Chapter 4

Son Goku - in his recently achieved Ascended Super Saiyan form - and Android 17 were exchanging a glance over the distance.

16 was, as it looked, out of the fight. With one arm missing and now appearantly outmatched by both Goku and Vegeta, there was not much he could do anymore.

"It seems to be between us now, right?" Seventeen stated.

"It does," Goku replied.

Both of them were then charging at each other through the air.

xxx

Vegeta was by now coming up again from the beatdown Android 17 had just given to him.

Once again, he thought. Another fight he had lost.

The Android was right, it had been pure arrogance to think they were still at the same level like two months ago. (Not that that was something unusual for him.) Especially after he and Kakarot themselves had done nothing in that time but train and power up.

Worse - it was sheer stupidity paired with arrogance.

`Thinking that while you improve your enemies would just stagnate.´ he told himself.

For months now he had done nothing but repeating a circle of the same mistakes all over again.

When he had first reached Super Saiyan he thought he was invincible and run, despite everyone even his own son warning him, into a fight with Android 18... and lost badly.

When he had reached the Ascended Super Saiyan he possessed now, he had thought he was invincible once again. Only for the short fight with 17 just now to drastically demonstrate how wrong he was.

He had been beaten up and tossed around like a ragdoll... again.

Both times he run headfirst into a fight he couldn´t win and got his ass handed to him.

He remembered Seventeen´s words, he only had to thank himself for his humiliation.

Vegeta starred upwards where Son Goku was just now starting to exchange blows with the same 17. And he was doing a better job at it as he himself did.

Kakarot was keeping his distance (something that Vegeta himself was often too proud of) and had been using his Instant Transmission technique creatively a few times to outmanouver his opponent.

So much to the idea of Prince Vegeta being the best and strongest in the universe, he told himself bitterly.

He balled his fist.

xxx

Piccolo was meanwhile doing something that no one had expected. He was actually putting up a fight against 18, somewhat at least.

Even Vegeta was looking up at the Namekian in astonishment. It was unbelievable. How did the Namekian get so strong in such a short time?

Piccolo´s powerlevel was was actually higher than his and Kakarot´s normal Super Saiyan forms - much higher.

And so much for his arrogant belief that he would be stronger than anyone else if he just reached Super Saiyan, Vegeta thought. That nobody else would be able to catch up.

Still, the one question Vegeta had to ask himself was, how did Piccolo do that?

At the inside, he was fighting with himself - his pride against his common sense. And for once the pride was not winning out.

His pride - what had it ever brought him than more pain and humiliation - against Freeza and his cronies, against Kakarot, against the Androids? Yes - Vegeta knew he was his own worst enemy. And he didn´t need someone else to tell him that.

Goddamnit.

Vegeta wanted to shout. Anger begann to burst out of him, anger at the entire situation, anger at himself.

He started to power up, to the highest point he could reach... and beyond that.

xxx

"Piccolo - how?" Goku asked him as well.

They were taking position close to each other in the air, while they were facing 17 and 18.

"You might have a generell problem with using the Room of Spirit and Time - Goku. But I do not," Piccolo replied.

"I see. So you have actually used it," Goku said.

"And I didn´t go insane," Piccolo commented, hinting at Goku´s experience as a boy. "So you would probably be able to use it as well whenever you want."

"Excuse me - I am not sure what you two are talking about," 17 said. "But before you ca make any plans, I fear you have to survive this fight first."

"Exactly," 18 added.

The two Androids were charging at them again and forcing them to break off their short conversation to fight back.

Seventeen and Eighteen were now not longer toying around. And they were not only forcing Goku and Piccolo in the defensive, they were completely overwhelming them.

Goku had just caught a dangerous strike from Seventeen, who had been moving before he could react and was slammed into the ground in a similar way like Vegeta earlier.

But a moment later he stood up with a few scratches. Yet still able to fight.

But at the same time he was starting to realize one thing. With his current power he could not win.

xxx

Eighteen meanwhile even went a step further by cutting off one of Piccolo´s arms with the edge of her hand.

"I guess thats payback for 16 now," she commented drily.

Piccolo just regenerated his arm and went back into fighting stance.

This caused 18 only to smile.

"You are tougher than it seemed, aren´t you?" Eighteen remarked.

In this moment however Vegeta unleashed a giant Final Flash attack. The blast was aimed directly at 18... and since she had been concentrating on Piccolo she did not see it until it was too late.

It hit her frontally and all the Android could do was block it with her arms. But the blast was still pushing her back more and more.

Damn it, 18 thought. That saiyan was actually overpowering her.

In this moment Eighteen was loosing her hold in the air and the blast was pushing her backwards into the sky.

"Eighteen!" 17 was calling out as he saw what happened.

There was no way that this attack could have destroyed 18 so easily, he thought.

However he also realized that his sister was was temporally out of the fight. Sixteen was damaged.

And he was surrounded by enemies.

This short distraction though had been time enough for Son Goku to charge up a Kamehameha and fire it at Seventeen

Piccolo joined in with a Masenko.

Both attacks ended up reaching the Android nearly at the same time, Piccolo´s only a split second later than Goku´s and caused a large explosion up in the sky.

But one second later they saw 17 completely unharmed, surrounded by a shimmering transparent sphere.

"Damn - he has some kind of barrier," Piccolo said.

"It seems I have no other choice," Goku stated. "I have to try the Genkidama."

"If you think about trying the same trick like the last time," Vegeta - who was just taking position next to them, said. "Remember that you yourself said it was only luck that that worked."

"What choice do we have? I can not beat that guy any normal way. Eighteen can be back any moment. And we all are getting weaker every moment," Goku replied.

"Right," Vegeta commented drily.

"Just try to distract him for a minute before it is too late." With other words, before 18 was back. Goku didn´t need to say it.

Vegeta and Piccolo now moved to face 17 from two directions.

And also Tien and Krillin, who had so far been staying out of the fight, were now taking position behind them.

"Get out of my way," 17 said.

"Sorry," Piccolo replied, "but you will have to deal with us first."

Seventeen leaped forward to attack him. But before he could reach the Namek, he was attacked himself by Vegeta, who charged at him with all strength he had left.

"Our fight has not ended yet Android," the Saiyan Prince declared with confidence he did not really felt, not anymore.

"Do you think I am stupid?" 17 replied. "Son Goku is trying the same move he did against Thirteen. You are just trying to buy time. Do you think I will let him?"

He punched Vegeta hard in the gut. Only to be hit by a Kamehameha from Krillin and a Dodon Ray from Tien one moment later. Both attacks without a visible effect.

Except for distracting him a second and giving Piccolo the chance to land a punch in his face.

"Sixteen!" 17 called out. "Go - stop Son Goku."

The now one armed Android run in Goku´s direction, who now already had gathered a notable globe of energy above his head.

But on half way he was hit in the side by Piccolo, who was ramming into him with both fists and send him flying into the ocean.

A second later 16 came back out of the water.

But he was moving slower than usual. Sparks were visibly igniting at the hole at his side, where Goku had removed his arm earlier.

As it seemed, water has gotten inside his circuitry through the open injuries and was now causing short-circuits.

xxx

Seventeen meanwhile had his hands full with Vegeta (literally), who had unsuccessfully tried to put him into a bear-hug, but only ended up with them locking arms.

"You are really a stubborn bastard, I will give that to you," 17 commented.

"The most stubborn in the universe," Vegeta replied sarcastically. "I will proof that to you."

Just one moment later however Vegeta cried out, as his hands were breaking under the Androids superior strength.

Yet he had managed to buy them a few seconds more.

Now Piccolo was taken over the fight once again. He knew he had no chance against the Android. But hopefully it would be long enough for Goku.

xxx

In this moment however, the situation changed drastically once again. 18 had returned.

Vegeta´s blast had pushed her upwards, nearly into orbit, before she could dispell it.

And it had taken her a few minutes to come back.

Both Krillin and Tien were now blocking her way.

"Eighteen - please it don´t have to be this way," Krillin said to her. "We don´t have to fight here."

"You are wrong. It does have to be this way," she replied. "We are here to kill Son Goku. Don´t make me kill you as well Krillin."

"But why? Don´t tell me it is a game to you again. I don´t buy it. Take a look at Sixteen. Did you want that to happen to him? Who would go that far just for a game?"

"I-... it is the only purpose we have," 18 said, now sounding a bit insecure.

"Find a better purpose," Tien now shouted at her. "You are not simple machines. You don´t need to do what Doctor Gero wanted from you."

It surprised him, but it seemed Krillin was actually getting through to the Android.

For a second, 18 hesitated.

xxx

At the same time Piccolo just fell down. He had held up 17 for a few more moments, has however been defeated with just two more hits.

But that was all what had been needed.

The Genkidama was now ready.

Son Goku was now pushing it towards them, himself flying right behind it.

`Too late to stop it,´ Seventeen realized.

He fired a two handed blast at Goku. Who however dodged it by teleporting for just a few meters, while keeping control of the Genkidama at the same time.

Then, while me was moving, Goku started to absorb the Genkidama into himself... and then turned Super Saiyan. Goku´s power was exploding and growing greater by the split-second.

But he knew he had only one chance. The energy was simply too much for his body to hold. After a few seconds he would collapse and not longer be able to fight.

xxx

"You have distracted me," Eighteen called out angrily at Krillin and Tien as she saw Goku approaching.

"No - I..." Krillin wanted to defend himself, but it was pretty obvious that 18 was not listening.

xxx

Seventeen did the first and last thing on his mind and re-errected his barrier, while moving backwards at the same time.

But Goku concentrated all the energy he managed to channel into a single blow and broke through the barrier.

Goku´s strike however had enough force that it, even after crashing the barrier, still hit 17 himself. And that with still enough force to deal visible damage to the Android and have him crashing into the ground.

"Seventeen!" Eighteen called out.

In this moment however Goku fell as well. The absorbed energy had just been too much of a strain to continue. Every muscle in his body hurt like hell. He fell down and could no longer move.

17 on the other side was standing up again. He was visibly struggling, but still able to fight.

Just then however, he was hit into the shoulder by a Hell-Spirale that Piccolo had used the chance to charge up. The attack pierced into his already weakened body and 17 fell down again, now with a visible bleeding hole in his shoulder.

Goku was lying on the ground right next to him.

Vegeta was kneeling not far away from them with two broken hands.

The only ones still standing were still able to fight were Piccolo, Krillin, Tien... and Eighteen.

If they worked together, maybe they could take her - maybe.

Krillin felt the urge to thrown the bag with senzu beans they had taken with them to Goku or Vegeta, to bring them back into the fight. But he knew there was a good risk that Eighteen would intercept them and they would loose the beans.

"D-don´t you think it is enough?" Goku suddenly said to Seventeen, while lying close to him on the ground.

"What?"

"You wanted to fight me for some reason and we did. It was a good fight. But now...?" he asked.

"Your friend Sixteen needs help and Bulma is possibly the only one who can help."

Both their gazes went to 16, who was sitting in some distance from them, barely able to move anymore. He had taken heavy damage from multiple attacks and water had gotten into his system from several open "wounds", the ripped off arm only the worst of them.

"And you are not looking so good either. We both don´t," Goku added.

Seventeen was looking at him surprised.

"Look," Goku continued. "We both know know if you two wanted to kill my friends, you could have done it a long time ago and the fight between us is pretty much over. So..."

"You are right. We should stop now," 17 admitted. "If you give your word that your friend Bulma Briefs will help 16."

xxxxxxx

A short time later

Goku was just returning home. Gohan and Chichi were greeting him at the door.

"You are back," Chichi greeted him. "You are okay. It is over?"

"It - it is, at least for the time being," Goku replied.

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked. "Have the Androids not been defeated?"

"Two of them were not longer able to fight," Goku stated. "But we were not any better of," he admitted. "You could say it was a tie. We decided to end the fight before anyone died."

"Is-is that save?" Chichi asked. "I mean they have targeted you before. Who says they won´t do it again?"

"Well - there is actually no guaranty. But I was in a pretty bad shape and if the fight continued, I would have for sure been one of the first to die anyway. So the agreement was pretty much worth it, right?"

He grinned.

"That is not funny Goku," Chichi exclaimed angrily.

"No." He turned serious. "But between having to eventually fight them again some time and dieing right there, the choice was pretty much clear."

"I-... you are right," she admitted.

xxxxxxx

Future timeline - the Afterlife, four years after Trunks death

Trunks was right now having a sparring match with his father, on the world of the Grand Kaio and in front of several other prominent fighters of the Afterlife.

Vegeta had actually not been here with the rest of the Z-fighters for much longer than Trunks himself was. After his death, he had spend nearly 20 years in Hell.

It was only because Son Goku had asked King Yemma repeatly to give him a chance and taken the responsibility for Vegeta that he had finally been released and even had his body restored. On parole as you could say.

When he had first arrived here nearly 4 years ago and had seen his world´s Gohan again and met the long dead Z-warriors of his own timeline for the first time, he could barely believe how powerful Goku, Gohan, Piccolo and the others had become here in the Afterlife - especially Goku.

He, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha and Chao Zu had been training here for over 20 years at that point after all, Gohan for seven.

Not only had Goku overcome the Super Saiyan limits - like his past self had wanted - he had even discovered two completely new levels above it, which he called Super Saiyan two and three.

Gohan, despite being here for much shorter time, was not far behind his father. The giant potential that he had since his childhood had shown itself again.

Piccolo and Kami had after some years finally agreed to merge into a single being again and now possessed incredible power.

His father Vegeta had been trailing behind, since he had spend most of the time trapped in Hell.

Not to mention Trunks himself, who was the last to arrive in the Afterlife.

But they had both been catching up quickly through constant training for the last years. In fact they made progress incredible quickly by just following the trainings path Goku had come up with in the first place.

And quite ironically, he was getting closer to his own timeline´s version of his father, by them both training together to catch up to Goku and Gohan.

The first step had been gravity training on Master Kaio´s planet. For Vegeta this had been nothing new. But for Trunks, who had never trained in higher gravity before, it had been a great experience.

Then they had followed Goku´s idea to train to control the Super Saiyan state and let their bodies get used to it.

They both had spend weeks constantly being Super Saiyans. But it turned out the success was greater than Trunks would ever had expected.

As it seemed learning to control the Super Saiyan state was also boosting strength and speed in all areas.

When he had finally complete mastered the SSJ after the first year here, he had easily become four times stronger than before. And that had just been the beginning.

xxx

"Not bad brat," Vegeta admitted.

"The same for you father," Trunks replied.

They both had been sparring with each other as SSJ and were now powering up into their SSJ2 forms that they had both reached recently.

Goku, Gohan, Piccolo and Master Kaio were also present and watching them from the crowd of Afterlife Warriors.

"You two have greatly improved," Gohan complimented them.

They all had been invited here, but no one was exactly sure about the reason.

The ones assembled here were all fighters who had been especially allowed to keep their bodies despite being dead - so great heroes, people who died defending their home-planets or even the universe as a whole, or who had simply saved many people while they had been alive.

So far nobody had addressed them and told them why they were here and so they decided to use the chance to do some sparring matches between each other.

One fighter standing right next to the dead Z-fighter was Paikkan. He had been the former champion of the Afterlife Warriors, before Goku and the others arrived.

He was a green skinned warrior, who had - similar to Piccolo - the habbit to train by using weighted clothing.

At the beginning he had been much stronger than all of them. By now however, Goku had long surpassed him by far.

He was however nearly the only fighter here who could still put up a good fight against Vegeta and Trunks, Piccolo or Gohan, outside of his SSJ2 form.

Paikkan and Goku also had a short sparring match a short time ago. Where Goku however didn´t go beyong SSj1 form.

The fight between Trunks and Vegeta went so far without a clear winner.

In this moment the attention of everyone was drawn to three new arrivals. It were the other three Kaios, of the West, East and South Sectors of the Galaxy.

"Ah - North Kaio, how nice to see you again," the South Kaio greeted him.

"Yes - the same to you," Master Kaio replied a bit impatiently. "By the way, can you tell me what this is all about?"

"We do not really know ourselves," the West Kaio answered. "But as it seems, a high guest has arrived - the Kaioshin."

"Th-the Kaioshin?" Master Kaio asked in shock. "I have never even seen him in person. Why does he suddenly come here?"

"Like I said, we don´t know. We only overheard that it is because of someone called Babidi."


For the New Version, the story will end here.

Ideas how this timeline will play out later will eventually be reused for other stories.

xxxcc

Power-levels:

Son Goku (after 2 months): 6.400.000 - SSJ 320.000.000 - ASSJ 520.000.000 - Genkidama absorbed 910.000.000

Vegeta (after 2 months): 6.300.000 - SSJ 315.000.000 - ASSJ 510.000.000 - small Rage Boost: 540.000.000

Piccolo (after 2 months + time-chamber): 440.000.000

Android 17 (after 50 days training): 590.000.000

Android 18 (after 50 days training): 535.000.000

Android 16 (after 2 months): 450.000.000

xxx

Future timeline - Afterlife

Future Trunks: 29.000.000 - SSJ - 1.45 Billion - SSJ2 2.9 Billion

Future Vegeta: 30.000.000 - SSJ 1.5 Billion - SSJ2 3 Billion

Future Gohan: 45.000.000 - SSJ 2.25 Billion - SSJ2 4.5 Billion

Future Goku: 50.000.000 - SSJ 2.5 Billion - SSJ2 5 Billion - SSJ3 25 Billion

Future Piccolo: 2.1 Billion

Future Paikkan: 2.2 Billion