"And when they do, they'll get you instead," King Yemma said. "One warrior instead of two. How do you think they'll react?"
"I don't know," Gogeta admitted, his voice barely above a whisper. "Chi-Chi and Bulma will have lost their husbands. The kids will have lost their fathers. And I'm... I'm a stranger who just happens to carry everything those men were." He looked back at King Yemma. "How do I tell them that Goku and Vegeta are never coming back?"
King Yemma had no answer for that.
A heavy silence fell between them, broken only by the ambient sounds of the otherworld....distant souls processing, spiritual energy humming, the eternal machinery of death and rebirth turning.
"There is one thing I can offer," King Yemma said finally. "King Kai can monitor Earth from his planet. He can keep you informed of what's happening in the living world. It won't let you return, but at least you'll know when... when the time comes."
Gogeta nodded slowly. It wasn't much, but it was something. "Can you help me contact him?"
"I can do better than that," King Yemma said. "King Kai! I know you can hear me! We have a situation that requires your attention!"
A moment passed, then another.
Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the otherworld, projected across dimensional space from the small planet at the end of Snake Way.
"King Yemma? What's going on? I sensed something weird with Goku and Vegeta's signatures, but I can't quite—" King Kai's voice cut off abruptly. "Wait. Is that... one signature? But it feels like both of them? What in the galaxy is happening down there?"
"It's a long story," Gogeta said, speaking directly into the telepathic link. His voice carried both Goku's warmth and Vegeta's gravity. "King Kai, this is... this is Gogeta. Goku and Vegeta fused to fight a demon that was tearing apart the otherworld. But something went wrong. We can't defuse."
"Can't defuse?" King Kai's voice rose in pitch. "What do you mean you can't....fusion is temporary! The dance only lasts thirty minutes!"
"The otherworld's spiritual environment combined with the power we used made it permanent," Gogeta explained. "King Yemma confirmed it. Goku and Vegeta's souls are completely merged. They don't exist as separate entities anymore. There's only... me."
The silence that followed was deafening.
"Oh no," King Kai finally whispered. "Oh no, no, no. This is... Gogeta, do you understand what this means? Chi-Chi, Bulma, the children....they don't know. They think Goku and Vegeta are just dead normally, that they can be wished back anytime with the Dragon Balls!"
"I know," Gogeta said quietly. "That's why I need your help. I need you to watch over Earth for me. Monitor the families, keep track of what's happening. I can't be there, but I need to know they're safe."
"Of course, of course I will," King Kai said, his voice thick with emotion. "But Gogeta... how do I tell them? How do I explain that their husbands, their fathers, are never coming back?"
"You don't," Gogeta said firmly. "Not yet. If you tell them now, while I'm stuck here and can't be there to help them understand... it'll only cause more pain. Let them be as they were normally. Let them think Goku and Vegeta are in otherworld, training, being themselves. When the time comes....when they make a wish and I appear instead—that's when we'll have to face it."
"That's going to be one hell of a shock," King Kai muttered. "They'll summon the dragon expecting two warriors and get one instead. And that one warrior is going to have to somehow convince them that he's... what? Their husband? Their father? But also not?"
"I don't know," Gogeta admitted, his voice cracking slightly. "I have all their memories, King Kai. Every moment with their families feels as real to me as my own life. Because it is my life now. But I'm not Goku. I'm not Vegeta. I'm someone new who carries everything they were. How do I make them understand that?"
King Kai sighed heavily. "I don't have an answer for you, Gogeta. This is... unprecedented. But I promise I'll watch over them. I'll keep you informed of everything happening on Earth. And when the time comes for them to make a wish..." He paused. "I'll be ready to help however I can."
"Thank you," Gogeta said sincerely. "That's all I can ask for right now."
"One more thing," King Kai added. "If they do wish for Goku and Vegeta, and Shenron finds you instead... there's no guarantee the wish will work the way they expect. You might need more than one wish to be revived. Your power level far exceeds what Goku or Vegeta had individually. The dragon might struggle with that."
"We'll deal with that when it happens," Gogeta said. "For now, I just need to wait. And hope that when they need us most, they'll make that wish."
King Yemma cleared his throat. "I'll leave you to your thoughts, Gogeta. If you need anything, you know where to find me." The massive deity began to fade, his form dissolving back into otherworldly energy.
"Wait," Gogeta called out. "Is there anywhere I can train while I wait? Somewhere I won't disturb the souls being processed?"
King Yemma paused mid-fade. "There's a section of otherworld reserved for warrior souls who wish to continue their training. You're welcome to use it. Just... try not to destroy anything."
"I'll be careful," Gogeta promised.
King Yemma nodded once, then vanished completely.
Gogeta was alone again, floating in the peaceful otherworld that had become his prison. He looked down at his hands, flexing his fingers slowly. These hands carried two lifetimes of experience. These hands had protected Earth countless times, had held loved ones, had pushed past every conceivable limit.
But whose hands were they, really?
He shook his head. That kind of thinking wouldn't help anyone.
"King Kai," he said, reopening the telepathic connection. "Tell me about Earth. How are they doing?"
"Well," King Kai began hesitantly, "right now things are relatively peaceful. Chi-Chi and Gohan are at home. Bulma's at Capsule Corp with Trunks. Goten's... actually, Goten's staying with Trunks right now. The boys are handling it better than the wives, honestly. Kids are resilient."
Gogeta felt a pang in his chest....Goku's love for his sons mixing with Vegeta's protective instinct toward his own child. "And the wives?"
"Grieving," King Kai said quietly. "But managing. They've been through this before, after all. They think it's just temporary. That you'll....that Goku and Vegeta will be wished back eventually, like always."
"Keep watching them," Gogeta said. "If anything changes, if any threat appears, tell me immediately."
"I will," King Kai promised. "And Gogeta? For what it's worth... I'm sorry. This shouldn't have happened to you. To any of you."
"It's not your fault," Gogeta said. "We made the choice to fuse. We knew the risks... we just didn't know this particular risk existed."
He cut the connection and began flying toward the training area King Yemma had mentioned. If he was going to be stuck here for an indeterminate amount of time, he might as well make good use of it.
As he flew, he began cataloging everything he knew....every technique from both warriors, every fighting style, every transformation.
He was more than the sum of his parts now. He needed to understand exactly what that meant.
Days passed in the otherworld, though time moved strangely in the realm of the dead.
Gogeta trained relentlessly, perfecting techniques that neither Goku nor Vegeta could have managed alone.
He merged the Kamehameha with the Final Flash, experimenting with energy ratios until he found the perfect balance.
King Kai checked in periodically with updates.
Life on Earth continued normally. The families were healing, slowly adjusting to life without Goku and Vegeta. It hurt to hear, but Gogeta was glad they weren't suffering endlessly.
Then, after what felt like weeks but might have been months....time was hard to track in otherworld....King Kai's voice suddenly exploded into his mind with raw panic.
"GOGETA!"
Gogeta immediately stopped mid-training, his practice energy blast dissipating harmlessly. "King Kai? What's wrong?"
"Something terrible is happening on Earth!" King Kai's voice was shaking. "There's this... this energy signature! It's massive, destructive, completely insane! It just appeared and it's destroying everything!"
"What is it?" Gogeta demanded.
"I don't know! Some kind of creature, I think....it's kid buu!!?, but its power is....oh no. Oh no no no. It just destroyed an entire city! Just... erased it!"
Gogeta's fists clenched so hard his arms trembled. "What about the Z-fighters?"
"They're engaging, but Gogeta, this thing is on another level! Even Gohan is struggling, and he's the strongest one there right now! Wait....Piccolo's coordinating them, trying to come up with a strategy, but—"
A sudden spike of energy made both of them go silent.
"King Kai," Gogeta said slowly, dreading the answer. "What just happened?"
King Kai's voice was barely a whisper. "Tien. He... he pushed himself too far trying to hold that thing back. His energy just... disappeared."
"No," Gogeta breathed. Tien's face flashed through his memories—both Goku and Vegeta's memories of the proud three-eyed warrior, always ready to stand against impossible odds.
"There's more," King Kai said, his voice breaking. "Krillin tried to help. He got too close and—Gogeta, he's gone too. And Yamcha, he—"
"Stop," Gogeta said, his voice shaking with barely contained fury. Golden aura began crackling around him unconsciously. "How many?"
"Three so far, but if this keeps up....Gogeta, they're getting desperate. Piccolo and Bulma are....oh Kais, they're gathering the Dragon Balls! They're going to make a wish!"
Gogeta's heart...his single, unified heart....began racing. "They're going to wish for us."
"For Goku and Vegeta, yes," King Kai confirmed. "They don't know that—Gogeta, what do we do? When Shenron can't find them separately, when he finds only you..."
"Then we deal with it," Gogeta said firmly, his moment of emotional weakness passing. He straightened, his expression becoming focused and determined. "King Kai, when they make that wish, I need you to be ready to help explain. Can you do that?"
"I'll try," King Kai said. "But Gogeta, you need to understand....they're going to be confused, possibly angry. They lost three warriors today. They're desperate. Seeing you instead of the two they expected..."
"I know," Gogeta said quietly. "But I'm all they have now. I carry Goku and Vegeta's strength, their techniques, their will to protect Earth. If that's not enough..." He shook his head. "It'll have to be enough."
"The summoning is beginning," King Kai said urgently. "I can sense the Dragon Balls activating. Gogeta, get ready."
Gogeta took a deep breath, centering himself. Somewhere on Earth, the eternal dragon was about to be called. Somewhere on Earth, his families were about to get a shock that would change everything.
"Let them wish for us," Gogeta said, his voice carrying both Goku's determination and Vegeta's pride. "I'll be ready."