Chapter 095 – From Out of Nowhere

Piccolo and Gotenks had eventually gotten out of the Room of Spirit and Time; Gotenks' ki on a whole new level. No one but Piccolo, Buu and those watching on Kaioshin's home planet knew he was now a Super Saiyan Three.

Corset had no clue.

It had happened so fast she almost couldn't believe it. She'd been incredibly lucky. The blast that had come so close to turning her into chocolate or sweets - or whatever Buu was planning to turn her into - had been heading dead-on for her. With all of the little strength she had left she'd ripped out a single strand of hair in the hopes that the beam would hit it before her. The hair had brushed past the beam but still it chased her down; in desperation she'd then forced an energy barrier around herself which had succeeded; the beam struck and thankfully turned the barrier only into chocolate. Unfortunately the shock had left her exhausted and she'd fallen to the ground unable to stop herself, trapped inside the now chocolate barrier until it smashed upon the ground.

What was even luckier was Dende had found her. The Namekian had come to her aid and had once again healed her.

The grim news about the fate of everyone on the lookout had been the catalyst that tipped her over the edge. Corset broke down, unable to contain it inside anymore. She couldn't take it; she'd utterly failed to protect both her brother and her mother from this monster, letting her late father down. Everyone but she and Dende had been killed by Buu.

Losing her mother had to be one of the most painful experiences the eighteen-year-old had gone through; even some of the horrible injuries she'd endured in battles fought long ago felt like nothing compared to this. Her mother had been the driving force of her wanting to train originally, had been the driving force of her surviving in the wilderness and enduring Piccolo's regimented training for the battle against the Saiyans. She'd fought against Freeza and his men and then against the Androids with one of her many goals to protect her mother from harm. Never again had she wanted to feel the way she had when Bulma'd attempted to shield her daughter from Raditz; she felt utterly helpless and awful. Not even her resolve had been enough to protect her and now she was dead like the rest of them. The Dragonballs were now their only hope but Corset didn't know where the radar was – if it still existed at all...

She'd risen to her feet determined to face Buu again; it had taken everything Dende had to calm her down and get her to stay. It had been a hard and painful reality for the Saiyan-Human fighter to swallow. Dende was in need of protection right now and he was all she had left. Sensing Piccolo and Gotenks as they left the Room of Spirit and Time, Corset and Dende fled the area deciding it was best to keep the guardian of Earth safe and hidden. They needed to keep Dende alive; without him there were no Dragonballs. She was relieved her brother, mentor, and brother's best friend were all alive.

Sadly so was Buu.

The battle seemed to wage on for quite some time; Gotenks' ki unbelievably high yet Buu's ki seemed stubborn and resistant.

"It's amazing..." Corset mumbled as the two trekked through the vast forests below the lookout and Korin Tower. There were no animals around them, not even any insects to speak of. Corset assumed this was either because the animals could sense the danger and had fled, or there simply were no more animals on the planet to find. She kept an eager eye on Gotenks' and Buu's powers as the two battled it out a fair distance from them though not too far away. "Gotenks' really got stronger in a hurry! Trunks and Goten must have given it their all." She mused.

"They were given all that time thanks to Piccolo and you," Dende smiled cautiously following the girl through the woods making sure not to be ensnared by any tree roots poking out of the dirt.

"I guess so..." Corset nodded, silently thanking Dende for the little boost in confidence, not that she felt she deserved it. Right now she felt as if nothing she'd done had helped; she hadn't been able to prevent any deaths. At least now she felt she had one positive thing to say about herself... not that it felt like much right now.

Gotenks' fight started to go in Buu's favour. The horrific plummet in the fusion's ki scared Corset. This was bad, once again Buu seemed to have the advantage and Gotenks was losing his ki fast! No, it didn't even feel like Gotenks anymore; there were two separate ki and both she recognised all too well. Instinct kicked in and she spun on her heels "Dende I'm sorry, I've gotta go!"

Dende gasped with horror, "Wait and think about this. If you charge in now, it's over!" He called frantically trying to catch up with the girl.

"If I don't then Goten, Trunks and Piccolo are dead!" Corset cried. She wouldn't go through it again, she refused to let her brother die. With that the fighter shot off the ground leaving Dende to his own devices, speeding through the air as fast as her body would move. She felt bad for Dende and knew she was taking a big risk leaving him alone like this without anyone to protect him but at least she knew where Buu was. She'd been lucky so far; hopefully that luck would hold out.

As she flew, Corset felt an unfamiliar ki signal appear quite some distance away from her heading for the same spot as her. Whoever it was had incredible power. A feeling of nerves came over her; was it another threat? She didn't recognise it which worried her. Things seemed to be getting worse and worse. Thankfully she and Dende weren't too far away from the fight; it took her only a couple of minutes before she finally reached them. There they were, all four of them, stood out amongst themselves against the barren wasteland backdrop. A large crater stood beside them; some sort of impact must have occurred. Corset's feet scraped against the rocky ground as she landed, alarmed when she saw Trunks and Goten standing separate from each other, both looking nervous. Piccolo stood in front of the boys between them and Buu. The trio were shocked and surprised to see her.

"H-Corset!" Piccolo exclaimed surprised to see she was still alive.

"Sis!" Trunks cried seemingly happier than Piccolo had appeared as he rushed up to his sister, completely ignoring Buu who apparently was sat squatting with his head leaning to one side though his eyes remained open. "You're alive! We thought you had been killed with everyone else."

Even Buu seemed a little surprised to see her, although he certainly didn't seem worried; he didn't bother to rise to his feet. No doubt he'd lost any interest in her as a challenge.

"I thought you three had been killed," Corset replied relieved to see him in good spirits and relatively good condition, her brother tugging on her hand.

"Nah, we're way too strong as Gotenks to be killed by him!" Trunks retorted.

"B-But Trunks, we ran out of fusion time…" Goten worriedly pointed out walking towards the two siblings.

"We almost had him." Trunks responded.

Piccolo stepped forwards, still in disbelief. "H-How did you...?" He started unable to finish.

"Hey, how comes everyone was killed and you weren't?" Trunks asked confused, face scrunching up slightly as he added more to his sentence: "He killed Mama!"

"I know..." Corset frowned as she began to explain to the others what had happened. "Krillin and I tried to fight him. Krillin got turned into chocolate pretty quickly. I tried to beat him but my mind frazzled; I was so worried about you three thinking you'd all been killed... so he got the better of me... again... He tried to turn me into chocolate; I think I managed to get a barrier up before the beam hit it. Honestly I didn't think it was gonna protect me."

"That was lucky," Piccolo responded as serious as ever. "Even with you here, right now I don't think our chances of beating Buu are any better."

"Aww come on, Piccolo," Trunks snapped unimpressed with the fighter's attitude. "My sis has battled Buu lots of times before; she must know a weakness by now!"

"Sorry, I've got nothing," Corset answered sadly. "I know his technique; it hasn't changed much since he was that fat Buu. The problem is by now he also knows my fighting technique. I can keep on fighting him and guess his next move but he'll just do the same against me... right?" She turned to Piccolo for confirmation: the Namekian nodded saying nothing.

Buu's sudden movements startled everyone. Corset put up her guard... baffled when she could hear soft noises coming from him; her eyes widened in disbelief. Was this actually happening?

"He went to sleep!" Trunks spluttered unsure whether to be insulted or relieved.

"What's he up to?" Corset mumbled suspicious, two shadows darting past her causing her to shout out in alarm, "H-Hey!" Goten and Trunks had started to run towards the sleeping monster!

"What are you doing?" Piccolo demanded in a hoarse voice.

"We're gonna see if he's really asleep." Goten called back to the two in a loud voice.

"Shush, stupid!" Trunks quietly hissed eager not to wake the beast.

Corset watched with her heart in her throat as the two boys circled Buu inquisitively, observing him keenly.

"Listen to me; this is the perfect opportunity to come up with a plan," Piccolo hissed at the two boys. "Let's stop acting so foolishly and think."

"Trunks, Goten, get over here!" Corset demanded just as furious as Piccolo. Trunks glared annoyed at his sister and reluctantly made his way over, Goten following.

Again she felt it. Corset turned on her heels; that power level she'd felt earlier was closing in.

"What is that ki I'm sensing?" Piccolo gasped noticing there was someone heading towards them, alarmed by the sheer magnitude of their energy.

"Someone's coming." Corset realised. "I don't recognise it."

"It could be a new enemy!" Piccolo growled nervous. "Boys, stay close!"

Goten and Trunks obediently dashed back towards the two older fighters and kept their eyes peeled in the direction the strange energy was coming from. Corset pinpointed the direction it was coming from, spotting a small dot in the distance. It travelled at an impressive speed and was heading straight for them. She could just make out black hair with an orange gi and blue shirt.

Realisation struck her. Suddenly she recognised his ki! Her jaw dropped to the floor in sheer disbelief; it wasn't possible. She'd seen it with her own eyes and felt it.

"It's Goku!" Piccolo gasped.

"No, it's Gohan!" Goten cried excitedly.

In a blur of colour, Gohan was amongst them as he skidded slightly across the ground kicking up dust as he landed. He made a quick glance to the others, smiling. "Good, I made it just in time."

Corset couldn't believe what she was seeing. Standing between her and Buu was Gohan, unscathed and still very much alive. The memory of his supposed death now confused her greatly; she'd seen it with her own eyes, she'd seen him be blasted away and had felt his ki vanish. What had happened?

"Hey, Gohan! We all thought you were dead!" Goten grinned pleased to see his big brother again and looking a lot stronger than before.

"I would have been if it wasn't for Kaioshin," Gohan replied. "I've been with him ever since."

'Kaioshin's alive too?' Corset felt as if everything she'd seen was a lie. She hadn't seen Kaioshin die but had been sure he had been killed when Buu had released that large energy dome against her dad. She hadn't seen or sensed him since so to hear he was still kicking about was fantastic! Things were peaking up a little for the group. She had to admit Videl had been right about one thing; Gohan had indeed been alive and she'd never been so happy to see him.

Her attention focused back on the man standing between them and Buu. The Gohan before her seemed different. She could see subtle differences in his facial structure; it resembled that of a Super Saiyan, yet there was no Super Saiyan transformation here. It was mostly his eyes; they'd seemed to have lost that innocence about them and looked sharpened. His ki felt different; something extra was hidden away and she wasn't sure what. The more she looked at him, the more they rose to the surface. The emotions welling up inside her broke through, she felt a tear escape and hurriedly brushed it aside; she was so relieved to see Gohan alongside them. This was no time for tears; Buu was still here.

"Where are the others?" Gohan asked, a cool tone to his voice.

"They're all dead, Buu killed them all!" Goten responded.

"What? Mother too?" Gohan glanced over his shoulder with a hint of surprise to his voice.

"Everyone; mum, Videl, everyone Gohan!" Goten replied distraught.

"We're all that's left." Trunks added.

Corset frowned, unsure whether to reveal Dende's survival or not. Would it be wise to casually announce it in front of Buu? No, she'd mention it to someone once the fighting started.

"They tasted good... I turned them all into chocolate and gobbled them up!" Buu had risen as soon as Gohan had arrived. The Majin smiled, rubbing his flat stomach to demonstrate his actions much to the others' chagrin.

Without another word Gohan approached Buu, stopping inches from him. The Majin towered over Gohan, who wasn't short by any standards.

"So, you want to fight Buu?" Buu sneered interested in the smiling warrior who opposed him.

'Is he really going to go through with this?' Corset pondered. Something about Gohan – his posture maybe – gave her the impression she needn't worry about him so much. She knew Gohan wouldn't act this way unless he had something up his sleeve.

"No, I wanna kill you." The Saiyan-Earthling hybrid responded with a grin not too dissimilar to that of Vegeta; he seemed to have the same type of confidence in his abilities.

Buu stared down at the fighter, suddenly bursting out into a small fit of laughter. "Ah yes, I remember you now! You're one of the ones I've beaten before! So you want some more do you?"

'He's really confident... Is that actually Gohan?' Corset wondered confused. The Gohan she knew was never like this; he seemed so charismatic and sure of himself, almost like during the fight with Cell. That confidence had come with arrogance; Corset couldn't help but remember it had almost cost the Earth. Although she was intrigued by his newfound confidence, she couldn't help wonder whether the same would happen again...

A deep boom shook the ground; Gohan's ki rocketing up. His movement was too fast for her to see properly; Gohan's arm blurred. Buu's face was struck. Even from the blurred perspective she had, Corset could just about tell not even Buu had registered the hit fast enough to react.

Gohan's leg swung around; Buu's body jolted head-first to the side. With a roar Buu retaliated and went on the attack. Gohan caught his punch, issuing several more strikes knocking Buu skywards. In a flash he'd caught up with the monster and struck him to the ground; Buu landing with a heavy thud against the dirt. He quickly rose to his feet, glancing up furiously towards his foe.

"Over here, slowpoke."

Buu turned around; Gohan stood before him unfazed and with the confident smile present on his face as before the scuffle had started. The look of shock on Buu's face closely resembled the looks of those watching. Piccolo, Corset, Goten and Trunks could not hide their awe, jaw dropping to the floor as they watched.

"You can't beat me," Gohan spoke. "Not like this."

'This is so unreal, how can this be Gohan? He's never this confident or this sure of himself!' Corset stared in disbelief, eyes peeled on her childhood friend. 'He's always had a shadow of doubt in any other fight apart from the battle with Cell after he transformed... but even this version seems kinda arrogant! What happened to him? How'd he even get so powerful?'

A peculiar smile arose on Buu's face.

"I knew it, it was you."

Corset raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Gohan asked unsure of what he was getting at.

"I felt a very strong power far, far away... Even whilst fighting those little brats I could sense your power growing, getting stronger," Buu spoke. "I can't let anyone be stronger than me."

'Buu could sense him? How? I couldn't even sense him...' Corset was bewildered. For someone who'd previously been unable to detect ki, Buu now appeared to have a knack for sensing energies far better than anyone she'd ever known.

"So you tried me out and I really was stronger," Gohan replied. "Too bad, Buu."

Buu snorted at the remark. His expression hurriedly changed, glaring at Gohan with disgust and fury; Corset felt herself tensing up expecting him to do something.

"You... I won't let you get away with this! No one can be stronger than Buu! I'll kill you!" Buu's ki began to rise dramatically; strong gusts of wind expelling away from him blowing dust and loose dirt to the air. His body began to glow pink, veins popping from his skin as he roared out. Something about his ki seemed wild and rebellious; Corset didn't like what she was sensing.

"You know that's impossible," Gohan coolly answered.

Instinct kicked in and Corset stood in front of Piccolo and the boys who were taking shelter inside Piccolo's cape. Nervous but prepared she stood her ground and watched Buu intensely. Something about the look on his face scared her.

Buu's body continued to charge up with power, shuddering and shaking strangely. The wind rapidly picked up, Corset forced to raise her arms in a bid to protect her face from loose debris striking her. In a brief moment the whole world seemed to tumble from under her feet. Something firm lay across her stomach; she felt several other solid things touch her as the wind whipped around her. A terrific explosion shook her body as she was dragged away by someone, the bright light seeping through her close eyelids. Unsure of what she was attached to she held on for dear life, unsure where any of the others were...

Eyes opened.

Corset gasped in shock. She, Goten and Trunks were being held several thousands of metres high in the sky. Below them was a large plume of dark smoke hiding the most of what she believed to be a crater at least half a mile wide.

It terrified her to think she and the others had been there just a second ago.

"T-Thank you Gohan..."

Corset glanced around; Piccolo was in Gohan's other arm. She couldn't believe how fast Gohan was.

"We nearly died!" Goten exclaimed.

"Buu exploded?" Trunks choked.

"Thanks, Gohan." Goten smiled up at his older brother. "How did you know he was gonna blow himself up?"

Gohan seemed to be busy searching for something; Corset deducted it down to Buu. She couldn't sense the Majin's ki but even she knew an explosion of that kind couldn't kill him. Fat Buu had survived her father self-destructing; Piccolo had seen him regenerate from virtually nothing. She didn't disbelieve for a second that Buu would also regenerate from this.

"... I'm not so sure he did," Gohan muttered.

"What?" Goten and Trunks gasped in unison.