AN: ::cowers:: Please don't kill me. My muse fled the coop, and despite my best efforts, I could not figure out how to go on with this fic. My most sincere apologies. I found some saga summaries for DBZ, and they are helping a lot since my Buu info is rusty.
No more delays! "..." is talking, '...' is thought, [...] is AN, (...) is extra info but part of the fic, ... means trailed off, -- means interrupted. Read on!
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Goku was gone.
Cosmos was still aghast at his huge power surge. She had never Felt, or sensed she corrected herself, anything like it. It was incredible and unfathomable for one man to hold such power within... but then again, Goku was no man. The other Z senshi at the Sky Palace had spoken of the dead race of the Saiyins. Cosmos recalled that their home planet had been destroyed, but somehow Vegeta and Goku had survived! She supposed that did explain their seemingly limitless capability for power. But it was still mind-boggling.
Goku had disappeared, returning to the afterlife, only a half an hour after fighting Majin Buu. He had not spoken to Cosmos, and she had not approached him or any of the figures of her past. Secretly, she deeply feared what they would say if they knew, and how they would judge what she had become. No, it was best to remain an anonymous strange warrior. But in the depths of her soul, she longed to someone to recognize her, someone to know her. It had been so long since she'd had any friends.
But Cosmos stayed out of the affairs of the Z senshi, and for the most part they stayed away from her. She had regained most of her strength from the near-death experience when she first returned to Earth, but her soul still felt exhausted. She spent most of her time wandering the sky palace or meditating on her own, trying to focus herself and find some weakness in Majin Buu that would lead to his destruction.
Below, most of the Earth's population had been destroyed. The two boys, Trunks and Goten, had finally perfected their fusion. Now as one cocky little warrior, they had tried to take on Majin Buu in their fused state without powering up to any higher level.
They returned absolutely battered. The situation would have been laughable if it hadn't been so serious. The namek Piccolo took them to a special room to train. Cosmos shook her head and hoped the namek would be able to force some sense into the cocky new warrior.
Cosmos sat on the Edge of the Lookout and tried to focus her being. But something was not right. Something strange was happening below. Was it Buu? It had been several days since he had destroyed anyone...
Closing her eyes, she located Buu easily enough. But something was very wrong with the marshmallow monster. Cosmos gasped in shock and sat up sharply from her meditation position. There were two Buus!
Cosmos got up quickly and hurried to warn the others. There were indeed two Buus-- one was comprised of all the goodness and childlikeness of the monster, the other was pure evil. The two seemed to be fighting, but the fight was ending.
Suddenly Cosmos cried out in horror and grabbed the wall of the palace for support. The evil Buu had eaten the good Buu! And with the increase in power from eating his counterpart, he had transformed into something even more horrible and powerful than before! Cosmos gripped a tapestry in agony as the Feeling returned in full force, and the base of her head throbbed like never before.
.
-o-o-o-o-o-
The new Evil Buu quickly arrived at the Sky Palace. Most of the Z senshi had gathered in shock. Even Vegeta had returned to the lookout from his sullen solitude on the wastelands of Earth. But the Evil Buu was deadly and impatient.
Cosmos finally reached the gathering in time to see an angry mother-- Son Chichi, Goku's wife-- unwisely stalk up to Buu and release all the anger and pain she had stored up after the death of her eldest son. She slapped him hard across the face.
Evil Buu was angry. He had waited long enough for this "new warrior" that Piccolo had promised. That slap was the last straw. In an instant, he turned Chichi from human into an egg, and smashed her hard against the tile. His anger flared and he lashed back at all the warriors around him, turning them into food, smashing them, and eating them.
Suddenly before her, Bulma was turned into a mere piece of chocolate. In slow motion it seemed, she saw Vegeta scream and move to fight back, to destroy Buu and himself in the process. Suddenly Cosmos had a strange premonition...
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Buu, destroying all the warriors at the Lookout. Buu, fighting a Gotenks that was ill-prepared for the new creature, and Buu absorbing him. The destruction of the Lookout. The death of all remaining people. The return of the Supreme Kai and Gohan and Goku, without Vegeta to aid them, and all three absorbed into the monster Buu, creating the final and deadliest form, with no one left to counter him. The death of the universe. All because one Saiyin lashed back and sacrificed himself too early....
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In that instant which happened in less than a second, Cosmos understood. She grabbed Vegeta's arm before he could power up or reach Buu, and teleported to the nearest planet that entered her mind-- Mars.
-o-o-o-o-o-
He turned slowly, noticing the red landscape, and suddenly the look of confusion was replaced by a murderous face whose only intent was to destroy the one who took him away from his revenge.
"WHAT. HAVE. YOU. DONE TO ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" screamed Vegeta as he launched at the woman.
Her look changed to horror as she quickly knelt and created a safe bubble around herself as Vegeta launched endless deadly attacks, screaming in agony. She choked in pain as she tried to hold the bubble intact. She hadn't expected such a violent reaction from one whose life she had now saved twice.
But then, how could she expect anything else. His wife was murdered before his eyes, and he was intent on following her and seeking revenge. He couldn't be thinking clearly when in such emotional agony. She could hear him yelling to her, commanding her to fight back, but she waited patiently until he had at last exhausted himself and his insane anger subsided.
She let the bubble go and looked at him slowly. "You must train before you sacrifice yourself needlessly," she stated logically. The dragonballs will wish back the others."
"There will be no dragonballs once Dende is destroyed!!!!!!!" he shouted back furiously.
"Oh Kami..." whispered Cosmos in shock. She knew of the dragonballs, but she had never realized their connection to the namek guardian.
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Vegeta turned away. His shoulders crumpled and he seemed to break down in pain. "Why did you take me away?" he choked out quietly, the pain sharp in his voice.
"You stood no chance. Our kis were no match."
"Onna, can't you hope and trust in yourself?! How could we have survived without pushing ourselves beyond these supposed 'limits'?!"
Cosmos looked at her feet, his words slowly sinking in. "It has been long since I've had anything to hope for," she whispered honestly.
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Vegeta looked up slowly. "Who are you?" he asked suspiciously.
Cosmos turned away from his accusing gaze. "At times I feel I have lived a hundred lives, and one bears ten thousand memories that slice into my heart like hot knives. And I have been forced to forget... there is so little to hope for..."
"Who am I?" she said turning quickly, her eyes shining with tears she refused to shed as she let all the pent up loneliness come tumbling out. "I honestly don't know anymore. I was a girl once. I grew up on that planet," she said, pointing wildly to where Earth hung in space. "And I loved it," she added as an afterthought. "I had friends and people who cared for me on two worlds, and I never lacked attention or love. But then everything changed. I am not who I was. No one knows me even more. Even those I was closest to. They called me Usagi once, or Usa-chan," she smiled softly in remembrance, "or Serenity in my supposed past life. There were so many more names, names that I can't even remember. But then I became this monster, this creature who must roam the universe and destroy evil. And now I know who I am. I am No One."
.
Vegeta was silent as a solar wind stirred the red sands of Mars. The torrent he had released from her seemed to have been building for ages, now at last free. Her face remained hard, but he could tell that she longed to break down and simply cry, the pitiful human response.
"Onna, you are not a no one. If you were Usagi once in this life, then surely you are still that Usagi, even though she has changed beyond recognition."
She looked up, with a strange unreadable light in her eyes. "How can you be sure?"
Vegeta took a stance of annoyance. "Onna, I have gone from prince to slave to murderer to weak Earth-dweller. Yet I still wear my name with pride. I make my name, it does not make me." She inhaled deeply and stood up straighter at this remark. Vegeta continued. "Now, if you insist upon training, you'd best take us to a planet where we can train properly. I plan on getting my revenge as soon as possible, eliminating Buu, and then taking the Nameks' dragonballs to wish solely for my mate's return."
She looked confused. "Where should we go?"
Vegeta glared with annoyance. "Do not tell me that you cannot sense Goku and Gohan's kis, despite the distance. They have reached unheard of levels, and I plan on doing the same." Usagi focused and suddenly her eyes widened in shock. She grabbed Vegeta's arm and teleported to the Supreme Kai's planet.
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AN: Well, Veggie didn't know her before, but she is officially no longer incognito! ::some scattered cheers:: She'll reveal her true identity to Goku, Krillin, and Roshi when the time is right... patience is a virtue. " Now, onto Review Responses!
angelwings6117- eep! SOOO sorry for the delay. ::cowers::
Mizz Dustkeeper- lol, you said it!
Moon Mage Goddess- hehe, Cosmos will have someone eventually. And they will understand who she is. Eventually. ::evil laugh::
Jay- doubt I'll have time to try any of these ideas, gomen! I think they would make great stories though! (I actually have a fic kinda like suggestion #1, in which Crystal Tokyo and Mirai Trunks' world are one in the same... hehe)
Silver Fox28- hehehe! Yes, Roshi is a perve lol.
Shade (crossover-to-my-world)- Oh man, I am SOOO sorry. I didn't realize this fic put people through so much torment. GOMEN NASI!!!!
Thank you also to:
Namekheritage
dragon-wing3
Fire Dolphin
Kochou-hime
shelum
Moon-n-Universe-Goddess
Mystical Jade
ArikaMorance
Zachana16
Rayne StarDust
IcyButterflyKisslin
AlyRain
Riuka
Hyper Bunny16
Eo
Moon-angel14
angel of the white moon
Usagi Asia Maxwell
Shadow star
luminia
Neo-CrystalMysteryLady-Tx
Leeanna-Marie-Malfoy
July
Once again, sorry that took so long. I'll try to get the next one out sooner, but I'll be away most of the summer. Eep! Thank you soooo much for your dedication and patience. Please review! JA!
-Calli-chan