Goten

Trunks and I stood in the desert with all of the Z-Fighters, waiting for Locke and his group to show up. I had to admit, I was a little nervous, preparing to fight the guy that had kicked our asses more than once already and had finally put an end to the Red Ribbon Army.

"No matter what," Trunks clarified again, "we won't go for the kill."

I nodded. "My head's clear now. I still want to win Meadow back, but I'm going to do it the right way now." I smiled. "I'm proud to be Locke's friend, without a doubt."

Suddenly, Locke appeared with his family, Meadow, and her father. I noticed that something seemed to be upsetting Meadow, but when I looked at Locke questioningly, he gave a subtle shrug, though he looked just as concerned.

The three of us walked towards each other, followed by our dads. "I guess we're doing this," Locke said, smiling nervously.

"Yeah," Trunks replied. "You can still back out, if you want."

Locke's smile became a smirk. "In your dreams, monkeys."

Dad was the next to speak up. "So, we'll need to set some rules to make sure nothing goes wrong." He started listing off on his fingers. "First, no entering any cities. You can take the fight anywhere else you like, but not a city or town. Second, be careful with the destruction. We protect the Earth, so it would be a little hypocritical to damage her unnecessarily. Third, no killing each other."

Trunks and I nodded, but Locke cleared his throat. "Actually, Goku..." he was hesitant to say it, glancing around at everyone. "I want the fight to be to the death."

"Huh?!" The confused cry rang out through the spectators.

He explained. "Every other fight we've had, I fought for my life. I feel like that's how we should settle the score."

Vegeta was thoroughly concerned. "Are you sure? If Gotenks dies, he'll just split back into these two, but you'll return to the Otherworld, and having already been revived once..."

"I know the risks," he sighed. "But it has to be this way. Otherwise, I'll never be satisfied."

Meadow instantly shouted at him. "What are you saying?! We've been officially engaged for a day, and you're already trying to get yourself killed!?"

He looked back at her and shook his head. "I don't like it, but I have to do this. Meadow, trust me."

I shook my head. "No way," I snapped. "I'm not going to try to kill you again. I just got my friend back, and I'm not losing you."

"Me neither," Trunks agreed.

Locke put his hands in his pockets, avoiding eye contact. "What about Gotenks? I know from experience that he has a mind of his own."

Trunks crossed his arms. "We aren't fusing until you drop this!"

Locke's teeth clenched and he finally looked back at us. "Goten, Trunks, I need you guys to do this for me. I won't be able to sleep at night unless we know for absolutely sure which of us is stronger, in power and will." He clenched his fists and held one out. "Please, guys. I've proved that I'm willing to go in for the kill; prove that you can, too. Try to kill me, or I'll never forgive you."

My teeth ground. I knew I couldn't kill my friend, but at the same time, I knew the rush of mortal combat. Besides, I knew he'd go for the kill, knowing we'd be okay, so it wouldn't be fair for us to hold back. "Are you absolutely sure?" I asked.

He nodded. "I'll be content, and you'll have fulfilled your friend's final wish."

I sighed, and reluctantly touched my fist against his. "I won't like it," I assured him, "but if that's how you want to go out, I'll let you have it."

He smiled. "You sound like you think I'll lose."

I forced a smile back. "Senzu Beans restore all of your strength, so we skipped sleeping to spend last night in the Time Chamber. I think you're a little outmatched."

Trunks looked at us like we were crazy. "Are you two really okay with this?!"

"No," I responded truthfully, "but he's right. We need to show the same conviction as him; if he's going to try and kill Gotenks, then it won't be fair if we don't do the same." Trunks still looked unsure, but nodded, putting his fist against ours'.

Then a destructive force knocked our heads toward the ground almost simultaneously. "Are you all insane?!" Meadow screamed. "I'm not going to stand by while my fiance gets killed by his friends!" I winced at "fiance".

Locke smiled as he rubbed his head. "You really think I'll lose? You saw me fight Oreg."

"I saw you almost kill yourself to overpower him!"

Locke's POV

I didn't want to admit it, but I was just as scared as her. A night in the Time Chamber would be a number of weeks of training, and I could guess that they'd already trained in the time between our last fight and our friendship reinstating; more than likely, they'd grown just as much as they were bragging, if not more. But with my ascention to the God level, I knew I'd be able to hold my own, and maybe even overpower them.

I sighed and forced Meadow into a hug. She struggled, but I ignored it. "Meadow, trust me. Please."

"No! I won't let you!" She hugged me tightly, as though she was going to hold me in place, despite the futility.

I stroked her hair softly. "If I don't, I'll spend my whole life wondering, and Saiyans have long lives; not to mention Androids." She shook her head, only squeezing tighter. "I'll fight my hardest, if that's any consulation."

"It isn't," came the choked reply. She was beginning to tremble.

I pried her off me as gently as possible and looked into her teary eyes. "Meadow, I'm a warrior. If I don't settle things with my rival, then when I finally do die, I won't be at peace. Please."

She sniffed and wiped her eyes. "You'd better not die," she said sternly. "If you do, you'll find me with you pretty fast."

I shook my head. "We both know you can't afford to do that right now." I lowered my gaze to her stomach. "Not until later today, at least."

She looked like she had a response to that, but instead, she hugged me again. "Just don't die."

I smiled and returned the hug. "I'll try my hardest."

She released me and started to back towards the other spectators. "I love you," she said softly.

"I love you, too." I noticed Goten scowl in the corner of my vision, but when I turned to face him, it was gone.

"So," Vegeta started, "are you going to start?"

I nodded. "It's time to finally see who's stronger. The Bratty Fusion, Gotenks, or the Phantasmal Android, Locke Brangwen-Gero?"

"Come up with those on your own?" Trunks asked. "Where does 'Phantasmal' come from?" I flicked him in the back of the head as my afterimage faded. "Right." They adjusted so we were in a circle again. "So, anything else to say before we start?"

"I don't think so," I responded. "All we need is for you two to fuse." They nodded and put space between us, getting in position.

"Fu... sion! Ha!" Light exploded around them, then faded to show the fusion warrior. He smiled and crossed his arms. "So, I finally kick my obsession with killing you, now I have to. How-"

"Shut it!" Vegeta groaned. "We've heard it enough times already!"

Gotenks scratched the back of his head. "Eh, right. Now, let's get started." I nodded.

Vegeta handed us each an earpiece. "These will let you hear us, no matter where you are. Just in case you're far away when it's time to say goodbye."

"Thanks," I said, a bit solemnly. We both put them on and got into position.

A low sound reverberated from our throats, then we both transformed into SS and SSO. The sound grew in volume, and we slowly shifted to the next level, into SS2 and SSO2. The ground was cracking beneath us, forcing everyone watching to back away. Rocks floated into the air and started swirling around us as our hair grew even further down, our eyebrows vanishing. Energy exploded from us. When the lights faded, we stood, Super Saiyan 3 and Super Saiyan Orchid 3. Black flames erupted from my eyes as I added my Darkness Form to the transformation, and we both struck our battle stances.

"Gotenks. Our final bout... starts now!"