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The Kakarotte Factor
by Echelon

Chapter Two:
Ghost Ship

"What's the matter? Did you misplace your boss or something?"

Yamu whirled around. Standing some fifty yards away was a short, muscular man sporting a gravitationally impossible hairdo, a dark blue sleeveless fighting suit, and a wicked smirk.

"Huh? Who are—" With a start, Yamu remembered: he'd seen him at the tournament; he had been one of the fighters in the competitors' tent. Behind him were several of the other fighters, among them the diminutive, lavender-skinned guy with the white Mohawk, the huge green pointy-eared man with the caped mantle and turban, and a young woman with the oddest haircut he had ever seen. Then again, he had seen that hair before, except the one sporting it had been a tall, well-built male...

But he was digressing.

"Spopovich! We got company!"

His cohort dashed over from behind the building, his bloodshot eyes widening as he beheld the intruders. "You...!"

Vegeta rolled his eyes. "Yes, us. Now I'm going to ask you straight out: where's your boss?"

"How'd you know we were meeting Babidi here?" spluttered the larger thug. "Were you the ones who did this to—"

"Be quiet, Spopovich, before you tell them everything!" Yamu snapped at him. He turned back toward the group, his posture growing even more menacing. "We got nothing to say to you, so if you all know what's good for you, you'll leave here and forget you ever saw this place."

"Yeah, well, see, that's gonna be a problem," Goku remarked, her voice speciously casual. "I'm afraid we won't be able to leave until we have a word with your boss. You do know where he is, don't you?"

Yamu gnashed his top and bottom lip together. "Aw, ain't that cute. The little lady tryin' to talk all tough."

While Goku was busy blinking at this unfamiliar reception to one of her heroic speeches, Piccolo took up for her in his usual succinct manner. "We need to see Babidi. Now."

There was a tense pause as the two factions regarded each other. Shin's eyes flickered between the two henchmen and the entrance of Babidi's vessel as though he were expecting the wizard to pop out at any moment.

Finally Yamu carefully placed the container of energy he held on the ground behind him, safely out of his foes' reach. "Tell you what. We'll tell you all you wanna know"—he moved into a fighting stance—"if you manage to survive us."

Spopovich mimicked his companion's action, the veins over his skull pulsing in anticipation.

To Shin's and Kibito's dismay, none of the Saiyans seemed to have any objection to Yamu's challenge, least of all Vegeta.

"If you insist," the prince answered on behalf of the assemblage. He marched forward, tugging at his gloves. "I'll be sure to make this quick—"

He was stopped by Gohan, who held a dissuading arm out in front of him. "No, Vegeta, let me fight them. I got a score to settle."

The older Saiyan scowled at him, but he eased grudgingly to one side, allowing the teenager access. It wasn't as though those two were any big loss. "Fine. They probably wouldn't last ten seconds with me, anyway."

Goku grinned confidently at her son. "Go get 'em, Gohan."

Gohan nodded his thanks at the both of them and advanced slowly toward the two over-muscled fighters. "Hey, guys. Remember me?"

The muscles near Spopovich's right eye spasmed in recognition. It couldn't be...they'd bled him dry with that energy-sucking apparatus. But it was unmistakably him. "You're...the kid we ambushed..."

"Bingo." Gohan's normally genial features had morphed into an immovable, hard-edged mask, a sure signal to all those who knew him that now was the time for his opponents to start fleeing. Unluckily for Yamu and Spopovich, neither of them knew Gohan that well. "I think you owe me a rematch."

"If you want to join your friends fighting us, then be our guest," Yamu sneered, misinterpreting Gohan's words.

Gohan shook his head. "Actually...I was thinking I'd take you both on by myself."

Spopovich released a noise that was somewhere between a snort and a chortle. "You? By yourself?"

"Why not? Listen, I won't even turn Super Saiyan. How's that sound?"

At this, Kibito sent a dubious glance over at his unperturbed allies. "He's not going to transform?"

"I know Gohan's strong," Shin put in, "but Spopovich's and Yamu's power levels have been greatly augmented by Babidi's magic. Without transforming, Gohan could be in big trouble. Are you sure that's such a good idea?"

Piccolo's mouth stretched into an almost-smile. "Don't worry about it. Gohan's gotten a lot stronger since their last encounter in the ring."

"Stronger...?" Shin trailed off in disbelief, then refocused his attention back toward the face-off. Yamu and Spopovich were now circling the young man in a manner not unlike that of wolves closing in on their prey. Gohan didn't even bother to track them with his eyes, instead continuing to stare straight ahead of him with unwavering calm.

"Is that so?" mocked Yamu. "Kid, we don't give a damn whether you fight us with or without your Super-whatever transformation. Back at the tournament, you couldn't manage to escape from me and Spopovich even with your power. Either way, you don't stand a chance against the both of us."

Gohan didn't bat an eyelid. "Why don't we find out?"

Yamu let loose an inarticulate bellow, and the fight was on.

Technically, it couldn't even be called a fight; the entire thing was entirely one-sided. Even without the benefit of Super Saiyan speed, Gohan evaded, ducked, and leaped over the combined attacks of his two adversaries without so much as a sound or even a change in expression.

On the other hand, even with the benefit of Babidi's skills-boosting magic, Spopovich and Yamu looked as though they were fighting underwater. Compared to the fully in-control Gohan, the two minions were sluggish and sloppy and with each missed blow, more desperate. Every punch and kick they threw was rendered harmless even before it was halfway executed as Gohan blurred in and out with impunity.

Shin and Kibito took it all in with open-mouthed wonder. The research they'd done before they'd arrived on Earth had focused solely on the power inherent in Super Saiyan forms, and thus knew little of what a modern Saiyan was capable of in his normal form. While it was a forgone conclusion that they were stronger than the average organic being, Shin and Kibito had no idea just how much stronger they were.

Until now.

Twin cries of agony erupted from the battlefield, and as the dust settled down around the brawlers, the onlookers were treated to the sight of Yamu and Spopovich, the former's fist planted in the latter's gut and latter's fist wedged between the former's cheek and shoulder. Their countenances were contorted in matching expressions of stunned pain as they faltered, then crumpled down to the ground. Gohan stood off a few feet to the side, completely unruffled, his back to them.

Yamu uncoiled from his pain-wracked position and collapsed onto his belly. He raised his upper torso up on his elbows, glowering at the young man's back. "Cheating little son of a...that's right, runt...run," he gasped out. "All you got...is your speed..."

Gohan turned then, and it was evident from the look on his face that he was done toying around.

Unfortunately for Yamu, he missed the warning, and went right on talking. "...but I bet...you can't...hit...worth—"

His rant was cut off when Gohan materialized in front of him and slugged him hard once across the jaw.

"That's for ambushing me..."

Before Yamu could even hit the ground, he blurred out, re-appeared before the crouched-over Spopovich, and delivered a vicious ax kick down onto the enormous thug's spine. He went down like a boulder.

"...and this," he finished with a snarl, "is for Videl!"

And with that, the battle was over.

Vegeta was the first to comment on the skirmish. "Hmph. Twenty-one seconds. The brat is slipping."

Goku rose to her offspring's defense. "Aw, c'mon, Vegeta. Gohan was trying to give them a fair chance by not attacking right off."

Out on the field, Gohan picked up the container Yamu had been holding. He weighed it in his hand, marveling at the warmth of his own energy inside. Without further ado, he crushed the front section of the device, closing his eyes as the trapped energy seeped back into its rightful owner.

Meanwhile, Shin was eyeing the fallen thugs. "I think we better check on them."

"Right," Goku agreed, and took a step forward.

And stumbled.

The fall was averted by Piccolo's grabbing a handful of the gi on her back. Goku regained her bearings and flashed the Namek a grateful smile. "Thanks, Piccolo."

"Yeah," Piccolo grunted. He was a little taken aback by the dramatic difference in the Saiyan's weight; the Goku he'd grabbed had been unnaturally light, completely bereft of the male Goku's impressive muscle mass. It had not occurred to the Namek that this might be one of the effects of having Goku become female. Perhaps there was something to the whole disparate gender business, Piccolo mused.

"Dad?" Gohan hurried over.

Krillin wore a concerned frown as he surveyed his best friend. "What was that about, Goku?"

"Are you all right?" Shin wanted to know.

"Nothing. It's nothing. Sorry about that." Goku scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "I just kinda forgot that my center of gravity's changed. That's why I fell on Vegeta that first time."

"Your...center of gravity?" Piccolo inquired skeptically.

"Oh! Um, wait, I learned about this," Gohan piped up. "It's actually very simple. Males and females have different equilibriums. I guess you're still trying to get used to balancing on your hips, huh, Dad?"

"Yeah. I think I'll be fine now, though." As if to prove her point, she straightened up and walked out toward the field, her steps precise and experimental.

Spopovich was breathing but unconscious, while Yamu was sprawled on his back, utterly incapacitated and groaning. The latter let out a pained gurgle as Kibito wrapped a beefy hand around his throat and hauled him to a half-sitting position.

"I think it's about time we finish our conversation," rumbled the burgundy-skinned giant. "Now, for the last time: where is Babidi?"

Yamu hacked, his bloodied lips parting as he tried to form words. He was missing both of his front teeth and one of his incisors. "...s'posed...t'be here...don't...know..."

"Where is he?" The fingers tightened around the thickly corded neck.

"...dddnnn...know...."

"Kibito." Shin placed a mollifying hand on his huge companion's shoulder. "It's useless. He really doesn't know."

Kibito glanced between Yamu's battered face and the Supreme Kai's somber expression, then released his grip. Yamu flopped back onto the ground and resumed his groaning marathon.

"So they don't know where their boss is?" demanded Vegeta, sounding disgusted. "So that means the brat beat them up for nothing?"

"Not for nothing." Gohan grinned, recalling the supreme satisfaction he'd gotten from smacking Spopovich around as hard as the latter had smacked Videl around.

Piccolo, meanwhile, had made his way over toward the spaceship entrance, and was now studying the cadaver lying in front of it. "This one was killed with a ki-blast," he noted impassively.

"A ki-blast?" Shin stared down at the battered form. There were soot-like patches all over the creature's torso, and some of the bone-like spines on his back had been broken off. Stamped over the crest of his protruding brows was the same stylized 'M' had had been branded on Yamu's and Spopovich's foreheads. "Then it must've been an extremely powerful one. It had to be. Anything less would not have killed someone like Pui Pui."

"But who could've killed one of Babidi's minions?" Krillin wondered. "And why?"

"Perhaps it was Babidi himself," suggested Kibito. "Perhaps he found no more use for Pui Pui, and decided to dispose of him."

"That sounds just like him, all right, except for one thing. Babidi usually disintegrates those under his thrall," Shin reminded him gravely. "It's easier for him to dispose of those underlings he has under his control by causing them to explode rather than take them out in a blast of power. That taken into account, I'm not entirely certain that Babidi's responsible for this one."

"What about Majin Buu?" queried Piccolo. "You said Babidi was working to free him, right? Could he have succeeded, then?"

"It's not likely," Shin responded. "Like I mentioned, in order to 'hatch', that monster requires an enormous infusion of energy. We've ascertained that the only agents Babidi dispatched to gather the needed energy were Spopovich and Yamu. But since they did not meet with the wizard, I doubt Babidi has yet collected anything near the amount of power Buu needs to be freed."

Vegeta kicked carelessly at the body, flipping it over. The Namek was right: the wounds were reminiscent of the aftereffects of a ki-missile this Pui Pui person had been hard-pressed to block. From experience culled from his old raiding days, Vegeta could tell that tell that the blast that had killed him wasn't even a particularly potent one; it was as if its source had been holding back—

"It wasn't even a strong one."

The Saiyan prince jerked up. Kakarrot had somehow slunk up beside him and was now peering at the corpse, apparently having reached the same conclusion as he.

"It's as if whoever blasted him was just playing around with him," Kakarrot deduced, tossing him a grim smile. "Right, Vegeta?"

Vegeta stared up at her, noting with extreme annoyance that even as a female she was still taller than he was—though now only by mere inches—then growled and went to put some distance between himself and the other Saiyan.

"Playing around with Pui Pui?" Shin exclaimed. Pui Pui had been a genocidal mass murderer on Voon, and someone had accidentally killed him while playing around with him? "Who could be crazy enough to do that?"

Goku glanced down at the body, then shrugged. "Well, Pui Pui wasn't very strong to begin with, poor guy," she remarked, and moved on, leaving Shin and Kibito slack-jawed.

Gohan lingered at the ship's entryway, having spotted the 'M' insignia at its peak. His curiosity ignited, he poked his head inside.

Shin spotted him and snapped out a warning. "Gohan, be careful! This could still be a trap!"

The young demi-Saiyan paused, snuck a glimpse into the interior of the craft, and looked back at the Supreme Kai. "If it is, I think someone else set it off before us," he said. "Something's seriously messed up the inside."

"It can't be!" Shin rushed over toward the entrance, Kibito and the others at his heels.

The door opened into a deep vertical shaft. Its metal-like sides had been thoroughly shredded, and the air inside smelled of smoke.

"What happened here?" breathed Shin.

"Why don't we find out?" Piccolo suggested, and, before either Kibito or Shin could formulate a protest, leaped down into the passageway.

By the time Piccolo touched bottom, the unrelenting gloom had given way to brief instances of illumination. The room's interior lights were functioning, but only barely: a good number of them had been smashed, and the rest fizzed with the effort of trying to stay illuminated. As a result, the scene inside was revealed to Piccolo only by light-bursts that disrupted the darkness at erratic intervals.

The room was shaped like the top half of a colossal dome, its ceiling looming high over his head, the tiny hole at its zenith the end of the shaft that he had just dropped down of. The whole thing might have appeared suitably impressive, had it not looked as though a Spirit Bomb had gone off inside of it. Heaps of wreckage dotted the sides and the center of the circular area. The walls were charred and pockmarked, and there were still wafts of smoke rising from the debris.

His appraisal of the place was interrupted by the arrival of Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Kibito, and Shin. The last two were visibly agitated.

"I'm telling you, you are all severely underestimating Babidi's power! You simply can't keep charging in where..." Shin's diatribe faded as he took in the disaster area. "Wh-what in..."

"Something—or someone—tore this place apart," Piccolo said, stating the obvious. His voice was thunderous within the wrecked confines of the vessel. "Furthermore, it happened very recently." He glanced at the newcomers. "Where's Krillin?"

"Oh, he decided to stay behind and keep an eye on Spopovich and Yamu," replied Goku, her gaze flickering about the room as she spoke.

"That's just as well," muttered Piccolo, and went back to sifting through the mess.

For some moments the only sound in the ship was the buzzing of the lights as they lurched on and off. The smell of ki burns was still fresh to the noses of those sensitive enough to pick it up, and eventually they were able to distinguish the marks slashed across the walls. Some were holes left by chunks of craft material that had been ripped out, some were craters surrounded by dark halos—unmistakable indicators of ki attacks—and others were huge irregular dents. Farther into the area were the remains of a doorway, as well as the room beyond it.

"This can't be the entire ship, can it?" Gohan wondered, returning from his investigation of the opposite side.

"No," answered Kibito. "We are merely at the topmost level. If this ship is any similar to that of Bibidi's old one, the only passage from here into the inner sanctums is through a shaft opening in the middle of the floor."

They all looked simultaneously downward. There, almost completely hidden underneath the rubble, was a spherical dais-like design set into the ground. In its midst was a circle with a telltale slit running across it: a firmly sealed horizontal access.

"It sure doesn't look like we can get through that way," remarked Gohan.

"The only way that thing opens is if Babidi grants us entry into the level below us," Shin informed them, a series of furrows marring his otherwise smooth countenance. "But since that's looking less and less likely, it seems we're stuck out here for the time being."

"Says you," Vegeta announced shortly. He extended a palm toward the circle. "All of you stand aside—I'm going to make us a doorway."

"Vegeta, you can't!" Shin interjected. "Babidi might not be here, but we still don't know if Majin Buu's somewhere inside his ship or not! If he is, the smallest shock is liable to set him free, and trust me, that is a risk we cannot afford to take!"

"Why not? What other option is there? I did not forfeit that tournament and my match with Kakarrot so that I could sit around twiddling my thumbs waiting for your damned Buu to show up!"

"Buu showing up is exactly what we don't want happening," boomed Kibito. "Babidi by himself is enough of a threat even without his minions! I still cannot comprehend why you continue to take him so lightly—"

Goku had tuned out the proceeding argument; her attention was currently preoccupied by the traces of ki residue that clung to the rubble. They only barely registered within her built-in radar, but their lingering presence nagged at her senses as though challenging her to identify their source. And there was something familiar about them, she realized; she was almost certain that she'd felt that ki before, had come up against it, had been struck by it. She breathed in deeply and crinkled her nose. And that scent—it was almost like—

"Goku!"

Her eyes snapped open. "King Kai?"

The squabbling ceased at her abrupt exclamation as her companions swiveled around to stare at her.

"What are you babbling about this time, Kakarrot?" Vegeta barked.

"It's King Kai," Goku announced, vacillating between her exploration of the fast-fading ki-signature and King Kai's sudden intervention. "He just contacted me."

Piccolo grimaced. "King Kai? You mean that fat little cockroach on that tiny planet I got stuck on the first time I died?"

The disembodied voice sputtered indignantly, and this time it was audible to all those gathered. "Well, I never! So that's how you repay me for taking you in and feeding you and training you, eh? Why, you ungrateful green—"

"King Kai," Goku interrupted him politely, "is there something wrong?"

"Huh? What? Oh, right. Goku, you wouldn't believe what's been happening here lately. I would've contacted you earlier, but I didn't want to bother you when you should be spending your twenty-four hours on Earth with your family and friends..."

Goku glanced around at her assembled friends and family, and smiled. "I appreciate that, King Kai, but what could be important enough for you to try and talk to me now?"

"It's terrible—just terrible! Hell's in chaos—well, in more chaos than usual. King Yema's been trying to hold down the fort for the past half-hour, but even he's having trouble—"

Goku tried to push away that encroaching feeling of foreboding. "Why, King Kai? What's going on in Hell? Are Cell and Frieza trying to take over again?"

Her query evoked a host of stunned reactions from certain members of the assemblage.

"Frieza?" Vegeta echoed angrily.

"Cell?" uttered Gohan.

Shin and Kibito whipped their heads back and forth between them, uncertain as to the nature of the current exchange but unwilling to interrupt it. Piccolo stood back and listened, his pokerfaced demeanor a façade for his escalating unease. King Kai had not sprung one of his tired jokes on them, a fact that underscored just how rattled the old man was.

"Oh, I wish it were that simple," King Kai lamented. "There's more to his whole business than meets the eye—of that we're all sure. We sent Pikkon, but..." The sentence trailed off ominously.

"What?" Goku's sense of foreboding returned with a vengeance. "What happened to Pikkon?"

"Who the hell is Pikkon?" snarled Vegeta, not at all appreciating the other Saiyan ignoring his questions.

She opened her mouth to answer, but once again, King Kai beat her to the punch.

"Goku, I hate to impose upon you like this, especially since this's supposed to be your special day, but I'm going to have to ask you to come back here."

"King Kai..."

"Trust me, Goku, I think you ought to come. There's something here that I think might concern you especially."

"I...I understand, King Kai. I'll be there." She turned back to the others, her expression both rueful and resolute, and lifted two fingers to her forehead. "Sorry, guys. I'll be back soon as I can. You take care, okay?"

But Vegeta would have none of this. "Oh, no you don't, Kakarrot—!"

His words fell on nonexistent ears as Goku winked out. Shin and Kibito gaped at the spot she had vacated.

"How did—" Kibito stammered.

"It's a technique Goku picked up," Piccolo explained, his tone brisk. "Instant Transmission. He—" He cleared his throat. "—she is probably conferring with King Kai at this very moment."

"King Kai..." Shin reflected out loud. "Sounds like one of the Four Kais. And since Earth's in the Northern Quadrant of the universe, that must've been none other than the North Kai."

"The North Kai?" Kibito echoed. "Are you telling me that Goku has been summoned by the North Kai himself?"

Piccolo nodded. "What of it?"

"Nothing," answered Kibito. "It's just...well, the North Kai oversees the universe's entire Northern Quadrant, which encompasses thousands of galaxies. To have him be on first-name terms with a mortal is quite unusual." Particularly one from Earth, he added silently. The last one had been Olibu, a blue-eyed, golden-curled superhuman the likes of which had never walked the Earth before or since.

Evidently, Earth—and its inhabitants—had changed significantly since then, Kibito realized, sweeping his gaze over the gathered Earthlings. Perhaps it was time he and Shin stopped being surprised at these mortals.

"I wonder what King Kai needed my dad for," Gohan remarked, a touch of anxiousness in his tone. With all the rubble, there was not enough room to properly pace, so he settled for simply meandering around the environs of the ship.

"He mentioned something about Hell," recalled Piccolo.

"Something's wrong here," Shin said, his mouth set in a tight line.

Vegeta eyed him sourly; he was still incensed by Kakarrot fleeing and consequently skipping out on their duel yet again. "Oh, really?" he drawled sarcastically. "You think?"

"I meant...in the Otherworld. Heaven, Hell...something's interrupted the cycle. I don't know what, but I can feel it."

"You think it's connected to this, don't you?" pressed Piccolo. "Babidi's absence, the destruction of his ship..."

"Yes. The timing's too perfect." The Supreme Kai clenched his fist. "Damn it! When Kibito and I came here, we knew our mission was dangerous, but at least it was straightforward: stop Babidi from raising Buu. But now...all our plans are coming apart at the seams, and we still don't know where either of our targets are!"

"Uh, guys?" Gohan called out. He had strolled all the way over to the other end of the room, and his toe had come into contact with something that didn't feel like part of the debris. "Guys, I think I stumbled onto something."

His discovery turned out to be a swath of blue nearly buried under one of the piles of wreckage, scarcely visible under the fluctuating lights overhead.

"What is that?" asked Kibito.

Gohan stooped down and grabbed at the object, and did a double take as he realized that it was connected to something else. He gave a quick tug; something pried loose from the rubble and flopped down to the ground.

It was a hand—a huge, red-skinned hand with fingernails that tapered into talons.

"What the hell—?" Gohan released his grip.

"No, wait..." Kibito reached over, seized the limp wrist, and yanked. Grout rose in the air as pieces and hunks of debris were dislodged from where they lay on top of the body.

And it was a body: a massively built form dressed in an azure outfit—now in tatters—with what used to be a white cape flowing down the back. His jaundiced eyes were wide open, his goateed mouth hung open in a silent scream, and his long salmon-colored face was frozen into an almost comical expression of bewilderment. On his forehead was the familiar stylized 'M', and imprinted across the powerful muscles of his neck and throat were what appeared to be finger depressions.

"I—I don't believe it," hissed Shin, sounding like he didn't know whether to be awed or horrified. "It's Dabura."

"The king of the demons." Kibito's voice was equally disbelieving.

Piccolo squinted down at the cadaver. Unlike Pui Pui outside, there were no ki burns; his entire body was a map of scratches and bruises. Dried blood caked the corners of his lips and leaked from the insides of his tapered ears. "You knew him?"

"We knew of him. The strongest individual in the Demon World." Kibito was staring at the corpse like he was expecting it to jump to its feet and attack them. "At least, he was."

"No wonder we couldn't sense anyone around!" Shin straightened up and turned to the others, the shifting lights throwing odd shadows across his creased forehead. "There's no one here left alive."

Kibito met his gaze evenly, reading his mind. "We just stumbled into a massacre."

End of Chapter Two

Closing Notes: Wow...I actually updated within a week of my previous chapter. That's...quite rare. Anyways, thanks to all who left reviews and sent e-mail! Have 'em keep comin', 'kay? =) I'll be sure to address some points you guys brought up in upcoming installments, like...why's everyone so interested on Vegeta's relationship with the now-female Kakarrot? I mean, isn't their rivalry complicated enough already? *lol*

Next: Goku gets some bad news from a variety of sources: first from King Kai regarding Hell and a certain nearly-extinct race, and then from Vegeta regarding the nature of said nearly-extinct race...