A/N: Welcome back! *Says in narrator voice* Last time on Change, Goku and Great Ape Vegeta showed impressive displays of power. But the prince proved to be more than Goku could handle. With the help of an unexpected new ally, Goku survived, for now at least. With Gohan there, will Goku and his friends have a better chance at winning? Find out, now! *Stops using narrator voice* I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 7: The Conclusion of Fate
Gohan followed Piccolo as they flew back to Kame House, but he had a strange feeling that they should go back to Goku. Gohan stopped and looked back at the battlefield with growing worry. He didn't know why, but he had this nagging urge to go back to his father. Piccolo stopped as well, with an annoyed look on his face.
"Gohan, what are you doing?" Piccolo asked.
"Mr. Piccolo, I think my Father is in trouble," Gohan said, looking out at the wasteland Goku and Vegeta were battling in. Piccolo flew next to Gohan and closed his eyes. Suddenly his eyes snapped open. "What's wrong?"
"Goku is in trouble, nice job Gohan, let's hurry!" Piccolo said.
Gohan nodded, and they flew as fast as they could. The ground below them so fast that Gohan couldn't catch even a small glimpse of what the landscapes below were. As they neared Goku's fading power level, Gohan heard loud screaming, which triggered an intense memory in his mind, that would haunt him forever.
...Gohan watched in horror as Raditz tripped his father, causing him to land with a mighty thud. Before Gohan could help him, Raditz began stomping on Goku's chest. His screams of agony echoed, and tears appeared at the corners of Goku's eyes. Gohan was crying himself, seeing his father in pain was incredibly hard to look at. Suddenly, Gohan felt something rising, both Goku and Raditz looked up at him and before Gohan knew it, he had head-butted Raditz dead on.
Gohan sped up, trying to brush away the memories of his father's death. As Gohan neared, he saw Goku being crushed in the hands of a giant ape. He looked around for any foolish people that might be in the area and was shocked to see Yajirobe hiding behind one of the rock formations. Gohan looked to where Goku was and was surprised to see Nappa lying there, unconscious. He didn't know what to think of seeing him again.
Gohan's attention was brought back to Goku as he cried out, this time more desperately. Gohan knew that they needed to make a plan, and fast. Gohan gathered Yajirobe and Piccolo and they all hid behind one of the rock formations.
"Before we rescue my father, we need a plan. Blindly running in won't get us anywhere," Gohan said. "Piccolo, do you have any ideas?"
"Hmm...I know. Gohan, you ki blast Vegeta to make him drop Goku, and then Yajirobe swoops in and cuts off the beast's tail. I'll distract him while Yajirobe gets in position," Piccolo said.
"That sounds good," Gohan said. He then turned to Yajirobe, who was looking at Piccolo like he was insane. "What do you think, Yajirobe?"
"You want me to get near him?! Are you insane?!" Yajirobe blurted out, fearful. Piccolo glared daggers at Yajirobe, who didn't seem to notice. "I won't do it!"
"You coward! Would you rather watch Goku die, orleast try to save his ass?! Would you rather watch Goku get squeezed to death?! Is that really what you want, Yajirobe?!" Piccolo snapped, anger blazing in his eyes. Gohan flinched back in fear. He was used to Piccolo being calm and relaxed. He didn't want to see him like this. Yajirobe looked terrified. "Get your ass into position and wait for Gohan to rescue Goku."
Yajirobe gulped, then nodded. Gohan watched as he hid behind a tall rock and kept a safe distance away from the battle. Goku's screams echoed so loud, even as Gohan tried to ignore them so that he and Piccolo could get into position. Once they were in position, Gohan formed a ki ball in his hand and threw it at Vegeta. The great ape growled and turned to Gohan, who had just jumped to the top of one of the rock towers.
"Get your hands off him!" Gohan shouted. He watched as Goku weakly smiled, hope shining in his eyes. "Put my father down!"
Vegeta glared at Gohan and dropped Goku, leaving Gohan's father barely alive. Gohan glared at Vegeta and flew at him, followed by Piccolo. Vegeta roared with fury, his red eyes piercing with malice. Gohan hestiated, nervously waiting for Yajirobe to cut off Vegeta's tail. Piccolo had a desperate look in his eyes as he glanced at him. Suddenly, Vegeta's eyes widened in agony, and he started decreasing, his fur receding, and his massive form quickly reverting back to his former size. Gohan watched, as Yajirobe fled the scene, sword in hand.
He smiled; Yajirobe had done his part, as far as Gohan was concerned, Yajirobe could hide in any crevice he wanted to now. Gohan turned back to Vegeta, who was glaring at Piccolo in fury, readying himself to attack Piccolo. Gohan rushed forward, and fired an energy blast directly at Vegeta's face; causing him to cry out in pain. Vegeta glared at Gohan, thinking fast, Gohan punched Vegeta in the face and fired another energy blast at Vegeta's stomach.
The injured prince gasped, and held his burning stomach. Gohan began charging at Vegeta before he could recover. But once Gohan reached him and was preparing to punch, Vegeta caught his wrist. Gohan's eyes widened, and Vegeta punched Gohan hard in the gut, knocking the wind out of him. Gohan coughed and backed away; the injured Saiyan could still pack a punch. Vegeta stood, and looked Gohan dead in the eye, provoking the young half Saiyan into backing away.
Suddenly, Vegeta vanished from where he once stood, and punched Gohan back in the gut, so hard this time that it was enough to knock anyone out.
"Don't think I'll let you live, kid. I rarely just give people a punch in the gut to knock them out before I kill them. Normally I make them suffer. You should count yourself lucky that I'm not making you suffer like what I did with your father," Vegeta whispered cruelly in Gohan's ear.
Gohan tried to glare at Vegeta, but the world around him was beginning to blur. Vegeta laughed, and kicked Gohan down to Goku. Goku was in terrible shape, most likely all of his bones were broken. Gohan watched as his father slowly moved his hand towards Gohan's, each movement making Goku shudder with pain. But he continued to advance on Gohan. Gohan was confused, but he continued to wait for what his father had to do.
Gohan felt Goku's hand touch his own, and looked at him. "G - Gohan, I'm very proud of you. But, there's something that I must do," Goku said, weakly. "Is Krillin with you? Piccolo?"
"Mr. Piccolo is here," Gohan replied.
"Good," Goku sighed, closing his eyes briefly. "Get him over here. I - I need to give him something."
Gohan nodded and created a telepathic connection with Piccolo. "Mr. Piccolo?"
"Gohan?! You're still alive?! How is Goku?" Piccolo replied, shock in his voice. "How are you?!"
"I'm fine, I'm not sure about my Father though," Gohan replied, mentally. Slight fatigue overcame him, but he quickly shook his head to snap out of it.
"He needs you to do something for him."
Piccolo grunted in response, and Gohan watched as he came over to them, Vegeta's callous laughter at his back. He grit his teeth, nodded to Gohan and turned to Goku who was barely able to keep his eyes open.
"Piccolo, come over here. I'm going to give you the rest of my energy, I hope that will be enough," Goku said, as a small ball appeared in his hand. "Spirit bomb, don't fail us now. Piccolo, once you receive this, you need to be careful. Get in a good position, aim, and then throw. This is a technique I learned from King Kai when I was dead."
Piccolo nodded, and carefully held the spirit bomb. Gohan was surprised, Piccolo was really going to defeat Vegeta using that spirit bomb?! This was going to be incredible.
Piccolo glared at Vegeta with malice sparking in his eyes. He absolutely hated the Saiyan prince, but maybe when he used the spirit bomb, it would kill him, or at least make him leave the planet. Piccolo took a deep breath, and looked for the best place to strike Vegeta. The Saiyan prince was distracted with his laughter, most likely making fun of Piccolo because he had 'fled'. Reason being, why Vegeta would not see this coming. Piccolo then noticed Yajirobe watching Vegeta, with unusual accuracy.
Piccolo smirked, this was a perfect plan, he would throw the spirit bomb, and Yajirobe could strike Vegeta when he was down. Piccolo only hoped that Yajirobe wouldn't get himself killed in the process. Finally, Piccolo pinpointed the best position to strike Vegeta, and flew there. Then, he threw the bomb as hard as he could. The Saiyan prince finally seemed to notice the spirit bomb and a shocked look overcame his face. Piccolo watched as the spirit bomb hit Vegeta dead on, Piccolo guessed he was trying to hold it back by catching it.
Piccolo watched as the spirit bomb engulfed Vegeta, causing him to cry out in pain. Finally, the spirit bomb dissipated and Vegeta was on the ground, blood bubbling at his lips. Piccolo knew better than to celebrate victory yet. Vegeta slowly rose to his feet, causing Piccolo to look at him, shocked. Yajirobe looked to Piccolo, who nodded. Before Vegeta could pull any other cruel tricks, Yajirobe sliced his sword over Vegeta's back.
Anger showed on Vegeta's face, and before Yajirobe could get away, Vegeta caught him and glared at him. Piccolo stiffened, and flew down to them. Vegeta fired an energy blast at Piccolo, sending him flying into a mountain. He blearily looked at Yajirobe, then Vegeta. Vegeta had turned his attention back to Yajirobe, and was now taking threatening steps towards the cowardly warrior. Now is not a good time to be cowardly, Yajirobe. Get out of there! Piccolo thought to him.
"Oh, hey, Vegeta I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm a friend. Please don't hurt me," Yajirobe pleaded, cowering.
Piccolo knew that wouldn't work on Vegeta. The Saiyan prince glared at Yajirobe, and punched him down to the ground. Yajirobe struggled, trying to get out of Vegeta's path, but it didn't work. Vegeta repeatedly punched him in the gut, his pained grunts coming out with each painful thrust of his fist into his abdomen.
Gohan forced his eyes to stay open, but he felt something strange coming over him as he looked up at that 'full moon' thing. Suddenly, Gohan felt a sleepy sensation, and he barely even saw Vegeta go to try to cut off his tail. Suddenly, he felt himself getting larger, his groans turned to loud roars. All Gohan felt was rage. He just wanted to destroy, he didn't know who he was anymore. He didn't have any more control over himself.
"G - Gohan, this is not you. Don't attack us, attack Vegeta," a fuzzy voice said in Gohan's head, he felt like he recognized it somehow, but he completely ignored it. "Gohan! We are not your enemies, Vegeta is your enemy. Remember all the happy times we had. He tried to take that away from us."
Gohan turned angrily to Vegeta, who was looking up at him in shock. All he wanted to do was kill Vegeta. The Saiyan prince disgusted him. Before Vegeta could get away, Gohan charged him. A yellow disk formed in his hand, and Gohan felt a huge rush of pain as his tail was cut off. He roared and slowly decreased in size. He barely felt Vegeta being crushed underneath him.
Goku watched happily as his son defeated the Saiyan prince. The prince then slowly, crawled out from underneath Gohan, pure rage in his eyes, pressing buttons frantically on a small remote. Goku could tell that he was humiliated, and he understood why. At his command, one of the Saiyan space pods arrived, and Vegeta gradually began making his way, crawling towards it. Finally, when he made it to the opening, Piccolo stood over him, an energy blast in his hand.
"Wait, Piccolo, if he says he will never do anything like this again, let him go," Goku breathed out. Shock overcame both Piccolo and Vegeta's faces. "Well, Vegeta? What do you say?"
"Oh, yes, I'm so regretful. Yup, I will neverattack this planet again," Vegeta said, growling spitefully through his agony.
"Let him go," Goku ordered.
He watched as Piccolo sighed , and let Vegeta enter the space pod. Vegeta laughed as he close the space pod's hatch, and with a low rumble, the pod took off and he left the planet. Goku grimaced as he felt a huge wave of pain that went all around his body. Goku smiled weakly; the threat to the planet was gone, and he had met his equal in a fight for once. But then, it made him wonder; what was out in space where Vegeta was going? Goku watched as Piccolo stood over him, an annoyed look souring his face.
"Goku, you had better be right about Vegeta," Piccolo said, gruffly.
Goku laughed and nodded, but then he remembered Raditz, and he became quiet again. Piccolo seemed to guess that Goku was thinking about Raditz because he gave a small, resigned nod. Goku knew that they would have to wait a year to gather the Dragon Balls; but he wondered if he could wait that long to get to know his older brother. He hoped Raditz was able to go to King Kai's planet to get some valuable training.
"...Do you think Raditz went to King Kai's place to train?" Goku asked, hopeful.
"I don't know! You know him, why don't you ask him?" Piccolo said, snorting with his disbelief.
Goku laughed, suddenly, a large wave of pain made him close his eyes and grit his teeth. This was it, they had won, and the Earth was at peace again.
A/N: Well that was the chapter! *Uses narrator voice* Next time on Change, Goku and the rest of the Z Fighters learn about the Dragon Balls on Kami's home planet. When they choose Tien, Gohan and Krillin to go to the planet, they find an unexpected threat. What will they do when they find out that Vegeta is on the planet? *Stops using narrator voice* Well see you next time on Change. Remember to review favorite and follow.
Chapters edited by RoyalBlueRoses.