Sorry it's super-short; in hindsight, I could've added it to the end of last chapter, like I did with the first DDF bit after the Glacius mission.
SEE CHAPTER ONE FOR DISCLAIMERS
PLEASE READ & REVIEW, AND TEND TO THE TROPE PAGES
-CHAPTER START-
Across the Koprulu Sector, the Dimensional Defense Force and Valerian's Dominion fought against Amon's hordes – crimson-eyed Zerg, crazed Moebius Terrans, possessed Protoss, and abominable Hybrids, occasionally joined by Void Shadows or Slind's Shades. With the DDF's help, things seemed to be at a stalemate for now, but the enemy still had plenty of bodies left.
At the moment, Goku & Vegeta were helping fend off an attack on a colony world by Amon's Zerg brood. The two Saiyans hovered over the battlefield, taking shots at Ultralisks, Baneling packs, Brood Lords, and the like. Thankfully, the ground forces seemed to be holding their own with minimal assistance. …Suddenly, the duo's heads turned in unison toward the south, as they both sensed the high and dark power-level approaching. Looking to each other with a quick nod, they then took off, heading to intercept.
After about 45 seconds' flight, the Saiyan pair abruptly stopped in midair, 'screeching' to a halt, as their quarry did the same about 100 feet from them. Both of them tensed, calm frowns on their faces, as they realized they were facing Dabura, who folded his arms with a slight smirk.
"Long time no see, you two" the demon-lord said. "I'll bet you weren't expecting to ever see me again…"
"It would've been nice if we hadn't…" Goku replied.
"Have you come to join your star-dragon ally in death?" Vegeta remarked.
Dabura laughed. "Hardly. Lord Amon sensed two unusually high power levels fighting against his Zerg here, and I volunteered to investigate. I honestly wasn't expecting it to be you two, though. Ah, but this is a golden opportunity; eliminating the two of you will remove a major threat and demoralize our enemies!"
"Don't think it'll be as easy as you make it sound!" Goku replied, and with a short yell he took his Super Saiyan 1 form, with Vegeta following suit.
Dabura chuckled softly, and then with a flash of movement he struck. Goku barely reacted in time, bringing an arm up to block the opening kick, and then Vegeta struck with a heavy punch from the side that Dabura likewise blocked. The trio flew into a super-speed exchange of blows, their limbs blurs of motion, blocking and dodging and countering. After several seconds they broke apart several meters, with Goku and Vegeta firing a pair of gold-colored ki blasts that were countered and matched by a single dark-red blast from Dabura.
After blocking a follow-up shot from Vegeta, Dabura again went on the offensive. Vegeta gave ground (sky, rather), dodging and blocking the demon-lord's strikes while flying backward. Goku took the opportunity, landing a full-force kick on the distracted Dabura, but it didn't really seem to do much besides knock the demon back. Dabura smirked, and then blasted both Saiyans with a pair of crimson ki blasts, sending them flying for quite a ways before they regained control.
With a burst of golden light, Vegeta entered his Super Saiyan 2 state, and Goku followed suit a second later. Facing the two golden warriors, feeling how their power levels had grown, Dabura chuckled. Then, he tightened his body, focused his will, and roared out as a blazing dark-red aura of ki surged to life around him. The earth below trembled, and energy discharges crackled like lightning as his power level rose and rose. When it finally topped out, Goku and Vegeta were stunned; in his previous life, when he'd served Babidi, Dabura had "only" been as powerful as Cell after regeneration from self-destruction, but now he was equal to either of them in power level.
The 'Demon King' shaped and molded his ki, and then exhaled it as a large, high-speed fireball enhanced by Darkness power. Goku quickly formed and fired a powerful condensed blast of ki, striking the fireball and 'detonating' it at a safe distance. He then used a 'short'-range Instant Transmission to land a surprise punch, catching Dabura off-guard and sending him plummeting down at an angle. He managed to stop himself only a few meters from the ground, and had to dodge to the side once more, barely dodging a heel drop from Vegeta that made a crater when it struck the ground.
Intercepting each other's blows, Dabura and Vegeta's fists met with a shockwave and a sound like thunder, and they transitioned into another exchange of blindingly fast blows. The instant Vegeta broke away, Goku was right there to take his place, hammering Dabura's guard with fast and powerful strikes. Eventually he managed to break through, landing a right cross, only for Dabura to then counter with a kick to the midsection. Before the demon-lord could follow through, Vegeta struck him with a kick to the lower back, knocking him off-balance and allowing Goku to get a little distance.
When Dabura tried to kick at Vegeta, Vegeta dodged it and grabbed him by the leg, swinging him around and flinging him skyward. He then unleashed a rapid-fire barrage of ki blasts, the explosions and smoke engulfing Dabura. A few seconds after it cut off, Dabura emerged, visibly marked/injured, his calm smirk gone and replaced by a scowl. Goku came in from the side with a close-range ki blast ready, but Dabura reacted quicker, blasting him with an energy wave that sent him hurtling down toward Vegeta. He then charged downward at the two Saiyans, firing a barrage of dark-red blasts as he went that they were only partially successful in dodging. When he got in close, Dabura unleashed a furious wave of strikes against Vegeta, beating away at the Saiyan Prince's guard, until a blow from Goku knocked him back.
The brawl continued like this for at least 20 minutes, the Saiyans and the Demon slowly but surely dealing damage to each other, their blows and blasts tearing up the landscape. By accident or design, Dabura's constant attacks were leaving Goku and Vegeta with no time or space to transform to Super Saiyan 3 (which took much longer than the nigh-instant SS or SS2 transformations). Furthermore, though all three were now visibly injured and tired, Dabura seemed to be doing a little better, thanks to Amon's power increasing the size of his energy reserves; at this rate, even if he wouldn't be able to overpower either of the Ascended Saiyans, he might manage to outlast them both.
"This isn't working" Goku said, panting lightly. "We need something he can't shrug off, something that can punch through and deal a major blow all at once."
"If you've got any ideas, Kakarot, I'm all ears" Vegeta replied. "He's withstood nearly every one of our tricks so far."
"…So… let's hit him with a 'trick' of our friends' instead."
Goku directed his thoughts to Vegeta – magic-based telepathy was a trick the two of them had recently gotten the hang of. After a few seconds, Vegeta's eyes widened slightly, and then he nodded. The two Ascended Saiyans then began firing a withering barrage of golden ki blasts at Dabura, who crossed his arms out in front to withstand them. The blasts threw up smoke, obscuring him from view. Seconds after the barrage ended, Dabura brought his arms higher up to block an overhead blow from Goku, and used his leg to parry a kick from Vegeta. Smirking, he exhaled a fireball into Goku's face and brought an elbow down on Vegeta's leg…
…And both Super Saiyan Shadow Clones vanished in twin bursts of smoke. Caught off-guard by this, Dabura was then taken by further surprise as the real Goku & Vegeta emerged through the smoke right in front of him, thrusting the former's left hand and the latter's right forward, both hands pushing in a crackling sphere of ki – Goku's Rasengan infused with the Lightning energy of Vegeta's Chidori.
Dabura was unable to react in time, and the compound attack was slammed full-force into the center of his chest. He cried out as the violent energies grinded into and shocked him simultaneously, and then Goku & Vegeta shoved it forward more, making the hybrid attack 'detonate' with considerable, tightly-focused force. Dabura was sent plummeting down to earth, eventually landing with enough force to crack the ground. A deep hole had been bored into his chest, the edges scored and blackened by electrical energy. He was still alive, but barely, trying to breathe and not able to do much more than twitch.
Goku and Vegeta came in for a landing, touching down in front of the mortally-wounded Dabura. Suddenly, though, there were areas of wavering light behind the fallen Dabura. The demon-lord looked 'up' to see a squad of Tal'darim Protoss warriors warp in. His weak coughs turned into laughter as he glared at the two Saiyans with a bloodstained grin.
"Nice try, you two…" he said weakly. "But it looks like Lord Amon still has use for me. Once he has healed me, I'll be back to finish our little game, once and for a-"
The Tal'darim Ascendant abruptly ignited his crimson psionic blade… and rammed it downward, right through Dabura's heart. The demon-lord's eyes and mouth went wide, his feeble breaths coming out in gasps of shock and horror.
"Amon has lied to and betrayed the Tal'darim" the Ascendant announced, to Dabura and to Goku & Vegeta. "By the decree of our new Highlord Alarak, we will no longer serve the Dark God's mad whims. He, and those who follow him, will die."
The light left Dabura's eyes, and soon the demon-lord's body began to break down into particles of red darkness, drifting away while winking out into nothingness like dying embers. The Tal'darim Ascendant looked to the two Saiyans and nodded, and after a few seconds they returned the gesture.
"Nice to know you all have come to your senses" Goku said.
"Even now," the Ascendant stated, "our Highlord aids the Daelaam Hierarch Artanis in thwarting Amon's plans. They presently hunt for the heart of Moebius Corps. The Dark God's days are numbered."
With multiple flashes of red light, the Tal'darim all warped out. After de-transforming, Goku & Vegeta extended their senses, 'feeling' that the battle against Amon's Zerg was winding down. They took off, intent on helping finish off the stragglers.
-CHAPTER END-
Next time: the assault on Moebius Corps' headquarters