Disclaimer: Again, I don't own DBZ, however if the real owners want to buy my story I'm more than open to the arrangement… (Waits hopefully) No? Oh well…
Well with the outpouring of appreciation I got for the last chapter I decided to load the next one!
Just kidding. Actually I'm loading this one about 5 mins after I did the first one :P
The two women caught up to Trunks just after the story of Bibidi, Babidi and Buu had finished. If it hadn't sounded so serious he would have laughed. Who named these people? Judging from the somber looks on his friends' faces they'd just heard the same story from Kibito.
"So what's the plan? Do we fight this Buu monster?" Trunks asked. Shin – The Supreme Kai – shook his head.
"No. He is too powerful to attack directly. We must defeat his warriors and then dispose of him before he can release the monster." He answered. Pan grinned. Trunks knew what she was thinking. Her first real fight.
Suddenly the two enemy fighters from the tournament slowed down and landed. The group quickly landed behind some rocks and peered down. There was one warrior, the two bald guys, and one little guy Trunks thought looked just like Yoda from Star Wars. Behind them was what looked like a portable toilet…no, it had to be an elevator.
"The small one is Babidi." Kibito explained. Trunks nodded. The wizard took the machine containing Pan's energy from the two guys, and then the warrior blasted them out of existence. Trunks blinked. Huh?
"Babidi's servants don't live for very long. Once they complete their missions they are no more use to him."
"Ah." Trunks said. Nice guy.
The warrior went into the elevator and disappeared. Babidi followed him, but turned around and stared straight towards them. The cold feeling returned to Trunks' stomach.
"He knows we're here!" he hissed. Suddenly the air shifted and a cloudy, transparent and much enlarged version of the wizard materialized in front of them.
"Greetings Kai." He said. Shin snarled and hit out at him. His fist passed right through the illusion. "How rude!"
"I know what you're doing here Babidi. I won't allow you to release him." Shin said, floating up to meet him. Babidi held his gaze for a moment, and then looked at Kibito. He grinned. Suddenly he let out a shrill cry, and there was a blinding flash of light. Trunks jumped as a wave of heat knocked him sideways.
"Kibito!" Shin and Pan cried at the same time. The light faded and only ashes were left. Babidi giggled.
"That's for my father Kai." He laughed, and then disappeared. Videl looked shocked. Shin and Pan were devastated. Apart from that they seemed all right. Trunks looked sadly at the remains of Kibito. Their first casualty and no Dragonballs. This was serious.
"What do we do now?" he asked. Pan's eyes were teary. The Supreme Kai was slowly changing from shocked to furious. Trunks could feel his power level rising.
"We go after them of course." Videl spoke up. Pan nodded and got up. Without a word she flew down to the lower ground and disappeared into the shaft. Shin blinked.
"No wait!" he shouted. He turned to Videl.
"I should stay here if I were you. The three of us will manage." He said before taking off. Trunks raised an eyebrow at her.
"Yeah, right." She threw him a wry grin. Trunks nodded and they both took off.
Pan landed on a hard surface and found herself in a large room with a door set in the circular wall. She was examining it when she felt someone coming after her.
"Do you often go into strange places without knowing what's there?" The Kai demanded. She turned around. He was strangely cute when he was angry.
"Usually, yes. What's with the door? Do I break it down?"
"No! And don't change the subject. We've already lost one person today. I don't want to lose anyone else." He snapped. Pan clenched her fists. She had only known Kibito for a few minutes, but while he was healing her she had sensed a kind, calm and gentle presence. It was beyond her how anyone could kill him in cold blood.
"You won't." She assured him. Trunks and her mother landed.
"Nice place." Trunks commented.
"It could use some decorating." Videl argued. Pan smiled. Those two were good fun sometimes. It was a pity Trunks was so much younger than her mother…
"Will you people keep your minds on the job? This isn't a game!" Kai told them. Pan jumped as the door opened. She sprang back and entered a fighting stance and the others did the same. It was the same guy from the surface. He was dressed in black and white armour and had eerie glowing yellow eyes.
"I am Fui-Fui." He announced. "I am the fighter at level one. You needn't concern yourselves about the next two levels. You won't be getting past me." Pan looked him over. He had clearly already powered up, but he wasn't really that strong. From the slightly pained expression on Trunks' face she could tell he felt the same. He continued.
"All of the energy you lose while fighting me will be sent straight to Majin Buu and will aide his resurrection. And you will be losing much before this battle is over." He gave a short, evil-sounding laugh. Pan rolled her eyes. What a dweeb!
"Right." Trunks said. "Who wants this guy?"
"What?" Shin broke in. "We all have to fight together to beat him!" Pan frowned. Couldn't he read power levels?
"Nah." Videl shook her head. "I'll take him if you like. If the others are stronger than him then this may be the only guy in my league."
"Sure go ahead. I get the next guy." Pan said. Shin's eyes widened.
"You can't be serious!"
"Hello! I'm still here!" Fui-Fui shouted.
"He's mine." Videl announced and approached him. The Kai turned on Trunks.
"Aren't you going to help her?"
"No. She'll be fine." Trunks crossed his arms and stepped back to watch the fight.
"Pan?" he all but pleaded. Pan frowned.
"Seriously, Supreme Kai. She'll be fine." She assured him. "You might want to step back though. My mother likes to let loose energy blasts and she once burned a chunk of hair off my head." She laughed as she joined Trunks near the wall. Shin looked horrified.
"Then you leave me no choice." He sighed and stood beside Videl.
"Hey wait your turn!" Videl protested. Shin stared at her.
"You may need assistance." He said.
"Fine. Just don't get in the way, okay?" she grinned at him.
With a loud yell the alien flew at her. His fist was inches from her face when she dodged and gave him a hard kick to the side. He fell off-balance and crashed into the wall. Pan grinned. That's my mom! She thought.
Shin looked as though he'd just seen a ghost. Videl caught his expression and laughed.
"Not bad for a mere human, is it?" she commented and resumed the battle. The purple alien's eyes looked as though they were going to pop out. Pan smirked. If he finds that impressive wait until he sees me fight, she thought.
Videl was stronger than Fui-Fui. Her power level wasn't a lot greater but he was growing frustrated and his moves were getting sloppy. After a violent punch to his stomach he took off and hovered in mid-air panting. Videl took her chance.
"Ka…" she put her hands together. "Me…Ha…Me….HAAAA!" she shouted and let loose a giant blue energy wave. Pan watched, speechless. She had been training hard lately and it definitely paid off. It hit the alien and he was squashed against the wall like a bug on a windshield. The wave finished and Fui-Fui fell to the floor. She smoothed out her shirt and wiped a thin trickle of blood from her mouth.
"Bit my tongue, didn't I?" she joked. Pan high-fived her.
"All right!" she shouted.
"Shouldn't the door open now?" Trunks asked. "I'm fighting next."
"You are not! I called next fight." They began walking towards the doorway.
Just then a loud scream broke into their conversation. Pan whirled around to see a bright energy blast heading towards her mother. She jumped in front to shield her when a small figure appeared and punched the blast away. Shin stood between them and the alien. Fui-Fui snarled.
"Damn you! Purple rat!" he shouted and ran at him. Shin held his ground and calmly met his attack. Pan blinked. From the way he was acting she hadn't expected him to be much of a fighter but he was blocking the other guy's blows with little or no effort.
"Some warrior you are, attacking while your opponent's back is turned." Shin said quietly. Almost too fast for Pan to see he leaned forward, rested his hands on the alien's breastplate and released an enormous energy wave. He was instantly vaporized.
The glare from the blast faded and Pan stared at the Kai. He was very strong. She couldn't figure out how he could have that much power. Even through his multiple layers of clothing she could see he had a very slender build and it didn't look like he worked out much. He turned around and looked at her and she had the odd feeling he knew what she was thinking.
"Keep your guard up." He warned them. "Fui-Fui was a weakling compared to the other warriors under Babidi's control." Pan felt her face warming. She had underestimated the alien and her mother could have been killed.
"Thankyou." Videl said quietly. Shin nodded once.
"You're welcome."
"Hey look the floor's opening up!" Trunks called. They gathered around to look into the pit. It was pitch black. They all looked at each other. Pan gestured to Shin.
"After you." She offered. He gave her a tiny smile before leaping down into the darkness.
Babidi watched the intruders through the crystal ball. As he had expected, after the death of the Kai's big pink servant the rest of them all fell right into his trap. Unfortunately it looked like they were stronger than they looked. The smallest and weakest of the humans had just defeated one of his elite fighters.
"Damn!" he hissed. He turned around and looked at his favourite fighter, Dabora. "Did you see that?"
"Fui-Fui was weak, Master." He assured him. "They will not get past stage two."
"Yes…I suppose you're right. But just in case I want you ready to defend me." He ordered. Dabora inclined his head.
"I will be in the meditation room preparing for battle." He agreed and left.
Babidi turned back to the ball. He grinned thinking of the next warrior he would send out. He had reached out across time and into another dimension to get at this fighter, and he should provide quite a challenge for the newcomers…
Pan stood doing some stretches while they waited for the next fighter. Videl was sitting down taking a break. Trunks could tell that despite her confidence that fight had taken a lot out of her. He smiled. She had done exceedingly well. He guessed she was at least as powerful as Krillin, possibly even Piccolo had been. She was fantastic, and she didn't even have the benefit of Saiyan blood. Amazing!
"You did great back there." Trunks told her. She grinned up at him.
"I think my finishing moves need some work." She said ruefully. "If the Supreme Kai hadn't been there things might have ended differently."
"Yeah." Trunks agreed, frowning at the little guy. He was standing beside Pan trying to convince her that they had to fight in a group to beat the next fighter. She threw some punches into the air.
"Why? I'm fine!" she said. Her tail flicked from side to side excitedly. Trunks grinned. Sometimes he wished he'd kept his tail.
The Kai started to protest again and she laid a hand on his shoulder. "Look, don't worry. Even if I can't handle him on my own, do you think Trunks will just stand by and let me get pulverized? If it looks like he's going to kill me feel free to give me a hand. Okay?" she soothed. He threw his hands up in the air and began pacing.
"You people are impossible." He sighed. Trunks laughed.
"If you think we're bad you should have met our parents." He commented. "And grandparents." Goku would have found this whole thing a blast. Maybe he could have even saved Kibito.
"Yes. Goku and Vegeta did enjoy a challenge." A deep voice said from behind them. Trunks froze. He knew that voice.
"CELL?"
The big green monstrosity stood facing them. Trunks hadn't heard him come in. He was exactly the same as he remembered. Pale faced, green skinned with cockroach wings and that repulsive tail. There were two differences. He had a black 'M' on his forehead, and a gold ring hovering over his head.
"Master Babidi summoned me from my resting place. I was surprised to discover I would be fighting you here, but not disappointed. I thought I'd killed you years ago."
"You did." Trunks growled.
"Ah yes. The Dragonballs." He said. Trunks locked eyes with the enemy.
"Pan, this one's mine." He said shortly. She knew not to argue with him now.
"Sure Trunks go for it." She said easily.
"Who is he?" Shin asked quietly. Pan leaned towards him.
"He's an android. He almost destroyed Earth in the alternate timeline." She replied. She knew the story well.
"How was he defeated?" he asked.
"My father Gohan stopped him. He was an ascended Saiyan." She answered. She looked Cell up and down. She didn't like this turn of events. "Mom, I think you'd better get out of here." She suggested. Videl didn't answer. "Even my father had trouble defeating him. You're in more danger than any of us. Now go!" Pan shouted. Videl slowly nodded. "Right. If you're not back within…"
"One day." Pan supplied. If this wasn't over in a day, chances were they'd lost.
"Right." Videl turned to Shin. "You take care of her." She ordered. Shin bowed slightly.
"I will." He replied. Videl placed two fingers to her forehead and disappeared.
"Where did she go?" the Kai asked.
"It's the Instant Transmission. Goku taught it to my father and he taught it to her before he died. Now we all know it."
"Hmm. I didn't know any Earthlings knew it." He commented. Pan grinned.
"So much for the watcher of the universe." She joked. He frowned.
"Well it is a lot of territory to cover." He said defensively.
Trunks was standing face to face with his opponent. Pan had never seen him this angry. Suddenly Cell looked away.
"Master Babidi! I believe there is a more appropriate setting for this battle." He called. Instantly the room blurred and Pan got the strange feeling she did when using Instant Transmission – except she wasn't in control here.
"What's happening?" she shouted.
"It's Babidi." The Kai snarled.
When the world around him settled down Trunks was horrified to find he was back at the Cell Games. The arena was in perfect condition and he stood on it facing Cell. Pan and the Supreme Kai stood by the side of the ring, looking around curiously. If Cell was trying to unnerve him he had failed. Instead Trunks was filled with a blinding anger at the memories of what Cell had done. He killed Goku and Android 16, not to mention Trunks himself, beat Gohan half to death and tortured his father and friends with those repulsive 'Cell Juniors'.
"Much better." Cell looked around. "Ah memories."
"You died here Cell. You will die here again." Trunks' grin was eerily similar to his father's.
"I'm already dead. Besides, you're not the only one who has been training Trunks. I have far exceeded the power of even Gohan." He said. Trunks laughed.
"You are a slave to a wizard who can't fight his own battles." He countered. Cell smiled condescendingly.
"I serve him willingly. He has given me the power to get my revenge." He said simply before falling into a fighting stance. "Even if you beat me, all the energy you lose during battle will be sent to Majin Buu. So I would have won anyway." Trunks scowled. He had worked hard to rid this planet of its greatest enemy. He would not let him win this time…