Chapter 48 The Resurrection
Hell.
A monstrous figure, grotesque and towering like a twisted child dozens of meters tall, sat slumped on the throne once belonging to King Enma. It looked infantile, even harmless at a glance, but its body radiated corrupted, chaotic energy.
"Janemba… Janemba…" The eerie chant echoed through the dark, warped sky above King Enma's palace.
It was Janemba's manifestation that shattered the balance between the realms of the living and the dead.
Deep within Hell...
Above each infernal level, a massive rift tore open across the sky, shimmering like a wound in space itself. The damned souls, infamous villains, warlords, and tyrants, looked up from their prisons in stunned curiosity.
The rift began to exert a strange pull, an irresistible suction of energy.
One former foot soldier of the Frieza Force, long forgotten in the afterlife, drifted toward the anomaly.
Drawn in by instinct, he peered inside.
Beyond the swirling portal, Earth could be seen, bright, unguarded, alive.
"We can get out!" The soldier screamed.
The moment his words rang out, chaos erupted across Hell. Though skeptical at first, the rest of the inmates couldn't ignore what they'd heard. We can get out. Over and over, the phrase echoed like prophecy.
When the soldier vanished into the rift and didn't return, doubt became desperation.
Wave after wave of the dead surged into the rift, flooding through it like a tsunami of chaos.
Back on Earth, already overwhelmed by Broly's rampage and Babidi's schemes, the situation took a darker turn.
The dead began to rise.
Everywhere.
At a quiet graveyard, an elderly man stumbled backward in shock as he found his long-dead wife standing before him, vacant-eyed and without memory.
On crowded city streets, the dead replaced the living. Warriors from long-forgotten battles emerged, shouting about conquests, claiming dominion over a modern world they did not recognize.
In the sky above,
The Ginyu Force, once obliterated on Namek, soared again. Their bodies solid, their strength restored. None of them understood why or how.
But they were free.
Jeice led the trio, each member snapping into their iconic poses. But something was missing.
No… someone was missing.
Jeice broke formation and lowered his hand. "Without Captain Ginyu, it just doesn't feel right."
The others grew solemn. They had waited years, maybe decades, for their leader's return. But for reasons unknown, Ginyu never joined them. Trapped in a special holding cell deep in Hell alongside Frieza himself, they had long since lost the protection of their former emperor.
And in Hell, that meant survival came by hiding, because others down there were far more powerful than them.
But now? Now they were free again. Now they had a world to vent their fury on.
Cities trembled as Ki blasts rained from the skies, detonating across rooftops and highways in unrelenting waves.
Cackling and fueled by vengeance, the Ginyu Force tore through everything in their path, not for glory, but out of sheer rage.
Then, without warning,
Whoosh!
A blinding laser cut through the chaos, halting them in their tracks.
The air shifted as the three warriors snapped their heads toward the source.
"Vegeta?!" They shouted in disbelief.
Vegeta hovered calmly above them, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
Cold. Calculating.
Without saying a word, he raised one hand and a flash of light appeared in front of him, and Guldo was vaporized on the spot. Though Guldo's time-freezing technique no longer posed any threat to someone of Vegeta's current level, he didn't take risks. One move. One kill.
Guldo's sudden death stunned the remaining three.
Jeice instinctively reached for his scouter, staring at Vegeta's power level in disbelief.
Bang!
The scouter exploded under the pressure, not from Vegeta's power, but from the fear that bloomed too fast to register.
Jeice's eyes widened in sheer terror, his entire body trembling.
His only thought was crystal clear: Run!
Without hesitation, he turned and bolted, desperate to escape.
Whoosh!
A crimson beam of energy shot clean through his chest, stopping him mid-flight. Jeice collapsed instantly, lifeless. Vegeta didn't flinch. He turned slowly toward Recoome and Burter, his eyes cold and unreadable.
"You've got five seconds to explain why you're here."
Recoome and Burter froze, drenched in fear. They hadn't expected this.
Recoome stammered, "W-We don't really know! A hole opened above Hell… so we just, crawled out. That's all we know, I swear!"
Pfft!
Recoome's and Burter's heads detonated in an instant, clean, surgical blasts. Their bodies vanished without a trace. Vegeta hovered silently, scanning the chaos below. More and more former Frieza Force soldiers were pouring in from the rift.
He didn't bother speaking. They weren't worth the energy.
He powered up into Super Saiyan, letting out a small pulse of ki.
BOOM!
The soldiers were vaporized in an instant, wiped out in a single flash.
[I don't know exactly what's going on… but it looks like the dead really are coming back.]
Suddenly, a sharp jolt ran through Vegeta's body. His gaze snapped toward the horizon.
"Trunks?"
His heart raced.
"If everyone's returning… then that means Trunks is alive again, too!"
He closed his eyes, focusing, trying to lock onto Trunks's energy. But there was nothing. He couldn't sense him. Instead… another familiar energy pulsed through the air.
He opened his eyes and stared toward West City.
"That energy… Bulla?!"
To his surprise, her energy wasn't just active, it was strong. Stronger than he expected.
Vegeta's brows furrowed. Since when has she been training? I always thought Trunks was the only one following my path… but Bulla's been hiding her growth this whole time?
[No time to reflect. That spike in her energy… she's in danger.]
With a surge of golden energy, Vegeta blasted off toward West City.
In the shadows, beyond the rift… Three ominous figures hovered in silence, watching Vegeta's display unfold.
Cooler cursed under his breath. "Damn it. His power's on a whole new level. Meanwhile, we're stuck exactly where we were in Hell…"
He clenched his fists.
"We're screwed." King Cold, calm but grim, shook his head. "Even if we've been resurrected, it won't matter. At this rate, we'll just be sent straight back to Hell."
Frieza stood quietly, eyes narrowed.
Watching Vegeta vanish toward the horizon, he turned slightly toward his brother.
"Tell me, dear brother… do you remember how you died?"
Cooler's jaw clenched. "Tch."
Frieza chuckled coldly. "Oh, that's right… It was Vegeta who killed you, wasn't it?"
Cooler snapped back, "And you? You were killed by Son Goku! The so-called 'monkey' you couldn't stop talking about!"
Frieza sneered, unfazed. "Please. I killed Vegeta once, cleanly. If not for the Dragon Balls, he'd still be rotting in Hell like us. But you? You got wiped out by one of my men. You should be embarrassed just being here."
The air grew tense as the two brothers squared off.
Then, King Cold finally stepped forward. "Enough. This isn't the time for your petty rivalry."
Frieza let out a sigh, then turned slyly toward his father.
"But Father… I do think we need to discuss something important."
He gestured toward Cooler.
"You do remember how he said he died, right?"
King Cold looked puzzled, scratching his chin. "Hmm… Didn't he say something about being ambushed near some strange building?"
Frieza nodded. "I believe he said Vegeta stepped out of it and obliterated him, along with the Androids."
Cooler's eyes widened as the memory came rushing back.
He looked up, toward the sky, and his expression hardened.
The Lookout.
Without a word, he rocketed upward, shooting toward the distant horizon. Frieza and King Cold exchanged glances, then followed in pursuit.
(End of Chapter)
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