Immortal

High above the planet, a battle raged between Krillin, Gohan, Piccolo, and the demon known as Garlic Jr. Despite the Z fighter's best efforts, they were tottering on the edge of failure. Gohan, though beaten and exhausted, was giving his all against the demon, but it wasn't going well. The other two warriors, each out of energy, were collapsed on the battlefield. Piccolo had held his own against their immortal opponent for a time, but had been weakened when Kami fell under attack from the Earth's former guardians. His strength was now gone, and Krillin never had much chance to begin with. Gohan, truly furious, was still dishing out as much damage as he could.

"I won't let you hurt any more people!" Gohan screamed. His small fists rammed into the demon's thickly armored torso, but the impacts did minimal damage at best. His foe was nearly ten feet tall, his skin dark blue and bulging with muscle.

This fight was personal. Garlic Jr., a weak and scrawny demon who had had managed to successfully wish for immortality several years before, had been defeated by Gohan when the half-Saiyan was only an infant. Garlic Jr.'s one trump card was his ability to open the Dead Zone, an utterly empty parallel dimension that could trap occupants for eternity. But the technique had been his downfall; the infant Gohan's burst of hidden rage had forced the demon into his own trap, sealing him away.

Today, however, the demon had escaped. The Makyo Star, a dark and clouded homeworld for all demons, was nearing perihelion in its orbit around the sun. It was the closest to Earth that it had been in 12,000 years, and its power gave Garlic the chance to escape confinement and exact his revenge on Gohan and the Z Fighters. As the Star had come even closer, its power had caused Garlic to undergo a transformation, enhancing his already-immortal power.

"Is that all you can dish out, little boy? Too bad your daddy isn't here to save you!" The bumbling blue giant was not one for well-spoken words. As an opponent, he wasn't even a respectable fighter, but his wish for immortality had given him certain advantages.

"Stop talking!" yelled Gohan as he fired a full power energy wave at his opponent. The blast grazed Garlic's shoulder, leaving an ugly wound. But he only smiled as his regenerative powers kicked in and restored his body back to normal in moments.

"You can never defeat me, boy! Or have you already forgotten that I'm immortal?" The giant laughed as he fired a series of energy waves back at Gohan.

The young Saiyan didn't know what to do next. He was trying his hardest to get angry and tap into his strength, but it just wasn't good enough. 'If only my dad was here,' Gohan thought. 'He would put this guy in his place, and then he would leave us all alone!'

Just then, Gohan felt it. He shivered in fear, recalling in an instant the death of Frieza and all the other events on Namek. The energy of the Prince of Saiyans was overwhelming, too obvious for him to miss.

Standing up straight, Gohan shook a finger at his towering foe. "Now you're gonna get it, Garlic Jr! Just you wait!"

"Oh, I'm not scared. You are all insignificant little – little maggots – compared to me! I will destroy every one of you and then I will rule this world forev—BLEUGH!"

Garlic gasped in pain as he felt a punch to his ribs hurl him across the lookout. As he tried to catch himself, he turned to look for the new opponent who had so brazenly hit him. He was sure he knew who it must be. "So, the mighty Goku has finally decided to come out of hiding and fight me? Tired of watching me pound your worthless son to death? Go ahead, bring it on!"

With a mirthless grin, Vegeta teleported behind him, driving his knee hard into Garlic's back. The blow caused the demon to smash face-first into the stony tiles of the lookout.

"I think you've got the wrong Saiyan, you idiot." Vegeta grabbed him by his arms from behind, restraining him. "I could care less who you are, but I noticed you were beating up Kakarott's son. While it's just fascinating that you and I have a common interest, I'm afraid I'm not the sharing type." Vegeta yanked, ripping both of the hulking demon's arms right out of their sockets. Tossing aside the bloodied limbs, he blasted a hole through the center of his enemy's back.

"Such a pitiful opponent," he muttered. Vegeta began walking casually towards the shocked Gohan, who wasn't sure to be glad or afraid. "Boy, how do you expect to develop any Saiyan pride if you can't even defeat a pest as weak as this?"

"Ve-Vegeta," Gohan stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"From the look of things, it seems I'm saving your life. Now, where is your father, boy?" Vegeta stopped short, his battle instincts kicking in as he crouched and launched a spinning kick at the burst of energy he sensed. The attack caught Garlic Jr. in mid-strike, tripping the clumsy demon. Vegeta was surprised when he turned around and saw his opponent. Not only was the hole in his foe's gut completely healed, but he had two new arms.

"So, it appears you know how to put yourself back together pretty well. Very interesting," Vegeta smiled.

Garlic was furious at this new fighter who was humiliating him so casually. "All right, who are you? And where did you come from?"

Vegeta had constantly been surrounded by soldiers who feared his name; weak henchmen who trembled when he walked by. This had become even more commonplace since his defeat of Frieza and Cooler. It was refreshing to meet someone who didn't already fear him…a perfect opportunity to instill terror firsthand. "Let's just say…I am the strongest warrior that the universe has ever seen. I am your life's end."

Nearby, Gohan helped Krillin to his feet and the two limped toward the place where Piccolo had collapsed. "Gohan, I never thought I'd say this, but I sure am glad Vegeta showed up when he did," Krillin said. "I mean, Garlic is tough, but there is no way he can beat a Super Saiyan!" Gohan nodded as he tried to awaken Piccolo. The Namekian, whose body was still fading in and out of existence, began to come around.

"What is that power I'm sensing? Vegeta?" Piccolo mumbled. "I don't like this."

Garlic was laughing at Vegeta's words. "You? The most powerful in the universe? Apparently you have never heard of the Immortal Garlic Jr! Hahaha!"

"You call yourself an Immortal, eh?" Vegeta chuckled. "I guess we'll have to put that name to the test."

The prince launched off the ground with his left foot, sweeping down with a hard right kick to Garlic's head. Quickly teleporting ahead of his foe's trajectory, Vegeta twisted and punted the demon in the back. As his opponent spun out of control in an upwards spiral, Vegeta dashed ahead, readying a clobbering double hammer with his fists. The blow came directly to Garlic's skull, launching him painfully downward through the entire lookout and toward the planet below. Vegeta laughed at how pitiful a fighter this supposedly immortal demon was. He wasn't really enjoying fighting such a weak opponent, but the prospect of killing an immortal was at least somewhat invigorating. While waiting for his foe to recover, the prince turned and spoke to Gohan.

"Boy, tell me: is Garlic the one responsible for infecting the people of this planet? What did he do to drive everyone insane? And, for that matter, how is it that you were unaffected?"

Being again reminded of what Garlic had done to his friends, not to mention his mother, immediately infuriated Gohan. "Yeah, Vegeta, it was all him. He used some kind of mist to infect everyone, but I guess I was lucky enough to not breathe it in. They will turn back to normal if we beat Garlic, I think."

Vegeta swore. "So, this fool IS the one responsible for destroying my ship…and her," he said under his breath.

Her words still echoed in his head. Oniya, too, had been the last surviving member of her race, all those she had ever known murdered as one of Frieza's violent "examples". She had told the prince that she was grateful to him for avenging not just the Saiyans, but her people as well. Gratitude...it was an unfamiliar emotion for Vegeta to witness. She, too, had lived a life of servitude and constant fear, having to lick the boots of those who had massacred her family. "We're both survivors, my lord," she had said, smiling confidently. Vegeta had long inspired fearful obedience, but admiration wasn't something he was used to.

Vegeta shook his head, angry with himself for allowing such a sentimental reflection. This was a battlefield.

Piccolo suddenly gasped and grabbed his chest, cringing in pain and earning a furious glance from Vegeta. "It's Kami. He must be under attack again!" Krillin tried to clarify. "Vegeta, if you can just take care of Garlic, we will worry about getting everyone back to normal."

"Pfff. As if I care about your pathetic lives. As for Garlic, my reasons are my own, but I WILL be his end."

Garlic launched himself back onto the battlefield, blowing a hole through the base of the lookout. He had been tossed around and bloodied, but his body had once again healed. He dashed toward Vegeta again, arrogantly flaunting his invulnerability.

"Still not in enough pain, I see?" The prince clenched his jaw. "That is unacceptable!"

Garlic suddenly slammed on his back as Vegeta drove a heel directly into his forehead. He felt his body being violently assaulted by a flurry of enraged punches. Each individual blow was more pain than he ever could have imagined his body enduring; even the torment of the dead zone was nothing compared to this. He felt his bones splintering and his organs being pounded into jelly.

The strength of each blow continued to increase, flooding his pain receptors. Vegeta was holding nothing back. He was furious at Garlic for destroying his ship, furious at Oniya for making him care about her death, and furious at himself for caring, and he poured his rage into every vicious strike as his anger grew unchecked. Garlic was in pure torment, beyond anything he had ever dreamed possible. His defenses long since shattered, he was unable to lift a finger. Breath had left his body, and though he could not die he found himself wishing for the relief of death. Finally, the barrage came to a halt just as he began to slip out of consciousness.

"Vegeta is amazing," Krillin said in awe. "He isn't even a Super Saiyan, and he is tearing Garlic apart!"

"No, Krillin," Piccolo wheezed. "Vegeta can't beat him like this. He'll keep coming back for more, until eventually Garlic will get desperate enough to open the Dead Zone again. We can't let that happen!"

The wish for immortality had yet to fail him, and even as he tried to breathe again, Garlic Jr could feel the magic of the dragon knitting the flesh of his body back together. Relief was not instant, but it did come, and the foolish brute gained even more false confidence along with it.

"Don't you realize that you can never defeat me in battle! I can heal from any attack, and all the while the Makyo Star continues to make me stronger. Eventually I will surpass even you!"

Vegeta was still shaking with fury. "The only thing your immortality seems good for is allowing me to beat you up as many times as I want," he spat. "And to think that I once thought I would benefit from such unnatural powers."

He began to regain control, remembering his momentary desperation on Namek. He would have gone to any length, made any sacrifice in his fight against Frieza. "Only now that I have become a Super Saiyan do I realize just how unbecoming immortality would be to a true warrior. I rely on nothing but myself. I need no crutch and certainly no wish to a set of mystical golden balls. I am a proud and honorable warrior, and you're just a freak."

Garlic Jr. began to speak, but Vegeta silenced him with a devastating kick to the stomach that sent him careening across the surface of the lookout. "You're unbelievably weak and pathetic. Were it not for your unnatural abilities, even this half-Saiyan runt would have been able to defeat you…easily."

Vegeta bent his knees, releasing energy around him and causing the lookout to tremble. He exploded with a golden glow, his hair straightening with the power that flowed through him. His black eyes flooded with a blue-green tint and the yellow aura of the Super Saiyan enveloped him. His power was magnificent.

The blue brute was exhausted. Vegeta's beating had pushed the limits of his regeneration to their very limit. "What are you?" Garlic screamed in terror.

"You were an idiot to reveal that your power is linked to that planet, Garlic," Vegeta shouted over the roar of his own energy. "Do you really think I would just let it sit up there, continuing to feed you?"

The blue demon began trembling as he realized his folly. Taking to the air, he placed himself between Vegeta and the Mayko Star. He had one last hope, a final trump card to play. "You are the fool! I'll open up the Dead Zone and trap you all for eternity!"

The prince smiled, cupping his hands to his right side. "I don't think so, demon. You haven't the slightest inkling of the doom that now stands before you. I am going to crush you, and I think I have just the right attack for this situation."

"Gohan, Krillin, get down!" Piccolo yelled.

"This blast is going to obliterate every atom in your body, Garlic. Not only that, but it's going to rip through space and destroy the very source of power! Let's see how your supposed immortality handles my GARLIC GUN!"

The Super Saiyan released his beam, a purple maelstrom of violent destruction crackling with golden lightning. The blast size was so immense at the head that it could have swallowed ten more demons inside it. The clumsy blue brute was completely defenseless. Never before had he imagined an attack of such magnitude was even possible, the fear in his eyes revealing that he knew it was all over.

The dragon, Shenron, could not grant a wish greater than the power of Kami, but it could provide an immortality of sorts. Garlic Jr.'s wish had prevented the demon's soul from ever leaving the mortal realm, ensuring that he could never truly die. Because his soul could not be sent to Otherworld, his body continually re-formed around him after injuries, a side effect of the dragon's immortal power. As long as some portion of his body remained intact, he would be continually flooded with the dragon's energy and vitality.

Unfortunately for the demon, Vegeta's "Garlic" Gun had utterly vaporized his body, even in its powered-up state. With no vessel remaining for the dragon's power to enter, Garlic Jr was gone, his disembodied soul condemned to wander the cosmos for eternity. In time, his consciousness would fade away as he forgot the very meaning of existence. His sentence was ultimate loneliness, his useless immortality dooming him to nothingness.

After obliterating his body, the beam continued through space until it collided with the red planet in the sky, causing it to detonate in a blinding flash.

Kami successfully released the Sacred Water, reversing the effects of Garlic Jr.'s Black Water Mist. Annoyed, Yamcha began the journey back to King Kai's planet; six more months of the rotund deity's jokes were more than he thought he could handle. Surely they would resurrect him with the earth's dragon balls next time around.

When the bringer of death returned to his ship, he found that the vessel was in greater disarray than he had originally believed. Not only had his quarters been demolished, but there was extensive damage to the ship's hull, as well as almost total power failure to the engines. The crew had been so busy trying to clean up that they hadn't even managed to cover the body of their fallen crew member.

One of the earthlings who had been knocked out by Vegeta - the girl with blue hair - had regained consciousness. She was covered with grease from crawling around under the ship, but didn't seem to mind.

"Hey, Vegeta, this is a really nice ship you have here. The amount of intricate detail that went into its construction is really impressive!" Bulma spoke so casually to the prince that his crew instinctively ducked for cover. "I'm not sure what we have here on Earth as far as materials go, what's comparable and all, but I'm willing to bet that once we get this thing moved to my house I'll be able to fix it up for you better than ever."

"Silence, woman! Do you just assume that I will allow YOU to…"

"Oh hush, Vegeta. You're gonna need a place to stay now, since obviously this thing isn't livable. I've got plenty of room at my place for everyone, AND you can even use the gravity chamber in our ship to train while I fix yours."

The prince of Saiyans was rarely ever a loss for words. Never would he have allowed such insubordination to go unpunished. Yet, in this particular moment, he found that the woman had practically thought of everything he would need and offered it to him. To his surprise, he was trapped whether he liked it or not.

"Fine, woman. But if you ever use such tones with me again, I'll…"

"Oh just chill out, Vegeta. We'll have a barbeque tonight, all you can eat. Now, do you think you can carry that big, heavy ship to my place by yourself, or should I call Gohan and Piccolo to help?"

"WHAT? I require no assistance whatsoever, woman! I will-" Vegeta couldn't get another word out before the noisy woman interrupted again.

"Great! Well, let me just activate my capsule ship, and we'll be on our way. Oh, and has anyone seen Yamcha?"

Around seventy parsecs away, Goku climbed into the Ginyu attack pod. The past few months of training had been a lot of fun, but it was time to move on.

A broadcast picked up by the pod's communication system had called for all available warriors to assist in quelling a slave revolt in a newly-conquered system some distance away. Goku had been enraged when the broadcast stated that an entire planet's worth of inhabitants were to be executed as an example once the revolt was at an end. Although the system was in the opposite direction from Earth, the pod's computer indicated that he could reach the system with a month to spare before having to turn around and head back.

His new friends waved goodbye as the hatch closed and the pod lifted off, clearing the atmosphere in seconds.

Two months later...

King Cold sat on his throne, brooding. A temporary operations base, complete with a throne room that doubled as an execution chamber, had been hastily cut out of a mountain on one of the planet's icy moons. The dimly-lit room with its irregular, sloping walls would have ordinarily had a calming effect on the frost demon, but it wasn't helping.

Slave revolts were uncommon; few dared resist when the price was the destruction of an entire race. The task of executing the native population had only bored him. He had received word that the Super Saiyan had somehow come back - as if from the dead - and murdered his son Cooler. Yet no one seemed to know where the miserable wretch had gone. By the time he had reached the asteroid field where the battle had been fought, the Saiyan's ship had vanished from the sector, leaving no traces of its destination.

King Cold doubted that this Vegeta even knew of his existence. He had not made his presence known for a long time; leaving his sons to squabble over their respective territories for the past several decades had kept them from plotting to overthrow him. Now, with both of them slaughtered and Vegeta nowhere to be found, he had taken over the large-scale operations of the Empire, starting with the treacherous slaves on Xylon-38.

He was suddenly roused from his thoughts by screams and shouting just outside his chambers. The foundations shook as small energy blasts crashed against the walls.

The king leapt to his feet as several guards rushed in. "Is it the Saiyan?" he demanded. "Has he dared to come here, to assault me on my own ground?"

The farthest guard moved as if to speak, but there was a sudden flash of metal and his body split in half, each side falling away. Behind him stood the intruder.

The mysterious youth was young and slender, yet stood tall. His lavender hair was long and pulled back behind him in a ponytail. He was dressed in black, but wore a faded blue jacket with a circular white insignia. His clothing was torn and old, and stubble dotted his jawline. In his right hand he held a long, gleaming sword.

"So, you must be King Cold. I've been waiting a long time to meet you face to face."

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Thanks for all the reviews, particularly the extensive ones from Honor Trip's American Vigor!

We hope you enjoyed this chapter; it was one of my favorites (along with 7, 11, and 17). Next chapter, we'll find out why Trunks has appeared here and what he intends to do with King Cold. We couldn't have a universe without Trunks, after all. Hopefully the timelines in Bringer of Death will be a lot easier to understand than they were in canon; David has planned this out pretty thoroughly.

The explanation of how immortality works was intended to expand on a concept that was referenced often but poorly explored. Because the dragon has the ability to return an individual's soul from Otherworld and rebuild the body it formerly occupied, we thought that this same power could be extended to a wish for immortality if the soul was simply blocked from leaving. As shown by Garlic Jr.'s fate, having your soul permanently tied to the mortal realm isn't necessarily a good thing. We felt this was a more comprehensive explanation than some sort of invulnerability (which would likely be beyond the dragon's power anyway). Had a supervillain like Frieza been lucky enough to gain this sort of immortality, he would have posed a threat to the gods themselves. Garlic Jr., on the other hand, was practically worthless. A special thanks to DBM's commenter Tiencha for Vegeta's quip about being able to beat up Garlic all day long.

Hopefully this chapter also shed some light on the short relationship between Vegeta and his pilot Oniya; Chapter 19 was a little rushed and so we thought this should probably be clarified. Special thanks to Arcane Hurricane and Ryu no Ohi (Roketto) for helping us round out her character a little. We may see more of her later on.

To find out more about the planet with the slave revolt that King Cold was dealing with, Xylon-38, read the last few pages of the "Vegetto's Heiresses" special chapter in Dragon Ball Multiverse. That will provide a little background on why Cold was needed.

As always, questions and answers:

Q: a question- Where the hell is Bulma! are they not going to be a couple? and what about trunks, will he never be born?

A: Hopefully this chapter has answered both of these questions! I really enjoyed writing Bulma's dialogue here. She completely takes Vegeta by surprise.

Q:I wonder if the fact of Garlic jr. being immortal due to the dragon balls powers will bring back the desire of Vegeta to wish for imortality, he could have a flashback of Coola saying that the SSJ legend would die with him.

A: In canon, Goku was stronger, and so Vegeta never got a chance to wish for immortality. We wanted to use Garlic Jr.'s immortality to show how Vegeta's desire would have waned even without Goku's superiority. Vegeta is a proud Saiyan warrior; with the Super Saiyan transformation he doesn't think he needs anything else.

Q: earlier you guys said that a Super Saiyan transformation gives something like a 140 million power boost. I was wandering, in fusion, would that transformation still be 140 million, or be 280 million cause two people are technically transforming?

A: Fusion is...interesting. There are a lot of possible approaches that can be taken; we're still working on the right one. We will try to reach the Buu Saga with enough similarities to canon that we can explain both canon and Bringer of Death simultaneously. But yes, a fused being transforming to SSj1 would be at LEAST the sum of their transformations apart.

Q: Awesome story, both of you but when is gohan getting his chance of being awesome?

A: Probably some time during the Android Saga! We have some plans in this area, but we can't give any spoilers just yet. Of course, Bringer of Death will always first and foremost be the story of Vegeta.