Chapter 100 – Vegeta's Strategy

The three Saiyans hovered in a small group before the Majin; Goku almost shielded by Vegeta and Corset as the two warriors gathered all of their energies ready to battle a losing fight against the seemingly unstoppable monster. Goku himself was charging up his own ki to attempt to put a final stop to Buu whilst his rival and his rival's daughter stalled for time. In they charged; Vegeta and Corset uttered a couple of exchanges before finally lunging towards Buu.

Buu, who had been dancing and wriggling his pliable body, glanced straight at the two as they closed in on him. Hurriedly he returned to normal, an insane smile on his face with a look of anticipation.

Vegeta charged on ahead and held his hands above his head, conjuring up a powerful ki blast as he closed in on Buu. Corset deliberately stayed behind her father, staying out of harm's way and charging up her own energy attack in both hands. With a roar both fighters chucked down their ki blasts straight for the Majin. Buu's lower half vanished as Vegeta's attack hit; nothing but his head remained as Corset's attack struck him in the chest. He vanished into a cloud of light and dust as Vegeta relentlessly started firing energy blasts down to the monster. Corset shot past him and dived down through her father's energy barrage, vanishing into the thick cloud. Her vision was almost useless but her sense of touch was proving valuable; she could feel the vibrations of the energy blasts striking the ground and could identify how far she was from it.

Something was wrong.

Corset could still sense Buu's ki; it baffled her that Buu's ki wasn't decreasing at all despite her father's onslaught. There were small movements around her yet nothing substantial enough to suggest Buu was around. Confusion struck her; now that she thought about it she couldn't see or sense Buu anywhere near to her...

Then it clicked.

"DAD!" Corset gasped to herself, hurriedly spinning around and shooting back up into the air as fast as she could. She shot out of the cloud of dust, a little to the side from where Vegeta's attacks were raining down from.

Buu was behind him and held both arms above his head; Vegeta seemed to sense his presence but it was too late. The monster smashed his fists down into the defenceless Saiyan's skull sending Vegeta bolting straight for the ground. Corset charged after her father reaching him inches before he struck the ground, catching him in mid-air. The force of his movement dragged her down with him and the two skidded across the ground to a halt. Not really stopping as soon as they landed, Corset pounced forwards releasing her father from her grasp as she did so, throwing herself back up to Buu to attack.

It had been twenty seconds.

Both Vegeta and Corset were locked in close-combat with Buu, each guarding the other's blind-spots and proving to work as a decent combination. Vegeta had spent the majority of the last seven years training alongside his daughter; both were aware of the other's battle-style and movement. However Buu still was proving to be more than capable of taking them both on, gleaming with joy as he did so. A slap to her jaw sent Corset shooting backwards; her father suddenly on the receiving end of a beating as Buu grabbed him by his shirt and began to pound on him. The female fighter crashed and bounced head over heels across the ground landing awkwardly on her stomach, flinching with a hiss through gritted teeth as she came to a stop. Grumbling under her breath she rose to a squatting position-

Buu's head tentacle suddenly wrapped itself around her leg; Buu still far off in the air pounding her father. Corset yelped with surprise as she was yanked from the floor and tossed through the sky unable to halt herself, slamming head-first to the rocky ground with a heavy crash and clutter of displaced soil and rocky fragments.

Twenty-five seconds had gone.

Corset choked and coughed, blood dripping from her chin as she once again rose to her hands and knees though this time not as quickly as before. Her vision was slightly blurred and she felt a little dizzy from the impact against the ground. '... Get up... Corset get to your feet!' She hounded her body to move.

Her father's scream sent chills across her body. With little awareness of how it'd happened she was once again on her feet, running before leaping off the ground and up into the air, charging at Buu from behind; Buu thankfully still taking an interest in Vegeta.

Or so she thought.

The monster spun around, dodging her incoming punch and catching her by surprise. Corset's vision worsened as a kick connected with the side of her head, disorientating her as she stumbled a couple of paces in midair before falling back down onto the soil below; the battle quickly taking to the ground as Buu chased after her. Another strike to her chest sent her scraping across the jagged hard surface; Corset cried out. Her chest felt like it was on fire; how had Goku been able to stand up to these strong attacks?!

Buu's feet slammed directly down onto her face.

Blurry objects slowly turned back to the many moons of the sky above her. Corset lay amongst a pile of dislodged rocks: head, torso and lumbar pain almost numbing the rest of her body or at least taking her focus from the rest of it. Her breathing was rough and short; the blow to the ground must have winded her and her stomach felt as if it was burning. A particularly sharp pain in her waist told her a couple of her ribs had been shattered making her breathing all the more difficult. With great difficulty she sat herself up, wiping the blood from her chin almost absentmindedly. Her attention wafted across the landscape before her for a while until it occurred to her where she actually was and what was going on.

Before her, Vegeta was stumbling over to Buu nearby; his face and body a bloody mess, battered and bruised by the beating Buu had delivered to him. Still the monster was as energetic and sadistically content as ever, taunting the Saiyan Prince as he struggled to approach him.

'... If he can do it then so can I...'

Against her body and mind's judgement, Corset rose to her feet amazed at how heavy her body suddenly felt on her legs, steps awkward and uncoordinated as she broke into a run, charging up ki into her palm. She had Buu clean in her sights and a desperate desire to not be outdone by her father's willpower to continue to fight. She could do it too: she had to do it too! Goku needed time to gather all of his ki to defeat the Majin and she wasn't going to be the reason for his failure to do so.

A loud crack sent Vegeta shooting into the ground dislodging several large chunks of rock from the grassy ground, Buu charging straight for the floored Saiyan with a bizarre cry of madness. Vegeta did not get up immediately and he was not going to be able to avoid Buu's oncoming attack. Seizing her chance whilst he was unsuspecting, Corset bolted forwards and threw her palm forward with all the energy she could muster, slapping Buu clean in the side of his skull. The landing did not go so well for her, Corset once again losing her footing and falling forward several steps uncontrollably. She couldn't stop herself and ended up tripping over her father who was still floored, crashing head-first to the ground with a thud. Buu vanished with a loud explosion into a nearby rock formation, landing flat on his feet amongst the dust.

Shakily Corset tried to get up, body still refusing to respond and now far more difficult to ignore the pain she was in. She was sure she'd only taken a couple of blows from Buu and yet her body felt as if she'd far too much damage for the amount of hits. Was this Buu really that much stronger than her? It was a terrifying thought to think despite the amount of strength she'd gained from every defeat that this monster could still be so much further ahead and increasing the lead with every fight.

Buu's tentacle suddenly wrapped its way around her throat, Corset's eyes widened with alarm as it started to tighten and strangle her. Corset desperately grasped for air as Buu pulled her up off the ground, her hands struggling to get hold of Buu's flesh. Red spots began to appear in her vision, her body panicking as it demanded more oxygen, her lungs unable to work properly. Try as she might she was unable to free herself from his grasp; she couldn't even expel any words nor scream. Vision began to dim and blur, mind now screaming for air. She couldn't gather any ki like this to free herself, her limbs were falling heavily beside her body, the world around her darkening.

Heavily she suddenly dropped to her knees, crashing face-first to the floor. The first chance she was given to breathe was snatched and she felt the cool air fill her throat and cool the inside of her chest as it heaved, body shaking almost drunk on the air she was now able to breathe. Through it all she barely managed to make out her father's voice, unable to understand what he was saying. Instinct took over and she gulped down hurried, frantic breaths of oxygen, adrenaline pumping through her body. She tried to calm her panicked state of mind, eventually managing to open her eyes. Her arms and legs were jittery as she made to sit on her legs, glancing over to where Buu and Vegeta now were.

Her father was being throttled in the air, just as she had been. Terror took over her mind; she still hadn't recovered and couldn't charge in with such low energy! Corset's eyes diverted up, from the looks of it Goku was still charging up his ki! What was going on, surely it'd been more than a minute since she and her father had started their futile struggle against Buu and yet he still wasn't finished?

"G-Goku! It's been more than a minute!" She yelled panicked.

Buu mercilessly began to slam her father through nearby mesas and boulders, Vegeta vanishing through the rocky moulds with incredible force still held by the throat by the sadistic monster; his hands struggling to loosen the grip.

"Dammit!" Corset clamped her eyes closed, willing herself to get up. 'He's already dead! Dad can't die again!' She couldn't watch her father be tortured like this but didn't know how to make it stop; Buu was just too powerful for her and she was in no condition to charge at him again. Her body shuddered and shook under the adrenaline it was forced under, limbs shaking still deprived of adequate oxygen.

Another crash and Vegeta was tossed head-first to the ground, brought back up into the air, Buu tightening his hold. With his free hand he began to charge up an energy attack.

'If that hits he'll be killed!' Enough was enough, even if she wasn't in any condition to effectively do something she had to move and attempt to stop this! Corset struggled to get up, falling to the side as she lost her balance, unintentionally crashing onto her already broken ribs and howling out a little, hissing through her teeth trying to deal with the agony. It couldn't end like this; she had to get up and save her dad. Frustration gripped her; she had little energy left. It had been over a minute and still Goku wasn't done! If she didn't move and go in to help she would never be able to see her father again: once he died again there would be no trace of him left, Goku'd told them both that! 'No! I refuse to let this happen! Move dammit, MOVE!'

"BUU!" The loud burly voice caught everyone's attention. Startled Corset looked over, eyes wide in shock and a little afraid of what was to come. Mr Satan stood upon a raised segment of grass looking confident with his fists on his hips, an assuring smile on his face. "Do you think you can get away with this?" He yelled rhetorically. "I'm the champion of the world and I will allow this to continue no longer! You'll be sorry you ever incurred the wrath of Mr Satan!"

'What the hell is that idiot doing?' Corset raised an eyebrow. "Mr Satan, get away! He'll kill you!" She yelled; this had to stop before this little Buu claimed more victims. The thought hadn't occurred to her about the Kaioshin forgetting to bring Mr Satan along with them though perhaps because of his insults they'd deliberately left him? Her warning fell on deaf ears. Buu seemed intrigued and interested in the foolish human. Vegeta was quickly released, dropping to the ground and landing with a thud. He wasn't moving which alarmed Corset.

Suddenly Buu charged for Satan with an ecstatic shriek; Mr Satan suddenly cowering and miraculously dodging Buu's attack ducking and protecting his head with a weak defence!

"No way!" Corset choked shocked. "He dodged!" She couldn't quite believe what she was seeing as once again Buu's strike missed the human who now had his hands together as if praying or begging, the latter of which he was actually doing.

Then to everyone's surprise Buu hunched over, screaming and clasping his head in pain. Corset observed intensely, largely ignoring Mr Satan's taunts to the monster. He was holding onto his head; Corset had little clue what was going on...

"K-Kakarrot... How much longer?"

Corset glanced over relieved to see her father still alive and conscious, though it was clear by the shake of his voice he'd taken a lot of damage and was still weak from the lack of oxygen. He had a point; it had been well over a minute – in fact it'd been several since she and her dad had charged into that futile battle and still Goku was gathering ki.

Buu stood upright, quietening down, not that anyone but Mr Satan noticed at this point.

"I don't understand it," Goku cried back down towards them. "I was getting close to full power but I'm losing ki again!"

"L-Losing ki?" Corset gasped.

Buu launched something out from his mouth, something small. Fat Buu suddenly appeared shooting away, crumpling on the ground and coming to a halt with a light cloud of dust passing over him.

"B-BUU!" Mr Satan gasped.

"... What?" Corset turned to the man and raised an eyebrow baffled. "What the hell's going on? How did the fat Buu suddenly appear?"

Whilst Buu was still distracted with Mr Satan, Corset crawled over to where her father was, keeping a close eye in case Buu would decide to charge her. Spitting the fat Buu out seemed to have made no difference to this Buu's power, much to her annoyance. One weak punch sent Mr Satan rolling across the floor holding his face screaming, "Not the nose! I thought dreams weren't supposed to hurt!"

"He actually hit him..." Corset mumbled unimpressed by Buu's lack of aim though whatever seemed to have been causing him trouble didn't seem to be doing so anymore. "How did the other Buu get inside that little Buu?" She mused.

"We saw him when we rescued the others," Vegeta responded attempting to sit himself up. "The fat Buu had been turned into chocolate and eaten by the other Buu. When we found him he was sealed inside of Buu, just like the boys and Piccolo."

"... Weird..." Corset nodded trying to get her head around the idea. Since when had her father and Goku been inside of Buu? There were many questions she still needed to ask about the fight once the two Saiyans had fused but now was not the time. Buu made a charge for Mr Satan; the human cowering and covering his head-

A sudden surge of ki bursting into the scene caught all three Saiyans by surprise. A bolt of pink ki flashed between Buu and Mr Satan, catching both of them off-guard and almost making Mr Satan lose balance and stumble onto his backside.

Several metres away, the fat Buu stood with one arm held out, his gaze fixed on the little Buu... or so they all thought since his eyes were closed.

"What?!" Vegeta stammered with shock.

"He's alive!" Corset gasped.

The fat Buu charged the shorter Buu, the two beginning to fight whilst Mr Satan cowered away a little until he felt he was safe.

Vegeta rose to his feet, hunching over slightly and leaning on his knees. "Kakarrot, how long is this going to take?" He demanded not bothering to glance up. "Haven't you got enough ki already?"

Corset glanced away from the fight, stunned to see Goku was still charging energy! It had been at least five minutes now; something wasn't right and it was either Goku'd made a gross misjudgement of the amount of time he needed or something else was going on.

"I don't get it... It shouldn't be like this!" Goku replied. "I'm actually losing ki!"

The golden glow, electrical aura and long golden hair vanished leaving the shocked, speechless Saiyan hovering above the ground glancing down in disbelief.

" You're kidding me!" Vegeta cried.

Goku had lost his Super Saiyan Three form.

The shuddering ground accompanied by a loud bang pulled the attention away from Goku and back over to the fight between the two Buus. The little Buu charged fat Buu head-on, obliterating the fat Buu's head as he shot clean through it, laughing and pointing at the headless Buu. Fat Buu's head suddenly popped out of his neck; Corset guessing he'd regenerated.

"Atta boy, Buu! Go beat that scrawny kid!" Mr Satan cheered.

"Sorry, I can't beat him," Buu replied with a saddened smile, taken by surprise as the little Buu rammed his shoulder into bigger Buu's cheek sending him tumbling across the ground.

"This is turning to an utter disaster!" Vegeta grumbled clenching his fists and rising to his feet. One of his arms had taken severe damage and he held onto it gingerly as the fight drew out. Corset nodded silently to her father's comment. At present Goku's ki had been spent, she and her father were low on energy and the little Buu seemed to have the advantage over fat Buu. The sound of feet clapping the ground drew her away from the battling Buu's; Goku bent over gasping for breath, exasperated from the power up attempt.

"You were supposed to be powering up, not turning back to normal!" Vegeta grunted angrily sending a furious look to the tired man behind them.

"Dammit, what gives? It worked when I was dead..." Goku frowned frustrated. "I guess it takes too much energy to sustain Super Saiyan Three when you're alive..."

"...I guess so; Gotenks couldn't stay as a Super Saiyan Three for long either," Corset nodded glumly. "Rest for a bit then try again, surely you'd be able to if you-"

"No, I can't..." Goku shook his head, a saddened smile on his face. "My power's spent... I'm at the end of my rope."

Nearby the battle between the Buu's was slowly being decided. The little Buu clearly held an advantage over the tiring fat Buu. Try as he might, nothing seemed to work and it looked as if the fatter Buu was starting to take physical damage.

'Come on Buu...' Corset gulped.

"It's only a matter of time..." Goku frowned.

Goku was right. The fatter Buu was now being overwhelmed by the little Buu. Everything he tried was either brushed off or thrown back in his face. At this rate the fat Buu would be killed and then it would only be a matter of time before they too followed him...

"Kibitoshin, Dende! Old Kaioshin!" Vegeta bellowed loudly, startling Corset and making her jump! "You're watching us, aren't you? If you can hear me, answer me now!"

"Oh... Y-Yes we can hear you!" The old Kaioshin's voice answered.

"Good! Go to the new planet Namek and gather their Dragonballs!" Vegeta ordered.

"Um... but why?" Dende's voice asked.

"Do it before we run out of time!" Vegeta barked.

"Vegeta, why do you need the Dragonballs? Isn't it a little early to use them?" Goku asked uncertain.

"... Kakarrot, how many times have you saved the Earth?"

"What? How many? I dunno... half a dozen I guess. What's this all about?"

"Perhaps it's time for the people of Earth to do their share of the work!"

"Their share?" Corset repeated baffled. The Earthlings were all dead – apart from Mr Satan – how were they supposed to...? 'Oh... The Dragonballs...' She gulped and contemplated the idea, not convinced. Sure they could use the Dragonballs to wish everyone back to life but what good would that do?

It didn't take long until Dende got in contact with them again. "Vegeta, we have all seven Dragonballs ready."

"Good; summon Porunga now," Vegeta ordered. "I have two wishes I'd like to make. First, I want to restore the Earth to its original state. For the second wish I want to bring back everyone who's died since the day of the tournament, except for the bad guys!"

"... Right now?"

"Yes right now!"

"Dende," Goku spoke up. "Vegeta must have a plan; do as he says."

"Alright. What would you like your third wish to be?"

"Whatever you want; only those two wishes matter to me," Vegeta replied.

Corset smiled impressed; she was glad her father was here with them. "So what's the plan?" She inquired.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to ask Porunga to resurrect everyone killed by Buu?" Goku asked.

"Idiot; that would bring Babidi and Dabura back to life..." Vegeta snorted, "... and didn't I kill people at the tournament?"

"... Man, you really think fast," Goku mused.

"That's my dad!" Corset beamed proudly.

"Vegeta, I almost forgot! We can't make the second wish; Porunga can only bring one person back to life per wish!"

"What?" Vegeta gasped.

"Oh yeah! I remember!" Corset realised. "On Namek we had four people to wish back and only three wishes because Porunga said we could only bring back one person at a time! In the end we had to use our first wish to bring back Piccolo so the Earth's Dragonballs could be restored!"

"Now what?" Goku frowned.

"Wait, Vegeta! Seems I was wrong… This may work after all."

Vegeta exhaled a sigh, "Good, then do it."

Waiting for the news of the wishes seemed to take an eternity and all the while, fat Buu was being pummelled. His body was starting to show physical signs of damage and fatigue. The little Buu had ripped off an arm which was now being telekinetically used to smack the fat Buu around.

"Hang in there Buu," Corset mumbled nervously.

"... Look, the fat Buu's power is going down," Vegeta noted. "They can be damaged if they're fighting another Buu."

"Come on Buu, hang in there," Goku gulped, "don't die!"

Vegeta glanced back up to the sky. "Dende, isn't he done yet?"

Corset looked over to her father, about to scold him for being so impatient, when she noticed something different.

"H-Hey!" Goku squawked. "Your halo's gone! You've come back to life!"

Corset cheered and grinned, "You realise that means Porunga thinks of you as a good guy!" She was so pleased to see her father back alive again though she knew the shock of it all hadn't had as much impact as it could have, since she'd been interacting with him all this time regardless of living status. At least he'd been given a third chance at life. With luck it wouldn't be short-lived.

"I think I know what you're planning to do," Goku smiled before Vegeta could react. "I'll bet you're planning to get Gohan and Gotenks to fight with us!"

"Wrong," Vegeta replied. "Kakarrot, get ready to make the Genki Dama."