This is an extremely odd piece by me for two reasons. First off, it's written in a more minimalistic style than I am used to. I love details, though I find this more conversation-based - I apologize if the dialogue is awkward. But this bring me to my second point: I wrote about my two least favorite characters in the series, them being Supreme Kai and Uub. Ah well. This takes place only a few hours after Buu's defeated, and I apologize with any inconsistencies with the manga/anime - this idea popped up in my head this morning, and I simply had to write it. Enjoy!
"I am leaving."
The Supreme Kai stood there with his skirts gathered in a clenched fist, looking on towards his superior. The resoluteness of his voice demanded the older Kai's attention, at which he asked, "Why?"
"I must get started on this process of reincarnating Buu's soul as soon as possible."
Perplexity crossed his aged features, and Elder Kai immediately stopped absentmindedly turning the pages of his comic book to ask, "Why so soon?" The monstrosity had been defeated only hours before.
The younger of the two only shook his purple head and sighed, "There is no time to wait. I must go now before the soul becomes too difficult to tame."
"But how do you plan on even making Buu incarnate?"
However, Elder Kai's qualms were left to thin air.
Kibito Kai appeared before the enormity of Yemma desk, who seemed too plagued to notice the tiny Kai. As soon as Kibito Kai drifted up and landed on the wooden surface, though, the red ogre jolted and dropped the stamp in his hand.
"Supreme Kai! It-it's a pleasure to-"
"There is no time for formalities," the Kai said, holding a hand up calmly as though to halt Yemma in his tracks. "I've come on important business."
"Oh?"
He dropped his arms back to his side before inquiring, "Has Kid Buu's soul passed through here as of yet?"
"No, not that I've seen. But that creature certainly did cause a lot of trouble - just look at all of these souls I have to approve now!" And with this gesture, Yemma waved a large hand to all of the souls clustering around, only pushed back by a few ogre guards in an attempt to keep some peace.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your business, then."
Yemma only shook off the apology and said, "It's nothing. This isn't so bad. At least it changes up the monotony of my life."
At the quizzical look he received from his authority, Yemma opened his mouth once more to change the subject. However, this attempt was quickly replaced by that of the Supreme Kai's, who asked, "So when is it estimated that Kid Buu's soul will arrive? This is urgent, you know."
"I-"
But at that moment, protests were called through the crowd as one fierce soul in particular was pulled to the front. It gnashed its teeth viciously, the wisps of its spectral frame fading into nothingness.
"I think that's him," Yemma said, receiving a curt nod from the Kai. Before he could react, the Supreme Kai had leapt off of the table, descending perfectly before the guards and the fugitive they were trying to contain.
A blue field of electricity immediately formed around the dangerous soul, and the ogre guards immediately leapt back. Then, by lifting his thin purple finger, he set both himself and Buu's soul once again on Yemma's desk.
"How do I create a reincarnate?" he demanded, taking Yemma aback.
"A reincarnate?" he asked, flustered by the thought. "As in Buu brought back? But what do you need him reincarnated for?"
"It was a promise to Goku."
"I don't care if it was a promise to the Princess of Snake Way!" King Kai bellowed with a moment of his temper showing. He quickly recomposed himself, though, when he remembered exactly who he was talking to.
"I am your superior," the Supreme Kai curtly reminded him, his eyes narrowed in a way that would threaten even the largest of ogres.
There was a brief pause in the conversation before Yemma weakly said, "Yes, but... why, for the sake of Other World, would you allow a beast such as that to reincarnate?"
"It was a promise," he repeated firmly, annoyed now by Yemma's persistence on the matter. "It was a promise, and I will keep it at that." There was silence, save for the commotion of the restless souls below and the constant growling of the soul in his control now, before the Kai again asked, "So do you know how to create this incarnate?"
"Of what race, exactly?"
"Of what race?"
"Yes, that's what reincarnating is. It's bringing something back in another form - otherwise, you would just bring them back as they thing they once were, but I doubt you'd want to bring back Earth's destroyer for round two."
The Supreme Kai could only nod, his eyes now locked on to the soul trapped in the telekinetic barrier he had created. "Oh, I don't know..." he muttered as he stared at the thing, watching it wriggle around helplessly. "A Saiyan, maybe?"
"I doubt that can be done," he said, and the Supreme Kai looked back up at the larger creature. "There is no guardian over the Saiyans, or at least not anymore. They're practically extinct."
"There are a few, though, that still exist," Kibito Kai defended the race he'd come to befriend.
"But not enough to really understand their physiology and interactions," Yemma countered, and he held his hand into a fist larger than the Kai himself, contemplating the matter. "What planet do you intend this Buu incarnate to live on?"
"Earth."
"Then why not allow it to reincarnate as an Earthling?"
The Supreme Kai winced at this suggestion. "Humans are so fragile, though. Their strength fades in comparison to that of a Saiyan's."
"Not necessarily. Go to Earth and ask Kami about it - I've got other matters to deal with at the moment, and he will know more about the topic than I will."
"Kami's gone," Kibito Kai stated baldly, having never known the Namekian.
"Oh," Yemma said, having temporarily forgotten that detail. "Well then, go talk to whoever the current guardian of Earth is. He may be a little busy at the moment, what with Earth having just been brought back, but I think he'll set aside some time for you. Those guardians have always been a polite bunch..."
"Then I suppose I'll have to pay him a visit. You don't mind if we leave now, do you?"
"'We?'"
"Yes," the Kai clarified, pointing towards the caged soul. "I plan on taking it with me. It may be necessary to create the body."
"You can't take a soul out of Other World, though!" King Kai bellowed, his easy anger overcoming his senses once more as he darted his eyes between the two figures on his desk.
"And just why not?"
The quiet ferocity in the Supreme Kai's words brought a levelheadedness back to Yemma, who replied indignantly, "It's a law blatantly written in the rulebooks!"
"And who wrote the rulebooks?"
But before Yemma could muse over this, the Supreme Kai had disappeared.
"Hello," the Supreme Kai said amicably, having just set foot on the ill-named Kami's Lookout.
Dende nearly fainted with the sudden appearance, having seen his planet at death's heels and back. But Mr. Popo managed to catch the Earth's guardian and return, "Hello. What business do you have here?" And he allowed his small, circular eyes to settle curiously on the soul over the Kai's shoulder.
"I've come to create a reincarnated soul with your assistance," he directed towards the Guardian of Earth.
Mr. Popo's brow raised considerably with shock as Dende spluttered, getting to his feet once more, "A-a reincarnated soul?"
"Yes."
"But I don't know how to-"
He was cut off, though, as Mr. Popo gave a low bow and answered, "I will be of aid to you. The Guardian of Earth has more pressing matters to deal with at the moment."
The Supreme Kai nodded politely as he realized that even he could not be the priority at all times. He didn't notice the relief that swept over Dende's face, as the Namekian had not an inkling of what to do to create a reincarnate. Mr. Popo, on the other hand, seemed confident enough in his own abilities. "Follow me, then," the genie urged, and for the first time since being back on Earth, he left the guardian's side.
He led the Kai into a small enclave on the side of the palace, one dark save for a single shaft of light from the window. There was pottery sitting on shelves along the walls, and towards the center of the disorganized assortment of boxes along the ground, there was a single station cleared off. The pair walked about them carefully, and Mr. Popo said, "Excuse me for the mess. I typically don't have company."
"Don't apologize," the Kai said, intrigued by the many assortments.
They found their way to the working station, a table pushed to the wall, with Buu's soul drifting behind them. They stopped in the clearing, and Mr. Popo immediately bent down to retrieve a ball of soft clay, wrapped up in crinkled paper.
Kibito Kai's lips were parted in awe as Mr. Popo patted out the clay on the stone surface of the table. He jumped as, without looking up from his work, the genie asked, "What race do you want the creature to be brought back as?"
"Would a Saiyan be too much effort?" he requested, disregarding the ogre's advice. But to his disappointment, Mr. Popo nodded.
"I have been on this Earth for tens of thousands of years, and it was not until recently that I ever laid eyes upon such a being. If you are looking for a fighter, however, I would recommend a human. It would certainly limit the seemingly infinite power of such a creature as Buu."
The Kai flinched with this knowledge the genie possessed. How could he have known that this soul, fatigued by its own resistance, was that of Buu's? And that he wanted its incarnate for the sole purpose of fighting?
His uncertainty was pushed aside as Mr. Popo admitted, "I've never made a body for the purpose of reincarnating somebody before, let alone a being so powerful as this."
"Are you sure it will work, then?"
"No, but it never hurts to try." He continued molding the grey material in his hands before asking, "Would you like to design him?"
The Kai's face lightened with the smile of a child as he asked, "May I?"
"Certainly."
The two shifted so that it was the Supreme Kai at the work station instead, his hands changing the figures of this being with ease he had never imagined in creating a human. A small laugh escaped from him as he forgot the horrors that had faced this world only hours before, and now he was bringing it back. Without guilt, he might add.
"What personality do you wish this being to possess?"
"I have a choice?"
"Somewhat."
The Kai stopped digging his fingers through the clay temporarily to turn his head towards Mr. Popo and say, "Well, I want somebody who's pure of heart and who can't stand bringing pain. I want somebody who's not afraid to risk his life to defend those he loves. I want somebody who's of good humor, who's not difficult to deal with."
"Somebody like Goku?"
"What?"
"So you would like this being to be like Goku?"
This question unnerved the Kai a little. He never thought he would use somebody as a basis for all things good, and yet, Goku fit so perfectly. "I suppose," he replied, cocking an eyebrow curiously as the genie bent down once more to rummage through another set of drawers.
His curiosity was further heightened as Mr. Popo stood up to reveal a single, black hair between his forefinger and thumb. He hovered over the Kai's work and asked, "So is this what you would like him to look like? At this size, he would only be a few months old."
It was a small, grey figurine resting on the stony tabletop, it's small arms laying limply at its sides and its legs inexpertly rolled out. It's tiny face had merely been made with pinches, and the attempt at a Mohawk of hair was sloppy. "That's fine, but will you help me?"
"Of course." And setting the strand of coarse hair down, he set at work fixing the Kai's mistakes.
The clay doll was perfected, save for the undefined shape of its left breast. It was at this point that Mr. Popo picked the hair up again and explained, "I made a clay doll for Goku to train against long ago, and this is the hair that remains from it." He snapped a tip off of the hair and planted it into the doll's chest. "It will help him to possess the virtues of the man, a boy when I did this, and will instill a knack for fighting."
He folded the clay at the chest to conceal the hair and poked a hole into it. Then he asked, "May I have the soul, now?"
The Kai released the psychic bonds restraining the soul, but before it could make its escape, Mr. Popo grabbed it within his two, dark hands, and shoved it into the tiny hole. Then he closed it by pressing more clay over it, trapping the soul in this clay prison.
"Here's to hoping that the good of Goku will outweigh the bad of Buu," he mumbled to himself before setting to work, reshaping the whole chest to match that of a small infant's. Then, when finished, he asked, "What color would you like him to be?"
"Is purple too odd?" But at the genie's nod, he demanded, "Then make him dark like you - it's my thanks for your help."
A small smile appeared on the genie's black face as he pulled a few paints out of a drawer and began his work. The Supreme Kai backed away to allow the genie to concentrate, assuming a seat on one of the many boxes and allowing his gaze to wander around the odd room.
After fifteen minutes of work, Mr. Popo exclaimed jubilantly, "He's finished!"
And the first thing that the Kai heard after this announcement was the wail of a baby. A baby. His lips parted in awe before he managed to jump to his feet, running towards the counter where a naked baby in brown skin was sitting, throwing his fists around with this new life.
"Amazing..." was the only thing that escaped those lips, though Mr. Popo came over his own astonishment far more quickly.
"Quickly, you must find him a home."
"But how do I do that?"
"I recommend dropping him off somewhere, to a caring family. Try a village. It will nurture his character and test his virtue far more thoroughly than the life of leisure the majority of mankind lives today would. His nature should rightly be pushed so that it is indeed Goku that influences it, not the soul of Buu implanted in his chest."
The Supreme Kai blinked with surprise as Mr. Popo dropped the baby into his arms. "So a village?"
"Preferably one with those as dark-skinned as himself."
"But where is this village?"
"Venture around the globe - for a Kai as yourself, a suitable home shouldn't be terribly hard to find. You do not want attention drawn to him, though, and so living out in a more desolate landscape should keep him from the eyes of common passerby."
The Kai nodded with a shuddering breath, clutching the screaming baby closely to himself. "I-I will go now," he uttered, scared by this new responsibility he had unknowingly brought upon himself, and disappeared.
Uub. The name occurred to the Supreme Kai as he stood outside of a row of villages, wishing silence upon the boy lest he awaken the whole village. It was night time here with the rotation of the Earth, and he did not want the boy's experience with the village to begin badly.
He ran up to the nearest home and set him down on the dry Earth, hushing him. Uub, Uub... he needed to quiet himself. The Kai clenched his teeth, hoping with all of his might that this boy might end up the exact opposite of the annoying Majin Buu, with all of his cries and selfish demands for candy and whatnot.
The Supreme Kai's body seize as the door before him opened, allowing a candle's flickering light to shine as a man answered the door. With a fear that entangled him, what with this fear of handing off his creation to another being, he disappeared.
The dark-skinned man at the door blinked several times before bending down, setting the candle on the ground and picking up the baby that had been swaddled in a few of the Supreme Kai's expensive cloths. He held the baby to himself, who continued wailing through the night and calling other villagers out of their huts, as an absurd idea struck him.
This baby's name was Uub, and he was meant for grand things.