With the mad wizard welcoming them into the ship, Shin led the way into Babidi's ship, leading first into the door. He was followed by 18 and Tenshinhan, two of Goku's companions, and the strongest fighters he could get for the job, given the...circumstances.
"With Vegeta, Piccolo, and Videl all under Babidi's control, and only Tenshihan and 18 with me, my vanguard has been stripped of three-fourths of its power," The deity thought to himself as his descent picked up speed. He noticed they had yet to come to a complete halt, and the came to the obvious conclusion that they were bypassing all of the levels for the lowermost floor. This made sense, as they too had put the dent in Babidi's forces. "I'm going to have to simply make do with these two humans, and prevent Majin Bū from being released!"
This wasn't something he could fail at. The universe was counting on him to do his duty right for the first time in eons. In memory of Kibito, and the other Kaiōshin who fell because of Bibidi and Babidi's machinations, he would prevail.
As they continued to descend, Tenshinhan eventually spoke up.
"Lord Kaiōshin! Haven't we been falling for quite some time? It didn't take this long to make it to the final level before!"
"He's right," 18 affirmed. "And even with my optical enhancements, I can't see a trace of light further approaching us anytime soon!"
"Babidi..." Shin growled. "He might be using his magic to adjust the layout of the ship. Remember what I told you; this ship was created by Babidi's magic, and therefore, everything in it, even space relative to us, is under his control."
"Does that mean...?" Tenshinhan made good use of all three of his eyes as they widened.
"He's buying time."
The descent continued for quite some time, and the trio began to lose track of just how long they had been moving. Was it Babidi's plan to keep them here forever? That could very well be why he'd so willingly opened the door. And if that was the case, then Shin might eventually be left with only one final option: destroying the ship and rupturing Majin Bū's egg.
"Better he be released at half-power than at full power..." The deity thought solemnly. "Perhaps if we band together, we can take down a Majin Bū that isn't fully recuperated..."
His worries, however, were assuaged when 18 informed him her optical enhancements were detecting a simmer of light just twelve kilometers down. Tilting their bodies forward, the trio burst through the opening of the tunnel, landing on the ground in the center of a dimly lit room. It resembled the rooms from the previous levels in the ship, however, the lackluster illumination would have made gathering details hard — that is, if the three people in the room had ordinary eyes.
To Shin with his godly eyes, and even 18 and Tenshinhan, with their various visual enhancements, their sight adjusted in the dark quickly, absorbing all possible light to maximum effect as they took in the room. It really didn't look any different from the other rooms beyond the lack of light and of a door on the bottom of the floor; devoid of any décor, however, standing in the center of the room was a pulsing purple sphere, sitting atop a pedestal, veined in appearance. It emitted no aura, however, just being within close proximity to it made the entire group feel bad vibes.
"Welcome, welcome, Kaiōshin, and the little Earthling tag-a-longs!" Babidi stepped out from behind the egg, a smug grin on his face as he stared down the trio of invaders. "It took you so long to get down here, I was beginning to worry that I'd pressed the wrong lever opening the hatch to my ship. You see, I used to have a guy who did that."
"Don't toy with us, Babidi!" Shin hissed, his black eyes narrowing with barely contained rage as the deity glared daggers at Babidi. "You've lost Dābura, and your other soldiers; with no one to protect you, we'll kill you here and now! With you gone, there'll be nothing left to channel energy towards that wretched cocoon, and Majin Bū will remain dormant until the end of time!"
"Are you so sure about that, Kaiōshin?" The mage sneered, moving a slim hand along the veined surface of the shell that contained Majin Bū, baring his yellowish teeth. "You haven't studied the depths of my father's magic! Killing me could very well net you nothing! Of course, you're welcome to try; but if you kill me, it'll simply result in Majin Bū running rampant with no one left to seal him again!"
"What difference does it make?" Tenshinhan took a step forward, all three eyes narrowing menacingly. "If you're alive, you'll simply let your demon run rampant anyway! The destruction will be the same whether you live or die!"
"Careful now, don't pop a blood vessel!" Babidi cautioned condescendingly. "I can see we're going to have quite a little party, so why not let me take you all somewhere nice! My treat?" Before any of the others could stop him, the mage raised his arms, shouted for his magic words, and the entire room began to shift. The plane was rewritten as they were transported from the bottom floor of Babidi's ship to a rocky wasteland.
"Again!?" 18 looked around at their new location, before swiveling her beautiful blonde head back towards Babidi. She and her comrades weren't the only thing he'd transported this time; the egg containing the mysterious creature and the mage himself had made the journey with them this time.
"You see, I've heard that Earthling parties can get rather raucous! I'd hate for Majin Bū to wake from all the noise, and damage my ship! There aren't many places in the Universe one can contact for ship repair on such short notice."
His words struck chords with Tenshinhan; how callously he acted, how casual and unconcerned about everything this man was. "Is this all just a game to you!?"
"Why yes, it is!" Babidi spread his arms wide. "I've already taken some of your best pieces, and backed you up against the wall! And as soon as Majin Bū hatches, even an army of you Earthlings won't be able to stop us!"
"He's right," said Shin gravely, unable to deny the truth of Babidi's words. "Majin Bū's power is undeniable; he's a force of nature. However, at this point, it's do-or-die! We'll call your bluff, Babidi; kill you now, and deal with the egg after you're long dead!"
"So rash!" chuckled the mage. "Are you sure you want to go through with that?"
"There's nothing left to talk about!"
At the moment of Shin's declaration, a large pinging blared through the wasteland like a blaring emergency siren. It took a moment to discern the source of the noise, until Babidi himself looked at the meter connected directly to the cocoon's pedestal. It was quivering now, having finally reached the very last notch on its dial, and the hand on the meter began to push further, going absolutely haywire from the amount of ki being channeled into Majin Bū's sphere. But Babidi knew clearly what this meant. Majin Bū...
"MAJIN BŪ IS AT FULL POWER!"
Steam began to issue from the pedestal that the cocoon rested on, rushing into the sky with a high-pitched whine. It funneled out into the air, forming a thick cloud over the egg, casting it into shadow. The steam created a rush of wind that blew back harshly against 18, Tenshinhan, and Shin, almost forcing acrid air into their mouths.
"I think you'll find this worthwhile subject matter, Kaiōshin! My father's creation is about to unleash itself! Ooooh, I simply can't wait! Come on out, Majin Bū, and greet our guests!"
"I hadn't expected this to happen...!" Tenshinhan looked from the Kaiōshin to the sealed sphere and back again. "But with Goku, Vegeta, and the others all fighting, and with three Saiyans all most likely having surpassed the Super Saiyan state...I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner."
Shin felt sweat drip down his scalp; perspiration born from his own anxiety and regret. "All right! Change of plans! We destroy the cocoon first, and then Babidi! We have to try now, while the hatching process is underway! If we act now, there's a chance we may still be able to destroy Majin Bū while he's dormant; it's too late to simply do nothing, so utilize your strongest techniques!"
"I guess it's really now or never..." Tenshinhan thought to himself. Focusing his ki, the three-eyed man began to rise into the air, the others on the ground watching with mixed expressions.
"What is he doing?" Babidi thought, briefly distracted from his elation at victory when he saw Tenshinhan beginning to float.
Tenshinhan formed a triangle with his hands, positioning it just over the cocoon, giving him the best possible view of the steam-gushing shell. His expression serious, dead-set, the man arched his muscles slightly, channeling his ki. "SHIN KIKŌHŌ!" Tenshinhan announced his technique with a roar, and there was an explosion from his being as his channeled ki hammered the ground with immense force, slamming into the cocoon that held Majin Bū, and Babidi.
18 recognized what Tenshinhan was doing. Besides his use of the technique against Dābura, he'd employed a similar tactic against Cell seven years ago; however, his plan then was just to delay the biological menace until she and 16 could escape. His intentions now were the utter destruction of Majin Bū's containment sphere. The ground beneath her began to shake as the Kikōhō crashed into the earth, miraculously leaving a square indentation from a blast formed with a triangle hand sign.
"This power...this force...!" Shin watched in awe as the blasts Tenshinhan hammered into the surface of the planet.
"Don't just stand there, either help us out or get in the crater!" 18 ordered, flying into the air next to Tenshinhan. She placed both hands over her face in an x-like formation, and began to channel green energy into her palms. Electricity, bearing the same lime-green colour, crackled and snapped like an electric current, bouncing between both hands. Swinging both hands behind her, the cyborg snapped them both forward, releasing a crescent shaped blast of energy that shot directly into the crater, mixing in with Tenshinhan's Kikōhō.
It was Shin's turn, and the deity gathered his special ki into his hands; light blue energy accompanied by a trail of bright sparkling flashes of light. Thrusting them forward, the ki blasts expelled from his palms. All three energy attacks melded and converged, creating a violent explosion of flames and smoke. Out of all of them, Tenshinhan seemed the most exhausted; he had released multiple rounds of Kikōhō at the shell, in contrast to the others singular blasts, and the Kikōhō wasn't a kind mistress. It drained his life force directly with repeated usage, but, even with his ragged breath, he knew such a drain was worth it in an attempt to stop the hatching.
At least he thought this until the smoke cleared and his blood ran cold as ice.
The egg was completely unharmed. Resting in a gigantic, square-shaped crater, the egg was still issuing steam, which was beginning to coalesce in the sky, and it was unharmed from the blast. Babidi, crafty as he was, had erected a powerful barrier, ruby-red in colour, and too was unharmed by the combined technique from the trio.
"It's...impossible!" Tenshinhan gasped.
"That was my strongest technique...how could anything have survived that?" Even 18 could only be stunned that not only was the sphere not even destroyed, there was not a scratch on it. It had shrugged off all three of their techniques. The three began to descend to the ground, and for the first time, Shin was feeling his spirit and will to fight become crushed.
"It's over now, Kaiōshin!" crowed Babidi. "You can't stop it, not that I don't appreciate the effort! Here he comes! Here comes Bū!"
At the words of Babidi, as if his voice was the only prodding the sphere needed, it split down the middle with a final rush of steam. Everyone stopped, frozen with fear and apprehension. And yet, when the egg opened, it seemed...empty inside.
Was he beginning to feel relief on the edges of fear? Shin certainly thought so. A nervous chuckle was escaping his lips, weak and scared. "Could it be...luck is on our side!?" He jabbed a finger in the direction of the mage, who was calling for the creature who refused to show its presence. "It seems it is over, Babidi, at least for you! Our combined attack was enough to destroy Bū; being sealed for as long as he was, he wasn't even able to use the energy funneled into his sphere to regain his form!"
The mage began to grind his teeth, thoroughly irritated and at a loss. If Bū didn't show up, the plan was over. If Bū didn't emerge now, he would be killed.
"Tenshinhan, 18, we've done it!" Shin continued in his elated cry. "All we need to do now is kill Babidi, and this nightmare will be over!"
"N-No..." Tenshinhan had quite literally frozen, his body as immobile as if a basilisk was staring him down. "I can feel it...an incredible ki, and its only growing bigger!" Breaking free from the fear that petrified him, the man turned his head upwards, looking at the sky with all three of his eyes. The others followed suit, and soon everyone was staring at a mass of steam in the sky.
"It's just a cloud...isn't it?" 18 muttered.
"Don't...tell me..." Shin immediately grasped the gravity of the situation as fear flooded his veins with their familiar chill once more.
The smoke began to move, adjusting itself, shrinking in from its vast cloud form to a more manageable shape. It seemed to squirm, twitching and adjusting itself into new shapes. Limbs began to form,, and what looked like a cape, and a head. In moments, a fully formed figure appeared and the ki Tenshinhan could feel exploded, almost knocking him to his knees in sheer magnitude.
The figure was rotund and pink, with an antennae-like appendage dangling from his head. His eyes were heavily squinted, accenting the smug grin on his face. He wore yellow gloves and boots, a black vest with a purple cape, and white gi pants with a belt that had the now familiar 'M' on the buckle. There was dead silence, until...
"BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!"
The creature shouted at the top of its lungs, a childish voice escaping his throat as he spread his arms and legs out, almost seeming to be cheering at his freedom. With a crash, the creature landed on the ground, shaking the earth with his weight.
Majin Bū was finally awake.
A/N: And here it is. Chapter 34 and it's a VERY short one. This isn't my style, and I apologize to people who like my chapters that are on the longer side. But this is the first time in a long time where I looked at a chapter of this length, sat down and said to myself "This looks like a good place to end it". So, please allow me to be selfish just this once. I like this chapter, I like how it turned out and I want to let the gravity of this moment sink in for everyone. I'm finally here, guys. Majin Bū is finally awake and the real action starts from here on out!
I'm really glad with what I did with Tenshinhan here. I love the humans, I do, and I'm gonna be trying to give them more time when I can. To anyone who doesn't appreciate humans doing something proactive, you might want to rethink that because you're gonna be in for doozies later on. Even Shin had to get in on the action, rather than run away with his tail between his legs. A combined attack from all three of them, while not enough to destroy Majin Bū's shell, was enough to show that they won't back down. Also, to anyone who noticed, 18's technique was the "Super Electric Strike" from Dragon Ball XenoVerse. I couldn't for the life of me decide what technique to use, and THAT thing is just utter hell, so I brought it into my established canon. I really hope you guys like this chapter! As always, thanks to Demod20 for proofing and making sure the chapter is ship-shape! I'll see you guys soon in the next chapter of the Erased Chronicles!