Disclaimer: I do not own Ranma ½ or Dragon Ball Z.

Author's Notes: It seems the results are in and people actually like my little story. I'm happy that I could make people happy just by doing something that I love to do and that's writing. I'm also getting requests to expand my one shot "Perfect". It was supposed to only be a one shot, but I have been thinking that I would like to expand it. Always remember to read and review. Time to get on with the show!

Dragon Fire

Chapter 9

The Battle Heats Up

Events down on Earth were looking grim. Two warriors were out of the fight, one of them permanently. The Old Kai and Supreme Kai groaned, as it suddenly got worse. Super Buu had decided that he wanted the speed and power that Ranko possessed and absorbed her. Since Gotenks had the greater power, his appearance didn't change at all, but he did pick up Ranko's sword. It was evident that he had even gained her skill with the blade.

"What can we do?" Supreme Kai asked the elder.

"Pray." Was all he got for a response as the old one turned to watch the boys practicing the dance. They needed to get it right the first time. Old Kai had all his power clenched, ready to warp the fusion warrior to the field.

Ranma was sweating from the exertion, but a pick me up from Kibito had him ready to go again. Never had he done anything so difficult. It wasn't that it was humiliating (because it was) nor was it the fact that it didn't seem to serve any practical purpose (even if it did). It was difficult to combine two separate beings into one. A look showed him that Gohan wasn't doing much better. Goku was conferring with the Kais; his face was grim as he returned.

"C'mon guys! You're out of time! Akane just used Kamikaze and Buu absorbed Ranko. There's no one left but you." He told them gravely. The boys looked absolutely stunned. Ranma felt despair welling up in his chest at the news. His heart ached with grief, but Gohan seemed to grow angry. The saiya-jin child snarled in rage.

"C'mon Ranma. Let's do this right! For Akane and Ranko!" he once again dropped back into the dance pose. The pigtailed boy nodded as he thought about all who were important to him. He took up the stance opposite Gohan. The moves they were shown suddenly seemed to flow through their minds and their bodies. They chanted in unison.

"Fu-sion-HA!" with that final shout their bodies merged together in a bright flash of light. Before the light even cleared, Old Kai released the teleportation spell and sent them to Earth.

"Good luck guys…" Goku whispered before his eyes widened from the sheer power he was feeling. He began thinking that maybe Super Buu needed the luck.

Earth-

Maniacal laughter filled the air just seconds before the mountains fell as slashes appeared causing them to fall. Super Buu was wielding his new toy with expert precision. Apparently not only did Ranko know how to use the sword, but so did Piccolo. His dark heart actually felt strangely light as he spun and twirled in a dance of death.

"Wheeheehee this is fun!" he roared in evil amusement as he slashed the sword down again, creating a vacuum wave that ripped apart the ground. His smile turned to a look of shock as another vacuum blade took his hand off at the wrist and his new toy disappeared.

"Who dares?" he roared as he looked to the interloper.

"I dare." A peculiar double voice said with arrogance. The figure standing there was dressed in a orange gi shirt with a red undershirt and black pants. He wore black boots as well. His stormy blue eyes pierced Buu's angry façade to reveal the terror within. His hair was spiky on top, his bangs arched out and down, and his hair was pulled back in a pigtail. The sword was sheathed through his belt.

"Who are you?" The mightiest evil in the universe demanded in anger.

"Call me Rohan." He said with a sneer just seconds before Buu's world exploded in pain. The battle was fast and brutal, the two super warriors were evenly matched it appeared. Buu held all the knowledge from Gotenks, Piccolo, and Ranko while Rohan held the knowledge of Gohan and Ranma. Mouko Takabisha met Masenko Ha. Amaguriken met Amaguriken. The landscape around them was shattering as they unleashed titanic forces to destroy each other. Super Buu had never encountered anything with the same single-minded desire to destroy as himself. The fact that this desire was aimed at him was frightening. In desperation, he unleashed a Kamehameha at pointblank range into Rohan's face. The fusion warrior's fury made it impossible to dodge the attack and it blew him into the ground.

"That was certainly interesting! Care to try that again?" he roared, his humor restored. His eyes darted to the severed hand. It was quickly scrabbling along the rocks to get behind the mighty warrior. The pigtailed warrior quickly got back to his feet before rushing back at his foe, whipping out Ranko's sword. Super Buu threw up a barrier of pure ki to stop the assault but it was too little, too late as the keen edge rapidly sliced through his body before the blade was brought up over his head.

"Say your prayers bitch!" he cried as energy flew up the blade, gathering into a sphere over his head. Just as he was bringing the blast down on the monstrosity's head, something smacked him in the back. Distracted, he looked to what had snagged him and realized he was screwed. It was Super Buu's hand and it was expanding rapidly. Just as suddenly as it happened, it was over as a beam flash fried the encroaching goo.

"Pah! Some warrior you turn out to be. So easily distracted." Vegita, the Prince of All Saiya-Jins sneered just as Goku arrived, missing his halo.

"Hey guys! What'd I miss?" he asked with a grin before looking to Super Buu. He gaped in astonishment before laughing hysterically. The monster demanded, in a higher voice.

"What's so funny?" the bizarre voice caused all eyes to be drawn to him, but what they saw resulted in a fit of laughter. Super Buu was hovering there looking incredibly feminine with prominent attributes. "His" eyes looked to where they were looking for a whole minute before a high-pitched scream let them know how much the mightiest evil in the universe enjoyed finding this out. Steam shot out of her head like from a kettle just before she launched into the attack, missing Rohan by a mile, but her target was readily apparent as she smashed Vegita in the face, hurtling him into Goku, knocking the two of them into the ground. Rocks buried them. Buu grinned and giggled before stopping. With a shriek of rage she flew at the strongest person there and cold cocked him. The punch didn't even budge him.

"Well that was certainly interesting." He said as if commenting on the weather before punching her into the ground. Super Buu pulled her head up from the ground and glared in silent fury at the insufferable person sneering down at her. The evil menace of magic flew back into the sky just in time to be greeted by Rohan's cupped hands.

"It ends now…" he assumed the horse stance as he turned at the waist, gathering power into his hands. All his power was channeled into his palms as he prepared for the biggest attack he had ever performed. Super Buu kicked him in the crotch, but all that was heard was a dull thud with no damage done.

"Super… Ka… me… ha… me… HAAA!" he roared as he threw his hands into Super Buu's chest, unleashing the all-powerful attack. The blast bored through her chest as it began expanding, tearing a gradually larger hole through the evil being. Blue and gold ki flared through and over Buu as she screamed in pain and rage. Just as the head was about to be utterly vaporized, the stream of power faltered. Rohan gaped in astonishment as he felt his strength faltering. His body felt like it was being torn in two. With a last cry of power, the flagging attack picked up a bit. Buu was now openly sneering as she witnessed the struggle to hold it together before suddenly where there was one, there were now two.

"Now it's over…" Super Buu said just as she blinked out and reappeared behind Gohan, blasting him in the spine with a Special Beam Cannon. The young saiya-jin hit the ground quivering in pain. She suddenly appeared before Ranma and tried to smash her in the face, but an arcing blade sliced her in half before another rapid series of slashes cut her up. With a hiss of fury, Ranma unleashed the full and unbridled Neko-ken just as he blasted the dice demon at full power with a yellow beam.

"Over? I seriously doubt that!" he shouted as he utilized the Soul of Ice and imbued his sword with frozen energy. The quivering mass of Buu was in the middle of reforming just as the blade came down and froze her solid. The lump of ice hit the ground and shattered. It would have been nice if it was over, but he could already feel his enhanced power bleeding off. Power gave way to tiredness as he watched Buu rise once more into the air, the pieces of ice were thawing rapidly.

"How do I beat this thing? What I need is a decisive blow, but how? I need to rest…I need energy…" he thought frantically and wished he had a senzu bean. With a start he realized that he did! It was a long shot, but he needed to get away long enough to use it. Buu reconstituted herself just seconds before driving Ranma into the ground with a powerful haymaker. The pigtailed martial artist was actually glad for the reprieve, but knew that it wouldn't last. The rocks off to the side hadn't moved in quite a while. Goku and Vegita should have been out by now. Suddenly the cairn began to rumble and quake as a massive chi suddenly flared into existence.

"Now what…?" Buu asked in a weary tone. Just when she had one enemy down another one springs up to take its place. This foe was far greater than she anticipated, however, as the figure that erupted from the ground came into view. He was wearing a blue gi with an orange undershirt. His gloves were white and his boots were black. The potara earrings dangling from his ears.

"Surprised?" came the strange double voice. "Just call me Vegito and let it at that." He grinned at the startled pink blob before lunging in for the attack. Ranma was thrilled to have the chance to eat the bean and regain his strength. With that thought, he popped the bean and got ready.

"Round Two."

Kai Planet-

"This couldn't be better!" Supreme Kai exclaimed enthusiastically. He and Kibito had foolishly decided to fuse, but seemed no worse for the wear. The elder Kai smirked in obvious delight as Vegito thoroughly thrashed Super Buu. It was tense in a few spots, especially when Buu turned him into a hard candy, but that didn't seem to stop him from pummeling the magic beast into submission. The already dancing Kais saw Ranma emerge from the rubble, unharmed and radiating even greater energy.

"Oooh…Look who's back on his feet! I think we might actually win this!" Elder Kai exclaimed happily until he saw a piece of Buu creeping up on Ranma. He could only watch in stunned horror as it struck the boy in the back and almost instantly dragged him inside of the creature. Buu changed appearances back to male and was wearing Ranma's gi. Another blob struck Buu, bearing Gohan and empowering him further. Their hopes for victory crumbled as they witnessed this tragic event.

"We need a miracle…" Elder Kai muttered.

Earth-

Vegito had powered up to the highest level of Super Saiya-Jin that he possessed, but even that was barely enough to withstand the assault of the much stronger Buu. He knew the whole world was riding on this. If they survived then all their friends could be brought back with the Dragon Balls, but Super Buu was the greatest concern. No matter what he threw at him, the unstoppable creature seemed to flow around it or turn it against them.

"I thought you were supposed to be all powerful." Buu said with a cocky smirk as he whipped the sword around to cleave the fusion warrior, but a hastily constructed blade of ki deflected the strike. It turned into an almost light speed battle between the two as they each fought for dominance. What galled the mighty Saiya-jin was that a lousy human had stood a better chance against this freak. When the two broke for air, it was clearly apparent who had fared better.

"This is impossible…I-I should be the strongest…the title of strongest belongs to me! To ME!" Vegito roared in absolute fury. His power began soaring upward. Vegita's fury at not being the strongest and over what happened to his family coupled with Goku's own fury over failing the planet and his family combined inside of Vegito to unleash a depth of power that the world had not seen before since Buu. With a cry of rage his hair flared golden, growing down his back to his waist, and his tail popped out of his pants. Buu's eyes widened to the size of dinner plates as he felt Super Saiya-Jin 3 Vegito power up.

"A simple power-up means nothing to me! Watch and be amazed!" Buu roared as he accessed Goten, Trunks, Gohan, Ranma, Ranko, and Piccolo. Their trapped powers combined made Buu flare with a golden aura. When he tried to synch with Ranma's power, however, he couldn't find it. Something wasn't right, but this wasn't the time to worry about it. Vegito smirked as his sensed his opponent's discomfiture.

"If it means nothing…Then I suppose it's okay if I attack first." The fusion warrior said just as he used Instant Transmission to unleash several thousand blows in under a second, each one exploding with power as he released ki into each wound. Super Buu began having serious reservations about challenging Vegito. The Saiya-Jin warrior on the other hand couldn't have been happier.

Inside Buu-

Ranma awoke to a strange sensation. It felt like the ground was squishy and warm. He wished he could just go back to sleep, but something told him that he needed to be awake now. As the pigtailed boy opened his eyes he noticed something weird. It looked like he was inside of some giant cavern that almost seemed to throb as if it were alive. Wait a minute. This cavern was alive! The boy was on his feet in an instant, quickly surveying his surroundings. He tapped his foot on the ground only to hear a squishing sound. If he recognized anatomy correctly he seemed to be standing on a brain. It looked enormous to him, but he could tell that it still left more than enough room in his bubblegum skull. He stabbed his finger into the spot he was standing on, wondering what would happen.

Buu passed gas. Vegito looked offended at having to hear that. The normally uncaring construct actually looked embarrassed.

Well, that didn't do anything. Maybe he should try a different spot. An eruption of energy burst forth from his palm into his brain, charring the spot. To the wondering pigtail's eyes it looked like it wasn't regenerating. Since it didn't seem to be, he starting firing rapidly at the brain.

"I hope this works…"

Outside Buu-

Vegito blinked in astonishment as his opponent starting coming unraveled before his eyes. The terrifying Buu was spinning his antenna like a helicopter and singing the teapot song in Swahili. How he knew Swahili was anybody's guess. How Vegito knew it would have taken even longer to figure out. He was even flapping his arms like a chicken. He began gathering energy between his palms and drew his hands back. This was the perfect opportunity to defeat Majin Buu once and for all.

"Sayonara fool…" he grinned as he prepared the mother of all attacks.

Inside Buu-

Blowing apart the brain was fun, but he wanted to check out the rest of the skull to see where the others had gotten. His answer lay just under the brain as he came across the pods holding everyone. He noticed that they all seemed to be in some sort of suspended animation. He quickly began cutting the pods down from the fleshy looking ropes holding them. Ranma absently wished for the sword, but a flicker of ki and he had a claw that would do the job just nicely. The first person he released was Gohan and popped a senzu bean in his mouth. The half Saiya-jin woke up as if from a dream.

"Ranma…? What's going on?" the boy asked sleepily.

"We gotta get outta here! Help me get everyone else." His sixth sense was screaming danger, but Gohan's next words gave him pause.

"What about him?" he gestured at Majin Buu.

"Bring him." Ranma replied shortly as they gathered everyone. A sudden rumbling could be felt. The pigtailed boy realized they were almost too late. The only way out was through the head. He called Gohan over quickly as he powered up to full Neko-ken. Gohan powered up his mystic energy and the two performed a quick fusion. Rohan aimed his hands skyward and fired off a Super Kamehameha into the evil being's skull and punching a huge hole in Super Buu's skull. Quickly grabbing the fleshy ropes holding the pods, he took off for the exit as he fired off ki bursts to keep the hole open. Expending even more ki to fly faster, they emerged from the hole at near warp speed and regained their natural size. Rohan collapsed to his knees and kissed the ground. He looked up to see Vegito staring down at him, a smile quirked on his lips. The smile was returned as they two of them watched Super Buu start to shrink. He screamed as if in utter agony as he slowly collapsed to the ground.

"Yes!" the fusion warriors grinned at each other in victory just as Dende and Mr. Satan ran up to offer their own congratulations. Suddenly the Old Kai's voice whipped into their heads.

"Look out!" he cried. They quickly looked back to Buu and saw him in a much smaller form. They couldn't understand why they were afraid of him.

"That's his most powerful form! That's Kid Buu!" Supreme Kai shouted frantically. If he was the strongest then he was as good as dead the two warriors thought. The sneer on Ki Buu's face told them otherwise.

"He doesn't look like much." Vegito scoffed just as Kid Buu built up a power ball of scarlet red ki. The power of that one attack easily topped any previous Buu in power. Their world exploded in red as the attack hurtled straight for them…

End Chapter

Author's Notes: One more chapter to go. I believe it's important to tell the reader when the end is in sight. I would thank you for sticking around for as long as you have and I hope you continue reading! Ja ne!