons, noting that Goku and Vegeta were just passing through, gave each of them an umbrella to protect them from getting coated in the filth and feces that rained down.

"Who gets punished here?" Vegeta asked.

"The Gluttonous," one of the demons said with a wicked grin.

Goku and Vegeta eyed each other with wide eyes.  Needless to say, they flew through that circle.

In the Fourth Circle, they dodged the boulders being thrown by the Avaricious and the Prodigal.  When one ran after Vegeta with an extremely large rock – one that could have rivaled Sisyphus's, Vegeta merely knocked him out with a burst of ki.

In the Fifth Circle, Goku and Vegeta watched as the Wrathful and the Sullen struggled with each other and laid in the river Styx choking in the mud, respectively, all to an 80's rock soundtrack.

Vegeta looked toward the fourth wall.  "I think we'd better leave before we have more jokes repeated."

Goku suspiciously eyed the direction that Vegeta was looking, nodded, and walked past the city Dis on to the next circle.  Being a regular, Goku had no problem getting past the demons.

The Sixth Circle, house of the Heretics, went by just as quickly.  But the Seventh Circle… that was the one that took forever.

"This is ridiculous," Vegeta commented.  "Violent to ART?  Violent to nature?  If all this was as strict as they make it out to be, BOTH of us would be in that boiling blood, or even as trees, if they'd count your death with Raditz as a suicide."

Goku shook his head.  "That's medieval Christians for you.  They'll kill anyone who takes their land, but just you watch out if your "morals" behind violence aren't right."

Vegeta eyed Goku.  "Kakarrot… when did you get so perceptive?"

Goku turned around and scratched the back of his head.  "I don't know what you mean, Vegeta," he said cluelessly.

Vegeta snorted and shook his higher opinion of Goku's intelligence out of his head.  Must have imagined it.  "Let's get out of here, Kakarrot," he said shortly.

If the Seventh Circle was long, the Eighth Circle seemed unending.  And the punishments got even more obnoxious.  They walked through the First Pocket of Panderers and Seducers, all being flogged; then there was the Second Pocket of Flatterers, with more crap; then the Third Pocket with Simoniacs ("What are Simoniacs anyway?"  "I don't know, Kakarrot."), with the incredibly complicated punishment of baptismal fonts and hotfoot; next the Fourth Pocket of Astrologists and Diviners, all walking with their heads on backwards ("'Scuse me."  "Pardon me."  "I beg your pardon."); after that the Fifth Pocket where Barrators are torn apart by demons ("Well, THAT'S imaginative."); the Sixth Pocket, with the Hypocrites walking around in circles in leaden robes ("Where do they come up with this stuff?!"); the Seventh Pocket, with the thieves turning into vipers ("Now THAT'S actually funny."  "Just don't get bitten, Vegeta."  "OW!"  "Darn it!"); as soon as they could get Vegeta-snake to bite someone else and regain his form, they went through the Eighth Pocket with the False Counselors, then the Ninth Pocket, then the Tenth Pocket…

"Are we done now, Kakarrot?" Vegeta said, on edge.   "If I have to see another Sower of Scandal or Falsifier with open wounds or diseases…"

Goku nodded, himself a little green.  "That's just wrong.  I think I'm going to be sick…"

"Then get away from me!" Vegeta exclaimed.

Gratefully, the two dropped down into the final circle of the Inferno, which seemed to have lost its Inferno-ness.  The two powered up their ki ever so slightly, knowing they were taking a chance of being detected by the Lord of the Lower Realms, not knowing that it was a moot point by now… but they had to do something against the literally infernal cold of the Ninth Circle.  They trooped through people in every type of position in the frozen river of Cocytus and slunk past Lucifer, who was too busy with his everlasting meal of Judas, Cassius, and Brutus, and finally reached the river Lethe.

"We don't go through there," Goku said.  "That'll just lead us back to Earth."

Vegeta looked around, confused as to where the next step in their path would lie, which he realized was actually the last step, and spotted a narrow black staircase with a shimmering seal on it.

"We won't be affected by the seal," Goku continued quietly.  "King Kai told me a little while back that Baba put a spell on us to get us through the seal without breaking it or binding us in their.  We just have to keep our conscience clear, and not be tempted to join with the Voice, or anything."  Goku looked straight into Vegeta's eyes, regretting that he had to ask this question.  "Do you think you can handle that?"

Vegeta was about to rebuke his rival, angry that there was cause to ask that question, but he conceded after a moment.  "Yes, Kakarrot, I can handle it.  I'm… not going to sell my soul this time around."

Goku smiled at his friend, a bright smile of trust, and Vegeta winced.  He remembered quite clearly the first time Goku had given him that smile – and Vegeta had immediately betrayed him to go fight Buu alone.  Sometimes, there was nothing worse than to have Goku trust you.

Taking a deep breath, centering themselves, Goku and Vegeta walked slowly down the long stairway to the Lower Realms of Hell.

                                                     *****

It's all over.

I've tried.

I can't save Goten.

I can't do anything.

I'm worthless.

I've tried.

It's all over.

It's all over.

It's all over.

It's all…

The mantra continued in Jita's head as she rocked, now perfectly alone.  The Lord of the Lower Realms of Hell smiled.  It was almost time.

                                                              *****

The two Saiyans reached the door at the end of the stairway to a door ringed by fire.  The fire burned, yet never consumed.  While a small blaze would never hurt two Super Saiyans of various levels, this was an unholy fire that seemed impossible to escape.

"Do we walk through the fire?" Vegeta asked quietly.

"Where else can we turn?" Goku answered.  With a sudden kick, the Saiyan downed to door and the two rushed in to the final level.

Sitting in a chair atop a dais, the Lord of the Lower Realms of Hell leaned forward in anticipation as all his dreams fell into place.  He'd planned many things to say at this monumental moment, but all that flew aside as the perfect response filled his being and shot through his Voice:

"Showtime."

Author's Notes: I must thank all of my wonderful reviewers: Omega5 (I'm sorry to all of you who got their pennames changed.  Now, on with thanks.  You've noticed that I've blended angst and humor again.  I don't know why, but believe me, there'll be plenty of straight angst to sink your teeth into.  And, yes, I couldn't help but put a few former villains in, but not Cell.  Oh well.  Hey, that rhymed!  And, finally, no I don't play Warcraft 3.  I'm too busy writing fanfiction.^_^), Silver Warrior (Umm, want to say something, but no spoilers… must repress… must repress…), Dark Wolf (without putting the "6" tag on.  I'm mostly annoyed for you.  No matter what they say, you ARE the original.  And I hope this chapter is enough shinzi-snap-sizzle for you, or whatever.), funny-feijoa (No, that wasn't exactly what I was going for with this story.  Bulma is more of a minor but necessary character, along with Trunks, Gohan, and the rest.  I… hope you have a better opinion of Chichi after reading my interpretation of her.), tim333 (ah, yes.  You caught me in a blooper.  And I so remember that part of the manga too.  I always wondered if Goku ever kept his promise to find Grandpa Gohan after being killed by Cell.  It would make a great one-shot.  Hmm… *Poetess writes yet another idea in her standby list of fanfiction*.  I'm glad you caught exactly the feeling I was going for in the last chapter.  I actually took the flavor of the reaction from the reviews I got for the chapter before that, as well as remembering my own reactions to death.  All that coupled with characterizations and the phenomenon of people who have surpassed death, yet still haven't gotten over it.  And I'm rambling.  Anyway… hope you enjoyed this chapter.), and finally Tonifranz (heh-heh… I think I put the stuff about Mythic Descent at the beginning of the chapter.)

To all of you, until next time.