Dragon Ball Generations
Chapter 1
Deviations and Premise: The Battle with Majin Buu
Goku was beginning to panic. Minutes before, the outcome had seemed inevitable; Gohan was far superior to Buu and was showing a confidence and resolve he had never before seen in his eldest son. Time and time again Buu attacked, and time and time again, Gohan had effortlessly avoided his strikes and countered with devastating force. Goku had relaxed and begun to enjoy the show, but that was a distant memory now.
Gohan had made an all-too-familiar mistake. Just as he had when he battled Cell and showed the other Saiyans the heights to which their power could reach, he had become overconfident and allowed the fight to drag on. This time, he had stepped aside and allowed two children, Goten and Trunks, to fuse into the powerful but inexperienced Gotenks and reenter the battle, in an effort to humiliate Buu. Before he could realize his mistake, Buu had absorbed both Gotenks and Piccolo, Gohan's first master. Now, Buu's power dwarfed his own, and desperation was beginning to set in.
"I've got to get down there!" Goku screamed, "There's got to be something we can do! Come on!" But his cries fell on deaf ears.
"I'm sorry, Goku," The Old Kai gloomily replied, "This is a fight for the living, not the dead. Even if we could allow you to enter the battle, you're far too weak to make a difference."
"At least let me buy Gohan some time!" Goku fired back, "We've been down worse than this before, we can still win, but we've got to act NOW!"
"No, Goku. You used the last of your time on Earth to show off your strength to those boys. If Majin Buu is able to come here, you can fight, but you cannot help Gohan now."
"Besides," the Old Kai continued while staring into his crystal ball, "if a distraction is all you think he needs, it appears Yemma has already put that plan in motion."
Both Goku, the Supreme Kai, and Kibito shot their eyes to the Old Kai's ball, which had faded away from the battle to King Yemma's office, where a familiar figure was walking into the room.
"So, Vegeta, how 'bout it? You want another shot at Majin Buu?" The big red King bellowed to the short, flame haired Saiyan standing before him.
The Saiyan scowled. "Of course I do! And this time I won't leave any shred of him behind! Why are we still talking?!"
"Very well," Yemma returned, "this is your one day on Earth, normally reserved for the especially righteous, but we'll make an exception given the circumstances. Take care of this for us, and we'll see if we can't find a better place for you in the afterlife. Now go."
Vegeta appeared roughly one hundred miles from the battle and immediately began charging toward it, spurred on my rage and the chance at vengeance. He was almost to top speed when he heard a shrill voice in his head.
"Vegeta!" King Kai yelled, "Buu's much stronger than he was before, he's absorbed Piccolo and Gotenks! You don't have a chance! But your body's stronger now, if you can just stall him a little while, the boys should diffuse and Gohan might be able to finish him!"
Vegeta's face lit up with rage at the thought of his son being absorbed by that monster. "Stall him?! Gohan will not kill him! I'll erase all memory of him!"
A golden aura exploded around the Saiyan Prince as his hair turned blonde and his body lunged forward toward the battle.
Gohan was hanging on by a thread, unable to land a blow against the pink monster. Upon receiving a devastating blow to the head, he crashed into a boulder near Dende, who decided to make his gamble.
The young Guardian rushed over to Gohan and began administering his healing powers on the young warrior. "Hold on, Gohan. You've got to do this!" the Namek said in a panicked rush.
There was no time, however. The two looked up to see a laughing Buu in large shoulder pads smiling down from between them and the sun. "It's been fun, Earthling." The monster said with a snear, "But this is the end. Say goodbye!"
Through clenched teeth, Gohan stared defiantly into the blast as the sky went red, intent on meeting his doom head-on. Dende, however, shut his eyes and, not knowing how else to respond, continued to heal Gohan. The blast careened toward the duo, close enough to feel it's heat, until it was suddenly diverted from the side by a second blast.
Gohan turned his head to see, roughly one hundred yards away, a three-eyed man in a cape standing on a rock, his fingers and thumbs pressed together to form a diamond, staring at the monster.
"It's been a long time, Gohan. You've changed a lot. So has Buu." Tien said without breaking his stare at the monster.
"Ah, Tien Shinhan. Listen Tien, I hold you in high reguard, but your power is laughable. You shouldn't have come here." The monster said with a tinge of annoyance.
Tien didn't flinch. He could sense Vegeta's energy drawing closer, and Gohan's strength returning to him. The more time he could buy, the better their chances. If he could do some small bit of damage, all the better.
The three-eyed warrior extended his hands once more, focused the pink demon in the gap between his hands, and fired a silent Kikoho at the monster, who stood bolt upright and allowed it to wash over him with a smile. For a brief moment, Tien allowed himself to smile before quickly leaping from his standing place and landing next to Gohan and Dende as the rock he had been perched on exploded, following a blast from Buu.
"Too bad I don't carry a rice cooker with me," Tien said to no one in particular. "I've got a special technique for creatures like him. Hey, Buu! Your fights with me now!"
No sooner had the final word left his mouth than Tien's spirit left his body. At a speed he could never have imagined possible, Buu, no longer smiling, rushed forward and delivered a devastating punch to Tien's chest, just above his heart. Tien's body flew back as if shot from a cannon, his sternum completely shattered. Before his body was stopped by a distant mountainside, Tien Shinhan was dead.
Gohan was enraged. His power had hadn't quite returned, but he knew even if it was, he was no match for Buu. Tien had only been an acquaintance of his, but he had been an ally against Cell, an old friend of his father's, and had now saved his life. And Gohan, weak and beaten because of his own actions, had been forced to helplessly watch another man die in front of him. Just like his brother and, he had to assume, everyone else he cared for.
Gohan's power began to rise as Buu walked toward him, Dende keeping his hands on Gohan all the while. "Go ahead, power up. Show me the power of the son of the great Goku." The monster taunted as he continued to pace forward.
Gohan brushed Dende aside and sank into a fighting stance; Buu kept walking. "Healed or not, I've got to attack!" Gohan thought, and crouched to spring himself forward. Buu smiled menacingly and extended one arm forward with an open palm, readying a kill-shot.
Gohan wouldn't need to spring. Before he got the chance, a golden-tipped boot had planted firmly into the side of Buu's head, sending the monster careening through a series of rock formations. Standing in his place stood Vegeta, golden light surrounding him, lighting flashing across his body, and a halo above his head.
"Gohan," the Saiyan prince said calmly, "take cover, suppress your power, and finish healing. Then stay out of my way." In an explosion of light the Saiyan charged the distant crater where Buu had landed, his right fist cocked back in anticipation of arriving at his target.
Buu met Vegeta in the air and deftly slipped the punch, delivering a two-handed overhead slam to middle of Vegeta's back, sending him slamming into the ground. "I thought we were through with this. Stay down, Vegeta, I'm busy at the moment." The monster yelled from the sky. Vegeta, hurt but unbroken, climbed back to his feet, and charged again.
Gohan was watching from behind a distant rock formation, when he noticed Hercule and a dog hiding behind a separate rock formation. He also noticed the recklessness with which Vegeta was attacking Buu. Even by his standards, this was dangerous. Didn't he know he couldn't hold out against such a monster?
"Gohan!" King Kai's voice rang in the young Saiyan's head, "Vegeta's trying to buy enough time for Gotenks to diffuse so you can finish him! The body he has now is durable, but if he dies, he won't be able to pass on to the afterlife at all! As soon as you get the chance you've got to finish him!"
"But King Kai, I don't even know how long that'll be, and even without Gotenks he'll still have both boys AND Piccolo! He was so strong before, I'm not sure I can!" Gohan cried back, his voice teeming with doubt.
"Gohan don't start this again!" This time it was his father's voice that rang through his head. King Kai had established a connection between the two by acting as a mid-point. "Remember what you did against Cell. You don't even have to find new strength this time, you've already got it, just let it go!"
"But Dad, I-"Gohan was cut off by his father. "We don't have time for this!" Goku continued, "I know you're peaceful, but the Earth needs you! I'm not around anymore and you're a man now. No one else has the power, this is your responsibility!"
A sudden realization washed over Gohan. In the years since his battle with Cell he had all but completely given up training, focusing instead on studies and, more recently, Videl. He always reasoned that, should the time ever come where his power was needed, he would give all that he had, and along with his father's friends, they would be able to overcome any adversary. But here they stood, his allies absorbed or dead, his only remaining companion fighting alone, from the grave, against the greatest monster the universe had ever known. And here he stood, the strongest man to ever live, thanks in only very small part to his own actions, shaking with fear. Well, no more, he thought, and wordlessly blasted into the fray of the battle.
By the time Gohan reached the battle, Vegeta was in shreds. During the time it took Gohan to heal and overcome his fears, the Saiyan prince had become an object of amusement to Majin Buu. As Gohan flew through the air, he watched the now black-haired Vegeta drag himself up from the ground and out of the dust once more. His left arm appeared to be badly broken, and his mouth and nose were bleeding badly, but he nonetheless found the strength to charge again, slower than ever. For his part, Buu appeared to have remained untouched.
As Vegeta charged Buu head on, Gohan did the same from behind, but Buu deftly dodged the rush by contorting his abdomen into a wiry strand. Buu attempted to take advantage of his position by clubbing Gohan over the back of the head, but Gohan, back arched, fired a blast from both open hands to the side and diverted his body out of the way. Buu rushed, and began pummeling Gohan, but unlike their previous fight, Gohan was able to hold his own in this exchange.
"Vegeta might not have done any damage, but Buu's definitely slower for his trouble." Gohan thought, before throwing a hard uppercut that only just missed Buu's jaw thanks to his rubbery neck flopping backward parallel to his back. It was here, however that Vegeta reentered the battle, his hair once again sporting a blonde glow, by locking onto Buu's head and ripping with the full intention of separating it from his body.
Buu turned and ripped Vegeta free, throwing him to the ground once again, but opening his back to Gohan in the process. The young warrior didn't miss the opportunity, grabbing Buu from behind and driving him shoulder-first into the hard ground below. Gohan took his share of pain in the exchange, but smiled, knowing it was the only real blow they had landed on the monster since his last round of absorptions.
Gohan fired out and away from the crater, and watched as Buu slowly floated up from the rubble, a look of fierce anger on his face. The two locked eyes and Gohan prepared for another confrontation, but Buu had noticed Vegeta.
Vegeta was on his hands and knees, his hair back to its natural dark color, struggling to breathe. His body, however durable it might have been, was tattered and broken, and he doubted he had the strength to fly, let alone fight. Still, he forced himself to his feet, and stared down the monster with the long antennae.
Buu gave Gohan one last glance and bolted for Vegeta, his right hand drawn back and held flat. Vegeta, knowing he lacked the speed to dodge the attack or the strength to block it, dug in his heels, and faced the charging monster.
"Vegeta! Move!" Gohan screamed to no avail. He attempted to intercept Buu, but was far too far away to cover the distance. Vegeta was on his own.
Buu smiled as he drew close to his target, but Vegeta stared defiantly back.
"Come on!" He bellowed, and let out a mighty roar. He thrust his arms forward, palms together and intensified his shout just as Buu was about to make contact. A flood of golden light shot from his hands, completely engulfing the monster.
Before the smoke had cleared, Gohan felt Vegeta's energy completely disappear, along with his ravaged body. Buu never hit his target, but Vegeta was gone, this time, from all existence.
Buu wasted no time searching for Vegeta, he knew as well as Gohan that he was gone. Instead he shot higher into the sky and looked down at the last remaining Earthling warrior.
The monster raised an arm and a massive pink ball of glowing energy formed, shrouding the desert in it's light. Gohan settled into his stance, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to withstand such a blast. Buu broke into a maniacal laugh, and forced the ball slowly down toward the fighter.
"This ends now, human!" he screamed, and thrusted the orb down toward the earth.
Gohan caught the ball, but had to brace it against his chest, and felt his knees begin to shake as the ground gave beneath his feet. Buu met Gohan's gaze and broke into a fiendish laugh.
And then, with a pop, Buu's large shoulder pads were replaced by a familiar white cape.
"Now!" Gohan screamed, and with all his might, forced the ball back toward Buu. Buu tried to stop it, and yelled in terror, but could no longer match the power of the enraged warrior. Gohan felt the momentum change and then build behind his charge, and, for a moment, thought of mercy.
But he never lessened his push, instead pressing forward all the more, until the veins in his arms looked as if they might burst out from his skin. "I'm sorry" he said through gritted teeth, "I wish it didn't have to be like this. Maybe someday you'll come back as a better person, and things will be different. I'd like that."
With that, Gohan pushed the ball away from him and watched as Buu was pulled inside. Then, after bracing himself, gathered all his strength and gave a final battle cry:
"KA-ME-HA-ME-HA!"
With his father and the Kais looking on, Gohan saw his attack push Buu's orb with such force that it engulfed the monster's body, and watched as his enemy began to disintegrate inside it.
The ball fired high into the sky and out of the Earth's atmosphere, all the while trailed by the young hero's blast, and exploded into the sky, enveloping everything under it's gaze in a purple hue. Gohan waited until he was sure he could no longer sense Majin Buu's energy attempting to regenerate, then fell on his back, and breathed deeply.