"You feel it...don't you, Vegeta?" Goku asked, laying weakly on the ground. He had still not recovered from his disastrous attempt at combining the ascended Super Saiyan with the Kaiōken, and Vegeta's following beating. It had only been a basic multiplication, but the aftershocks still reverberated throughout his body, and he could barely move. Struggling to ease his torso, the exhausted Saiyan stared directly at Vegeta, who looked heavily conflicted. "Majin Bū...he's more terrible than we originally thought..."
Vegeta clenched his gloved fists. The sudden shock of ki that he had felt erupt in the distance had entirely thrown off his last strike, and thus he had been robbed of a sure victory. And what a ki it had been, at that. To feel such a horrible ki from this distance. At first, he thought nothing of it...but then it increased in volume exponentially, and multiple other ki faded. Sweat pooled downed his face, but Vegeta had no time for fear.
"Look at yourself, Kakarot!" Vegeta sneered. "This Bū is nothing! The Kaiōshin feared the enemies in Babidi's ship as the strongest fighters in the universe, and we surpassed them all! We Saiyans have evolved, Kakarot, beyond the expectations of the gods! And we'll handle this Bū just the same!"
"Vegeta...you're overlooking something..." Goku grunted. "There's something...deeper...within Bū! I can feel it...!"
Snarling, Vegeta's aura flared around his body, a virulent flame of blue-white energy erupting in a fury. Despite having been worn to death by this battle, it seemed Vegeta still had reserves of ki when furious. "I've had ENOUGH of your feelings, Kakarot! The only thing that matters right now is our battle; Majin Bū is nothing more than a distraction, an excuse!"
"People will die...Vegeta...!" Goku coughed, glowering at the older Saiyan.
"I don't give a damn!" Vegeta shot back. "I allowed Babidi to take control of my body for this very reason! The strong will survive and the weak will perish!"
"This...is happening...because of us, Vegeta!"
The Saiyan Prince silenced himself, unable to counter the fact that Kakarot was correct. The revival of Majin Bū was their fault; his for triggering any of this, and Kakarot for even going along with it. His face working, Vegeta let out a defeated sigh. "Fine. You obviously can't focus with everything going on, so we'll simply postpone our battle."
"Vegeta...!" Goku felt relief wash over his entire body. Vegeta could see reason after all.
Vegeta extended a hand to Goku, who gripped it with his own, helping his rival to his feet. On his face was a smile very unlike Vegeta; brotherly and welcoming. "Come on, let's each take a Senzu. We've used up more than our fair share of energy in this fight; we want to be at full strength when we face Majin Bū."
"Thanks, Vegeta," Goku began to rummage within his obi where he kept the mystical beans. "I know that, together, you and I can defeat Bū."
Instantly, the Saiyan Prince's expression hardened. With Goku distracted, Vegeta moved in, slamming his fist solidly into Goku's stomach. The blow was crushing, and in Goku's weakened state, being winded was more than enough to knock Earth's hero to his knees. As the air left his lungs, light left hsi world, and Goku fell unconscious, dropping the satchel of Senzu he had just uncovered.
"Letting your guard down at a time like this..." Vegeta bent down, picking up a single green bean and consuming it. Instantly, his wounds healed, and he could feel his power surge; his Saiyan biology increased his power even further, making up for his shortcomings in his life-or-death battle with Kakarot. "Haaaaah!" Instantly, Vegeta transformed into an ascended Super Saiyan once again; the lightning snapped around his aura, and his black tresses glowed brilliant gold.
"You're right Kakarot, it's my fault Bū was freed. So I'll be the one who takes care of him."
Walking away from Goku, Vegeta went towards the door on the ground that led to the ship, the circular opening that followed them wherever Babidi seemed to transport them. "If I destroy this, I'll get to Babidi in no time." Vegeta stretched out his senses, to get a feel for the situation before he even got there. Almost everyone's ki was gone. He couldn't feel Piccolo or Tenshinhan. Although, the two girls seemed to be alive. Shin and 18 weren't able to be sense by normal means, but Vegeta could put two and two together. And the largest ki out of them all was missing.
Gohan.
"I'm sorry, Gohan..." Vegeta muttered. "This is my fault." The Saiyan Prince raised a hand towards the door. Regardless of where the blame landed now, he would fix the problem.
Wasteland, Earth
"That was simply marvelous, Bū!" Babidi was cheering, his yellowish teeth revealed as his open mouth gaped. "I knew you were strong but to get rid of those pests so quickly!" The mage snickered, before turning his attention to the fallen form of the unconscious Kaiōshin. "Oh, I love it when a plans goes off without a hitch. Bū is revived, and the last presiding god of the Universe is in a wreck at my feet!" Unable to help himself, the Mage began to laugh, cackling loudly and obnoxiously. "Now, Bū, how will we kill him!?"
The Majin walked over to Shin, grinning down at the fallen form of the Kaiōshin. "Bū still hungry! What Bū turn you into? Chocolate? Or jelly?"
While Majin Bū considered his options, unbeknownst to the mage or the Djinn, two glowing figures landed in the rocky formations a short ways away. Clad in golden, the glow diminished quickly as the two hid their ki. It was Goten and Trunks, and the two hid behind the rocks that jutted from the ground, peeking out from behind them.
"What's going on, Trunks?" Goten asked timidly. It seemed all of their excitement had vanished, and it was quite clear why. The sight of two bodies, one dead, would unnerve anyone, even a Saiyan child.
"That's...that's Tenshinhan, isn't it?!" The lavender-haired boy pointed at the lifeless body of the older martial artist. He couldn't feel the spark of life, the ki signature, from Tenshinhan's body at all. "He's dead...!"
Goten blinked rapidly, trying to process it. "He's dead? Then what about him?" Biting his lip, the boy pointed at the figure of Shin, who was also emanating no ki.
"I'm not sure..." Trunks replied slowly. "I can't feel a thing, but they're crowding around him...it could just be the big guy is blocking it out with his own ki." The heir to Capsule Corporation frowned. If they were so intent on focusing on the purple guy, then he couldn't be dead, so he must just be unconscious...at least, this is what Trunks was thinking.
"Should we go save 'im?" Goten asked, looking intently at the un-moving form of Shin. "We can do it, we're fast, right Trunks?"
"Yeah, let's g—!"
A sudden explosion rocked the entire wasteland; with a boom like thunder, there was an eruption of golden energy from the ground, a practical geyser, and it shot high into the hair, stunning everyone. Babidi was the first to notice it, shrieking at the very sight of it. Not simply because the energy was a frightening sight, no.
"My spaceship!"
As the energy died down, and the smoke blew away with a strong gust, a silhouette began to take physical form in the eyes of the onlookers. Vegeta emerged, a single hand on his hip, and his face unbearably smug. "Hello there."
In the distance, Trunks' face lit up. "It's Dad! He's here!"
However, while the two young Saiyans were elated to see a familiar face here to help, Babidi was anything but pleased. "Vegeta!" His voice was filled with anger, but also annoyingly stern, like one disciplining a child. "What have you done!? Who ordered you to destroy my ship!? Have you gone and lost your mind!?" Groaning in frustration, the mage was seething. "First Dābura, who had to just go and die, and now you, destroying my spaceship! Can no one get anything right around here!?"
"So you're Majin Bū?" Vegeta inquired, ignoring Babidi's rant. "Well, you're certainly quite the ugly one. And you were the one who killed Gohan?"
Bū blinked, before looking down at Babidi. "He say 'oogly'. What does he mean by 'oogly'?"
Babidi sighed. "It means you have a face that would scare small children."
There was very brief silence, as Bū's face wore a blank smile. After taking a minute, it seemed the insult finally clicked in Majin Bū's head, and his face, simple with childish glee, contorted into rage. He began to make strange grunting noises, and a high pitched whine emitted from him, much like a tea kettle, and steam erupted from the various holes along his body to match.
"You make Bū mad!" The Djinn roared, his ki rising along with his emotions. "Bū make you dead!"
"I won't be going to Hell alone!" Vegeta replied, hardly unnerved by the rising ki. "I'm taking you along for the ride!" Vegeta clenched his fists, and a battle cry of titanic proportions escaped his throat. His aura began to surge, ki rising to the point that the ground around him began to crack. Lightning snapped, dust and stones kicked up and floating away.
"I-Is this Dad's ki!?" Trunks gaped, feeling his father's power level reach heights he would have never have dreamed of. He always knew his father was powerful, but this was far beyond his comprehension. "It's amazing!"
"Yeah! Go, Trunks' Dad!" Goten cheered, despite being too far away to even be heard.
Bū was unable to so much as flash an expression of shock, before Vegeta kicked off from the ground, creating yet another explosion, and a white gloved hand collided with the Djinn's fat face. The blow rocked Majin Bū, and Vegeta followed it up with a swift kick, sending Bū backwards. Vegeta pursued with abandon, releasing a torrent of punches and kicks that simply kept pressing Majin Bū backwards, forcing him across the landscape. With a final thrust of his fist, Bū was sent tumbling like an overgrown tumbleweed.
Vegeta spread his arms to his side, and formed two glowing spheres of ki. The spheres connected to form a line, which merged into a final, third sphere in front of his chest. The Saiyan Prince stretched his arms forward, and the connected three spheres followed. He twisted them, both arms overlapping the other, forming a stance akin to to a lopsided Kamehameha. The spheres were now aligned in a triangle, and they erupted from Vegeta, combining into a powerful, thin beam when they launched forth. Bū, who was just getting up, did not see the incoming blast and was hit dead on. The thin, triangle shaped beam split his body in half, leaving a triangular cut in the upper half and lower half as both pieces fell to the ground.
He smirked, proud that his attack had indeed succeeded. Snickering, he was going to turn towards Babidi, when he saw a sight very disturbing. The two halves of Majin Bū began to reattach themselves, and within seconds, he was standing again.
"That hurt Bū!" He grinned. "Almost."
Vegeta knew what he saw. He'd seen this ability before, when he'd attacked Cell and the menace regenerated his form. But this seemed to be beyond even that. "Damn!" Vegeta snarled. "Are you immortal!?"
Without reply, it was Bū's turn to go on the offensive, but Vegeta refused to simply stand there and take it. He dashed forward, as Bū began to move, thrusting his fist into the creature's newly restored belly. He continued with a swift uppercut punch, followed by a spin kick. These attacks left dents in Bū's malleable body, but the Djinn restored them instantly, and sent his fist forward, literally stretching the appendage until it collided with Vegeta, and hit the Prince hard. His eyes widened from the sheer shock.
Even Kakarot didn't hit this hard.
A crushing headbutt was the resulting next move, as Bū slammed his head into Vegeta's, and the pain sent him reeling backwards. Without hesitation, Bū thrust his body forward, hitting Vegeta with a full on belly collision. Even as he was sent flying, Vegeta flipped onto the ground using his hands, spiraling in a circle to deftly avoid the oncoming truck that was Majin Bū.
Pushing himself into the air, Vegeta was surprised to have found himself fleeing, only just now letting the reality of the situation hit him. "Damn him! How!? How can he be so strong!?" Strong and fast, the fact that Vegeta was outmatched was beginning to become clear. Regardless, it was no time for regrets now. This was his problem, and he was the only one left who could defeat this monster.
Bū finally stopped running, apparently having only just now noticed Vegeta had vanished from his immediate line of sight. Yet, after stopping, he didn't make a single move. The Djinn sat there, apparently staring at empty space.
"What is he...doing!?" Vegeta blinked, confused. If he thought Bū had any sort of brainpower, he might have been off the mark. Then, Bū looked upwards, craning his entire head backwards like a sort of monstrous owl. Vegeta's eyes widened, but the realization — "HE KNOWS I'M HERE!" — lasted for all of three seconds as Majin Bū sped backwards into the air, appearing above Vegeta and slamming his foot down onto the Saiyan Prince.
With a shout, Vegeta thrust an arm up to meet the colliding heel, forcing Bū away with the force of his strength. Bū was surprised, his eyes opening slightly, at the idea of Vegeta forcing him off. Vegeta moved swiftly, slamming his elbow into the Djinn's face, shifting the arm so that the full flat side of his forearm crashed into the side of Majin Bū's head, caving in his skull. Vegeta gripped the antennae, and lifted Bū over his head.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Heaving, the Ascended Super Saiyan hoisted Bū over his shoulder, before throwing him downwards towards the Earth. Plummeting quickly, Majin Bū crashed hard into the ground, leaving a gigantic crater as a plume of smoke obscured his form.
"Bū!" Babidi cried out. "Get up, Bū! You can't lose now, you're invincible! Get up, I said!"
Vegeta ignored Babidi's shrieking once more, and extended his thumb, forefinger, and middle finger forward. Multiple jets of light shot forward from his hand, piercing the darkness, and evenly splitting it. Bū was pinned to the ground, rings of light binding him from his wrists, ankles, neck, and for good measure, around his torso as well. The bindings were made from Vegeta's ki, and seemed to be doing their job well.
He descended to the ground. He would need this angle, if he wasn't going to entirely destroy the planet he was trying to protect. "If you can survive being chopped in half, then let's blow you to kingdom come, and see how well you come back from that!" Vegeta declared, placing both arms to his side again. his aura extended outside his body, furiously charging. Vegeta placed his hands together, concentrating all of the ki into his. With this intense focus, his hands began to enter a state of electrical discharge. Bolts of lightning shot out from them, ripping into the ground. Clouds began to gather, focusing solely over Vegeta's body, casting a shadow over the glowing Prince. He would have to adjust the angle slightly, so as not to trigger a chain reaction that would destroy Earth. However, he would not make the same mistake he made with Cell.
On the sidelines, Trunks and Goten were watching with awe. Vegeta was emitting such an awe-inspiring ki, and the young boy had never seen his father truly fight seriously before. Eyes narrowing, Trunks resolved to pay close attention. He was seeing his father, the Prince of Saiyans, in action right now. "Come on, Dad...! You can do it...!"
"FINAL FLASH!"
The blast erupted from Vegeta's palms, a massive beam that was more like a lightning bolt than the concentrated plasma it actually was. Moving faster than even the eye could see, it enveloped Majin Bū and the crater that concealed him; the sheer volume of ki shook the Earth was it was followed by an incredible blinding flash — befitting the name. The blast carried on well into the sky, before disappearing into deep space. One could only hope it hadn't destroyed a planet in the Solar System — least of all poor little Pluto.
Vegeta let his arms rest, breathing heavily. The Final Flash was his trump card, but it drained so much energy, and took so much time to prepare, that it was hardly worth utilizing in battle without preparation. But the specifics didn't matter. Vegeta cast his gaze into the crater where Majin Bū had been, and was pleased to see that only a few scattered pieces remained. He was sure of his victory, that had to have put it out for good.
But the nightmare wasn't over. Not by far. The scattered pieces of flesh began to twitch, making a sickening sound as they began to converge on a single point, creating a swirling orb of pink, and the orb began to split and take shape, and Bū emerged, fully reformed, looking hardly worse for wear.
The leotard-clad Saiyan prince could only watch in abject horror at this phenomenon. "That has to be impossible! He was blasted to pieces! How can he have reformed like this!?" To make matters worse, the Final Flash was his strongest attack; he had placed everything in the hope that it would simply destroy Bū. "Damn it all...!"
"Buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!" The creature let out a long, drawn out cry, apparently eager and pleased with itself for coming back to life.
On the sidelines, Babidi cackled madly, grinning all the while. "Oh Bū, I absolutely love you! Kill him! Rip to shreds, to SHREDS I say!"
Bū didn't need telling twice. He launched himself forward, moving unbelievably fast for his large size, and his fist collided with Vegeta's face. The two began to move across the landscape, their explosions kicking up dust, rocks, among other things. Vegeta was struggling to keep up, the power of Bū was overwhelming, and his ki never seemed to drop. Vegeta, on the other hand, was suffering the pains of fatigue and loss of energy. A blow to the stomach sent Vegeta hurtling backwards, rag dolled across the wasteland as easily as a soccer ball.
Flipping right-side up again, Vegeta emerged in time for his jaw to come right in line with Bū's leg. There was a sickening crack that filled the air. Bū's leg had broken Vegeta's neck. Twisted entirely to the side, his head turning around to look at Babidi, the damage was done.
"DAD!" Trunks let out a bloodcurdling scream; his hearing may not be enough to pick up sounds as far away as Bū and Vegeta were fighting, but Saiyans hadfantastic eyesight, and could see his father's head and neck, twisted in a way that nobody could possibly survive. His body was trembling; his Dad couldn't be dead, that wasn't possible. He was the Prince, the strongest there is.
But something perhaps even more horrific occurred in that next moment. Vegeta's face was shocked, but then it contorted into frustration and irritation. His hands moved to grip his head, and he twisted his neck back into place, feeling the broken portion of spine simply heal itself. "Would you look at that?" He grinned. "Seems Babidi's magic was good for something after all."
"Oh...shit..." Babidi swore, cursing himself in hindsight. His magic was meant to keep his underlings alive for as long as possible. While bleeding out was certainly still a problem, as Dābura had proven, they were made to be more durable and given quite an intense healing factor. This, along with a few other upgrades to their bodies, were done to ensure they'd be his ultimate fighting machines.
Now that was coming back to bite him.
Trunks didn't know what to think. He had mixed feelings; his Dad was alive, and that was certainly what counted. But he'd just twisted a broken neck back into place like it was nothing? Was his father becoming a monster? Trunks shook his head violently. He couldn't afford to think like that. Vegeta needed him here, on the sidelines, Trunks desperately wanted to think that. "Get him Dad...I know you can!"
Vegeta rubbed his neck with a gloved hand, pleased to at least see it was in working order. However, this didn't fix the problem at hand. "What do I do? How...how do I get rid of an immortal freak like this!?"
"You no die!" Bū glared at Vegeta, upset by the man's persistence. "You annoy Bū!" The Djinn began to build up an impressive amount of power, glowing a blinding purple. "Bū make you dead!" Restating its declaration from earlier, it appeared Bū intended to make good on it now. Shrilly shouting, Bū released the pent up energy in the form of a gigantic explosion. The blast swept a wide area, enveloping Vegeta, and the bodies of Tenshinhan and Shin. Babidi immediately protected himself with a barrier, cursing Bū the entire while.
The flash from the explosion died down quickly, and Bū was standing triumphant in the middle of an exceedingly large crater, dwarfing the one Vegeta had thrown him into vastly. Tenshinhan and Shin's bodies had been blown away, scattered farther across the wasteland. Vegeta had managed to survive the blast, but had been forced to his knees, bleeding profusely from new wounds, fresh from the explosion.
"Bastard...!" He growled, feeling blood drip from his knees. He could hear Bū walking towards him, humming a pleasant tune. This fight was settled. Bū had the upper hand.
"How? How can I be content to give up like this!?" Vegeta derided himself, slamming his fist into the ground. "This cannot be the pinnacle of my strength! It absolutely cannot!" His mind flashed to the battle against Cell, when Gohan had surpassed the boundaries of the Super Saiyan, and in that moment, become a true Saiyan warrior. His indignation when he found out that it was Kakarot, and not he, who became the first Super Saiyan in a thousand years, and avenged their race against Freeza. And his own son, Trunks, was the one who had personally killed Freeza as a Super Saiyan. Time and time again, he was being constantly surpassed, outstripped, he, the Prince.
"But no more!" Vegeta carried his train of thought verbally as he began to rise to his feet. He felt a surge of ki rise with his indignation. "I will not be made of a fool of, while I am surpassed constantly by my lessers! I am Vegeta!" The Prince began to power up immensely, his ki beginning to make the very foundations of the planet tremble. The ground cracked, and the oceans shook, as Vegeta's very ki began to act on the planet. Lightning flashed and snapped from his aura, crackling and ripping into the dirt. His screams hit a fever pitch; he sounded practically in pain. His hair began to become more rigid, lengthening, until it reached beyond his back. Two locks rested over his shoulder, and his eyebrows faded until only the pronounced ridge remained.
The transformation finished, Vegeta was grinning, his power overwhelming, and he jabbed a thumb towards himself. "It's over, Bū! Hyper Vegeta will show you what true power really is!"
A/N: So yes. This chapter just happened. Let me be quite blunt. I love Vegeta, so the moment I had the balls, something like this was bound to happen. I was originally gonna keep this chapter closer to canon, but I wanted to make Vegeta's last stand something far, far more badass. This is another shorter chapter, but how long can I drag a fight OUT before it just gets repetitive? I want you guys to enjoy these chapters, not find reading them as a chore. So, I spun it this way and I've got to say I'm quite glad to let Vegeta access the Super Saiayn 3 form (we all know what it is) before anyone else. Now, before I close out today, you guys saw Vegeta had a new attack. Falling in line with his typical naming pattern, I think I'll simply name that one the Quasar Cannon (クエーサー 砲, Kuēsā Hō). And yes, I brought those rings he used on Goku in the filler additions to the battle back as a way to stall for the Final Flash. I don't usually bold technique names but the Final Flash called for it.
So, before I sign out, I have to thank Demod20 as always for proofing this chapter. However, let me also lend some thanks to BowToThePrince10 (no, the similar name to this is 100% coincidence, let me assure you). He read this finished chapter in advance and gave me pointers for dialogue and whatnot, to help me with my Vegeta. I'll see you guys in the next exciting chapter of the Erased Chronicles!