The Saiyan of Namek
Chapter 37: An Empty World
Raijin and Dende held back their tears for their fallen friends and family for now; dropping down past the empty Korin's Tower and down into the densely packed forests that spread out for miles and miles.
Raijin and Dende both using their flight techniques to hover down and come to a soft landing into a forest clearing, Raijin dropping to his knees; screaming out in anguish for being unable to save or protect anyone.
"Raijin; I know what I'm saying may not put any ease to your soul, but if you'd stayed you would have died" Dende spoke in a slow solemn voice; the once small Namekian boy had grown into a fine and tall young man.
Raijin's teary eyes turned to Dende; a furious look burned through the space between Raijin and Dende, then Raijin realised why Mr Popo had left Dende with him; as long as Dende was alive… the Dragon Balls could be used to bring everybody back to life.
"Dende; I'm sorry… can you please use those powers of yours to help me recover" Raijin rose back up to his feet as he spoke; seating himself on a sizeable mossy rock as Dende nodded and began to heal Raijin's body.
Dende's healing powers came in handy; an amber-coloured wave of energy spread from Dende's fingers, Raijin thought on what had happened; the screams of his friends; those pink flashes.
"What happened while I was unconscious?" Raijin suddenly asked; his still-teary eyes looking to Dende, "I saw Majin Buu consume all those people and Goku's transformation into a Super Saiyan 3"
Dende reacted as Raijin expected; a look of surprise passed over Dende's face that quickly changed to a look of sadness, "a lot really… Goku has returned to Otherworld, Goten and Trunks learnt a Fusion technique from Goku, and strangely Majin Buu separated into two beings… one good and one bad"
Raijin's eyes widened at the mention of there being two Buu's of different moral alignments, "So what happened to the Good Buu?"
"The Evil Buu turned The Good Buu into chocolate; eating him and underwent a transformation, Buu then came to The Lookout, Piccolo took him into The Hyperbolic Time Chamber to face the Fused Goten and Trunks; but Buu escaped… and then you woke up" Dende recounted everything that happened; deliberately missing out anything that would upset Raijin any further.
Raijin sat in silence as he listened to Dende; he'd missed a lot in the time-space of only two days.
"I'm done; you should be in fighting condition again now" Dende spoke; taking a deep breath after the hard work of healing a body that had been comatose for two days.
Raijin bowed his head in thanks; getting back up to his bare feet when his stomach rumbled, "Seems I need some food".
"Is that really necessary? Buu could come after us at any moment!" Dende exclaimed; a look of panic passing through his eyes.
Raijin gave Dende an odd look; recalling how Namekians never ate and primarily lived off water, "Dende; I'm a Saiyan and if I'm going to fight… I need to eat"
Dende gave a sigh; Raijin was right and he would need to be at his best if he was going to fight that monster, the pair of survivors flying off into a nearby western town; Raijin gasped as the town was totally devoid of people, not a single living soul stood in sight.
"What happened here? Where is everyone?" Raijin muttered; walking directly into a shopping complex, taking a swift look around for anyone who might have been in hiding from the near-constant threat of Buu.
Dende kept his mouth shut; not wanting to tell Raijin about Buu's Human Extinction Attack.
Raijin walked directly into a food shop and began helping himself to several bottles of water and off-brand-cola; hungrily biting into three protein bars as well as some ready-made cheese & ham sandwiches, Raijin caught Dende's eye while he ate; spotting the disapproving look Dende was giving him.
"I'll pay for anything I take when Buu is defeated" Raijin spoke with a mouthful of sandwich and protein bar; spitting out small chunks as he spoke.
Dende gave a second disapproving look towards Raijin; quickly turning around and leaving the food shop, coming to a stop in front of a beautiful water fountain that shot jets of water in cascading arcs over an ornate statue of a dancing couple.
Within a few minutes Raijin had returned; only he had also helped himself from a clothing store, Raijin came down the stairwell dressed in white tracksuit bottoms; a pair of blue and red-streaked shoes and a white t-shirt that read True Champion across the chest.
"Are you done?" Dende didn't even look at Raijin; the teenage Namekian was still disgusted by Raijin's actions.
Before Raijin could answer; the familiar sonic booms of fists colliding echoed across the skies, whoever was fighting Buu had brought the battle ever closer; the battle raging directly above the town.
"GET DOWN!" Raijin shouted; rushing over and tackling Dende when Buu's much skinnier but muscular body came crashing through the glass roof and crashed into the once-beautiful fountain, the fountain had been reduced to nothing more than spraying water and rubble.
A strange boy in the Super Saiyan 3 Form; dressed in white baggy pants with a black and yellow jacket came chasing after Buu; yelling like two voices were mixed together; "SCREAMING ANGRY WOMBAT!" The Boy was instantly smacked away by a pink whip-like arm shooting out from the rubble.
Raijin and Dende hid behind the twisting spiral stairwells; watching as The Boy and Buu fought, the two viciously exchanging blow after blow; the pair throwing punch after punch into each other's respective face's, Gotenks raining a barrage of ki blasts upon the rubble where Buu lay in wait for another moment to strike.
"That's Gotenks, he's the fused being that Goten and Trunks became now become thanks to Goku's training" Dende explained; gesturing to the Boy in the Super Saiyan 3 Form.
"Impressive; those boys got quite strong in two days" Raijin muttered with a proud smile for his Son; watching Gotenks fight against Buu, Buu lunging out from the rubble; meeting Gotenks' ki blast by perfectly mimicking the number of blasts within the volley.
Watching as Gotenks and Buu fought each other by engaging in a powerful beam struggle; the golden blast from Gotenks and the pink blast from Buu lashing out from their palms, smaller blasts splintering outwards from the two beams point of convergence firing in multiple directions; the splintered beams tearing through and causing multiple shops to explode on impact.
Buu rocketed out from the rubble he'd been standing in; passing through the beam struggle with ease and with little to no damage to his body, emerging in front of Gotenks and punching the fused boy directly in the face; sending Gotenks through multiple walls and out into the street.
Buu dropping back to the floor only to kick back off the ground and break through the ceiling, with a wave of Buu's arms; a wave of pink energy slashed through the entire shopping district and tore through a nearby bar.
Gotenks barely shielded himself from the wave of destruction with a two-armed block, flying back up into the skies but only to be batted away by Buu's left arm; Gotenks fell directly into the crevasse with a two-voiced yell, "NOT FAIR!".
To Raijin and Dende's surprise; Piccolo was standing in mid-air, present for the entire battle, and had barely avoided the wave of destruction with only burns to his cape and gi.
"Are you done yet? you damn brat" Buu finally spoke; his voice deep and gravelly, the black and red eyes staring deeply into the crevasse his wave of destruction had created across the shopping district as well as the roads and sidewalks.
Piccolo dropped down out of the skies and into the rift; placing his hands of Gotenks' shoulders, "Gotenks… this battle is taking too long; you need to finish Buu off now!" his words were wise; desperately trying to ensure the two boys within Gotenks survived.
Gotenks just shrugged off Piccolo's hands; bellowing with his loud voice directly into Piccolo's face "Are you kidding?! I got this guy right where I want him! And I got only five minutes left of my Fusion and then it'll be an hour before I can fuse again!"
As soon as Gotenks finished bellowing into Piccolo's grimacing face; the boy was consumed by a white light, a popping sound rang out as Trunks and Goten separated; both wearing confused expressions on their faces.
Buu looked at the pair of boys; a look of stunned obliviousness changing into a look of pure evil glee, laughing as Buu suddenly charged at the two boys with both arms raised to deliver the killing blow.
Goten and Trunks both cried out as Buu was seemingly about to kill them both when a familiar Super Saiyan jumped in front of Buu; a sudden right hook punching Buu directly in his face, Buu spiralled in the air; impossibly contorting as his forward momentum when stopped upon impact with the ground had caused his pink rubbery body to contract into a spattered mess of pink slime.
"DAD?!" Trunks yelled; jumping up into his father's arms, Raijin hugging his son with both arms wrapped around his one and only son.
"I'm so glad you're safe" Raijin whispered to his son; moving his left arm away and giving Goten a much-needed hug after spotting the tears budding in the corners of the little boys' eyes.
Goten yelped a little after suddenly receiving a hug from Trunks' own father; but responded by hugging back.
Raijin immediately let go of the boys upon sensing the danger Buu still presented; twisting around in front of the boys and striking Buu square in the face with his left backhand strike, Buu being knocked to the ground once again by another surprise attack from Raijin.
"Piccolo! Dende! Get the boys somewhere safe, I'll handle Buu" Raijin spoke; transforming into his Super Saiyan 2 Full Power Form, Raijin's aura blazed ferociously off his body; electricity crackled around his body much more frequently as his energy soared to higher levels.
"Raijin; I'm glad you have returned, but be careful when fighting this monster" Piccolo spoke; his voice full of happiness for his friend's survival and return.
Raijin spread his arms out to act as a barrier as Buu got back up to his feet; tilting his head towards the new opponent, "And who are you?" Buu's voice was still as deep and gravelly as when he'd spoken before.
"Who I am makes no difference to what is going to happen this day" Raijin spoke; never taking his greenish-blue eyes off Buu, waiting for the moment Piccolo, Dende, Trunks and Goten got to a safe distance.
"Yes… you are right; because I will kill you!" Buu screeched; his mouth widening to reveal a full set of white fanged teeth, soaring towards Raijin with a cloak of burning heat instead of an aura; Buu slapped Raijin with the black and yellow armband on his right arm, Raijin being thrown backwards into one of the few still intact shops.
Not even ten seconds passed when Raijin came bursting out from the newly destroyed greetings-card shop; charging headlong and driving into Buu with a full-speed tackle, Raijin hit Buu with the tackle at such a speed and with enough force that Raijin's momentum tore straight through Buu's body; kicking off the ground and twisting in the air directly over the ruined fountain, Raijin threw down a volley of ki blasts; shooting and vaporizing all of Buu's Body at once.
Breathing heavily after such an energy-draining assault; Raijin took the chance to flee; escape from Buu was easily preferable to dying.
Taking flight and flying straight through the ruined and crumbling ceiling of the shopping complex; Raijin didn't have to look for long before sensing Piccolo's energy signature, allowing himself a smile of relief; Raijin's aura flared up as he flew off after Piccolo and the others and leaving Buu to sit in the ghost town all alone.
Finding Piccolo, Dende and the boys perched on a rocky outcrop just on the outskirts of town; only someone else what present in their group, a man holding a small dog in his arms; Hercule Satan.
Upon seeing the man; Raijin felt no hate or his long-held grudge against Hercule Satan, he only felt pity.
Hercule looked up from petting the small dog; gasping as he witnessed Raijin dropping down from the sky, a look of awe in his eyes; The Champion had learnt that energy was clearly real and not a simple trick, "I know you… you were at the Tournament; that gold guy nearly killed you… and you're ok?!"
Raijin nodded his head; "Yeah, I was comatose for two days; luckily I awoke in time to save Dende".
"Dende? Oh; you mean the little green Guardian guy that the big green guy told me about" Hercule's upset expression perked up into excitement; figuring he was safe as long as he stood behind these powerful fighters.
Raijin shook his head at the ever-present opportunist; a pang of irritation hit Raijin's nerve's as Hercule referred to Namekian's by the colour of their skin, though Raijin suppressed his urge to punch Hercule with some difficulty.
Trunks and Goten sat on a flat stone with their feet hanging over the edge; both taking a much needed and well-earned rest after the battle they'd fought as Gotenks.
Piccolo and Dende both stared out across the desert; as if they were waiting for a somebody to arrive.
Raijin slowly stepped around the young boys; patting them both on the head and moving over to Piccolo and Dende, "Dende… what happened to everyone? Why is there nobody around for miles?"
Piccolo looked to Dende with an accusing look in his eyes; speaking in a harsh and almost accusing tone of voice, "You haven't told him yet?"
"No; I thought it might upset him… and that'll be bad since Raijin has only just awoken from a coma" Dende closed his hands; bowing his head in a gesture of reserved apology.
While Raijin listened to Piccolo and Dende the realisation slowly came to him; Buu had killed everyone on Earth and all that was left was the six of them, "So… the six of us are all that's left?".
The puppy barked towards Raijin when he spoke the word Six, Hercule Satan slumped over in his rocky seat; not speaking a word.
"Right… seven; sorry" Raijin spoke; correcting himself, "how did you survive then Hercule? You have no powers like we do".
Hercule suddenly snapped to life; looking to Raijin with a look of astonishment, "I'm not quite sure myself… Bee and I saw the pink lights raining over the sky; but not a single one came near me".
"He probably survived because Good Buu still has some influence over Evil Buu's actions; causing the beams to miss Hercule and this puppy" Piccolo spoke; crossing his arms as he usually did when he was deep in thought or being serious.
Before anyone else could speak; Raijin's, Piccolo's, Dende's, Goten's and Trunks' collective heads span around to face in the same direction; a bright pink flash streaking across the cloudy sky, Buu coming to a landing on an opposing rocky outcrop; his body fully healed, regenerated and followed them to this exact location in less than five minutes.
"Great; he's back" Raijin muttered; his hands curling into fists, feeling like he was the only one able to fight against this monster at this moment.
Hercule and the puppy hid behind the rocks in fear of Buu; peering out to take a look at the monster.
Buu grinned to the group before suddenly looking towards the sky; his grin turning to a look of grim satisfaction.
Piccolo stared up as somebody in an orange gi came into his field of vision; his mouth dropping open in amazement, "IT'S GOKU!"
Everyone including Hercule looked up into the sky as the orange-clad man descended closer and closer; Goten's face spreading into a joyful expression "No! it's my brother; Gohan!"
Raijin and Piccolo both gasped with relief; Gohan was alive and had returned to come to help them fight Buu.
Gohan came to a landing right in front of Raijin and Piccolo; giving them both a smug smile, "Hey, miss me?".
Goten rushed forwards towards his older brother; tears falling down his cheeks, "Gohan; what happened to you? We thought you were dead!"
"I wasn't dead; Supreme Kai saved my life, and The Elder Kai awakened my sleeping powers so I am far stronger than I was against Perfect Cell" Gohan briefly explained; patting Goten's head and giving Piccolo of determined resolve, Gohan turned to face Buu; the monster grinning towards Gohan.
"Finally, I have been waiting for you; I could sense you in another World… getting stronger than you were in our first fight" Buu spoke in his deep and gravelly voice; grinning evilly as Gohan slowly walked towards him.
"Gohan be careful; he turned Mom into an egg and stomped her; he even killed Videl" Goten cried out; tears running down his cheeks as he recalled Buu's latest victims.
Raijin felt a pang of guilt, while he was fleeing with Dende; Buu had been killing his wife and all his close friends.
Gohan's smile changed to an expression of anger towards Buu; with blinding speed Gohan surged forwards and drove his right elbow into Buu's slender stomach, Buu coughing up saliva as he was struck; Gohan broke into a run and pushed Buu further away from the group and down into a ravine.
Raijin, Piccolo and Dende could sense the battle taking place down within the ravine; clouds and dust and rocky debris flew into the air as the fight kept intensifying, every so often Buu's screams could be heard along with pink flashes from Buu's own energy blasts.
"Do you think he can win?" Hercule muttered; crawling along the dirt before getting up to his feet.
Raijin barely looked to the man he'd aimed so much hatred towards; his attention focused on watching and sensing the battle taking place.
"I hope so; Gohan is our last hope" Piccolo spoke with a stern face and hopeful eyes, his tone drawing Goten and Trunks' attention; both boys taking Piccolo's words as a snub on their difficult work at mastering Fusion and their alter-ego's own attitude.
Gohan came soaring out of the ravine; Buu following the young adult into the bright blue sky, Buu wildly swiping at the air after Gohan's afterimage-creating dodges; screaming with every attack he failed to land on Gohan, Gohan easily landing a double stomp into Buu's bulging pectoral muscles.
Buu gasping in pain as he fell back towards the ground; landing with a crash and another cloud of dust filling the air around the impact crater, Gohan dove out of the sky and dropping down into the dust cloud and a loud scream following the impact; the earth shaking as Gohan must have landed on top of Buu's chest again.
Echoes ran across the sky as the fight continued; obscured by the dusty winds of the desert landscape, Goten watched and waited with bated breath for his brother to emerge victorious from the ever-expanding clouds of dust within the ravine.
The dust cloud faded away to reveal that Buu was standing; his body riddled with imprints of Gohan's fists and boots, veins running and popping all over his body; but what scared Raijin most was the insane look on his face; the wide black eyes and the grin.
"You have hurt me… unforgivable… none of you shall live" Buu muttered just loud enough for Gohan to hear; pink energy leaking out of every wound Gohan had inflicted as well as both Buu's eyes and mouth.
Gohan suddenly began rushing towards Raijin and the group; flying straight past them while yelling a warning to them all, "get out of here! Buu is going to self-destruct!"
Raijin didn't waste a single second; both his hands shot out and grabbed Trunks and Goten by the back of their gi's respectively, kicking off the ground and flying off as fast as he could; Piccolo had taken hold of Hercule and the Puppy named Bee, Dende gripping only Piccolo's heels as he desperately tried to keep up at their flight speed.
Wind lashed at Raijin's face; a wave of heat bursting forth from the rocky outcrop they'd been standing on, taking a quick look back; Raijin witnessed the expanding dome of hot-pink energy burning up and disintegrating everything the dome of energy came into contact with.
The group continued to fly out into the mountains; coming to a stop at another rocky outcrop, setting down and taking a breather; Raijin, Piccolo and Gohan panted after flying at such an urgent speed and the weight of additional members to their group.
"Do you think he's dead?" Hercule muttered; looking back to the horizon, the dome of energy still within their view.
"No, in time; Buu will regenerate his body and come back" Piccolo spoke; a look of frustration passing over his face.
"It doesn't matter; when Buu returns, He'll have Gohan, Piccolo, Me and Gotenks to fight against; there is no way Buu is strong enough to fight all four of us!" Raijin spoke; attempting to ignite a spark of hope within those left alive on the planet.
"YEAH! There is no way Buu can fight all of us!" Trunks fist-pumped the air; the young boy getting excited over the concept of the remaining strongest Z Fighters coming together to defeat Buu.
"But first; we rest, you and Goten need to rest up if you're going to fuse again" Gohan spoke calmly; looking out upon the horizon, Gohan waiting for Buu to return.
Over the course of an hour's wait; Trunks and Goten both played with the puppy Bee, Piccolo Raijin and Gohan stood together waiting for Buu to return while Dende simply sat beside Hercule; both just being quiet.
"Dende, Hercule, He's coming! hurry and hide!" Piccolo shouted; jumping backwards to a stone just forward from where Dende and Hercule sat.
Hercule and Dende both nodded; both sinking down behind the more jagged stones, both leaning out to witness as Buu returned.
Buu stood with his same evil grin; simply standing there on top of one of the flatter stones that lay in the rocky mountainside.
"What took you so long? You don't seem any stronger than you were before!" Gohan yelled with a smug tone; smirking as he grew more confident for the coming battle.
"Not you yet… I want the boys first; fuse now!" Buu yelled; grinning but not moving from the exact spot in which he stood.
Before Gohan or Raijin could say otherwise; Trunks and Goten leapt forwards to the largest flat stone, both standing in position for The Fusion Dance.
"Try not to fret Dad; we got this, and you get to see our awesome new trick!" Trunks boasted; puffing out his chest as he spread his arms out to his left while Goten moved his arms out to the right.
Buu grinned a little wider as he watched Trunks and Goten, a motion that did not go un-noticed by Piccolo.
"Fusion… HA! Trunks and Goten took three steps each; moving their arms towards each other as they stepped, both raising a leg and thrusting their arms out again; and finally bending towards each other and their index fingers perfectly aligning with each other's, their bodies emitting a bright red and blue light as their bodies merged together into one being.
Raijin and Gohan both stood impressed by the technique; the dance was quite ridiculous, but the result was an incredible sight to behold.
Gotenks stood square in the centre of where the two boys was once stood when competing their Fusion Dance; having already attained his own Super Saiyan 3 Form, making a victory sign as Gotenks yelled a shout of triumph.
Gotenks crouched down; wearing a cocky and an overconfident smirk when addressing Buu directly, "bet you're sorry that you asked to fight with me again! This time I'll pound you so far into the ground you'll come out the other side of the planet… but I'll give you a sporting chance and let you make the first move!".
Raijin hung his head as he didn't like the attitude Gotenks had in place of a personality, turning his head as he heard the sound of the puppy barking, Raijin's eyes widened in horror as a strange pink slime was coating itself around Piccolo; muffling his voice as Piccolo cried out for help.
Raijin heard the same muffled voice coming from ahead of him; Gotenks was also being attacked by the strange pink slime, the slime looping and spreading around the two in waves until the slime covered the two entirely.
"NO!" Gohan yelled; powering up and flaring his pure-white aura, raising his hands and blasting a volley of ki blasts at the two masses of slime; trying to blast a hole big enough for Piccolo and Gotenks to escape.
"That is useless now, Now! COME TO ME!" Buu yelled; spreading his arms as the two slime blobs shrunk down to the size of a small ball, lifting off the ground; both the lumps of slime struck and spread around the entirety of Buu's body, Buu's muffled screams through the slime echoed around for all to hear.
"This was his plan all along" Raijin muttered; fearful of what was to come; he powered up and transformed straight into his Super Saiyan 2 Full Power Form once again.
Gohan grimaced; his pure-white aura flaring in higher as Gohan drew on all of his new powers as Ultimate Gohan.
Buu's new body crackled with lightning as he slowly began to take form again, standing tall than before and his head tentacle grew thicker and longer; stretching all the way down his back, still wearing the same baggy white pants; with the Majin belt and the black and yellow armbands; but only now he wore the black and yellow jacket than Gotenks had been wearing.
"Well now; how do you like my new form? I have the incredible power of Gotenks and the brilliant mind of Piccolo; care to even attempt fighting me?" Buu spoke in a much more carefree tone of voice; confident in his new abilities and newfound knowledge he'd gained by method of absorption.
"You'll pay for that you monster!" Raijin muttered; anger boiling in his blood and feeling his powers reach their apex, Raijin's rise in power caused his Super Saiyan 2 Form's aura to flare up even higher; electricity crackling even more frequently.
Gohan gritted his teeth; anger at losing both Goten and Piccolo to this monster as well as Chichi and Videl caused him to grow in strength through his anger as well, Gohan's pure-white aura flaring even higher; indicating that even now he was still just as strong if not stronger than a Super Saiyan 2.
"Oh, come on now; let me show you the powers I have gained from those that you love!" Buu spoke in that same smug tone that Gotenks spoke in; slightly bending his knees and raising his fists over his head as Gotenks did when preparing for a battle.
Raijin glared at Buu; slowly bending his knees too and raising his hands up like claws; using the Namekian Battle Stance, "I've had enough of you; I'm going to show you why my son respects my strength".
Gohan crouched down and raised his arms into Goku's own battle stance; nodding to Raijin as he spoke, "We'll fight to our last breath; and I'll show you why my little brother looks up to me!".
Buu laughed behind his fists; speaking in a mocking tone, "They don't respect or admire you at all; in fact, …they wonder why you let me take them!"
With those words; Raijin and Gohan roared in anger, both launching themselves towards the invincible monster named Super Buu.