Chapter 11: Majin Buu Reborn!
The skies above the desert floor loomed with dark stormy clouds. Pink lightning pierced the clouds and struck the ground all around where Leon, Kibito, and Shell stood.
"Shell," Leon shouted, "You need to get out of here now! When Majin Buu gets down here you'll only be in the way, so the best thing for you to do is get back to West City!"
Shell hesitated and then nodded. "Okay," she agreed, heading back to her skycar. Unfortunately, she had taken no more than ten steps when lightning flashed again, this time striking the skycar and blowing it up. "Eh, maybe not…" she said, changing her direction to run back to her friends.
"Damn it!" Leon cursed. "Try to find somewhere safe to hide, Shell. No matter what happens, don't come out to try to help us, okay? Trunks made me promise to take care of you, so I can't let anything happen to you, understand? So go hide, now!"
Shell didn't bother acknowledging; she immediately turned and ran off to hide.
"Eh–," Leon gasped and said, "Starting to look like this could get rough, Kibito."
Together, Leon and Kibito watched the skies. As the storm clouds drew in all the pink mist, and the lightning flashed around them, a life force began to resonate from the center of the storm. The lightning drew upward and inward to the center of the clouds and began to pulsate around them.
"Do you feel that?" Leon asked wearily.
Kibito nodded silently and then whispered, "Evil lives…"
Then, without warning, the epicenter of the storm exploded with an invisible shockwave, spreading the clouds infinitely across the horizons and blowing rubble and sand from the ground all around Leon and Kibito. They strained with grunts and gritted teeth to stand their ground and not be blown away. And as the dust and sand cleared, they found themselves surprisingly alone on the empty desert floor. The rubble and debris from Babidi's ship had been almost completely lost in the shockwave, and, apart from the sandy crater with an abyss in the center, Leon and Kibito found themselves on a relatively empty, desert floor once again.
As Leon looked around, suddenly he panicked. "SHELL!" he shouted. "Shell! Where are you!"
There was no reply from the empty desert.
"Oh no!" Leon said to himself. "Kibito, we have to find her! Trunks, h-he made me promise! We can't lose her!" Frantically he began running to the edge of the crater and up onto the sand. "Shell!" he yelled in one direction, "SHELL!"
Kibito joined his friend in hopes that they might find their missing companion. Together they shouted and searched the landscape for any sign of her. But it was no use. Seemingly, she had disappeared without any single trace. Kibito closed his eyes and began to search silently for her energy signal. His expression tensed. There were so many signals in the desert, and he had known her for such a short time. It was hard to get a direct bearing on which might be hers. "It is very likely she is still alive," he told Leon.
"Huh?" Leon said looking back. "Yeah, but I'm having trouble finding her. She might be unconscious."
Suddenly, any energy signal that Shell might have been giving off was completely wiped off the map. Leon and Kibito turned to watch pink mist swirl down from the sky and into a single spot on the desert floor. Distantly, Babidi had returned to watch for himself the revival of his monstrous creation.
"At long last," Babidi screeched, "the world will come to know the meaning of evil! You two and your blasted Kai's futile attempts to destroy the greatest weapon in all the universe have come to an abrupt and unsuccessful end. Majin Buu is reborn!"
The pink mist, now swirling on the ground, began to subside and take shape until a solid figure was left standing in its stead. As all worst fears should have been met, to all's surprise it was not so. A bulky, pink blob clothed in ancient attire with yellow boots and gloves and a long purple cape stood motionless in the desert. His robust figure settled his leg clothing to look something like a giant diaper. Above his lower torso coverings, rested a large black belt with a gold buckle and vividly signatured "M" on it. Lastly, a black vest with goldish trim stretched to fit the fleshy outline of this massive creature. Seemingly enough however, the creature didn't stand much taller than Leon or Trunks, but in width surpassed them by at least five times. As menacing as this creature had been rumored to be, at first sight, not even Babidi seemed to take the creature seriously. Apart from the sheer fluff of its face, the short, pink antenna on the peak of its head was particularly unimpressive.
"What the hell is that?" Leon asked breaking the embarrassing silence. "I thought we were all doomed?" he said beginning to laugh. "What's it gonna do sit on us?"
Kibito's expression lightened somewhat, but still remained cautious.
"M-Majin Buu?" Babidi asked the creature, his voice audibly signaling disappointment. "Is it you, Majin Buu?"
"Hhhmmmmm?" the pink monster asked, turning to face Babidi.
"Do you remember Master Bibidi?" the wizard asked his creature.
Silently, Buu simply tilted his head as if not understanding.
"Well, I am his son and your new master, Babidi," the wizard explained.
"Bibidi, Babidi, and Buu, huh?" Leon shouted to Babidi. "Well, I guess your monster turned back into a jellybean at midnight!" he joked, laughing hard.
"What funny?" Majin Buu said, finally speaking up in a high-pitched, three year old voice.
"Nothing," Leon said trying to suppress his laughter, "Nothing. Just that we came all this way today to save the world from a giant, pink marshmallow."
"You make fun of Majin Buu?" Buu asked Leon innocently.
Leon continued to laugh.
Majin Buu gave an aggravated grunt. "Then Majin Buu make fun of you!" he shouted as he flew towards Leon and landed a punch square in Leon's face.
Even though Kibito was standing right next to Leon, it had seemed so fast that it was as if Leon were simply there and then not there. Majin Buu landed where Leon had been standing, and Kibito turned to watch frightfully as Leon flew off from sight. A black dot on the horizon punctured a cliff wall reducing it to rubble.
"L-Leon?" Kibtio whimpered.
"Oh yes, Majin Buu!" Babidi squealed. "That's it, my child! Tear them to pieces! Do not stop until they lie dead!"
"Dead?" Majin Buu repeated, smiling at Kibito. "Master say make you all dead! Dead, dead, dead, DEAD!" Buu repeatedly squelched.
Kibito took a step away from Majin Buu. It was nothing more than a game to the creature! Panicking, Kibito reared both hands into Buu with an energy attack at point blank range. As the beam immersed and surrounded the body of Majin Buu, the area behind left nothing but scattered dust and destruction. But as the dust cleared, Majin Buu stood snickering.
Laughing, Buu shouted, "Ha, ha, no more! No more tickle Buu! He ticklish!" With that, he leaned forward, head butting Kibito and knocking him off balance. Immediately following, Buu backhanded Kibito hard, causing him to tumble across the desert floor and come to rest face down.
A shout cried out from Buu's right as Leon shot across the sands to attempt a blow on Buu. Unfortunately even from twelve feet away, Buu's rubbery arms could still stretch far enough to land a punch on Leon before he was even in range to attack. Buu's outstretched fist enveloped deeply into Leon's torso, bending him over Buu's fist. Bending his arm, Buu brought Leon around to slam the earthling into the ground in front of him. While blood trickled from small wounds in Leon's back from the slam, it also managed to emit minutely from his mouth as Leon coughed in pain. As Leon looked up at Buu, Buu gathered an extremely large grin across his face.
"Buu make you dead now!" Buu shrieked at Leon with a giant smile.
"Not yet," Leon disagreed from the ground. He pulled his right hand up to his face and created a small, green energy attack. As the attack gathered strength, it pulled his fingers in to cup it. He screamed hysterically as he brought his hand forward, the wrist gripped by his left hand, and fired an immense, green beam into Buu.
As the beam connected, Leon could feel Majin Buu's grip of pressure loosen and subside. After being satisfied with the amount of damage dealt, Leon ended the attack and lowered his hands. He lay motionless on the ground from exhaustion. When the dust cleared, Majin Buu stood, somewhat, laterally mutilated with the upper third of his body missing.
"MAJIN BUU!" Babidi screamed in agony. "No! You, you, bastard! You'll pay for this! If Majin Buu is to be destroyed, it will be you, pathetic boy, which will take his place!" Babidi again outstretched his hands and began pouring every ounce of corruption magic he could muster directly into Leon's mind.
Leon shouted with intense pain. "G-get out of my head, wizard!" he screamed.
"Whether you want to help me or not, you will now!" Babidi taunted.
Leon continued to struggle on the ground. As his aura erupted around him, sand a dust flew in every direction. His eyes darkened, and the burning on his brow began to return. His screams continued, and his will began to disappear. He felt exhausted, so tired. It was no use fighting… he was too… tired. "No…" he whispered as his complexion faded, and he fell onto his back.
Kibito proceeded to peel himself from the ground. His head was pounding, and he was still dazed from the force of Majin Buu's blow. He sighed as he rubbed his head and turned back to face his enemy. Leon lay on the ground, and Majin Buu trembled and flinched at the loss of his upper body. Kibito watched in remarkable horror as the creature began to bubble and bloat until his entire missing portions had regenerated themselves with the audible pop of bubble gum. He had to help Leon…
Majin Buu screamed as he reformed himself and stood still. "You make Buu go pop!" the creature shouted at the unconscious Leon. "You must be strong!" Buu complimented. "That must mean you really strong!" Buu said with an evil grin as he reared back and soccer kicked Leon across the desert. In hysterical laughter, Majin Buu watched Leon soar through the air. "Buu make you fly far, far!" he chanted. "Strong man wake up now and fight Majin Buu!"
Kibito flew up into the air to catch Leon. With him in hand, he returned to the ground and immediately began to try to heal him. "Please, my friend, do not slip beyond my reach…" Kibito prayed as he healed. Then it caught his eye. Kibito had not noticed before, but the "M" in Leon's forehead hadn't disappeared. "Oh, no!" he cried, as he realigned his hand to Leon's forehead. "Out, dark magic, leave this child," he chanted as he fought internally. Kibito's concentration was deep when suddenly a hand grabbed his own. As he looked down, Leon was gazing up at him. "Leon?" he asked, "How do you fe–!"
Before he had finished, Leon's fist broke his sentence and almost his jaw. The impact threw him backwards against the sands, and blood erupted from his mouth and scattered around him. Immediately, Leon was on his feet and glaring down at his enemy. Strangely, something was different about Leon's possession. Everyone was the enemy. Without a word, he blasted Kibito, knocking the Kai's servant well enough away. Silently, he turned to face Majin Buu.
"Majin Buu," Babidi cut in, "this is your new playmate, you may deal with him as you please."
"Majin Buu want to fight strong man!" Buu screeched.
Immediately, Leon charged at Buu taking his elbow deeply into the monster's gut. Buu's body folded at the impact. From there, Leon brought up his knee into Buu's chin and then a roundhouse with the other leg. Buu tilted to his side. From there, Leon continued to give Buu a barrage of punches and kicks until the beast was almost covered in small indentions from the blows. Lastly, Leon grabbed the tentacle on Buu's head with his left hand and pulled up, opening Buu's mouth. As Buu gave a squelching noise, Leon placed his right hand into Buu's mouth and launched a powerful one-handed energy beam, blowing the back of Buu's head wide open. Leon continued to pull on the tentacle, however, until he pulled Buu's entire head free. Vastly mutilated, Majin Buu's head gave a ghastly look as it was tossed into the air and obliterated by Leon's final energy attack. Although just as Leon turned around again, another head sprouted from the wide neck of Majin Buu's body, and a powerful straight punch sent Leon sliding across the sand.
Kibito, war-torn and ravaged, unearthed himself from the sand. As Leon landed in the distance, Kibito could tell that things were not going well. He needed to break Leon's curse. Scanning the area, Kibito found Babidi offset from the fighting. As Leon erupted back up from the ground and flew back to Majin Buu to continue their fight, Kibito made his way quietly over to where Babidi stood. From behind, Kibito swiftly reached down and nabbed the wizard around his neck. Babidi let out a slight squeal as this happened, but then fell to silence.
"Got you," Kibito whispered to the wizard. "Now, I want you to listen to me very, very carefully," he said to the wizard. "You are going to release my friend over their from this accursed spell, or I am going to determine if the Supreme Kai was right as to whether or not you really do have a black heart. Do I make myself clear?"
Babidi nodded.
"Then I would suggest you begin," Kibito muttered.
Following Kibito's orders, Babidi outstretched his hands and began to retrieve his dark magic from within Leon's mind. Midfight, Leon hesitated to attack Majin Buu and then grabbed his temples. Screaming in agony, he could feel the pains again returning to his head. Majin Buu cared little, however. Continuing the fight, Majin Buu remained pummeling Leon even though no return blows were even attempted. Leon fell to the ground as Buu continued to beat him. To finish, Buu jumped high into the air and came down with his butt hard on Leon's gut. Leon screamed as he spat blood from his mouth and nostrils all over himself and the ground. As he laid his head back in unconsciousness, the insidious "M" on his forehead faded.
"Buu make strong man dead!" Majin Buu screeched in triumph.
"No," Kibito said as he still held Babidi. "NO!" He threw Babidi to the ground and powered up immediately to fly towards the creature sitting atop his friend.
"Majin Buu, look out!" Babidi warned as he hit the ground.
Heeding his master's call, Majin Buu turned to see Kibito flying towards him. Kibito had already neared Buu before the creature could stand, and Kibito unmercifully unleashed all of his anger and rage into the collection of swift combos he landed. Even the mighty Majin Buu was knocked first off Leon, and then continually backwards as Kibito attacked. After having enough, Buu's patience had vanished. He stopped one of Kibito's punches with his hand and then another. With both hands held tight by the monster, Kibito kicked hard into the creature's groin.
Majin Buu growled as he blew pink steam out of the tiny pores on the top side of his upper body. "You make Buu mad!" he screamed. "Buu make you go bye bye!" Still holding Kibito's right hand, Buu released Kibito's left and brought back his free hand to straight punch Kibito in the face. The impact cracked Kibito head backwards in a whiplash fashion, slinging blood and saliva in a trail several feet behind him. Forehead bleeding profusely, Kibito's lifeless body hanged in Buu's grasp. Kibito gave a few groans and gasps for air before Majin Buu put his hand to Kibito's torso and fired a piercing, pink beam straight through Kibito. His eyes closed before he touched the ground. Majin Buu hesitated a moment and then gave a tremendous laugh. "Buu win fight! Buu win fight!" he chanted. "Buu fight two strong men at same time and still win! Ha, ha, ha, ha!"
"Incredible, Majin Buu!" Babidi congratulated as he ran towards his creature. "Such delightful ferocity, Majin Buu, you truly are the monster of legend!"
"Monster?" Buu asked. "Buu not monster."
"Buu is monst–," Babidi began before catching himself, "I mean, you are a monster. You are my monster, and your job is to destroy everyone and everything I tell you to!"
Buu groaned as he contemplated. "Can Buu fight strong men?" he asked.
"Uh, well yes, yes of course!" Babidi appeased. "You can fight every strong man that I find for you, ok? That way we may conquer the entire universe."
"Hmm," Buu uttered hesitantly, "OK! These strong men fun, where we find others like them?"
"This way," Babidi said conspiringly, "As your master, I can lead you to where you need to go…"
"WWEEEEE!" Majin Buu screeched as he put Babidi on his shoulders. "Let's go!"
"YES!" Babidi shouted in a shrill voice. "Let's go, Majin Buu! …Majin Buu? You stupid, pink ball of lard, what are you staring at?"
"Master Babidi," Buu said softly, "Look at pretty lady."
"What in the–?" Babidi asked irritably confused. "What are you talking about?" Babidi looked around Buu's shoulder.
Shell gasped when she realized she had been seen. Exposed she stood up from behind the clump of sand she had been hiding behind and watched defensively.
"Another nuisance, Majin Buu, kill her," Babidi ordered.
"What?" the creature asked.
"Kill her!" Babidi repeated.
"No!" Buu refused. "Buu no kill pretty lady."
"What did you say?" Babidi asked again, not believing his ears. "I ordered you to kill her! That's my order, and you'd best follow it!"
"Buu no kill pretty lady!" Buu shouted at his master throwing him into a shallow state of fear. "Buu like pretty lady. You think pretty lady like Buu?"
"I imagine she thinks you're the most disgusting giant, pink, blob of fatty tissue she's likely ever seen," Babidi said under his breath. "No, I doubt it, Majin Buu, so why don't we just get going?"
"Buu want ask her out!" Buu shrieked.
"All this trouble for a monster capable of mass destruction, and all I get is a mentally incapacitated, puberty stricken, bubble gum mass of stupidity!" Babidi said to himself. He looked at Shell a short distance away. Quietly, he cast a sleeping spell on her, and she instantly staggered and fell to the sands. "Well, looks like the heat has gotten to her," Babidi snickered. "Too bad."
"Buu help pretty lady!" Buu boomed. "Then, pretty lady will love Majin Buu!"
"No, no!" Babidi retorted. "No, Majin Buu, I'm very sure she's far past reviving. Why don't you come with me to West City and we'll see lots of pretty ladies there."
"Buu can't help pretty lady?" Buu asked innocently. "Buu not want pretty lady to die. Noooo!"
"Majin Buu, get a hold of yourself!" Babidi exclaimed. "I'm afraid she's dead, Majin Buu, so let's get out of here and go take care of business."
"Majin Buu make city pay for leaving pretty lady in desert to die!" Buu shouted vengefully. "Majin Buu make all pay!"
"Sure, sure, whatever, Majin Buu," Babidi ordered. "Let's just get going."
Grumbling angrily, Majin Buu began to take to the skies before pausing and asking, "Master Babidi, which way to West City?"
"That would be that way," he answered embarrassingly, pointing towards the Southwest.
With Babidi as Master and compass, Majin Buu rocketed southward towards West City, bearing his master on his back, vengeance in his heart, and destruction in his mind.
Author's Note:
Sorry for taking so long w/ the updates! Christmas holidays and the new year always does this to me! Do the holidays get anyone else off schedule?Grrr, maybe just me. Anyway, sorry for the holdup, but hopefully I'm back on track now! And as always, thanx for the many reviews, it really helps with motivation! Thanx all!