Chapter 6: Sneaking?

Upon their first meeting, the witch Baba had perceived an evil yet clinching onto the heart of Majin Buu. Hopeless in its despair it was and thus she had taken the thoughts of it from her own. The short journey she had taken with Buu had not revealed any tempest of anger nor any moment of vengeance brewing. Thus far, Buu had remained closed and quiet, an abandoned key without a lock to open any more.

The two figures had walked together in silence through their travels. Not so much as a word had the demon spoken to her since his beholding of his other half. This did not come to the witch as any annoyance - indeed later when asked, she would refuse to mention any bit of her capture by kid Buu save for the short quip of "He didn't talk much."

Buu had appeared more worn upon waking. Nay, it was that a new figure leapt up from that leafy den; not as the Majin before, was he. In his eyes was still the thirst for unknown horrible things but now he had a great purpose with them.

Then Buu had taken to Baba and in his swift thinking rendered her immobile. Though perhaps by chance none but her pride had been shattered in this.

The ruinous affair had drawn Goku away from Uub, curious to find what had happened to Baba. Such an act left Uub with no more a shield to guard him. Buu had hoped for such luck to befall him, and at the sign of his plan unfolding, took haste toward Uub.

The camp itself was modest. A small yellow tent was draped about, and a fire turned to ash arose before it. Smoke was not in sight, however, as the quenching power of the rain had stifled nigh but all warmth about. Great pools of water littered the encampment, evidence of craters left by heavy sparring. The ground was quiet and the mist was all intruding; clearly blocking even the keenest of eyes from what was to happen.

Buu came upon that place like a howling wind from the north. Low was he to the ground, like a dog sneaking to his unlawful deed. His eyes were wide and meticulous too, scanning about for his quarry. He had chanced upon sensing this figure when he woke only minutes before. It was a technique that he had picked up from none other than Goku himself. It was not a difficult venture to feel your own power, stolen and warped in another being. The biting of nostalgia held over him greatly, and his temper shortened even further in his impatience for the return to normalcy.

Buu scurried forward like a moth to the light. Ahead, he ripped down the curtains housing Uub. The other half of Majin had no memory of Buu, nor did he have any inclination that he was only the inheritor of power, not its creator. Beholden was Buu, a great light finally breaking through the fog to glint and gleam off his battered face.

Uub rose to face his suitor. Though he had no wit to understand the devices of fate that had produced this meeting, Uub knew this creature in familiar presence. But it was that kind of familiar which one knew of in certainty; yet could not be easily placed.

"W-who are you?" Uub stuttered in his bewilderment.

Buu cocked his head to the side. Insanity still drove him in his objective as he spoke, "Me… kill you."

For nigh but three days after King Yemma had sent Baba to the underworld, he had not slept. The decision was his burden and its unfolding had left him in a great distress. The reason to send Baba, and not go himself was simple politics. Yemma was proud, unwilling to descend to such a place unfitting of a king. Baba had agreed on one condition; and it was monetary.

There was no harm in going to Hell were the being alive. Powerful and hideous though they may be, any resident's attempt at harm a living person would be a fruitless jest. Yemma had not redirected a being's power ever, and the rules of such were not in his immediate knowledge. Even now such things still confused him.

But Buu was not wholeheartedly dead, nor was he fully a being of hell like the rest. His power was tied to his lifeforce; and being in the real world this left him a creature of undetermined residence. He was part of both worlds, yet in neither was he welcomed.

Yemma had paced into long hours of the night to wait for Baba's return. But she had not come back; three days now was too much. If she were to come back it would have already happened.

Thus unseen and unexpected, King Yemma descended into his own stronghold. He had not been there in many a year, and much worse it had become. Hideous and corrupt were its denizens; their horror and fear was all-permeating. The guards, though they stood stout were not of high spirits. But at the sight of their king, in blazon splendor contrasting this cesspool was a moving sight.

His air of highness brought on notice aplenty. The figures all hailed him in crooked and deceiving voices, though he took no notice of him. Baba, as the guards remembered had not been seen in many a day, ere the morning of two days back.

Then Yemma turned back to his prisoners and scanned them over. Many where there, Cell, Gero, Piccolo and even Frieza the cruel. But not among them was the striking and focused figure of Majin Buu.

"What happened here?" Yemma boomed, his voice rattling even the stalactites above. "Where has Baba gone? And Buu too? Have they left this place?"

Silence filled the onlookers; a quiet and uncomfortable silence. But from Yemma's own direction, merely over his shoulder a voice spoke up.

Shrill and sinister it was. And treachery dripped from every word, "Hehehehe. Oh, it is wonderful isn't it? The great King Yemma has lost Buu. My Buu."

Yemma turned to face this new menace, revealing its figure. Small and hunched it was. It's green skin and buggy eyes rippled strangely as the creature laughed again. But it was not the business of those not involved to take part in this discussion. Around a corner into a littering of rocks, Yemma threw Babidi.

"What happened to Baba? And Buu? Where did they go?" spoke up Yemma, sternly.

Babidi laughed again, his wide eyes becoming as big as saucers. "Buu? Heheh. I am no longer his keeper O great King." Babidi responded coyly.

Yemma's eyes shone with guilt and worry. He was at the disadvantage he had hoped to luck would not come. "What do you want? If you tell me what happened to them, I will give you whatever you want."

Yemma's resignation was all that Babidi could hope for. Over late, his increased delirium and depression had been without hope; indeed Babidi had been noted by even the guards as becoming increasingly dangerous and unstable. But now a chance happening was in his palm and he held it, firmly. With a laugh and a smile, the small green figure spoke.

"I want my life restored."

The sun had in a vain show at strength returned to dissipate the fog and clouds and rain. But yet other clouds, far off and menacing yet loomed. A wind, cold and hard drove them and the fleeting rays of sun could not forever hold off this storm.

Buu walked to Uub with careful purpose. His fingers outstretched to the human and in a likewise gesture, Uub extended himself. It was not something planned nor thought. Previous emotion gave way to a primal curiosity that held them both like a spell. They were mirrored, the two; light shining upon them. But it would not always be so. For under Buu's lids was a spark, a malice that had not yet crept into Uub's thoughts.

Majin Buu was facing his own power. All he had to do was reach out and take it. With a grin, a rare sign of late, he broke the silence and shot his hand out, to Uub's throat. There was no going back now.