Chapter 10: The Terrible Majin Buu
Shin woke up from his nightmare, blinking against the light of his new surroundings. Marble tiles, kanji inscribed walls, a towering mahogany desk with reams of paperwork teetering on it and the bearded giant sitting behind it.
Lord Enma's office... so it's true.
He had known when moving to defend Trunks that he'd die, he'd accepted it. But being here, the reality of it all struck with a force harder than any of Cell's spawn. All at once the weight of everything crashed down upon him. Babidi, Buu, Cell... he'd failed to stop any of them. Worse, he'd helped one of them. If it hadn't been for him Cell never would have found the androids, never reached his perfect form, never become another tool for Babidi to use.
It's all my fault. Shin collapsed onto the floor, not caring about the worried eyes on him as despair clawed at his hear, Daikaio sacrificed himself for me and I failed!
Dark memories of that day assaulted his mind's eye, memories he'd kept locked up for aeons. The first stab of horror when he'd heard that North and West Kaioshin had died, then the assault of fear as Bibidi appeared with the monster warped in South's image, the terror as he faced death and the final pleading desperation as he watched the Daikaioshin be absorbed into the pink abomination.
All that time and I've done the best I could to honour their memory, their sacrifice, and it all amounted to nothing! One of them should have been the one's to survive Buu, not me!
"Uh, excuse me, Supreme Kai, are you alright? I don't mean to be insensitive but we have quite a lot to discuss. You didn't leave a successor behind so we'll have to sort out a policy before your soul is-"
"Enma, has anyone named Cell passed through here?"
The ogre was left open mouthed in shock at the interruption before collected himself and looking to the side at an assistant. The normal sized ogre mimed the words no while shaking his head, and Enma cleared his throat before speaking.
"I'm afraid not, it's been a slow day though so if they do come by we can let you know."
Shin exhaled deeply and closed his eyes. His first thought was to assume that Trunks had failed and Cell was not only alive, but victorious. His second thought advised caution and a cool head. He might simply have died before the battle had a chance to conclude. In which case he needed Enma to check what was happening immediately, the fate of the entire universe depended on the outcome of that struggle.
"If my assistant Kibito or a Saiyan named Trunks pass into the next world, bring them here instantly. Now please, we need a way to see into the living world."
Lord Enma looked as though he were about to protest and ask more questions, but a hard glare from Shin shut his mouth. The red ogre in turn glared down at one of his assistants, who shrunk under the gaze.
"You heard the Supreme Kai, go fetch my television! The good one!" Enma roared, sending the pale faced ogre racing deeper into the palace. "And you," he directed to the ogre standing on his other side, "Go outside and tell them to be on the lookout for Kibito and Trunks!"
The red faced ogre ran past Shin to get out the door, papers fluttering behind him. As soon as the door slammed shut behind him Enma looked down at Shin with concern.
"So what's this all about? I don't remember you being this serious since well, ever."
Shin knew Enma was right to be shocked at how quickly he was taking charge here. They had only ever communicated briefly telepathically in the past, the longest instance being right after he had assumed his duties and confirmed that he was responsible for matters involving all four quadrants of the universe.
"Majin Buu may be revived soon, and the last thing I knew the only one who may have a chance at stopping him was in a battle to the death against a creature almost as evil." His hand brushed over his chest, an unconscious response to the memory of what had killed him.
"I see. Then circumstances truly are grave." Enma muttered, bringing his hands together in concern. A pitched squealing filled the room soon after as a nervous and sweaty team of ogres wheeled in a giant sized desk with a massive television set on top of it. The work team bowed and left the room in the hurry, though Enma didn't pay them any more attention than a grunt as he reached for a remote to turn it on.
"Let's see, according to your file you died on New Namek..." Enma trailed off, switching from views of different planets until he found the correct one. Unlike the relatively peaceful scenes that had been shown on the screen, what appeared on Namek was anything but.
A furious red light burned in the sky, splitting into thousands of smaller lights as it expanded. Appearing like a tiny green marble before it was New Namek, which soon had half of its surface bathed in crimson. Shin couldn't help but look worried even as the glow faded and the planet remained intact, though with fewer neighbours in the sky than it had started with.
At the touch of a button on the remote the view changed from space to the ground, where the illusion of peace was dispelled. Patches of red lava covered the face of one continent, spreading slowly like acne over the few pockets of green remaining. Choking clouds of smoke built up in the sky, blocking out all light from the sun and releasing toxic rain onto the ground below. The only source of light was from the areas where the earth had fallen into the mantle, letting the warmth of Namek's innards shine through.
"Is anyone still alive?" Shin asked. He was unable to take his eyes off the screen, captivated by the morbid beauty of the dying planet even as he was horrified by the toll of life that must have been taken. His primary concern was for the fates of Trunks and Cell, but the people of Namek also attracted his worry. If any Namekians had survived they wouldn't stay alive long in the kind of hell their world was transforming into...
"Yes," Enma started, equally enraptured by Namek's turmoil, "there are a few life signs, most of them faint, but the strongest are around the red hole there." The view zoomed in on what was possibly the area worst hit by the battle between Trunks and Cell, a landscape blasted plain of all features besides a monstrously large crater with magma surging out of the centre. Strangely it had the clearest sky for miles around with the encroaching tendrils of darkness only slowly winding their way into the green expanse. On the volcanic ground lay Trunks, hole in his shoulder no longer bleeding. He appeared unmoving, but minute movements in the grains of ash around him showed that he was alive, for however long that tenuous link to life would hold.
Shin's heart jumped into his throat and against his will a grin spread over his face. The close-up of Trunks pulled out to a view of Kibito, who was pulling himself up from the ground with a look of great pain.
"He's alive! They're all alive!" Shin shouted, punching the air as his spirits were renewed. "Ha-ha, this is great! That means Cell was caught in that explosion. We did it!"
Enma looked down at Shin, puzzled at the 180 degree change in spirit the god had underwent. Just moments before he had looked to be on the verge of breaking down, now he was celebrating like he'd be returning to life!
"I'm pleased to see you so happy Supreme Kai, but there is one more strong survivor," Enma said as the screen blurred for a split second. Shin's expression froze, twitches of fear overcoming him as he watched a Cell Junior climb out of a lava filled hole, a hateful expression on the creature's face as smoke and molten rock ran off it. The Junior's mottled blue carapace looked like it had been burnt to a crisp, but just the fact that it was standing up put it in a better position than the others.
And it's so close to Trunks, it could kill him in his sleep!
"I need to reach Kibito." Shin said to himself as he reached across dimensions with his telepathy. There were barriers between the worlds of living and dead that prevented this type of breach, but as the Supreme Kai he expected his authority to supersede them, even if he was deceased.
'Kibito, it's me. I'm afraid I have no time to explain, but you need to get to Trunks right away!'
"S-Supreme Kai..." Kibito slurred, body slumping forward at the cost of trying to turn his head up to find the source of the voice. With the pain crippling his body and mind, he was nearly convinced that he had hallucinated the words until Shin's urgent message came again.
'I truly am sorry to ask you to fight again after you've given so much, but you are all that's left to save Trunks. Cell has been vanquished, but one of his children remains a servant to Babidi, and it will strike down Trunks if you don't intervene.'
The pounding behind his eyes felt like it would knock them out of his skull but Kibito managed to hold himself upright, even as the dizziness only grew worse the more he tried to use his senses.
"Wh-where are you?"
'I'm sorry to tell you like this my friend, but I died trying to save Trunks from that same Junior while he clashed with Cell. I can't return to the living world in time to save him again, but you can. What I ask may seem impossible, but if you muster all your strength I'm sure you can do it!'
"I'll... try."
Kibito shut his eyes, merciful relief from the light that had threatened to overwhelm him. An image appeared in his mind, one definitely not of his own creation for how stable it seemed. A demonic creature, injured in its own right, was staggering towards a sprawled purple haired body, each step becoming more secure. Without wasting a second thought on it Kibito teleported to it, feeling the journey only as a soothing absence of sensation within his body.
WHUMP
That was the rather anticlimactic sound Kibito's body made as he fell on top of the Cell Jr. Startled, the imp collapsed under his weight.
Shin wasn't sure how to react to the sight of his friend smothering a deadly being under his body, given that it looked like it had worked. But with the way that Kibito just lay there it didn't look as though he'd be able to actually stop the Cell Jr from killing him or Trunks when it chose to get back up.
As it turned out he didn't have to wait long to see the worst come to pass. Gold light that hurt Shin's eyes to look at burst all around Kibito, tearing up the ground around him before a visible wave of force threw the comatose demigod into the air. The Cell Jr, eyes burning red with hate looked up into the sky and snarled. It pulled its hand back, red light gathering inside its hand as it prepared to end the existence of the pest that had just embarrassed it.
"HYAAA!" It cried, firing the cone of red energy into the air. Shin's breath caught in his throat as he saw the attack close the distance to Kibito, with zero sign of consciousness on his face.
"No!"
The yell that escaped him came without thinking, a pure reaction to the anticipated vision of his friend's life ending. It turned out to have been premature as milliseconds before the blast would have struck Kibito a smaller bolt of energy speared him in the side, sending him rocketing into the ground next to Trunks. Kibito's face tightened in pain before relaxing again into the peace of whatever dream was keeping him from waking.
The Cell Jr looked as surprised as the rest of the unseen observers to the surprise assist. It started looking wildly around the area while Enma fumbled with the remote searching for some setting that would allow them to see who was responsible before the Junior did. Coincidentally the three pairs of eyes found the culprit at the same time.
A Namekian warrior landed opposite the Cell Jr. His clothing was covered in soot and it looked like his pants had endured fires of their own from the frayed and blackened ends left above his knees. His hand was still held out, left hand clutching the wrist tightly.
The Junior's look of mild worry melted as a warm amusement filled it. It snickered and aimed its own palm at the Namekian, red glow appearing as it intended to repeat the same attack against the new target.
"I know you, you're one of the creatures that took the dragon ball from our village. Elder Moori told us that we shouldn't stand in your way, but from what you've done to our planet there's no way we can just sit back and let you get away with it!"
When the Namekian finished his declaration, half a dozen more Namekians dropped from the skies to stand next to him, forming a close semicircle around the Junior. All of them possessed the same serious atmosphere, and were covered in a flowing white aura that seemed to magnify the sternness of their expressions.
"They are brave," Enma muttered, leaning forward to get a better view of the screen as the warriors powered up as one. "If they fight together they'll surely be able to take that thing down."
"No, even if it weren't for Babidi's magic they wouldn't stand a chance." Shin said. He could easily remember the ordeal that fighting one of Cell's children in close combat had been, how he had nearly died to one that was far inferior to the specimen remaining. There could have been a thousand Namekians and it would still have been like swatting flies for that demon!
You're right Enma, they are brave. But foolish for wasting their lives like that. What are they hoping to accomplish when their deaths would only amuse this creature further?
"Hmm." The Cell Jr looked around twice, eyes moving each of the assembled warriors with a shark-like smile on its deceptively innocent face. With deliberate pacing it brought its arms to its side and clutched its hands into fists, then took a deep breath.
"AAAAAAAAAAH!"
Shin brought his arms up over his eyes to protect them from the blinding light shining out of the glass screen, almost throwing himself back at the intensity behind it. He heard a muffled cry come from Enma as he fell back in his chair, the force of him hitting the ground sending a tremor through the Check-In station. When the animalistic screaming stopped Shin tentatively took his arms away from his face to see what had transpired on Namek.
The golden aura burning around the Cell Jr was studded with electrical sparks that sent shivers through the Kaioshin's spine just to look at. The Junior was throwing a few test punches into the air, dodging imaginary strikes at a speed that strained the god's eyes to follow. The Namekian warriors that had surrounded it hadn't broken their formation, but they did look visibly nervous, a few of them having assumed defensive postures in reaction to the stunning presentation of power.
"What is that thing?" Enma asked, pulling himself back up from the floor with a pained look on his face. "How can a child have so much power?"
"That's no mere child, as I fear you're about to see." Shin replied, gritting his teeth, "That's a creation of Cell, meant for nothing but to spread devastation. To make matters worse this one has been corrupted by Babidi."
Something attracted Shin's attention, some movement at the edge of the screen away from the predatory homunculus and its prey. Outside of the sphere of light formed by all their auras it was hard to see, but there was something casting a shadow, and from the way its profile kept close to the ground something trying hard not to be seen.
"Enma, zoom in on what's happening behind the stand-off." Shin ordered. A moment later he was looking at a Namekian clearly younger than the rest crawling to where Kibito and Trunks lay. Shin watched fascinated as the Namekian placed both hands over Trunks' body and golden light diffused into the Saiyan's body. Golden light not too different from...
"That's it!"
It was all so clear now. He couldn't keep the joy off his face as he realised the secret brilliance of the Namekians plan. The warriors weren't going to throw their lives away in a pointless assault, they were there to distract the Junior while one of their own healed the one who could defeat it. The Cell Junior, vile as it was, still had the mindset of a child. It would play with its toys as long as it could to amuse itself, and while it took its time with them Trunks would be healed!
Dragon balls, healing magic and warriors selfless enough to endure such pain; the Nameks are a truly gifted people.
"What! What's it?" Enma exclaimed, puzzled at what could have turned things around from the dire plot they had been watching unfold only seconds ago.
"That Namekian is healing Trunks, and if he comes back to his full power then that's the end for Cell Junior." Shin laughed as he watched the golden energy flow into Trunks and the black wound in his shoulder close shut. "In a few minutes time our hope of putting an end to the shadow that's fallen over the living world will be restored!"
"You say it like you'll be celebrating with them." Enma said, removing his eyes from the screen to give the Supreme Kai an earnest stare, "I don't want to dampen your spirits or anything but you are dead."
Shin said nothing, preferring to keep watching Trunks get healed over getting into a debate with Lord Enma. It was true that the last Kaioshin to have died had followed the rules the same as everyone else and been reincarnated, but he had no reason to give up his body while there was still work to be done. And if he could get Kibito to take him back to Kaioshinkai then he'd be able to continue in the fight against Babidi as though nothing had happened.
BOOOOOM
The outbreak of several simultaneous sonic booms stole Shin's gaze away from the healer Namekian and back to the warriors, who evidently had started their battle against Cell Jr. The perspective change seemed automatic as the screen suddenly showed the seven warriors all floating in a circle around the Junior, fists pausing inches away from its face. The imp was chuckling at the flies it had caught in its aura, and with a flourish of its tiny arms it sent them all flying up into the sky. Rather than being cloaked in their own auras each one seemed to be held in an envelope of golden light that lingered as they shot through the air.
Shin watched in shock as the Cell Jr smirked and crouched low before leaping into the air, where it became visible only as a golden streak. An air-splitting crack emanated as it landed on the first Namekian, still only visible as a blur, before it darted to the next one in a similarly violent collision. The Junior cannonballed between all of the Namekians for a good minute, each impact shaking the landscape before finally it stopped between them, gold aura billowing proudly. The Namekians dropped out of the sky like sacks of meat, with the Junior's leering eyes tracking them all the way down.
The way their bodies didn't move after hitting the ground could have fooled anyone into thinking that they'd been dead, until one of them started to rise up. By the time he had made it to his knees the others were just struggling up on their own.
Then the Cell Jr came crashing down like a meteorite onto his back. The Namekian's scream made Shin wince, and all his companions react with fear to the sight of the diminutive monster pressing down on his spine. One of them gathered enough energy to fire a blast at the Junior, only for it to dissolve against its aura.
Rather than seek out a new target the Junior pressed its foot against the Namekian's skull and slowly applied force, drawing out a longer more agonised scream from the warrior as the pressure increased.
"Get off him you freak!" A Namek yelled out, charging the Cell Jr with all its might. It spun into a kick that rebounded harmlessly off the Junior's horned skull. Undeterred he kept attacking, landing successive blows that might have been serious against a much weaker opponent. Soon the other Namekians joined in trying to get the Junior to stop torturing their fallen brother, which only seemed to amuse it more as it made no moves to defend itself while drawing out caving in the Namekian's skull.
"Damn you!" One of them snarled, pulling back both hands, "Victory Cannon!"
Yellow energy surged out of his hands before shooting forward to strike the Junior in the face. Surprisingly, this got its attention as it looked up from the pinned Namekian to the one that had just blasted it. With a blank stare it raised two fingers up, and seconds later the area around it was bathed in white light.
There was barely enough time for Shin to see the shock spread over the Namekians faces before the ground beneath them blew up. It didn't come close to matching the light show that had been the Junior charging up, but it did force him to squint as a vibrant pillar of light rose into the air. When it faded the bodies off all the warriors were lying face down on the ground, and to Shin's revulsion it looked like they were steaming.
"Are they..." He started, trailing off as he knew Enma would finish his thought.
"No. That little creep is very good at holding back when it wants to be."
Shin nodded and went back to watching. The Cell Jr was looking around triumphantly, but it also seemed disappointed as it hopped off its former chew toy to nudge a different Namekian with its foot. After receiving no response from a few kicks it held a finger up, a red and black ball of electricity coalescing there. Shin felt his body tense as he watched the Junior prepare its killing stroke, unable to believe that a creature so obviously childish could hold such malice in its eyes.
Don't worry my friends. You'll be rewarded as the bravest of warriors after your death.
Cell Jr blinked in surprise and looked up and to the side, Shin's gaze following it to find the Namekian healer huddled over Kibito. The red deity was stirring in his sleep, growing restless as energy was returned to his body. Soon he'd be back in fighting shape, rested and recovered from the trials of that day.
Not if that monster attacks now!
Shin wanted to do something, to appear and buy his friend a few more minutes, to urge him to wake up, anything but watch as the chance at victory he'd been so unexpectedly granted was stolen. His pupils swelled as he saw the Junior's lips curl downward to a grimace and it aimed the attack at the Namekian's back. He had to do something!
'Dodge now! The small Cell has seen you!'
The healer's eyes and mouth just had time to widen in shock, and he just had time to turn around in futility as the blue shelled spawn fired the attack, a wave of energy blasting off from its finger as though to propel the blast even further. Shin felt his heart be gripped by a cold, iron fist as his emotions mirrored that of the Namekian at seeing his doom approach, and the end of the new hope he had been cultivating.
The deadly sphere was stopped two meters away from its target – prevented from striking by a hand cloaked in pure golden light. Shin felt his jaw drop as Trunks closed his hand around the ball of dark energy, scattering it to bits as he looked into the terrified eyes of the Cell Jr. Then the Kaioshin smiled as he saw a second transformation steal over Trunks' form, one that cloaked him in an electrified aura similar to the Junior's own.
"You won't kill anyone else today." Trunks said. The harshness of his tone sounded harder in his Super Saiyan 2 state, causing the Cell Jr to take a step back in fear as it heard him.
"I knew I could count on you." Shin said, looking over his shoulder at Enma who seemed awestruck by his first sight of the radiant Super Saiyan 2 transformation. With a smirk he turned back to the screen, eager to see the horrid spawn of Cell get its comeuppance.
There was a moment where the Junior blurred from sight, only to be caught in place and lifted into the air by its throat. Trunks held it there, not flinching as it tried kicking and raking its claws over his skin to be let go.
"Now it's time for you to join your father in hell," Trunks said, energy pooling in his fist as he spoke. The Cell Junior made a panicked squeak as the hand was thrust at its head, the light held in it shifting from gold to red as it was about to be unleashed.
Then all light vanished from the area. Shin struggled to make out the cause of it, unable to see anything in the cloak of darkness that had fallen. He looked to Enma to see if the judge of the dead had caught anything he'd missed but the ogre merely shrugged and mumbled apologetically, fiddling with the remote to try and fix whatever the issue was.
What he could see was Kibito rising to his feet, steady and sure as an oak tree and giving unheard thanks to the Namekian who was running towards the fallen warriors. Seeing Kibito staring resolutely up at the sky gave Shin a pang of relief, and guilt as well. Even if they put an end to Babidi his friend would still have to experience millennia more of solitude before the new Shinjin were ready to be trained. All that time alone wouldn't be healthy for anyone, but Kibito would have the death of a companion weighing on him.
I can't make what is to come any easier for you Kibito, but I can make sure that we finish this last task together. As we intended.
'Kibito. I'm glad to see you on your feet. Are you feeling better?'
The image of Kibito didn't show any change on his face as Shin contacted him, but the Kaioshin could have sworn there was a minute twitch on his cheek that might have led to a smile. 'Yes master, I feel as though I've rested for centuries. The Namekian healing arts may be almost as fine as that of us gods, I think.'
'Yes, I saw their valiant performance against that Cell Junior. But it and Trunks have gone missing! Can you sense their energy anywhere on the planet?'
There was a deep silence as Kibito shut his eyes, screwing them in concentration. 'No, nor anywhere else in this solar system.'
'Damn it. It's as if they vanished by...'
Shin jerked his head back to Enma, who was leafing through a dog eared technical manual and grumbling. In a flash Kibito was standing beside him, smelling like death. But he couldn't acknowledge him right then, not when he needed to know where Trunks was.
"Lord Enma! Please, show us what is happening on Earth!" Shin yelled, turning to Kibito with concern writ on his features. "I fear Babidi hasn't finished his dark designs yet."
-Trunks-
The feeling of being teleported more or less against his will was familiar to him, so it took him practically no time at all to adjust to suddenly standing in the middle of a brown desert. A quick glance up at the blue sky told him that he was back on Earth, which was a strong relief. It meant he didn't have to wait any longer to finish off the mad wizard who had complicated his battle with Cell. And with the last android dead, he was the only evil left before humanity could begin rebuilding.
The Cell Junior had successfully forced itself out of his grasp in the split second after they had arrived on Earth, but it hadn't gone far. Trunks used his free hand to swat it out of the air before placing his boot on its torso, holding it underfoot while he took aim with his unfired blast. While this Junior had shown a surprising ability to regenerate that the ones at the Cell Games had lacked, he was guessing that was as far as the Majin magic had taken it. The energy he needed to generate to destroy its head was nothing compared to the amount he'd need if it could regenerate like Cell could, and it wasn't costing him anything to end it before moving on to Babidi. Thin beams of light rotated from his blast as he primed it, preparing to fire at the squirming target before it did something unexpected again.
"Excuse me!"
Trunks barely reacted as he heard Babidi's high pitched voice. Maybe the wizard wanted to gloat; he didn't care. When the last remnant of Cell had been erased from existence then they could have a nice long chat.
Something very dark and powerful manifested in front of him at the exact second he fired the blast down at the Junior's skull. He felt the blow crash into him without seeing what had done it, feeling his entire body go numb then explode with pain as he was collapsed onto the sandy terrain, sucking in deep breaths and trying not to let his eyes roll back in his eyes.
What... what was that? Cell?
Struggling, he forced his head up, keeping an eye open to see if his fearful suspicion was true. The picture was blurry, the lines refusing to stay coherent as his vision focused and unfocused but one thing was definite. It wasn't Cell.
"Oh, I was hoping you wouldn't do that. I had such plans for the little one." Babidi sneered. "He would have made a good companion for Majin Buu. And after Cell's efforts I could have used an extra pair of hands."
Majin Buu... Oh no.
The identity of the one that had almost knocked him out with a single blow dawned on him and his eyes settled on it. A round shape, pink and wearing an outfit more suited to a circus act than the great terror of the universe was standing next to Babidi, hands confidently placed on its hips as it posed. The grin it had on its face wasn't malicious like Trunks was so used to seeing, heck, it looked pleased with itself in the way a child would.
"That's the Majin Buu I heard so much about?" Trunks got to his feet, pushing down the pain as he did his best to recover his strength and examine his opponent. "Is this a joke? You can't seriously expect me to believe that is the monster the Supreme Kai was so afraid of."
Buu scowled but it was Babidi whose face contorted with anger and maybe disappointment before he spoke, "I had similar feelings when Buu first came out of his pod. I could scarcely believe it, but believe I did after Buu demonstrated his power to me."
Now Babidi's wrinkled lips drew back into a devious smirk before he threw his arm out gesturing to something behind him. Trunks cautiously took his eyes off Majin Buu to see what had impressed Babidi. Behind the wizard, a little ways into the distance, was a tall egg shaped structure that rivalled some of the nearby rock formations for size. Trunks wasn't sure what he was looking at at first until it clicked in him from what he'd been told about Babidi's operation.
'That's his spaceship. But Cell destroyed it completely, there was nothing left. How could Buu have rebuilt it in so little time?
"Yes, my Majin Buu is more talented than he may appear at first glance. And that's to say nothing of his power." Babidi said, as if reading Trunks' mind, "It looks like you had a little experience of your own with what Buu can do. How does it feel?" Babidi's voice went from sounding jovial to snarling, "Yes! I remember when you were going to kill me. That churlish insect Cell already paid the price for defying me, I think its time you share the same fate! Majin Buu, kill him!"
"OK." Majin Buu nodded yet didn't move. Trunks dropped into a fighting stance, feeling unease worm its way through his belly. Even if he had been caught almost off guard before, the feeling of power behind Buu's strike was immense and he didn't look like it'd taken any effort to hit that hard. Standing in front of him posing like a child Majin Buu may not have looked dangerous, but his ki told a different story. It was difficult to read, like he was shining a flash light into the ocean trying to gauge how deep it was. But that was enough to tell there was way more there than he would've liked to be facing.
"What are you waiting for? Come on!" Trunks yelled, ascended Saiyan aura sparking and howling as he laid down the challenge. He hadn't seen him coming before, sure, but now he was prepared, he'd be able to see what Buu did and -
Buu's slit eyes opened, showing an evil that shocked Trunks before he blurred from sight, leaving an after-image behind.
VRAAAAAM
Buu's skinny knee met both of Trunks' arms raised to guard, the impact firing out a hollow ring through the air that Babidi was forced to block with a barrier. Trunks felt himself almost give up against the force contained in that one strike, the sensation of his arms wanting to go limp as they vibrated from the tension they were forced to endure. That moment of weakness lasted for all of a second as he composed himself and leapt up, swinging his leg into Buu's face in retaliation. To his great surprise, Buu was sent flying off his feet with zero resistance, the majin actually sliding along the ground for a few meters with his legs sticking into the air before falling down.
Trunks looked at the comatose form of Majin Buu with incredulity, questioning his entire assessment of the being's strength. Babidi was staring as well with much more open shock.
"Buu! No!"
Content that for now nothing stood between him and the magician Trunks flung his arm up and fired a blast at him, which was countered with a hastily flung up barrier. The explosion buried what had been left of the Cell Junior's corpse in rubble and sent Babidi bouncing along the ground like stone over a pond until he came to a halt against Trunks' foot.
"I'm sure the Supreme Kai is watching us from Otherworld. I'm a little sorry I couldn't make your end more entertaining for him."
Before Trunks could bring his hand down to strike Babidi from the world of the living, a black mitten intercepted his fist. It was on the end of a pink arm that stretched all the way from Majin Buu, who had just gotten up.
"You won't hurt master Babidi. He gives Buu cake!"
"What?"
"Yes, that's right Buu." Babidi said, nervously looking up at the death blow that had been averted. "And if you get this meddlesome brat far away from here I'll get you an extra helping, with as many toppings as you want!"
"Yummy! Buu want it now!" Buu exclaimed, hand reeling back to rub his large belly while Trunks stared dumbfounded at the immaturity on display. "Buu want cake now!"
The antenna on the back of his head sprang to life, stiffening and pointing forward. A jagged pink beam flashed out of it, Trunks dodging it by the skin of his teeth. The boulder it struck was cloaked in pink light before transforming into a massive triple deck chocolate cake topped with strawberries and thick frosting. It wobbled in the air before scooting towards Buu, who eagerly opened his mouth to accommodate it. The cake was swallowed in a single bite, Buu's cheeks puffing up like a chipmunk's as he chewed it, messy bits of frosting falling out of his mouth.
I did not just see that. Trunks thought, doing his best to ignore that the cake Buu was enjoying could have easily been him if he hadn't dodged. That fact was easy to press aside, compared to how weird it was that Buu could turn things into cake. The Supreme Kai had stressed how dangerous Buu was, and transformational powers like that were dangerous, but Trunks couldn't shake off the impression that it suited a fairy tale character more than the genocidal monster he had been expecting.
"What the hell kind of creature is he?"
Trunks had asked it rhetorically but Babidi seemed eager to answer. "I'd tell you, but you couldn't begin to understand. Majin Buu is the culmination of my father Bibidi's life work, a creation of magic surpassing even the Supreme Kais! You know there used to be five of them? What do you think happened to the other four?"
Trunks' attention was drawn back to Majin Buu who had finished the cake and was licking its lips in satisfaction. He knew that the other Kaioshin had been killed, but seeing Buu for himself it occurred to him that they may have suffered a much worse fate.
"The same thing that's going to happen to you when Buu gets tired of taking orders. I've seen what happens when servants more powerful than their masters realise that the control they have over them is only an illusion. It's not pretty." Trunks smiled, which was met with only a scowl as Babidi gathered venom for his next sentence.
"Buu knows that I only have to say a word and he's back in his shell, and so does the Supreme Kai. Isn't that why he's not with you now? Or is it because he's dead?"
Trunks lashed out faster than sight, but once again his strike was thwarted by Majin Buu. The djinn's boot slammed into his face sending the ascended Saiyan flying through the air, with Buu eagerly running after him with his arms lagging behind him. In an instant Buu overtook Trunks and grabbed him by the throat, the whiplash almost breaking the Saiyan's neck as his body came to a complete halt before he was slammed into the ground hard enough to cause an earthquake.
"HA HA HA HA!" Buu laughed, sitting down on Trunks' chest. He tried to resist the suffocating amount of weight placed on him by thrusting out his aura but it had no effect on Buu, who readied a fist.
WHAM
Blood shot out of Trunks' nose and mouth like a faucet as his skull was hit with enough force to make tectonic plates tremor in pain. The wooziness he experienced saved him some pain as Buu's next punch landed, twisting his face the other way before the following one hammered his head into a crater.
The crescendo of punches picked up in volume as Buu got more and more excited watching Trunks' face distort with pain, and the pained screams kept Buu smiling. The Majin hummed to himself as he kept up the vicious beating, content to play with his toy for as long as possible.
-Babidi-
The explosion of pressure when Buu had attacked Trunks had sent him flying away and gotten dust all over his cape, but hearing the arrogant youth's cries of pain more than made up for his discomfort. It wasn't an exaggeration to say that the sound was like music to his ears after the way the Saiyan had transgressed against him.
"Yes! Get him Buu! Make that brat suffer for as long as possible!" He shouted, pumping his fists eagerly to show his support.
Things may have started out looking bleak, but all in all things had turned out great for him. Buu was free, the Supreme Kai was dead and the last excuse for a hero he'd ever have to worry about was on track for a very painful death. It would have been slightly better if Dabura or even Cell Junior had survived but with such a bright future ahead of him the wizard had decided not to split hairs over tiny details like that. He could tell with how quickly Buu had dismantled any chance of Trunks fighting back that he'd lost nothing of true value.
As soon as Buu's done with his chew toy we're leaving this dump for somewhere more respectable. Like Icarion. The planet's full of pacifists so I should be able to take over without any major damage. The knowledge held there will only serve to expand my mystic powers, enough to seize Kaioshinkai as the true seat of my empire. And then the victory my father dreamt of will be complete.
A sinister smile crossed Babidi's face, a parade of images crossing his mind's eye. Him addressing a crowd of billions all gathered to venerate him, Majin Buu at his side, the two of them standing on the balcony of the castle he'd built from the dead Kaiju trees.
Thoughts like that never ceased to bring real happiness to Babidi. He may have dwelt in his fantasy longer if the landscape in front of him hadn't suddenly become engulfed in incandescent flames. With practised ease he threw up a barrier, but it still left him blind to whatever was playing out that had caused the eruption of energy.
"BUU! Are you alright? What's happening!"
The answer wasn't one he liked. The blazing energy drew itself in, revealing Trunks standing tall with half his face smeared crimson and an eye bruised shut. He was aiming both hands at the sky, the glowing energy collected in his hands.
"You may look innocent, but in reality you're deadly. If I don't stop you, there's no one left who could!" Trunks intoned, right before red and gold ki blasted around him, forming a dome as he yelled at the top of his lungs, "DISAPPEAR FOR GOOD!"
Distraught, Babidi's eyes looked up to see the blurred shape of Majin Buu hovering in the air above Trunks. Panic hit him as the energy swelled around Trunks, and even though there was little he could do at that point Babidi still felt the need to do something to save his most priceless asset.
"Dodge Buu!"
Babidi could almost see the quizzical expression on Buu's face change in a wave of panic just as Trunks' attack reached him. In an instant Majin Buu was wiped out, every particle fragmenting and blowing apart as the furious wave of energy tore through his body. Facing almost zero resistance the beam continued high into the sky, exploding into a dazzling array of colours just as it exited the atmosphere.
Trunks slumped down to one knee, aura losing some of its sparks and hair drooping slightly as he grimaced upward.
"AAAAAAAH! WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY MAJIN BUU! You... you... insolent child!" Babidi screamed. Trunks looked at him with his good eye, feeling a small tinge of nervousness at hearing the pure rage in the wizard's voice.
"I'll make you pay!" Babidi screeched, dark coils of lightning building around his arms. Trunks braced himself, preparing to face whatever magical attack he had in store for him head on.
Babidi brought his hands forward, gritting his teeth as he prepared to cast the darkest spells he knew-
"Stop."
A large red hand was open in front of his face, the voice that had spoken freezing Babidi in place. He was so stunned that he started shaking, unable to believe who was standing before him.
"Kibito." Trunks said, stunned but soon smiling as he saw that the deity was back in top form.
"You're supposed to be dead." Babidi growled, moving backwards as carefully as he could while glaring up at Kibito's stoic visage.
"Your pawns are too childish for their own good. The Junior was, and that immaturity cost Majin Buu his life. While Buu's power was incredible, all that power is worthless if you can't manage to put up a defence in time. Now your cherished slave is dust on the wind, and the universe only has one obstacle left to lasting peace."
While Kibito aimed one hand at shooting waves of gentle golden light, the other was aimed at Babidi and filled with crackling white energy that filled the air with the smell of ozone.
"You."
"Paparapapar!"
Babidi vanished from the spot, the blast exploding in a small plume of dirt a moment later.
-Trunks-
He could tell that his energy had increased after the relentless beating he'd taken from Majin Buu, although it wasn't the kind of sharp jump he'd experienced on Namek. It made him grateful to have Kibito around, since he wasn't only back in the fight faster but he was going through the kinds of power increases he'd never had against the androids. Either his mother's healing technology wasn't as thorough as she'd hoped or there was something extra special about Kaioshin healing.
He was stronger than he'd ever thought could be possible, and he felt like he wasn't even scratching the surface of what he was capable of. A few more years of training with the Ascended form and there was no telling how strong he'd be, the difference could be as great as before and after his first visit to the Room of Spirit and Time!
"Babidi has disappeared to his spaceship. Probably he means to flee the planet while we search for him." Kibito said, pointing to the great white eggshell shaped vessel Trunks had overlooked during his bout with Majin Buu.
"How can you tell? I can't sense anything from that ship."
"The Supreme Kai and Lord Enma are still in contact with me, and they can follow Babidi a lot better from the Check-In Station."
"Oh, I see." Trunks said a bit awkwardly as he absorbed how strange that explanation sounded on the surface. If it hadn't been for his journey through time he'd find the concept of a giant ogre in an office that judged the dead a little too out there, but to him now it made total sense. He brushed it off and took aim at the dome of the ship, firing a simple bolt of energy into the hull.
To Trunks' surprise the shot glanced off the hull without even leaving a scratch.
"Babidi's ship is made out of some of the most durable materials in the universe, with layers of protective enchantments laid over them. Your attacks will be completely ineffective." Kibito paused, mulling something over. "However, given that Cell destroyed it in his second form you should only need to transform once to be able to blow it to ashes."
The gentle buzz of the Super Saiyan aura soon filled the air as he took the suggestion and transformed, repeating the procedure with a much larger ball of energy. He took aim and was about to fire when he felt something pull on him from behind. It wasn't strong enough to move him, but it was growing stronger by the moment, and it reminded him of something...
"Hey, do you feel that?" He asked, lowering his hand uncertainly to look at Kibito, who looked equally puzzled.
"Yes, there is something amiss here. I sense something dark growing nearby."
Trunks' eyes grew wide as he realised the last time he had felt something similar...
It was finally over. Cell was defeated, and he knew he should be more glad about it but seeing the eleven year old kid crying alone stole all joy from his sense of victory. The world was safe, but Goku had died to make it happen. Trunks was sure they could bring him back with the dragon balls, but that knowledge wouldn't make things easier on Gohan. He was blaming himself, taking on all the guilt for someone choosing to sacrifice their life for his. Trunks knew what that felt like better than anyone.
He was going to go down to where Gohan was to comfort him when a strong wind appeared out of nowhere, with something huge at its centre. Before he could even put up his guard or transform the beam had already penetrated his chest, throwing him back and forcing blood up his throat. He was in unimaginable pain, he could barely move, but the last thing he saw was -
"Cell."
Trunks forgot all about Babidi as he powered up to Super Saiyan 2, almost knocking Kibito off his feet with the violent transformation.
"Cell? But how, surely you destroyed him!" Kibito asked, holding his arms in front of his face to defend against the waves of force emanating from Trunks.
"It seemed like it to me too, but this is just like when he regenerated in the past. He also came back a lot stronger than when he died, so be on your guard. He might be even stronger than I am now."
Kibito gawked in disbelief at Trunks' statement while the ascended Saiyan did his best to keep calm and locate Cell's ki signature. He wasn't finding anything specific but there was definitely an energy picking up somewhere close.
It suddenly started raining, which would have been enough of a surprise if the rain hadn't been composed entirely of gum. Trunks watched in morbid curiosity as the bits of gum hit the ground, quickly forming a thick carpet around them that almost seemed to be wriggling.
"These must be the remains of Majin Buu." He frowned. "So how come I still sense energy around us?"
As though answering his question sections of the gum rolled up, forming large bushes of squirming pink material that soon rolled together. Two of them moved next to each other in time for a pink boulder double their size to nimbly leap on top of them, with two smaller gobs rolling up the base onto its sides. A final ball hovered through the air to plop itself down onto the central one, and the thin pink layer remaining whipped itself up to attach itself to what Trunks could clearly see were meant to be shoulders.
Colour resolved itself throughout the pink snowman as the dark leather vest, white pants and short antenna made themselves distinct before arms and legs grew out of it.
Standing in front of the Super Saiyan and the demigod was Majin Buu, returned to life from indistinct pink mush in barely a minute.
"Buu!" He exclaimed, leaping up for joy before crashing down to earth.
"So he can regenerate too, great." Trunks muttered, entering a fighting stance. He had managed to blow up Buu before, and that was after taking the hardest punches in his life. If he went all out now he might be able to wipe out every cell of Majin Buu, and for that he couldn't worry about collateral damage.
"Kibito, get out of here. If I'm going to fight with everything I've got I can't be worried about you getting in the way."
Kibito bristled at the implication in Trunks' words, "But what if you need healing? I saw your battle against Buu before, and your strength has not increased enough to change that outcome.
'Yeah, way to sugar coat it.'
"If you get a chance to heal me that means there's a break in the fighting, now you can go and watch with the Supreme Kai for when that happens or you can go finish off Babidi while I keep Buu occupied."
Kibito blinked with before turning around to where Babidi's spaceship still remained.
"Oh, you no hurt master Babidi or Buu hurt you." Majin Buu said, shaking his hand like a parent admonishing a child.
"What do you care anyway!" Trunks yelled, hoping to get Buu's attention solely on him. "If Babidi's dead then there's no one to give you orders or lock you up again! Don't you want to be free?"
Buu stopped chuckling to frown and thoughtfully raise a hand to his chin, which surprised Trunks. It hadn't taken the androids five minutes to turn on Dr Gero, and Buu had seemed pretty loyal to Babidi before now. Was this seriously the first time he'd thought about rebelling?
'Don't listen to them Buu! They're just trying to trick you! I'm the one who freed you from your prison, I'm the only one who cares about you! He's just trying to confuse you so that he can destroy you without me there to help you.'
Babidi's voice was telepathically broadcast over the whole area, bringing twin scowls to Kibito and Trunks' faces while restoring Buu's smile.
"Oh, you try and trick Buu? Well it won't work, Buu smarter than you!" In an instant a fierce pink aura was up around Buu, howling with an inhuman sound as the majin powered up. "You try and kill Buu? Buu kill YOU!"
"Kibito, go now." Trunks said, steeling himself for round two against the magical monstrosity. With a barely perceptible nod Kibito vanished and Trunks felt a small weight leave his shoulders.
"Where red man go? Buu want to play with him too." Buu asked in an innocent tone, contrasting sharply with the hellish waves of energy and predatory grin on his face.
"Forget about him! I'm your only concern!" Trunks declared, letting out a loud yell before his aura cascaded around him as he launched himself at Majin Buu.
AN: Ideally this chapter would be twice as long and have more Trunks on Buu action, but not every chapter can be a (humble) doorstopper and initially Trunks wasn't close enough to even bother Fat Buu. He is now though, on the rough narrative power scale you may put him on even terms with Majin Vegeta if you want. Also, with my university work the most time I'd have to work on this would be in June-July and I can't let my loyal readers wait that much longer!
This was written sporadically over the entire year, so if there are any problems please let me know and I'll address them. Oh, and double digit chapter milestone reached!