C8- Facing the Immortal

Garlic Jr. has an evil smile on his face as he watches the dragon balls scatter to the far corners of the world. "Now that I am immortal, nothing can stand in my way! This is the first step in my plan for ultimate revenge!", he says with a maniacal tone. He turns to face his three minions. "Ginger, Nikki, Sansho! Excellent work! Thanks to your efforts, I shall soon destroy Kami, and release an army of death and destruction upon this hapless world!"

"THANK YOU, LORD GARLIC JR.!", they all shout in unison.

Ginger stands a little more than five and a half feet tall, and has a slightly toned build. He has dark olive colored skin, and red eyes. He has short pointy ears, no hair on his head, and no visible nose. He's wearing thin red armor that has no leggings or arm coverings.

Nikki stands at just over six feet tall. He has dark blue skin, white eyes, and tall, thick white hair. He is wearing something similar in appearance to a toga with pink shoulder pads, and the pads have two blue spikes jutting out of them.

Sansho is the largest of the three; standing at almost six and a half feet tall, and thickly muscled. He has dark grey skin, yellow eyes, and is bald; with the exception of long red sideburns that hang down to his stomach. He is wearing black armor that is similar to Ginger's, except Sansho's has large shoulder pads with two grey spikes jutting from each one.

Garlic Jr. turns towards a large open door of his massive castle. "This world shall soon be mine, and Kami will be no more!" He then proceeds to walk inside.

His three minions begin cheering in unison. "ALL HAIL LORD GARLIC JR.! ALL HAIL LORD GARLIC JR.-"

"GIVE ME BACK MY WISH YOU JERKS!"

Garlic Jr. and his three minions snap to attention at the sound of an additional voice, and turn around just in time to see an angry Rainbow Dash land on the large balcony they are on. Seconds later, Goku hops off of his Flying Nimbus, and lands next to Dash. He takes a fighting stance and says, "You're the ones that hurt my wife, and left my son scared to death and crying! You're going to pay for that!"

"Oh? It appears as though I have two uninvited guests in my home.", Garlic Jr. says with an evil smirk. "Despite being uninvited, they are still my guests, and it would be rude if I did not show them my... hospitality."

"What wish was so important that you had to beat up a defenseless woman to steal the dragon balls!?", Dash shouts in anger.

"If you really desire to know, then I will gladly provide you with an answer... if you can make it to me." Garlic Jr. turns around and walks inside his castle. Moments later, his voice can be heard from inside. "Ginger, Nikki, Sansho... entertain my guests."

The three creatures take a fighting stance, and stare down Goku and Rainbow Dash with crazed smiles.

"You two won't live long enough to regret coming here. I am Ginger, patron of Garlic Jr."

"We demons of the Makyo Star are the strongest there is. I am Nikki, patron of Garlic Jr."

"We're gonna tear you limb from limb, and paint these halls with your blood. I am Sansho, patron of Garlic Jr."

"It doesn't matter who you are. If you don't get outta my way, you're gonna get floored.", responds Dash with a touch of arrogance.

The three demons chuckle at Rainbow Dash. Once they stop laughing, they speak one word each in the same order they introduced themselves.

"SHOGAYAKI!", screams Ginger.

"NODOAME!", screams Nikki.

"UNAJU!", screams Sansho.

After they shout these words, their already muscular frames increase in size! Their muscles become more engorged, and they grow several inches in height!

Rainbow Dash raises an eyebrow at them. "Well... that's a neat trick."

Music

The three wait for no further responses from their targets. Sansho rushes Goku, and unleashes a fast flurry of punches. Goku raises his arms to block the assault, and he gets pushed back from where he was standing.

Ginger and Nikki charge Rainbow Dash head on. Ginger jumps up and dives down at her with a kick, while Nikki drives at her face with his left knee. Dash rolls hard to her left to dodge the attack, and the two break away from their first strike to follow her. In perfect unision, they let loose a rapid volley of punches at Rainbow Dash. She raises her forelegs to block a strike from each of them, and is then caught in the face with a punch from their free hands. The attack momentarily stuns her, and they each drive a knee into her chest. The combo knocks her back several feet, but she recovers, and back flips to land on all fours.

Goku has almost been pushed back to the edge of the balcony. Sansho pulls back with his left arm, and drives forward with everything he has. Goku uses the slight pause to regain control, and drops down to his hands and knees to duck the attack. He drives upwards with a double open palmed thrust into Sansho's stomach, and the attack knocks him off his guard and off the ground! Goku rolls back, and then flips the opposing way to drive a knee into Sansho's face; knocking him back to the ground. He quickly recovers, and rolls back to his feet. He tries throwing another volley of punches, but Goku catches him by his wrists!

The moment Rainbow Dash lands on the ground, she springs high into the air to create distance between her and her opponents. Ginger and Nikki give chase, and they fly in a circle around her at speeds greater than the average fighter could hope to keep up with. Rainbow Dash is able to carefully follow their movements; now more prepared for the two on one confrontation. Her foes attempt to overwhelm her with a flurry of punches and kicks from all sides, but this time she uses a combination of all four of her legs and both wings to block their offensive.

In unison, they try to strike the back of her head with her elbows, but she raises her wings to block the attack. While maintaining this position, they use their free arms to punch towards her face, but she blocks with her forelegs. They then try to strike her stomach with their knees, but she uses her hind legs to easily stop them. They try the same thing with their free legs, this time aiming at her defenseless back. The split second before their attack hits, Dash envelops herself in ki, and raises her power just a little bit higher. Their attack connects, but Dash is completely unphased!

"My turn.", she grunts out just before vanishing from sight! She reappears, and digs hard into their stomachs with a punch; causing them to hunch over. She slips between them, and sends Nikki flying down to the balcony below with a hard kick to the back. He lands on his face, and the flooring beneath him begins to crack. Before Ginger can recover, Dash knocks him down as well with a fierce punch to the face. He lands hard on Nikki, the floor beneath them breaks, and the two fall through the hole onto another balcony below! Dash smirks, and then glides down through the hole to continue her fight.

Sansho grunts has he fails at trying to pull free from Goku's grip. "L-Let go!", he shouts as he pulls back as hard as he can; all of his effort being in vain.

"Since you asked so nicely!", Goku retorts, and looses his grip on Sansho's wrists. Since he was pulling back with all of his strength, Sansho loses his balance from the sudden release, and stumbles backwards. Goku capitalizes, and rushes forward. He delivers several fierce punches into his opponents stomach, then launches an open palmed strike to Sansho's lower jaw, and then nails him in the chest with a devastating spin kick! The quick, yet powerful, assault launches him into the wall of the castle. Goku runs in, and knocks Sansho through the wall with another powerful kick to the chest.

Sansho struggles to stand up after Goku's powerful assault. He manages to kneel on one knee, and then looks up to see the angry saiyan staring him down. Sansho clenches his fist, and yells loudly as he throws a punch at his foe's face with his right hand. Goku raises his left hand, and catches Sansho's hastily thrown punch. Goku rears back with his right arm, and then knocks Sansho into a tall gargoyle statue with a hard punch to the face.

Sansho falls to his knees after hitting the statue. A small trickle of blood falls from his mouth as he spits out several teeth. "Kkkkk... tch. GRAH! I'LL KILL YOU!", Sansho angrily shouts at Goku. He jumps high into the air, almost to the ceiling of the large room they're in, and brings his hands together in front of him. He concentrates his energy, and a red ball of energy takes form.

Goku doesn't respond with mere words. He cups his hands at his right hip, and focuses his energy. "Ka... me... ha...-"

"DIE!", Sansho yells as he fires a red beam of energy at Goku.

"-Me... HA!" Goku fires his signature kamehame wave to counter Sansho's energy beam. Goku's attack meets Sansho's, and completely cancels it out! Before Goku's foe can even react, he is engulfed by the powerful energy wave, and is almost instantly killed! "That was for Chi-Chi.", Goku says as he clenches a fist. "If those other two are just like this guy, Rainbow Dash should be finishing up soon, too."

Dash lands on the lower balcony; about thirty feet away from where Ginger and Nikki fell. Her opponents are struggling back to to their feet. They eye Dash with angry expressions.

Dash lets out a playful sigh. "I think it's really important for you both to know that I'm not even using a quarter of my power right now.", she nonchalantly informs Ginger and Nikki.

Ginger grits his teeth, crosses his arms over his chest, and grunts loudly; almost sounding like he's in pain. Nikki makes the same sounds, and reaches a hand down to the back of one of his legs. Dash's jaw drops when two curved swords pop out of Ginger's arms! The blades are about the same length as his arms. Nikki rips a large sword out of his own leg! The sword is almost as long as he is tall. Despite pulling the swords from their own bodies, the two appear to be completely unharmed from doing so.

Dash's eyes go wide in shock. "W-wow... That's another... neat trick..."

Music

The two charge her, and resume their tandem assault. They easily weave their attacks together to create an offensive that Dash is having a hard time dodging; even with the large difference in power and speed. After dodging several sets of attacks, Dash manages to roll away from the two, and create  some distance between her and her foes.

"Not bad, but ya still can't-", Dash cuts her words short as she feels a slight pain on her left cheek. She runs her hoof across it, and realizes she's bleeding! "Th-They actually managed to cut me! No more playing around...", she runs through her mind.

Nikki charges her with his sword raised high into the air. He brings the blade down, and attempts to cleave her in two! Dash raises herself up, and catches his blade with her fore hooves! Ginger rushes her from behind, and swings at her mid-section with his dual blades. While still holding Nikki's blade, Dash manages to jump over Ginger's attempted sneak attack. She pulls her hind legs in, and then drives her rear hooves into Ginger's face! The sudden kick launches Ginger into a wall, and Dash uses the momentum from her own kick to jump over Nikki while still holding onto the blade of his sword.

She drives his blade into the floor, releases her grip on it, and then kicks Nikki high into the air. She flies into the air ahead of him, and then sends him flying towards the wall with a powerful punch to the stomach. He collides with Ginger, and the wall behind them begins to crack.

Dash stays airborne, and sticks her wings and forelegs out to her front. She charges ki into them, and a tightly packed ball of energy takes form. "Try this on for size! SONIC WAVE SPHERE!", she yells as she fires her attack at them.

The two look up in horror to see the attack already on top of them. They didn't even have time to scream before the ball of energy pierced through them with ease; killing them.

After ensuring her Sonic Wave Sphere did the job, Rainbow Dash doesn't stop to celebrate this small victory... she has one more fight ahead of her today. She spreads her wings, and flies up through the hole in the upper balcony that was created from her battle with Ginger and Nikki. She lands on the balcony, and walks through the large doorway that Garlic Jr. had use earlier. Once inside, she sees Goku, whom has just finished off Sansho. He senses her, and turns around to greet her.

"Goku, can you sense him from here?", Rainbow Dash asks.

He closes his eyes for a moment, and focuses his senses on finding Garlic Jr. He re-opens them, and points behind them. "Yeah. He's somewhere in that direction. He's staying still. Either he didn't expect us to beat his friends... or he's really sure of himself. From what I sense, he's stronger than these guys, but won't be too much trouble." After finishing his words, Goku starts walking in the general direction that he senses their next opponent. Rainbow Dash follows him, and the two navigate their way through the enormous castle.

"Rainbow Dash.", Goku speaks up. "You can't sense ki, can you?"

She quickens her pace to walk side by side with him, then shakes her head and responds, "No. The guys that trained me couldn't either, so it's something I've never been taught how to do."

"It looks like you'll be with us for a while. That's something I'll be sure to teach you how to do."

Rainbow gives him a confused look. "What? What are you-", she stops herself. Her memory returns to the day she was wished back to life, and seeing the dragon balls turn to stone after they were used. "Wait... Do the dragon balls here turn to stone after they've been used, too?"

Goku nods. "Yeah. And they stay that way for one year."

"Just my luck. If Lunalia doesn't show up, I've got no choice but to fight the saiyans with you guys."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now..." Goku stops, and looks at the large double doors that have loomed into view. "He's on the other side."

"This guy had his lackies beat up Chi-Chi to steal the dragon balls. What was so important that he was willing to do something like that?", Dash openly questions.

"We're about to find out.", says Goku, and pushes the large wooden doors open.

Spread out before them is a massive, multi-floored room. Each side contains large pillars that are supporting large walk ways that lead to other parts of the castle. The room is so high, and the floors so numerous, the two can't tell just how high the room goes. Just as all the rooms they passed through to get here, everything is constructed from black stone. A long red carpet leads from the doorway they stand in, to a large golden throne. Garlic Jr. sits upon the throne; waiting patiently for his 'guests' to arrive. The giant size of the throne makes the small demon appear even smaller.

"Hmph. I see you managed to make it past my three patrons, and did so with minimal injury. Excellent work.", Garlic Jr. says with a smug grin. "I've underestimated you. Perhaps you can make this fun for me.", he says as he hops off of his throne.

"Fun? The only fun here will be for me, when I'm pounding my hooves into your face! I have to wait an entire year before I can go home now!", shouts Rainbow Dash.

Goku takes a fighting stance. "What was so important of a wish that you were willing to beat up my wife to steal the dragon balls?", he asks as he intensely eyes Garlic Jr.

Music

"What was so important, you ask?", Garlic Jr. says with a smirk. "My revenge against Kami is what is so important. And for that..." A gust of wind blows in all directions from Garlic's location. His cloak billows in the wind, and his eyes begin to glow red!

"I-I sense a tremendous power coming from him!", says Goku in shock.

"What!?", respond Dash in the same tone.

"For that I... needed... IMMORTALITY!", Garlic shouts the last word with ferocity as an energy field surrounds him, and he suddenly increases several times in size! His skin color turns to a very dark shade of green, and the spots on each side of his head turn blood red. He now towers several feet over both of his foes, and his muscle mass has drastically increased. His shirt and cloak were shredded, but his pants and boots have stretched to fit his new form.

Rainbow Dash and Goku stare in shock at Garlic Jr.; both fighters completely shocked by his sudden transformation.

Music

"Now...", he begins to speak with a wicked smile spread across his face. "... Let me take you both to Hell!"

Garlic charges Goku and Dash at an incredible speed! The two take a defensive stance to brace for the hit, but he passes right through them without impact! They look up in confusion, only to be plowed through from behind! They both get knocked clear to the other side of the room, but manage to correct themselves and land properly. The moment they land, though, Garlic's monstrous frame is already to them! A hard punch to Goku's chest knocks him into one of the pillars, and it begins to crack.

Dash jumps at Garlic, and plows into the back of his head with a kick. Her foe doesn't so much as flinch as she bounces off of him, and he spins hard to deliver a devastating back-fist strike! The attack launches her into a wall, it indents from the impact, and she falls to the floor. "Th-This guy is really strong!", she thinks to herself.

Goku is back up, and charges Garlic head on. He delivers a flurry of quick punches to Garlic's stomach, then rears back, and drives in with one more as hard as he can. Garlic simply smiles, and drives Goku into the floor with a powerful down swing!

"HYAAAA!", Garlic hears behind him. He turns to see Dash launching herself at him; hooves poised to strike. She throws a flurry of her own punches, but Garlic easily blocks them with one hand. He sidesteps one of her strikes, and then blasts her through to the next floor with a small energy blast!

Garlic then looks down to Goku, whom is trying to get up from the floor. Garlic raises up his foot, and tries to bring it down on the saiyan. Goku notices his foes' attack, and barely manages to roll out of the way in time. He rolls up, performs several back hand springs to create distance between him and his opponent, and then unsheathes his power pole. Goku charges once more, but this time swings his staff hard as he shouts, "Power Pole, Extend!" The staff greatly extends in length, and smashes against the side of Garlic's head!

Garlic grins, and shifts his eyes to the staff. He grabs hold of it with one hand, and then jerks it really hard; forcing Goku directly to him once more. Goku lets go of the staff too late, as the momentum was still enough to cover the distance between the two, and he pulls up his arms to block the impending strike. Garlic pulls his arm back, and throws another strong punch at Goku. Moments before the attack can land, Rainbow Dash dives in with a strong kick to Garlic's hand; throwing his attack off course, and causing it to miss!

She flies up the length of his arm, and grinds her knee into the middle of his forehead. She pushes off, and then drives in again with flurry of punches and kicks to his chest. Garlic takes a step back, then reaches out, and grabs her with both hands! He jumps high up, spins around,  and then drives her into his own throne! The thrones shatters to pieces, and he leaves her lying there to return his focus to Goku.

Goku rushes in before he can turn around, and jumps in with a kick to Garlic's back. The surprise attack does nothing, and his foe spins hard to deliver a devastating elbow strike to Goku's face; which knocks him back into the cracked pillar. With the second hit, the pillar breaks. Before Goku can fall to the floor, Garlic rushes him, catches him on the inside of his arm, and crashes him through every pillar in that row! He drives him into the wall, and laughs maniacally as Goku falls to the floor.

"HAHAHAHAHA! You are both pathetic!", Garlic Jr. says as he walks to the center of the room. "Even if you weren't so weak, you can't kill me! I have eternal life!", he loudly gloats.

Dash slowly rolls to her stomach. A few drops of blood trickle from her nose. "This guy... I'm not gonna be able to handle him without giving this everything I have. Time to up the ante...", she thinks to herself. She stands up, and then begins to escalate her power to its maximum.

Goku manages to work himself up to a knee. "Heh. Rainbow Dash is raising her power. She's got the right idea. Can't be holding anything back against this guy.", Goku ponders as he watches Dash from across the room. He stands up, and starts removing his weighted clothing. He pulls off his heavy undershirt, his wrist bands, his boots, and they all fall to the ground with a loud thud.

Garlic Jr. eyes his opponents as they stand back up. "Hehehehe. Oh, this is priceless. I've already made it abundantly clear that you can't beat me, yet you still get back up as though you stand a chance. Who are you... Who are you, to think that you can stand up to the new master of this world!?"

"Who... am I?", Rainbow Dash speaks after hearing Garlic gloat. Garlic's arrogance, coupled with his vile plans, is causing Dash's anger to steadily build. "I'll tell you who I am.", she says with a level of intensity. "My name... is Rainbow Dash!" As she speaks, she takes slow, heavy steps towards her opponent. With each step, the hoof that steps forward causes the floor beneath it to crack. "I am from another version of Earth; an Earth where pony-kind rules!"

Music

Dash's anger builds with every step, and every word. "I'm not here by choice! I was forced here! And you stole my chance to go home! Immortal or not..." Dash stops, and stares intently at Garlic. "... I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY FOR THIS!", she screams as she charges him at full power!

Garlic isn't prepared for such a large increase in her speed, and she plows full force into his stomach; stunning him for a moment. She lets loose a furious volley of punches; trailing from the bottom of his stomach, all the way to the top of his chest. She places a hoof on one side of his neck, and flips over him. As she flips, she draws her hind legs into her chest. When she levels out, she bucks him with all of her strength at the top of his back; sending him flying across the room.

As he crashes through the wall to the outside, Rainbow Dash lands in front of Goku. She looks him over, and then turns away from him. "I'd like you to stay out of this. I want him all to myself.", she says, and then takes off after Garlic once more. She passes through the hole in the wall, and is blind sided by a strong kick to the stomach from Garlic. The attack knocks her into the air, and Garlic fires several energy balls at her. Dash regains her senses, and barely manages to dodge the first few shots.

As the final shot approaches her, she sticks her forelegs out, and catches it! She's pushed back slightly, and then rolls the ball over her head. Garlic flies into the air after his target, and lunges at her with a fist. Dash rolls to the side, and easily dodges his punch. Garlic turns, brings his hands together, and tries to bring them crashing down onto Rainbow Dash. She flaps her wings to move back, and Garlic just barely misses her. He lands on the ground with a loud crash, while Dash hovers high above him.

Garlic charges his hands with ki, and fires several blasts of energy at his  foe. Rainbow dives towards him while evading his energy assault. She flips around, and takes aim at his face with a diving kick. He hops back to avoid her attack, and attempts to kick her the moment she lands on the ground. She manages to jump over his leg, and then he hurls one of his massive fists at her. She spins in the air, and kicks his fist as hard as she can; successfully deflecting his attack. Knocking his fist away throws him off balance, and Dash takes advantage by driving into his chin with a reverse flip kick.

Her kick lifts him off the ground, and she spins hard once more; catching him in the chest with another devastating kick. The attack sends Garlic crashing through the walls into another part of the castle, and Rainbow Dash lands back on the ground. "It's obvious that I'm stronger, and faster than this guy. If he's immortal then I can't really beat him. Guess I just gotta make him realize he can't beat me either." Dash's arrogant side begins to take over; now realizing she holds a distinct advantage over her enemy. She trots towards the hole in the wall made from her last attack; having a cocky smile spread across her face.

She passes through the hole, and takes several steps inside; noticing this room is almost identical to the one where the fight started; except this one had no throne. Garlic Jr. is up and waiting for her; visibly livid over being bested by something less than half his size. In a rage, he charges her, and starts wildly throwing punches. She easily dodges his haphazardly thrown attacks. After dodging several of his punches, she rolls beneath him, and kicks one of his legs out from under him. He falls forward, and she drives both of her fore hooves into his stomach; once again knocking him into the air.

He stops himself, and then blasts energy at her. She easily side steps the beam, and looks up at him with a smirk. He grits his teeth in anger, and then  starts hurling more ki shots at her. She launches herself at him, and easily weaves around his ki shots. Her charge on him was a fake-out, and she flies around him at speeds he can't keep up with. He screams out of pure frustration, and wildly hurls energy balls in random directions; completely missing his target each time, and causing massive damage to the structure around them.

She reappears inches away from his face, and he stops his energy assault. He opens his hands up, and attempts to crush her between them. She sticks her forelegs out, and stop his hands dead in their tracks! He tries, to no avail, to overpower his much smaller opponent. As he stares Rainbow Dash eye to eye, he now realizes that though his life is infinite, his power is still finite, and he stands no chance of outright killing his enemy. Dash pulls her hind legs in, and plows them into Garlic's face; forcing him to relinquish his attack on her.

She drives a hard punch into the bottom of his sternum, then she flips over him, and plows into his back at full force. She flies down at full speed, and drives him into the floor; creating a powerful shock wave, and leaving a small crater from the impact! Rainbow Dash bounces off of Garlic with the impact, and lands close to the hole in the wall she entered from. She carefully watches Garlic Jr; mentally daring him to get back up.

Thunk

A small chunk of stone hits Rainbow Dash on top of her head. She looks up, and realizes that the entire room is collapsing from all the damage Garlic did to it with his energy volleys! She jumps back to the outside, and runs until she feels she'll be out of the way of anymore debris. She watches the structure collapse on itself, and come crumbling to the ground; burying Garlic Jr. under more than a ton of solid stone.

Dash stands, watches, and waits for any sign of movement after the dust settles. When she sees nothing, she smirks. "Hmph. Don't bother getting back up.", she says aloud, and then walks back into the room where she left Goku. As she steps back into the large room, she says, "I showed him what happens when I get mad. Don't think he'll be bothering us again." She says to Goku.

Before he can respond, the large doors to the room open, and in walks an elderly Namekian. He's heavily wrinkled, thinly built, taller than Goku, and wearing a white robe.

"Ah, Kami!", greets Goku.

"Hm. Hello, Goku. It's been some time since we last met.", Kami replies. He then turns his eyes to Rainbow Dash. "So, you're the one that I sensed enter our world.", he speaks to her.

"Um... yeah.", Dash hesitantly responds. "I'm Rainbow Dash."

"I am Kami, Guardian of the Earth. I would like to thank you for defeating that alien invader, and again for defeating Garlic Jr. in my place. I came here to stop him myself, but you two were already fighting him by the time I arrived.", he responds.

"Kami? Hey, you're the one that Garlic guy was wanting revenge on, aren't you? And how did you know I'm not from here, and that all of this was going on?", Dash asks.

"That's right. He did say that right before he attacked us.", Goku mentions. "Why would he want revenge against you, Kami?"

"Rainbow Dash, I can see and sense many things from my lookout, miles above the Earth's surface. I sensed the invader yesterday, and I sensed your arrival as well. I also know of the two saiyans that will arrive in one year. As far as Garlic Jr.'s revenge against me..."

Kami stops for a moment, and clears his throat. "Three hundred years ago, his father and I competed for the throne of Kami. Garlic secretly intended to use the title of Kami for evil intentions. The former Kami saw through his evil schemes, and I was selected to be the successor. Garlic was furious, and he raised an army of demons to destroy the Earth, and the former Kami. However, the former Kami was too powerful for him, and he was defeated, and his powers sealed away. He vowed that, in three hundred years time, he would have his revenge. I never imagined his son would be the one to carry out his evil will..."

Kami continues speaking. "Though I was unable to be here for the battle, I am glad to have found you two here. Goku, I want you to gather all of your allies together, and come back to the lookout. I have special training in mind for everyone, so that the Earth may be prepared for the arrival of this new threat."

He gives Kami a nod in return. "Yeah. I'll get Krillin and the others, and come to the lookout as soon as possible. We've all got to train harder than ever to even have a hope of a chance." He looks down to Rainbow Dash. "Are you going to join us? Even if you don't join us in the fight, we could really use your help getting ready for it. We may even have a few things we could teach you."

"Totally. I'd like to learn how to sense ki, and maybe come up with a new attack. All I have right now is my Sonic Wave Sphere. And you guys could use the help of somepony who can even beat up an immortal! Hahaha!", Dash laughs.

"She... She utterly crushed me! I've been humiliated by a pony! No... NO! It won't end like this! I am Garlic Jr.! I am immortal! I am master of this world! If I can't kill them... THEN I'LL LOCK THEM IN THE DEAD ZONE!", Garlic screams in a rage in his mind.

Music

The grounds of the castle begin to violently shake. Rainbow Dash looks back to where she put down Garlic Jr., as a loud explosion urges on the already violent shaking! "Did that creep not learn his lesson!?"

The debris covering Garlic explodes, and he rises from the ashes. "DIDN'T I TELL YOU!? I CAN NEVER DIE!", he yells out of raw anger. He begins exerting a massive amount of energy, and the ground around him begins to crack and break. Stone shards from the breaking ground rise into the air around Garlic. He loudly grunts, and the sky behind the castle begins to swirl!

Kami's eyes widen in horror. "No! He couldn't be!"

"What's he doing!?", asks Goku; perplexed by what's happening.

The swirling sky undergoes a drastic change in color. The sky turns a dark shade of red, and a black void opens within it! Moments after the void opens, it creates an incredibly powerful suction; so powerful that even Goku and Rainbow Dash are being drug towards it! The three dive towards separate pillars, and cling tightly to them; fighting to avoid being pulled into this dark vortex.

"IF I CAN'T KILL YOU, I'LL TRAP YOU IN THE DEAD ZONE! IT'S AN UNSPEAKABLE, HELLISH NIGHTMARE THAT YOU CAN NEVER ESCAPE FROM! NO FOOD! NO WATER! NO SUN LIGHT! YOU WILL SUFFER IN DARKNESS UNTIL YOU INEVITABLY DIE!", Garlic screams.

The walls of the room surrounding them shatter, and the strength of the suction substantially increases! Rainbow Dash tightly closes her eyes, as she clings for her life to the pillar; refusing to let go, and hoping it doesn't break. "This isn't fair! Why is this happening!?"

Kami's grip on his pillar slips, and he's sucked towards the Dead Zone! Goku dives off of his own pillar, grabs hold of Kami's hand, and uses his other hand to grab onto a step on the floor. He fights with everything he has to hold on; refusing to give up. "Hang on tight, Kami! I'm not letting go of you! If you go, I go!", Goku shouts.

"This can't be happening! This can't be happening! After everything that's happened, this is how it ends!?", Dash frantically runs through her mind. As she fights for her life to hold on to her pillar, important memories begin to rush through her mind. Her first sonic rainboom, the day she met each of her best friends, defeating Nightmare Moon and Discord, her own death, being revived... then one specific moment flashes through her mind, and all senses fail her. Every one of her senses focus on this memory. She no longer hears the roaring suction of the Dead Zone. She no longer feels the wind, or her hooves latched onto the pillar. Her grip loosens, and she is unknowingly being pulled towards an unending hell!

Music

"Gone!? What happened to her!?", Dash asks Rarity in a panic.

"I'm sorry... I don't really understand it myself.", Rarity responds with deep worry. "After watching Cadance die, she lost control of herself. All of her magic began pouring out, and she opened some kind of black and red vortex that began to suck everything into it. That unicorn knocked her inside, and that was the last we saw of her.", she replies in tears.

"She's in an alternate variation of earth; similar to the one Vegeta came from. The equine races do not inhabit this world."

Lunalia sighs. "I am unsure. Due to where I'm searching, I can't view things as I normally would. I can only catch vague glimpses here and there. I've caught on to about the point in time she enters this world, but... she soon disappears again. I'm not sure of what happens to her..."

Rainbow Dash is now halfway to the entrance of the Dead Zone, and she suddenly stops. Her mind somewhat returns to her, but is now focused on something entirely different.  "Twi... light...", she mutters under her breath as she lands on the ground.

Goku suddenly notices a sharp increase in her power. "What's going on!? She was already maxed out! Where is this coming from!?"

Dash's wings flare out as her inner power begins to surge forth. "Give... her... back..."

"What?", Garlic Jr. questions. "What are you mumbling about? Losing your mind before you die?"

Rainbow Dash stares dead at Garlic as she begins to glow. "Give... Twilight... back... Give... her... back..."

"What are you going on about!?", screams Garlic. "Never mind! Just die!", he shouts as he exerts more energy, and increased the pull of the Dead Zone to its maximum!

With the pull as strong as it is, Goku is no longer able to hold on. His grip fails, and he and Kami hurtle towards the doorway to a world of suffering!

"Twi... light...", Dash says between breaths. Her power surges once more; this time launching a massive beam of energy at Garlic as she screams, "GIVE BACK MY FRIEND, TWILIIIIIIGHT!!!!!"

"What's this!?", Garlic shouts in shock as the massive beam approaches him! Before he can try to move, the massive beam of energy collides with him... and knocks him towards the still open Dead Zone! The pull is far too strong for Garlic to resist, and he is sucked into the dark abyss that he himself opened! His faint cry of terror can be heard as the portal to the Dead Zone slowly closes. Soon, the sky above returns to normal, and the air is calm once again.

Dash's power drops back down to its normal levels. "Twi... This is where you're gonna be, isn't it? That portal... the color... the way it sucked everything into it... It's too similar! I... I know what I need to do...", she ponders.

"Wow. If that place is anything like he described, I bet he's wishing he didn't have immortality right about now.", Goku says as he approaches her.

"Goku...", speaks up Dash. "I'm going to stay here."

He gives her a confused look. "What do you mean?"

She looks up at him with fire in her eyes. "I'm going to train harder than ever before... and I'm going to stay and fight!"