Dead Zone

It had been a long, perilous journey through the land of the former guardians, but Mr. Popo finally made it to their destination: the place where the seven air currents of the world converged under the Lookout. Though they had been ruthlessly attacked by the spirits of the former guardians and Kami nearly faded into a specter, his determination pushed him forward through danger and confrontations with the angered spirits. Nothing was going to stand in his way as he sought to save the world from a terrible fate, leaving all the people of Earth to remain under the control of the black water mist. In the end, Kami was willing to sacrifice his own life for the sake of the Earth, sending Mr. Popo ahead with the sacred water while the spirits of the guardians continued attacking him, punishing him for coming into their hallowed realm before he was dead.

Trembling, Mr. Popo uncapped the jug of sacred water and stepped over to the brass fixture where wind gusted into the large, empty room. Though fearful of what would happen to his master, Mr. Popo pushed aside his desire to go back and help Kami and upturned the jug over the opening, emptying the sacred water into the seven air currents to distribute across the globe as a mist. Every person who breathed it in would be cured of the effects of the black water mist, restoring their humanity. That threat, at least, would be over. After the sacred water was all poured out, Mr. Popo turned and ran back to the realm of the former guardians to help Kami get back out with his life intact.

…

Vegeta slowly rose to his feet, growing accustomed to the new feeling of power flooding through him. At first he wasn't sure his body could accommodate the influx of ki, but after he completed his transformation he wasn't sure how he lived at all without it. For the first time in his life he felt truly alive, on fire, as if he had awakened to realize his full potential, his destiny. But along with that feeling was the persistent guilt, that need that stemmed from the death of one of the people he cared for most: Mrs. Brief. He looked down at her pale body, still warm though her lifeblood drained from the hole through her chest. Gritting his teeth, he turned his teal gaze to Frieza. If not for the cause of his transformation, he would have laughed, jeered at the lizard for pushing him to become what he feared most, but under the given circumstances he saw no reason to rejoice. All he knew was that he finally had the strength he needed to defeat the scourge of the universe, his personal boogeyman.

Sinking into his fighting stance, a golden haze shimmered around his body. He gained no satisfaction as Frieza gaped at him wide-eyed, noticeably shaking in terror as he backpedaled a few paces. If anything he was disgusted by the show of cowardice and ashamed that he lived three decades in fear of such a loathsome creature. His lip curled contemptuously as he lunged forward, striking Frieza with a hard uppercut and kicking him into the floor so fast it was as if the rest of the world stood still around him.

Nearby, he could hear the sounds of Goku's battle with Garlic Jr. It was fitting, really, that they both ascended to avenge their loved ones. Goku could defeat Garlic, but Frieza was Vegeta's to kill. Immortal or not, he was going to die one way or another, even if he had to rip him to shreds and blast the pieces to hell a hundred times over. And if he somehow came back, he would just keep killing him until he was too afraid to bother returning again. Vegeta's natural aggressive drive had become more primal, fiercer than ever before, even as an oozaru. He wanted bloodshed, he wanted to cause Frieza the most excruciating suffering before he ended his pitiful existence. With wrath unequaled he began assailing Frieza, never pausing between attacks as he alternated between hand-to-hand combat and ki techniques.

Frieza was unable to go on the offensive as he continually blocked crushing blows that would have killed a weaker warrior. He grew more and more desperate as the seconds ticked by, though to him it felt like hours, days. Immortality did not provide him infinite endurance and stamina; he was growing weary as Vegeta only seemed to become stronger, faster. He wouldn't be able to keep up much longer if he didn't increase his power. He never would have dreamt he would need to use his maximum power to defeat a monkey, but as it was, he was using only a small fraction of his true power and losing horribly.

The tyrant squeezed his eyes shut, tensing his muscles as he prepared himself to take another hard punch to the gut, but it didn't come. Confused, he opened his eyes but didn't see Vegeta in front of him anymore. Spinning around, he was too late to dodge as an enormous blue-green body hurtled into him, knocking him into the floor with an explosion of dust and bits of tile. He was stunned as he scrambled to his feet, balling his hands into fists as he expected another attack from the saiyan prince at any moment.

Garlic Jr. slid to the edge of the Lookout, crying out in pain from the kick that sent him sailing across the Lookout. He tried to regain his breath as he sat up, only then noticing how close he was to the edge and falling off. His breath hitched in his throat when he saw something strange below the Lookout, a cloud of amber mist floating over the horizon, spreading in every direction as the wind carried it through the atmosphere. "What? What is this?" he yelled.

Goku appeared next to him, also looking down. "The sacred water. Kami and Mr. Popo made it."

"What?" Garlic howled, "No! It can't be! My plan! You ruined everything!"

Snarling, Goku flipped back into a handspring, his feet kicking Garlic's chin with extreme force. He sprung back to his feet and blasted the giant immortal with a blindingly bright beam of ki that tore a hole straight through his chest. Garlic stumbled back a few steps, nearly losing his balance on the very edge of the Lookout. Throwing his weight forward, he fell to his knees and gasped for air before standing again, his wound healing unnaturally fast.

"Fool! When will you learn you can't kill me?" Garlic taunted.

Goku blasted him again, this time in the face. The attack wasn't nearly as powerful as the last, so it did little more than knock Garlic off his feet and burn his face. But that wound also healed. "If I can't kill you I'll send you back to where you came from!"

Before Garlic could retort with another witless remark, Goku phased out of sight, making way for a small white body to collide with Garlic, sending both over the edge of the Lookout. Goku reappeared next to Vegeta to watch as the two immortals fell. "What'd you do that for?"

"Repaying the favor."

Goku smirked a little before flaring his ki and going after his opponent, Vegeta right behind him. Frieza and Garlic had only fallen about twenty feet before the saiyans phased below them and kicked them back up to the Lookout to continue their battles. They split up then, and resumed beating the immortals with legendary strength. Only a few minutes into their fight almost the entire palace had been leveled. What was once a sanctuary had become a war zone, marred by the explosions and drenched with blood. Aside from Kami and Mr. Popo in the deepest bowels of the Lookout, the place was deserted; Nappa and Gohan had successfully relocated everyone who was still alive to Korin's Tower down below, not sure if it was yet safe to take them anywhere else on the planet.

Vegeta beat Frieza down into the ground again and stood with his foot on his chest, grinding him into the broken tile floor. "Tell me, Frieza, did you really think you could destroy my race and not suffer any consequence?"

Frieza gasped for air, shaking his head. "No – please, Vegeta. You don't want – to fight me like this. You want – a real challenge. I know you. Let me reach – my full power."

"Your full power?" Vegeta raised an eyebrow and removed his foot from the lizard's chest. "Show me."

Coughing, Frieza staggered to his feet and tried to hide his triumphant smirk as he started powering up, a purple aura blazing up around him as his power quickly doubled, then tripled. Still it rose as his muscles bulked and throbbing veins rose on his body. With a screeching wail he pushing his ki to its maximum, to a level he hadn't ever needed in a fight before. It had been so long since he ever pushed himself to his limit he hardly remembered how good it felt.

Goku paused in his fight with Garlic, glancing over his shoulder at Vegeta and Frieza. Frowning, he projected his thoughts to Vegeta. "What are you doing? Why are you letting him power up?"

Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest as he turned to glare at the younger saiyan across the Lookout. "He said he wasn't at his full power. I want him to fight at his true strength so that when I defeat him he knows he never had a chance. Surely you can understand that, Kakarrot."

"How do you know you'll be strong enough?" His thoughts were laced with a feeling of envy, as if he wished that he, too, could engage in such a challenge. Garlic Jr. was able to withstand basically any punishment, but he still wasn't very strong.

"Don't ask me stupid questions." Vegeta sneered as he turned his attention back to the lizard.

Shrugging, Goku turned around and caught Garlic's fist, then swung him around and released him into a pile of rubble. He leaped high into the air and started gathering energy in his hands to blast a beam of ki down on the rubble before his immortal opponent could emerge. He held his arm in front of his face to protect his eyes from the flying debris of the resulting explosion, so he didn't see Garlic launching himself out of the blast. Before he knew what was happening he took a punch to the gut and a knee to the groin, then as he doubled over in pain, an elbow crashed down on the back of his head. He spiraled down to the ground, landing hard on his hands and knees. Ignoring the discomfort, he hopped back to his feet and blasted into the air to meet Garlic halfway, starting another flurry of lightning fast kicks and punches, almost all of which were delivered to Garlic.

Vegeta was getting impatient by the time Frieza finally stopped his ululations and breathed a heavy sigh, his aura fading as he reached his full power. "Well, it's about time. But I have to say after all that waiting I'm rather disappointed."

"Disappointed?" Frieza shouted. "I'll show you disappointed!" With increased speed he pointed his finger at Vegeta and shot at him with a death beam. He was stunned when Vegeta made no move to dodge, taking the beam head-on without a mark to show for it. Not believing what he saw, Frieza continued blasting him with death beams until Vegeta lost all patience and phased over to him, punching him hard in the jaw and grabbing his arm, wrenching it from its socket as he whipped him around into a crumbling wall. Frieza's body broke through the stone, so Vegeta continued swinging him around before throwing him high above the Lookout and blasting him with a barrage of ki balls.

"You're nothing!" he growled as he phased over to Frieza and took hold of his tail, digging his fingers into the soft flesh until he drew blood. With a roar Vegeta threw him back down to the Lookout and flew after him, driving his heels into Frieza's prone body. He cocked his head to the side as a stray beam of ki shot past from the other fight. Looking over, he saw that it was Goku who fired and missed his target by a long-shot.

"Watch where you're aiming, Kakarrot!" Vegeta hissed mentally. "Don't tell me you're getting tired already."

Goku laughed out loud, confusing Garlic, who was charging up a ki attack of his own. "No way! I just underestimated his speed a little bit."

"Right," Vegeta snorted, "then why do you look so exhausted? I can see you panting like a dog from here!"

"Okay, so maybe I'm a little tired. Yeesh, it's not that big of a deal. He just won't stay down."

"I could keep him down."

"I bet you couldn't."

"Don't be a fool!"

"I'd like to see you do it, then!"

"Fine, I will. You can use this lizard as a punching bag while I show you how a true warrior fights." Smirking smugly, Vegeta kicked Frieza in the side of the head before hopping over his body and strutting over to where Goku had Garlic Jr. caught with a wristlock.

Matching the prince's smirk and rolling his eyes, Goku shoved Garlic to the floor as he walked over to Frieza and roughly pulled him to his feet before punching him in the face. Meanwhile, Vegeta circled around his new opponent appraising him before jumping into the air to execute a butterfly kick. The large demon reeled back from the blow, but he stayed on his feet and by the time Vegeta landed, his hands were glowing with ki ready to attack.

But he was too slow and by the time he released his ki, Vegeta had disappeared, phasing in behind him and blasting a hole through his chest with a powerful beam of ki. Garlic fell forward, gurgling as blood rose in his throat and choked him. Vegeta stood next to him, crossing his arms over his chest. As far as he was concerned, that was entirely too easy, but then he saw Garlic rising to his hands and knees, the hole in his chest filling in. His eyebrow rose, but otherwise he showed no outward sign of his surprise and irritation.

'So that's what Kakarrot meant when he said he can't be kept down.' Vegeta spat on the ground as he stalked around to face Garlic, already gathering ki in his hands for his next attack. He scowled when Garlic threw himself back a few yards, firing a blast of ki at him. Vegeta took the hit at point blank range, which threw him back across the Lookout. Growling, he regained his composure and flew back over to his opponent, kneeing him in the gut and throwing a ball of ki in his face before roundhouse kicking him into the remains of a column of the palace. Hovering off the floor, Vegeta looked down when he saw Goku slide across the tile and crash head-first into what was once a wall. Turning the other way, he saw Frieza flying high above the Lookout, hands extended above his head as he started forming his ultimate attack of desperation.

"You can't beat me, you disgusting monkeys!" Frieza yelled. "I'll destroy the whole planet before I let you defeat me!"

Quickly glancing over his shoulder at Goku and seeing he was still recovering from that last blow, Vegeta shot into the air to stop Frieza from blowing up Earth. Panic pushed him to go faster; he couldn't let this planet go the same way as his home planet. This was his pack's home, his woman's home… He wouldn't let them lose what he lost so many years ago. Roaring with anger, he rapidly closed the gap between the Lookout and Frieza, fists poised to strike down the tyrant before he could release his attack.

But Vegeta didn't make it to Frieza first. A beam of energy flew past him and hit the lizard square in the chest while he was vulnerable with his arms raised and unable to block the attack. Looking back down at the demolished palace, Vegeta expected to see Goku standing there, but instead he saw Garlic Jr. glaring at Frieza, panting after hurling a huge portion of his remaining energy at him to stop the attack on the planet. Then, while Frieza was still in shock from being blind-sided, Garlic rose into the air and extended his arms with his hands pointing toward Frieza. More confused than ever, Vegeta turned around again and saw a spherical field of energy surrounding Frieza's body and closing in, shrinking the tyrant's body with it.

'What the fuck is going on?' Vegeta slowly moved away from Frieza, not wanting to get trapped in the energy field as well. Keeping his eye on the tiny form of Frieza, he watched as he was pulled back down to the Lookout and grasped in Garlic's hand. In the demon's other hand, a small glass bottle appeared from thin air. Once the bottle was created, the energy around Frieza appeared to evaporate his body and a cloud of what must have been Frieza's essence moved into the bottle, sealing itself in its glass prison.

Garlic Jr. held up the bottle victoriously, pointing with his free hand to the sky above. "You fool! I will not let you destroy this planet – it is mine! And now you'll be trapped in here forever. Don't even try to break free; this glass is too strong for you to break. I created it with the power of the Makyo Star!" He broke into a fit of maniacal laughter, not noticing as the saiyan prince lowered himself to the Lookout and turned his gaze up to the sky, trying to figure out which star was the source of the demon's power. There was one particularly bright star with a slight reddish tint, one he hadn't ever noticed before in all the times he looked up at the night sky during his stay on Earth, both as a child and an adult. Since it was out of the ordinary, he figured that had to be the star Garlic Jr. was referring to.

"Hey, you overgrown midget," Vegeta barked. "I'd thank you for humiliating Frieza, but you see, fate has reserved that honor for me." When Garlic turned to see who was addressing him with a noted lack of respect, Vegeta leaped forward and caught the arm holding Frieza, forcing Garlic to drop the bottle. It landed on the floor, and whereas Vegeta expected it to break on impact, it bounced across the tile several feet before turning on its side and rolling in a circle. Inside, Frieza was obviously dizzy and hurting from the rough treatment.

The tiny Frieza shook his head to clear it, then maneuvered himself so he could see both Vegeta and Garlic Jr. A throbbing vein rose on his forehead as he started pounding his fists against the glass and shouting unheard obscenities. Vegeta walked over to the bottle and picked it up, purposely shaking it around more than necessary. "Well now, what do we have here? If only your lapdogs were here to see this! You've finally been reduced to what you really are: a sniveling little lizard."

"Vegeta, are you really going to just leave him in there?"

Vegeta shifted his eyes over to the other super saiyan and shrugged. "Of course not, you clown. This is much too dignified for him."

Taking advantage of the fact that neither of the saiyan warriors were paying attention to him, Garlic scrambled to his feet and backpedaled away from them. Then, summoning all the power invested in him by the Makyo Star, he unlocked the Dead Zone. High above, the night sky appeared to shatter like a broken mirror and fall away, revealing the swirling vortex that would suck up anything in its path to send to the eternal void.

Both Goku and Vegeta turned then, crying out in shock when they saw what had happened. Only Goku knew what it was, but Vegeta could guess easily enough that it was something he shouldn't dive into. Still holding Frieza's bottle, Vegeta started running over to where Garlic was standing, laughing triumphantly as the smaller pieces of debris lifted off the ground and flew into the Dead Zone.

"You will not defeat me!" Garlic shouted. "You and everyone you love will be swallowed up into the Dead Zone where you will stay for all eternity! There is no escape!"

In the split second it took for Vegeta to reach Garlic Jr., the Dead Zone had already started pulling in the larger pieces of rubble, in effect sucking in the entire Lookout. Vegeta could feel it tilting beneath him as he ran. Casting Frieza aside for the time being, he lunged at Garlic and knocked him to the floor, landing on his chest and mercilessly beating him until blood spewed from his inflicted wounds.

"Close it!" he snarled. "Close the damned Dead Zone!"

Despite the pain, Garlic Jr. laughed at the prince's demand. "You fool, I won't close it until everything has been swallowed up and nothing remains but darkness!"

Growling, Vegeta moved off him and caught Frieza's bottle before it, too, got taken by the vortex. "Kakarrot! You defeat this idiot! I'm going to destroy Frieza."

Nodding, Goku phased over to Garlic Jr. and stepped on his chest, kicking him back down to the floor as he tried to get up. "We have to end this fast, Vegeta. The Dead Zone's going to take everything!"

Vegeta ground his teeth as he glanced around the ruined courtyard of the palace. He could feel the suction of the vortex trying to pull him in, but he remained grounded. About to break the top off of Frieza's glass bottle to release him, he paused when he saw a large chunk of stone fly into the sky, disintegrating as the pressure of the vortex crushed it. Behind the stone was the body of Raditz, which also began to rise.

"No!" With preternatural speed Vegeta leaped over to Raditz and grabbed his foot as the Dead Zone tried to pull him in. With his hands full now, he wouldn't be much use in a fight. Another bolt of panic coursed through him when he realized Mrs. Brief's body would also be sucked into the void if he didn't stop it. Still holding onto Frieza and Raditz, he rushed over to where his surrogate mother fell. Fortunately, during the fight following her death, a column fell on her, anchoring her down, but it was only a matter of time before the Dead Zone drew the column in, and then her body.

"Kakarrot!" he screamed across their telepathic link, "The bodies! If the Dead Zone sucks them up, can they be wished back with the dragon balls or does the dragon bring them back to life where they're at?"

Momentarily distracted by the invading thought, Goku took a hard hit and fell to the floor. Garlic Jr. loomed over him as his head swam from the blow to his head. "They'll be wished back to life where they're at. Oh, no! Vegeta, get the bodies and take them somewhere safe! I'll take care of Garlic."

Growling, Vegeta kicked the column off of Mrs. Brief's body, now cold, pale, and crushed. With a pained grimace, Vegeta knelt down and hooked his arm around her waist and took off for the edge of the Lookout, hoping Korin's Tower would be far enough down that they would be safe there so he could return and defeat Frieza.

Goku threw himself back to his feet and blocked another punch before driving his knee into Garlic's solar plexus, temporarily incapacitating him. He caught a glimpse of Vegeta running away with Raditz, Mrs. Brief, and Frieza. His eyes widened when he realized Vegeta was missing a body. "Vegeta, wait! You have to find Chi-Chi!"

Vegeta hesitated, coming to a stop as he glared over at Goku. "I don't know where your harpy is! Find her yourself."

"Damnit, Vegeta! If it were Bulma you know I'd go back for her!"

Howling in frustration, Vegeta turned back and started picking through the rubble. He didn't care much for the banshee and he didn't care about Goku's opinion of him, but he knew it was the right thing to do, or at least what his own woman would want him to do. It wasn't long before he uncovered Chi-Chi's body, nearly losing it to the Dead Zone before he could wrap his tail around her wrist and drag her behind him as he retreated from the Lookout to get the bodies to a safer location. He dove off the edge of the Lookout, heading down to Korin's Tower, when Garlic Jr. suddenly appeared in front of him to block his path.

"You're not going anywhere!" Garlic snarled.

Vegeta frowned before moving forward and flipping backwards, delivering a swift bicycle kick to Garlic's jaw. "I'll be back. Don't miss me too much!" While Garlic's body flew back a few feet where he was caught in a chokehold by Goku, Vegeta resumed his descent. It only took a few seconds for him to reach the top of the tower, and there he could still feel the growing suction of the Dead Zone high above. Dropping down to the staircase wrapping around the tower, he looked around until he spotted the refugees.

"Nappa!" he stepped inside and dropped the three bodies on the floor, showing extra care only to Mrs. Brief. "There's some kind of vortex sucking everything in. I need you to get everyone as far away from it as you can."

The bald saiyan hurried over to the three bodies and nodded as he knelt down by them. "Sure thing, Vegeta. But what about you?"

Vegeta held up the bottle containing an incensed Frieza. "I've got business to take care of. Now hurry. I'm returning to the Lookout to finish this freak off once and for all." He turned to leave, but then he heard his woman call his name.

"Vegeta, wait!" Bulma ran over to him, practically falling into his arms. "Please be careful. I know you're a super saiyan and all, but he's still immortal."

He smirked, pushing her away gently. "Stop worrying, woman."

Without another word, Vegeta jumped off the rail of Korin's Tower and flew back up to the Lookout, Frieza's bottle clutched tightly in his hand. Reaching the platform, he was stunned when there was nothing left but Garlic and Goku fighting. The rest of the debris, rubble, and tile floor had been stripped, sucked into the Dead Zone. Already pieces of the Lookout were breaking off, meeting the same fate as the courtyard and central palace. Like a black hole the vortex seemed to grow stronger as it absorbed more mass, threatening to take in the whole world if it wasn't stopped.

He looked up again at the sky, not sure if it was his imagination when he saw that the Makyo Star seemed to be glowing brighter. Shaking his head, he dropped the bottle to the floor and stomped on it, breaking the glass. A silver cloud of mist rose from the shattered bottle, and when it cleared he saw Frieza standing there. Shifting into his fighting stance, Vegeta prepared for the final battle, shoving aside his concern about the void and being stuck there for eternity if he were foolish enough to get swallowed up by it.

"You shouldn't have freed me, Vegeta," Frieza yelled over the gusting wind and racket of the Lookout disintegrating from the force of the Dead Zone. "You are going to suffer, and when I'm through with you I'll finally kill you as I should have done years ago!"

At first a thrill of fear tried to rise in Vegeta's gut, but then he started chuckling, a feral grin tugging at the corners of his lips. "You made one fatal mistake, Frieza. Instead of making me afraid of pain and death, you made me immune to it."

With a roar, Vegeta charged forward and punched Frieza. Following him as he flew back from the force, Vegeta elbowed him in the chest and sank his foot into his abdomen, aiming a beam of ki at his head. As he poured his energy into his attack, he found it harder to stay grounded. The vortex was growing, becoming more of a danger to himself and everyone below.

"Kakarrot, finish him off!"

"I'm trying, but he won't die!"

"Then throw him into his own damn void!"

"Hey, I never thought of that."

"Obviously." Vegeta refocused on the lizard beneath him. "I'm curious about your immortality. Can you still survive if you lose your head? Or does it just hurt really fucking bad?"

Frieza struggled to free himself as the glowing orb of energy in Vegeta's hand grew, doubling in size and power. "No, Vegeta! You can't do this to me!"

"You're wrong about that." Vegeta drew his hand back like he was preparing to punch Frieza, then threw his hand forward, releasing the energy aimed at the tyrant's face. There was a large explosion with a crushing shockwave following as the ki hit its target. Vegeta jumped back from the point of impact, holding his arm up to protect his eyes. Once the light faded, he lowered his arm and looked at Frieza's maimed body as the smoke cleared. "Huh, guess you're not so immortal after all."

Spitting contemptuously at the body, Vegeta turned around and clenched his hands into fists as he had to put more energy into resisting the suction of the Dead Zone. Nearby, he could hear the sounds of battle as Garlic Jr. and Goku continued fighting. He could hear the cries of pain, but mostly he heard the shockwaves as blow after blow landed on the immortal demon. Goku had to be winning, but Garlic simply wouldn't – couldn't – die. He was extremely powerful, or at least he had infinite endurance and regenerating capabilities, but was that because of his immortality or his increased strength due to the power of the Makyo Star?

Vegeta tilted his head back, fixing his gaze on the glowing red light in the sky. It definitely appeared larger than before. Extending his arm with his palm facing the star, he started gathering energy until his hand glowed with a blue light, intent on destroying the source of the demon's power and thus, hopefully, closing the Dead Zone before it could take him and his pack. Once his attack was fully charged, he released the beam of ki. As soon as it disappeared into a tiny speck of light in space, he was knocked to the floor as someone kicked him in the back of the head. Somewhat dazed, he turned onto his side and gasped when he saw Frieza standing over him, fists clenched and ready to attack again.

'This is impossible!' his rational mind screamed. 'He was dead. Really fucking dead! I blew his head off!'

"Don't look so surprised to see me, monkey," Frieza spat. "When will you learn you can't kill an immortal?"

Dismissing his shock, Vegeta got back up to his feet and took his fighting stance. "Oh, I'm pretty sure you were dead. You can die, you apparently just don't stay dead. Guess I'll have to keep killing you then."

"You really think you can?" Frieza scoffed and phased over to Vegeta, kicking him in the gut and crashing his fists down on the back of his head as he doubled over. "You're getting tired, little prince. And I feel as good as new."

By now Vegeta was really starting to feel the strain of keeping himself from getting pulled into the Dead Zone. Sparing a glance at Goku, he could see he was likewise starting to show the signs of fatigue, probably worse considering the majority of his fight with Garlic Jr. was in the air, making it doubly hard to resist the suction. In the brief moment his attention was diverted, Frieza attacked again, this time trying to kick Vegeta's head. But Vegeta saw it coming from the corner of his eye and managed to block the blow with his forearm.

He grunted from the pain shooting through his arm from the impact and stepped back a few feet. Determined to go on the offense, he pushed his ki higher, igniting his aura around him and firing a small barrage of ki blasts at the tyrant. He was about to throw a much stronger ball of ki at Frieza when Goku crashed into him from behind.

"What the hell!" Vegeta shoved the larger saiyan away and quickly got back to his feet. "Make yourself useful and get this thing closed!"

Goku sat up, rubbing his head. "Sorry, Vegeta. I tried to throw him in, but he didn't seem to be affected by it. He came right back out."

"Damnit!" With a furious growl, Vegeta jumped into the air and kicked Frieza in the side of the head. With his opponent downed for a few seconds, he was able to look up at the sky again. The Makyo Star was still there. His ki beam hadn't reached it yet. "What's taking so damn long?"

"What do you mean?" Goku asked, charging up a kamehameha wave to hit Garlic with.

"Never mind."

"Okay then." In a flash Goku moved over to the other side of the Lookout and, only a few feet from Garlic Jr., threw his hands forward and released his attack, hoping to push the demon into the air and far enough into the vortex that he couldn't come back. But Garlic Jr. was strong and resilient, and he freed himself from the beam of ki before dropping back down the Lookout and kicking Goku hard.

Vegeta turned when he heard Frieza moving behind him, but he was too late to avoid Frieza's grasp. The lizard latched onto his arm, again digging his claw-like nails into his flesh to keep him from pulling free, and started spinning him around. After building enough momentum, he threw Vegeta straight up into the sky, meaning for him to get sucked into the vortex. As soon as he was in the air, Vegeta started trying to fly back down to the Lookout, but he was dangerously close to the Dead Zone and he felt like it was absorbing his energy straight from his body. Sweat beaded on his brow as he tried to escape the vortex, but he realized he was losing ground slowly as the surface of the Lookout became increasingly distant. There was no way to escape the pull of the vortex. He was going to get sucked in and spend eternity there. Could he even die in the Dead Zone? He shook his head, refusing to entertain such thoughts. It wasn't hopeless. He would get out of his current predicament somehow.

He flared his ki higher until he was sure he felt his insides burning up. Still he pushed it, thrusting it behind him, grasping at thin air for a hold on something – anything – to use to pull himself free from the black hole behind him. And still he lost ground. It was strenuous for him to reach his arm forward, making one final attempt to hold on, to escape the clutches of a dark dimension.

"Vegeta!"

Was he hearing things? Or was someone really close enough for him to hear? He hadn't realized he closed his eyes until he opened them and saw Kakarrot flying up to meet him. Frantically he shook his head, urging the other saiyan to go back, to defeat the monsters below. "No, you fool! You'll get pulled in too!"

Goku came up alongside Vegeta and spun around so he was facing the Lookout too. "What did you call us? Super saiyans? Do you really think two super saiyans are weak enough to be sucked into the Dead Zone?"

"I don't need your useless moral support right now."

"Then how about a little help?"

"I don't need your help!" Vegeta shouted. For the first time since Frieza threw him, he felt himself move forward, farther from the vortex and the void that waited beyond.

Goku smiled knowingly and reached over, grabbing Vegeta's arm. "Sure you don't. Now come on, we can get out of this."

Giving the younger saiyan a withering glare, Vegeta held onto Goku's arm and together they raised their ki and pushed it behind them. It felt like they were being ripped in half as the vortex continued pulling and they continued pushing away with stubborn determination. Though he wouldn't admit it, having help came as a relief to Vegeta. He knew he would still be falling back if Goku hadn't come, and now that they had the power of two super saiyans simultaneously pushing them forward, they were making progress. The farther they got from the vortex, the faster they moved until finally they were able to separate, each going after his own opponent without fear of being sucked in again.

Vegeta tackled Frieza to the floor of the Lookout and started grappling with him, trying to stay on top, pin him down, beat him senseless, and make him suffer. Neither he nor Frieza were able to gain the upper hand for long before the other would overthrow him and roll them over, ending up on top. Finally, Frieza gained the advantage with his hands wrapped around Vegeta's throat, choking him. Vegeta looked past Frieza's head and saw a brilliantly bright light in the sky where there was once a red glowing star. It finally exploded. That meant Garlic Jr. would be losing his power soon, and he wouldn't be able to keep the Dead Zone open – he hoped.

As if on cue, Garlic Jr. started lamenting his loss of power, screaming as if in deepest agony as his energy drained. With one final burst of rage, he punched Goku and staggered a few steps forward, losing control of the Dead Zone. No longer immune to its suction, he was now struggling to stay on the Lookout. Goku recovered from the relatively weak punch quickly and flipped over Garlic's head, landing behind him. Quickly gathering energy in his hands, he aimed at the demon's back and fired a strong beam of ki, blasting him into the sky. At first Garlic Jr. seemed able to resist the vortex as he managed to stop himself and remain in place in the air.

This was the brief window of opportunity Vegeta had been waiting for. He gripped Frieza's wrists and yanked his hands away from his throat, gasping for breath. Bringing his knees up to his shoulders, he planted his feet on Frieza's chest and kicked him high into the sky, sending a beam of ki after him to make sure he kept going straight toward the center of the vortex.

"Now Frieza, you can spend every moment of eternity remembering you were beaten by a monkey!" he yelled as the tyrant continued falling into the Dead Zone. Frieza flew past Garlic Jr., and, seeing he was stable, grabbed for him, but he wasn't able to reach him. Desperation made him lash out with one last attempt to save himself, coiling his tail around Garlic's neck to hold onto him as an anchor. But all he succeeded in doing was adding weight to Garlic, who was now unable to fight against the pull of the Dead Zone. As soon as they fell into the swirling vortex, it closed, sealed shut for the rest of eternity.

When the wind died down and the pieces of debris that were in the air fell back to the ground, Vegeta dropped to his hands and knees, breathing heavily. Near him, Goku also collapsed. Exhausted, their hair returned to coal black and their teal eyes darkened to deep obsidian.

"Did we win, Vegeta?"

Vegeta looked over at the other saiyan and rolled his eyes. "How many times have I told you not to ask foolish questions?"

Goku laughed. It was really all he could do after fighting the most intense battle of his life. The Earth was no longer in great peril and he could rest. The sacred water had been spread across the Earth, Garlic Jr. and Frieza were both locked away in the Dead Zone, and the invading army—

"What about Frieza's army?"

"Someone else can take care of them."

"Oh." Goku turned onto his back to gaze up at the star-studded sky, sighing with relief as the sense of victory finally settled in. But with that relief came another emotion that was overtaken by his anger as he transformed: grief. His wife was dead, killed by one of Garlic's barbarian followers. Tears stung his eyes as he remembered her fate, wishing he could go back in time and prevent it from happening. Wishing. Wishing! "Vegeta, we need to find the dragon balls as soon as they're recharged."

"Obviously."

Though still feeling almost unbearable heartache, Goku smiled a little. His wife was dead, but she would be brought back along with Mrs. Brief and Raditz. He closed his eyes, ready to fall into a deep slumber, when he was broken out of his thoughts by the saiyan prince.

"I resent being saved as if I were a helpless child."

"Is that a thank-you?"

"No."

"Well, you're welcome."

"Hn."

"I was just repaying a favor."

"What favor?"

"Getting Chi-Chi."

Vegeta turned his head to glare at the tailless saiyan, marveling at how stupidly naïve he was. Did he really believe he retrieved the harpy's body for his sake? He only did it because Bulma would have wanted him to. His vision started to blur as his exhaustion turned to sleepiness. 'Okay,' he admitted to himself, 'Maybe I did it for him, partially. He is one of the last of my race.' And maybe it was because he remembered the saiyan toddler running back and forth in the hut in the woods and thinking he wanted him to be content, never knowing the pain of oppression and loss.

A/N: I'm almost finished writing chapter 71. I have a feeling it'll be a popular chapter. Thanks for all the reviews on the past couple chapters. Not much else to say except that the story's getting close to concluding...

Beta'd by lilpumpkingirl

Review!