Chapter 34: Demon vs. Demon! Piccolo faces Dabura
"On second thought Master, I'd like more room for my fight." Dabura had a slight smirk on his face that he couldn't hide, even though he was disappointed in his fellow Majin warriors, the Demon King was excited to be fighting himself, "Can we move back outside?"
"Oh, you're looking forward to this, aren't you?" The floating wizard chuckled as he consulted with his subordinate, "Very well!" Babidi extended his arms and within a quick instant he, Dabura, and the stone figures of Tien and Shin were in the middle of the desert plain that lay outside the ship.
Seconds later, Piccolo and his companions found themselves standing just a handful of meters from Babidi's group. "Change of venue?" The Namekian's gruff voice showing his distaste for being teleported around.
"Look! It's Tien and the Supreme Kai!" Krillin shouted as he observed his newfound, old surroundings. The Monk clenched his fist and was almost ready to jump over there.
"Krillin, wait." Broly had come to his feet between now and when his bout with Yakon had ended.
"Broly's right, Krillin." Piccolo had straightened out his arm so it was in front of the orange clad monk, "Starting a bout near them could result in us breaking the statues..it could kill them. Not to mention we don't know how to change them back."
Kibito was horrified at seeing his master's statue form, "We must not risk it.." The larger kai clenched his fist, the anger on his face not hidden at all.
"Oh ho ho, don't worry, we will change them back when we have what we need." Babidi cackled a bit and floated around the stoned figures of Tien and the Supreme Kai, "I'll make sure your friends aren't harmed." A bright circle of energy appeared, surrounding the floating wizard and his new prized ornaments. "We'll stay out of the way."
Dabura chuckled and turned to face the group of Z-Warriors, "I know we said one on one, but if you're scared you can fight me as a group."
Piccolo scoffed, "Oh, you would stand no chance that way." The Namekian took a step towards the Majin Demon King, "I can take care of you by myself."
"You don't stand a chance, green one." Dabura extended his arm out and a large, curved sword in the style of a dao appeared in the Demon King's hand. "Let's get started."
A few minutes earlier, back near Vegeta's spaceship..
Trunks stood over the unconscious body of his father, perplexed by the events that had happened only moments earlier. How did his father expunge the tuffle? What kind of power was that? The Half-Saiyan couldn't get the confused thoughts out of his head.
Gohan stood only a few feet behind his former pupil, "Trunks, we gotta get him help."
"Oh, of course!" Trunks shook his head as if he had been snapped back into reality and leaned down, taking his father's unconscious body into his arms, "Let's get to Kami's place, Dende can heal him."
"Good plan." Gohan affirmed and walked to where the majority of the damaged Android 16 lay on the ground, piecing himself back together, "I guess he'll join us later." The black haired Half Saiyan slowly levitated into the air and blasted off towards Kami's Palace, followed closely by Trunks who had Vegeta in his arms.
Back by Babidi's Ship..
Piccolo and Dabura stood opposite each other, each testing the resolve of the other, seeing who would make the first move. Dabura's overconfidence and impatience won out as he leapt towards his green opponent at a speed few have ever seen, cocking his red skinned fist back to throw a monstrous blow.
The Namekian Z-Warrior was waiting for his opponent to strike first and he was not disappointed or unprepared. Piccolo threw up a forearm block and pushed Dabura's strike to the side, swiftly throwing a green fist but only struck air. The Demon King spun in the air, avoiding the Namekian's strike and landing on his feet. Swinging his opposite fist at his foe, Dabura tried again to land a punch but it was caught by Piccolo.
Before he knew it, a swift, sharp blow struck Dabura right across the face, sending the Demon King staggering back. "Lucky shot. Time to get serious!" Dabura clenched his fists and extended both arms to his sides, erupting a pinkish-white aura that enveloped his entire body.
"Finally." Piccolo smiled and gripped the neck of his shoulder pads, lifting them over his head and removing his trademark turban, both making a loud thud as they hit the ground. "That's what I've been waiting for." Erupting his own white aura and standing firmly across from the Majin Warrior.
Dabura lunged towards Piccolo, clashing with the Namekian repeatedly as they did before but with much more destruction in their wake, the shockwaves from their fists erupting across the battlefield. "DARKNESS BLADE!" Suddenly, a large broadsword appeared in Dabura's hands and he swung it repeatedly through the air towards his opponent. While none of the sword strikes were even close to Piccolo, the aftermath was where the danger came from. With every swing of his sword, Dabura sent cutting whips of energy through the air capable of slicing anything in their wake. Babidi cackled behind the safety of his self made shield, keeping him and the statuesque Tien and Shin safe from any harm.
Piccolo was now on the run, avoiding the dangerous energy the best he could. "I can't win without going on the offensive.." The Namekian thought to himself while continually dodging Dabura's deadly attack. Smirking briefly, the green skinned warrior had a thought and started shooting balls of energy every single time he dodged one of Dabura's swings.
"Bahahaha! You aren't even coming close to hitting me!" The Demon King laughed as he continued his onslaught with Piccolo's blasts not even entering the vicinity of where he was standing, but they continued nonetheless.
Off to the side of the battlefield, Krillin and Kibito stood behind Broly as they observed the fight. The large Saiyan had raised his power and erupted a slight aura to keep him and the others safe from any stray blasts.
"What is Piccolo doing? His attacks aren't even close.." Broly spoke softly, while the Saiyan was incredibly strong, he didn't have the experience of lifelong training like Piccolo or even his human compatriot.
"Look carefully Broly...Piccolo's blasts aren't meant to be hitting." Krillin smiled as he realized Piccolo's strategy, seeing this move used multiple times in their years of training on King Kai's planet.
Broly's eyes widened as he realized the scope of Piccolo's tactics, the yellow balls of energy sat motionless in the air, surrounding the battlefield where the two combatants struggled against each other.
"He's a very smart fighter.." Kibito muttered, a little surprised by the intelligence of Piccolo's fighting style, "Mortals...they continue to surprise me."
The familiar, deep voice of Piccolo could be heard straining to avoid Dabura's continuous attacks, but his attack was near its completion. As if he was giving up his dodging, Piccolo stopped, stood with his arms straight out and ignited his aura. "You are pretty tough, but for a King, you aren't very smart."
Dabura scoffed, "You're the one who stopped moving, time to die!" The Demon King charged up for one final slash at his Namekian foe.
Babidi had a worried look on his face and shouted at his top minion, "YOU BUFFOON, LOOK AROUND YOU!"
The wizard's advice came too little too late as Piccolo crossed his outstretched arms in front of him, sending the numerous balls of energy crashing into the clueless Demon King, "HELLZONE GRENADE!"
Each explosion got bigger than the last until all that could be seen was one gigantic cloud of smoke where Dabura had stood, Piccolo couldn't tell if the fight was quite over, but he couldn't help but smirk at the upper hand he had just given himself.
Not too far away, in the skies above the sacred Land of Korin..
The unconscious body of Vegeta laid limp in Trunks arms as he and Gohan raced through the sky towards Kami's lookout. "Gohan..do you feel Piccolo's energy? It's through the roof!"
The black haired Half-Saiyan had been monitoring his mentor's energy from afar for a little while now, "Yeah, and whoever he's fighting has an energy that may be even stronger than his.."
"Broly is there too, don't forget.." Trunks had a tiny bit of worry on his face, but he had to get his father to Dende, "If you're worried, you should go. I can take care of my Father."
"But, if that energy is Majin Buu..we don't know how strong he can get..I'm gonna go back them up." Gohan spiked his white aura and flew off towards Piccolo's energy.
Back at the site of the battle..
Piccolo stood motionless as the cloud of dust and dirt that enveloped Dabura evaporated with time, revealing the battered and bruised Demon King. The untouched, pristine clothing and cape that had previously adorned Dabura was now replaced by singed, dirty, and ripped cloth that barely covered his red skin.
"DAMN YOU!" Dabura screamed, veins popping from his face as he erupted his energy, reaching levels that he hadn't used in centuries, "I WILL END YOU!"
Babidi had lost focus on the fight, unimpressed by Dabura's performance. The dastardly wizard had other things on his mind, or specifically, other minds on his mind. He had been sneaking around the mind of his observers, finding a specifically dark corner of one particular observer's mind…
Dabura had charged Piccolo in a reckless rage that his foe barely had time to react to, the Demon King's red fists clashed with the green hands that his Namekian counterpart blocked with. The intensity of battle had seemingly multiplied ten times over compared to before, with Dabura's rage fueling his onslaught.
Broly, Krillin, and Kibito were still silently observing as Gohan softly landed a few feet behind them, "Hey guys..what's the situation?"
Krillin nearly jumped, surprised by the sudden emergence of the Half-Saiyan. His focus on the fight had dulled his senses, leaving him nearly clueless to his surroundings, "Gohan! How's Vegeta? And Trunks?!"
"Trunks is fine..Vegeta will pull through. That's a long story, first tell me what's going on here." The stern look on Gohan's face made it obvious he knew at least the seriousness of the situation going on.
Kibito stepped towards the Half-Saiyan, "Babidi's minions have taken Supreme Kai and your three eyed friend captive..turned to stone by the one Piccolo is battling."
"What? Let's go get them!" Gohan erupted into his Super Saiyan form, ready to blast towards where Babidi was floating.
Krillin stepped between Kibito and Gohan, "No, don't!" The bald monk's voice nearly cracked as he screamed, "If you do that, they'll break them! We don't know what will happen to them. We have to let Piccolo fight this out."
Gohan dissipated his aura, a worried look came across his face as he continued observing Piccolo's fight, muttering quietly to himself, "Come on Mr. Piccolo.."
Broly hadn't moved a muscle since Gohan had landed but he was visibly shaking, gritting his teeth, and clenching his fist. As if a bomb had gone off, the Legendary Super Saiyan's aura exploded, throwing the unexpecting Krillin and Kibito across the landscape. Piccolo and Dabura immediately stopped, noticing this obvious spike of immense energy.
"What..what's going on?!" Dabura shouted, with an uncharacteristically worried look on his face.
"Oh ho ho! This one..he's a real monster!" Babidi's high pitched laugh cut through the air with a clear hint of diabolical glee.
Broly's body quickly enlarged to nearly twice it's normal size, his sickly green aura was repeatedly exploding outward, but unlike before it was accompanied by streaks of lightning that surged around him. As if he was being cut into by a knife, a strange mark was being etched directly into the skin on the large Saiyan's forehead. Almost like a cauterized wound, the mark was the devilish M mark that stood for Majin..
Next Chapter - Chapter 35: A Legendary Rampage! Majin Broly Appears!
Sorry it took so long, but I hope it was at least a decent chapter! We're getting into the nitty gritty of the Buu Saga now, having Broly take over Vegeta's role here seemed like an obvious thing, maybe too obvious but it leads to more chaos. Thank you for reading!
