Disclaimer: I still don't make money off the DBZ show or its characters. Just my own created characters.
Chapter Fifty-Four: Another Chance
"What do you think, Gohan? My strategy succeeded without incident. Now, look! Wonderful, isn't it? This is a moment that will never come again, no matter the future...the birth of the mightiest Majin!"
"Damn you…YOU DIRTY BASTARD!" Vegeta exploded, his hair snapping gold-white and his eyes blue-green. He furiously flung a ki blast at the image of the reborn Majin Buu in front of him, disrupting the "window" he had been watching the events on Earth through. However, his action only made him even more enraged since it wasn't the real Majin Buu he had just destroyed.
He had just watched powerlessly from Hell as his wife, son, and his sister were all consumed by the loathsome monster. He had even gotten Piccolo and Kakarott's youngest whelp. Following the whole thing, Vegeta had become suspicious of Buu when he heard him admit that he had known about Gohan while he fought Gotenji and Juumara, and observed how he had held back during his pretense of self-destructing. But in spite of that, he never anticipated the djinn to do something like this! Now that Buu wielded the power of both Super Saiyajin Three Gotenji (which had been another great surprise to him) and Super Saiyajin Two Juumara, not even Gohan with his absurd new strength could defeat him.
"Shit!" he hissed angrily through his gnashed teeth. Veins bulged on his forehead as he shook with fury. If it wasn't for him being trapped in this Dende-forsaken place then he wouldn't allow that disreputable cretin to use them like damn power boosters! If only he wasn't dead…he could have been there to protect them! But now they too had become the demon's victims….
Vegeta raised his gaze when another "window" suddenly opened up in front of him. This time, it wasn't showing him the scene from Earth, but a completely new one. His eyes widened when saw that the main stars of this newest illustration were, in fact, his mate and his sister. They were standing in the middle of what appeared to be a cavern of sorts.
*Those two…they're still alive!?* he wondered in amazement. His Super Saiyajin power faded away by his will, and his hair and eyes turned back Saiyajin black.
What happened to them? Where were they?
Before Vegeta could find out, he unexpectedly vanished.
"This is…absolutely the LAST TIME I let anyone absorb me ever again!" A shrunken Juuhachi-gou raged from inside Buu's body. It was bad enough when Cell did it to her, and now seven years later she's been pulled into the body of the newest bad guy!
Across from her, in an uncharacteristic contrast, Amara, also shortened, was watching her rival coolly. Between them, it was usually her who lost her aplomb before the other woman did. Nevertheless, now knowing about the woman's experience with the infamous Cell, Juuhachi-gou's reaction was understandable to her.
"Well, we only have ourselves to blame," Amara pointed out. "We knew Majin Buu had some kind of trick up his sleeves when he suddenly called Juumara and Gotenji, and we deliberately walked into his trap to see what he was up to."
The two succinctly recalled how right before Buu's blob closed completely around Juumara, she turned herself into water. When Buu called the blob back to his body, along with the ones that had also captured Gotenji and Piccolo, she had been able to slip through the absorption process. But right after she had reconstructed her body, the Fusion unexpectedly deactivated, and they were split back into their individual selves.
"Yeah, but I wasn't expecting this!" Juuhachi-gou said peevishly. She stared around in disgust at the sight of the blood vessels hanging all around her.
"At any rate, we have a bigger problem on our hands now," Amara said. "Although we managed to escape being absorbed, your kid, Goten, and Piccolo didn't."
"Koji…" Juuhachi-gou murmured. Another kind of anger burned within her at the reality of her son suffering the same fate she did years ago.
"Now that he's added Super Gotenji's strength to his own," Amara added, "Buu has probably become even stronger than Gohan again."
"Do you think he'll be all right?" Juuhachi-gou asked in authentic concern.
"There's no telling," Amara answered candidly. Even though Gohan hadn't shown them the full extent of his newfound strength, she doubted he could still do anything to Majin Buu now. "But instead of standing here worrying about him, we need to find your kid and the others and then a way out of here."
"Right," Juuhachi-gou agreed.
Mr. Satan gawped up at Majin Buu, still trying to process not only what his old friend had done just now, but also the latest radical transformation he's undergone. Unable to comprehend it at all, he turned to Dende.
"H-hey, Kami-sama, what's happening?" he asked. "What did he just do to them?"
"M-Majin Buu just absorbed Super Gotenji, Super Juumara, and Piccolo-san!" Dende explained.
"Huh!?" Mr. Satan said, staring in confused astonishment. He gulped. "T-that doesn't sound too good!"
"Trust me, it's not!"
In the interval, Gohan stared irately at Buu, his body shaking from anger and self-loathing. He had been careless! He had had all the chances in the world to destroy Buu, and because he didn't, his brother and the others were now ingrained into the Majin. He had suspected Buu to be up to something when he decided to call out his brother, Koji, Juuhachi-gou, and Amara instead of finishing their fight, since it was him Buu wanted to defeat the most, and yet he still allowed this to happen!
"That was a dirty move, Buu!" Gohan berated. "How dare you absorb those three like that!?"
"It's your fault," Buu answered, pointing an accusing finger at him. "You're the one who was stronger than me, who should be the absolute strongest! From the time I sensed your existence so far away, I began this strategy. I was forced to realize that perhaps there was someone even stronger than I. And so, I thought if I were to absorb the Super Gotenji and Super Juumara, or whoever those runts and women were I was fighting at the time into myself, then no matter who appeared, my throne as the mightiest of all would not be shaken. However, it seemed that the power of those guys was limited by time- that's what the runts said. But it wouldn't do for me to have them return back to normal at the moment I absorbed them! So, I waited for the next opportunity. It was apparent that given an hour, they could once again turn into this Super Gotenji and Super Juumara. As such, I disappeared for that long."
"Keh…So that's it, was it?" Gohan replied. His mouth curved into a superior smirk. "However, despite babbling on so fluently, it seems your stupidity hasn't changed one bit. If you really wanted to take first prize, it would have been a lot easier to just absorb me!"
Buu laughed. "You don't seem to understand at all, do you? Without an opponent, what am I to do once I become the strongest?"
"What?"
"The previous Majin Buu said he was definitely going to blow you away, right?" The new Buu clenched his left fist dangerously. "So now that is my greatest goal!"
"I see," Gohan said, still looking confident. He took on his usual fighting pose. "All right, you've convinced me!"
In response, Majin Buu drew back in a battle stance, grinning in wicked anticipation.
"I'm going to be hurrying this fight along, if you don't mind," he said. "It seems that the transformation time for both this "Super Gotenji" and "Super Juumara" that I've absorbed are quite limited."
The furrow between Gohan's brows intensified. "That's a pretty acute decision for you to make," he said, his voice full of anger. "Absorbing Piccolo, too, seems to be paying off for you...Or did that come from Juuhachi-gou? Or Amara?"
Buu chuckled maniacally. "I'm going to kill you. That's for sure."
"That's only if I don't kill you first!" Gohan retorted.
Gohan and Buu sprang at each other, shuffling punches and kicks as soon as they met midway. They swiftly took their fight to the sky, moving so fast that anyone watching couldn't see them at all. Gohan eventually landed the first strike, ramming the back of his elbow underneath Buu's chin. Buu summarily reacted with a left punch to the young man's face. From then on, this turned into a give-and-take melee; as soon as one connected with a blow, the other successfully countered with one of their own. After catching each other in the jaw with a flying kick, the two brought their fight to a momentary halt as they alighted across from each other on a respective cliff.
"Hmph. It appears you aren't putting out enough power to kill me," Buu discerned. "You're trying to test out my abilities first, aren't you?"
"With the mindsets of Piccolo, Juuhachi-gou, and Amara, you can see right through me, huh?" Gohan replied, fleetingly tapping his forehead. He then glowered in irritation. "This is going to be hard. In that case, it's time I got down to business."
Gohan then took a fighting stance, and Buu did as well.
"Come on!" the Majin beckoned.
Gohan advanced on Buu again, snapping out his right leg for a roundhouse kick to the demon's head. Buu casually blocked the blow by catching him by the ankle. Quickly, Gohan went for a kick with his other leg. That blow was caught as well.
"So, what comes next?" Buu mocked.
Seething at the insult, Gohan amassed energy in his right hand and flung at Buu's face. However, Buu had anticipated the move and bent over backwards to avoid the blast. Afterwards, the demon's long head tentacle stretched out from between his legs to wrap itself firmly around the half-Saiyajin's neck. As Buu straightened himself, he pulled Gohan under him and hoisted him into the air behind him, tightening the grip on the teen's neck to choke him. Grinning, his fist reared back, the demon tossed Gohan into the air and punched him savagely in the face on the way back down. While the strike propelled him towards a large rock, Buu fired a ki blast after him. The blast hit explosively, diminishing the rock into debris.
Nearby, Mr. Satan- using his body to shield Wan- and Dende were ducking behind some rocks as low as they could, as they weathered the shockwave of Buu's attack.
Kneeling on one leg atop of a butte, Buu arrogantly watched the smoke below him where Gohan had been, waiting for him to reappear. But he didn't. He couldn't even sense Gohan's ki anymore. That only served to amuse the demon.
"Masking our ki are we?" Buu mocked. "Are you trying to stall for time by hiding down there, Gohan? For you to do such a desperate thing, evidently you've finally realized you're absolutely no match against me like this!"
"THINK AGAIN!" Gohan roared, emerging from his hiding place as he surged towards Buu at full speed.
Gohan directed a punch at Buu's face as soon as he was in range, only to be evaded. Immediately, Gohan heightened his attack as he struck out with both his arms and feet at rapid speed. Each strike was easily dodged by the Majin, and in return, Buu unleashed both a physical and mental assault on the young warrior that left him completely helpless. Not only taunting Gohan with teachings Piccolo had given him years ago when he prepared him for the arrival of the Saiyajin, Buu went even further by attacking him with Piccolo's signature Makanko Sappou and also Super Gotenji's Super Ghost Kamikaze Attack- that he renamed the Super Buu Kamikaze Attack- and also a Galactica Donuts and Kamehameha combination. All of which Buu thought he did much better than the original creators.
However, during the whole thing, on the inside Buu had been profusely disturbed about something. It was the one known as "Super Juumara". He couldn't access any of her techniques at all. In truth, he didn't really intend to use the Kamehameha at first, but the barrage of energy bullets she used on him in his last form while they were all fighting inside that strange room- which he now knew was the Room of Spirit and Time, thanks to both the memories of Piccolo and Super Gotenji. That was something else that bothered him. He also couldn't acquire any of her memories like the other two.
*What is going on here?* he wondered. *Has she not been completely assimilated into my body yet?*
"Hmph, no matter!" Buu said a moment later, shrugging his powerful shoulders. Another evil smile twisted his face. "Even without Super Juumara's power, I am still the mightiest in the universe. Now to go kill off that little wimp once and for all!"
Before he could do just that, to Buu's surprise, Gohan abruptly materialized right above him, his hands crossed over his head.
"That's the-" Buu started.
"CHOU…MASENKO…HAAAAA!" Gohan screamed, launching a stronger-than-normal Masenko point-blank at the Majin. It hit, fully devouring Buu.
Following that, the battered Gohan was breathing heavily. He had used a lot of energy just then, but if it was enough to-
The rest of that thought was cut off when something darted out of the smoke, catching him around the neck. As the haze diminished, it was revealed that what had Gohan by the neck was actually Majin Buu's tentacle, and underneath it, Buu grinned at him ghoulishly. Sadistic delight gleamed in those cruel eyes, as he tightened his grip around Gohan in another merciless choke.
"Nice try, Gohan, but it wasn't good ENOUGH!" The end of Buu's words was followed by a succession of harsh punches to the young man's abdomen. With a swing of his neck, he smashed Gohan face-first into the terrain, enjoying the scream of bright agony that erupted from Gohan's lips.
Gohan lay face-first in the earth, his body aching terribly all over. His gi suit was singed immensely, blood trickled down the corners of his mouth, and lacerations and bruises covered his body. But as much as he was hurting he knew he had to get back up and stop Majin Buu, because if he were to die then no one would be able to. He just had to get back up!
A few minutes later, the half-Saiyajin had managed to muster up enough strength to push himself up on his hands and knees, however, that was as far as he'd been able to get. Once again, Gohan was hauled up into the air by Majin Buu's long tentacle as it was enfolded securely around his neck. He gasped for breath and kicked wildly at the air as he was retracted back in towards Buu, stopping when the villian had him hovering a mere hairsbreadth in front of him.
"Tell me something, Gohan, how does it feel? The pain…?" Majin Buu chuckled cruelly when Gohan's response came in the form of a choked sob as he applied pressure around the half-Saiyajin's neck. "Well, don't fret my friend, in a moment you won't be around to feel anything!" Buu told him, extending out his right hand, he blistered Gohan's back with a volley of small ki blasts; they weren't strong enough to kill him, but just enough intensify the torture.
Over behind the rocks, all three of Dende, Mr. Satan, and Wan cringed in unison, cowering lower in the rocks as they heard Gohan's agonizing cries. If only Dende could just get to Gohan, he would be able to heal him. But he dared not risked that chance, knowing Majin Buu would either destroy him on his sheer wicked principle or because he now knows of the Namekseijin deity healing abilities due to absorbing Piccolo and the Fusion warriors.
With a growling laugh, Majin Buu swung his head, flinging Gohan's battered body high into the atmosphere. Rocketing up into the air after him, the pink devil planted both his feet viciously in his back and sent him descending earthward, watching in malicious contentment as Gohan's body cracked a crater in the terrain. The boy was truly his for the pickings now!
"Okay, this should be more than enough proof that my throne as the mightiest in the Universe is unshakable!" Buu gloated. "Now, Gohan-kun…I will end both you and this boring world for good!"
Thrusting both his hands into the air, Buu began massing energy. Below him, prone on the ground, Gohan lay motionless though still alive. Barely. He didn't have the strength to move again. Within minutes, in Majin Buu's joined palms sat an immense energy orb, humming unpromisingly; the light from it turned half the region into an ominous shade of aquamarine. And over behind the rocks, Dende, the World Champion and his pet stared up at the ki ball in horror.
"No! If that thing hits, then we're done for!" Dende exclaimed in despair.
Adjacent to him, Mr. Satan frowned. When the God of Earth says that the planet was about to be destroyed, that was more than enough to inspire him to take action. Even if it was against Buu.
"Hey, Majin Buu!" he bellowed and stood, determination gripping him. "I won't let you have your way! If you want to destroy this world, you'll have to kill me first!"
Below and beside him, Dende stared up at the human like he'd gone really crazy.
"Satan-san!...Maybe this is not such a good idea!" he cautioned in a nervous tone.
Overtop, Majin Buu had heard the World Champion, and he frowned. He had thought the annoying human had perished with the rest that had still been down on the Earth when he wiped them all out with his Human Extinction Attack. He wouldn't escape this time. No one or nothing would. This attack he prepared would finish them all, and as well as the planet.
"Majin Buu! For your own good, I'll stop you!" Mr. Satan vowed. Wan instinctively leaped out of his arms, as the champion reached inside his shirt to pull out an ordinary pistol. Landing abeam the man, Wan barked up at Buu, while Satan trained the gun on the Majin. "Drop that glowing ball this instant or you'll regret it!"
Still genuflecting behind the rocks, Dende looked at the last surviving Earthling in concern. While he found the man's sudden bravery very admirable, he was being extremely foolish.
Majin Buu unsurprisingly didn't give into the man's threat, but he did continue to scowl down at him.
"F-forgive me, Majin Buu!" Mr. Satan said fatalistically. Regret imperceptibly flashed across his face for what he was about to do.
Majin Buu hovered stationary, his hands poised to hurl the attack that would decimate this world and any survivors along with it. But he couldn't seem to bring himself to fire it, especially while Satan and Wan were down there. No matter how much he really wanted to, just so he could make that brainless fool shut up! The demon's lips curled angrily. Why did his Good self have to form a friendship with that irritating human and that vermin furball?
Growling determinedly, Buu hardheartedly pushed the weak sentimentality down and cold resolve returned tenfold. No, he would not let the feelings of the other Buu stop him! He would destroy Mr. Satan and the dog!
As the demon was getting ready to throw his attack, Mr. Satan attacked as well, firing bullet after bullet at the energy attack. In the next instant, Buu's energy sphere broke down in an explosion.
"W-what!?" Buu gasped, staring up at his now empty hands in utter shock. He barely noticed it when sunlight returned to the area. Snarling, he swung his gaze back down on Satan. He could see the man and Dende gaping down at his gun in sheer disbelief. *T-this can't be right! That idiot couldn't have done that with a mere gun! What the hell's going on here!?*
While he and the others were trying to figure out what just happened, several rocks behind Dende and his small group, a distinguishable figure let out a breath of relief. He was very glad that he'd made it in time to stop Buu. Even if it was only for a moment.
"Gohan, no…" Goku muttered in distress, forced to endure watching his oldest son's beating at the hands of Majin Buu. First Goten, Vegeta's family, and Piccolo are devoured, and now Gohan looked to be a few steps away from death. He couldn't watch anymore!
"This is very bad indeed for Gohan-san," Kaioushin remarked worriedly. "With the stolen powers of Gotenji and Juumara, he's being beaten so one-sidedly by Buu!"
"I know…" Goku agreed, standing. His expression was utterly serious at that moment as his eyes remained glued to the crystal ball. "…And that's why I've decided to go back there! If I don't, Buu really will kill Gohan this time!"
Kaioushin and Kibito gaped at him in shock.
"But it's impossible for you to return, right?" Kibito asked, staring up at him quizzically.
"He's right, Goku," Kaioushin said. "If you were to return now, you would be nothing more than a mere powerless ghost."
The Saiyajin slapped his forehead and growled in exasperation. With his mind occupied with the current events, he had forgotten that he was still dead, and that the only way he could go back to Earth was to go to Enma Daiou and request a new earthly body. Yet the problem was that it would take time, and time was something Gohan didn't have right now. What was he going to do now? He just had to save his son.
"They are correct about that, which is why…" Everyone turned as one when they heard Rou Kaioushin's voice behind them, letting his sentence hang dramatically in the air. The older god's interest in his manga had seemed to have died out and his focus was once again on the Majin Buu matter, as he got up from his seat atop of the hill and paced over towards the others. "Which is why I've made a hard decision. For the better good of the universe...I'm going to hand over my life force to Goku so he can fight Buu."
Goku, East Kaioushin, and Kibito could only stare, wide-eyed and speechless.
"Honorable Forefather! Do you know what you're saying!?" Kaioushin asked in shock.
"You're a Grand Kaioushin-sama!" Kibito reminded him. "You can't give up your life for a human!"
"I've made up my mind," Rou Kaioushin replied unwaveringly. "This must be done. If Goku isn't sent back to Earth to help out Gohan, then all really will be lost. After Majin Buu eventually destroys that world, I'm pretty sure he'll come to our world next."
Both Kaioushin and Kibito were lost for words.
"Then...I'll do it!" Kaioushin volunteered. "I wasn't able to stop the revival of Majin Buu, nor could I free you from your seal. This is the least I can do!"
"B-but Kaioushin-sama!" Kibito protested.
"No, you're still young," the older Kaioushin declined. "But me, I still have thousands of years left."
"Old-timer, I don't know what to say..." Goku said, completely touched.
Rou Kaioushin smiled at the Saiyajin. Then, in a blink of an eye, Rou Kaioushin separated his life-force from his physical body and collapsed onto the ground. He didn't move.
Goku's big round eyes widened as he felt tingly all over, glancing upward, he witnessed as his halo vanished from above his head. It had been done, the elder Kaioushin had transferred his life to him! As happy as he was to be able to go help Gohan, sorrow flashed across the young man's face as he stared down at the motionless body of Rou Kaioushin. Abreast of him, both Kibito and Kaioushin's heads were bowed as they paid their silent respects.
"I promise, I won't let this new life you've given me go in vain," Goku vowed, lowering his head as well.
In the next instant, a halo-wearing Rou Kaioushin sat up and snapped, "Then go, already! Stop standing there like an idiot! Do you want my death to be meaningless!?"
Goku, Kaioushin, and Kibito stared at deity in equal stupefaction.
"Uh..." Goku said. That carefree expression of Goku's quickly bled away and was refilled with seriousness. "Wish me luck, everyone!"
"Wait a minute, Goku!" Rou Kaioushin called, just as Goku had been about to teleport to Earth.
"Yeah?"
"What is your plan for Majin Buu?" Rou Kaioushin asked. "Because at his current power level, there's no way you and Gohan can beat Buu now."
Goku searched his brain for a quick strategy. Then just as immediately, an idea hit him.
"Hey, I know! Gohan and I will use Fusion!" he said. "That way, we'll definitely win for sure!"
"Hmph! Yes, but if you're talking about that thing those little runts did, then forget it," Rou Kaioushin replied. "There's no way Buu would wait for you guys to go through the nuisance of posing through that Fusion business."
"I guess you're right," Goku admitted. "Then what am I going to then!? Time's running out!"
Rou Kaioushin had opened mouth to speak when all of a sudden, a whitish-blue sphere of light appeared over them. Everyone gaped up in wonder as it descended, touching down beside them. Gradually, the light vanished, but left in its wake was a very recognizable person. Everyone but the elder Kaioushin broke the silence at the same time.
"Kosumo!"
Enma Daiou sighed, like one who had just made an unfavorable decision that had to be made whether he wanted it to or not. He then looked down at the man standing in front of his desk.
"While this goes against my better judgment, I can no longer hold out hope that someone in the living realm will handle this Majin Buu problem. I'm even giving you a new body for this. We need your help...Vegeta. Please."
A half-disdainful, half-amused expression slid across Vegeta's face.
"So, it's gotten so bad that the Lord of Judgment needs the help of a miscreant such as me," he said, chuckling. "However, with Majin Buu as my opponent, I don't know if I can meet your faint expectations."
The enormous orge nodded. "Yes, and now there's only the matter of getting your paperwork signed to release you. Baba!"
Reaching underneath his desk, the Lord of Judgment pulled out a large stack of paperwork and then turned toward the little witch hovering beside Vegeta on her signature crystal ball. Urani O'Baba let out a long-suffering sigh. Oh, how she hated to have to fill out all those papers again so soon. She really felt the giant orge's pain as she could understand what he go through day in and day out. But oh well, for the better good she guessed.
As the fortune-teller dealt with the paperwork, Vegeta barely noticed the others in the room with him anymore, secretly relishing in the fact that his chance for vengeance would come very soon. His lips curling into a grimace, his thoughts were very evil and centered on all of the unpleasant things he would do to Majin Buu. And when he got his hands on Majin Buu, someway, somehow, he would make him pay for messing with his family. And one thing you just didn't do was mess with a man's family.
Much less the family of the Prince of the Saiyajin.
To Be Continued
