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Chapter 36: The Tides Have Turned

Raditz knew it the second he looked at the twins.

He would give his life to protect them or he would die trying.

He was no longer looking after Kakarot's family anymore; he had one of his own now as well. It grew official the moment he accepted 18 as his mate and wife, and it was even more official the second 18 became pregnant.

His life was not his own and it hadn't been for a while now.

"Well, Raditz," Bulma started with a small smile, "You two are parents now, how does it feel?"

"I'm not sure," Raditz answered honestly, "But I know I don't want any harm to come to them."

Bulma giggled lightly, "Well, that's completely natural! I'd say you two will be in pretty good shape as long as you have that mindset!"

18's lips twitched slightly. Despite how carefree and encouraging Bulma and Chi-Chi were being, she didn't feel ready. And if anything, 18 felt even more pressure. It wasn't as if she had the best of childhoods either. How exactly was she going to provide what she didn't have herself?

The blonde felt Raditz squeeze her hand lightly, unknowingly rousing her out of her thoughts. "I'll protect all of you; I promise."

Buu harrumphed, eyes closed as the memory played on in his head. So much for protecting. If that had been Raditz's intent, the Saiyan had done a poor job of it. Perhaps Raditz was unable to rest because he was riddled with the guilt of failing his family. Not only did Raditz fail to protect his sister-in-law and nephew, but he failed to protect his children and his wife as well.

That was the only theory that Buu had to go off of.

And it would certainly explain why Raditz was being a pain in his ass right now - even after being absorbed.

But that was simply life as the weak always fell to the strong; some learned this a little harder than others.

Furthermore, it was no one else's fault but Raditz's. Raditz had gotten complacent with the power he had obtained, and now that Buu had a hold of Raditz's power, Buu would do what Raditz failed to do. Buu would become the strongest and he wouldn't waste his newfound power. Eventually, Buu would make even Raditz's conscience fall into submission and it would only be a matter of time.

The Majin slowly rose to his feet and took to the skies with a burst of ki, deciding that he had enough of Raditz for the moment.

For now, Super Buu would see what other candy stores interested him and he would continue destroying the ones that didn't.

With that in mind, Super Buu was eventually descending on something that caught his eye; it was a much smaller town compared to the others he ravaged and destroyed. It was definitely something he would have overlooked had he not been taking the time to actively look for places.

It looked like an obscure candy store upon closer inspection.

Buu swiftly entered, kicking down the door and taking a quick look around.

Chocolate.

The creature easily grabbed a fistful of chocolates and stuffed them into his mouth.

It wasn't the best chocolate he had, but it would suffice for now.

Distractedly, Buu viciously chewed and continued to stuff handfuls of chocolate into his mouth. Unbeknownst to him, he was being watched.

At least until he heard a faint thud.

Buu immediately stopped chewing and turned his head in the direction he heard the noise in; it was an old man that had been trying to sneak out unnoticed and he looked terrified.

And then Buu was grinning and making his way towards the old man because humans made the best-tasting chocolate.

Even though Buu didn't allow it to show, he was slightly taken aback. After all, he was pretty sure he had eradicated all of the humans, so it wasn't abnormal for Buu to have his guard dropped. That also explained why he hadn't been as observant of his surroundings as he should have been. The old man's ki was so faint Buu probably didn't register it when he executed his Human Extinction Attack.

"P-Please!" The old man begged. "D-Don't kill me!"

The old man fell down onto his backside with wide eyes, futilely trying to escape and move away from Buu's advances.

His antennae glowed pink and Buu all but moved to turn the male into chocolate but found himself grasping his head instead (1). Buu grunted, wincing as his head literally throbbed in pain.

Don't.

Buu's eyes widened upon hearing Raditz's voice inside his head and then he was angrily snarling. Was Raditz interfering even here as well?!

"You stay out of this," Buu ordered. "Sleep."

Meanwhile, the man in question didn't know what was going on. Why was that creature stuffing chocolate into his mouth like a maniac? And why was he talking to himself? These were questions that ran through his mind, but instead of sticking around he smartly hurried out of the candy store as fast as he could.

~0~

What the hell?

Vegeta rubbed at his eyes in disbelief only to find that the action did little justice.

What the hell was 18 doing here? In Hell?

"Woman," Vegeta addressed easily, whipping his head around to face Zangya, "Go talk to the Android and find out what's going on."

Zangya lazily peeked open an eye to take in Vegeta. "No."

Vegeta looked taken aback, "What do you mean, no?"

Zangya rolled her eyes and sat up. "I have nothing to say to her. I can't stand her."

Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest. "Have you forgotten already, woman? Whose house did you stay in? And who was it that protected you in Hell? Did you forget what happened literally the second you arrived here?"

Zangya huffed in annoyance. Vegeta was playing dirty.

As much as she hated to admit it, she did owe Vegeta one. A few Saiyans and other followers of Bojack tried to give her some trouble the moment she got here and Vegeta had stepped in and intervened. However, if she would have known that Vegeta had ulterior motives, she would have handled them herself.

Which was what she intended on doing herself anyway, but he beat her to it.

And here Zanya thought that maybe - just maybe - Vegeta was attempting to make up for all of the humans he killed at the tournament. Then again, the Saiyan himself didn't even mention anything about what he did or his sacrifice.

Well, not to her at least.

But even if he did, she was probably in no position to judge either.

If she had to be honest, it did bother her that she and 18 failed to take down Buu. Zangya felt pathetic that she was unable to push her differences aside long enough to take down a common enemy. If she would have known that would be the last time she was going to see 17, she would have talked to him one last time at least.

Zangya's eyes saddened as she remained lost in thought.

The relationship she had with 17 was really one of the best things to have ever happened to her; for once in her life, Zangya felt normal. 17 made her feel like she could have the things she thought she'd only have in dreams. Truth be told, even though she couldn't stand 18, Zanyga didn't mind the idea of having her as a sister-in-law if it meant being with 17 forever.

Just where exactly did they go wrong?

Vegeta rolled his eyes, arms folded across his chest. "Ugh."

He was tired of waiting around. What was with the women in his life? They were all stubborn and annoying. So, caring more about why 18 was here in the first place, the Saiyan hurriedly made his way towards her.

It was then that he noticed that there was a much smaller woman beside her.

Vegeta squinted in just the slightest of ways, but never once faltered in his steps.

That woman looked oddly familiar for a reason he felt like he should know. Whatever the case may be, Vegeta couldn't care less at the moment.

"Android."

Both Android 18 and Gine came to a halt.

18 rolled her eyes; nonetheless, she diverted her icy stare onto Vegeta. "What?"

Vegeta ignored the bite behind 18's words, "Why are you here? What's going on?"

"Gine wants me to meet Bardock, so I'm just visiting Hell." Her eyes narrowed slightly at the male in question. "If you have nothing else, then I'd like to get this over with so I can get my kids back from Bulma and the others."

At the mention of Bulma's name, instant guilt flooded Vegeta's features. Then Vegeta was briskly turning away and walking back towards Zangya, "See me on your way out."

What was this feeling?

For the life of him, Vegeta couldn't figure it out; however, it felt familiar.

An image of King Vegeta flashed in his head briefly and Vegeta gritted his teeth in response. So that's what it was?

Disappointment.

Even if he did try to make up for his actions by sacrificing himself, it wouldn't make a difference.

Vegeta had already found out from Zangya that Buu had survived, so his efforts were for nothing. In addition, he had managed to disappoint someone else in his lifetime. As if disappointing his father wasn't enough (2).

Vegeta angrily 'tsked'.

If they were disappointed, it was their fault in the first place; they were the ones that had such high expectations of him. How could his father put his responsibilities on his shoulders in the first place? It was the duty of the King to be the strongest of all Saiyans, not the Prince. Instead of groveling under Frieza's boot, his father should have done something else.

Anything else but being pathetic.

How hypocritical to set a bar for someone else that couldn't be reached by them.

Vegeta's father led him to believe that his birthright was to be the strongest and that he was supposed to eventually rule over all Saiyans, but even that was robbed of him. Then the one time Vegeta actually tried to do something good in his life, Buu survives and shits on his small act of redemption.

The Prince growled and balled his fists out of anger.

Truthfully, he pushed off dealing with his feelings about Bulma for as long as he could. If the mere mention of her name was enough to make him feel like a disappointment and remind him of disappointing his father, Vegeta had more to deal with than he thought. Why was it that he cared if he disappointed Bulma or not anyway? He always did what he wanted to do, and he didn't remember promising to change for anyone.

If that woman had some sort of image of him in her head of how he should be, then that was her problem.

This was completely different than failing his father, right?

After all, Bulma was nothing more than a woman he lived with.

Someone that happened to have his kid along the way.

His father was someone he couldn't escape no matter what. King Vegeta would always be his father. He would always be a Saiyan as Saiyan blood continuously coursed through his veins.

And unlike Bulma, his father was someone he hated.

King Vegeta basically set him up for failure and now just like him, Vegeta had people but no power. Frieza stood tall and was basically the one that called all the shots. There wasn't a Saiyan alive at the time that feared King Vegeta. In addition, it definitely didn't help that all of the Saiyans were dead thanks to Frieza - all but a select few. So not only was he barely left with a birthright, but Vegeta was barely left with the means to redeem himself or the situation.

There was nothing he could do but get stronger and Vegeta felt as if he couldn't even do that much; he was set up to fail before he even began.

Worst of all, Vegeta was expected to figure it out on his own using the shitty pieces left behind.

~0~

"Sorry about earlier, Launch."

"It's fine," Launch grumbled after a sigh. She and Tien had been scrummaging stores and buildings for food to take back within them when they had caught the sight of Buu about to kill someone. It had taken everything of Launch to hold onto Tien to prevent him from interfering. Luckily, by some odd chance, the man had managed to get away and they were able to scurry along before they were noticed.

After all, that was too close for comfort.

"No, it's not." Tien countered finally. "I shouldn't have brought you out here this time."

Launch cocked a blonde brow. "If you wouldn't have brought me with you, you would have been dead. Then I would have been left alone. Is that something you want your pregnant woman going through?"

Tien's eyes fell slightly in guilt. Launch was right. He couldn't leave her alone when things were like this.

Especially when Chiaotzu gave his life to protect Launch during that attack earlier.

Those raining pink beams of death had been so unexpected that it caught him off-guard and it almost cost him the mother of his child as well.

"That's the last thing I want, Launch." Then Tien was offering her a light smile, grasping her hand with care, "Let's keep moving, so we can head back. I don't want you moving around for too much longer."

~0~

"Isn't she adorable?" Gine gushed.

After flashing his wife a slight smile, Bardock went back to taking in Android 18 in silence.

This woman had the aura of a warrior, a fighter.

She certainly had the look of one too - judging by her cold eyes.

Bardock smirked.

He liked this woman.

He could tell she commanded attention and that she backed up her words with actions.

"Raditz picked a good one."

18 looked slightly taken aback by his words but didn't let it faze her for too long. It had been uncomfortable being under his gaze at first. After all, she didn't know him and it wasn't as if Bardock was saying much of anything either.

At first, 18 did not want to leave her children alone after what happened, but Bulma and Chi-Chi convinced her that she may not get another opportunity like this to meet Raditz's family. So, after a little more convincing from Chi-Chi and a little more pleading from Gine, 18 caved.

The only catch was that Gine would have to be okay with 18 not wanting to bring her children to Hell.

After all, they saw enough of it on Earth, 18 didn't want them to see more of it.

Naturally, Gine was a little disappointed but she ultimately understood the situation and 18's reasoning; within minutes, Gine had quickly taken 18's hand and led her to her husband.

"So," Bardock inquired gruffly, "How's our son treating you?"

18 cocked a brow in just the slightest of motions, "Fine."

"I find that hard to believe. Even Gine and I have problems from time to time."

"Dear," Gine butt in with a small pout, "Don't prod her about it. You'll end up running her off."

18 refrained from rolling her eyes. On second thought, perhaps she should have declined the offer. She had a feeling that there were plenty of more questions waiting in a queue.

~0~

"Bul?"

Bulma turned slightly at the call of her name. She had been keeping an eye on the twins playing in the distance. "Yes, Chi?"

Chi-Chi sent her a knowing look. "How are you feeling? You could have gone down there too you know."

Bulma bit her lip as if mulling it over a bit. "I can't." She finally answered, "there's no way I can face Vegeta just yet. Besides, his actions still don't make any sense. It felt like things were literally fine the day before the Tournament."

The blue-haired scientist released a defeated exhale before continuing, "It's just that I thought I knew him; I thought we were happy."

Chi-Chi placed a comforting hand on Bulma's shoulder. "I'm sorry there's not much I can do to help the situation, but I can listen as much as needed."

Bulma lifted a hand up in order to place it on Chi-Chi's and gave it a squeeze. "Maybe I was wrong about Vegeta, you know? If I was wrong about that, was I wrong about how he feels towards me? And if he really cares? What if he's just waiting for an opportunity again?"

"You've been confident of it before, though."

"Yeah, I was." Bulma agreed. "But it's not like he mated with me or anything, so there's no proof."

Chi-Chi sent Bulma a saddened look. "Stop Bulma, you'll drive yourself crazy if you continue at this rate. I get that you're not ready to face Vegeta yet, but maybe you two definitely need to have a talk when this is all over."

"You're probably right," Bulma mumbled distractedly.

~0~

"Why are you defying me so much?!" Buu angrily slammed his fist into a nearby building, shattering it to bits. "Your power becoming mine is the only thing that is making your defiance worthwhile!"

He had been so close.

So close that his mouth had started salivating.

That old man - his chocolate - got away all because Raditz interfered; it would seem that Raditz had far more control than Buu was comfortable with.

Enough of this.

Buu had enough.

He was going to pay Raditz a visit.

Buu didn't care how long he needed to mediate, nor did he care how many memories bombarded him on the way in. The pink creature was releasing an angry huff, smoke fuming out from the holes along his body.

~0~

"So that's what your past was like, huh? It's not something I would have expected, but it makes sense why you give off the aura you do; I can see why Raditz is so attracted to you."

18 shifted a bit but kept her composure.

"You know," Gine butted in softly, "If there's anything you would like to know, we can answer it for you. It's okay if you have questions."

"Or," Bardock tacked on carefully, "if there's anything that you want to vent about; you're amongst Saiyans now so keep that in mind that we'll understand."

18's blue eyes shifted elsewhere. There were a few things she was curious about - especially when it came to mating and the connection. Plus, it did bother her that she and Raditz weren't exactly on the best of terms during this whole Buu ordeal. Her husband had been upset with her because he felt like she didn't trust him. But it wasn't as if she expected her and Zangya to become cocky after fusing together.

In all fairness, 18 hadn't expected a lot of things.

Even if she and Raditz had been together for 7 years, she didn't know everything.

18 wasn't normal like Bulma or Chi-Chi.

Hell, she was still in awe that had children and that she was even married in the first place.

This definitely wasn't where she saw herself in life as a child; she thought she'd be dead or worse.

"If anything comes to mind, I'll come back; I still have to see Vegeta on the way out."

Bardock cocked a brow, "Vegeta, huh?"

18 gave a curt nod.

Bardock nodded back. "You know where to find us."

And after exchanging a few more words, 18 decided to see herself out and give Bardock and Gine some alone time. Well, as much alone time that they could have. The blonde was hurriedly making her way to Vegeta; she wanted to get back to her kids and it felt wrong leaving them with Bulma and Chi-Chi. In a weird way, she felt like she was failing them because she wasn't up there with them and protecting them.

In a matter of no time, 18 ended up finding Vegeta and she made her way towards the Saiyan.

"What?" 18 bit out impatiently.

Vegeta's eyes narrowed slightly, but he ignored it. "What's going on with Earth right now?"

18's gaze fell slightly. "The last thing I remembered is fighting Buu with my husband and everything went black. I don't even know if my brother or the others are alive - let alone my husband."

"And Bulma?"

18 looked taken aback that he actually asked her about Bulma. Nevertheless, she was quick to answer, "You should talk to her yourself."

A/N: Sorry for the delay & any errors! Between working 40hrs a week, building up my website, trying to jumpstart other projects (like learning how to video edit and looking into audiobooks like suggested), and the occasional writer's block; it's been a bit rough. I hope everyone is keeping safe and I thank you all for the continued support! Sadly, this chapter was not as long as I thought it would be and I was also taking quite a while to get this posted. Next Chapter we will see Piccolo and the gang! If there's something more you'd like to see, let me know and I'll try my best!

(1) & (2) - If I recall correctly coldblue2015 wanted to see these scenes, so credit goes to him!

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nadia4245 - Thank you for enjoying my work as much as you do! I greatly appreciate it!

Derek83 - Yes, the memories are impacting Super Buu and it was coldblue's idea to do so! A great idea at that. And speaking of great ideas, that could actually be a great lineup. I really did like the Super Saiyan 4 design, so I probably would find a way to incorporate it into Super if I did go further! I was actually disappointed that they did away with it. Such a waste, IMO. But I do appreciate that support and keep the ideas coming! I love hearing ideas and thoughts!

Gamelover41592 - Thank you! The "food" Buu tried to absorb is fighting him back XD. And honestly, that would have been pretty cute actually! Grandma Gine!

SuperBlue - I had to go back and re-read this too, so I understand forgetting lol. It was soo much easier to keep up with writing in high school! I actually thought I'd have more free time after graduating college; I was kinda wrong lol. Thanks for the welcome back! Glad to have you and everyone else back as well!

coldblue2015 - Thank you!

Q1, Q2, S1 & S2: Ok, so I tried to incorporate these events into this chapter, so I hope it is what you envisioned! I loved the idea of Super Buu getting headaches and I loved the idea of Raditz's giving Buu trouble even while absorbed; that's certainly an awesome touch! I didn't quite have Vegeta lash out on his father, but I did have him dwell on the expectations and his failed birthright.

Q3, Q4, S3 & S4: Zanya seeing what's going on Earth would be a great idea as well! If it's not in this chapter, I may try and incorporate that into this chapter or the next chapter and give you credit for the idea. It would be nice to see everyone's reaction to the horror that is Majin Buu. Buu was always one of my favorite Z villains. That depends on if everyone is ready to get back to the main fight. I get the feeling that everyone is eager to see what's going on with our Gohan and Buu showdown that's to come! If Lapis developed a portal, Dimension Slip would definitely be cooler. It kind of reminds me of what Obito from Naruto could do. Or white Zetsu since he could literally sink in and out of the ground.

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I sincerely apologize if I missed anyone or didn't comment on something! The support from everyone is appreciated and remember you can always PM me, and I'll respond as soon as I can.