The darkness was tick and powerful, taking the light and sucking it into oblivion. It was cold, so cold that Ken could feel his fingertips and toes turn to ice as he hovered in the darkness, curled up in a protective ball for warmth. He couldn't tell if his eyes were open or closed - it made no difference either way. In fact, his physical state was the least of his worries.

Despite the biting cold that assaulted Ken's physical body, he could feel a burning sensation as well. It was the pain of dying muscles, having the energy sucked out of them. He didn't know what was feeding off his life force, but he could feel it becoming increasingly powerful with every second. He had never been aware of his own strength until now, until it had been taken away from him.

"What have I come back to?" he asked himself. "I've left my home and my friends, only to subject myself to this. Somebody ... get me out of here."

The feeling was familiar. The pain, cold and suffering of being held prisoner. Like when I was ... possessed? Ken was surprised at his own thoughts. Or were they memories? He didn't know where the feeling had come from, but he knew it wasn't a conscious thought. Whatever it was, this state of being, this suffering was not something he hadn't experienced before. And that was something he'd be willing to bet his life on.

***

A blinding light assaulted Doale's vision, filling his body with life. The force was so quick, so sudden, he could've sworn he was about to explode in a massive spray of blood and guts. He put a hand up to his eyes, shielding himself from the light, and that was when the silhouette of a person could be seen.

"Get up!" a kind, enthusiastic voice said.

"I'm lying down?" Doale whispered. He felt two hands place dig their way under his shoulder blades, hoisting him up into a sitting position. "Who... what?" He turned around to face the speaker, and he saw two boys whose familiar faces comforted him upon recognition.

"Dude, you're okay!" Goten breathed.

"What am I doing alive?" Doale asked. "I thought I was..."

"Dende saved you," Trunks replied, motioning over to the Namek teen who now sat half collapsed under the shade of a boulder. "Man, if it weren't for him, who knows where you'd be right now."

"I'd be inside Buu, being used as a tool to fight against the Z Soldiers," Doale thought silently, but refused to say it out loud. Ken was now suffering in his place, being condemned to whatever horrible place that was meant for him. The others had to know. They needed to know Goken was back, and in danger. Doale prepared to push himself onto his feet, only to meet with resistance from Trunks and Goten.

"Not a good idea to get up and fight now, man," Trunks said, looking him straight in the eye. "Gohan over there thinks you're the enemy. Not to mention he also thinks you're dead. Going up there in the middle of the battle will get you killed."

"Why did you save me?" Doale asked. "You have no reason to. After what I did so long ago..."

"I wasn't around when you were the Firebird," Goten replied. "I have no biased feelings towards you, other than what you've already shown to us as being Emperor Doale. And I don't know what's going through Gohan's head, but I know you're not a bad guy. Mom thinks so too."

Mom. Chichi. It was the woman who's heart he'd broken those years ago, when the Firebird had posessed Goken. Yet she was willing to put all that behind her. If there was one thing Doale could do for her ... "I have to tell her about Goken. I have to let everyone know about him!"

"What are you talking about?" Trunks asked, running his hand through his lavender hair. "Who the hell is Goken?"

"He's ..." Doale studdered. Well, Goken was the brother of Goten who he'd never known even existed. Goken was the child who suffered immeasureably through Gohan's training, who believed he was a saiyan, when he wasn't. He was the child whose life the Firebird had taken away. "He's somebody who needs our help right now," Doale said quickly as he got up. He nodded his head at Dende, to show gratitude, who waved back in acknowledgement. And with that, Doale quickly flew off towards the battle with Buu, whose ki level, he could sense, was rising at a horrifying rate.

***

The power surge Buu felt had caught him by surprise at first. In fact, it scared him. Doale was never this powerful. Buu knew he'd latched onto something and was drawing the energy from it. Whatever it was, it was a lot more powerful that Doale. He could safely say that it was the strongest energy he'd ever come across. How fate smiled upon Buu that day.
He looked into the eyes of the terrified Z Soldiers standing before him. Even Goku, at Super Saiyan level 3, with that long mop of golden hair, was trembling upon sensing his ki.

"That's right you imbeciles," Buu said, "grovel in fear for your worthless lives." Buu waved his hand in an outward arc. An invisible force of energy knocked everyone down, as they each let out a painful grunt. The loudest was Vegeta. That arrogant prince of nothing needed to be put in his place.

Buu concentrated his power in an arch shape on the rocky ground. He could feel his eyes burn fiery cracks into it, and within moments, the ground erupted in an explosion of falling rocks and fire. Buu's curiousity was nearing its peak. He felt as if he could do anything with nothing more than a thought. This power ... there was something special about it.
Again, Buu decided to put his acquired power to the test. He raised his arm, and along with it, huge pillars of molten rock and fire gushed out from the ground. He looked up towards the sky, focusing on a single point high up. The white, fluffy clouds that hovered in clumps began to turn gray, and move towards the point Buu was focusing on. They gradually became thicker, as lighting began to form inside.

Buu was too busy testing his new found powers to notice that Vegeta, Gohan, Goku, Juuhachi Gou, and Piccolo were flying at him with a fury of kicks, punches and fireballs. None of it phased him. With his hand still raised, Buu brought it down hard, and the sky exploded with hundreds of lighting bolts, each one striking the ground with a sharp, explosive sound that cracked the air around them.

***

This ki was strangely familiar to Goku. It definitely didn't belong to Buu. It belonged to somebody a lot more powerful. But who? Goku scanned his memory thinking of all the possibilities. It couldn't have been Cell, Frieza or Juunana Gou, as each of they lay before him. Could Buu have taken the powers of all three of them and combined it with his own? It wouldn't explain why they were so weak and he was so powerful, and it seemed like something Buu was capable of doing.

But that didn't feel right either. The energy Buu was giving off felt powerful, yet vulnerable. It forced Goku to feel ... protective? Did that energy Buu was tapping into belong to somebody Goku cared about? He tried considering other possibilities but the protective instinct didn't leave Goku's head. It felt almost paternal.

A powerful fireball collided with Goku from the side, sending him flying helplessly into a giant boulder. But none of it phased him. Goku was thinking of the possibility that perhaps Goken -
No ... there was just no way in hell it was possible. He was supposed to have died fourteen years ago, and reincarnated into a different person, on a different world completely severed from this world. There was no way Goku's son, Goken, could've returned.
Chichi and Gohan would be thrilled at the thought, especially after discovering that Doale was the Firebird. But Goku didn't want to take any chances in bringing up false hope. He wanted to be sure about this before he made any announcements. He was going to find out.

"Dad, where are you going?!" Gohan shouted, shocked at his father's sudden departure as he lifted off into the air.

"I'm going to cut off Buu from his power source," Goku replied. "Something isn't right about it. Just take care of him for now. I'll be back." He didn't give Gohan a chance to reply before he put this two fingers to his forehead and disappeared in a modest display of warped, vertical lines.