Disturbance, The Complete Story

by Dark Phoenix Reborn

It all begins with a tournament. An ancient evil arises, threatening existence itself, and only Earth's finest can stop it. Contains Gohan x Videl action. Sequel to The Phoenix Chronicles and When World's Collide, series 3 of 3. Contains all 3 books.

57. E17: The Touch

--- Disturbance, Book 3: Endurance ---

Chapter E17 - (You've Got) The Touch

Disclaimer: The fun about this sentence is that by the time you realise it doesn't say anything, it's too late to stop reading it. Also: See first chapter.

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-You got the touch-

"So I guess this is it," Pi remarked sadly. Her voice betrayed no fear of death, and, truthfully, with her having died twice already there was nothing unexpected about death for her to be afraid of. Instead, there was just an almost overwhelming sadness that, despite their best efforts, they had failed to destroy Majin Buu.

"If I'm gonna die," Kaen grunted out, forcing himself to his feet, his body screaming in protest the whole way, "I'll die on my feet." On unsteady legs, he pushed past the twins, dropping into a tired stance between them and Buu, with Pi joining him soon after. He knew it was no use telling them to run; even if they ran, there was nowhere for them to escape, and even if they could escape, he knew they would never run if it meant leaving him here to die.

Vegeta, too, placed himself between his son, and the continued nightmare that was Majin Buu, as Gohan and Goku, without consciously realising it on Goku's part, did the same for Goten. Avarrdo and Kellre both joined the line as well, flanking their respective offspring. This was Saiyan Law at it's strongest: the older warriors died first, in the hopes, however slim, that the young might survive.

Gathering the last of his waning strength, Kaen spared one last fond glance for his mate, before commenting, "See you on the other side," and charging towards Buu.

-You got the power!-

"What are we going to do?"

"If we don't do something soon, we'll lose our window to do anything!"

Quick thinking had never been her strongest talent. She had always been more about methodical planning, because the rare few times she had come to quick decisions, she had made mistakes. Now, however, she had an idea that, unless she was horribly wrong about Saiyan biology, would work perfectly.

"I am getting impatient! Name your final wish so that I might return to my slumber!"

Spinning around to face the ancient green dragon, Viola grinned to herself as she called out, "Porunga! Excluding Majin Buu, I want you to heal everyone on the Planet of the Kais to full strength!"

-Yeah!-

From the moment Kaen and Pi had joined this fight against Majin Buu, they had believed that they would be able to destroy Majin Buu once and for all. Even when Vegeta was taken out of the fight, and the Spirit Bomb took too long to form, they had still believed. Even now, drained of almost all their energy, they believed, deep inside, that one of their number would destroy Majin Buu, though they themselves may not be around to witness it.

And as Kaen's body was engulfed in a golden light, which faded to reveal his full Super Saiyan Three glory punch through Majin Buu heartbeats before the same golden light enveloped everyone else, they found their faith rewarded.

"What... What happened?" Goku asked in awe, his own mass of golden hair extending down his back.

"Who cares Kakarott!" Vegeta snapped back, arms folded. "What matters is that we destroy Buu once and for all!"

Eyes lighting up, Kat shot to her feet, pumping a fist in the air as she exclaimed, "Third wish!"

Stretching her newly healed limbs as she watched her mate use his restored strength to beat Buu six ways from Sunday, Pi turned to her father and asked, "So, you got a plan?"

Kellre just smirked back. "Don't I always?"

-After all is said and done-
-You've never walked, you've never run-
-You're a winner-

"Goku, Vegeta, we'll need you and my trigger-happy son to keep Majin Buu occupied," Avarrdo stated, his mouth twisting into a wry grin at mention of Kaen. "We need him so focused on the three of you he ignored the rest of us completely."

Vegeta smirked at the instructions, eager to spend some quality time beating Buu senseless, but Goku gave the older Saiyan a confused look at being excluded from the rest of the plan, so Kellre chose to explain. "Neither Vegeta nor Kaen are pure of heart enough to destroy Majin Buu, and while you are, if we try anything centring on you again, I believe Buu will ignore all distractions to take you out. Besides, with our three highest-level Saiyans engaging him in battle, Buu will undoubtedly believe this to be our last play."

"What's the matter Kakarott? Upset that you're not going to get to save the world again?" Vegeta sneered teasingly.

Goku just scowled at him, looking so much the Saiyan as he did so, before melting back into the Son Grin. "Nah, I've had a good run." Taking to the air, he added, "Hey Vegeta, race you," before blasting off.

With a growl at 'the clowns' head start, Vegeta raced off after him.

-You got the moves, you know the street-
-Break the rules, take the heat-
-You're nobody's fool-

"Vegeta! Goku! You decide to join in the fun?" Kaen asked, a feral grin on his face; beating up Majin Buu was just way too much fun at this level.

"The old men have some sort of plan," Vegeta remarked.

"And our part, all three of us, is to keep Buu focused on us," Goku finished.

Kaen blinked once, before his grin returned. "So you're saying they've got a plan to kill this thing, and my part consists of beating seven shades of shit through Buu?" Vegeta nodded, a smirk on his face. "Alright! Now that's the kind of plan I can get behind."

Even Goku, normally the most 'human' of them, couldn't help but feel the Saiyan bloodlust flow through his veins, which, thanks to the Super Saiyan Three transformation, was stronger than ever. Smirking, the Earth-raised Saiyan turned his attention towards Buu and declared, "Let's show this monster the fury of a thrice-ascended Saiyan!"

"Best idea you've had yet Kakarott," Vegeta smirked back, green ki gathering in his hands. "Final Shine!"

-You're at your best when the goin' gets rough-
-You've been put to the test, but it's never enough-

"So what was the real reason you sent my dad to battle Buu?" Gohan asked dryly; while it was quite probably true Buu would target his father again if Goku tried anything, Gohan knew that wasn't the keystone of Kellre and Avarrdo's logic.

Kellre just grinned, pleased at how quick Gohan's mind was, before replying, "There are several, too many to explain now, but the key two are his lack of variety in his techniques, and the source of his strength. While the Super Saiyan Three transformation does grant him a lot of power, it makes him a lot more Saiyan than he would willingly admit, meaning it is likely that, in that form, he is not pure of heart enough to defeat Majin Buu."

The pins sliding into place in his mind, Gohan asked rhetorically, "I'm the secret weapon here, aren't I?"

"Indeed you are. You are not only the most powerful Saiyan currently in existence, you can reach that level of strength without the use of the Super Saiyan form, meaning you are exactly as pure of heart at full strength as you are at minimum."

Looking around at the rest of the group, Gohan added, "So why didn't you send them off? What's their part in this?"

Kellre grinned again. "They are here to help you achieve your true potential."

-You got the touch-
-You got the power-
-When all hell's breakin' loose-
-You'll be riding the eye of the storm-

As the raw green ki of the Final Shine streaked towards Buu, the creature's power level briefly shot back up to the level of 'Super' Buu, and it let out a wordless shout, the concussive sonic forces causing the blast to detonate prematurely. With the whistle of rushing air, Goku teleported behind Buu, a Kamehameha already prepped in one hand, which he wasted no time in launching at Buu's back. However, before it could hit, Buu's arms bent back at an unnatural angle to catch it, before the creature itself seemed to melt and reform facing the other way, it's right now it's left.

"What the hell?" Goku exclaimed, watching as his Kamehameha Wave began turning pink, the ki bleed starting at Buu's hands. Quickly cutting the flow, the twice-revived Saiyan watched as the pooled blue energy quickly corrupted into the pink of Majin Buu, before Buu threw it back at him; Goku, however, quickly teleported out of the way again.

"I think... I think I saw him doing that to the Spirit Bomb," Kaen remarked slowly. As Goku's head whipped towards him, wide-eyed, the younger-but-older Saiyan added, "When I warped behind him to slice his arms, he had pink ki gathering at his hands."

"So that's how he did it," Goku growled, spinning back towards Buu. "He corrupted the Spirit Bomb."

"And the backlash, it would seem, corrupted him," Vegeta drawled, Buu's power fluctuating rapidly as they watched.

"Let's see him corrupt this!" Goku declared, dropping into his standard Kamehameha stance, but creating a red ball of ki instead of blue. "Kaio Kamehameha!" [1]

-You got the heart-
-You got the motion-
-You know that when things get too tough-
-You got the touch-

"What do you need us to do dad?" Kat asked her adopted father, taking the role of spokesperson for the younglings.

Turning towards the redhead, Avarrdo explained, "When I give you the signal, I need you to use your darkness to shroud us from Buu. I mean complete blackout, on both sides. If you could mask the energy readings Buu might get of in here, better, but not essential. When I signal you again, I'll need you to shield Pi and I from Gohan as well. The time to drop the shields should be obvious if this works as planned."

Kellre continued, facing his daughter and stating, "Pi, when I tell you, I need you to create a Gaia Bomb about ten feet above Gohan. You'll only have at most five minutes, and can hopefully complete in three, but it doesn't need to be ready to throw, it just needs to be fast; it's going to be used as a ki well." When she opened her mouth, most likely to ask where, exactly, she'd get this power from, he added, "There are, according to Goku, many strong fighters here in Otherworld. Start with them."

Avarrdo picked it up again, turning to the four youngsters. "Kids, I've got a very important job for you. When I tell you to, I need the four of you to link hands and form a ring around Gohan. Then, you need to power up to your maximum, and transfer as much of it as you can to Gohan. Anything you can't gift him, I need you to burn; fill the air with ki, okay?"

"And what do you need me to do?" Gohan asked.

Kellre just smiled, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "You, Gohan, I will instruct as we go, but once we succeed, I will need you to use your strongest, purest attack to obliterate Majin Buu. Now, we will probably only get one shot at this, but I have faith in you. In all of you."

"Do we all understand our roles?" Avarrdo waited until everyone there had nodded before focusing on Kat again, nodding his head once and stating, "Kat, you will start us off. From the moment the shield goes up, we'll have, if we're lucky, five to seven minutes before we won't be able to hide it from Majin Buu any longer. When you're ready Kat, begin."

"Okay," the catgirl nodded, taking a deep breath and exhaling softly before stating, "Time starts... Now!"

-You never bend, you never break-
-You seem to know just what it takes-
-You're a fighter-

All across the negaverse that was Otherworld, the call went out for help, for everyone who could to loan their energy for one final push to destroy Majin Buu once and for all. In most places of Otherworld, the people were more than happy to help. King Yemma and all the demons he could spare all raised their hand to lend their energy. The Grand Kai, the four Kais under him, and everyone on the Grand Kai's planet all did their part. Even Dende, Kibito, and the four Supreme Kais all chipped in.

There was one corner of Other World, however, that was not so generous. Known to some as the Home For Infinite Losers, and known to the majority under the simple moniker of Hell. The denizens of Hell, under rule of Frieza and Cell, who had been watching the battle so far thanks to the jumbo crystal ball the ogres had supplied, had no desire to help the 'dirty monkeys' defeat Buu.

Grinning coldly at the fight on screen, Frieza couldn't help but laugh. "When this 'plan' of their fails, those monkeys are all going to be destroyed!"

"Such a glorious day!" Cell announced from beside the tiny tyrant. "Without our help, they'll likely never gather the energy they need, and without that, their whole race is doomed!"

Back on the battlefield, Pi growled in annoyance at their non-cooperation, sending out a second message to help motivate them. Remember, if we fail, there will be over half a million Saiyans, including three at the third level of Super Saiyan, and at least two at the second, who would love nothing more than to spend the rest of eternity punishing those who let them die.

Frieza looked like he'd seen every ghost in existence at once, and even Cell paled. There was, until recently, only one thing Cell feared: an irate Gohan. Thanks to Vegeta's little foray into Hell, the Saiyan Prince found himself added to Cell's list. With Vegeta now having ascended again, and bringing that Kaen boy with him... Gulping, Cell's hand shot up so fast he felt his shoulder pop, and the other collected villains were no slower in adding their support.

-It's in the blood, it's in the will-
-It's in the mighty hands of steel-
-When you're standin' your ground-

When the wall of darkness came up, Kaen knew that, whatever it was the old man had planned, it has happening now. As the raw, unstable red beam of ki that was Goku's new Kaio Kamehameha lanced through the air towards Buu, and the monster managed to reduce the hit to a glance, he knew that using beam attacks would not distract Buu anywhere near enough to prevent it interfering in the plan. So, there was only one option left: mix it up in close range.

Grinning over at Goku, Kaen called out, "Have you learnt nothing after fighting this thing? Beam attacks just don't work. You need to use something that won't miss. Like this: Phoenix Force!" Kaen's form almost exploded into flames, and an avian screech rang out as the mass of flames extended its wings, forming itself into a bird made entirely of fire. The bird itself was massive, with a wingspan roughly the length of two to three buses, and it soared majestically for a moment, leaving a trail of fire in it's wake, before folding it's wings to it's sides and diving.

Opening its beak, the phoenix let out another screech, before swallowing Buu whole. The warped creature was trapped in the flames of the phoenix for somewhere between thirty and sixty seconds, before finally managing to gather enough energy to break free of the fires. As Kaen reformed a safe distance away from the irate putty monster, Buu growled most audibly, burnt faux flesh flaking off, as if only just held together well enough to regenerate.

"Not bad, but I'll go you one better!" Goku called out, drawing back his right fist as he charged towards Buu. Golden ki gathering around the hand, Goku threw it forward as he neared Buu, shouting, "Dragon Fist!" The golden ki exploded, washing over Goku at high speed, and reshaping into a golden-scaled dragon, looking almost exactly like the dragon Shenlong summoned from Flute's dragon balls; Kaen assumed Kami and Dende's Shenron looked the same, albeit green.

With a roar, the dragon bit down on the rebuilding Buu, spiralling through the air for a few seconds, before spinning around and plummeting straight into the ground. For at least a minute, the massive snake-like body almost drilled Buu into the ground, and were it not for the fact the ground was mostly unbroken, it would've looked like it was digging itself a tunnel through the soil. Finally, the final part of the body, the massive tail, also passed through Buu (well, more accurately, forced Buu to pass through it), flicking the injured creature into the air.

-And you never get hit when your back's to the wall-
-Gonna fight to the end and you're takin' it all-

"My turn, huh?" Vegeta drawled, dropping quickly to the ground, and dashing towards Buu. Charging pale blue energy in his hands, Vegeta shouted, "Juuouken!" before, like the two before him, he was consumed by ki, and replaced with a cyan spectral lion. Tearing at the ground with it's claws as it raced towards the slowly falling Buu, the lion leapt off a jacked rock to catch Buu with it's mouth, sinking it's lower fangs directly in Buu's eyes.

Before gravity could take hold, the spectral lion spun in mid air, swinging all four legs up towards Buu's main mass, digging every single claw into Buu's flesh. Growling, the lion pulled back with every limb simultaneously, as well as leaning it's head back, and, battered and burnt as it was, Buu's body could no longer stretch. The end result: the spectral lion ripped off all four of Buu's limbs, and it's head, before dropping them to the ground, and rolling to land on it's feet, becoming Vegeta once more as he landed.

"Impressive Vegeta," Kaen applauded, adding as an afterthought, "You too Goku." There was a loud, and remarkably disgusting sloshing noise as Buu pulled itself back together, and before the three defenders could react the monster was tearing ass towards the wall of darkness. "Shit! Goku, intercept!"

With a nod, Goku used his Instant Transmission to teleport ahead Buu, charging up his new technique. "Kaio Kamehameha Times Ten!" The raw red beam lanced out and caught Buu head on, slowly pushing the monster back. Gritting his teeth, Goku yelled out, "Vegeta! Kaen! Containment field!"

Following Buu with all due haste, the two Saiyans nodded, peeling off to either side, and preparing their own new techniques to pin Buu in place from three directions.

"Final Shine!"

"Ultima Cannon!"

-You got the touch-
-You got the power-
-When all hell's breakin' loose-
-You'll be riding the eye of the storm-

Kellre nodded in satisfaction, as he watched his plan come together nicely. Approaching the three minute mark, the Gaia Bomb was nearing completion, so it was time to move on to the next stage. "Okay kids, light 'em up." The four children formed a ring (well, more of a square) around Gohan, linking hands, before flaring into Super Saiyan. "Now, I want you to close your eyes, and concentrate on sending all of your energy to Gohan. No matter what happens, do not open your eyes until I tell you to, okay?"

Standing in the centre of the ring, at his current peak in the new form granted him by the Elder Kai (which he really should think of a name for) Gohan closed his eyes, remembering the meditation he had been taught by Piccolo, and focusing on emptying his mind. At the back of his thoughts, he observed the four pulses of ki around him, sending jolts of energy into him with the regularity of a heartbeat, but this was a minor thought; a secondary concern to clearing his mind, and drawing forth his power.

His mental clock ticking over to three minutes, Avarrdo knew they no longer had any time to spare. Sharing a nod with Kellre, he gathered a ball of pale white ki in his hands, before saying to Kat, "When I release this, that will be the signal for phase two shielding, okay?"

Kat nodded, gathering the energy she needed to shield Avarrdo and Pi, and forcing herself not to gasp when Kellre just faded away. "Okay," she breathed, "I'm ready."

Hurling the baseball of white ki at the Gaia Bomb, Avarrdo echoed the twins from earlier as he shouted, "Moon! Shine down!"

-You got the heart-
-You got the motion-
-You know that when things get too tough-
-You got the touch-

Gohan screwed his eyes up tighter; now he knew why Kellre had Kat shield Pi and Avarrdo, and why they had instructed the kids to keep their eyes closed under any circumstances. 'Was this their plan all along?' Gohan thought bemusedly to himself. 'Do they want me to go Oozaru? How is that going to help?'

"Gohan, open your eyes," Kellre instructed coolly. He had hidden himself using a little trick he invented called Folded Light, which foremost made him invisible, though he had, by accident, discovered a second useful feature; while surrounded by Folded Light, the rays of the moon could not affect him. When Gohan shook his head, Kellre stated more firmly, "Open your eyes, and stare deep into the moon above you!"

With a silent prayer that the older Saiyan knew what he was doing, Gohan forced his eyes open, his head snapping back to stare at the artificial moon above. "Feel it Gohan." Kellre's voice was like a whisper at the back of his mind, as the thrumming of his heartbeat sounded deafening in his ears. "Feel the power, the raw surge of primal energy." While the volume never increased, the words seemed to grow louder in his mind. "Feel it, feel what it means to be a true Saiyan!"

A low growl began to work its way out Gohan's throat. "Feel the power of the moon, let it fill you up. Let it not consume you, you must consume it. The stars around you grant you strength, keep you grounded, but the moon you make your own. Become the moon itself!" Without conscious thought, Gohan began floating towards the moon above, but stopped about a foot off the ground. With the mass of ki in the air, Kellre could almost see four golden threads between Gohan and the kids, keeping him 'grounded', as well as a mass of silvery threads connected to the moon above.

"Focus your power. Focus your rage. Do not let it control you." Kellre could feel the Gaia Bomb above beginning to drain into Gohan. "Become the moon. Become that which controls the ebb and flow."

-You're fightin' fire with fire-
-You know you got the touch-

"Feel the fury you unleashed upon Frieza. Feel the anger that drove you to ascend. Feel the rage with which you punished Cell for his crimes. Feel your heritage Cellotto, let your Saiyan blood run like fire through you." A wordless roar escaped Gohan's lips; Kellre smiled.

"Let your Saiyan fury be free, but do not let it control you. Let the power consume your body and soul, but not your mind. Remember your human heart. Remember your human determination, your stubborn unwillingness to give up in a no-win situation. This, too, is what it means to be a Saiyan. Feel your Saiyan blood and human heart become one, a perfect blend of Saiyan instinct and human drive." The Gaia Bomb was well over half drained.

"You are the perfect warrior. Feel the best of both races mix within you into a single, perfect blend of human courage and Saiyan valour, of determination and conviction. Feed your Saiyan fury to your human spirit. You are a beacon of power, one never before seen. You are the only person who can save this universe from destruction. The only one who can save your family. The only one who can save Videl!" Gohan released another wordless roar, the last of the Gaia Bomb draining into his body, as the four candles that were the kids began to flicker.

"Release the fury of your Saiyan blood! Release the rage of your human heart! RELEASE!"

-You're at your best when the road gets rough-
-You've been put to the test, but it's never enough-

With a roar of power, Gohan's form was consumed by an explosion of blinding light, completely banishing the darkness surrounding them, and forcing everyone on the planet to snap their eyes shut, lest they be permanently blinded; all, bar two: Gohan himself, and Kellre. Shielded by his barrier of Folded Light, Kellre watched in awe as Gohan changed, and felt a tear of joy slide down his cheek as he witnesses his life's work become fulfilled.

Taking a deep breath, Gohan exhaled slowly, his body still glowing with radiant light. Everything was so clear now; for years, he had been trying to resolve the differences between his human and Saiyan heritages, and now, in this single moment of clarity, everything made sense. Kellre was right. He was the most powerful being the universe had ever seen. He was the only one who could destroy Majin Buu once and for all.

And it was past time he did so.

His tail lazily swishing through the air behind him, Gohan took to the skies. Kaen, Vegeta and his father had pinned Majin Buu between them, the monster completely helpless, and had saturated the planet in ki to do so. Which suited him just fine.

-You got the touch-
-You got the power!-
-Yeah!-

"It's time Buu." He intoned coldly. Gohan would not repeat the mistakes of his past, like when he taunted and toyed with Cell. Here, now, he was going to destroy Majin Buu with maximum haste, and ensure he could never return. "You have terrorized the universe for long enough. The age of fear ends now."

Raising his hands to his forehead, one crossed over the other, Gohan willed into existence a ki ball of the purest white. "All the pain and suffering you have inflicted on this universe is about to be repaid. Give my regards to your dark master Majin Buu, if enough remains of you to pass on to the other side and see him."

The air across the entire planet began to shine like a sea of stars; a sea with a whirlpool in it, centred on Gohan, and drawing every light in, specifically to the ball of ki in his hands. Similar to his trademark attack, the Masenko, which used ambient ki for extra power, much of the strength of this new technique was not his own. The big difference, however, was that this new technique used all the ki released into the air. And with the mass of energy attacks that had been used so far, coupled with the bleed-off from three Super Saiyan Threes, two Super Saiyan Twos, and half-dozen Super Saiyans, there was enough energy in the air to rival the big bang.

All of which was soon to be directed at Majin Buu.

"FINAL MASENKO!"

-You got the touch-

A massive wall of white ki rushed towards Majin Buu, the Mount Everest to the average ki blast's molehill. The tidal wave of pure energy was so large, the entire area between the three restraining Saiyans, bar maybe half a foot directly in front of them, was washed away. The sea of ki didn't just strike Buu, like a concussive force; it wrapped around him, dragging him under the tides. Even freed from the three powerful blasts that had held him fast before, the mass of pure ki surrounding him now was surely a worse prison.

The mass of energy extended far out from the Planet of the Kais, extending out until it reached the barrier between Otherworld and reality. There, the monster Majin Buu was trapped, caught in the centre of a torrent of pure good, as his body began to erode away. It is quite possible, as his very being was ripped apart, that Majin Buu screamed, be it in pain, or in fear, or some combination.

For all of its power, for all of it's raw, unrestrained energy, Gohan's ultimate form, and thus, his Final Masenko, only lasted for, at most, thirty seconds. Even so, as the universe was soon to know, in those thirty seconds, the terror of Majin Buu was ended. With a full ten seconds to spare, the ocean of good that was the Final Masenko eroded the link between Majin Buu and the Well of Evil, obliterating the creature entirely, and casting it's black soul back to the depths of the Well itself.

Finally, the universe could rest.

-You got the power!-

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Author's notes:

[1] I like to think of this as my explanation for SSJ4 Goku's red 'Kamehameha x10'. He just combined Kaio Ken and Kamehameha, and didn't pronounce anything from the 'Kaio Ken' bar the power level, in this case, x10

For the record, no, I don't plan on ever describing Gohan's ultimate form. I prefer to leave it up to the reader's imagination.