The door overhead closed with a loud "BANG!".
"They really want us trapped like rats in here, don't they?" I asked with a simple laugh. It was not a happy laugh, more of a snort of contempt.
"Babadi will keep us in here until he is sure that Buu has been released at full power," Shin said darkly, "It was foolish to come in here in the first place!" He looked at me, not even trying to conceal his accusing glare.
"No," I corrected, "It was righteous and I am mostly confident in my abilities and those of mi amigos." I used what little Spanish I knew.
He seemed very taken aback by my sure-sounding tone.
"But-but aren't you even a little bit worried about your own life?" he asked. I laughed bitterly.
"If you'd gone through what I went through nearly all my life, sir," I said, "Even a tenth of it, you wouldn't care about your life if you all of the sudden found someone who did care."
Shin blinked at me. He looked confused. Then, I saw shock on his lavender face. I knew what he had done. He had read my memories. I knew. I knew that he had searched my mind, exactly what he had seen. I had blocked him out of the place where Vegeta had given me his past. That would be too much.
But I could see the shock on his face.
"You see now?" I asked softly, "You see why I am who I am?"
"No," he shook his head, "After seeing the things you've been through, I would expect you to be evil and corrupt."
"You would be surprised how much a little bit of love can change a person," I said, "How simply protecting one's innocence can keep their heart pure. You'd be oh, so surprised." I smiled mysteriously at him. Suddenly, I frowned, "How many of these levels will there be?"
"Uh...3," Shin answered after thinking a little, "this is level one. Then there's level 2 and 3 and last the bridge, where Babadi will be. And I expect Dabura."
"Gohan, Goku, you decide who's first between you, I'll go last," I said grimly.
"What do you mean?" Shin asked in surprise, "It'll take us all to beat even the first one!"
"I think not," I said with a smirk, "Watch the Sons' fights, and then you shall see." Shin nodded grimly, but did not seem happy with our decision.
"You go first, Gohan," Goku said happily, "I want level 2."
"Okay, dad," he said with a smile. Gohan was happier than I'd ever seen him before. I could tell that he loved his father as much as I loved Vegeta. And I could tell he loved his little brother, just as I loved Trunks.
The door on the other side of the room began sliding open. The third guy from before, the one who'd killed Yamu in cold blood, came out.
"Hello," he rasped, "I'm Pui Pui. And that means you get no further."
"I think not," I grinned, "Gohan is stronger than you'd really ever believe. I'd like to take this moment to say Adios, enemigo." He grit his teeth, or the equivalent of which in his mouth.
"I'll be your adversario," Gohan said, following my example of Spanish dialect. I think combining Spanish and English words is called Spanglish. Maybe, I don't really care either way. Both of them knelt into fighting positions.
Nothing moved. Not even the wind howled past. A sudden gust started the fight with a crash. I knew right away that Gohan was just toying with him.
"Gohan, don't play around!" I shouted, "We need to revive the others as soon as possible!"
"What do you mean?" Supreme Kai asked, clearly not knowing or noticing that Gohan's act was merely that: An act to deceive Pui Pui into fighting at his full strength. Gohan stopped to look at me.
"Look out!" Shin yelled out. Gohan still looked at me, obviously not hearing the Supreme Kai's warning. He was hit square in the head by the kick.
And did not even budge, wince, or flinch.
Shin stared in wonder. He did not understand that Gohan could be hit as hard as this guy could give him, the guy simply was not going to do any damage.
"Did I just see what I think I just saw?" Shin asked with eyes as wide as a barn door and a mouth even wider.
"Yes," I answered simply, "Pui Pui simply is not strong enough to do any damage to Gohan. In fact, he barely felt that kick at all." The Supreme Kai could not keep his cry of surprise from surfacing.
"He's that strong?" Shin whispered, "And you are stronger?"
"Yes," I answered simply. He laughed with so much joy I thought he'd burst with it.
"Now I KNOW why you were so certain of your victory," Shin laughed, "You ARE strong enough to beat Dabura. I think." He stopped laughing and thought for a moment, "Babadi's spell makes you about 10 percent stronger. Dabura might be a good match for you. Buu, I am not so sure about, though."
"We need to stop him," I said, "Which is why I am hurrying Gohan." I turned in time to see Pui Pui die. A ki blast in the face. Just as Kibito had died. But it was different somehow. Then I remembered. It was because we were fighting to save our planet and our friends and family. We had a righteous cause. Babadi merely wanted to rule the universe, or destroy it, or whatever.
The bottom of the floor slid open and we jumped down.
Goku killed his monster just as easily.
The third level was mine. I knew what I had to do. I began to stretch my muscles. My mind meditated as I sat on the floor. I gathered my strength. I reached out and felt Babadi's mind. I knew what he was planning now. I gasped in surprise.
"What? What is it, Angel?" Gohan asked and knelt to my eyelevel.
"He's sending Dabura now!" I whispered anxiously, "He's sending that demon as the third level fighter." My lips curled into a grin. "Good. The others will be revived even sooner than expected."
"Yea! Goten and Trunks and Vegeta and Krillin and Piccolo(Boy that's a mouthful) are coming back!" Goku shouted and jumped up and down like a child. He was acting like Goten, Trunks, and I did whenever Bulma said we were going to have ice cream.
I giggled at the memory. But my laughter stopped when I heard the rush of the door.
And pure evil stepped through. I could FEEL the evil energy Dabura emitted. He dripped of it. He WAS evil. And I was going to destroy it.
I was going to destroy evil. For my friends. For my family. For the only people to care about me in years. For the friends I'd never met before. For the people who were innocent, who knew nothing about what was going on in this ship that was buried in the Earth.
Even for my uncle, who never cared about me. For all the police that had brought them to justice. For my parents, who died so long ago.
For the dogs and cats and all the other animals that couldn't protect themselves. For the other planets in the universe that don't even know I'm about to save them.
Even for the Demon World. Maybe it will be a better place without such an evil king. But I was saving lives.
I was saving the lives of billions upon billions of people, animals, plants, all living things. I was saving even the nonliving, such as the planet that I stood upon. The rock and minerals that made up everything on the planet called Earth.
I was it's savior. I was El Salvador. I was the Angel of the Dragon, sent to defend Earth and all it stood for.
What?! Where the heck did that come from?!
I shrugged it off and faced Dabura.
"You turned my father, my brother, and three of my friends to stone," I said dangerously low, "You threaten the lives of billions upon billions of people." I smirked, "Well, I won't have it. I am Angel of the Dragon, and I am here to set things straight." I roared righteously and glimmered and glowed into Super Saiyan Level 2.
Then I attacked. It was so fast, and I wasn't thinking at all about anything but the fact that I was saving my father, my brother, everyone that I cared for. The others said it was too fast for them to track. I couldn't tell what particular moves I made. But still, I was losing.
I roared again with renewed strength. Goku said later that it was like a T-rex roaring over the African savanna.
Gohan said it was a lightshow, full of bright, blinding yellow light.
The Supreme Kai said that it was the most spectacular show of speed, grace, and strength he had ever seen.
Vegeta, after we revived him, said that he felt me, even through the stone that covered him. He felt my strength, my righteous, good strength.
Trunks and Goten said it was the most awesome amount of power either of them had ever felt before.
My hair grew down, past my knees. It turned black again, but my whole body crackled with purple ki lightning. My eyebrows disappeared. My tail was still there, but it lashed out in anger and strength.
I was Super Saiyan Level 3. The first. Ever.
