A/N: And now, the action begins! Please let me know if you have any questions about this or previous chapters, because this is where I tie it all up. And just so you guys know, there will be a sequel to this, which I'm currently working on, while I'm writing this one. That's kind of why these chapters are coming out so quickly, I really can't wait to get the sequel started. It's going to be a crossover between this universe and the canon Dragon Ball Super universe. So, all you Beerus fans are finally gonna get to see him! :D
Transformation
"Lord Frieza," Zarbon said, tossing his long flowing hair over his shoulder as he spoke. "Prince Vegeta has entered visual range, with another space pod," he reported.
Frieza sat on his throne, looking out at the stars. "Does the other space pod have any life signs?" he asked.
"No, Lord Frieza," Zarbon reported. "Our scanners show it contains a body, but there is no power level coming from it," he said.
Frieza grinned slowly. "He's such a good little pet, isn't he? Much more dependable than Ginyu. Still no word from him?" he asked, knowing if there had been word, he would have been notified immediately.
"Still nothing, my lord," Zarbon answered. "It's possible they've defected. You did order his planet exterminated, after all," he said smoothly.
Frieza scowled. "If he wishes to join his people in death, so be it. Send Vegeta to me as soon as he docks. Oh, and Zarbon," he said, turning to his subordinate. "Check the body he brought with him. I want to make sure it's Saiyan, and Vegeta isn't trying to trick me."
Zarbon bowed. "Of course, Lord Frieza," he said smoothly, then turned and left the throne room.
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Zarbon arrived in the docking bay just as Vegeta was getting out of his pod. With a gesture, he motioned the technicians to the other pod, ignoring Vegeta completely. "Lord Frieza wants me to inspect the body," he said, as the technicians opened the pod.
Vegeta smirked as Zarbon neared Kress's pod. "I think you'll find it in good condition," he said, earning a quizzical glance from Zarbon just as the door opened.
In the next few seconds, both technicians were dead.
Three minutes later, Zarbon's head lay a few feet from the rest of his body.
Vegeta licked the blood from his hands as Kress worked at the console. Suddenly, the ship's lights flickered, and Kress gave Vegeta a single nod. Vegeta smiled. "Let's go pay Frieza a visit," he said, and the two left the docking bay.
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Frieza was suspicious when the lights flickered. He was concerned when Zarbon didn't answer his hails. He was wary when he heard explosions down the corridor.
He was livid when he saw Vegeta and Kress enter his throne room.
"How did you get past Zarbon?" he demanded. He didn't ask how they got past his other men. Most of his men were only as strong as their blasters. But, Zarbon's power far overshadowed Vegeta's, there should have been no way for these two to be alive.
Vegeta smirked. "It's really quite simple, Frieza," he said, omitting the 'lord' on purpose. "We're Saiyans."
Frieza snarled. "You are nothing more than filthy monkeys, howling and throwing their own feces! No matter how strong you get, you're nothing but a dirty pathetic animal," he spat, his power level rising.
Vegeta lifted a hand, but instead of raising it to Frieza, he aimed it at Kress. "Now witness the power you fear, Frieza. The power you destroyed our planet to avoid! The Legendary Super Saiyan!" he said, and clenched his outstretched hand into a fist.
Pain exploded in Kress's chest, as the energy absorber was crushed, and suddenly his power whooshed into him.
His eyes went wide, and he screamed, as his body was bathed in a golden glow. His eyes turned white, as the shockwave of power blasted both Vegeta and Frieza to the bulkhead.
"What… what is this? What have you done?" Frieza demanded, as the man's power grew, and air began to whoosh out of the crumpled bulkhead.
Vegeta began to laugh. "I've killed you, Frieza! You thought you could stop me, you robbed me of everything, my family, my planet, even my pride, and still! Still I managed to kill you, with nothing more than my wits and a third class half-breed!" he cackled.
Frieza began to transform. "I can survive in space, you insolent fool! You can't! You've only killed yourself!" Frieza retorted, but was suddenly being held around the throat by an extremely powerful yellow-haired Saiyan.
Vegeta gasped as the last of the air escaped the throne room. "See… you… in… hell…" he spat, and watched as Kress ripped the Ice-jinn to shreds.
By the time he was done, Vegeta was floating in the vacuum, eyes gazing forward lifelessly.
And Kress was still powering up…
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Pel stretched in bed, her back against Goten, his arm draped over her stomach. "Have you thought of a name?" Goten murmured in her ear, causing her to smile.
"Katat," she said softly, eliciting a chuckle from her mate.
"A Namekian name," he said, smiling.
Pel nodded. "Namekians are neither male nor female. This way, no matter what gender the baby is, the name will fit," she said softly.
"You know, I can always check to see what the baby's gender is," Goten offered.
Pel turned her head and gave him a glare. "Don't you dare! I want it to be a surprise," she said, placing her hand over the one Goten had resting on her belly. "Katat is going to be the last human ever born. I want everything to be perfect," she said with a sigh.
"Well… not completely human. He or she will have a little bit of Saiyan in there, too," Goten replied, kissing Pel lightly on the shoulder.
"The last of the Humans, the last of the Saiyans, with a Namekian name. Our child will have a lot to live up to," Pel said, turning to face Goten. "And you're sure it won't have Kai DNA?" she asked.
Goten laughed. Pel had found out only yesterday that she was pregnant, and since then, she seemed to be obsessed with the child, picking the strangest things to be worried about. "I told you, I'm not physically a Kai, yet. Besides, if I were, do you really think I could make a baby? The Kai come from a special kind of tree in Otherworld, they aren't born," he said, shaking his head. "Don't worry. Whatever else our child is, he or she is going to be 100% mortal. Okay?" he said soothingly, causing Pel to smile and nod.
"Good. Because if Katat gets whisked away by some Kai to defeat some universe-ending… Goten?" Pel asked, noting how Goten's muscles had tensed suddenly. His eyes began to glow for an instant, and Pel was suddenly filled with terror.
Just as suddenly, it was over, and Goten's eyes were back to normal. Scowling, he sat up, causing Pel to sit up, too. "It's happening," he said, swallowing.
Pel stood suddenly. "No! No, Goten, it can't be yet…" she said, and suddenly took his hand. "Stay here with me. Please. Just… just tell them no, you can't do it. Let them fix it themselves!" she pleaded.
"If we had been able to do that, we wouldn't have recruited Goten in the first place," a small purple-skinned being with a white mohawk said. He and a tall pink-skinned being were standing in the room.
Pel screamed, startled, and hurriedly pulled on her lime green jumpsuit. Goten, too, dressed himself, though not as quickly. Once dressed, Pel stomped towards the Supreme Kai. "Don't you have any manners? You're supposed to press the door alarm," she said, scowling at the supreme ruler of the entire universe. "Why do you have to take Goten now?" she demanded, ignoring the way the tall pink one scowled at her.
"Pel," Goten said warningly, causing her to turn towards him.
"No, Goten. I'm not letting you go without a fight! I at least get to have my say! I deserve that, don't I?" Pel shouted, tears in her eyes.
"It's okay," the Supreme Kai said softly, gazing at Pel. "Say what you wish to say," he told her.
Pel scowled. "Okay, here it is. You've known this 'great evil' was coming for a while now. So you decide that, of all the people in the universe that could stop it, you had to find one of the last two living humans in existence, and separate them! And to do it, you told Goten that he could come back after he finished defeating this great evil, and then told him he would have to stay out of the living world forever! Then, you let a planet full of people that spent their lives helping and healing others, to get slaughtered, and wouldn't even let Goten try to help! And THEN, you give us less than a year together, before you decide to whisk him away again! And, that's not even mentioning the fact that, you knew enough to know that Goten is the one who will fight this mysterious great evil of yours, but you don't seem to know anything about who the great evil is? Goten may be too nice to call you on your bullshit, but I watched a planet of my closest friends give their lives in protection of this universe, so forgive me if I'm just a little more jaded!" she said, her face red with fury and exertion.
The Supreme Kai nodded softly. "All of these things are true," he said. "They were also unavoidable. I know you're upset right now, Pel, but everything I have done, has been in your best interests," he said. "I don't expect you to understand or accept it," he said, then turned to Goten. "We need the Z sword. Can you retrieve it, please?" he asked.
Goten nodded, and, reached out his hand, causing it to disappear. Seconds later, he pulled it back, revealing a long metal sword. Holding it upon his outstretched palms, he bowed, offering it to the Supreme Kai.
The Supreme Kai gripped the hilt with both hands and tried to lift it, instantly regretting it. The blade fell to the metal floor with a loud clang, and the Supreme Kai lifted the hilt with great effort, so that it was standing straight up, its point on the floor. Once he had it steady, he closed his eyes.
Pel frowned, inching up to Goten. "What's he doing?" she whispered.
Goten's eyes were on the Supreme Kai. "He's speaking with his ancestor," he whispered back, and his hand gently gripped hers, an action that did not go unnoticed by Kibito. He could tell the young man was nervous.
The Supreme Kai opened his eyes then, and gazed at the two of them. "My ancestor says that, before Goten may become a Kai, his ties to the living world must be severed," he said softly. He gazed at Pel. "You will have to sever them."
Pel shook her head in confusion. "I have to what? Why would I do anything to help you take Goten away from me?" she asked, scowling.
Goten scowled, as well. "You never said she would have to do anything, Master. Pel has nothing to do with this," he said, stepping in front of her protectively.
The Supreme Kai sighed. "Actually… she does. She is vitally important to your transformation. Without her, you could never become a Kai," he said. "You know how transformation works, Goten. I explained it to you once before. Do you remember what I told you and your father, when you asked how such a thing could be accomplished?" he asked, once again the teacher.
Goten frowned. "You said, you had to rob me of my potential," he said, remembering the conversation.
The Supreme Kai nodded. "This is the last of your potential that I need. Your life together. In order for you to become a Kai, your life together must be sacrificed. She must give you up," he said, looking down at their hands. "Your mortal lives, your destinies, are intertwined. It's what holds you to this realm. As long as you are hers, you can never truly belong to the universe. She has to relinquish her hold on you, not just physically, but as a matter of will. In essence, she has to sacrifice you for the greater good," he explained.
"It's too much, Master. You ask too much of us," Goten said with a shake of his head. "Pel just found out she's pregnant, you can't ask her to do something like this, the very next day. You… you can't ask it of me, either," he said, able to hold back his anger no longer. "I've done everything you've asked, but, Master, she's right. You haven't been truthful with us. You asked me to give up my life for this when I was just a kid, before I even understood what I was agreeing to!"
"I told you this meeting would be unpleasant, Goten. But it must be this way," the Supreme Kai said, turning to Pel. "This decision is yours, Pel. Either give him to us, or watch the universe be destroyed."
Just then, both of the Kai and Goten gasped, turning their heads quickly towards the small room's viewport. "It's beginning," the Supreme Kai whispered, horrified. "The stars… they're going out…"
Sure enough, in the distance, Pel could see tiny pinpricks of light grow large, then wink out. The area of blackness got larger and larger, and she drew a breath in horror, realizing those were people's suns that were going out. Her face went pale, and she turned to Goten. She scowled. "Goten…" she said, and closed her eyes, blinking the tears back. "Take him," she said to the Supreme Kai, letting go of Goten's hand.
"Pel…" Goten said, and she turned on him in fury.
"Don't say my name!" she screamed at him. "Don't you ever say my name again! You made me love you, then left me, and now you're doing it again, so you don't get to say my name anymore! I'm not wasting one more moment thinking about you, so don't you start thinking about me! Got that? Swear it! Swear you'll never say my name!" she demanded.
For Goten it was like a knife through the heart. Tears ran down his face, and his voice shook, as he whispered, "I… I swear."
Pel turned back to the Supreme Kai. "Take him," she repeated. "I can't stand him, or you, anymore," she spat, and crossed her arms, turning her back to all three of them.
Supreme Kai glanced at Kibito, who stepped over to Goten. Gently, he gripped the boy's shoulder and led him to stand, then to kneel before the Supreme Kai. Goten went along with no resistance, feeling very much as though his heart had just been ripped out of him.
The Supreme Kai gazed down into Goten's eyes sadly. "For every beginning, there is an end, Goten," he said, removing one hand from the hilt of the Z sword to place it on Goten's forehead, drawing power from the Z sword with the other. "And for every end… a beginning…" White light enveloped Goten, and he felt it burn through him, taking him apart, ripping apart each atom. His soul was burning, fusing with the physical, raw to the touch, and like an elastic band, each atom snapped into place, and his senses were on fire, and his body, mind, and soul were one and the same, and he felt…
Everything.
The stars.
The stars were going out.
In the blink of an eye, he was gone.