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Chapter 32: the huntThe place was wet. Dark and wet. This is what a certain warrior with a white glow thought as he looked around. The place stank. The floor and walls were soft and squishy. It almost reminded him of a cave. A smelly, squishy and wet cave.
He slowly got up and looked at his glowing arms.
At least the barrier held…he thought. Now to find the others and get outta here!
He slowly let the barrier fade but as soon as he did so he doubled over in pain.
"What the…" he muttered in his mixed voice before a light engulfed him and his two counterparts were flung into opposite walls. Both groaned in pain and rubbed either their back or head.
"Kakarot, I thought you said it was permanent!" Vegeta said as he recovered and tried to pull himself up.
"That's what the old kai told me, I don't understand it!" Goku said, as did the same as Vegeta.
"What ever Kakarot. Where are we anyway?" Vegeta asked, glad to be the only one in his body again but still confused.
Goku looked blankly around the area then eventually shrugged.
"Inside Buu?" He finally answered as if he were unsure.
"I knew that, baka. But where about?" Vegeta snapped and pulled off his earring. Goku shrugged again and walked towards what appeared to be a tunnel.
"Well how am I supposed to know?" He asked then looked back at Vegeta who was staring at his potara. Vegeta grunted and tightly closed his fit around it and a crunching sound greeted Goku's ears.
"Vegeta, you didn't…" He said, horrified. Vegeta looked up and threw the pieces of the potara to the side.
"What do you think, Kakarot?" Vegeta asked before walking past Goku and down the tunnel. Goku stared in shock after him then pulled off his potara.
"That man…how did we ever fuse?" Goku wondered allowed and crushed his earring to dust.
The tunnel stayed the same all the way through, gloomy and dank. The two warriors stayed silent as they walked along the tunnel. Eventually it opened out into a type of canyon with a narrow path along one side of the wall. Looking over the edge, they couldn't see the bottom, only utter darkness.
"Looks like this place is bigger then we thought." Goku mused as he looked down. Vegeta ignored him and concentrated on the path. He just wanted to find the others and get out. That stench seemed to be getting worse…
Vegeta suddenly stopped and looked down. Goku nearly bumped into him.
"Hey, why'd you stop?" he asked then noticed something. Was Vegeta shrinking?
"I'm Stuck, Baka. This stuff, it's too soft, I'm sinking." Vegeta said as he tried to pull himself out with out raising his power level. If he raised it then so would the chance of Buu realising what was happening. And that was the last thing they wanted.
Goku looked down and saw that Vegeta was right and went to step forward to help…but he couldn't! Goku looked down and gasped as he saw that he was sinking as well.
It was slow at first but it quickly sped up and soon Goku found himself completely under and still sinking. For what seemed like an eternity the two saiyans were in complete darkness and fighting claustrophobia but then they were falling.
Vegeta managed to see that they were in a slightly lighter area with a high ceiling, that they had just sank through, before hitting some green liquid hard. The saiyan prince quickly swam back up and broke the surface. He climbed onto what he first thought was drift wood and looked round.
The place was filled with green liquid that had steam rising from it. The liquid seemed to glow slightly with heat and many shapes were floating in it. Vegeta looked at what he was sitting on and at once realised he was sitting on a chocolate bar. He swore then looked round for Goku who broke the surface merely seconds later.
"Kakarot, get out of the water!" Vegeta cried but Goku just looked puzzled. Vegeta groaned in frustration and pointed to Goku's gi.
"It's not water, it's digestive acid! You are being digested!" Vegeta yelled again and Goku looked at his shoulder. Sure enough steam was beginning to rise from it.
The sight of the steam made Goku realise that Vegeta was right and he climbed on to the chocolate with Vegeta as fast as he could.
"How'd we get in his stomach?" Goku asked as he stared round the large and dark chamber. He could hear Vegeta grunt in the darkness.
"That doesn't matter. How we get out does. If my anatomy is correct then there is only one way out and that's one we can not take." Vegeta informed then looked to the side. Something was happening.
The current of the acid increased and threw the saiyans around as it curved round, sending the men spinning and knocking them off of their make shift raft.
They were pulled underneath and Goku fought to break the surface again before he noticed Vegeta's quick thinking. Vegeta was floating with his palm facing the wall and a bright ki-blast emitting from it. Goku tried to stop Vegeta but it was too late. The prince fired and blasted a hole through the lining of the stomach.
The acid flowed through it and took them with it, washing them out onto somewhat dry land as the whole closed over. Both saiyans coughed and lay still for while until Goku sat up.
"Worn me next time, will ya? Buu could have sensed that." Goku said as he stared at the Prince who was getting up and looking around.
"It worked, didn't it? So stop whining and help me sense out the boys." Vegeta snapped and closed his eyes. Goku frowned and did the same. It took them awhile but they soon found four signatures high above them.
"Looks like they are in his head." Vegeta muttered and took to the air. Goku nodded and followed Vegeta up through Buu's Body.
Soon they were on the same level as they had sensed the signatures on and landed on a type of platform that led into another tunnel like area. Vegeta looked around. The surroundings were still dark and the walls seemed to be more of a purple colour. And thankfully the smell had improved.
They followed the platform through the tunnel and soon came to a fork in the path. Vegeta looked down both paths then turned to Goku.
"Which way?" he asked. Goku looked thoughtful then stepped to the left.
"This way." He said and Vegeta immediately went to the other.
"Hey! I said left!" Goku called.
"I know. That's why I'm going right. You follow your instincts and I'll follow mine." Vegeta called back. Goku sighed and went down the left path.
He had walked well past the entrance when he heard humming. It was a slow tune that added to the eeriness of the place.
Odd…Goku thought and kept walking. The sound got louder the further in he went and then it just stopped. Goku stood still as soon as it did and looked round.
"Hello?" He called into the darkness but there was nothing. He frowned then went to continue when he thought he saw a figure ahead of him. Goku frowned and cautiously stepped forward, ready for an attack.
"Who's there?" he called as he drew nearer then stopped. A man stood ahead of him with short and spiky black hair and onyx eyes. He was wearing an orange fighting gi just like Goku's.
"Gohan?" Goku asked then grinned. "Thank Kami I found you! Where are the others? We have to get out of here right away." Goku said when Gohan turned round. Goku had quickly walked forward but Gohan's expression stayed blank and emotionless. Goku stopped in front of what he thought was his son and looked confused. Gohan's eyes were completely empty and he wasn't giving off a ki signature.
"Your not Gohan…" Goku said slowly just before Gohan lunged at him with his fist thrown forward.
Vegeta continued to walk along his chosen path, sometimes ducking under what could only be described as giant cobwebs. Eventually he came to a place where the tunnel opened out into a small room with a small ledge where the tunnel continued. On the ledge knelt what looked like Goten and Trunks.
Vegeta smirked when he spotted them and quickened his pace.
"Good boys, I found you. Now get the others. We're getting out of here." Vegeta said but the boys just stared blankly back before getting up and doing the fusion dance. Vegeta looked confused as he shielded his eyes from the light. When he could look again level three Gotenks stood in the boys place with an equally blank expression on his face.
"Why did you do that?" Vegeta asked slowly then looked over his shoulder as he heard a footstep behind him. Piccolo was coming towards him with his fists raised. Vegeta quickly dived to the side as Piccolo attacked and looked round in time to catch Gotenks's jumps kick with his jaw. Vegeta stumbled backwards and recovered in time to start blocking Gotenks's next combination of attacks whilst being forced backwards into a wall.
Goku Blocked Gohan's attacks and jumped backwards.
"Who are you and why do you look like my son?" Goku questioned but Gohan didn't answer but instead stepped forward. Goku move his leg back as he sunk into a stance and felt something brush against it.
Goku glanced behind him and there stood Zara with a blank stare fixed on him. Goku stared at her as she steeped back then jumped forward, performing a jump kick that Goku had to quickly block and push aside. As soon as he did so Gohan's fist appeared on the edge of Goku's vision coming in to make contact with his jaw. Goku quickly raised an arm to block it and felt a sharp pain to his gut. He looked down to see Zara with her knee implanted firmly in it. Gohan's leg came sailing through the air and Goku was kicked in the face and sent flying backwards, into the wall.
He stumbled up to see both kids in casual stances and with blank gazes fixed on him.
Looks like I'll need to take it up a notch…Goku thought. They may not have had ki signatures but they were fighting with the full power of their counterparts.
Goku jumped to his feet and quickly powered up to super saiyan, his hair and eyes turning gold and teal, then charged at them, swinging his fist round.
Both of his opponents were oddly in sync with each other and dodged the attack just to come back, Zara doing a sweeping kick to Goku's leg and Gohan coming in for a blow to the chest. Goku jumped over Zara's attack and blocked Gohan's. He then landed and did a sweeping kick, that the others jumped over, and spun up into a spinning kick that hit Zara hard across the jaw and Gohan in the gut, sending them both flying backwards.
They both landed on there feet and exchanged a glance. Gohan cupped his hands at his side and Zara outstretched her arms in front of her chest. They both began to charge an attack. Goku frowned and mirrored Gohan's stance to do the same attack, only double the power.
"Ka…me…ha…me…HA!" Goku yelled and all three fired their attacks at the same time, Gohan and Goku brought their arms forward to fire their waves and Zara kept her arms straight and horizontal as she brought them to her side, firing a ki dragon.
Zara and Gohan's attacks twisted round each other and hit Goku's wave head on in the exact middle. Each side struggled for the advantage, the beams pushing each other back and forth. Eventually Goku Powered up to level two and the increase in power sent the other two attacks straight back to their makers and blow up in their faces. They were thrown backwards and the wall closet to them disintegrated in the explosion, sending the three people on the other side go flying forwards.
Vegeta slowly got up and stared at Goku.
"Kakarot? You did this?" He nearly yelled at the younger saiyan. Goku spotted the prince and floated down to join him, rubbing the back of his neck.
"Yea, I may have put too much energy into that one." Goku admitted then looked round to see an unscathed Gohan and Zara getting up and starring at the saiyans again.
"Man, what are they? They should have gotten way more damage than that." Goku said. Vegeta frowned then looked at Piccolo and Gotenks.
"Something is wrong here…" Vegeta muttered as he watched the four surround them.
Gotenks hunched over and began to spit out five kamikaze ghosts. Gohan cupped his hands at his side and began to gather energy. Zara out stretched her arms in front of her chest again and Piccolo brought his index and middle finger to his forehead and begun to charge up an attack as well.
Goku and Vegeta glanced at each other then sunk into stances and powered up, ready to deflect them attacks.
Outside, Buu had gotten bored waiting for his next transformation to take place. He thought that it had been taking so long because of how powerful Vegito had been. Now he was flying around looking for bakeries or sweet shops to satisfy his sweet tooth.
He flew over a small town and stopped. He could still smell some freshly baked buns. He licked his lips and landed in front of the bakery and walked in.
Hercule and Dende landed a moment later and snuck up to the window. Dende had convinced Hercule to spy on Buu until they came up with a better plan. So they crouched by the window and watched Buu go mad as he began to eat éclairs and doughnuts.
Vegeta and Goku braced them selves as they waited to be attacked from all sides when Goku yelled:
"They're cake!"
Vegeta rolled his eyes and glanced over his shoulder.
"It's 'they're toast', Kakarot. Get it right…"
"No, I mean they turned into cake." Goku quickly corrected himself and straightened up. Vegeta did the same and looked round. Goku was right. Gotenks and his ghosts were now muffins, Piccolo was a fruitcake, Gohan was a cup cake and Zara was an éclair.
"I guess they were just thoughts then." Vegeta said before looking at Goku. They felt out the others again and quickly made their way to them.
Vegeta led the way into a large chamber that had more cobwebs around it. He was the first to notice them.
"Kakarot! Over here!" Vegeta yelled and Goku hurried over. Vegeta had found a large cocoon that Gohan's face was poking out of. Goku sighed with relief and started expecting the cocoon as Vegeta looked round for the others.
"Everybody's here." He said as he looked over the other four cocoons. Goku smiled and stepped away from Gohan.
"Now we just have to work out how to get them down." Goku said before he sensed something behind him.
"Get out of the way." Vegeta stated as Goku jumped aside. Vegeta shot a beam of energy from his index finger that severed the attachment on the bottom of the cocoon. He then did the same to the top ones and it fell. Goku checked on Gohan again then helped Vegeta with the rest.
Outside, Buu had left the bakery after eating everything inside it and had flown out of the town, Dende and Hercule following. Buu was relaxing peacefully in the air when suddenly a red gi top appeared across his chest and was quickly replaced by Piccolo's cape. Buu looked down just in time to see it disappear and feel his tentacle shrink.
"What's going on?" Buu yelled and quickly landed on a cliff. He closed his eyes and entered a meditative state.
Goku looked over at Vegeta.
"I was thinking…" he began,
"That's a first." Vegeta cut in but Goku ignored him.
"Buu is still going to be strong even with such a big power decrease…"
"I hope you're not suggesting what I think you are." Vegeta said as he looked over one of the cocoons. Goku looked puzzled.
"What do you think?" Goku asked and Vegeta turned to look at his rival.
"I think that you want us to do that dance and I think I'd rather die. Again." Vegeta said and got up.
"Aw, come on Vegeta. It's not that bad. Besides, we haven't got much choice…" Goku pointed out earning a glare from Vegeta.
"You rely too much on fusion. Now shut up, I see something." Vegeta snapped and walked off, Goku quickly following.
They walked to the far end of the chamber and found another cocoon.
"It's…" Goku said when he saw the face.
"Buu?" Vegeta finished. The two saiyans exchanged looks then inspected the cocoon.
"So did he absorb himself or something?" Goku asked making Vegeta shrug, a gesture he had picked up from living on earth for so long.
"It appears so. These pods are a sign of absorption." Vegeta noted. The two looked at each other again. Something didn't seem right.
What ever they were thinking was cut short by laughter. It was quiet at first but soon it was so loud it almost hurt the saiyans' ears.
"What's going on?" Goku asked but Vegeta hushed him and looked to the side. A small lump in the ground was rising and taking a too familiar form.
Soon Buu was staring at them with an eerie grin.
"Hello boys," he said.
......
Looks like they've been found. How will they beat Buu now without fusion? Find out next time!