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Chapter 34: Sacred World of the Kai
"Dad?" Gohan called out curiously. "What's going on?"
To Gohan's dismay, Goku didn't answer and that made things all the worse considering the position he was in. Gohan was sitting before the Old Kai Indian style whilst supposedly having his potential drawn out.
Though, Gohan just wasn't buying it.
There was no way that this was actually working; Old Kai was literally flipping through porn magazines in front of him.
The young Saiyan did his best to bite back the irritation he felt, but the more he looked at the expression on his dad's face, the more anxious he felt. "Dad," Gohan tried again.
At this, Goku seemed to perk up and immediately diverted his eyes onto his son in training. "Hm?"
"What's going on? What happened on Earth? Did Piccolo and the others get out of the Time Chamber finally?"
"No, it seems like they are still stuck inside if what King Kai said is true. I can't sense their ki anywhere else, so I'm pretty sure it is." Goku cocked a brow. "I'm honestly surprised the Lookout tower was able to sustain that much damage; 18 and Raditz sure did a number on it."
"How is Aunt 18 and uncle Raditz?"
"Not good," Goku answered back honestly. "18 is dead and Buu absorbed Raditz."
"What?" Gohan asked in disbelief. "But how?"
"He's just that dangerous now. He's nothing like the Buu you faced, Gohan. This one is on a different level." Goku explained. The Saiyan paused as if thinking and then he was continuing moments later, "Super Buu even seemed like he has some form of intelligence seeing as he was able to use 18 against Raditz like that."
Gohan started to get up. This training was now the furthest thing from his mind. Heck, it wasn't as if it was even working in the first place. "We have to get down there now then. There's no one around to protect Earth."
Goku rushed over to Gohan, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep Gohan in place. "Now wait just a minute, Gohan! You're in the middle of training and - "
" - Dad, this training is a ruse! It's not even working; we're just wasting time."
Old Kai cocked a white brow, reluctantly breaking contact with his magazine to regard Gohan, "A ruse, you say?"
The Supreme Kai, of whom had caught the tail end of the conversation, nervously laughed. The Supreme Kai had been discussing other matters with Kibito off to the side and came to see what the commotion was about. "Of course, he didn't mean that!"
The Old Kai was no fool, though. The elder male simply dropped his arms and gave an encouraging nod in Gohan's direction. "Well, then. What are you waiting for? Try powering up."
There was a pregnant pause and then Gohan was doing as instructed, powering up with a yell.
"Whoaa!" Goku remarked in awe and wide eyes. "That's incredible!"
"Y-You're right!" Gohan agreed in shock. "This feeling is...out of this world!" The younger Saiyan shot Old Kai an apologetic look and sat back down. "Forgive me! Please resume our training."
Old Kai said nothing in response. Instead, he simply flipped the next page to his magazine. "Now, where were we?"
~0~
"That's not going to get us out of here." Piccolo stated gruffly.
17 halted his attacks on the empty space the door used to be at and threw Piccolo a stiff glance. "Well, do you know what will?"
"No," Piccolo answered back easily. "But I know that won't work."
"Neither will standing around and doing nothing." 17 countered with just as much ease.
Trunks and Goten shared a silent look but didn't dare to interfere between the two adults. After all, what was there to say? They were just at a loss as much as everyone else. Initially, they had been training with 17 according to the plan and then Piccolo and Dende ended up coming in. Sometime afterward, there was a lot of quaking of sorts and the entrance was gone.
"What reason did you come inside anyway? And, didn't you say that only two people could be in at a time?"
Dende hurriedly explained lest Piccolo offers another smart remark. "Well, there's only food for two people at a time, remember?"
"I don't count as a person because I don't have to eat? Makes sense why you wanted the android to train the boys, huh?"
Dende's eyes opened wide with embarrassment, "T-That's not - ! W-Well, I - "
" - Relax." 17 assured with a smirk. "It's just a joke."
Piccolo rolled his eyes. "17, we came in here to see how the training was going with the boys."
"Yes, I'm aware of that part. That's what we were initially discussing up until the entrance vanished. I assume that's not the only reason you came here for though."
"We primarily came to give you an update about the situation; 18 and Raditz went off to face Super Buu. To be honest, I have no way of knowing how things went out there, but it's best to assume the worse and operate as such just in case."
17's eyes widened in just the slightest of ways. "My sister went as well?"
"More like she insisted." Piccolo corrected, "But yes."
17 suddenly fell quiet. For a reason he couldn't place, something had originally felt amiss earlier. Though, given that he was supposed to be helping Goten and Trunks, he hadn't much time to focus on the feeling. But if 18 did go off with Raditz, then it was definitely connected to his feeling. In addition, said feeling only seemed to get worse.
They needed to get out of here.
He was getting out of here even if had to claw his way out.
"Let's try a few things; I refuse to be trapped in here forever."
~0~
His new body felt superb.
The power coursing through him was amazing.
An even wider grin spread across his features as he continued soaring through the sky at fast speeds. Now, there should be no one to stand against him; He was no one's to control and a force to be reckoned with in the process. The only thing his new powers seem to cost him were slight changes to his appearance. For one, his antenna length increased (1), and his attire resembled that of a low-profile Saiyan.
Buu came to a slow halt as if realizing something whilst reluctantly bringing a hand up to his head. What exactly was a... Saiyan?
On cue, Buu was grunting as a sudden and brief onslaught of memories hit him full force. Given the nature of the memories, Buu was easily able to discern that they weren't his.
Well, as far as he could tell anyway.
Back on the lookout, he couldn't remember too much about the human with the purple-eyes yet he felt a sense of familiarity from her. He still didn't know why or give much thought to it, but perhaps he was experiencing budding memories from Fat Buu back then.
After a while, Buu decided to dismiss it for the time being; Buu had other things that he wanted to do and he wanted to explore the depth of his newly acquired powers.
~0~
Even though Gohan felt much better once it was revealed to him that this was actually working, he still couldn't help but feel anxious. He wanted to make a difference. He wanted to end this for good. Gohan still couldn't help but feel like he had abandoned them earlier, but he would definitely make it up to them by destroying Buu. With this power, Gohan felt near unstoppable.
Gohan just had to make sure that he wouldn't let this power get to his head like he originally did against Cell.
The young Saiyan cast a glance over to his father, "Dad? Do you think I'll still have a chance against Super Buu even though he absorbed uncle Raditz?"
"I don't know," Goku answered honestly. "The longer the elder Kai continues to bring out your potential, I personally believe the higher your chances are. Right now, I'd say it's too early to tell and it is dependent on a few other things."
"Well," The Elder interrupted distractedly, "If there really is that much of a concern as to whether or not you feel like this will be enough, there is some extra assurance you can take against Majin Buu."
"Extra assurance?" Goku repeated lightly.
The Old Kai nodded mutely.
"Well," Kibito interjected matter-of-factly, "there can never really be too much assurance against a being it took all of the Kai's to beat."
The Supreme Kai perked up, clearly interested. "What is that you had in mind?"
The Elder Kai gestured to his earrings with a point of the finger. "The Potara Earrings."
Goku cocked a brow. "How exactly are we supposed to have extra assurance with a pair of smelly earrings?"
The Old Kai looked near insulted. "Smelly?!"
The Supreme Kai and Kibito shared a shocked, paled-faced look at Goku's audacity but Gohan seemed quick to ease the tension with a nervous laugh. "Dad!" Gohan shot The Elder Kai an apologetic look. "Sorry about that. Please, tell us more."
After a harrumph, Elder Kai did just that. "These earrings are usually worn by Supreme Kais and their apprentices, and they are not just for show. They have incredible abilities including granting two people the ability to fuse."
Goku cocked a brow. "Sounds a bit like the Fusion Dance."
"But much more powerful." The Elder Kai emphasized.
A/N: Very short chapter :( sorry, guys! I don't know why I've been having writer's block. I'll try my best to make it up to you guys next chapter. If you have anything you want to see in particular, let me know and I'll try my best to make it happen if possible! Special thanks for all of the support!
*Derek83: Exactly! Raditz did fall a bit short and that was what I hoped I conveyed. The fact that he got arrogant. An audiobook would be a great idea! I seem to be getting a lot of requests on that, so I'm actually going to work on that once I get it figured out. Give me some time and I'll see what I can come up with! I'll also take your suggestion to heart about Videl because I actually did like her. It was a shame she fell off.
*Gamelover41592: XD! Haha, I couldn't describe it better myself. Perfect!
*Millica may: Krillin and 18 are very cute together! I love them as a couple as well. You're definitely not alone in that. 18 is a really great character as an individual and I wish she got as strong as 17 in DBS. I still don't have my mind made up about if I'm going to do Super yet, but the moment I have my mind made up, I will let everyone know! And I don't mind your writing one bit! No need for apologies!
*coldblue2015: Q4/S4 & Q3: See, I'm torn between whether or not he'll have problems and that's what I'm trying to figure out. In canon, Buu absorbed Gotenks and Piccolo, but was that after he fought Ultimate Gohan or before? I'll have to refresh my memory because that is what I will use as a guide as far Gohan vs Buu with Raditz absorbed.
Q1&S1: I'm not sure what to do with 17, Gotenks, and Piccolo just yet. I know what I to do something with them. I'm just not sure at the moment. Q2: We will see Buu more or less get bombarded with memories here and there. However, as far as Beerus, I honestly haven't thought about it that far. That may be a good idea to incorporate actually. S2: I do need to work on this because Super Buu was personally one of my favorite villains and probably may make him a better character overall - like an even greater force to be messed with!
S3: That was actually a great idea. (1) credit to the longer antenna idea goes to coldblue2015. I couldn't really imagine what to put Buu in clothing-wise since Raditz doesn't dress too much like Saiyan due to his bouncer lifestyle.
Q5&S5: answered with this chapter I hope XD!
Q6 & Suggestion 6: I planned on allowing 17 and 18 to keep their slim bodies, honestly. I didn't really give it much thought. I personally like how deceptive it is in a way because they'll be underestimated due to their size.
S7: That's actually interesting! I never thought about that. If I do incorporate that into the next chapter, I'll give you credit for the idea!
I hope I answered everyone's questions! I apologize if I overlooked any! It's late at night here. I hope everyone remains safe and healthy! Have a good night!