Last time on Dragon Ball HPA! Mukuro's attempt to end Majin Buu's life, ultimately ended in her befriending him. However, tragedy struck when Fenrir made an attempt on Majin Buu's life that almost resulted in the death of Hercule. With the release of Buu's evil doppelganger, Mukuro and Yukizome were encouraged to get the hell out of the area and scramble for backup, but by the time they got to the lookout, the Buu they knew was gone.
Armed with the ability to sense energy, Majin Buu made his way to the lookout and challenged the Z Fighters, but was ultimately flung away and ultimately challenged by Akane and Videl's fused form Adel. With a steely gaze and a violent bellow, can this fused female furiously land a fatal blow? The story continues now.
EPISODE 13: Adel Vs Buu
The wind blew across the air as Adel and Buu stared each other down. As if an unknown signal known only to them sounded, their muscles tightened. And then…they flew at each other with all their speed and strength. Knuckles collided from both of their fists, neither fighter being pushed back an inch. The resulting shockwave caused a sharp, crisp loud like reinforced paper snapping in an echo chamber to resound through the air.
"Minotaur Axe!" Adel brought her leg up and attempted to hit Buu in the face with a roundhouse kick, but he ducked under it by flying downward. He then rose up landed his knuckles in her gut, knocking her back. Adel slid back only so far though. She was more than ready for Buu's follow up as she weaved left away from his incoming straight arm punch. She then grappled him by the arm and hurled him at the ground.
However, as Buu sped towards the ground, he made his right arm super stretchy and attempted to punch the fusion in the jaw. Adel flew backwards slightly and avoided the strike. Simultaneously, Buu was already flipping backwards of his own accord and landing a few feet over the ground before gently touching down upon it.
From this distance, Adel knew that approaching recklessly would be stupid. So, she gathered energy in her palms and began firing orange, spherical balls into the air with reckless abandon.
Buu smirked. None of Adel's attacks were hitting him. He realized too late, however, that the balls weren't going very far above Adel and then all started to shimmer and echo energy around them.
After generating more than fifty of the things, Adel flew up in front of one of them as she flipped backwards and slammed her lower shin into the sphere. Then, all of the orange spheres converged on Buu's location like a blitz of dodgeballs…or a rain of tiny meteorites.
Buu tried to weave between the blasts, but Adel could control the speed and trajectory of the spheres. Buu started to get slammed from all directions by her attack as Adel tucked her elbow by her hip, palm up. A giant sphere the size of an elephant began to form in front of her. She then lightly bumped the ball like it was a volleyball, knocking it into the air slightly. She then flew slowly up to get at the perfect angle, raising her arm like she was going to slap the sphere.
Buu, for his part, had had pieces of him flung in every direction that were scattering on the ground below. If he had ears, they'd be ringing.
"Jackal Spike!" Adel launched the big sphere by swatting it with the palm of her hand. Buu was still gathering the pieces of himself together and face tanked the blast, screaming.
"UWOOOOOOOOOOOOOGH!" As he was blasted towards the ground in a blaze of orange light. A crater grew outward, a semicircle of energy forming and then exploding skyward, parting the clouds above.
"That's incredible!" Piccolo exclaimed, observing the fight from the lookout. "She's so strong."
"But it's not about power, is it?" Bulma asked.
Roshi nodded. "If Akane and Videl couldn't fix their biggest problem, they're in for a tough fight. Attacks like this will only slow Buu down and they only have 30 minutes."
"Well, let's hope they figured it out," Hajime said and glanced backwards at the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. "Otherwise…"
As the dust cleared from Adel's attack, she surveyed the damage. Little pieces of Buu were festering in the area, but what about the main body. Her question was answered moments later as a big mass like living chewing gum began to float in the air and reform.
"Oh no you don't!" Adel exclaimed. Being prudent, she kept up the offensive. Bending both her arms back and raising one leg, she gathered green energy between both her hands. She then slapped her wrists together, palms open, firing another attack. "Hyena Bomb!"
Adel fired forward a green energy blast similar in shape and volume to a Kamehameha. However, upon impact with Buu's regenerating mass, the attack instead exploded outward with catastrophic force.
Adel then flew closer to the mass and started to try and obliterate every piece of Buu she could find with a small energy blast. Before long, Buu was nothing but mist.
"Something's wrong," Adel thought, eyes darting back and forth. Her fists were raised by her chest defensively. "I can still sense a faint trace of his energy."
Hi in the air, Adel started to sense the mist converging. Growling, she readied a normal Kamehameha. However, there was nothing to hit. Buu, prudently, seemed to be forming his body back from mist first and then solidify. That didn't keep her from charging the blast though. The second Buu reformed, she'd open fire with a loud "HAAAAAAAAAA!"
Buu solidified, but something was different about him now. Adel could sense it. What she couldn't see was the fact that the colors of his eyes had changed. With his bare hand, he reached forward, put a palm to Adel's Kamehameha and stopped it dead in its tracks. Then he fired a pink energy blast through it and blasted Adel wholesale down into the ground.
Adel got up, scuffed up, but no worse for wear. However, Buu appeared practically right next to her and kicked her in the head, knocking her away. Unable to mount a defense, she was barraged by a series of punches and kicks.
"Ah! What happened?" Dende gasped.
"I don't know. But this is bad," Piccolo stated. He grit his teeth and clenched his fists. "If this keeps up, she won't last five minutes, let alone the entire thirty."
"Did they fail?" Krillin asked. "Don't tell me not even a whole year could bring those two closer together. They seemed so confident."
While Mukuro could not see the battle directly, her eyes glanced across the clouds as though she could. Well, she could sense the energy from both fighters.
As such, her eyes moving back and forth caught Yamcha's attention. "What's up, kid? Are you…following the fight?"
"Trying my best," Mukuro answered. "They're very fast. However, given our ally is currently losing ground, it's easy to tell what's happening."
"Man, Tao must've really beat it into you, huh?" Krillin asked.
"If I was strong enough, I could manage such a fight with my eyes closed. That's how acute my instincts and senses are," Mukuro answered.
Krillin sweated. "Remind me not to square up against you later."
"Mukuro, you can do the same thing Akane can, right?" Yukizome asked her.
Mukuro glanced in Yukizome's direction.
"That thing where you just stop thinking about stuff and just let your body fight for you," Yukizome said. "You can do that, right?"
"Wait, what?! Her too?!" Krillin exclaimed.
"Is that uncommon?" Mukuro asked.
"The only person we've ever known that could do something like that until now was Akane," 18 stated. "How do you even know she can do that?"
"We fought when she tried to kill Buu," Yukizome explained. "She did the exact same thing in our fight that Akane did when she was fighting the Supreme Kai, but it was…how do I put this…more tempered?"
"Maybe it's because Mukuro's a soldier and Akane's just some girl Master Roshi decided to teach martial arts," Bulma speculated.
"Could be," Roshi admitted.
"Either way, it's our best way at getting a handle on things," Yukizome said. "Mukuro, can you think of any reason you wouldn't be able to—"
Realizing what Yukizome was about to ask her, Mukuro answered before Yukizome could finish. "Well if I was being pummeled the way Adel seems to be, I wouldn't be able to focus. You have to consciously choose to give into your instincts. It's not something that just happens." Mukuro said, fiddling with a strand of her black hair between her thumb and fore finger. "Well," she looked at Yukizome with the utmost seriousness. "not unless you're about to be killed."
Buu reared back his fist, grinning manically. He let his arm stretch like rubber momentarily before thrusting his arm forward. Gravity carried punch straight into Adel's face, knocking her back yet again. The woman was covered in bruises, trying to catch her breath. Buu let fly a small energy disc with a flick of his wrist. The attack it collided with Adel's stomach and exploded on impact. The fused teen was blown back and collapsed on her back, pressing up on her elbow.
Buu marched forward, the black of his sclera complimented the menacing tint of his red eyes. His scowl and disappointed growl bore into Adel as he charged an energy blast.
"Boring. And disappointing," He stated. His next shot would almost certainly do Adel in.
Without even getting up though, Adel sighed and closed her eyes. It was now or never. If she made any sudden movements, Buu would fire and kill her.
Find my center, Adel thought. No more thinking. Just…tranquility.
Thoughts began to vanish from Adel's head. Her pain, her motives, everything began to disappear. She could see naught but a peaceful tree in the breeze and a lake. And then, the tree faded from view and the lake was focused on. She could see it from a bird's eye view. And then…a single droplet of water fell into the undisturbed lake.
Adel's eyes flew open as she shambled to her feet like a puppet pulled by its strings. Her eyes flew open, an indigo light surrounding them. Highlights of this same tint ran through her hair. Buu's jaw opened a little, unsure what was happening.
With a bestial look in her eye, Adel flew forward and her fist crunched into Buu's face. The resulting impact sounded like a dynamite explosion as the pink monster's head went sailing clean off and Adel kicked the rest of the body away. Before landing, she was already charging up an energy blast, indigo colored, just like the aura surrounded her.
Buu's headless body turned towards the source of the energy the disembodied head could see. Using his antenna, Buu righted his head right side up and barfed a mouth laser in Adel's direction. She didn't break an iota of focus as she vaulted backwards and underneath the trajectory of the blast, never once stopping her attack and used her energy blast to attempt to vaporize Buu's body. The energy released sent the headless body flying and mulched it up something fierce. Adel didn't even see where it landed, but she could sense it. However, before she moved away from the area, she turned her attention to the retreating, bouncing head of Majin Buu. Pivoting, her arm moved in tandem, waving in front of her face before extending outward, indigo energy charging up before her palm was below her shoulder. A massive, short range energy blast obliterated Buu's head down to nothing.
Only then did Adel fly towards Buu's body. However, by this point, he'd grown a new head. He flew straight towards her, only to be met with knee to the chin. Now on guard, his head did not go flying off this time. Adel didn't stop at the knee strike though, her left fist struck a powerful hook into Buu's cheek. She then wasted no time opening her palm and blasting Buu deep into the ground with an indigo energy beam that sent him careening into the ground, burying him a good four kilometers deep.
"They did it! This is incredible!" Piccolo exclaimed.
"That's them?!" Yukizome exclaimed, jolting back. "I thought it was some kind of monster."
"The energy is unmistakable!" Piccolo shouted, jubilant.
"I can barely believe it, but that's Adel all right," Krillin said. He gulped. "Glad we're all the way up here."
"Awesome! She can win now, right?" Yamcha asked.
"I sure hope so," Hajime stated.
Adel flew down to the ground like a bullet. The excess velocity caused her to lurch forward, but she quickly snapped back to an upright position. Keenly aware of everything around her, she knew it was only a matter of time before Buu attacked her. Her brain was processing information at an alarmingly fast rate, but it was perfectly in sync with her body.
Then, Buu burst out of the ground right in front of Adel. She blocked with the side of her arm and was pushed back. The mad monster, with his knees still tucked in, fired a massive pink energy blast at Adel.
Without even thinking, Adel charged up energy and blasted back at Buu to give back just as much to the menace before her. The blasts collided. No change in expression could be seen on Adel's face as Buu's arm buckled, struggling to put more energy into it.
"Is that all you got?" Adel taunted. "Try some of this! HIYAH!" Adel poured more energy into her attack, quickly overwhelming Buu's, frightening the monster as the blast consumed him. He was reduced to multiple piles of mush. However, he did not reform. Instead, the pieces scattered, some of them burrowing in between the cracks in the rocks.
Adel watched this happen. She knew what Buu was doing and she hadn't the means of stopping him effectively. So, instead, she flew into the air to put a lot of distance between her and Buu, watching and waiting until the monster formed.
Then, when Buu tried a surprise attack at a low altitude, Adel kicked him in the back of the neck and caused him to careen forward into a large boulder. Buu quickly spun around and his fist connected with Adel's. The two of them then began unleashing punch after kick after punch after kick in an attempt to overpower the other. Each blow was blocked perfectly, the echoes of their strikes rumbling like a volcano about to erupt. It was Adel that won out.
She clubbed Buu across the face with her fingers interwoven to make her arms like a hammer. However, upon being hit, Buu stretched his right arm out to grab Adel's left leg. However, she flew up just enough of a distance to avoid getting grabbed.
She then flew right up close to his chest and put her arms centimeters from his skin. "Nice try," she said and blasted Buu away with a powerful indigo blast. The blast sailed past the horizon and out past Mars, but Buu landed once the horizon started to dip. Reduced to only his lower legs, the two apendages merged together into a sphere and then rolled itself around and around back into a new Majin Buu.
Before Adel could follow up from her attack, Buu was already reformed. She had to slow her advance on a dime. She could sense an incoming energy beam and avoided it by veering towards her 2 o' clock position in three-dimensional space.
She and Buu were now close enough to see each other. Beads of sweat were starting to pour down Adel's face. Planning was out of the question right now. The only thoughts remotely passing through her mind were hit Buu and hit him so hard he dies. But the truth was she needed a plan. Her gut instincts were telling her that anything other than complete annihilation was not going to cut it.
Buu grinned. "This fight is fun. You're strong."
Adel's muscles clenched as she bent her knees a little, ready to take off like a rocket at a moment's notice.
Slowly, Buu raised his arms to chest level. Then he moved them apart to be even with his shoulders. Fists tensing, he then let out a loud, feral roar, every fiber of his being becoming invigorated and charged. He shook the ground and the rocks below his feet buckled and then collapsed.
Adel, for her part, did not approach or attempt to act. Suicide! Suicide! Suicide! The word was going off like an alarm bell at the mere thought of approaching or attempting to attack Buu at the moment.
"Thaaaaaat can't be good," Yukizome said, taking a step back.
"Oh no, don't tell me he was holding back," Krillin whined.
"We should've expected this," Piccolo stated gravely. "Of course he wouldn't go all out right at the start. He was just having fun. Now he sees just how strong Adel is so he's getting competitive. Dammit! This is all just one big game to him!"
"Um, Mr. Green Guy, Ma Junior, sir," Hercule said, approaching the Namekian.
Piccolo looked at him.
"I don't really claim to understand or know what's going on, but…my little Videl's going to be okay, right?" Hercule looked exceptionally worried for the well-being of his daughter.
Piccolo looked back across the horizon. "Truthfully, I don't know. Right now, I'd be more concerned for the safety of the planet than for just your daughter's life."
Buu finished roaring and finally calmed down, but Adel could sense the change all throughout the monster's body. He was tougher, faster and stronger than before. And she was already giving this her A-game.
Buu rocketed forward at Adel. Adel's raised her arms to block, but Buu somehow kicked her in the back of the neck.
What? But…he was going to punch me, Adel thought as her eyes bugged out.
Buu's fist struck her gut and then her face before she'd even had a chance to register what was happening.
After calming down from the initial shock, however, she was able to anticipate and block his incoming kick with the palm of her hand. She tempered her ki as it flared around her, then she decked Buu in the face, knocking him back.
The monster was on her level now. The two readied punches and crossed up on each other. Unfortunately for Adel, Buu's rubbery body was better at cushioning blows than her skin and bones. She also flew farther back, giving Buu ample opportunity for a sadistic follow up. Floating backwards, her charged up an energy blast in each palm and fired both at Adel.
Not this time, Adel thought. With nothing other than her raw instinct guiding her, she weaved perfectly in between the blasts, legs bending up over her head, body twisting like she was in the Matrix or a similar action movie. Her fist then connected with Buu's face again and she began pummeling it like a punching bag. She began throwing punches so fast and so quickly it was making her shoulders feel numb. Of course, in the state she was in, she barely felt the fatigue or the pain. They were unnecessary distractions.
Buu reared his head back and Adel did the same in sync. Their foreheads slammed against each other. Buu's disgruntled frown matching Adel's vicious, teeth-grinded glare. Both raised their legs, shins colliding with considerable force as they pressed against each other. The two broke away and then then flew at each other at incongruent angles, Adel's fist colliding against Buu's forearm. The two flew away from each other again and repeated the process, this time it was Buu's left leg slammed into Adel's raised, right forearm. The two repeated this series of actions time and again, each time one of their strikes being off set by the other's well-timed block.
The fight devolved into a series of punches and kicks so fast and so powerful that the air itself seemed to be getting demolished. Whole mountains and the ground below were disintegrating just from being in too close proximity to the two warriors. Storm clouds began to form from the pure, charged energy generated by Adel and Buu. Purple tinted lightning began blasting the battlefield.
The two flew back from each other as the ground was literally evaporating more than a kilometer below them. They stared at each other before shouting like animals and charged straight at each other, their forearms slamming into each other. The resulting energy blasting through and past both fighters and carved out a chunk of landscape more than seven kilometers away in either direction. With their free arms, both fighters punched at each other and decked the other in the face. Buu then pressed his palm to Adel's stomach and charged an energy blast. Adel, however, grabbed his wrist and bent his arm away, charging an energy blast of her own and blasted Buu in the face with it while still clenching his arm. Buu's arm tore off in the process and Adel channeled ki through it to completely disintegrate the missing appendage.
Buu regenerated the missing pieces of his head and his whole arm, shaking his head and pressing his palm to the side of his forehead to stop the throbbing. …Only for it to hurt worse when he took his hand away to find Adel's fist replacing it. Adel used both her arms to hammer Buu in the neck and send him careening down at an angle. She then began pelting Buu with energy blasts.
However, he seemed to teleport in between the shots and soon found himself at point blank range at even altitude with the fused warrior. Quickly charging energy, he mirrored Adel from a pose she'd struck when using her Hyena Bomb attack. Clapping his wrists together, he blasted Adel with considerable force. Fortunately for Adel, she was just fast enough to match Buu's posture and strength, despite the close range at which he fired. The attacks exploded at close range in both fighters faces, throwing them both at the ground. The dirt and bits of rock that had been pulled into the air due to the sheer oppressive force both had been fighting with fell to the ground instantaneously like raindrops that had briefly been disobeying gravity.
Buu sat up slowly, but Adel practically jumped to her feet. Her head throbbed. Her injuries were mounting and, unlike Buu, she couldn't regenerate. Her vision waned a little and she wobbled on her feet.
Dammit, just a bit more, she told herself. With a strong, sturdy exhale, Adel powered up to full, pushing her body beyond what would've been considered sane.
Buu got to his feet and smiled. He took one look at the panting, bleeding Adel and knew that the climax of the fight was approaching. "I must thank that orange fighter," He said, referring to Goku. "This fight has pleased me."
Without even thinking about what to do next, Adel was already extending her arms forward and slowly brought her palms together, then she tucked her hands by her hip. Energy charged absurdly quickly.
"No…IS SHE INSANE?!" Piccolo shouted.
"What's the matter, Piccolo?" Krillin asked. A rumbling of the lookout answered for him.
"If Adel fires that attack, there won't be a planet to save if it hits the ground," Piccolo said.
Bee began barking in extreme worry, running around in circles.
"The end of the world?" Even Mukuro was a bit shaken by that.
"That's crazy!" Yamcha exclaimed. "Even Goku's not that dumb."
Hajime felt a sinking feeling. "Guys, you said that to reach this level of power…Adel has to stop thinking, right?" Everyone looked at Hajime with fear and worry.
Roshi cast his head down, beads of sweat running from his temples to his beard. "Adel is blocking out everything she considers unnecessary. She isn't thinking so she's only concerned with defeating Majin Buu."
"That and there's also her feelings for Gohan," Dende said, gazing out over the planet as sweat formed by his right temple. "Adel is so motivated by her desire to kill Majin Buu and avenge Gohan she's blocking out everything else. She might not even care if she dies if it means taking Buu down with her!"
"This is bad," Piccolo said, sweating and quite unceremoniously stating the obvious.
"We gotta do something!" Hercule shouted.
"I…honestly don't think there's anything we can do," Hajime said. "Even if we were to go over there, most of us wouldn't be able to take the tense energy. It'd be suicide just getting close."
"Well, there is one thing we can do," Yukizome said.
"What's that?" Hajime asked her.
She approached the edge of the lookout and gazed down. "We pray," she said, closing her eyes. "We pray and hope that Adel knows what she's doing."
There was more energy flowing from Adel's shoulders and out of the palms of her hands right now than any attack unleashed during the Cell games. The energy ball she was creating was sparking and crackling a bonfire mixed with a thunderstorm. She was glaring at Buu with pure malice. More of her hair started to glow indigo, some of it even shifting tints of cream purple. Her heart beat thundered in her chest. She was barely concerned with the repercussions of the attack she would unleash.
Buu watched her and then, much to the shock and horror of those observing on the lookout, did the same. He was loving this. The mere idea of detonating the planet in a huge explosion caused by two ricocheting ki blasts brought his destructive tendencies no amount of sheer bliss.
"Ha…ha…haha hahaha…" he chuckled giddily. "Buu kill you! BUU KILL YOU NOOOOOOOOW!"
Buu's pink energy blast rocketed across the landscape tearing towards Adel, who was still charging her attack.
"What's she doing?" Piccolo shouted in alarm. "Adel! Fire the attack! Get out of the way!"
"Do you want us to all get killed?!" Krillin shouted.
This wasn't the time for arguments though. Adel had to get out of the way, even she couldn't take this behemoth of a blast at this distance with no protection.
As the attack drew near, Adel dug in her heels, her shoe half covered in dirt. Her body glowed pink as she never took her eyes off Buu's attack.
Then, the attack passed right over and through the location she was firmly planted into and Adel had yet to unleash her attack.
Piccolo clenched his throat, observing as Buu's attack reached out into the Solar System, cleaving through multiple asteroids and burrowing into Saturn's Moon, Titan, making a sizable hole.
Devastation and despair reached him and the Z Fighters. There was nothing in the wake of Buu's attack. The entire landscape from ground zero to the horizon had been vaporized clean away. There wasn't even a trace of Adel left to spot.
However, amidst the agony and creeping feelings running up their spines, the cold, calculating Mukuro Ikusaba continued to observe. Being used to despair, she was unbothered by the supposed loss of Adel. That was when her senses picked something up.
"Hmm?" Mukuro's grunt and the slight shift of her eyes alerted the Z-Fighters to the slight shift in direction of her gaze.
"What?" Piccolo uttered.
Through Mukuro's eyes and down to Majin Buu's on the ground, it appeared, at first, as if Adel had been cleaned wiped away from the face of the Earth. But, as Buu was about to learn that could not be further from the truth.
Adel was approaching him and fast. He turned his head…behind him? His facial expression said it all.
"But…how?"
"Judging from what I'm sensing of the residual energy, she flew around the entire planet so fast that the blast passed over her when the curve in the planet differed from the straight view of the horizon," Mukuro stated.
"Boy you were right, Piccolo, she is insane," Krillin said, blinking.
The hairs on Roshi's mustache and beard bristled. "Let's just hope this gambit pays off."
Adel was still charging her attack. The ball was almost too big to contain. It looked like it was collapsing in on itself like a black hole with the way the energy was getting packed and dense inside the volume of the orb.
Buu saw Akane flying at him and punched, but Adel ducked under the attack and weaved under and around his arm, flowing behind him water. With her arms focused on her attack, she swept Buu's legs out from underneath him as she then used her other leg to strike him right in the back, launching him upward.
Despair turned to hope. Piccolo now realized that if Adel fired with Buu flying directly upward…
"THAT'S IT! DO IT!" He shouted.
As Buu flew into the air, Adel followed, making sure to stay at extremely close range. "THIS ONE'S FOR GOHAN!" She shouted. She moved her hands and pressed the surface of the ball into Buu's back. "Enjoy a one way ticket to the moon you bastard! DRAGON! TEMPEST! FIRESTORM!"
BOOM!
The attack went from sphere shaped to cylindrical and tore through Buu like a laser through a thin sheet of metal.
"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHH!" Buu screamed in agony as the attack engulfed him and carried him into the air like a shooting star in reverse. Higher and higher out of Earth's atmosphere. Up. Up and Up, past the moon and perpendicular to the entire Solar System. The attack's beam continued for almost half a minute before energy finally stopped pouring out of Adel's hands.
When she finally landed on the ground, she was woozy. Blood rushed to her head. Her hair and her aura stopped glowing. She was bushed. With all the energy she spent, she had, at most, five minutes left in the fusion. However, the exhaustion she was feeling meant it was possible she might pass out on the ground. For now, however, she put a palm to her eye, and held her ground.
"All right!" Krillin shouted, cheering. "She got him! Let's see Buu survive that!"
Yamcha gave a thumb's down. "Far as I'm concerned, that monster was already dead as soon as he passed the moon."
"What's the matter, Piccolo?" Dende asked his fellow Namekian. The other half of Kami was staring up at the sky, cape billowing in the breeze. "Aren't you happy we won?"
He wasn't the only one staring up at the sky, Mukuro was too.
Krillin and Yamcha, who had, for the past five seconds, been linking wrists and dancing around, stopped. They noticed what Mukuro and Piccolo were doing. And Yukizome followed suit.
"No…come on guys, you're worrying over nothing," Krillin said. "…Right?"
Adel knew she had poured everything she had into her ultimate technique. If that hadn't finished Buu, if that hadn't at least crippled him…
The sudden surge of energy alerted her to a spot on the ground 20 paces in front of her. She and the Z-Fighters both sensed it at the same time. And, just as Piccolo had feared and Mukuro had anticipated, Buu was back.
And, like with every time he regenerated, he looked completely fine. Adel could tell the difference though, he was in bad shape, like her. Problem was, Adel had barely anything left to give. Worse, she'd used so much energy that trying to go blank right now might actually cause her to black out, or, worse, die while blood shot out her nose. She quickly realized her mistake. She'd poured rage and anger into a form that was only meant to be use with stern tranquility. She needed that rage to channel that much power, but it the side effects were kicking in quickly.
Buu grinned, seeing Adel in the state she was in. "You lose."
Adel didn't even see the punch that landed in her gut, nor the kick that sent her careening into another ecosystem entirely. She broke several trees as she smashed through a forest and came out the other side into a meadow surrounded by plateaus. Buu was on her in an instant and completely and utterly wailed on her, drawing blood and breaking bones.
Atop the lookout, the Z-Fighters could only watch in horror.
Buu grabbed Adel's hair and began punching her repeatedly in the face. Eventually, he got bored of this and punted her into one of the aforementioned plateaus.
Adel tried to muster the strength to not be embedded three feet in rock, but all she did was cough up blood onto her shirt. Her eyes were swollen, her nose was broken and her waist felt like jelly. Her vision waned. She could tell only from the pretty pink light that Buu was charging an energy blast.
I failed, Adel thought. I gave it everything I had…and I failed. Gohan, she thought of him and his calm, smiling face, please forgive me.
And then, everything went dark.
Akane always assumed death would feel different than what she was feeling right now. She always imagined a feeling of nothingness, cold, lifeless nothingness and pain and agony before a shaft of light welcomed her to the other world. But…she felt something warm right now.
The tanned gymnast slowly opened her eyes to see a green hand in front of her face. From out of it sprung golden, sparkly energy flowing out of it and into her. She then realized how little pain she was actually in and said up, startled. "Uh…huh?"
"Oh, good, you're awake."
Akane's gazed scanned the area right in front of her and spotted a guy that looked like Piccolo, but wearing red robes. She recognized him, but couldn't quite place the name.
Then she heard Videl gasp and sit up, having been bathed in the same light by the Namekian's other arm. "Ah! Dende! What are you doing here?"
"Right, it was Dende," Akane said, tapping a fist into her palm.
"Good, you're both awake. That's some good news," Dende said.
"What do you mean?" Akane asked. "How long were we out?"
Dende, sitting on the ground with the girls, slumped his shoulders. "At least a few hours." He began to recall the events that led up to this point.
"We thought you'd been killed by Buu when we couldn't sense your energy. Luckily for us, Buu did exactly what you said Akane and went off in search of food. He was gone for several hours, likely taking a nap in the process. And then, when he came back, Mr. Satan and Yukizome did their best to buy more time…"
"Can't you wait a full day? Shame on you!" Yukizome scolded, pointing an accusatory finger at Buu. "The other fighter still needs more time to prepare. You were early to fight Adel and you're still early to fight your other opponent."
"At first we didn't think it would work, but then Mr. Satan pleaded with Buu to please wait a little longer. Buu let Piccolo set an hourglass. It was supposed to last until well past sunset, but Buu got impatient. And then…"
"Wait! There are still so many people on the planet you haven't killed yet," Piccolo exclaimed. Everyone gasped like he was nuts.
Yukizome grabbed Piccolo's shoulders and smiled at Buu. "Uh, give us a sec, will you?" She pulled the Namekian towards a secluded part of the tower. "What are you thinking?" she asked in an angry whisper.
"I don't want to use the people of Earth as deterrents, but we don't have a choice. We can wish them back with the Dragon Balls."
Piccolo then had to explain the concept of Dragon Balls to Yukizome.
"That's still stupid!" she chastised in an angry whisper
While Piccolo and Yukizome bickered over the finer points of morality, Mukuro was unafraid to stand close to Buu while everyone else cowered.
"You are not afraid of me?"
"I've died once already to a fighter much stronger than myself," Mukuro stated. "The despair of death is no mystery to me."
Buu turned to face Mukuro completely. "Mukuro Ikusaba…waiting is boring. I want to fight."
"Waiting is boring, yes. I agree," Mukuro said. "Being bored is the most agonizing feeling in the world, according to my sister."
Buu glared at Mukuro. "I have eaten my fill and taken a nap and I am displeased to find I must still wait."
"We could play a game to pass the time," Mukuro offered. From one of the pockets of her soldier outfit, she produced a deck of cards. "Commander Garmr taught me how to play things like Go Fish and Old Maid. I could teach you."
"Much to our surprise, that actually bought us a bit more time," Dende stated.
"Man, talk about nerves of steel," Videl said.
"So, what happened?" Akane asked.
"Well, even card games couldn't hold Buu's attention forever. And he…he…" Dende seemed troubled at the mere mention of it.
"Dende?" Videl called out to him in concern.
Dende took a deep breath. "Human Extinction Attack. Buu let out countless energy blasts that split into more blasts and killed every single human on the planet."
Videl gasped. Akane covered her mouth.
"It was horrifying. I've never felt so many lives ceased to be in such a short period of time," Dende said, sweating. "At that point, we had no choice. Miss Yukizome, Mr. Satan and Mukuro's pleas all fell on deaf ears. Buu wasn't taking no for an answer. So, we let him into the hyperbolic time chamber. On the bright side, Goten and Trunks were given almost eight hours total thanks to all our efforts."
"Damn, so they only got four months in the end," Videl said, biting her thumb. "Was that all our effort was good for? Four months?"
"Dende…did everyone die? Someone…someone had to make it out alive, right?"
Dende stared at the ground as he stood up. The girls followed suit. "Well, Hajime and Yukizome didn't seem to think so. Both of them flew off in search for survivors. That was the last I saw of either of them. Since, well, before we even knew what was going on, Buu came rocketing out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but not the normal way. See, Piccolo destroyed the entrance to the chamber to try and seal himself, Buu and Gotenks in as a last effort to protect the Earth. But…Buu got out. And then…then he…"
It took Dende a bit to explain how Buu started turning everyone on the lookout into delicious chocolate to eat.
"Mr. Popo threw me off the lookout tower. I…I have no idea if anyone else made it out alive."
"Dammit!" Akane shouted. "We threw everything we had at Buu and even Gotenks couldn't stop him!" Her face went pale with agony. "Dammit!" She stomped her foot. "Dammit!"
"What should we even do at this point?" Videl wondered.
"I don't know," Dende said, dropping his arms at his sides. "But we can't give up. We have to do something. You two have been knocked out for a while, maybe if you fight Buu again, we can—"
"Are you nuts? That's a terrible idea! We'll get killed!" Videl shouted.
"No, we might actually be stronger this time," Akane said. "And, with luck, strong enough to beat him maybe. I've noticed it since the tournament, my own power's been increasing rapidly with every fight I've been in. Maybe…with Adel's power, maybe if we give it our all one or two more times, we could actually kill him this time!" Akane shouted.
"Well, to do that, we'll have to find him first," Videl said. "How should we—"
An explosion cut her off as the two looked on at a blue mushroom cloud of energy in the distance. Without any words exchanged, Akane and Videl wasted no time heading towards the source of the blast at top speeds, Videl. Dende did his best to follow.
The two gaped at the explosion as they settled down on a cliff nearby. "Holy mother of…" Videl trailed off. "What in the world made that?"
"Gotenks maybe," Akane said.
"Possibly," Videl suggested.
"What's weird is I don't sense anyone fighting right now," Dende said.
"Dammit! Everywhere we turn we find just more death and destruction!" Akane shouted. "Why can't we win for once? How much do we need to suffer before Buu's satisfied?"
"Akane…" Videl said, looking at her with concern.
"Dammit…if I was just a little stronger…if I was just a little faster…Then…then…"
"Uh, I hate to interrupt," Dende said, pointing, "But I think Piccolo's over there on that other cliff."
"Wha—Piccolo? But I thought you said he was trapped in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Videl asked.
"If Buu made it out then he and Gotenks must've also figured a way out!" Akane shouted. "Come on, let's go…" Akane trailed off suddenly.
Videl looked at her, wondering what caused Akane to just go silent. "Akane, what's…?" Videl didn't need to finish that sentence. She sensed it too. The both of them flew over to Piccolo, Goten and Trunks' position with confusion in their hearts and hope in their souls.
Akane's heart pounded. She'd been searching for countless hours, never finding a trace and now…all of a sudden, at full power, no, far more than that…
"Gohan…"
Piccolo, Goten, Trunks and yes, even Gohan, all sense Akane, Videl and Dende's approach.
"Akane…Videl…" Gohan was surprised to see them just as much as they were surprised to see him. According to Piccolo's account, the two were slain by Majin Buu.
"Gohan…" The mere sight of him caused Akane's chest to clench like a crumpled bag. She started to choke up. I mustn't cry. I mustn't cry. I mustn't cry. I…mustn't. No good. Despite her best efforts, tears started to gather under Akane's eyes. And then…her heart could take no more. Akane Owari burst like a dam. "GOHAN!" She shouted as the floodgates for her tears, after holding back for so long finally, at long last, opened.
Akane's ran towards him, practically stumbling over herself to reach him, tears running down her face. She felt as weak and tender as a child as she ran over to the Ultimate Hero. Though clad in orange like Goku now, Akane could not mistake Gohan's face. It was one of the few faces and names she'd memorized outside her own family.
Gohan smiled at her as she approached. Akane wrapped her arms around him tightly, pulling him towards her. She was hugging him with shaking arms as if she was afraid that, if she let go, Gohan would disappear forever.
Akane made noises she or anyone else had ever heard her utter before. She cried. She wailed. She howled. And, all the while, tears feel freely from her face with the left side of her face pressed firmly into the center of Gohan's chest.
"Ahhhhhhhh. Waaaaaaahhhhh. Gohaaaaaan…" Akane sobbed.
Gohan smiled and put one arm around Akane, rubbing her shoulder, letting her continue to cry and carry on. He offered his other arm to Videl, but she just folded her arms, pouted and blushed, not moving from her spot.
"Idiot. Akane was really worried about you," Videl said. "Focus on her. But…" Her façade cracked as she smiled kindly and said, "I am glad you're safe."
Akane couldn't hear any of this over the sounds of her crying. Normally, to cry was a weakness. To complain meant death. But…not when Gohan was around. No, Gohan made everything better. He made her feel safe. She could cry or complain about anything and he was so strong that he'd help her fix her problem. That's what her gut and her heart told her.
"You kept your promise," Akane managed to get out in between infantile sobs and wails
Gohan rubbed her shoulder. "Shhhhhhh, it's going to be okay, Akane."
Akane liked the sound of that. She nestled her head against Gohan, pushing her chest into him in an effort to be as close to him as possible. Her tears slowly started to abate and it was replaced with a feeling of content and safety. "Warm," Akane uttered softly. She put her hand on Gohan's chest just over his heart, feeling it beat below her palm. I've never felt anything this warm before.
"She really likes you, huh, big brother?" Goten asked with a goofy smile. "Is she your girlfriend?"
"Uh, well…" Gohan blushed, feeling put on the spot.
"Hey! I could be his girlfriend!" Videl exclaimed, blushing, getting snappy. "You don't know."
"I…I mean…" Goten was now completely confused.
Feeling that the moment had passed, Akane pushed off of Gohan. She smiled. "Thank you…" she blushed and averted meeting Gohan's eye. "For all of that." She wanted to stay in Gohan's embrace for longer, but there were more important things to worry about now, like figuring out how to kill Buu.
Gohan ruffled her hair. "It's fine. I could tell you needed that."
Akane played with her fingers and stared at the ground, blushing. "Hey, come on. I don't just cry in front of anyone, you know. I'm not supposed to cry."
Videl put a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, nobody thinks less of you, Akane. This has all been a really bad past few days for everyone."
"Videl's right. I'm glad you two are all right," Gohan said. "Heck of a number you did on Majin Buu from what I hear."
Akane only blushed and continued to awkwardly stare at the ground. "I…I only did it for you."
"I know," Gohan said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Sorry it took so long. I probably really would've bit the big one if Supreme Kai hadn't shown up to give me a hand." He smiled at her and Videl. "You guys did a good job hanging on for me, really."
"Hey, what about us? We fought Majin Buu too!" Goten exclaimed.
Gohan turned to pat Goten on the head. "Yeah, you guys did a good job too." Gohan then suddenly jolted upright and felt an incoming presence.
Piccolo put a hand on his shoulder. "Wait, that one's on our side."
"Considering the circumstances, I think everyone except Buu is at this rate," Videl said.
"Hard to tell with that killing intent," Gohan said.
"Oh, then it must be uh, what's her name?"
"It's Mukuro," Piccolo said as Mukuro Ikusaba landed right in front of them.
"Mukuro, you're okay too!" Dende exclaimed.
Mukuro nodded. "When Buu started turning everyone into candy, I bolted from the lookout as quickly as I could. I went looking for Miss Yukizome and Hajime, but they're suppressing their power levels to avoid being detected by Majin Buu. Then I noticed the gathering of power levels over here and decided to investigate."
Piccolo began introductions. "Gohan, this is Mukuro Ikusaba. She's a mercenary from an organization called Fenrir. Apparently she was taught how to use ki by Mercenary Tao and even fought Cell in the lead up to the Cell Games, only to fail."
"I am to understand you are the one that killed Cell. Judging from what I'm sensing, I'm surprised you haven't killed Majin Buu yet. You seem like you could manage it."
"About that," Gohan said. "I was just kind of testing Buu's power out a little while ago, then he exploded, but I can sense he's still around."
Mukuro nodded. "Yes, it's faint, but his presence hasn't been erased completely."
"Hey, hold on. How can you sense him when I can't?" Usually the stronger the fighter, the better they were at sensing energy, but Piccolo couldn't get a read on Buu at all.
"I have an acute sense for danger and my ki sensing abilities are top notch thanks to Master Tao," Mukuro answered, hands behind her back, standing up straight.
"Mukuro, you're a soldier, right? Got any ideas on what we should do?" Videl asked her.
Mukuro shook her head. "I'm a warrior, not a tactician. I usually left such things to Chief Skoll," Mukuro answered plainly. "However, if Buu's bothered to suppress his energy, it can't be for a good reason. I can't say I know where Mr. Satan is, but we should look for Yukizome and Hajime and formulate a strategy."
"I left Mr. Satan at Korin's Tower with him and Yajirobe," Piccolo said. "Surprisingly Buu's little candy beam didn't reach all the way down there. The lookout's a mess, but only at the top."
"Define mess," Videl inquired.
"We split it in half," Trunks said.
"As Gotenks," Goten added.
"So then it's just Miss Yukizome and Hajime, right?" Akane asked. "I doubt Videl's dad's going to be much help."
"Yeah, unfortunately," Videl admitted. She loved her dad but he was going to be of basically no help going forward.
"Mukuro," Piccolo said.
"Yes, sir," Mukuro said, referring to Piccolo like she would a superior officer.
"Do you think you could talk to Buu again like you did last time?" Piccolo asked.
"In what capacity?" Mukuro asked.
"What are you up to, Piccolo?" Gohan asked.
"Oh yeah! Dende just told us Mukuro managed to get Buu to play a card game with her or something," Akane stated. "And that you weren't scared of him at all."
Mukuro put a fist just under her neck. "I happen to feel as if I understand Buu on a personal level. A machine for destruction guided by principles of someone far weaker than you. And…since I've already died once, I'm not afraid to do so again. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm ready to throw my life away."
"If it becomes necessary, do you think you could negotiate with Buu again?" Piccolo asked. "Or at least talk to him for five minutes?"
"I can, but why?" Mukuro asked.
Piccolo looked at Akane and Videl. "Adel can wrap around the Earth faster than most of us were able to notice. If we could somehow pincer Buu between a blast from her, Gotenks and Gohan here at the same time, we might be able to completely obliterate Buu."
"It's not going to work," Akane said.
Piccolo looked at her.
"Videl and I worked tirelessly so that I could use my Battle Instincts when we're fused as Videl, but it's incomplete. But even incomplete, if your body doesn't move before you think we'd never have been able to pincer Buu the way we did," Akane explained. "Gohan can't do that and neither can Gotenks. They don't have my ability!"
Piccolo grunted in frustration.
"It's fine, Piccolo," Gohan said. "If we can hold out for a little longer, help's on the way."
"Help?" Akane asked.
Gohan nodded. "Yeah, the cavalry's on the way and once they get here, Buu's toast," he told her.
Confident in his declaration, it seems Gohan's classmates still on the planet of the Kais are busy training and will soon be on their way to unite in the front against Majin Buu. Although Adel and Gotenks have failed, Gohan, the Ultimate Hero has re-emerged, breathing new life in an attempt to stop the pink menace.
Will a united front by our heroes be enough to put an end to the terrifying Majin Buu? Find out on the next chapter of Dragon Ball HPA!
(NOTE: Adel did not tap into Destruction Ki before anyone yells at me over the purple energy thing. That was something else entirely)
