Chapter 092 – The Split
Hours passed on by; Corset spent most of it resting after her battle with Gotenks. Dende had healed her once again; her wounds would have taken almost a week to vanish if left to heal naturally. There was a large benefit to this; her Saiyan genes meant she'd now become stronger after such a tough battle. Even if it hadn't been her full power, even if it hadn't pushed her to her limits, a power-up right now would help no matter how big or small. This was Buu they were faced against and even now Corset still had little idea on how she was actually going to defeat him.
Feeling there was not much else to do but wait for Gotenks to improve, Corset decided it was best to rest her body and took a nap in one of the many bedrooms of the palace, gently falling asleep to the sounds of her brother and Goten chanting and reciting those magical words. By the time the boys were sent to bed themselves Corset was fast asleep.
When she awoke she found Piccolo and Dende peering over the edge of the lookout. Curious she wandered over to them, stretching from the peaceful sleep she'd had, surprised at how soundly she slept considering all that had been going on. "Anything interesting?" She asked nonchalantly.
"More odd than interesting," Dende smiled peering over his shoulder pleased to see she was awake. "Mr Satan is with Buu, it seems like he's making friends with him."
"Mr Satan?" Corset almost choked on her own breath. "What's he doing; the idiot!" She peered over the lookout, not too surprised all she could see were clouds moving below. She wasn't a Namekian or a present or former guardian of Earth; she couldn't see what they could see. "... Could someone tell me what they're doing? Is Buu killing him?"
"No, for some reason the braggart is still alive!" Piccolo snorted, sounding almost disappointed but amazed of what he was witnessing. There was an odd look of interest twinkling in the Namekian's eye as a thought process formulated through his mind. The possibilities of this event were almost endless and for once there seemed to be some rays of hope seeping through.
"Maybe it means we won't have to fight?" Dende smiled grabbing onto one of the more positive thoughts.
"No, there's still a threat." Piccolo shook his head uncertain. It was risky to assume that now Mr Satan and Buu seemed to be forging an alliance that nothing bad could go wrong. One wrong move and Buu could easily take the braggart's life and then it would still be as it was before.
"Are Trunks and Goten still asleep?" Corset asked, changing the subject.
"They are." Piccolo nodded not taking his eyes from down below them, too engrossed with watching the scenes play out.
Corset could see she wasn't going to get much out of either of the two and decided to leave them to it. "... I'm gonna get something to eat."
As she strode through the hallways of the large palace heading for the kitchen, she began to contemplate Mr Satan's actions. The man had always been a fool to her; he'd been more than happy to take credit for things he had not done – including saving the world from Cell. Now here he was actually putting his life on the line for his race; for the people of Earth. Corset'd never thought of him in that light before; she guessed he'd done something similar against Cell but this time it was different. The Champion had no doubt seen the transmissions Babidi had cast through everyone's minds of Buu destroying cities and devouring people, so of course he had to know what sort of threat he was really dealing with. He was aware of the monster's capabilities and knew how fatal he could be if aggravated in any way, yet he chose to act anyway. Sure it wasn't his normal strategy of boasting about his Tenkaichi Budokai Champion status and now being the hero of Earth, but at least for the time being it was keeping Buu occupied. Hopefully he wouldn't be planning to destroy any more towns and cities anytime soon.
She was certain if things had been different, neither she nor Gotenks would have been able to topple the Majin. His powers were too incredible and despite the large increase in her own powers, Corset doubted very much it would make a difference. Perhaps she was underestimating herself... or perhaps she was just making sure she didn't make the same fatal error as Gotenks and charge in overconfidently and recklessly.
Then it popped into her head, causing Corset to stop still in her tracks, jaw gaping a little. It had completely left her mind. How could she have forgotten something as important as this?
Today was supposed to be the day either she or Gotenks fought Buu! Goku'd promised the Majin two days ago he'd be met by an incredible challenge, something of which he reckoned Buu was eager and excited about.
There was a morbid thought floating in her mind; Goku'd almost assured she or Gotenks would die before the rest. Anxious to clean the thoughts from her mind before it affected her stomach, Corset quickly marched into the kitchen, surprised to see Mr Popo directing her into the dining room where she, Gohan and Goku had eaten several years ago just before they started their training in the Room of Spirit and Time...
Mr Popo had laid out a large and delicious-looking breakfast at Corset's request (not that she was aware she'd given him one. Perhaps she'd mentioned it in her half-awake state before she'd headed off to sleep!) Unfortunately now knowing she had to fight Buu today had caused her to lose her appetite. Nerves had set in; her stomach was tight and felt like it was back-flipping inside of her. Despite the discomfort she soldiered on and began to slip small mouthfuls of pancakes into her mouth; a sign she was nervous about something.
"I thought I'd find you in here."
Corset glanced over to see her mother making her way into the room. She looked tired and a little stressed; Corset could see the small but noticeable bags under her eyes.
"Mind if I join you?" Bulma asked.
"Of course you can," Corset nodded, attempting to eat another small mouthful of pancake as her mother sat down beside her, resting her arms on the table staring forwards.
"... I was wondering..." Bulma started, voice sounding a little shaky. "... What happened to your father at the tournament?"
Corset stopped chewing. Of course; she had a feeling her mother would have asked her this sooner or later. Although Goku had already spoken to Bulma about this, Corset assumed she would eventually be asked. It was family. The only thing was did Corset have an obligation to lie and comfort her mother or tell her the truth?
"He killed all those people," Bulma frowned. "... I thought he'd gotten past that insensitive, morbid urge."
Choosing her words carefully, it was a while before Corset spoke, swallowing her mouthful first. "...Dad really wanted to fight Goku. He was willing to push Goku in order to get his way, no matter what."
"... I just wish I knew what was going through his head," Bulma sighed.
Before Corset could even think to comfort her mother with a soothing rub of her back, something big caught her attention almost causing the fork in her hand to fall and clatter back down onto the plate.
Something was coming.
Corset leapt out of her seat and dashed down the corridors, not answering her mother's confused calls as to where she was going. Something bad was here, she could feel it. It was strong and its ki stunk of evil! She'd never felt anything like it. Its speed was incredible and it was closing in rapidly straight for them. She stepped out into the courtyard, eyes widening as she gasped in shock and horror.
Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha, Dende and Mr Popo were all a little ways away. Opposite them was a tall, lean pink creature.
She wasn't sure but it looked like Buu.
Several questions ran through her mind. Was this really Buu? When had he changed? If it was him then this Buu was a lot slimmer than the fat Buu she'd seen; had he lost weight somehow? The ki radiating from him scared her; it did feel so similar to that of the Buu she knew of but only more evil, more powerful and more merciless.
The Buu-lookalike glanced around, mumbling something Corset couldn't hear properly. Cautiously she took a couple of steps further forward –
"PRODUUUUUCE!"
The sudden bellow startled her whilst the shockwave almost knocked her off her feet. Hurriedly she gathered herself and kept her body tense, unsure what the Buu-lookalike would do.
"P-Produce what?" Piccolo stuttered, Corset moving slightly closer again. There was no doubt about it; that had to be Buu.
"... The ones who will fight me," Buu smiled, "I want to fight them now! I know they're here; the only place with big power."
'He can sense ki? Dammit, no wonder he found us!' Corset gulped, pumping herself up. The boys were still asleep; she was the only fighter here who could possibly stand up to him. Gotenks was tough but nowhere near tough enough to beat this Buu. He wasn't even enough to challenge the fat Buu, let alone this one. She knew she couldn't beat him but she had to try.
"It's true they're here," Piccolo spoke calmly trying to keep control of the situation. "They're resting now to prepare themselves for battle."
"Wake them!" Buu demanded. "I fight them now!"
"Wait! Let them sleep a little longer, please." Piccolo pleased. "They're not at full power yet. You want to fight the strongest possible warrior, don't you?"
'Come on Buu, take the bait...' Corset gulped, watching carefully as Buu cracked his neck several times.
"... Nah, I hate to wait!" He muttered.
Piccolo needed back-up; she didn't like the thought of Buu lunging out towards the Namekian who was nowhere near powerful enough to stand up to this monster. She'd rather it was her than him and so took in a deep breath and took a step forward towards the pink monster. "What's a little patience; you can afford it you know!" She growled with a matter-of-fact tone. "Just wait for them, Buu; you won't be disappointed."
Buu stared at Corset for a brief moment before smirking and laughing. "You, I remember you. I beat you up before." He sneered, his dark eyes giving her the creeps. They showed nothing but voids of emptiness and yet they were filled with absolute power and evil.
"Yeah I remember," Corset muttered slightly annoyed she had to admit it, "How about we see what happens this time? I'm not entirely the person you remember." What was she doing? She couldn't possibly stand up to him the way he was now! She had to help convince Buu to wait for Gotenks to be brought out... Or did she? Gotenks wasn't their best bet right now. It was her. She didn't want to blow her own trumpet but she couldn't deny she had far more experience and currently strength was in her favour.
"Don't get ahead of yourself," Piccolo interrupted, glaring directly at Corset concerned, "We need to use our heads here! We can still find something else for Buu to do!"
"Something else?" Krillin repeated confused.
'What's he talking about?' Corset raised an eyebrow intrigued and anxious.
"Buu, please wait for them. You still wanted to kill everyone else on Earth, right?" Piccolo asked. "You've left quite a number of them alive. You can fight after you've killed them all!"
"What?" Corset gasped disgusted he would even suggest a thing. Her blood started to boil at the thought of Buu heading down to Earth and killing thousands upon thousands of terrified, helpless victims just to buy them time! "Piccolo what the hell are you-"
"Shut up!" Piccolo bellowed.
A strange smile appeared on Buu's face; it sent shivers down Corset's spine. To hers – and everyone else's – confusion, Buu approached the edge of the floating lookout. There he began to slowly walk, peering over the edge. He seemed to be taking his time which was good; Corset knew the longer Buu took, the more time they were being given to live... or at least the group of them on the lookout were being given more time...
Corset glanced over at Piccolo, a mixture of resent and anxiety on her face. "... You really sure you wanna do this? He's gonna kill all those innocent people, Piccolo."
"If it'll buy us some time then we have no choice," Piccolo retorted grimly, "We can wish them all back to life with the Dragonballs."
Corset scowled silently at the tiles under her feet. She didn't like knowing they were willing to let all those defenceless people be killed by this monster; it stirred a deep and uncomfortable rage inside her. Then again she knew right now there was very little they could do. She wasn't strong enough to take this Buu down, even with her training. Gotenks wasn't strong enough either. Maybe they would have to work together instead of fight him alone.
Piccolo took another quick glance to the girl beside him, "Right now Gotenks may be our best hope but we also need to keep you alive. Don't rashly go jumping in to fight Buu, got it?" He whispered hoarsely.
"...I'll try," Corset growled through gritted teeth. Her stomach was hard and warm, brows crossed over her eyes as she kept them keenly on Buu who was now making his way around the side of the palace. There was something about his actions she didn't quite like. Buu was still wandering around the edge of the lookout, his behaviour and motives lost on everyone who watched. He soon appeared around the other side of the palace, still peering over the ledge.
Just what was he doing? Corset couldn't work it out; surely all he would be able to see were clouds?
Finally the Majin made his way back to the beginning, turning and standing inches from Piccolo, who nervously looked back. Corset almost flinched when one of his long pink arms rose into the sky. Instinct made her raise her guard, as it had done with Piccolo.
A strange smile etched its way onto Buu's face.
A blinding flash of light came from him; bright pink light surrounding Buu's body, channelling up his arm and shooting high into the sky. Shocked, Corset looked up higher into the sky, eyes widening in horror when she saw the single beam splitting into what looked like hundreds of smaller ki blasts, all of which fell down below the lookout...
"No!" Corset screamed, cottoning onto what Buu was doing.
She felt the mayhem and destruction down below as suddenly thousands of tiny ki signals began to vanish in a terrifyingly short space of time. There was nothing she could physically do; there were so many of them and they were dispersed across the planet. Piccolo had told her not to act rash and attack Buu and she'd said she'd try not to. Corset wished she hadn't said that. Her fury was running wild inside of her, doing laps around her body as her blood beat around, head and heart pounding. She struggled; keeping herself glued to the spot was almost unbearable but she knew she had to keep her calm, she had to keep control. If she jumped in she'd play into his hands; she had to stay alive for the sake of the humans and Namekians around her.
The light soon faded, the last energy ball vanishing under the floating palace. Around her Dende had fallen to his knees, Mr Popo supporting him. The silence on the lookout was eerie yet it was one of the noisiest silences Corset'd ever heard. It was if she could hear everyone else's thoughts; she could hear her heart thumping in her ribcage, could feel her blood in her ears.
Buu smiled and lowered his arm, "There, I killed all humans. Now I fight. Bring out my fighter!"
Corset's eyes glanced over to Piccolo; what was he going to do? She was willing to charge Buu with everything she had but she knew he would not allow this. What was his big plan then? He'd gotten what he'd wanted; Buu had now destroyed all human life apart from those upon the lookout, just as Piccolo had suggested. They had only been given around half a minute of extra time and now Buu was demanding his challenge be presented.
"... Fine... We'll get them," Piccolo muttered grimly, "but since they're asleep, please give them time to get ready. Two hours... One hour at least."
"What's an hour?" Buu asked inquisitively, "How long is it?"
Piccolo held out both his hands; a large egg-timer suddenly materialised and was placed on the ground before Buu. "When all the sand falls into the bottom, an hour will have passed."
Buu squatted and stared at the timer, face screwing up. "No!" He snapped.
"Why not? What's an hour?"
Corset turned surprised to see Videl stepping forward. 'Be careful, Videl!' She gulped worried.
"Are you afraid, is that it Buu?" The human girl jeered.
Buu stared back at Videl; Corset seeing the aggression in his eyes and getting ready to intervene.
"Loud mouth girl, you die!" Buu spat.
"Wait! That girl is Mr Satan's daughter! Mr Satan's daughter is asking you to wait for an hour!" Piccolo hurriedly pointed over to Videl. "One hour, Buu!"
Corset watched cautiously as the tentacle on Buu's head moved forwards creeping her out slightly. She'd only seen it used when Buu had turned someone into food and she didn't like it pointing towards the others!
"... Yes... She smells like Mr Satan..." Buu grumbled frustrated; the tentacle whirring back to its normal position. "... Very well... This Majin Buu will wait one hour. Then he'll kill you all, even Satan's daughter."
Corset sighed in relief, although she still felt tense and uptight about having Buu here on the lookout! She kept her eyes peeled on Buu, taking them away only when she noticed Piccolo wandering over to Krillin, mumbling something to him. Shortly afterwards the short warrior made his way into the palace.
Cautiously she tiptoed over to Piccolo. "Where's Krillin off to?"
"He's going to wake Goten and Trunks. They're going to spend the hour training in the Room of Spirit and Time; it should give them at least two weeks in which to train and master the fusion," Piccolo explained in a hushed voice. "I think it's wise to follow Goku's instincts; he seemed to believe the fusion was the best chance at beating Buu... although I'm not so sure at this level..."
"Yeah, he's gotten a lot stronger," Corset glanced back at Buu briefly. Another wave of anguish hit her though this time it was about her -her own failings to be more precise. "... Sorry Piccolo. At this level I can't beat him. He's stronger than I am..."
"Don't discount yourself yet," Piccolo muttered, "Strength isn't everything; you should know that by now."
"Yeah but..." Corset pouted disheartened. "... I know when I'm beaten."
Piccolo didn't say anything for a while and when he did it wasn't to console her. "...Krillin should have woken the boys up by now; they need to be brought up to speed."
Corset nodded and followed Piccolo up into the palace, up a flight of stairs and into a large domed room. Indeed Krillin had managed to wake the boys and as she expected, Trunks wasn't in the best of moods.
It didn't take long for the duo to notice the extra person down below.
"That's Buu?" Trunks asked uncertain.
"Wow, he did change!" Goten raised his eyebrows surprised.
"This Buu is more powerful than the previous one," Piccolo explained. "Get yourselves into the Room of Spirit and Time. Every minute inside the chamber will be about six hours, so-"
"Hey look, it's Mum!" Goten exclaimed butting into the Namekian's orders.
"What?" Both Piccolo and Corset gasped in unison. Corset rushed over to peer over the ledge. Chichi was making her way towards Buu; she looked angry and uptight judging by the way she marched up towards the fighter, fists clenched and that stern glare upon her face. Corset couldn't shake off a feeling of dread, heat almost stopping with sheer horror and amazement as Chichi slapped Buu clean around the head! The move shocked Corset; surely Buu wasn't going to let her get away with that?
"You jerk! Do you even care that you killed my son?" Chichi bellowed.
'Chichi run, get away from him!' Corset gulped anxious.
Nothing happened; Buu remained silent, he didn't even acknowledge her, or rather not immediately. His eyes glared at the human woman.
"You're an egg."
The tentacle shot forwards, a bright pink light extended from it and engulfed Chichi, diminishing in a cloud of smoke. When the smoke cleared, all that remained in Chichi's place was an egg. Buu stood up.
His foot slammed down hard, crushing the egg into pieces.
Corset's jaw dropped; Chichi's ki vanished the instant Buu made contact. All that remained were fragments of shell and the splattered mixture of yolk and egg-white. She heard Goten's gasp of horror. To everyone's concern Goten started to clamber over the ledge of the spacious room determined to find some sort of revenge for his mother's murder, only stopped by Piccolo's stern voice as the Namekian barked at him about the fusion relying on him to stay alive.
She could imagine the feelings going through the young boy's mind; she'd felt them so long ago when Raditz had snapped her mother's neck in front of her. If he went down there now he'd be killed; the fusion wouldn't happen.
"Your mother can be brought back to life with the Dragonballs but only if you master fusion and beat Buu! Train now or wish her goodbye!" Piccolo roared fiercely.
The distraught boy slowly brought himself back onto the tiled floor, Trunks trying to console him.
Corset glanced down at Buu, an air of disgust and anger in her stare as he perched himself back in front of the hourglass, waiting as time slowly whittled past. They had less than one hour left.