Part II

Chapter 24: A selfless Act

"Dad!" Trunks called out happily, as he noticed that it was his father, who had been behind this explosion and stepped now out of the cloud it had caused. Now everything was going to be okay! His father was here and he would take care of Buu! He was, after all, the strongest warrior in the universe, maybe closely followed by Gohan, Trunks thought in his childlike naivety. He, like most kids his age, thought his father to be the best in everything and having heard Vegeta gloat more than once about his strength did not help much in making him believe otherwise. Because of this Trunks did not understand, why Jenny was suddenly looking much paler than before. "Jenny? What's wrong with you?"

The girl in question looked at him, her black eyes wide with fear and her face indeed very pale. "Its… nothing…" she said quickly and looked away. She would not say what was worrying her. She knew Trunks – he would surely laugh at her. It was only a dream, after all, nothing to be worried about. Everything that had happened until now was just a coincident – wasn't it? She had to have faith in Vegeta. He would not do something as stupid as getting himself killed. He would not! He would not…

But somehow Jenny knew that she was just trying to convince herself that her dream would not come true. She still had the feeling that the dream meant something, but she did not know what to make out of it exactly. Hell, the very same monster out of her dream was out there, just a few yards away from her! So how could her dream not become true?! But she would not, could not tell the others. She was just a child, no one would believe her anyway.

Jenny was torn out of her thoughts, when Vegeta started to talk. She could not understand his words, but Piccolo's face suddenly showed anger and despair, so he must be able to understand, what was going on down there. Trunks seemed to think the same, because he suddenly asked, "What did dad say?"

But Piccolo did not answer him. He had just had his worst fears confirmed. Vegeta had just said that Buu had killed Gohan. When Gohan had been killed by this monster, would Vegeta be able to defeat him? He doubted it. Even if Vegeta had become stronger and maybe even if he had surpassed Gohan in strength, it would not be enough to kill Buu.

"Vegeta! What the hell are you doing? I did not tell you to destroy my ship!" Babidi yelled, with his arms raised in the air out of anger.

Vegeta, however, remained completely calm. "Is that fat oaf Buu? How dare you kill Gohan?"

"What does oaf mean?" Buu wanted to know. He looked at his master with a completely clueless expression on his face.

Babidi sighed, half in anger, half in defeat that Vegeta would not work for him anymore. "That means he doesn't like you."

When Buu's face had been lit up with a grin one second ago, it was now replaced with an angry scowl. He clenched his fists and steam rose up again from the openings in his head. "I'm mad! I'm going to kill you!"

Vegeta only smirked and got ready to fight. "I won't be going to hell by myself. You two will be my guides."

The Kaioushin raised his head as far as he could and stared at Vegeta as if he was insane. Did he have a death wish? Did he not know what had happened to Gohan? No one would be able to stop Buu, no one! The world was lost… But the Kaioushin was still impressed by the will of those warriors to do everything and to not give up, even if the situation was absolutely hopeless. It seemed as if they would rather go down fighting than go and hide.

The Saiyajin's energy flared up and blue sparks flashed around his body. He had once again surpassed the state of Super Saiyajin and was even stronger than Gohan, when the boy had been fighting Cell. The rising of his ki caused stones and dust to rise in the air, so that it was once again hard to see him. The attack was sudden. One of Vegeta's legs lashed out and hit Buu in the face. While Buu's head was still jerking around, the Prince embedded his fist in the face. It went on like this. Vegeta was attacking non-stop and Buu did not do anything to defend himself or to fight back.

This worried Babidi deeply. What was wrong with Buu that he did not do anything? Vegeta could not be that strong, could he? Buu had practically squashed that other earthling, so this one should not have a chance.

With one last powerful punch, Vegeta sent Buu flying. The monster landed on his feet and straightened his body. He seemed to be completely unaffected by this onslaught, for all dents and wounds that had been caused by the attacks disappeared instantly. But Vegeta was not finished yet. He extended his arm and shot a large ki-blast at him. It went directly through Buu's abdomen, leaving a large hole.

Babidi again thought Buu defeated, was however once more surprised by Buu's ability to regenerate himself, as the hole closed up as fast as the other wounds had before. Now Buu was truly pissed off. As was Vegeta, when his attack did not show the desired effect. Why won't you die? he thought angrily. There must be a way to defeat him. In all their previous fights, they had first thought that their opponents were invincible and they had always been able to defeat them. But what was the key to Buu's defeat? How much power did he need to fulfill his task?

"That hurt a little," Buu growled, as he now prepared an attack. He folded his arms in front of his chest and started to gather a lot of energy in and around his body. Vegeta steeled himself, but was not ready for the true impact of the explosion that followed, when Buu released the energy with a deafening cry. The detonation destroyed everything in close proximity, also the hiding place of Krillin, Piccolo and the kids. They were all hurled around in the air, even Vegeta, who had only been standing merely a few feet away from the source of the explosion.

Babidi had barely managed to conjure a shield in front of him, which protected him and so left him unhurt. When the dust had cleared yet again, Buu was floating above a huge crater, grinning in victory. Fortunately, the other warriors were unhurt, as they got up again. Vegeta, however, was wounded badly. Blood was running from a large gash on his right arm, which he was holding, and seeping from several other injuries all over his body. He was hardly able to stand straight, let alone to continue the fight in his present state. And yet, he was impressed. Not only was Buu strong, he was also nearly invincible. "This asshole", he muttered and spat out some blood that had been gathering in his mouth.

"Even Vegeta couldn't do a thing," Piccolo said. Gohan's dead. The Kaioushin's ki had now also vanished completely. The world was lost.

"Dad… Dad won't lose! Not to someone like Buu!" Trunks said – the despair was evident in his voice. He had seen what had happened and yet he could not believe it. Not his father. His father was the strongest warrior in the universe! He could not be defeated! But when Trunks saw the grim look in Piccolo's face, the trust he had had in his father's victory crumbled.

There has to be a way to defeat him! Vegeta thought angrily. He had to think of one! Every person and warrior had a weak spot. For Saiyajins it was their tails, but what was it for Buu? He had seen him recover from the most severe wounds, so a normal attack wouldn't work at all… What he needed was…

His thoughts were disrupted, when Buu did something extraordinarily strange. He grabbed a part of the flesh of his stomach and literally pulled it off, so that he was now holding a rubber like lump of flesh in his hands. Buu stretched it and then, all of sudden, shot a ki-blast from his mouth. Vegeta jumped away to dodge it, but lost track of Buu while he was doing this. He first noticed the lump of flesh flying at him, when it was already too late. He tried to fight against it, but it just wrapped itself around him completely.

Vegeta fell to the ground with a dull thud, while Buu was advancing on him humming. The monster looked at him giddily, before he kicked him like a football. More blood ran out of his mouth, when Vegeta connected again with the ground. But Buu was not finished with him by far. He jumped on Vegeta's stomach and started to hit his face, alternating with his left and right fist.

"He's gonna kill him!" Goten cried outraged.

"Does anyone of you know where Goku and Gohan are?" Krillin asked desperately. "Where they killed?"

Piccolo sighed, the whole time keeping an eye on the two boys, who seemed to be on the verge of doing something stupid. "I don't know about Goku, but Gohan was killed by Buu. Vegeta said so, when he arrived here."

"What? My brother… Gohan can't be dead! Jenny! Tell him that Gohan isn't dead!"

Jenny looked at her brother with fearful eyes. Now that she tried to feel him, she noticed that Gohan's ki was indeed gone. She felt tears dwelling up, but swallowed them and instead of answering Goten, averted her eyes. She did not trust herself to speak. Everything was just getting from bad to worse and there was nothing, she or either of them could do to make it better again.

"Trunks! Control yourself!" Piccolo suddenly yelled. "There's nothing you can do except getting in the way! You'll just make your dad's suffering worse!"

"No!" Trunks only screamed and flew off as Super Saiyajin to his father's rescue. Piccolo tried to stop him, so Goten used the chance to follow his best friend, before the Namek could react to get a hold of him.

"Goten!" Piccolo shouted, but too late. Both boys were too far away already. "Oh no, you'll stay!" He grabbed Jenny, before she was able to pull off the same as her brother and friend. The girl scowled at him, trying to hold his angry glare, but eventually lowered her gaze and reluctantly settled back down.

She watched as Trunks used the momentum of his speed to kick Buu off of his father and send him flying into a small mountain far away. He and Goten then landed next to Vegeta to free him of Buu's flesh and to help him stand up again.

"You'll stay here," Piccolo ordered. "I'll be right back."

"Who are those shrimps?" Babidi wondered, but then smiled to himself. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. They'll have the same fate as everyone else on this planet."

He was so engrossed in his musings that he did not notice the Namek sneaking up to him. "Though I despise Buu, it's all your fault Babidi."

The magician turned around startled and looked up at the impressive form of Piccolo with fear in his eyes. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

Piccolo left the magicians questions unanswered and said instead, "Even I can't kill Buu, but I can take care of you. And believe me, I've been waiting to kill you for several years now. I want to make you pay for what you've done…"

Babidi laughed out loud. "You fool! Without me, you won't be able to imprison Buu again and he will destroy everything."

"Isn't that the same result whether you live or die?" Piccolo asked him grimly. "Die!"

He practically sliced Babidi in half with the side of his hand and while the two halves were falling to the ground, completed his mission by pulverizing him completely with a ki-blast, so that no one would be able to restore him.

He looked at the spot where Babidi had been floating only seconds ago with a somber look on his face. He felt a small victorious spark in his soul – he had finally fulfilled what he had sworn to do almost eight years ago, when Dende had told him about ChiChi's and with it also Gohan's fate – but he also knew that this would change nothing in the outcome of the fight against Buu. This alone was up to Vegeta and if he did not have a sudden epiphany, they would be truly lost.

After the kids had helped him out of this lump and he was standing again, he spotted Piccolo at the sky. He suddenly knew what he had to do. "Trunks," he said. "Take good care of your mom…"

"Huh?" Trunks looked up at his father and saw something in his face that resembled a victorious and yet somehow sad smile. "What do you mean, dad? Why should I take care of mom?"

"You two should go away now. I'm going to take care of Buu all by myself."

"No!" the boy protested. "When you fight him alone, you'll get killed. As team we might be able to defeat him."

"That won't work. Normal techniques are of no use against him."

"You're wrong. We're both really strong. And if Jenny might be able to get here, we'll be four to fight Buu," Trunks still tried to convince his father. Vegeta did not say anything to that. However, he did not remain silent. Instead he said something that surprised both him and Goten.

"Trunks, I've never hugged you since you were a baby, right?" He turned to Trunks, again having this sad smile on his face. "Let me hug you now." With his good arm, Vegeta pulled Trunks against his body. Trunks tried to fight him, but only halfheartedly, saying that he was embarrassing him, when, in truth, he enjoyed this sudden show of affection. "Take care of yourself, Trunks."

Trunks stared at him with wide eyes, when he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his neck and everything around him went black. After Vegeta had knocked out Trunks, he punched Goten hard in the stomach, so that the boy's hair turned back to black and he, too, lost consciousness.

Piccolo, who had watched this display, landed next to them. Vegeta turned to him, when he noticed that Buu was returning. "Take the kids and take them as far away as you can. I'm counting on you, Piccolo."

Piccolo bent down to pick up the kids and then spoke, "You're going to die, aren't you?"

"Tell me something. Will I meet Kakarotto?"

"I have to be honest with you. No, you won't. You've killed too many people. After you die, you'll board a different plane than Goku and go to hell," Piccolo told him gravely.

"I see…Too bad." Vegeta was not too happy about this, but he had expected nothing else. "Enough! Now go and hurry!"

Piccolo nodded and took off into the sky, just as Buu was back again. The monster did not want to let them go, but Vegeta managed to convince him to stay. He told him that he wanted to finish their fight first and that he was going to kill him. He also added a small insult, just to make sure that Buu really stayed and indeed, he did react to this as Vegeta had expected.

"Move it! Krillin, Jenny! Get out of here!" Piccolo yelled, as he shot past them with the boys in his arms.

Krillin was about to follow, but noticed that Jenny was still staring at the happenings in front of them. The sand around Vegeta was whirled up, as the Saiyajin gathered energy. It flew even so far that he had to cover his eyes, but still the girl did not move. "Jenny! Come on! We have to hurry!"

Jenny did not listen. Everything was just like in her dream. It almost looked like Vegeta was in the middle of a large sandstorm. He glowed golden and sparks of energy surrounded him.

Suddenly someone grabbed her arm. "Come on! It's too dangerous!"

She let herself be pulled away, just like in her dream. They flew away, turning their backs on Vegeta and Buu. She looked back once more and saw him stand there in a proud stance that she could only call majestic. As he got smaller and smaller, she knew she would never forget that sight.

Jenny was pulled back into the presence, when they had caught up to Piccolo. "What is he doing? He'll get killed!" Krillin wanted to know.

Piccolo gritted his teeth. "This is the first time he has fought for the behalf of others. He's going to sacrifice himself…"

Suddenly flashes of her dream appeared in front of Jenny's inner eye. Vegeta standing in the eye of the storm, gathering energy. Krillin trying to get her away. Piccolo saying even this. The knowledge that Vegeta was not getting out of this alive. Even if he did manage to kill Buu with this attack, he would be killed! She could not let that happen! There had to be another way to defeat Buu! What if he did not succeed? Gohan was dead. Her father was… they did not know. And without Vegeta there would be no one who might be remotely strong enough to fend Buu off, let alone defeat him.

She stopped abruptly, turned Super Saiyajin and flew back before either Piccolo or Krillin could react and try to stop her.

"Jenny!" Krillin cried and wanted to go after her, but Piccolo stopped him.

"Don't," the Namek told him grudgingly. He did not like this sudden turn of events, but they had to get away as fast as possible. They did not have time to catch up to Jenny and bring her back. "We can revive her with the Dragon Balls. Don't forget that we are not so lucky."

Vegeta felt the energy around him crackle. He was almost ready and that was good, because Buu did not look like he would wait much longer for him to finish. He only hoped that this would be enough energy for an explosion big enough to destroy him. Buu might be able to regenerate large parts of his body, similar to Piccolo, but would Buu still be able to regenerate, if he was blown to bits and pieces small enough for worms to eat?

Almost ready, he thought and watched the sparks around his fist. Just a few more seconds and then Buu was history.

Goodbye, Bulma, Trunks, Jenny, Goten and Gohan… And even you, Kakarotto…

Too late he noticed the small golden blur racing up to him and tackling him, so that he fell to the ground. In the moment of the fall, his concentration faded and with it also the precious energy he had gathered. He stared surprised at the girl in his arms, so that he did not see Buu's attack come in time.

Vegeta barely managed to turn his back to the blast, holding Jenny close to his chest so that she would not be hurt. He felt the burning sensation on his back and gritted his teeth as not cry out in pain. He tried to keep his feet on the ground, but the shockwave of the blast and the blast itself were too strong and so he lost the ground beneath his feet. Clutching Jenny even closer, if that was still possible, he prepared for whatever might come. Only about a second or two later, they crashed into a large rock. Once again a sharp pain ran through his whole body, when they collided and the rock collapsed above them due to the deep impact.

And then he knew no more.

Buu looked at the falling rock with a somehow disappointed expression on his face. It seemed as if he had hoped to have more fun with this fighter. He shrugged. He was sure there would be plenty of other people he could have fun with. Now without master to tell him what to do and without opponent, he flew off after those who had gotten away.