Episode 16 Pride of the Prince
The three beams were all gathered in the palms of Aku. Gohan, Goku and Uub had fired their attacks at him but he could easily hold them back. Of course that is not how he made it look. From Uub's perspective it looked like Aku was holding on for dear life, and had to use every ounce of his strength to hold off the assaults. Then at last Vegeta joined in, and that is when Aku decided to let himself get knocked back. When he left the planet's atmosphere he pushed himself out the beams way. The beams continued and collided with the sun. He smirked and began to fly down towards the surface of Caruna.
On earth:
After Dende had gone to sleep for his nap, Vegeta and Gohan followed his example. Even though Dende healed them, they were now so powerful that Dende could not get them back to full energy. No one was going home before Piccolo, Trunks and Goten were back to normal, so now Goku, Uub, Pan, Krillin, Tien and Yamcha sat around a table, while Uub and Pan told of their adventures on Caruna. After not too long Dende was awake and he went into heal Goten, Trunks, Hogosha and Piccolo. "Goku! Ehm.. Could you come in here? Please!" - Dende said desperately from the chamber that the injured were lying in. Goku got up and went into the room. "What's wrong Dende?" - Goku asked Dende who sat next to Trunks. "He is dead. Trunks is dead" - said Dende in a silent voice. "What? Dead?" - Goku asked surprised. "Yes. It looks like he has been dead for hours. If only I had been stronger" - Dende said almost crying. "Don't blame yourself. I'll go get the dragon balls, and he will be back alive in no time!" - Goku said and was just about to leave. "And don't worry. Vegeta doesn't need to know" - Goku said, knowing how Dende felt about Vegeta.
Goku ran out of the room and found the others still sitting at the table. "Ehm.. Pan, Do you have the dragon balls?" - Goku said and walked over to Pan as casually as possible. "Yeah sure. What's up?" - she asked and handed him the backpack. "Nothing. Don't worry" - Goku said and walked inside to Dende. By now Goten, Piccolo and Hogosha were back on their feet. "I got the dragon balls!" - Goku said and emptied the contents of the back out on one of the beds. 7 rocks rolled out on the bed.
On planet Caruna:
(This happened while Uub was fighting Aku)
After Aku used his Absolute Darkness, he landed on the ground and rushed to where Hogosha was lying. His previous power up had completely covered the dragon balls in sand, but he knew where they were. His quickly found 7 round rocks, as close to the size of the dragon balls as possible, in the area and put them into the backpack. By then his Absolute Darkness was starting to dissolve and so he hurried away from Hogosha, so Uub would not get suspicious.
On planet Caruna:
Aku landed in the sand. By now the strangers had all left the planet and the universe. He walked over to where he remembered the dragon balls lying. He brushed away the sand that covered them and smiled. Before he made his wish though, he wanted to make sure that those people didn't come back. Aku followed their tracks in the sand, and soon he reached a strange sight. It was a platform on which two giant hourglasses stood. In the back there was a door and Aku was heading straight for it. He charged up a ki blast and blasted the door to smithereens.
On planet earth:
By now they were panicking. The dragon balls were still in the other dimension and Goku had already tried, but the door didn't work. They knew that seven rocks didn't just make their way into a backpack. Someone had to have put them there, and that same someone had destroyed the door, so they couldn't come back and take the dragon balls. Goku's only guess was Aku.
Gohan and Vegeta had awoken, but no one had, had the courage to tell Vegeta that his son was dead yet. "We have to get back there!" - said Goten. "Why so? Even if Aku is alive and he has the dragon balls, what does it matter to us? It is not our dimension and not our fight!" - said Vegeta angrily, that he couldn't leave yet. "It's our responsibility! We made the mess, we clean it up!" - Gohan said. "Argh! Why do you people insist on being so god damn kind! Do what you want, me and my son are going home!" - Vegeta shouted and turned his back to the others. "Your son is dead" - Goku said. "What?" - Vegeta exclaimed, surprised and horrified at the same time. "Why didn't you heal him?" - Vegeta shouted and turned to Dende and grabbed him by the throat. "Vegeta stop! It's not Dende's fault!" - said Goku.
Vegeta let Dende go and stepped back. "By the time I was back to full energy, it was too late. I am sorry" - Dende said. "Goku! Teleport there right now, and get those dragon balls back!" - he shouted. "I can't. I am not strong enough to teleport that far!" - said Goku slowly. "That Uub kid! He was far stronger than you. He can teleport that far!" - said Vegeta coming up with another solution. "Perhaps. But it took me almost two months to learn that. If I began to learn that Uub now, by the time I was done it would be too late" - said Goku. "Then what do we do Kakarot? Do you propose we just let my son stay dead?" - shouted Vegeta angrily. It had been a while since Vegeta had called Goku, Kakarot. He only did when he was angry. "There is one way. But you are not going to like it" - Goku said.
On King Kai's planet:
(This happened while Uub was fighting Aku)
Goku appeared on King Kai's planet, and King Kai was there to welcome him. "Goku! Great to have you here, but there is no time to waste!" - said King Kai. "You said you had something for me, what is it?" - asked Goku and followed King Kai inside his small house. On the table two small objects lay there and as Goku laid his eyes on them he stopped dead in his tracks. "The Potara Earrings!" - said Goku surprised. "Yes! I don't know when but you will soon need this" - said King Kai. "But... Didn't Vegeta and I destroy the last pair?" - Goku asked. "I thought so too! But a couple of weeks ago me and the Elder Kai were talking, and he took me to their planet. After you fought with Kid Buu, it was completely demolished. But since then they have repaired it, and he wanted me to see it" - King Kai said and sat down on one of the chairs. "We were walking around when suddenly I noticed something sparkle on the ground. I went to pick it up and I was stunned. An earring, I exclaimed. After a few hours of searching we found another one" - King Kai concluded his story. "But.. Where did they come from?" - asked Goku. "Well, before anyone fused, there were three pairs. Kibito's, the Supreme Kai's and the Elder Kai's. You used one to become Vegito and then destroyed it when you were inside Uub, we gave you another one to fight Kid Buu, but you refused to use it and destroyed it. So there had to be one pair left!" - King Kai said answering Goku's question. "You are right! I don't if I will be able to use it though. Vegeta would never, and honestly I am pretty sure Uub can beat Aku!" - Goku said joyfully. "Don't be so sure Goku. The bad guys always have an ace in the hole" - said King Kai. Goku nodded and then disappeared.
On Earth:
Goku held out the Potara earrings with a emotionless face. Normally there was no way Goku would propose something like this, he knew that Vegeta did not like the idea of fusion. At least not with Goku. In this case, however, he believed there was no way Vegeta could get angrier. Vegeta looked down on Goku's hand and when he looked back up at Goku, he was angrier than ever before. "YOU SERIOUSLY EXPECT ME TOO FUSE WITH YOU!" - practically screamed Vegeta. In a flash Vegeta transformed to super saiyan, out of shear rage. "I would never propose this, was it not our only option. If you want to save Trunks, you will have to do this" - Goku said calmly. Vegeta stared at him with a gaze that could kill. He roared and took off. "Vegeta!" - Goku shouted after him then Goku flew after him.
"I don't get it. What is with the earrings?" - Uub asked Gohan. "Those are Potara earrings. If two people put one on different ears their bodies and minds will merge to become a much stronger warrior. They belong to the Kais, I didn't think they had any left, but I guess they had a spare pair" - Gohan said. "Really? If Vegeta is that strongly opposed to it, then I can fuse with Goku" - Uub said heroically. "It's permanent" - Gohan simply said. "Oh. Still to save the dragon balls, I could make that sacrifice" - Uub said. "It isn't that simple. The earrings can merge any two living bodies without any trouble, but the minds are a bit trickier. My dad explained this to me after he and Vegeta merged the last time. When they were fused, their minds were at a constant battle for dominance. He believed that if one mind was more dominant than the other, that mind would take over, and that would limit the warrior. During the years Goku and Vegeta have proved to be exactly equal in that sense, therefore their fusion is so incredibly powerful" - Gohan said.
"Wait! Goku and Vegeta have used those things before? Then how come they are separate now?" - Uub asked wondering. "Ha! Funny you should ask that question. When you were Majin Buu, you anatomy somehow separated them. It is a long story" - Gohan said smiling.
Somewhere in the sky:
"Vegeta! Get back here!" - Goku shouted through the clouds. It was night and the sky was pitch black. "Stay away from me Kakarot!" - Vegeta shouted back towards Goku. Goku stopped in the air and placed two of his fingers on his forehead. The next moment he was standing right next to Vegeta. "I said, STAY AWAY!" - Vegeta shouted and punched Goku in the gut. Vegeta was still in his super saiyan form so the punch hurt and knocked Goku a few yards back. "I will not fuse with you!" - shouted Vegeta. "Not even to save your son?" - Goku asked him silently. "Shut up! You have no right to talk to me like that!" - shouted Vegeta and started sending ki balls towards Goku. Goku transformed and dodged them all, he then moved in next to Vegeta. "I thought you were past this Vegeta. I thought you were past all this 'Prince of Saiyans' nonsense. Apparently you never change" - Goku said with a disgusted voice. "Kakarot. I no longer consider you as my enemy. I no longer feel any pride in spreading terror and pain. I no longer feel the need to constantly be better than you. BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN I WILL FUSE WITH YOU!" - screamed Vegeta as he was about to take off again, but Goku's hand on his shoulder stopped him. "Remember when we fought Buu the first time. You were cursed and yet you still sacrificed yourself to save the earth. To save your son. I was dead when Trunks were growing up, but I watched him from the otherworld. Until that day, where you sacrificed yourself. He never loved you. He respected and feared you, but he never loved you. Now, several decades later, you are just letting him die?" - Goku asked Vegeta in a completely calm voice, as if he was used to dealing with Vegeta's explosive temper. "Our lives would change. This time there would be no magic to separate us. And we can't even be sure we will succeed" - Vegeta said silently. "At least we will be able to say we tried" - Goku said smiling. Vegeta extended his hand, and Goku dropped the earring into Vegeta's hand.
Authors note:
And yet another chapter of this tale unfolds!
Hope you like the episode, reviews are appreciated and please stay tuned :D