Desolate silence fell over the gathering and even those who still watched the broadcast ceased all remarks. Nevrrest's eye twitched and she chuckled nervously. "What…what do you mean I'm going to blow myself up? That's…that's ridiculous."

The lump that was the last remainder of Horkion's head looked at Goku and Vegeta, ignoring Nevrrest. "I'm sorry about this," he said quietly, "I know how important this battle was to you…but I couldn't. I just couldn't…watch anyone die."

"What are you talking about?!" Nevrrest screeched angrily at him.

"Horkion, please," Goku protested, stepping forward, "What's going on? I don't understand…"

"Goku, I'm sorry…I know it will make you very sad. But please don't blame yourself…"

"Stop beating around the bush!" Vegeta demanded, cutting his hand through the air, "Just tell us what the hell you think you're doing, Minarite!"

The glimmer of his black pebbles looked down. "I'm going to force Nevrrest to kill herself. And it's going to kill me too."

"You're bluffing!" Nevrrest screamed, sounding more enraged than convinced, "There's no way! You have no such power! I am very familiar with all your abilities, Horkion!"

"No way…" Goku gasped, eyes wide and upset, "This can't be happening…I don't understand why! We haven't lost yet…and we're not going to! Horkion!"

"There's just no time," Horkion sighed.

"Krrrr," Vegeta snarled, turning his back on them.

"No, you don't understand!" Goku pleaded, holding up his hands, "We have one of our friends inside the ship! He's keeping the Justice members alive! We still have time!"

"And what about the people in space?" Horkion pointed out, "What about the injured? What if…something goes wrong? No Goku…I can't risk it. Besides…" He gazed up at the stormy sky. "This is what I was born to do. Maybe it's time to stop putting it off."

"What nonsense!" Nevrrest snarled.

"It's not," Horkion assured, "I was born…to die. That was always the point."

"That's not true," Goku insisted, "Sure, you might have died fighting Frieza, but nobody expects you to die. There's always a chance!"

Horkion chuckled mournfully. "Goku…do you remember what I told you…during our sparing match?"

"Yeah," Goku nodded, "You said Frieza would have killed you without a thought."

"I didn't want anyone to know…maybe it was pride. Maybe I wanted to be more. But the truth is…he wouldn't have been thinking of me at all. Because he would have been too consumed with the thought of dying himself."

Goku's eyes widened, horrified and grieved. "No way…"

"It was my purpose. It was always my purpose. Made strong enough to draw Frieza's attention. Born as bait."

"But…but this isn't Frieza!" Goku cried.

"I most certainly am not!" Nevrrest actually agreed.

"Maybe not. But at this rate…maybe tomorrow she will be. Maybe she won't. Maybe all of us will die. Maybe things will get better somehow…" His sinking head shook side to side. "But my part is done. Sometimes…we have to let go. To give up fate to other hands."

"…What a load of shit…"

They all froze, especially Horkion, as Laswe pushed himself up on his arms. Vegeta lowered his hand, the last flicker of expelled energy fading. Laswe grunted and squinted at Horkion. "Sandbrain…sandbrain!"

Horkion's lump lifted off Nevrrest's chest a bit. "Laswe?"

Glaring at Horkion, Vegeta put out his arm so Laswe could use it to lift himself up on his tail. "Your people…came together to make the greatest Minarite who ever lived," piped Laswe, leaning over Vegeta's arm, "And their big plan for him was a suicide mission?"

"It…it'll work, Laswe," Horkion whimpered, "And no one will be hurt. Once I'm fused with her, I'll fly us both into the atmosphere before she blows up."

"Idiot!" Laswe snapped. He wiped the blood from his mouth. "You…are a Justiciar! Not some trump card. If you really think sacrificing yourself for an easy win is your greatest purpose in life, then you're even more gravel headed than I thought. So what if some of us die…we're the Justice! We're bigger than death. And you…you're far bigger than it. So…stop being a chicken and get off that stupid bird!"

"But…Laswe…"

"I need you!" Laswe snapped, "I need you, dammit. I need you, so the Justice can survive. I need you…cause to answer your earlier question: yes, you are my best friend."

Nevrrest's jaw clenched and Horkion gazed up at her. "…No, Laswe. I can't. Because…you're mine too. And I won't let anyone else die."

"Damn you, you can't!" Vegeta shouted. He pointed fiercely. "Her life belongs to me! I will not be robbed again!"

"Again…I'm sorry."

"Noooo…" Nevrrest hissed, her eyes wide as Horkion sank further into her chest, "You can't do this…!"

Goku's breathing intensified and he suddenly reached out a hand. "Horkion!" The minarite paused and gave him his attention. "Wait, we…" He looked at Vegeta. "We have a plan to stop Nevrrest. Please…let us use it."

"Goku, I can't—"

"Please!" Goku pleaded. He pressed his hands together and held them up, bowing his head. "Please, give us a chance. I promise if you do…no one else will die! It'll be over quickly."

"…Goku…"

"It's time to yield, Horkion," said Laswe, looking intensely at him, "To give up fate to other hands."

Horkion was silent. A rumble sounded inside him, first a moan then a laugh. "…Little prick."

Goku jerked up hopefully. "So…you will…?!"

Horkion looked at Nevrrest again. "…It'll take me some time to reverse the process. Use it well."

"Yes!" roared Vegeta.

"Thank you!" Goku piped with relief. He scooped up Laswe like a child and bowed his head. "Thank you…"

Vegeta grabbed Goku and led him rapidly further down the wreck of the Hammer. Nevrrest's brow twitched and she hissed as she watched them go, caught between frustration and relief. Goku laid Laswe down against a rock and the squishy prince grunted. "He wasn't kidding, just to let you guys know." Laswe looked at the white blood on his hand. "I'm not doing too hot…none of us are. I think that pick-me-up helped, though."

"Consider us even in that regard," Vegeta told him.

"As long as I don't actually die? Sure."

Goku drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Okay. Let's do it, Vegeta."

"What are we doing again?" Laswe asked.

"Vegeta and I are going to fuse our bodies."

"RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF ME?!" Laswe cried with disgust.

"Not like that…" Vegeta growled, both saiyans blushing.

"Oh thank God…" Laswe sighed.

"And anyhow," Vegeta continued, looking at Goku, "It's not going to be like the last time."

"No?" Goku asked and then looked at his fingers, "Which time was that? I think it's been…three times? Four…?"

"What I mean is we're not going in there as some over-pomped fool," Vegeta stated flatly, the mauve flames in his eyes waving gently, "Neither Vegito or Gogeta will do in this case – even if we had the means to make the prior."

"Neither Vegito or Gogeta?" Goku blinked, "Is…there someone else I don't know about?"

Vegeta held out his hand, the mauve ring of energy glowing brightly. "We will soon see. But first, I need you to share something else with me."

Goku leaned down, studying his palm. "Something else…?"

"Yes, Kakarot. You see, I've decided Fusion isn't enough in this case. We are going to perform what I call Perfect Fusion."

"Perfect Fusion?" Goku asked with interest, rubbing his head, "I've never heard of that. How's it work?"

Goku started as Vegeta grabbed his arm, putting his own arm in Goku's hand. "Right now, I am in complete control of Oom'Bagu's abilities. I can use him to create what he calls a Slave Circuit between the three of us."

"Ooh! Now I have some idea of what you're talking about," said Laswe with interest, "But…I'm not sure. Oom'Bagu's in critical condition."

"He's agreed to the risk," Vegeta assured, "I can feel that in his will."

"I'm still confused," informed Goku, blinking.

"Empathic Bind," Vegeta stated, "It is a technique that makes the minds and wills of the parties as one. At this distance, we will be completely in sync with each other."

"Oooh, I think I get it!" Goku chimed, "So we do this bind first so we'll already be in sync before we do the dance."

"Dance?" Laswe twitched.

"Not like that!" Vegeta snapped at him again, blushing harder.

"Yeah, I see what you're getting at," Goku continued, "If we used a regular fusion, Nevrrest would use our lack of coordination—"

"You mean fooling around," Vegeta growled.

"Yeah—to her advantage. No matter how strong we were."

"Correct."

"But if we're a Perfect Fusion, maybe we'll be a better fighter together."

"That's my hope," Vegeta agreed.

"Alright! I'm in. What do we do?"

"Not just yet," Vegeta held up a hand, "Fusing is but the first step in my strategy."

"Okay, I'm listening."

"I think it's time we carried out the obvious solution to Nevrrest's power." He drew a finger over his throat. "We cut it off at the source: the Quantum Fusion Core."

"What?!" squawked Laswe, flailing his arms and wings, "I hope you're not suggesting what I think you're suggesting!"

"It's the only strategy that is certain to work," Vegeta flatly rebuked, "If we attack the Core, Nevrrest will be forced to defend it, leaving her open. We destroy it, she loses all her power, and I can finally face her with no further nonsense."

"Gosh, I don't know…" said Goku, rubbing his neck, "The Core is really important to the Justice. I don't know how I'd feel about destroying it."

"It's more than just important!" Laswe cried, making himself swoon in a tizzy, "The Core is everything to the Justice! It's one of a kind—impossible to replicate! It's the power source that makes our entire operation possible! If you destroy it, you might as well just blow everything else up while you're at it. Cause without the Core, there won't be a Justice!"

"Well we can't do that then," said Goku with worry.

"I really don't see why they deserve to keep existing anymore," grunted Vegeta dismissively.

"Okay look!" Laswe scowled at the other prince, "There's no doubt we royally messed up your case. Messed up a lot of things. But we've only just begun! You're acting like we had our chance. The Justice is so new…would you really kill it before we've had a chance to even discover what we can offer the universe?"

"He's right, Vegeta," Goku agreed, "Nevrrest is one thing. But the Justice is full of good people. We can't just throw away their hopes like that."

"Then what do you propose we do?!" Vegeta snapped, folding his arms and glaring, "We've exhausted every other option!"

"If you want to cut off her power, why don't you just destroy her fusion band?" Laswe suggested.

"We already tried that," Vegeta snarled, "It simply reformed."

"Diiiiiid you atomize it?"

"What it?" blinked Goku.

Vegeta paused. "No. It was merely broken."

"Well that's your problem," Laswe sighed. He touched his band. "These bands are designed to reconstruct themselves if even the smallest piece survives. The only way to destroy one is to completely destroy it down to its tiniest parts. Vaporize it. If you could get in close and hit it with a direct, mega-powerful blast, that should do the trick."

Vegeta grunted and looked aside. "It would be much easier to destroy the Core."

"Yeah, but it's too much of a sacrifice," Goku decided, "I say we give destroying her band a serious try."

Vegeta unfolded his arms. "Very well. Let's waste no more time and begin with the Empathic Bind."

"Here, I can help with this one," Laswe said with relief and then cleared his throat, "It's an interesting technique and takes a lot of mental concentration to make it work. But, basically, what you guys have to do is think of a memory where you two felt similar emotions."

"Similar emotions?" Goku asked.

"Yes," Vegeta confirmed, "And I already have something in mind. The moment you first became a Super Saiyan. I'm willing to bet we had a similar experience."

"Super Saiyan…?" Goku thought hard. "Well let's see…" He pictured the moment. "I guess…the first thing I felt was helplessness."

"Good," Vegeta nodded, "I felt the same."

"Yeah? Okay…then I had this sudden burst of anger I couldn't control."

"Then certainty."

"Yeah!"

"Good," Laswe confirmed, "Focus on the memory. Then let it run wild. Let it go! Let the two of you be the same person as you were in that moment."

Both saiyans nodded and concentrated on the memory. It was easy to recall. To Goku's surprise, as he thought of himself before Frieza, he also found himself on a desolate moon screaming with resolution at a meteor shower. The mauve ring expanded off Vegeta's hand and moved up Goku's arm, leaving an imprint on his bicep just below his prisoner numbers. Goku gasped and a mauve flame lit around his green eyes.

"We are together on this?" Vegeta asked.

"Yeah," Goku echoed, "We are."

(**Scene Break**)

"Hm," said Mr. Brief, chewing on his cigarette as he sat on the arm of the couch, "Nothing much is happening anymore."

"Don't worry about the TV, dear," assured Mrs. Brief, "Have some more coffee!" She poured the pot into his cup.

"Oh yes, thank you," he replied.

"At least no one's blowing up," Oolong stated, his cheeks swelled with chips, "Explosions make me nervous!"

Chi-Chi pressed her cupped hands to her lips, her forehead perpetually creased with worry. "Goku…"

(**Scene Break**)

"I don't believe it," Dende breathed, holding the lip of the Lookout as he leaned out, "Goku and Vegeta are about to fuse!"

"What? Seriously?" said Bulma with disbelief, holding her belly, "There's no way! Vegeta would rather go to the mall with me in a speedo than do that technique again."

"Yeah, I'd agree, but it looks like he's doing it anyhow!" Gohan said, leaning out next to Dende, "My Dad must have talked him into it."

"Holy cow, our dads are gonna fuse?!" Trunks piped, looking at Goten with excitement, "This is the coolest thing ever! My Dad is gonna make your dad so cool."

"Yeah! My Dad too!" Goten agreed.

"No way is that bird gonna win now." Trunks chuckled and gave a mean thumbs down. "She's gonna get pounded in the dirt so hard, she'll lay an egg!"

"Whoa, she's gonna have a baby?" Goten gasped.

"No, no," Trunks scolded, giving him a look, "Chickens lay eggs all the time, stupid."

"I didn't know she was a chicken…"

"Quiet," Piccolo ordered.

(**Scene Break**)

Laswe blinked as the Empathically Bound pair stood side by side, paces apart, the Ponachi unsure of what they were about to do. In the distance, out of earshot, Nevrrest and Horkion watched as well. Goku and Vegeta assumed a mirror pose so identical, Laswe found it almost scary.

"Fus…" they said at once.

"That dance!" Nevrrest gasped.

"What?" said Horkion, his head a little more emerged from her chest.

"That dance the brats were doing…it was a technique!"

"Sion…!" They both flowed like water droplets coming together, everyone who watched both confused and amazed. The Saiyans met. "HA!"

"Holy!" Laswe shielded his eyes as there was a bright flash of light. Purple energy pushed out through the light and swirled around it, like the hands of a weaver knitting them together.

The first thing that appeared was glowing mauve eyes through the white light. The light fell away like a curtain and someone no one knew stood proudly like a brilliant stallion. His spiky golden hair parted in an odd spot on the side, some of it sticking out around the base of his neck and the rest pointed straight up. Clearly Saiyan, but no tail in sight and mauve eyes like Oom'Bagu sometimes had instead of the Super Saiyan green. His clothing was also strange, a cross between the garb of a man of the desert and the arctic wear of Oom'Bagu's people – the vest over his pecs woven with brightly colored threads and collared with fur.

"What the…who the hell is this guy?!" Laswe piped.

"Who am I?" the being replied with a strange voice, looking himself over, "That's a good question."

Horkion leapt from Nevrrest's chest and bolted away in the spare moment he had before Nevrrest regained control of herself. Horkion slid to a halt before the strange person, studying what his efforts had bought them. He leaned up and gazed into the man's face. "…Goku? Is that you?"

"No, I'm not Goku," he answered, though he swore he could hear Goku's voice in the man's, "I'm not Vegeta either." He looked at his hands again. "But who am I? I'm not Gogeta…and I'm not Vegito either. No. I'm definitely someone new."

"Damnable…what's going on over here?!" Nevrrest snarled as she stalked toward them.

The strange man looked at her. "Never mind. I'll figure it out later." He stalked back toward her. "Hey there, Nevrrest. I've been waiting a long time to meet you."

"Identify yourself," Nevrrest demanded.

"Like I said, it can wait."

"IDENTIFY YOURSELF!"

All sound on Earth was cancelled as the strange man's fist flew, impacting her chest. The Hammer tipped on its side and rolled, creating two trenches as it bounced. Nevrrest's eyes glinted with horror as three of her scales flew off, bouncing across the man's arm. She snarled and grabbed his wrist with both hands, stopping her momentum. She dug her foot talons into the dirt.

The man's eyes narrowed. "You know…Vegito and Gogeta never did sound right to me. Veku. Yeah. That sounds right." He winced as Nevrrest's tail slammed into his side, her blades dancing off the surface of his defenses. "I know who I am now, Nevrrest. I'm the one who's been fighting you. My name is Veku."

Horkion gave a scream of fright and scooped up Laswe, running after the shelter of the rolling Hammer as it was blasted back by a second return strike by Nevrrest, drawing blood from Veku's ear as he dodged. Nevrrest bit into his shoulder and he bit into her arm, their knees impacting and knocking the storm out of the sky with an earthquake and thunder crack.

AUTHOR NOTE

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