I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to any of the music pieces you may see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 10: Deadline to destruction
The blast lit up most of the sky all around, and a strong wind hit us as we turned to observe the blast itself. I could hear Vegeta's cries of pain as he released the energy from his body and sent it in all directions. I heard Buu scream as well, painfully.
"Vegeta..." Krillin whispered.
"No, I can't let him do this!" Piccolo said, starting to move back towards the battle zone. I wanted to follow so badly, but Vegeta's teachings of Saiyan pride and honor had soaked themselves into my personality and prevented me from moving. Besides, I had to protect Videl for Gohan now.
Krillin managed to grab Piccolo's cape before he went to far, "No Piccolo, you can't help him now, he needs this! No one is making him do it!"
"Damn!" The swirl of energy continued to expand outward, before finally shrinking back and then exploding with a resounding bang that easily could have been picked up a thousand miles away. Smoke filled the skies around the blast point as the light faded. Vegeta's energy flickered once and faded, and I felt it slip into nothingness. Not believing it myself, I scanned all over for any signs of Vegeta. There were none, nor did I pick up on Buu. I floated there with the others, at a loss of words and filled with blank thoughts.
"Piccolo, you feel that?" Krillin asked.
"Yes, Vegeta's ki signature has completely disappeared. Listen, take care of these two, I'm going back to check things out," The Namek said sternly.
"I'd like to go too, pay my respects," Krillin said.
"No, take everyone back to the gang, I'd rather do this alone, no hard feelings," Piccolo ordered.
"Yeah, Buu may still be alive."
"I don't think so, but I'll take a look anyway. Oh and something else Krillin, I need you to tell the others what happened here today. I'm not sure what happened to Goku, he may still be around, but Buu killed Gohan. Verto told me through telepathy, and I heard Vegeta say it as well, now get going you guys!" Piccolo finished.
At the end of his speech Videl started going bonkers in my grip, "What do you mean Gohan's dead! He can't be!" Piccolo didn't turn around, though Videl kept shouting at him, thought most of it went in through my sensitive ears, giving me a headache.
"Come on you guys, let's get going so we can help Bulma find those dragonballs, then we can wish everyone back," Krillin suggested. I nodded, as did Eighteen, Videl just sniffed slightly. I knew how she felt though, Gohan was a very good friend of mine and that monster had taken him out and even enjoyed it. I personally hope that monster gets his in hell! Krillin and Eighteen flew slowly ahead of Videl and I, who insisted she fly herself at this point.
-
After a few minutes of silent flight, my senses picked up on Piccolo again, this time his ki was heading towards us very fast.
We turned to meet him, but he flew straight past, "COME ON, GO!" He shouted as he raced past. I turned back towards the battlefield, and then it hit me. Buu's evil ki signature was chasing Piccolo, right towards us and coming in fast. I grabbed Videl again and chased after the Namek, Eighteen and Krillin did as well. I managed to catch back up to Piccolo, before I heard a familiar laugh.
"Hahahaha, you can't run from Majin Buu! Buu, show them what happens to our enemies!" Babidi screeched. Next thing I knew the pink blob was right in front of me. There was no sign of damage from Vegeta, but that was expected. Probably regenerated again.
"BUU!" he laughed and prepared his fist. A ki blast hit Buu from behind, courtesy of Eighteen and Krillin.
All Buu did was look at them and wave, "Hi pretty lady, you play with Buu?"
"Shut your fat lip you disgusting creature! The only thing that you'll be playing with is my fists you tub of lard!" Eighteen yelled at him.
Buu steamed up in reaction, "You mean lady, you be Buu food instead!"
"Videl, take the boys and get going in that direction, we'll catch up!" Krillin pointed towards the general area of the lookout.
"Why, I can help you guys out!" Videl insisted.
"No, you can't! We don't stand much of a chance, which means you have no chance. Just please take the boys and go, when you see a long tower leading to the sky, follow it up to the top. Pass the top and continue till you see a high platform, that is the lookout, go now!" Piccolo gave her quick directions while Buu was dancing in mid air, Babidi yelling at him.
"All together guys!" Eighteen shouted. I powered up with whatever energy I had left and prepared to charge the blob again. Krillin and Eighteen lined up together, Piccolo on the other side of Buu. Babidi jumped off of Buu's back and floated off, his body had been restored somehow.
"Ready? Go!" Krillin and Eighteen came in first and were knocked away easily by Buu, they didn't even get a punch off and were discarded to the nearby ground. Piccolo swung next and met a similar fate. I came in next, but ducked under Buu's initial backhand and managed to get a hit in on his huge belly before his hand came back and swatted me. He hit my broken nose, causing even more damage and blood to spill out once again as I backed off.
"Buu want fight, you all too weak, Hahahaha! Me make you chocolate!"
"Hurry up Majin Buu, take out the boy and the green guy! Then we have to find those other little pests!" Babidi screeched.
Buu grabbed my neck and held it tight, his forelock thing flickered with pink light, "Bye bye boy!" Suddenly his forelock was blown off by a corkscrew beam, Piccolo's special beam cannon. But Buu was only annoyed by this and regrew it in no time. He shot a weak ki blast at Piccolo, knocking him away. Strangely I couldn't feel his energy after he was knocked away, but I also couldn't breathe.
"Now where was Buu again, oh yes, Buu was making Boy chocolate!" I was starting to fade due to lack of air, my super form wasn't going to hold, not that it mattered. His forelock flashed again and shown brightly. A big fist wrapped in golden light made impact with Buu's face and he let go of my neck, letting me breathe again. Buu went tumbling to the ground as I hovered on my own again. I looked up to see Goku, in Super Saiyan two form, a huge scowl on his face. His body looked trashed, his clothes torn, Vegeta had done quite a number on him. I wasn't in much better shape come to think of it.
"Come on Verto, we're leaving right now!" Goku said as he held out his hand. I took it, and he put two fingers to his forehead, and the scenery faded to black.
-
By use of Instant Transmission, Goku and I arrived on the white tile floor of the lookout. The technique made me feel a little queasy, but the way I was feeling it didn't bother me that much.
"Wait Goku, what about the others? They're still back there!" I shouted.
"No we're not!" Krillin voice sounded behind me. I spun to see himself, Eighteen, Piccolo and Videl standing there, Videl was still looking around trying to figure out what this place was.
"While Majin Buu had you by the throat, Goku was teleporting us away. He couldn't get us all at once, but we got lucky anyway," Piccolo explained, rubbing the part of his cheek where Buu nailed him. A smaller version of Piccolo walked out from behind him.
"Dende!" I yelled in slight happiness, it had been a long time since I had seen the little green guardian.
"Hey guys, allow me to fix those injuries!" Dende said, walking up to Goku and myself first. Dende did Goku first, who looked like he had seen better days in hell.
"Man, you really fought bravely Verto, I was watching the whole fight since it started with Dabura. I really didn't think you would last so long," Dende said, his hands glowing around Goku.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I was lucky that I got Buu to just play around for so long. Enough stalling time did pretty well, if that thing had any sort of brains he would have picked up on it," I muttered as Dende moved his hands over to me. They glowed and I shut my bloody eyes. His healing ki felt warm to the touch, the pain and fatigue slowly lifted off of me and I felt like I had just ate a good meal and had a decent nap. Opening my eyes, which no longer held a gallon of red back, I stood back up.
"Thanks Dende! I feel a little better now," I said.
Goku started to pace a little bit, "Man, this Majin Buu is much stronger then Vegeta and I expected! Gohan and Vegeta, gone, DAMN!"
"Well Goku, how are you going to approach this then? You're the only one left with a chance to stop this monster!" Krillin said to his lifelong friend.
"Well, Vegeta and I were nearly even in our fight, so if he couldn't take Buu, what chance do I have?" Goku said solemnly.
Everyone gasped, "Whoa man, if Goku can't do it, we're all done for!" Krillin said, slumping to a knee.
"Argh, if only Vegeta had not been so damn arrogant, if he or Gohan were still alive we could still work together against Buu!" Goku clinched his fists.
"No, don't punish yourself, it would not have mattered. Even an army of Super Saiyans would not have done it!" Piccolo said, trying to aid him.
"I was about to say, if Vegeta or Gohan were still alive, we could have done a fusion!"
"Fuchsia? The color of my shirt, well sort of?" Krillin asked.
"No Fusion, like a merger!" Goku said, standing up. I cocked an eyebrow at this, Fusion?
"What is this fusion?" Piccolo asked, beating me to the question.
"It's an ancient merger art that can be performed between two being of similar size, race, and physical ability. The fusion of two fighters combines their powers and increases them substantially!" Goku explained.
"I think I've heard of this before, a man from Metamor once explained the process," Dende said.
"Yeah, the people from Metamor that I met in Other World are the ones that showed me how to do it!"
"Hey, you and Nail were sort of a fusion weren't you?" Dende asked Piccolo.
"Yes, of a sort, but when I absorbed Nail my body stayed the same, though his memories and power were fused with mine, I still remained the same. The power it granted me was incredible, enough to take on Frieza at the time," Piccolo explained.
"The version of Fusion I know is actually quite different from the Namekian version. A new fighter is made up from characteristics from both hosts, and it's only temporary," Goku interjected.
"Yes, but the outcome is similar," Piccolo said with a finger to his chin.
"So if Gohan or Vegeta were alive, you could have done one of these temporary fusions with them?" Krillin asked, getting back to subject.
"Actually, now that I think about it, it may not have mattered much. It would have taken me a week to show them what to do, but I'm only on earth for one day. Not to mention that, but while I know how these fusions work in theory, I've never tried one out in practice before. No one is other world is similar enough to me to be compatible, and I've never taught anyone else how to do it. So, yeah it was just a crazy idea..." Goku laughed, scratching his head.
"No its not Goku! Pretty soon you'll have to go back to the other world. Well if Gohan or Vegeta are dead, then that means they are there too. So you can do a fusion with them when you get there!" Krillin suggested.
"Hey great idea!"
"Impossible, once Goku leaves he can't come back again!" Piccolo said. That made everyone saddened in thoughts of hopelessness again.
Popo then gasped, "The boys, Goten and Trunks are almost exactly the same size and their powers seem to be equal. Could they do a fusion?"
Goku smiled at the thought, "Yes, I think that would work Mr. Popo!"
Krillin started dancing around like an idiot, "Yeah, Goten and Trunks will trash that fat blob!"
"You're really serious? Leaving the world in the hands of two children?" Piccolo asked, shocked at Goku's agreement.
"I'd say it's a pretty good bet, wouldn't you?"
"You're a hopeless dreamer Goku," Piccolo grinned, "But let's think seriously here, according to Goku, it will take some time for the boys to master the technique, during that time many people will suffer and die during Majin Buu's ruin. We have to be prepared for anything that may come our way."
"Yes, but I'm confident that those two can learn this, and we can always use the dragonballs to clean up the damage at the end," Goku said.
-
"Hey Dende, do you mind if we go get our daughter and the others to come up here? I don't like the feeling of them down there while that beast is running around," Krillin said to the silent guardian.
"Well I'm not sure, what do you think?" Dende asked Piccolo.
The former guardian snorted in response, "You're the guardian now, it's your decision."
"Well its not proper, but if it wasn't for you guys this planet wouldn't even be here now. We can bend the rules a bit!" Dende said.
"Thanks Dende, I'll go get everyone and bring them back here!" Krillin said, running towards the side of the lookout. He hadn't moved twenty feet before the sky started to darken. Everyone, including myself, gasped at the sky as it turned to black.
"Oh no, why has is suddenly gone dark?" Goku asked.
"Not good, not good!" Piccolo answered. Goku shut his eyes and turned his head slightly, getting a feel of the air, and opening his eyes again.
"Someone's released Shenron, who and why?" he asked.
"My money is on Bulma, who else could gather those dragonballs so fast?" Krillin asked, "But why now? She can't have known about Gohan and Vegeta yet!"
"No, but she does know that Vegeta killed a lot of people at the tournament today, she's probably trying to wish them back!" Goku said in realization.
"Oh no, if she has Shenron grant two wishes, we won't be able to use the balls again for a year!" Dende shouted. Damn, talk about jumping the gun.
"All right, I'll just have to go and stop her!" Goku said, putting two fingers to his head and concentrating. He struggled to find it for a second or two, before finally vanishing into thin air.
"Wow, I'm still lost on how he does that stuff!" Videl said from behind me.
"Heh, yeah he has tendency to do amazing things when he feels the need to," Krillin chuckled.
"So Eighteen, how'd the rest of the tournament go?" I asked, just for a change of subject.
"It was cancelled, but not due to you guys. Some kind of robot army showed up, its leader was looking for Goku. Me and the little Saiyans sent them to the junk pile, I think his name was Cooler or something, Frieza's brother," Eighteen explained.
"Cooler showed up?!" Krillin shouted.
Piccolo had a similar reaction, "I thought he was dead, Goku blasted him into the sun!"
"Well he's toast now," Eighteen chuckled.
Dende suddenly stiffened up, "Goku I hear you... okay. Tell Shenron he doesn't have to grant any more wishes, if only one wish is made we only have to wait four months before the dragonballs recharge!" Dende relaxed a little, "She got one wish off but not the second," he explained. We stood in silence for a few minutes before Goku came back, with the rest of the group, Ox King, Chichi, Bulma, or Mom to me, Krillin's girl Marron, Oolong and Puar as well as Yamcha and Roshi. Mom came up to me, a rather angry look in her eye, but a happy one in the other.
"Where have you guys been?" she yelled at me right away. I didn't answer, fresh memories of Gohan and Vegeta's abrupt end started to flow back into my head, disrupting any clear answer.
Goku motioned for me to come over by him, "I'll tell them son." I was doing everything I could to keep from just flooding the lookout with salty tears. I settled for stomping the tiled floor and causing quite a crack as I looked away.
"Goku, where are my sons?" Chichi asked.
"Yeah and where are Trunks and Vegeta at huh?" Mom asked. Goku took a deep breath,
"What I have to say isn't easy right now, but..." Goku began but slowed his words dramatically.
Krillin was holding his daughter tightly, "Come on Goku."
"Goten and Trunks are going to be all right, but Gohan and Vegeta are dead. Majin Buu, killed them both." There he said it, other then general gasps from the group, the reaction was mild. Mild before Chichi fainted on sight and Mom went berserk.
"No, Gohan, Vegeta? No, Vegeta! No!" she screamed as Yamcha tried to hold her down from hurting herself. I hurt on the inside as well, wanting nothing more then to just croak on the spot, the loss feeling made me sick. The general crying mood lasted for a while, no one really said much other than consolations to each other.
"Well, you know, its never easy dealing with loss," A voice said, it belonged to a white cat with a cane.
"Hey Korin." Goku nodded at his presence.
"But I'm afraid you don't have time for mourning Goku, you're going to have to act. Even in this place you won't be safe for long. From what I have seen, Majin Buu's power can soon wipe out this world!" the cat finished.
-
"Goku? What about the Fusion? You said it would take a week or so?" Piccolo asked, bringing everyone's attention back.
"Right, Mr. Popo, would you go wake up Goten and Trunks?"
"Right away!" The black genie said, walking off.
"Now I'm not going to be here much longer, so I'll stay and teach them what I can, but someone else is going to have to pick up the slack. Can you do it Piccolo?"
"I'll try."
"HAHAHAHAHA! Testing one two, One two, over?" A loud voice popped into my head, and apparently everyone else as well, they all looked up. "Greeting Earthlings, I am the all knowing, all seeing, all powerful wizard Babidi! Son of the all knowing, seeing and powerful Wizard Bibidi. Now don't bother looking for me, you're not even close! I am using my great magical abilities to transport my words to you, the people of Earth. Now I hate to bother you like this, especially if you were otherwise having a very pleasant day, I to know what its like to be disturbed while having fun, you see earlier today four idiots did just that! Now I am simply returning the favor! Now please pay attention and remember that silence is golden okay?"
"Man, what is he up to now?" Goku said, closing his eyes. I followed suit and found a purple like cloud appeared in my eyes even though they were closed. Slowly images of Piccolo, Trunks, Goten and myself drifted into view over and over again.
"Here are the idiots starring in my own personal nightmare, get a good look at their ugly mugs, for they are the ones responsible for any and all destruction that may come your way! Come out you cowards, unless your scared of little old me?" That got my blood flowing a little, even though he was just taunting.
"I've got a preview of what is in store if you refuse, but first let me introduce myself. The handsome devil you see here is none other than me, the great wizard Babidi! And this is my faithful servant Majin Buu, the heavyweight champion of the universe. He may not seem like much, but he is actually quite unstoppable! Just look at him pumping his fists like that, I'd hate to be the one who makes him mad!" Babidi continued, showing pictures of himself and Buu.
Then he showed a vision of a large city that he and Buu were near, "And now, you see this quaint little place, well its citizens are about to get a sneak preview of the high cost of your yellow belly behavior while you look on from your hiding places!"
"Argh, damn him!" Piccolo shouted.
"Now you may want to close your eyes, or maybe open them. The following material will be quite unnerving to watch I promise you, let the fun begin, Majin Buu!" The view shifted to Buu, who lifted his hands up. At first I didn't see anything around the town, but slowly I saw small dots emerge before the view shifted again and it zoomed in on some of the dots. They were the people of the town, and from the look of things it was easily all of them.
"What is he doing, no not the people!" Goku cringed.
"Ah, what Buu want for eat, candy sound good to Buu!" His forelock flipped forward and shot the pink beam, it expanded and reached all of the people floating in his grip. There was a flash and all of the people were replaced with jawbreaker candy.
"Oh man, no way!" I shuddered. Buu's mouth opened wide and began sucking in air, which pulled the candy drops toward his mouth and filed in one by one. He sucked them all into his huge mouth, filling it to the top, and then chewing hard five or six times before swallowing them all with a loud gulp.
"Ahh, Buu tummy feel better now!"
"This is but a small taste of what will happen if you don't surrender! Now for the rest of this city, well not much of a city now is it? Go on Buu, these buildings are spoiling my view, fix it! Clean up this town Majin Buu, just not to hard, we wouldn't want the planet to vanish!"
"Okay, Buu do!" Buu said, sucking in his breath again and swelling up like a balloon, then exhaling a loud and large ki beam that plowed into the city and swung over all of it as Buu turned his head. When the smoke cleared, Buu belched slightly while laughing at the now decimated city.
"Man, he's made his point already, now he's just rubbing it in!" Goku muttered angrily.
"Now that's better. So let's review, its him, him, him and him, there's no point in protecting them. They are not your friends, just spineless, gutless cowards. If they valued your lives at all, they would have already surrendered! Obviously they don't, well shame on them I say!" Babidi continued, showing visions of us again, before shifting back to a camera like view, Buu was dancing in the background.
"You now have a chance to teach these jerks a lesson, a chance to stand up for yourself and earthlings everywhere! Just tell me where they are, its that simple! By the way, you have five days to decide how much you value your pitiful lives, then I'll have Buu destroy you all, Hahahaha!" the wizard cackled. Piccolo was getting a little pissed now, Goku tried to calm him.
"Oh one more important thing! You'll need to contact me, all you have to do is reach out and call my name with your mind. I will hear you, so speak out now. If you tell me where those meddlers are hiding I might even spare you!" There was a pause in the speech, Babidi was giving some of the people a chance to respond while we were putting up with Buu's ridiculous laughter. A minute or so later someone did try to contact him. It all came in as one jumbled message.
"Um, excuse me Mr. Babidi Sir! I am in charge of the world martial arts tournament that was held but cancelled early today, I believe I have some information for you!"
"Go Ahead, I hear you."
"Those four guys were participants in the competition today!"
"Excellent, are you sure its them?"
"Yes, their names are Trunks, and Goten, and Verto, and Ma Junior, yes that's them, definitely!"
"Listen, I don't recall asking you their names, just tell me where they are!"
"Uhh, I don't know where they are sir but…"
"Oh you don't know huh, well then your useless to me!" Babidi finished as the fat monk who was speaking flashed into view. His head started to bulge outward and expand, causing him to scream instinctively. It continued to expand until his head violently exploded and his brain splashed onto the ground, along with a lot of blood.
I gasped at the gory sight. "I can't take this much longer!" Goku cried.
"Now, I don't want any more useless information, give me what I want or else! Now then, no rest for the wicked, I've got to keep you humans on your toes so you don't slack off. Majin Buu, it's time to go!" Babidi climbed up on the monster's back before speaking again.
"You never know, the place we visit next might be your hometown. Yes you can consider this to be your final warning, remember you only have five days before we destroy this planet! So come on, give me a call, Hahahaha!" the wizard laughter continued until the vision of him flying on Buu's back blipped off like a TV screen.
"Curse him!" Piccolo roared, "That demented Wizard!"
"We've got to stop them!" Dende said.
"I'm not sure they can be stopped!" Yamcha said.
"So those are the ones that took Gohan and Vegeta away from us, ARGH!" Mom screeched in anger.
"Yeah, Gohan, Vegeta and all those people!" Krillin said sadly.
"And that list is only going to keep growing!" Dende interjected.
"There's no way I am going to allow that to happen, I'll show myself!" Piccolo growled.
"No! That won't help anyone and you know it! Look I know its hard to just sit up here, but you said it yourself, we have to be prepared for this. Don't worry, we can still revive everyone with the dragonballs. We have five days, help me teach the boys the fusion technique!" Goku reasoned with the Namek.
"Don't go, not when you can still do some good here!" Krillin shouted.
Piccolo seemed to review his options before dropping his guard again, "Okay, I'll stay!" I felt some ki levels inside the palace go up, signaling the boys were waking up. Goku walked around the palace then, in their general direction. Mom came up to me and knelt down to look me eye to eye. Her tear filled eyes melted my heart.
"Tell me, Vegeta fought his hardest to beat that thing didn't he?" she asked. Why is she asking me? She knows Vegeta better than I do.
"Yes, his final wish was for me and Trunks to get away before he tried to take out Buu. He gave me the strict order of protecting you and Trunks, and that's what I'm gonna do!" I said sternly, taking a serious attitude.
Mom smiled weakly and embraced me tightly, "I'm just glad you and Trunks are alright, and I hope we beat that freak!"
I tightened my gloves down, "Don't worry about a thing, between Goten, Trunks and myself, that balloon won't know what hit him!" Mom rose back up, wiping a tear from her eye with a tissue as she went over to Eighteen to talk about something. I walked over to the edge of the lookout and looked down upon the earth, the feeling of Buu's power never wavering no matter how far he was away. Thoughts of Gohan and Vegeta's final acts of defiance began to stir in my head as I stared off into the clouds. Piccolo came walking over and joined me at the side of the sanctuary.
"You know it wasn't your fault," he whispered.
"Maybe not, but it feels like it is. I couldn't do anything against that thing!" I rasped, angry feelings feeding into me again.
"Nothing you could have done would have changed the outcome, Buu would have still won, and maybe fewer of us would still be here. Be proud that you stood up as long as you did. While I was encased in stone, I could still read power levels. Yours was on I picked up on when fighting the huge one that turned out to be Buu. You did well considering the situation," Piccolo said, not doing much to reassure me, but did calm me down some more. A ki signal then came to my senses, a powerful one, but nothing compared to Buu. All the same it made itself known very well, and it was coming from the sight we had first engaged Dabura and Buu.
"What is that?" I whispered.
"I'm not sure, it doesn't feel empty like Buu, but almost a golden feeling. It's not Vegeta, or Gohan, but someone else, it feels like…" Piccolo paused. Then the true feeling hit me and I could identify the owner of the ki.
"It's Kibito, but Dabura beheaded him! So how could he be here?" I asked.
"He was probably revived by the dragonballs, Yamcha said he wished everyone that had died so far today back to life, not just the tournament victims. And he said he left out all of the evil people like Dabura and Babidi's minions, a very important factor," Piccolo explained.
"Then that means the dragon left Vegeta out, despite his final atonement. But if Gohan was dead he should be..." I hit realization.
"He's alive!" We both said, a little excited.
"But where is he?" Piccolo asked.
"He was blown far away by Buu and I never felt him after that, I assumed the worst. If he's alive he must be hanging on by threads, otherwise we would have sensed him long ago! We must find him!" I said, getting antsy.
"Where is Kibito going though? He's locked on to something and landed near it," Piccolo said, ignoring me. I followed Kibito's energy trail and led to a fluctuating life form near him, it felt golden as well.
"The Supreme Kai is still alive as well, Kibito must be going to heal him," Piccolo exclaimed, sensing the same thing I did.
"We must get to Gohan then! But I'm not sure we can find him," I said, looking at the ground.
"Then perhaps the Supreme Kai will know where he is. He's been sending Dende the occasional telepathic message and I have picked up on a few, he just asked him to keep Gohan's fate a secret, and since Goku has assumed the worst and told everyone already. It would be best to stay silent, Goku is sure that this fusion will work. Even if it doesn't, having Gohan alive is a nice back pocket trump card to have," Piccolo explained.
"Yeah I guess so, but," I said, looking over at the crying Videl and general ugly mood of everyone, "It would lighten everyone's spirits a bit."
"And that can backfire sometimes, if everyone gets their hopes up, it could all be for nothing! Keep quiet about it, I'm sure Supreme Kai has a good reason for keeping this secretive," Piccolo ordered as I sighed. I still felt compelled to tell the others, especially Chichi and Videl. Goku came back with Goten in one arm and Trunks in the other, whom were both struggling to get free.
"It's time for lessons, come on you three!" Goku said, looking at me and nodding his head towards an inner chamber. What does he want with me?
-
"No, my dad can't be dead! No way!"
"Wahh, my brother's not dead!" Goten and Trunks were not taking the news very well.
"Stop that, we don't have time for this! I know its hard, but we have to move forward from here. The two of you are going to need to learn some new skills fast, so there's no time to lose!" Goku shouted. Trunks and Goten were still sniffling a little, holding whatever tears they could back.
"I said stop that! You'll have to be tough to stop Majin Buu!" Goku claimed. The boys both looked up at him with angry determined expressions.
"Okay then, two of you are going to learn the art of fusion. It's an ancient merger art that can make one warriors into one more powerful warrior capable of incredible power and strength that neither fighter could gain alone. There are two steps you must take for fusion to work, the first is the easiest. You must bring your power levels to an equal level with one another; otherwise the fusion will not succeed. The other part is complicated, its kind of like dance that the two fighters must perform, coming together at the end," Goku explained, giving a chance for it to soak in. It sounded kind of silly, but I was willing to go along with it. Trunks however, bore a different opinion.
"What's wrong Trunks?" Goku asked.
"This fusion thing, sounds kinda stupid. It's not like were going to beat Majin Buu by dancing on him," Trunks muttered a little to loud.
"That's enough, now I want all three of you to power up and go Super Saiyan. We need to determine which pair will be the best to use," Goku instructed.
"Fine but it still sounds stupid to me, and I already know who it would be. The strongest of course, me and Goten!" Trunks declared. Humph, right.
"That's what I'm not so sure about, now powerup!" Goku ordered. I pulled my arms up slightly and summoned my ki power from beneath, transforming along with the boys.
"Now were getting somewhere, now take your levels as high up as they will go!"
"Well, he asked for it, let's do it Goten!" Letting my ki flow more now, I was going to show Trunks up right here. I yelled slightly as my power flowed through my body, causing the scream by passing through my throat area. I had learned long ago that powering up could be painful at times, but once it got going the pain turned to more of a numbing sensation, almost like a static electricity buzz. As I felt Goten and Trunks' power shoot up to their maximum's as well, I allowed mine to stop momentarily.
"It's amazing, and at their age!" Piccolo exclaimed.
"Verto, I said all the way up. I know you're stronger than that," Goku grinned slightly, the boys both gasped at this.
I returned the grin, "Sorry, I didn't want to make them feel too weak and crush their spirit!" I shouted loudly as I released the rest of my power, sending Piccolo's cape into a flapping frenzy. The ground shook slightly even though I tried to prevent it. My power soared up quickly though and it stopped, leaving expressionless faces on the two demi-saiyans as well as the Namek.
Goku just chuckled, "Complete mastery of the form, I remember when I hit that level. Though I never thought it could be achieved through anger, Gohan and I hit it by simply staying Super Saiyan for several months at a time and slowing down our training. Maybe you just have a lot of power hidden from you. Hmmm, but the one benefit is that Super Saiyan isn't as difficult and can be sustained much longer," Goku said, rambling a little bit.
"It's possible that his hidden potential is so buried that it was too difficult to achieve, and thus he didn't ascend to the second level. It was too hard to tell while I was incased in stone," Piccolo said.
"Hey, how did you get so strong? Even training with Dad so much couldn't do that!" Trunks protested.
"It helped though," I said, smiling.
"Okay you three, now that you're at your top power level, we can get a feel for who should be used in the fusion. Goten and Trunks, you two are closer together than either of you are to Verto, but Trunks your level is still a little too high. Remember both your levels must be the same, so bring yours down a little bit," Goku ordered.
"So something like this?" Trunks asked, dropping his level, his aura dropped in height as well.
"No that's too low, a little more," Goku said, as Trunks added power, "No, more, more, there perfect!" he proclaimed as Trunks raised his level in equality with Goten. "Remember how that feels, that's exactly where you want to be. Now Verto, lower your level to the boys, I want to get a good feel for this," Goku said to me. I then let my ki go, letting it slip into the depths from which it came, lowering it to about half power, then getting another feel of Goten and Trunks. They were higher then half of mine so I powered back up, closing in on the boys. I came up to their level quickly and stopped, groaning a little from the strain.
"Okay, there it is. Since Goten and Trunks are more closely matched, the fusion would actually be better with them since Verto is capable of so much more power. I learned that uneven fusions tend to be counterproductive and a little unstable, even with their ki lowered to equal levels. A closer gap between the fighters makes a better fusion rather then gambling on a huge gap in power," Goku explained again, leaving me wonder how he could be clueless and happy one minute and super intelligent the next.
"Now, back to normal," Goku ordered. I allowed my power to sleep again, dropping out of Super Saiyan, as did Goten and Trunks.
"Whew that's pretty tough, but why do I have to lower my level? Why can't Goten raise his?" Trunks whined.
"Sorry, I couldn't!" Goten complained.
"It's okay son, Trunks is older then you so it's only natural he'd be a little stronger too!" Goku reassured.
"Don't complain, he could have asked you to raise yours to mine, good luck," I snickered.
"So its final then? Goten and Trunks will be used in the fusion training?" Piccolo asked.
"Yeah, that would work the best. Verto is too powerful to make a good fusion partner for the boys, no offence," Goku said, grinning.
"None taken. If you don't need me here, I'd like to go find the Supreme Kai, he's still alive," I said, walking towards the door.
"That's a good idea, just be careful and stray away from Buu. I don't think he can sense power levels, but there's no use to take a chance so don't put out to much power in your search," Piccolo said.
-
I had just walked out the door of the inner chamber when I heard a familiar cackle in my head.
"Hahahaha! Greetings again earthlings, it's the wizard Babidi and Majin Buu here. I have been out sight seeing and Buu and I found this pleasant little city, a great place for Buu to grab a snack!"
Argh, not again. I blocked out the vision by keeping my eyes open, but I could still hear the annoying cackling from the wizard as well as the excited Buu, and then the screams. Screams that haunted my head a little, but I just didn't have the stomach to watch.
"Hey Babidi, Majin Buu, this is Trunks!" I heard him yell from the room I had just left.
"So young Trunks, have you decided to show yourselves and surrender?"
"No. We've decided to find you, and trust me, you don't want to know what we have in store for you that day!"
"Yeah, were going to beat you up!" Goten added.
"You two, stop talking to him or he'll find us!" Piccolo roared.
"Hello? Boys? Where are you?" Babidi said. I walked over to Mom, who was having trouble not crying. I didn't want to leave her right now, but I knew I should if we were to have a better chance. The fact that Goku and Piccolo were up here helped a little in my decision, I needed to know if Gohan was alive, finding the Kai in the process would help as well.
"Hey Ma, I'm going now. I've got to find the Supreme Kai to help improve the situation, and hopefully I don't run into Buu. You're safe up here with Goku and Piccolo here, I'll see ya later!" I said, giving a wave. She jumped up and stomped in my direction quicker than I thought possible.
"Oh no young man! You're not going anywhere!"
"Bulma! Let him go, we do need to find the Supreme Kai and find out what his plan is. Verto is well trained and can handle this assignment, get going kid!" Piccolo said from behind. That only incurred her wrath upon him instead. He cringed and waved me off to get going before she came back. I laughed slightly and powered up to Super Saiyan, jumping off the lookout and flying quickly towards the last place I felt the Supreme Kai's ki signal. I dropped past the Korin's tower, drawing a curious look from Korin himself. Ignoring it I streaked towards the ground and leveled off to a parallel with it. I made a quick check on Buu's power signal and it remained where it was. This proved that he either could not sense energy, or didn't care to. I powered up more and flew even faster towards the Kai and Kibito, causing several hundred pounds of dirt and dust, occasionally water, to be kicked up. I avoided cities and populace areas, no need to scare people anymore than they already were.
-
Fortunately, there were not many places in between the lookout and the original battle sight, so not many even noticed a small Super Saiyan tearing through the area on a mission.
"Well Earthlings, it seems that Buu is actually full for once, so the next place we visit will have to settle for being destroyed instead!"
What a nutcase. I ignored the message and focused on Kibito's energy signal and kept flying to its location. After twenty minutes of top speed flight, I finally came near the area of Kibito, from what I could tell he had still not found Kai yet. Kai's signal was hard to sense as it only got lower with time. After a few more minutes, I saw him flying around frantically searching.
"Kibito!" I shouted with a smile, coming to him quickly.
"Young Verto? What has happened to the Supreme Kai?" He asked seriously.
"Buu knocked him around a little, and then we lost track of him. I only recently picked up on him again, Buu is off destroying the populace in search of us. Goku is trying to teach the boys fusion in hope of finding a way to kill Buu," I tried to explain, realizing this would take awhile when I left out so many details.
"Never mind that now, we must find him! Bring me up to date later," Kibito said, floating in the air. Kai's ki signal blipped slightly again, catching my attention and drawing my focus to his position.
"Come on Kibito, I think I found him!" I yelled, powering up again and blasting in the direction I felt the ki surge. Two minutes later we came to a canyon of some sort, and a figure slumped against the side. I landed to find it was indeed the Kai, bloodied and battered by Majin Buu, barely alive. Kibito landed as well and right away put his hands over Kai's chest. His hands glowed brightly and I felt Kai stabilize. It was just like Dende's healing powers, Kibito possessed them as well. Kai opened his eyes and gasped loudly.
"Kibito? How can this be, I watched Dabura kill you, is this other world? It doesn't look like Yemma's palace!" Kai sat up confused, before he looked at me. "Verto? You survived!"
"Just by luck, Vegeta blew himself up to try to take out Buu after going toe to toe with him, Buu regenerated and came after the rest of us, Piccolo, myself, the boys, Videl, Krillin and Eighteen. Goku used instant transmission and got us out of there. Now he's trying to teach Goten and Trunks the fusion technique before he runs out of time here on earth, he claims that it will be powerful enough to beat Buu," I explained.
"May I enter your mind to get the details, it will be easier that way?" Kai explained.
"I suppose." I felt strange right away and my memories flowed into view starting when Vegeta blew himself up and continuing until Kibito and I had found him. All of which occurred in a few seconds, then he glanced at Kibito briefly.
"Yes, I understand Master. So Majin Buu was released after all, it seems we failed," Kibito held his head down slightly.
"Well its not completely hopeless yet, a possible beacon of light has made itself known to me. However powerful Majin Buu may be to us, he is not necessarily the most impressive force in the universe," Kai said.
He then shifted his head in another direction, "It's Gohan! Come on, we cannot let him die!" Kai said, blasting off in the air. Kibito and I followed him quickly, I wanted to find Gohan just as badly.
Power levels
Majin Buu: 380,000,000
Verto (SS): 145,000,000
Piccolo: 180,000,000
Eighteen: 60,000,000
Krillin: 25,000,000
Goku (SS2): 360,000,000
Goten (SS): 90,000,000
Trunks (SS): 95,000,000