They continued to soar through the sky, the wind rushing through their hair.

"What the hell is that!?" screamed Krillin, clutching his skull. "What the hell is happening to my head?!"

"That's the wind rushing through your hair, Krillin," explained Goku. "It's probably new to you."

"Oh, is that all?" Krillin laughed. "I thought it was alien spores growing inside my brain."

"Actually, there ARE alien spores growing inside your brain," said Kaioshin. "But don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll be fine."

"Do you think Gohan will catch up to us?" Goku asked, as Krillin gibbered and scratched at his scalp. "I'd hate for him to miss the chance to meet some crazy new villain."

"I'm sure Kibito is leading us to him right now," said Kaioshin. "And he'll be filling him on the complex tale of Majin Buu. I've made sure that Kibito knows full well what we are up against. He is just as informed as I."

--------

"So," said Kibito. "Do you understand it all now, Son Gohan?"

"Sort of. You're saying that some sort of futuristic robot from the past travelled through a hole in time and space to bring some sort of magical flower to the unicorn princess, and unlocked the evil curse of the ancient mummy wizard which brought some sort of demon from Dimension X to life?"

"Yes." Kibito's eyes shifted suspiciously. "That is exactly right."

"We better go faster!" Gohan began to increase his speed.

"Wait, Gohan! I can't keep up!" Videl waved frantically. "Can't you go a little slower? I'm new to this!"

"She's as slow as a tap-dancing monkey wearing a hat made out of people," observed Kibito, hoping that he was making sense. "Perhaps we should leave her behind."

"You're right," said Gohan firmly. "It's too dangerous for her."

"Actually, I was going to say 'Because she's stupid and is slowing us down', but that reason works as well."

Gohan slowed to a halt, allowing Videl to catch up to him. "Videl, you have to go back. This is too dangerous for you. Kibito tells me the demon can fire lasers from it's beak and when you reduce it's health to half it transforms into a more powerful mecha-demon with twice as many hitpoints. I just can't let you risk your life against something like that."

Videl sighed. "I suppose you're right. But tell me, Gohan, before you go. It wasn't really my father that beat Cell, was it?"

"No, Videl," said Gohan. "It wasn't."

"It was you, wasn't it?"

Gohan screamed. "You can't prove anything! I washed the knife! I washed it!!"

"No, Gohan, I mean, it was you that killed Cell!"

"Oh! Right, yes, right. That was me."

"I thought so, Gohan." Videl's eyes shimmered with disturbing degrees of affection. "Be careful, Gohan!"

"I will be!"

"Gohan," commanded Kibito. "We must move as fast as we possibly can. Let's go!"

And at an incredible speed, Kibito and Gohan rocketed into the distance, leaving Videl behind.

--------

"Well," said the announcer. "We're screwed. We're officially screwed."

A plastic bottle leapt from the crowd and struck him on the side of the head. "If we don't get some fighters back in here soon, the crowd will lynch us!"

One of the minor officials shrugged. "What can we do? We've never had half the tournament run out on us before. Except for that one time when you came out onto the ring and had forgotten to put on your trousers."

"Yes, well." The announcer frowned. "I was drunk."

"You didn't have to dance."

"Like I said, I was drunk!" Something heavy struck him on the jaw. "Somebody make them stop throwing food! What the hell are we going to do?"

--------

"I'm going so fast," said Vegeta. "Check it out, Kakarotto. I'm going faster than any of you."

"Vegeta, we're in front of you."

"Only because I'm toying with you, fools!"

Kaioshin stared into the distance. "We haven't lost Spopovich and Yamu. Good." Then he turned his head to observe the rapid approach of Kibito and Gohan. "There you are. It's about time."

"Hi, dad!"

"Gohan! You found us! Did you hear all about the new enemy?"

"Yeah, he sounds really dangerous! Especially with his laser beak!"

Kaioshin sighed. "Kibito, did you tell him the story about the unicorn princess?"

"Uh... yes, Master."

"You forgot the story of Majin Buu again, didn't you."

"Yes, Master. Yes, I did."

"Well, we all know what they say about people with short memories," said Goku, his tone hostile.

"And what's that?" asked Kibito curiously.

"That they're PERFECT CELL!"

"Quiet! Spopovich and Yamu are landing!" Kaioshin motioned ahead. "We must land here, behind these rocks."

--------

"This is so cool," said Yamu. "I bet Master Babidi will promote us. He'll probably give us even better super strength than we already have."

"Spopovich wants brains! And a fair and equitable retirement plan!"

"Being a henchman is the best thing we ever did," Yamu observed, as his feet touched the ground. "I mean, when we were actual independent people, let's face it. We were nobodies."

"We did have hair," said Spopovich sadly. They approached a curving metal dome that rose from the ground.

--------

"There! Babidi's spaceship! He buried it! Like some sort of crazy pirate wizard!" Kaioshin scowled. "And we spent so long looking for it!"

"Makes us look pretty stupid, doesn't it, Master?"

"No, that's just your FACE," said Vegeta. "Burn!"

"Vegeta," said Piccolo reproachfully. "That's no way to treat our new friends."

"But that's how I treat all of you," Vegeta muttered. "I'm being as nice as I possibly can be."

"Quiet! We don't want them to hear us!"

The entrance to Babidi's spaceship was imposing, metallic, ominous, and other intimidating adjectives; the sun reflected off the dull gray metal, hurting Yamu's eyes. To his surprise, the door began to slide open before they'd reached the shadow the dome cast onto the desert floor.

A tall figure stepped out from within. A long, curving exoskeletal head, gleaming yellow eyes and sly, curving lips. "Yo," said Pui-Pui. "What's up?"

"Is that Babidi?"

"No," said Kaioshin. "That's probably one of his minions." Then he saw something that filled his heart with fear...

Five red claws gripped the edge of the metal door as a small, wrinkled figure hovered out of the spaceship. Behind him, a massive being stepped out of the shadows and into the light. His cloak rustled as he moved to stand protectively beside Babidi, and he sneered at Spopovich and Yamu, his blue-sleeved arms crossed over his chest.

"Dabura!!"

Kibito staggered without actually moving anywhere. "I can't believe it. Even Dabura is under Babidi's spell!"

"Hey," said Goku annoyingly. "Hey. Hey. Who's this Dabura guy?"

"Dabura is the great Demon King of a universe of pure evil! In this universe, Goku, one of you is the strongest... but in his universe, he is the strongest by far!"

"He has cool ears," said Piccolo. "He'd make a good Namek."

"You're wrong, Piccolo! He's pure evil! He delights in the suffering and torment of others!"

"Wait," said Vegeta. "Didn't you have this conversation with ME a while back?"

"Yes, but it's much better having it with Piccolo," said Kaioshin. "No offense, Vegeta."

"None taken." Vegeta sniffed. Some day they'd appreciate him. Maybe the day he stopped filling their mailboxes with live rattlesnakes? No, he KNEW they appreciated the joke, even though they had frequently threatened to kill him. Well, he knew he was the greatest, and it was his opinion that mattered. Go Vegeta! Yes! After all, he was the sexiest Saiyajin alive!

"I really, really hate being able to read minds," said Kaioshin. "Really."

"Master Babidi," said Yamu proudly. "We have brought you this energy, just as you requested."

"Good job!" Babidi extended his withered little arms to take the needle. "Now, you'll probably be wanting some sort of reward."

Pui-Pui chuckled. Dabura grinned. Spopovich drooled a little.

"Yes," said Yamu happily. He couldn't wait. This was going to be great!