Fusion…HA

Fusion…HA! 2- The Dead Zone

Part 9- Hunter, Ally of Good

"What…how could he…" Hunter was frozen in place, in the same stance he was in when he fired the beam that was suppose to end the fight. There was no kidding about it. Hunter had decided to put an end to all the games. Trunks had started to become boring. But it didn't happen.

"What's the matter, Hunter? You look like you've seen a ghost!" Trunks stood tall, unscathed in the least by Hunter's powerful blast.

"You couldn't possibly survive that! It's impossible!" Hunter pulled away at his hair. It didn't really matter if he tore it out; he could just regenerate. That and it didn't matter because there were more important things to worry about…like Trunks.

"You underestimate me."

"Stop trying to make it sound so simple! You're hiding something…" Hunter took a few seconds to calm down and breathe, finally letting his senses get back in control. That's when he felt it. Trunks' ki was rising at that very moment. Not little by little, but by a lot. It was like he was reaching a whole new level. That was proven by the swirls of power surrounding the demi-Saiyan.

"Beating you has become a driving force for me. You aren't the only one who was hoping for a rematch, Hunter. This battle has importance for the both of us. While I can't stand you I know that I have to fight you, much as my father has to fight Son Goku." Hunter listened to Trunks' words, but still not able to comprehend Trunks' rising ki. "When you tried to kill me before I knew deep down that I could stay alive. You weren't really attempting to with all of you might. That last attack was your finisher, wasn't it?"

"Not a chance! If it was then you would be dead right now!"

"Who do you think you are fooling?!" Trunks rose into the air slowly, ki still rising albeit slowly now. Sparks of electricity were crawling along his form now. "I know you much better than I did before. You couldn't be showing more fear right now if you told me you were scared." Hunter gritted his teeth.

"Scared of you?! Give me more credit than that Trunks."

"You get what you deserve, Hunter, and I mean that in more ways than one." Trunks power up was done now, and it was a significant one. He had far exceeded his own level. Hunter, now thinking normally, could piece together that Trunks had indeed ascended to the next level. Trunks had reached Super Saiyan level 2. "I'm sick of you, Hunter. Unless you have something important to say then I suggest that you give up now. You and I both know that right now you don't stand a chance against me."

"Well then, Trunks, it looks like you just might have won this whole war. I could just give up right now, but that isn't my style. That, and I have yet another secret." Trunks sighed, more bored and agitated than anything.

"I'm sure you are going to share it with me right now."

"Because you asked so nicely I think I will. See Trunks I might have gotten my Saiyan genes from you, but up until now I've only used the powers I received from Boo. The reason being I hate everything about you. However I know when to put down a grudge for the betterment… of me. That's what I plan to do." Hunter grinned like he had a plan. Trunks went on the defensive, knowing that even though he was stronger Hunter could still pull something that would be a problem.

"So what exactly do you plan on doing? Using my own genes against me?" Trunks started to gather all of his power in his arms. "I might be making the same mistake that you made before, but I'm willing to risk it to rid the world of you."

"I plan on using your genes, Trunks, to go reach the level of Super Saiyan." Trunks faltered for only a moment, but Hunter was able to read it. Thankfully for Trunks, Hunter wasn't ready to attack just yet. He was too busy raising his fighting power. Trunks now was the one who couldn't believe what was going on. He had to remind himself that he was controlling enough power to kill his enemy…or was he.

"You end now!" Trunks made a series of motions with his hands, ending with them forming a diamond in between. "It's o-" The next few scenes passed by like a blur. Trunks had begun to actually expunge the ki from his body and into his hands. However Hunter's Super Saiyan power up must have been very quick, because he nearly collapsed the ground beneath him half a mile when he reached his high point. At that same time he torpedoed himself at Trunks, mashed his hands against that of his opponents, and stopped the blast from reaching more then five inches out with a return blast of his own. The beams fattened and widened to the height of their bodies.

"Pretty good, Trunks," said Hunter, not his usual carefree way, but in between the breaths he had to take to maintain his own beam. "I bet you didn't think I could do that. I can easily go Super Saiyan, and with my powers from Buu I am the most powerful Super Saiyan alive. Imagine if I had done this sooner."

"That's your fault! You had your chance, Hunter, and now we are even." Trunks squinted his eyes and turned his head away from the light that his ki was giving off. It was blinding, especially at such close range to such a big concentration of it.

"This truly is the end of the battle, Trunks! While this beam may not kill you, I know for a fact that you don't have any more power up surprises in you! If you can't beat me now you never will." Hunter strained and fought through the pain, pouring more of his ki into the attack. It pushed Trunks' beam back slightly (there wasn't much room to move anyhow) and applied more pressure to his already burning hands.

"Don't make this sound like my last chance, Trunks. You don't have anymore power ups either. You still have to prove yourself to me!" Trunks forced himself to force the beam over to Hunter's side.

"I do not have to prove a thing to you!" Hunter reached deep down and added more to his beam. This time all it did was even it out in the middle again, but it also made the head of the beam unstable. Trunks, still digging down deep himself to add more to his beam, was making his unstable.

"Are you ready to back down, Hunter? Do you think even you can survive a blast like this?"

"I was about to ask you the same thing, Trunks. You are human. I am not." Trunks forced himself to lock eyes with Hunter, despite the light. Hunter did the same, knowing that this meant just as much as any punch or kick that he could throw. It was a meeting of the minds, will against will. Both participants were hell bent on winning, each one pouring their heart out at that very moment, cursing the other for doing what they were. It stayed that way for almost a minute, neither one wanting to back down, neither one sure if they could do more. Then they both came to the same conclusion at the same time; I can do more.

**********

"Are you okay?" asked Rae. Aspa had been opening and closing her eyes for almost fifteen minutes now. It was a little confusing. Rae didn't know if she was slipping away or being full of life.

"Thank you for your concern…I am as well as someone that is dying can hope for…" Aspa took deep breathes in between each sentence, each one harder than the last to finish.

"How were you hurt? Did Dr. Boo do this to you?" Anger was welling up in Rae. Dr. Boo's influence had stretched far and wide. Aspa smiled and giggled, which surprised Rae. She took Rae's hand in her own, holding it close.

"It happened long ago, before he made either you or Hunter." Rae blinked. "You might know me better as…the computer voice you heard for so long while he was fusing Boo's genes into you."

"Yes…I do."

"Well that was me. I took care of most of the experiments; he allowed me to do that." Aspa closed her eyes and sighed. Rae, noticing her more relaxed look, shook her hand gently. Aspa peeked through one of her eyes.

"Please…don't-"

"Don't worry, Rae. I am here. I don't plan on going into any pearly white gates just yet." They smiled at each other and Aspa continued. "My husband, Dr. Yoshu Sun, had long since become obsessed with the Saiyan Son Goku. He witnessed his power long ago; that is why Goku was his original target."

"I know. We all do."

"Well I can tell you something that you don't know. Of the three Buu-droids, you are the only one with your original personality."

"I am?" Rae sounded almost like she didn't want to believe it. Aspa nodded ever so slightly, showing that she still had some kick left in her.

"Yes you are. You were the first one to undergo the fusion process. That was when I was in control of the entire thing. Dr. Boo was too busy with other parts of his plan to deal with the subjects, so I did. I told him I didn't agree with his plans, but if he wanted me to make his warriors, then I would do that. When it came time to work on you I couldn't simply let you go."

"Why not, Aspa?"

"Because Rae," Aspa took a larger breath than normal. "Dr. Boo had basically taken you off of the streets after feeding you lines of whatever you wanted to hear at the moment. You knew the way to his laboratory. If you left he would have killed you. That I could not have stopped. He's become so cold hearted." A tear ran down the side of Aspa's face, followed by another on the opposite side.

"Aspa, what would make him so heartless?"

"It's best if I show you…" With what was the greatest difficulty of anything she had ever done, Aspa sat up in the bed. Rae tried to push her back down, but Aspa moved her hand away. "Just look at my back." Not sure what to make of the request Rae conceded and slowly opened the back of her gown. She almost jumped back at what she saw. Quickly she zipped it back up.

"That wound…that burn…"

"Yes, it is mortal. That's why I'm dying. It's not painful, but my energy is dripping out of it. Soon I won't have enough to talk, or even to breathe."

"No…" Rae grabbed Aspa's hand again. "How can this be? How did you get that?"

"It happened long ago during the battle with Cell…"

Flashback

It was a gloomy day. The countdown to the Cell games had already ended. Dr. Yoshu Sun and his wife Asparagus were in their self-designed/constructed home. Although Dr. Sun was a scientist he had knowledge of how to design buildings to his own specifications. Construction was simple; any large and heavy he needed to have carried or installed he would simply ask his wife, whom he lovingly called Aspa. She was a full-blooded Saiyan after all. With his plans and her general construction they finished in no time. That was helpful, seeing that they had their daughter to take care of. B-chan's nursery was one of the first rooms to be completed.

After the construction of the building Dr. Sun decided to concentrate his expertise on the recent androids. He knew they were human with robotic parts. Sun also knew that he could use such advancements to heal injuries and common incapacities. Day and night he worked on his research, not having a specimens to work off of. Aspa took care of the baby, doing all that a women does to both raise the child and not go crazy at the same time.

Some amount of time into the tournament their home started to get feedback from the power rumbling from Cell and those fighting him. Dr. Sun had already kept this in mind and made sure that no wave of ki was going to knock over his home. He also had a shield capable of buffering small ki waves. As long as they weren't super powerful the waves wouldn't even make it to the house.

Aspa had taken an interest in the Cell game (like everyone else she knew that the world's future depended on it). Although most of those who were part of the Cell game (who the hell is Mr. Satan again?!) she did recognize one person immediately. It had been years since Planet Vegeta had been destroyed by Frieza, but as soon as she saw him Asparagus recognized her Prince of the Saiyan race, Vegeta. Seeing him brought back memories of her old planet and how much she missed it. It also brought back the memory of how she had stolen one of the pods to go exploring. No sooner had she left the planet's atmosphere then the damn thing lost almost all power. Only thing left on was life support. It was no doubt a safety feature meant to keep people from stealing them. Aspa wished she had known that before. She drifted in space quite a while, hooked up to the pod to receive the minimum nourishment required for her to stay alive, until she came across Earth. It was the planet's coordinates that had been programmed into the system. The pod crashed down, leaving Aspa stranded in the middle of nowhere. That's when she met Dr. Yoshu Sun. He cared for her, and his kindness and humor pleased her. They fell in love, and soon they had a child.

Even after the TV camera's lost tracking of the Cell game Aspa still watched it on the 3d Scouter. Dr. Sun had also found some of the technology Frieza had used to be of interest. All he had to go on was the basic function though; he knew it measured ki. He didn't have anything to work with because Trunks had destroyed all of Frieza's toys. The machine measured ki much better than the scouter did, and it was calibrated to handle extreme levels. That was good, since Cell's ki and that of Goku's repeatedly tested its limits.

When Gohan began to fight Cell in SSJ2 mode Aspa could feel a sense of pride. Cell was going to be killed by a Saiyan. It was like proving that Frieza couldn't get the job done. Then Cell exploded and came back better than ever. He and Gohan locked themselves in a Kamehameha battle to decide the fate of the world. Gohan won…Aspa lost.

Only a few moments had passed since Gohan's beam overtook that of Cell's. Dr. Sun was in his laboratory, which was downstairs in the building. Aspa was watching the battle on the first floor. That was when she felt the rumble. She didn't pay it any attention; she had ignored the others. Why should this one bother her? Aspa went about her business, which was bringing little b-chan down stairs for her father to have some time with her. No sooner had she closed the basement door, though, did a massive beam of energy rip through and tear the top of the building off from the lower portion.

Dr. Sun had to claw and scrap and push his way through hundreds of pieces of rock until he was finally able to get to the surface. It was there that he found his wife. She had been in the path of the blast, and even her Saiyan healing factor couldn't save her. Sun wanted to help her, but he didn't want to move her. Aspa's entire backside had been burned badly. She might have received nerve damage, broken bones, etc. Dr. Sun was running out of ideas, so he turned to what he knew; science.

It took hours to complete. Sun worked around the clock literally; he was awake for 26 hours total. He wouldn't allow himself to get tired. Finally his work was done, and his wife was saved…at a price. He had been able to use his technical expertise to save her life, but she was now dependent on it to live. Dr. Sun had fused her life functions into his master computer, hoping its constant influx of power would keep her alive and it did.

End Flashback

"And that is the story." Aspa sighed yet again. "Dr. Sun is who you now know as Dr. Boo. He became obsessed with killing Son Gohan because of what he did. I couldn't possibly blame the boy. If my death would result in the saving of the universe then I would do it again. Yoshu couldn't understand that. Now I don't know what his motives are. He might not be sane anymore. He isn't doing this for me now."

"You are right, Aspa. He isn't." Rae held her hands together in a cup shape and closed her eyes. "But I understand now what you have gone through. If he wasn't so hell bent on revenge then I might have been able to try to heal you sooner."

"Yes. You might have, but it might be too late."

"I can try anyhow. There is nothing to lose, right?" A slight smirk curled up along Aspa's face. "Okay then. Relax, but not too much. I'm going to try to stabilize your wound. If I can do that your Saiyan healing genes should be able to take it from there."

"Rae?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you, for all you are doing."

"You're welcome, Aspa."

**********

"Now who is the first one to die?" Buu mocked all of the Z fighters. They had all rushed him, but gotten nowhere. He beckoned them to come, to try any type of offense. He knew Krillan wanted to get the body of 17 to safety until the Android awoke. He could feel Vegeta wanting to ring his neck. Goku… just wanted him gone. It was satisfying to Buu that they all wanted to do things to him, unspeakable things, but none could really follow through.

"Goku," The Saiyan only glanced once. It was Chima talking to him telepathically. He gave a quick tilt of the head to show that he was listening. "My fusion power is about to wear off. Buu probably doesn't know that. You and Vegeta attack Buu, and I'll use my speed to get 17 out of harms way. Krillan can watch over him and I'll come back to help in my split form."

"No," he said back to her, "Don't come back. Leave this one to Vegeta and me. We can handle him. After you are done with 17 go try to revive Trunks… and Hunter. They had a tiring battle and they might not have enough energy left to protect themselves." Chima winked his way to finish.

"Are you ready Vegeta?" asked Goku, smiling at his Saiyan friend.

"I'm always ready." They reinitiated their attack on Boo, taking him into the sky. Chima found her opening and summoned all of her power to propel herself forward. She picked up 17 without stopping and pulled a U-turn.

"Krillan! Let's go!" Krillan didn't have to be told twice. He turned on his own jets and followed her, trying his best to keep up but not doing a very good job. When they had put some distance between them Chima stopped, and Krillan nearly ran her down.

"Oops! Sorry."

"Krillan. Take 17 to Karin's and get a bag of senzu."

"What?! What about you? Where are you going?" Chima dumped 17 in Krillan's arms and blasted off again, not explaining to him why she was leaving. "Gee, I never get any answers." Krillan looked at 17 and smiled. "I wouldn't be able to look at myself in the morning if I let my love's brother die. I'm glad we got you out of there." He flew off to Karin's to collect the senzu.

Chima had to take the long route around the Vegeta/Goku/Buu battle. She didn't want Buu to get suspicious about her intentions. Even thought it took longer to reach the site of the Trunks/Hunter fight than she would have liked, it was not much of a difference. Her speed was top notch. Chima diffused as she reached the location, as if just on cue. Bulma and ChiChi gave each other a thumbs up sign. Bulma went over to her son. ChiChi cautiously approached Hunter. He might have been hurt, but he was still capable of immense power. Bulma was still five yards away when Trunks began to dig himself out of his rock covers. ChiChi didn't have to worry about Hunter; not only was he doing the same, but he also had help from another source.

"B-chan?" She didn't answer ChiChi. She simply kept tossing rocks and debris, trying to free Hunter.

No one should have their life striped away from them like you did, Hunter. No one. Finally she was able to unearth his entire body. It didn't look good. He was cut and scraped in every possible place. His clothes showed each and every scar, as they were shredded everywhere. He could barely open his eyes.

"Hunter?" There was no response besides him sitting up, and that was to get himself out of his makeshift grave. With a degree of difficulty he put his weight on one knee, then one foot, and finally was standing up again. He didn't look like himself, though. He was breathing heavy, and allowing his right arm to hang to conserve energy. That would have bothered him had Trunks not looked the same way. The demi-Saiyan was in just as bad shape as his opponent. He also could barely stand, but that didn't stop him. He stood up as well, and they once again locked gazes.

"Hunter! You ready to give up?!" Bulma's jaw dropped to the floor. Surely her son was kidding. If Hunter attacked then there was no way that he was going to be able to defend. She stepped in front of him and wouldn't let him pass.

"Not until you are dead!" Hunter slid his foot forward, not having it in him to lift it up to take a real step just yet. B-chan was just as shocked as Bulma. Almost dead and still wanting to fight. What was with him? Was Dr. Boo's influence that strong?

"I won't let you go, Hunter. I won't let you live your life as his pawn!" B-chan stepped right into Hunter's way, placing a look of disbelief on his face. She would dare keep him from this fight?

"You can't stop me…" He pushed by her, not violently, but as an unstoppable force that wouldn't be held back. Trunks had the same idea in his mind. He was a little gentler, but he let his mother know that he wasn't going to stop until it was done. He slithered forward, stalking his wounded prey, telling himself it would all be over soon one way or another.

"It's over, Hunter…you lose." Trunks formed a ball of ki in his hand and threw it, but Hunter jumped over it. Trunks had to dive out of the way to dodge the kick that Hunter aimed at his head. Upon landing Hunter had to recharge his tank. The simple jump had taken a lot out of him. Trunks capitalized and rushed him, rearing his arm back for a 'mega' punch.

"Damn!"

"Take this!" Trunks laid into Hunter's face with the haymaker and knocked him for a loop. Hunter landed on his back, but flipped over to his stomach. Still he was only on the floor for a second. He got right back to his feet, ready to fight.

"It's my turn!" Hunter tried a haymaker of his own, but it missed. Trunks hit him with an elbow to the back of the head, and then one to the chin. His kick was caught, and Hunter used the leg to twist him around. One 180-degree turn later Trunks took a punch to the back. Trying to turn around to face his attacker Trunks took a jaw-rocking kick to the mouth. He landed on this back, and Hunter landed on all fours. That was all the three on lookers could take. While Hunter and Trunks still refused to stay down they basically tackled them to the floor. Had they been at full power then they could have broken free, but they were far from that so they could do nothing but struggle. Finally they gave up from exhaustion and powered down to their normal power levels.

"Put an end to this, Hunter," said b-chan. "Why do you let Dr. Boo control you like this?"

"Who said anything about Dr. Boo? I haven't listened to a thing he wanted me to do since he left me for dead." That was a revelation. B-chan figured that Hunter was following the plans of the Doctor. Maybe she had him figured wrong.

"Then why do you still want to kill Trunks?"

"BECAUSE, SHERLOCK, HE NEARLY KILLED ME!"

SLAP!

A red mark appeared on Hunter's face where his cheek had met b-chan's hand. No one who had saw it could fathom that she would actually do it. Bulma and ChiChi were speechless. Trunks was stunned. Hunter was completely baffled. B-chan stared at him long and hard. The first thing to go through Hunter's mind was to retaliate. It didn't matter that she was a woman. He never had those kinds of moral problems. But then he decided to let it slide, more so because he was too tired and needed to regain lost energy. He would finish his battle with Trunks soon enough.

"That's enough sitting around, you two!" yelled Bulma, "But we have to get out of here before Buu finds a way past Vegeta and Goku. They are over there taking a beating for you right now?"

"I don't need anyone to help me," hissed Hunter as he stood up. "I can take care of myself."

"Oh stop acting macho!" yelled b-chan. Again everyone was stunned.

"There is not time to argue about it, Hunter. If you want to fight Trunks again then you had better come with us."

"…"

"Hunter, we're on your side right now," said b-chan. He looked at her, not knowing what to make of her. She was being genuine, and at that point he didn't have the strength to fight the ice cream man, let alone Buu. He conceded and draped his arm over her, letting b-chan hold up the bulk of his weight. She felt it hit her like a brick. It wasn't that he was heavy, but more so that he had basically put the task of moving him on her. He was that exhausted. More important was that he trusted her enough to do so. Both ChiChi and Bulma, draping one arm over each of them helped Trunks up.

"What does Buu want with us?" asked Trunks.

"He's going to try to absorb you. That's why we have to get you and Hunter out of here. If he does there might not be any chance to beat him." B-chan lifted into the air with her new load. "I think we should go now, but where are we headed?" Bulma thought long and hard, but couldn't come up with an answer.

'Let's just get as far away from here as possible. B-chan, we are going to have to run. We can't run the risk of being detected by flying." B-chan knew that in the back of her head, but she had wanted to get Hunter out of there so badly that she had let it slip. She touched down quickly and started sprinting away from everyone. ChiChi and Bulma took extra time to get their timing down seeing as how they were both carrying Trunks, but they soon were sprinting after her.

**********

Goten arrived with Dr. Boo and Devil back at the sight of the lab. There was a small amount of smoke coming forth from deep within. That was from the newly destroyed Aspa computer. Upon arrival Goten started getting a bad feeling about the whole situation. He was going to have to be careful about what he let the Doctor do. A scientist like that was sure to have a few tricks up his sleeves.

"Just exactly how are you going to release Videl? Tell me now, Boo!" Goten watched Dr. Boo roll his eyes.

"You idiot. Do you really think that with her by my side you can force me to release her? There is no Rae to help you. She is still with my wife. My darling little Android B has fallen for my trap and gone out to help my one working creation. She won't let him die. That will at the very least give him the chance to kill Trunks."

"Damn you, Boo!"

"I don't think so, boy. You are about to learn a lesson that you should remember if you make it out of here alive; Never trust the bad guys." He snapped his fingers. "Devil, occupy him. If the need arises- rip his head off."

"Yes, sir. Sorry, Goten. Doctor's orders. I'm going to have to give you your medicine." Devil attacked with a rapid-fire assault. Goten could barely keep ahead of all of them. He skipped around, jumping and ducking, spinning and twirling to get away from her. He dived behind the remains of the super computer. It took the blasts and shielded him. Quickly he powered up to Super Saiyan mode and devised a plan.

"I've got to get Boo and stop him. If I have him I can stop Videl from attacking." Goten rushed from around the pile of metal and plastic. No sooner had he done that then Devil tackled him into the wall, nearly pushing his entire body in. Goten pushed her away and hopped over her second attempt. Videl burrowed into the wall and Goten snagged the Doctor at another one of the computers in the lab.

"Unhand me!"

"Let Videl go and I let you go!"

"Devil! Kill him!" She sprung from the wall and was about to attack when Goten moved Dr. Boo between them. Needless to say she stopped.

"Care to try again, Dr. Boo?" Boo replied with a low growl. Things were getting out of hand…or were they.

"Simple minded Goten. I thought you would have learned by now that I am prepared for anything."

"Trying to scare me, Boo? It won't work. If I you try anything I'll break your neck." He tightened his grip to show he meant business.

"I don't make idle threats, Son Goten. I mean what I say. For instance, did you forget that I have your brother? As a matter of fact he's right behind you right now." Son Goten wasn't going to fall for the oldest trick in the book. Only an idiot would fall for it.

"You really expect me to give Videl an opening like that, Boo?" Boo said nothing. All he did was to duck down as far as possible when Gohan whacked his brother over the back of the head, collapsing him to the floor. Goten grabbed his head and crawled forward, trying to get away from whatever hit him until he could manage the pain.

"You should have listened, Goten. I gave you fair warning. Gohan and Devil are mine now. I will use them to defeat not only Buu and his brother, but your father and Vegeta. I will finally have my revenge for my loss. In the mean time you can stay there until your headache allows you to leave. There is nothing that you can do now. You can't attack Videl because your conscience won't let you. You can't attack Gohan because you don't stand a chance against him. You can't attack me because you wouldn't get within three feet before they both tore you apart. Game over, Son Goten. I win." Videl picked Dr. Boo up and flew out of an opening skylight. Goten caught onto his brother's left foot before he made it. Goten could hardly lift his head, but the matter was too important to let pass.

"Gohan…don't let him control you…" When he peered into his brother's face Goten thought that for just a split second he had seen his real brother peek through just before he took a boot to the face and passed out.

**********

"Gallic Gun Fire!" Vegeta's beam ripped through the air. Buu blocked it and held it at bay with his arms. From the side Goku dove in, hoping to get a shot in since he was preoccupied, but Buu zanzokened away at the very last moment and Goku took the full force of the Gallic Gun. Vegeta pulled away from the attack and was belted with an upward swinging axe handle punch from Buu.

"I will have the Buu-droid, and I'll take the Saiyan as a bonus."

"YOU WILL NOT TAKE MY SON!" Vegeta fired his Gallic Gun yet again. This time the blast was double strong, and Buu couldn't stop the forward momentum of it. He, and it, crashed into the ground at blinding speed. Only a few moments later, however, he rebounded and fought his way back up through the stream of energy to lay a hard right to Vegeta's face. Goku bounced in and kicked him in the back. Buu felt it, but worked with the pain and lunged backward. He hit Goku with a headbutt and then tossed him into the now charging Vegeta. The Saiyans recovered easily, but Buu had already taken off.

"Damn it! He's going to get to Trunks and Hunter!" Goku flared up his ki and blasted off, using every ounce of speed he had. Vegeta was close behind. They both ran right into a hard, unmovable wall.

"Now don't tell me that everyone has forgotten about me." The tall, imposing form of Boo loomed over them.

"…Kisima…" Both Goku and Vegeta began cursing their luck. Buu had been strong, but it was painfully apparent who was the stronger of the two.

"Don't get too scared, Goku. You'll need your energy. You might want to conserve your power as well."

"I don't need to listen to you! Get out of my way! Your brother is going to wish he had never been born!" Vegeta tried to speed past Boo, but it was impossible. He attempted it multiple times with multiple failures. The last time Boo put a death grip on Vegeta's neck.

"You won't have any time to deal with him while I am here. It is time to fight Saiyans. I don't want to waste my time and your energy on the meaningless two on one you are thinking about fighting. Don't fool yourselves into thinking that you can win. I want to fight the fusion."

"…"

"Your silence tells me I am understood." Boo let Vegeta go and the Saiyan backed off slightly, rubbing his neck down.

"I don't jump through hoops for the likes of you, Boo," he said. Even outmatched his usual confidence boiled to the top. "I will fight you as is and I will defeat you." Goku grabbed his arm before Vegeta had the chance to plan his first attack.

"Vegeta…" There was a long silence between the two. It was as if they were talking telepathically. It was not that as much as it was an understanding between two warriors. Vegeta had becoming more willing to be a team player as time went on. He was still very much a lone warrior, but he could be counted on to be part of the team now. This was one of those times he was being asked, and without a word he agreed.

"You've just made a huge mistake, Boo." Vegeta floated to the ground and moved himself into position.

"Vegeta, you talk too much. Just remember that it will be my hand that kills you."

"No. It will be my hand that kills you…" Goku was now in position. They gave each other a nod and started the fusion dance. It was done perfectly.

"Fusion…HA!"

"This is it…while my brother worries about taking the Buu-droid back into himself I get to have my revenge. It will indeed be glorious. After our battle is done and he is lying on the floor and dying I will fulfill my dream and his death will mark the beginning of my reign of power."

"I wouldn't count on that." Boo couldn't hide the joy from his face. Standing before him now was Gogeta, the fusion of Goku and Vegeta. It was the one that had, with the help of everyone else, sealed him back in the Dead Zone. Now they could no longer do that. He could create his own Dead Zone portals at will, thanks to Garlic Jr. Now they would have to kill him, but it wasn't likely to happen. He was going to kill the fusion first.

"Gogeta…we meet again. Now I can tell you what I've wanted to for all these years…"

"That you need a makeover?"

"Always the confident one. You won't be so confident when your face is mutilated."

"That won't happen while you are as weak as you are."

"You think I'm weak, do you? You can't begin to understand what energy I've absorbed in preparation for this battle. You don't know what I've achieved just so that when we fought your body would become a stain on my boot."

"And you," started Gogeta, "Don't understand that I know exactly who you've absorbed. You've taken Garlic Jr., Frieza, and Cell into your body. Problem is that you still can't touch my power. Face it, Boo. You are still second rate." Gogeta was calm as ever, which was beginning to frighten Boo. Perhaps he had overestimated his own power. Gogeta was extremely powerful. There was no question. Boo had immense power himself, but who had more? One thing was for certain; Boo wasn't going to let Gogeta make him look stupid.

"Your scare tactics won't work!" He rose his arm until his palm was pointing flat at Gogeta. "You are still going to die!"

"As you wish." In a flash Boo's head was falling to the ground and Gogeta was above the headless body finishing the decapitating swipe with this left hand. The body, headless and all, turned around and used the Big Bang attack. A single hand from Gogeta blocked it. He then promptly melted the body away with a single blast.

"You Bastard! You can't possibly be doing this!"

"Stop whining. It is far from over. You have yet another obstacle holding you back, and I want to beat you at full power." Confusion was the emotion Buu showed next. He couldn't understand what the hell Gogeta was up to, but he could feel the roles switching.

"What the hell are you talking about, fusion?"

"You might think that you have more control over your body than your brother, but I can sense that your excess power is being blocked by all of those you have absorbed. Let them go, and you will be able to reach it. You have something deep inside of yourself that you haven't let go of yet. When you do your potential will be reached." Boo gritted his teeth. Letting go of Cell, Frieza, and Garlic Jr. meant losing a lot of valuable knowledge. Gogeta, as much as he hated to admit it, was right. He was fooling himself into believing that he could have their knowledge and beat Gogeta with less power. He would have to absorb many more like them to do that. His best chance was to let them all go.

"You make an interesting point, fusion. I will let them go." Just like that Boo spit out three pink spheres. They dropped to the ground and seconds later grew to full size. In them were the three villains that were imprisoned inside of Boo. Gogeta's eye twitched when he saw Frieza. The part of him that was Goku still couldn't understand all the madness and murder that he caused. The part of him that was Vegeta could never forgive him for ending the empire that was the Saiyan race. After getting over seeing Frieza again (halo and all) Gogeta noticed that Boo's power had gone down.

"You are still holding back…you've got someone else in you, don't you?"

"No…" Even Boo knew that wasn't the least bit convincing.

"Who is it?"

"You wouldn't know, and by the time I'm through with you it won't matter." Boo worked up what looked to be courage and inhaled deeply. Then he exhaled and spit; launching another one of the pink spheres almost a mile away. Gogeta felt the power difference right away.

"Now that you are gaining your power back I want you to understand. I have no intentions on imprisoning you anywhere this time. I plan on killing you and then Emma can decide what to do with you. Both you and your brother will find yourselves in new bodies, hopefully good this time."

"No fusion. It doesn't go that way. Now that I've rid myself of the child I will rid myself of you. I will follow you to Heaven and kill you again so that I never have to see your face ever again."

"If you think you can…" Gogeta motioned for Boo to bring it. "Then try it. If you can't, say goodbye."

**********

"You won't get Trunks!" Bulma screamed at the top of her lungs. The sheer determination on her face was awe-inspiring. She even managed to give Buu a good ki blast to the chest, knocking him off balance. It didn't last long and Buu retaliated by whipping out his forelock and grabbing Bulma by the foot. He took her off her feet and swung her at ChiChi, who blasted off with Trunks in the direction of b-chan and Hunter. She couldn't outrun it, so Bulma collided with her and ChiChi dropped Trunks. He landed about six feet from b-chan.

"You two go boom!" Buu used the momentum he had built with Bulma to keep ChiChi in front and he slammed the both of them into the ground. "You shouldn't have gotten in my way." Buu picked Bulma up from the pit and then slammed her down again, right into ChiChi's back. B-chan started to rush in to help, but then she thought of a better idea. She ran over to Trunks and picked him up.

"Trunks, can you walk?"

"Yeah…I can walk." B-chan let him go slowly and he was able to transfer his weight to his own feet. Hunter was standing as well, barely, but he was up and about.

"That's good. Think you can move around, Hunter?"

"…What are you getting at?" b-chan smiled devilishly. Both Hunter and Trunks knew they weren't going to like what they were about to hear.

"Trunks! B-chan!" All three of them watched as Krillan ran up to them with a bag in his hand.

"Krillan (cough), what are you doing here?" Krillan smiled at Trunks and opened the bag. He took out a small bean.

"I'm the delivery man, Trunks. Here ya go!" He flipped it into the air and Trunks caught it in his mouth. He munched it around for a while and swallowed. Instantly his strength was returned and his wounds were healed. He felt about twenty times better than he had a couple of seconds ago.

"Thanks, Krillan. You're a lifesaver." Krillan nodded. B-chan cleared her throat to get a bit of attention, which she received.

"Can I have one of those?" Krillan handed her a senzu bean. She took it, walked over to Hunter, and placed it in his hand. "Eat it."

"What?!" Trunks and Krillan gasped at the same time.

"I have a plan, you two, and he is part of it." Hunter ate the senzu and his power sparked anew. He tested his arm out and found no pain. He took a deep breath and then stared at b-chan. She seemed to be helping him a lot. What reason had he given her to trust him?

"Okay. We are all revived, b-chan," said Trunks. "What is the plan?"

"It's simple. It's obvious that no one here has the power to fight Buu individually. A team up attack would be ineffective as well. What we need is to have ChiChi and Bulma fuse again, but they can't." The empty look on Trunks' face showed he didn't follow. Hunter was trying to understand, but he didn't know what she was getting at either. Krillan was the third clueless wonder.

"Uh…b-chan…" Krillan scratched his head. "I don't think anyone knows what you are trying to say?"

"That's because none of the three of you would have ever thought to do it. Trunks, Hunter; if you really want a chance to beat Buu, you are going to have to fuse." At first there was nothing. Not a word or a peep from anyone. B-chan studied each of them. They hadn't moved a muscle. Time was running out. ChiChi and Bulma had gotten out of the hole, but they were getting mauled. B-chan knew the silence was only from shock. The real reaction was coming soon.

It came.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOU MIND!" That was Hunter's reaction. Trunks did nothing but stare at his rival. The thought of doing the fusion dance with him sickened him. Hunter was too evil. The fusion might be out of control. There were a thousand reasons that he could think of not to go through with it…and then again he couldn't come up with a better plan.

"B-chan," Krillan started again. "I think you've lost your mind."

"No. I know that as a fusion they stand a better chance. Their power is past that of ChiChi and Bulma's. They would be able to hand Buu his head on a silver platter. Hunter and Trunks glanced at each other and the queasy feelings started to erupt.

"I can't fuse with him." Trunks could see his protest was falling on deaf ears, but he kept it up in hopes that something would happen. "He's a murderer. He wants me dead. How can I in good-"

"Get down!" Hunter tackled b-chan and Trunks pulled Krillan down. They had narrowly avoided the foot of Majin Buu, which was about fifteen feet long at that time. Hunter growled; the damn demon had tried to take his head off.

"See? You aren't all bad, Hunter." He peeked down and for the first time realized that he had protected b-chan. Whether she needed it or not wasn't what bothered him, it was the fact that he had done it at all. Wasn't she getting on his bad side?

"Don't start with me." Hunter stood up. Trunks was next to him. B-chan ran around them.

"Either fuse or I'll have to fight him."

"No, b-chan!" Krillan dived for her arm, but just missed it. She was off, already up to her max Super Saiyan power. Krillan pounded the ground. He couldn't do a thing to save her…but Trunks and Hunter could. He stormed over to them. He didn't bother with Trunks. In times of need Trunks would put his feelings aside and do what was best for the team. Krillan didn't need to convince him anymore. Instead he did one of the bravest things he had ever done; Krillan grabbed Hunter by the collar and without a word rammed him into a nearby mountain.

"Let go of me, monk, and I'll spare-"

"Can it!" Hunter was shocked by the sudden attitude change in Krillan. It demanded to be listened to. "I've had enough of your wise cracks! That girl is out there fighting just to get you two to fuse together to get rid of this monster! She knows that you and Trunks are the only ones who can pull this off. She is putting her life on the line for you. What the hell are you going to do! Let her die because of your ego?!" Krillan breathed heavily through his nose. "Forget yourself for once and think of the one person who has shown she cares!

"…I…"

"Don't say it- do it!" He let Hunter go and turned his back to him. Hunter stayed put for a moment. Trunks couldn't believe what he had just seen.

I don't think I've ever seen Krillan act like that before. He must have really been worked up.

Hunter fixed his gi and stared at the ground.

That monk has some nerve. He thinks he can tell me what to do, but I'm stronger than he is… so why didn't I just push him away? I could have done that easily, but I didn't. I didn't stop listening to that girl either. Why? Hunter was at war with himself. He didn't want act like a sissy, but at the same time he was tired of fooling himself. I didn't push him away because he told me exactly what I needed to hear. I owe the girl big. If she hadn't given me that senzu Buu might have killed me, or at least stopped me long enough to absorb me. Now I was going to let her fight by herself just because of my ego. Anger was registering on Hunter's face. For the first time ever he was beginning to care about someone other than himself. Someone who had made a selfless sacrifice for him without even wanting a thank you. That person was now fighting a losing a battle against the enemy. Hunter watched in horror as she was slammed into the ground in the same fashion as ChiChi and Bulma. Over and over she was introduced to the floor. Each time she yelled and each time his anger rose. Finally it overcame him in the form of ki.

"You think that you can take my b-chan away from me, you demon?" He clenched his fist and the anger soared higher. He walked over to Trunks' side. Trunks was ready. "I don't think so." Once again the two locked eyes, letting each other know that it was a one-time deal. Behind them Krillan was sweating bullets. He couldn't believe he had just done what he did to Hunter, but it had worked. In the distance Buu slammed b-chan one more time.

"You go boom!"

"Hey! Majin Buu!" he yelled. "Don't you touch her! I'll make you pay for all you've put her through!" Trunks and Hunter nodded at each other and started the dance.

"FUSION…"

**********