Chapter 9: The Masters Revealed
"You're saying the thing responsible for this destruction was Buu?"
Kabito Kai glanced between the group as Leiji nodded back to him in confirmation, her eyes narrowed once she began to speak.
"The thing that destroyed Hell was none other than him, fused together with the being known as Janemba. Together, they were able to wipe out everything in their path, even killing the souls of the dead."
The Grand Kai mused to himself, still relaxed in his chair. He reached up, rubbing his white beard heavily.
"Hmm...that sounds a little too far out there to be true. Killing a soul takes more than just raw power...are you sure they weren't just outright destroyed and sent to another dimension?"
Leiji nodded once, turning her gaze to the Grand Kai.
"I saw the bodies for myself. The souls were dead somehow, by his work."
The Elder Kai pursed his lips together, letting out a low hum.
"Interesting. What else did you discover down there?"
Vegetto frowned heavily, crossing his arms.
"Buu's power level had significantly increased for sure, but he had no where near the energy to match our Super Saiyan 4 state in raw power. Yet his speed, strength, and power were all beyond anything we could throw at him, not even her-"
The Potara fusion nodded at Leiji.
"-transformation beyond ours could match him. Gogeta and I had to use fusion, and we only succeeded in catching Buu by surprise and vaporizing him before his power grew too far for us to contain."
Leiji nodded in agreement, continuing off from where Vegetto left off.
"His energy signature also began to diminish as he grew stronger. His entire body had changed from a fused appearance between the two to a complete shade of black, and we couldn't even sense his energy signature by the time Vegetto and Gogeta had fused together."
King Kai raised an eyebrow, chiming in for the first time.
"So he died during the fight then? Yet he still grew stronger?"
Vegetto nodded in response, turning back to the Elder Kai.
"He also mentioned something about 'the Masters'. He kept referring to them as the reason for his new found strength..."
Vegeta's dark tone rang out, having crossed his arms as well.
"Buu was only a puppet. That power wasn't his own, he was being driven by another force."
Kabit Kai raised an eyebrow, staring back at Vegeta.
"But what force is that?"
A silence followed the question, each warrior at a loss for words. Vegetto glanced back to the Kais, shivering slightly. He then stopped, watching as the breath of air he just released was visible.
He turned his head to Gogeta, searching for confirmation. The other fusion's confused expression gave Vegetto the confirmation he needed, and he then turned his attention to the Kais.
Vegeta glanced up, looking around the room. The atmosphere of the room had significantly darkened, the lights dimmed to a near extinguished source of brightness.
Vegetto turned his head up as well, the sound of a dark and deep voice suddenly filling the room of warriors and Kais alike, echoing slightly.
"Insects interfere. They do not understand."
The Potara fusion whirled around, a sudden explosion of purple smoke erupting only a few feet away from him, causing him to jump back. Clenching his fists together, his eyes narrowed as six new figures suddenly appeared in front of the round table surrounded by the Kais in one purple explosion of smoke after another, shaking the ground with each arrival.
The figures form was entirely masked in what appeared to be black dust, giving the appearance of a set of apparations. Each figure wore the same set of robes, shaped bone pauldrons on their shoudlers with featherlike robes covering their legs to the bottom of the floor and what appeared to be blood soaked rags hanging down in the front of the robe covering their legs.
However, each figure wore a tribal golden mask nearly resembling a skull in design. The jagged teeth remained solid in movement as the first figure spoke, having fins that appeared to be wings extending out from his eye lines as well as two pointed fins extending out from each cheek on the ornate crest.
"We are the six. The Dread Masters..."
The figure's voice darkened, the pitch of his voice ringing out as he nearly whistled after each word.
"Heed our warning."
Vegetto clenched his fists together even more tightly, glaring at the six ghostly apparitions standing before him.
"I don't take kindly to threats."
The Potara fusion's eyes darted to the left, watching as one of the male figures moved forward, looming over the warriors from afar.
"Janembuu's mind was easily twisted and manipulated, obediently serving well in drawing you out into an open battefield. You are more difficult to control..."
One of the smaller figures moved forward, his voice significantly darker than his comrades.
"But no more difficult to destroy."
The Elder Kai watched the exchange with an expression of shocked disbelief, interjecting before Vegetto prepared to move in.
"Why are you here? What is it that you want from all this?"
The smallest Dread Master of the group spoke next, her voice alluring yet sinister in tone.
"We have returned to reclaim what is ours."
The first Master to speak crossed his hands behind his back, continuing on.
"You fight and live, not knowing we are the seeds of existence that give you purpose. We are Masters and Creators...what the universe fears..."
Goku glared back at the six figures as well, tensing in anticipation.
"So Buu was your doing then? You were the ones who saved him from being wiped from existence, along with Janemba?"
The final Dread Master to speak, a woman as well, nodded in confirmation, her tone commanding.
"Janembuu was our tool. Our vessel."
The tallest Master continued on.
"The vessel is damaged...it can be repaired."
The final Dread Master continued on from where she left off, extending an arm out with an open palm to the warriors.
"Janembuu is ours. Heed this warning: do not interfere again."
The first Dread Master to speak kept his hands crossed behind his back.
"The Dread Masters have spoken."
With the final decree, each of the six figures suddenly erupted into another set of purple smoke explosions, shaking the ground as the lights in the room began to brightly shine once more and the cold atmosphere returning back to normal room temperature. After a few minutes of silence, Leiji spoke first, her eyes darting around to the Kais.
"Who are these Dread Masters? They claim they created life, and we've never heard about them before?"
The Grand Kai leaned up out of his seat for the first time, his tone more serious than his usually relaxed voice.
"We've never heard of these Masters before either, but the way they spoke and carried themselves...you can expect their claims to be true."
Vegetto kept his frown, glancing back over to the other warriors.
"I couldn't sense an energy signature from any of them either. They didn't even have a life force I could sense, much less a power level to gauge."
Leiji turned back to Vegetto, frowning as well.
"We shouldn't underestimate them Vegetto. Buu was the same type of case, yet his power was beyond anything we could've imagined..."
She then turned her attention back to the other Kais.
"Our main priority should be on finding out as much as we can about these Dread Masters. Do you know anything that might be useful?"
The Elder Kai crossed his arms behind his back, nodding to Leiji.
"We can do some digging in our history with the crystal ball to see if we can find out the origins of the universe. But in the meantime, you five should also recover from your battle with Buu in the Otherworld."
Kabito Kai smiled, moving up to the five.
"You're welcome to stay here with us for the time being, and we even have room for your friends and family to stay here. Who knows what those six are planning, we might need to keep everyone close to protect against this threat."
Goku smiled back in response, beaming at Kabito Kai.
"That sounds great! We'd be more than happy to stay with you guys, and we'll be ready to face these Dread Masters whenever they show themselves again."
Kabito Kai nodded back in agreement, gesturing for the warriors to follow after him as they exited the chamber of the Kais.