Chapter 32 : Raditz's Anger

"You'll pay for this." Raditz repeated, teal eyes narrowing.

Piccolo, on the other hand, was quick to give chase after an irate Raditz. Even from where he stood, the Namekian could literally feel Raditz's anger. The Saiyan's ki was steadily rising and if he didn't calm Raditz down now, then it would really be no stopping him. Then what would become of the extra hour they bought? The lives of humans they - no, he - sacrificed?

Would it be for nothing?

Furthermore, what would become of them?

Piccolo knew better than to take Super Buu's words lightly; that much was more than apparent from the villain's eyes. In addition, Buu killed Chi-Chi without any remorse or hesitation. If Super Buu could do that to Chi-Chi atop of killing every human on Earth without batting an eye, then there was simply no imagining what could be done to them.

Super Buu would demolish them.

"Raditz!" Piccolo called out harshly, cape whipping briskly as he immediately trailed behind an angry black-haired Saiyan. "Stop!"

As one would expect, the Saiyan was far too angry to listen to him and in an act of desperation, Piccolo's eyes quickly cut onto a wide-eyed Krillin."Krillin! Use it now!'

The former monk looked completely taken aback, blinking owlishly at the sudden urgency in the Namekian's voice; it was unfamiliar. "W-What?"

Piccolo hurriedly gestured upwards towards the sky, and understanding dawned on Krillin immediately. Ultimately, while he would prefer not to use such a technique on Raditz, the former monk knew Piccolo had a reason. So, with slight reluctance, Krillin quickly dashed forwards and cut in front of the burly Saiyan, positioning his hands and fingers accordingly.

Time was of the essence.

"Sorry, buddy; Solar Flare!"

Within seconds, there was a blinding light illuminating the whole Lookout tower and beyond.

Naturally, this was followed by a mixture of surprised cries and gasps as no one really expected little of anything. However, if this didn't help Raditz get a hold of his senses, Piccolo didn't know what would. By no means was he trying to defend Buu of all people, but their main priority was timing and getting things done for once and for all.

However, Piccolo and Krillin just weren't fast enough.

No...

Piccolo's eyes darted around instantaneously, cape slightly whipping behind him from the action itself. Was he too late?

The Namekian's anxiousness regarding the Saiyan's whereabouts were quickly quelled the moment his eyes landed upon the warrior; Raditz was engulfed in a yellow aura that seemed borderline fiery despite its color. Within the next second, Raditz's fist was swinging into Super Buu's cheek as it all but slammed Buu down into the tile floors of the Lookout Tower.

Raditz had enough.

The burly male, one whom was usually quite rational and somewhat of a strategist, was blinded by sheer rage.

And as Raditz watched Super Buu's form submerge into a tremendous crater of which shattered the entire area beneath Buu, Raditz found that his rage wasn't quite satiated. Thus, while the pink being hurled downwards at immense speeds from the force of Raditz's actions, Raditz quickly plummeted downwards and past the single pillar supporting the Lookout tower in order to pursue his opponent. Mercilessly, the irate Saiyan was phasing in behind a rapidly descending Buu.

Raditz's eyes narrowed ever so slightly whilst slamming his burly leg into Super Buu's distorted body and sending him hurling back up. In a flash, Raditz phased in front of Buu and ferociously slammed his fists into Buu's body one after another.

Releasing a primal battle cry, Raditz delivered a deafening uppercut.

"Raditz!" Piccolo boomed, noticing that a wide-eyed blonde was rushing towards him out of his peripheral. Piccolo ignored it. "This isn't a battle field! The Lookout Tower wasn't meant to handle this! Don't forget Goten, 17, and Trunks are in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber as well! What happens if you destroy them while they're in there?!"

But it was no use.

Raditz was so out of it and in his head that the male was focusing on nothing but charging up as much ki as he could afford to; he wanted Buu dead and Raditz wanted him dead now. The burly Saiyan was done with letting Super Buu have his way. He was done with this whole Buu ordeal altogether. He was tired of failing not only himself but others. He was tired of continuously coming up with new plans - one constantly being sabotaged after the other.

Raditz was tired of retreating and living to fight another day.

"18!" Piccolo called out urgently. "We have to stop him! Raditz hasn't recovered enough from training. The whole point of buying time was for him to rest! If - "

" - Obviously we're past the point of no return!" 18 cut off in irritation. "Don't you think we should be thinking of our next move, instead?"

Piccolo's eye's widened, realizing that Android 18 was right. There was just no way that Buu would be willing to negotiate things out after this. Hell, he was barely able to negotiate with him in the first place. The Namekian released a annoyed 'tsk'.

His efforts and attempts really ended up being fruitless in the end, after all, huh? Instead of being fixated on trying to save time that they definitely didn't have anymore, Piccolo needed to apply his thoughts to other matters.

18 was right.

"Guys," An alarmed Yamcha addressed as he ran up to a distracted Piccolo, Krillin, and Android 18 with wide eyes, "Please tell me that this is a part of the plan."

Of course, anyone could tell, including Yamcha, that this was a hard deviation from the devised plan, but one decided to humor him anyway.

"I wish I could," Krillin answered before the others could. "But who better to take on Super Buu besides Raditz anyway?"

"That's not the point." Piccolo reminded. "All that time I bought us...was for nothing. Those human lives I sacrificed were all for nothing as well. Raditz's body isn't even fully rested yet. He was supposed to take Super Buu at his best. If I would have known things would have turned out this way, I would have just asked Dende to heal him as soon as Super Buu started heading up this way."

Piccolo clenched his fists, shoulders tensing in the slightest of ways. After a pregnant pause, the Namekian continued, "I just thought we had more time is all. That's the mindset I was operating under."

"Well, after losing Gohan," Bulma butted in sadly, placing a comforting hand on Piccolo's broad shoulder. "I can't fault Raditz for throwing caution to the wind. I mean guys Buu killed Chi-Chi in front of not only Goten, but Raditz as well." The blue-haired Scientist's eyes lowered even further in sadness if possible.

"Bulma certainly has a point, " Master Roshi interjected. "Besides I doubt any of us expected Raditz to do nothing. Buu doesn't exactly have the best of track records."

"Yeah," one of the gang grumbled distractedly, "They're all gone."

Before the conversation could continue further, a loud continuous battle cry was shredding through the atmosphere. It was Raditz and the male had been charging up a massive amount of ki and by the sound of things, he was finally finished.

"What power!" Tarble murmured with wide eyes.

Then, without so much as a warning, Raditz used instant transmission to appear directly behind Super Buu. He had a brief flashback to Kakarot's fight against Cell at the Cell Games, but he quickly dismissed it. He'd use this attack to propel Buu as far away from the Lookout Tower as possible. Next, he would instant transmission to Buu's location and finish things after he got Dende to heal him.

For good.

~0~

"Taro," Marise whispered worriedly, her tiny fists clenching the ends of her loose dress. "Mama and Papa...are they going to be okay?"

Taro swallowed thickly, eyes still engrossed in what was going on above. For a reason he couldn't place, this fight seemed different. This wasn't anything like the fights they had been observing at the tournament. "O-Of course they are," the young male answered slowly. He could only hope that he sounded more sure of himself than he felt.

After all, he had to be tough for the both of them.

Marise, being observant as always, wasn't convinced in the slightest. The blonde-haired girl clenched her fists even further. She couldn't help but feel helpless, scared and...frustrated?

She heard about how Goten and Trunks were half-Saiyans. Well, so was she and Taro. If their cousin Gohan, whom was a half-Saiyan, was as powerful as he was, didn't that mean they had the potential to be as strong too?

For the first time, Marise was feeling a burning feeling within her...a desire maybe? It was almost as if her blood was boiling and this feeling was entirely different from wanting to originally participate in the tournament; it was much stronger. Marise's icy eyes flickered onto Taro.

Did he feel it too?

They were near polar opposites at times, Taro and herself.

While she was calm and observed before acting, Taro was more outspoken and more impulsive; thus, surely, Taro would have mentioned something. Nevertheless, Marise, her mother's carbon copy, wanted to do something; she wanted to help. For once, maybe she shouldn't analyze...maybe she should just act.

"Marise! Taro!" 18 called out, rushing towards her kids.

The twins perked up simultaneously, sharing a brief look of confusion.

"INSTANT BLOCK BUSTER CANNON (1)!"

In the nick of time, 18 was providing cover for her kids as everything harshly rumbled; a direct result of her husband's attack. They released a surprised shriek, but nonetheless leaned into 18's arms.

"Mama?" Marise called out questionably.

18 quickly recognized that tone of voice, but kept her icy eyes focused elsewhere. She was making sure the others were fine. "Not now, Marise."

The small blonde didn't falter. "I want to help too; I want to fight."

18's eyes widened, finally releasing her children as things seemed to settle down. "What'd you say?"

"I said I want to fight." Marise repeated clearly.

18 narrowed her eyes, near glaring at her daughter and whilst Taro shrunk back a little, Marise did not falter. 18's eyes narrowed further if possible. "No."

The blonde bombshell was rising up to her feet, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "This isn't a battle for children. Leave this to your father and I. We will handle this. In the meantime, you'll listen to Piccolo. 17 is still in the hyperbolic time chamber with Goten and Trunks. As soon as 17 comes out, you two know what to do."

Taro nodded once, "Listen to uncle 17."

"Right." 18 confirmed. Then her eyes softened just a bit, placing a hand on either of their heads. Out the corner of her eyes, she could see that Raditz was being healed by Dende. "Your father and I love you both. After this, we'll all do something together." She promised softly, "But right now, I need you two to listen to what I say and stay strong. Promise me."

The twins nodded.

"Promise."

~0~

"Are you sure about this?" Piccolo inquired.

"Very sure." Raditz responded easily, rising up to his feet. "It has to be done this way. When we kept focusing on buying time, we've done nothing but continuously lost lives; there's been sacrifice after sacrifice. Sure, a few things did come out of it, but what happens when we run out of plans? Trunks and Goten are supposedly our last resort, but it's not smart to allow it to come to that."

Raditz exhaled a slow sigh as he continued thoughtfully. "Shit has already been hitting the fan as is, and it'll most likely only get worse; I don't want to lose anyone else, Piccolo."

Piccolo closed his eyes as he seemed to contemplate Raditz's words in silence. "Alright. Be careful. You have a family to come back to."

Raditz gave a curt nod as he put two fingers to his forehead. "We all do. That includes you."

"Raditz," Tarble called out before Piccolo or anyone else could respond, "I want to join. Let me come with you."

"No," Raditz answered calmly, "I need you here with Piccolo and the others - "

Tarble looked at Raditz in bewilderment." - What? I spent all of this time training and trying to get stronger. I didn't do any of those things for no reason - "

" - and you didn't." Raditz interrupted matter-of-factly, "But I need you here. In case I fail. You have to be prepared to take over. Can you handle that?"

Tarble looked near dejected in the face, but it was clear that he understood.

"Well, I am coming." 18 stated calmly, wrapping her arms around Raditz's huge frame. "And you will not tell me no. I feel responsible for some of this as well. The least I can do is try and end this. I'm sure Vegeta had the same thing in mind when he sacrificed himself in your stead."

Raditz obviously opened his mouth to protest, but 18 didn't give him the time to. "Let's go before Buu finds his way back here. I could be wrong, but I doubt we have the time to be standing around."

The burly male released a sound of frustration at his wife's words, narrowing his eyes slightly. "You're too stubborn for your own good, L."

Nevertheless, 18 was right. He quickly diverted his eyes onto Piccolo and the others, giving them a final nod. "Take care of things here. If I fail, you guys should relocate the second you notice Buu heading back this way."

"But," Raditz tacked on in determination, "I don't plan on failing."

And then the Saiyan was gone.

Only to re-appear directly in front of a grinning Buu with his woman in tow.

As Raditz expected, it didn't take the monster long to regenerate.

Which was fine.

The whole point was to force Super Buu away from the others in the first place. Now, with Raditz healed and fully mastering SSJ3, there was no room for anymore excuses or reasons why they kept failing. Nothing was against him.

Not even time anymore.

The only problem at hand was Buu.

Meanwhile, at Buu's bone-chilling expression, 18 released a low scoff.

We have a lot to talk about, L.

Despite hearing her husband's voice in her head, 18 refused to take her eyes off their pink opponent. Instead, she gave a slow nod in response.

Satisfied, Raditz diverted his attention back onto Buu. "Is that all you can do? Parade around here with that stupid grin on your face?"

At the insult, Buu's face fell slightly; however, the being looked unfazed altogether. "And," Buu tacked on slowly, grin seemingly returning, "kill."

18's eyes widened, a hard shudder wracking her small frame. Something felt amiss. Horribly wrong.

But she couldn't put her finger on it.

And as if feeling her fear seep through their bond, Raditz discreetly wrapped his tail around her wrist. This was the best he could do. He couldn't comfort her openly right now, not in front of the enemy. At the same time, however, she needed to pull herself together. What happened to her feeling responsible and righting her wrongs?

As harsh as it sounded, he could not afford to be worrying about her right now. He just couldn't.

"Well, enough talk," Raditz decided finally, "let's do this."

"Mmm," Buu hummed, his grin widening even further if possible, "Just a little bit longer."

Raditz shot him a look of confusion, "The hell are you talking about? There is no more waiting around. No more stalling. This is it, Buu. We settle this now."

Buu's grin widened further, as if knowing some sort of secret that Raditz didn't know.

Whatever it was, it was obvious that it was pissing Raditz off.

"What the hell is so funny?" the Saiyan asked menacingly. "You damn near throw a temper tantrum over waiting an hour on the Lookout. I thought you weren't the type that liked waiting."

"Payback. Then, fight."

Raditz looked taken aback. Payback? The hell was he talking about? Payback for what? Payback for waiting? Come to think of it, Raditz did find it slightly odd that Buu was just floating around when he used Instant transmission. Or was it really that odd in the first place? Raditz shook his head a few times, as if to shake the thoughts away; he was thinking too much.

After all, Buu had probably expected Raditz to seek him out. Any enemy like Buu would have done the same more or less. This was Buu he was talking about. He clearly had more intelligence than Fat Buu now, but Raditz doubted it exceeded Piccolo or even him.

"Raditz?" 18 called out quietly. She seemed to regain her bearings as her eyes were strictly focused on the enemy before them.

"I'm good," he answered coolly.

Damn, the creature before him was actually making him doubt and reconsider things. Raditz 'tsked' as he didn't have the time for these mind games.

And as if tired of waiting around for Raditz to figure things out, Buu was gesturing behind the couple with a finger. "Payback." The impatient creature explained chillingly. "I was lied to and I was forced to wait. Twice."

For a reason unbeknownst to Raditz, he felt really uneasy. Something didn't feel right.

Then, his heart dropped after he took a moment to figure things out. Super Buu was gesturing towards the Lookout tower. But how? He didn't feel Buu's ki there. Was Buu messing with him? Buu was literally in front of him.

Not only that, but Buu had such a distinct ki that Raditz was certain he would have felt it immediately.

Then Raditz's eyes were widening in realization, locking onto Buu's ki signature on the Lookout. Did Buu leave bits or a part of himself behind on the lookout? Had Buu been waiting around here idly not to wait for him to arrive, but to wait for the pieces of himself to form whole? To leave a clone behind? Raditz's mind flashed back to how Fat Buu had pulled segments of himself from his body and slung it around him.

Raditz didn't even consider something like that because he was sure he blasted all of Buu away.

"Shit! No!" Raditz called out in a tone that didn't suit him. He quickly grasped his wife's hand and put his fingers to his forehead.

"Raditz!" 18 called out worriedly, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion and fear. "What's going on - "

" - Mama! Papa!" Marise called out fearfully, holding onto her brother for dear life. The twins were shaking as well as everyone else.

18's eyes widened in shock, all but yanking out of Raditz's loose grip. "My kids!" 18 did a quick look around, wondering how this could have happened. It looked like Tarble, Krillin, Yamcha and Master Roshi had put up a fight, considering that they were all chocolate bars now.

18 swallowed thickly, seemingly frozen in place.

Bulma and the rest of the women were in tears - except Videl. Videl was angrily regarding Buu and looking ready to go at any moment; however, she was probably hesitant because Buu had her kids in hand.

Piccolo and Dende weren't in sight at the moment, nor was 17 or the boys. If 17 was out here, she couldn't tell. In other words that meant that her brother, Trunks, and her nephew were still in the Hyperbolic time chamber.

They were safe at least.

Now how could she ensure her kids and everyone else's safety?

18's eyes diverted back onto Super Buu. The woman was truly at a lost for what to do. But at the same time, seeing her kids in tears and actually scared for their lives was something she didn't ever want them to experience.

Her and Raditz had wanted to protect them from everything.

The blonde haired woman had a brief flashback to the fear her and 17 had felt that one time from Dr. Gero and her teeth gritted in response. 18's eyes chanced a glance back at Raditz, whom most likely took in the situation as well. His face was dark and unreadable; it was an expression she's never seen on him before.

Meanwhile, Raditz could feel his wife's eyes on him, but he didn't know what to do for the first time in his life.

He had underestimated Buu's intelligence and now that very monster had a mere hand wrapped around the hands of his children. After taking in the situation, Raditz knew that Super Buu could kill literally everyone here in an instant. That sick freak had been waiting on him just so he and his wife could see this sight.

Raditz knew he needed to think and fast, but his body was froze and his mind was racing with a plethora of thoughts and scenarios. It was also hard to think when you were trying your best to control and keep your anger at bay.

"Buu." Raditz started slowly. The male felt like he was in a deadlock, but at the same time he couldn't find himself to move either. Raditz was afraid that if he moved, Buu would move even quicker and take the lives of not only his children, but everyone else as well. Not only that, but Raditz also needed to be the first to act somehow.

And it was already taking everything in him to restrain his own anger and emotions.

Raditz cursed lightly.

Buu was not patient - and neither was his wife.

After all, Raditz could feel her and if he didn't do something, she would.

On cue, 18 seemed like she had enough. Her kids were in danger and as time passed on, that was increasingly all she cared about. 18's eyes narrowed fiercely, "Hurt them and I'll - "

" - Don't do this." He continued finally, hurriedly cutting his wife off. The male was trying his best to keep his own anger at bay, but it probably wasn't working. "These people have nothing to do with our fight."

The male tried trekking forward ever so slightly. Raditz wasn't able to gather much, but he finally pieced together that Buu was most likely just trying to hurt him in the worse ways possible.

However, Buu most likely wouldn't kill him just yet.

At the end of the day, Buu seemed like he still wanted to fight.

Maybe he could use this to his advantage.

However, the second Raditz seemed to finally have something in mind to work with. Buu's grin only widened, "Payback first. Then, fight." He repeated, and then within seconds everyone was a releasing a piercing scream as Buu turned them all in to chocolate.

"NO!" 18 cried out in horror, lunging forward.

A/N: Please feel free to always reach out to me. If I don't respond right away or I skip over someone, I apologize; I promise I'm not ignoring anyone. I may be at work or etc.

I proofread and re-read this to the best of my abilities many times, so hopefully I did ok lol!

(1) : credit for attack, coldblue2015

Oh! Just in case there's any questions about how many people are in the time chamber. I read earlier that when they said only two people could enter at a time in the show, that was meant for supplies. Because during the actual series, Buu, Goten, Piccolo, and Trunks were all in there at the same time.

A special shoutout to (hopefully the spelling is right): millicia may, Fgougeon, Zealot07, Chronos500, Guest, Yasho360, Jutten, Derek83, SSJRaditz7, and coldblue2015!

Thank you all for the welcomes, good wishes, support and awesome reviews! Fortunately, I didn't get 'vid-19 and I'm glad everyone is doing well! It's great to be back!

I noticed coldblue2015 had a question about "The Bounds of Destruction" on my profile. It's a DBZ story I have in the making. It's not the main focus now, but it centers around 18 and 17 & takes place in the Future Timeline with Future Trunks. 17 and 18 have exterminated all life on Earth and accidentally stumbles upon Bulma's old machines and get thrown up into space with Saiyans and Frieza and etc. It's not perfected and it's still in the making behind the scenes, but maybe I'll be able to figure out everything soon!