Chapter 101 – The Decider
"Th-The Genki Dama?" Goku and Corset gaped in unison, both watching the Saiyan Prince who'd just made the suggestion of using the Genki Dama to defeat Buu. Corset couldn't help but feel sceptical about the entire thing. The only times the Genki Dama'd been used that Corset could recall were against her father and Freeza. Both times the attack hadn't been strong enough to defeat the enemy. Sure it took a lot of their ki away and made them a little less of a threat but it'd always been used as a last resort on both occasions and had failed both times.
"It won't work," Goku cried worried. "Taking a bit of energy from everyone on Earth won't be nearly enough to beat-"
"Like I said, let the Earthlings save themselves for once!" Vegeta interrupted, "We won't be taking a little bit of energy, we're going to take as much as we can."
He seemed so sure the attack would work which worried Corset. Was her dad really not aware of its track record? He'd been on the receiving end of it and come back from it. Would taking all the energy the Earthlings have really make a difference? This Buu was definitely no push over, she had her doubts...
"Vegeta, Porunga wants our third wish." Dende's voice cut in.
"We don't need it." Vegeta answered glancing back up to the sky, not that he really needed to. "Kibitoshin, I want to talk to the people of Earth, can you arrange it?"
"... You mean like Babidi? Sorry, I'm afraid not... I don't have that ability." Kibitoshin replied with an uncertainty in his voice.
"What?" Vegeta bared his teeth; so it wouldn't be as clear cut as he'd hoped. They were down their vital method of contacting everyone for their energy – without it the Genki Dama wouldn't be strong enough...
"Leave it to me, it's my speciality!"
"That voice... It's Kaio!" Goku gasped.
'Geez this place is beginning to sound like a chat-room!' Corset mused to herself shaking her head with a light smile. So was everyone listening in on their conversation? It couldn't be helped; this was the battle to decide the fate of the universe.
"Bingo - and I'm flattered Vegeta," Kaio's voice responded cheerfully, "choosing my Genki Dama as the closer! I can let you talk to everyone in the entire universe if you want!"
"Let's not over-do it..." Vegeta muttered.
"Alright, you've got the floor Vegeta, Whenever you're ready…" Kaio gave the all clear.
As Vegeta began to speak to the Earthlings, Corset continued to watch Buu, a feeling of anticipation and excitement coming over her. Now Buu would pay. At the very least she was certain the Genki Dama would leave a large dent in Buu's power as it had done against her dad and Freeza. Sure in the past it had failed but this time it was different. This time they were using all the power the Earthlings could supply them with. She was intrigued with how much power they would supply to the attack and now that her dad's plan was being set into action, she couldn't wait to see the result.
"H-Hey."
Corset felt a nudge at her shoulder and turned; Mr Satan was pointing over to where the two Buu's were fighting, he seemed a little worried and confused judging by the way his eyes flittered from the two Buus' fighting and back to her and the others. "Instead of standing around pretending you're talking to people, why don't you go help Buu?" He asked. "He needs some help! That little Buu's tearing him apart! Please, don't let the bigger Buu die."
"We are trying to help Buu," Goku replied in a hushed voice. "Trust me, this is the only way."
"Get started, Kakarrot!" Vegeta butted in. "They should be giving you energy any time soon."
"Right," Goku nodded, ripping off the top shirt of his half-torn uniform, "You're a hero, Vegeta!" With that Goku leapt up into the sky and got into the proper stance, raising both hands above his head.
It didn't take long before the Genki Dama began to form; Corset was amazed by how big it had gotten considering how few people had donated. The sphere looked small from where she stood but she knew it was thousands and thousands of metres above them, growing larger and larger all the time.
"This must be from Gohan and the others!" Goku cried in awe.
"... It's not everything, it should be much bigger," Vegeta mumbled not sounding as cheerful as Goku. He seemed more worried and confused than anything as he kept his eyes closely on the ball of light. "Why isn't it bigger?" He asked unsure.
"Maybe it'll take the humans who don't know us a little longer to make it bigger?" Corset suggested. "They won't have anywhere near as much ki as most of our friends so it'll look as if it's growing at a much slower pace."
"No, it's not growing at all!" Vegeta growled. "Damn it, what's going on?"
"He said to raise our hands, but why should we?"
Corset gasped astonished as several voices suddenly spoke, pinching herself to see if it was real or not. It was real – and now her cheek was a little sore!
"Whose voice is that? I don't recognise him!" A random voice asked.
"I'll bet you it's that Babidi again. Just ignore him!" Another grunted crossly.
"H-Hey, why am I hearing voices?" Mr Satan asked approaching Corset anxiously cleaning his ears out.
"It must be some of the people on Earth," Corset replied, listening intently. Many seemed sceptical about this 'warrior' fighting Buu; most seemed to be brushing off the apparent danger they were being led to believe they were in! She couldn't blame them from not being able to comprehend the situation and not understanding what had been going on since the day of the tournament, yet right now was when they needed the Earthlings the most. They needed the Earthlings to listen and trust in her father and offer their energy!
"Hey, this energy isn't enough; this is just from our friends! What gives?" Goku shouted down to the others.
"The foolish Earthlings don't believe what I'm telling them!" Vegeta barked back frustrated before trying again: "Earthlings! Do you want Buu to kill you again? You have a chance to save your own lives, your own planet for once!"
Corset watched, relieved to see the Genki Dama become slightly bigger. It was still very disappointing to see so little energy given up by the large population of humans. Her anger started to build; why didn't these people understand the crisis they were in? Their ignorance would only become a hindrance to them all.
"He's sick! They steal your energy!"
"Be careful! Nobody raise your hands!"
"Who would listen to that freak?"
Vegeta's anger was boiling over yet for the most part he held his tongue. "... Those idiots! Worthless idiots!" He grunted under gritted teeth; the fight nearby catching his attention as the fat Buu's ki suddenly plummeted. Corset glanced over to the battle; fat Buu was weakening with every blow little Buu dealt to him. The miniature Buu held him by his antenna, continuously pounding his fist into the weakened Majin's stomach.
"Great, the fat one's dead!" Vegeta snapped frustrated and at a loss of what to do.
Fat Buu was released from little Buu's grasp, crashing to the ground with a heavy thud and light displacement of dust. He did not rise again, nor did he even move. Little Buu held out one hand, readying himself to finish the Majin off.
'No, we needed more time! Damn those stupid people!' Corset clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. The fat Buu couldn't fight anymore and surely the little Buu wouldn't just stand around waiting for the Earthlings to provide them with the ki they needed to defeat him! What were they supposed to do now?
"What are you doing to him? Stop it!" Mr Satan bellowed, rushing towards both Buus fearlessly. Along the way he grabbed a small stone from the ground and lobbed it straight towards the smaller of the Majin warriors. Little Buu was struck clean in the back of his head, the rock lightly bouncing off him. It was enough to take his attention away from the fatter Buu and draw it towards Mr Satan and the others standing behind him.
"Uh... I hit him... in the head..." Mr Satan wasn't the only one impressed and scared that the stone had hit! No one was entirely sure whether he'd meant for the stone to actually hit Buu or not but nothing could now be done about it. The most alarming part of all was that little Buu's expression had changed; Corset could see the interest and curiosity on his face even from where she stood. Could it be?
"Shit, he's seen us!" Vegeta realised quickly raising his guard.
"Why did he have to throw a stone at him?" Corset grunted annoyed, putting up her guard. Things were quickly getting worse and worse for them. First the Earthlings were deciding to shun her father's warnings and now Buu knew about the Genki Dama!
Buu shrieked loudly and charged for them.
"Kakarrot I'm going to buy you some time!" Vegeta barked frantically. "You need to convince the Earthlings!"
"What?" Corset gasped. "Dad, no! You're still weak from before!"
Vegeta teleported, reappearing level with Goku in an instant. Buu was face-to-face with him in seconds and began to taunt the Saiyan Prince letting one loose arm sway like a pendulum with a grin. The taunt agitated Vegeta, "Fool, I'll rip that arm right off!" He was heard grunting. The swaying arm suddenly extended and lodged itself into Vegeta's solar plexus, winding the stunned fighter who bent over backwards reeling in agony. Buu gave him no chance to recover, grabbing him by the hair and launching a violent assault on Vegeta.
Corset glanced up to Goku and clenched her fists infuriated that the Genki Dama still wasn't getting any bigger. She was sure it hadn't even grown in the past minute or so! Her father was now distracting Buu; she had to do something!
"Everyone, please give us your energy!" She cried to the Earthlings, not really sure whether or not Kaio was relaying her message. "Please, I know it's hard to believe what you're being told; I know Babidi also spoke to you in this way but please, trust us! We're not in league with him; we're trying to beat Buu and we need your help! Please just raise your hands to the sky!"
Seconds passed...
The Genki Dama grew a little more; Corset hoping her friends from Orange Star High School and some of her mother's colleagues at Capsule Corp had reciprocated and given their energy. She would surely have many, many questions to answer if they ever got back home but right now that didn't matter. Right now there were more important things than worrying about keeping her life a secret from her friends and colleagues.
It still wasn't enough. Nearby her father was getting the tar beat out of him; still trying to recover from their last encounter against Buu. Even in his newly revived body he seemed to be struggling against Buu who'd taken to using him as a punching bag.
"Hey, it's still not enough!" Goku cried.
Corset looked up helplessly at the blue ball of energy. "... I don't know what else to do..." She sighed. "Why won't they listen? Why won't you listen?" She screamed at the top of her lungs.
"Wow, she sounds whiny. Don't listen to her."
"Where are all these voices coming from anyway?"
"I'm not raising my hands, no way!"
It was too much for her to stand. Corset screamed with frustration, fed up with their ignorance and dismissal. She'd rather fight Buu than to be heckled by these innocent-minded morons! With fury burning through her body she turned to Goku, "Talk to them! I'm going to help out Dad!"
"Corset wait!" Goku barked. "Calm down; there's nothing you can do right now that will help Vegeta! At least wait until he's down and then charge in! We need all the time we can get!"
"I can't just stand here and not do anything!" Corset protested. "Dad's only just come back to life! Surely there are people who would recognise your voice? Mama told me all about your adventures as a kid where you saved a lot of people! Talk to the Earthlings and convince them!"
"... People of Earth," Goku started calmer than Corset was. "Please, give us your energy! We need your help! Raise your hands to the sky! Hurry!"
Begrudgingly Corset stayed rooted to the floor, watching her father be beaten down by Buu. She struggled to keep her mouth shut, struggled to not launch herself from the soil she stood on. Everything was crashing down around them. Super Saiyan Three hadn't worked; she and her father had barely managed to survive a minute fighting Buu and had then been forced to last a lot longer than planned, fat Buu was down for the count and now their last hope, the Genki Dama, was in danger of being too weak to destroy Buu... all because of the humans' lack of knowledge!
The Genki Dama once again grew, albeit pitifully.
"I only got a little more!" Goku groaned frustrated. "Why won't they understand?"
Vegeta was sent scraping across the ground, Buu closing in on him.
Corset's body lurched forwards. The rush consumed her as she transformed into a Super Saiyan Two, charging Buu head-on. There was no way was she going to just stand around and let her dad die for the second time in a week, or try to talk to those morons who shared the same home planet as she did! Anything she'd say to them now would only hinder their attempts; she was not in the mood to bite her tongue and restrain herself!
She hadn't gone unnoticed.
One crack to the head and another to her stomach sent her shooting back towards Mr Satan with a heavy crash into the side of a patch of raised ground. The attack had been fast, too fast for her blinded-with-frustration mind to register before it was too late.
Before Buu could chase after her, Vegeta had once again caught his attention with an attempted kick, though Buu easily dodged with his flexible elasticised body.
"Your fight is with me!" The Saiyan Prince spat, only receiving a grin from Buu which was followed up by him sticking his tongue out and blowing a raspberry jeeringly!
"Please! Don't you fools care about the Earth?" Goku yelled from high above. "Hurry!" Time was running out for all of them; Buu could only be held back for so long and if forced to launch the Genki Dama too early, Goku knew this would not be the final blow. It wasn't enough. He needed more strength and ki to be confident enough in the Genki Dama's power.
Corset felt a hand grab her and pull her onto her feet; Mr Satan supporting her under her arm. Her pride was battered from the obvious attack Buu'd struck her with; she should have been able to dodge that had it not been for her temper loss. The faint glimmer of the Genki Dama caught her eye, the reminder of their last hope slowly fading away. "Those idiots..." She spat. "... We're all going to die. They're all going to die again because they won't listen to us!"
"How rude? He's calling us fools?"
"That's no way to ask a favour!"
Corset stepped forward, releasing herself from Mr Satan's grasp, the man not saying anything and letting her wander forward a couple of steps. Corset was full of bitterness and frustration still as the hard truth slowly sank in. No, this would not turn out well for anyone apart from Buu. "There's no one here who can stop Buu. We had our chance and we blew it by relying on them, by expecting them to understand."
"Maybe the whole Buu thing never happened?"
"Yeah, maybe we were all under mass hypnosis!"
"We're finished," Corset grumbled.
Mr Satan frowned and looked down at the grass below him. "... I don't really get what's going on but is that weird ball of light gonna be able to wipe out this evil Buu?" He asked.
Corset looked at the man in surprise. It felt like this was the first time he was being serious and had grasped hold of the situation and not brushed off their techniques as nothing but smokes and mirrors. It was about time too! "... If Goku can get enough energy from everyone on Earth then yeah, we think so... but at this rate, with the power it has now, it won't even come close to beating Buu."
"... I see..." Mr Satan nodded pondering to himself. His brow crossed over a little as the human voices continued to speak out to them:
"Why should we listen to these people? I don't know them, why should I help them?"
"Who cares? It's probably just some lame joke, they're only pulling our leg!"
"Geez, if you want something done just do it yourself! Some of us are already busy with other things! Sheesh, how selfish of them assuming we have nothing better to do!"
"Oh shut up!" Mr Satan bellowed; he'd had enough of this. "Why can't you people just help? What if Mr Satan had your attitude?"
"H-Hey, that was Mr Satan's voice!"
"Why is Mr Satan there?"
"He saved us from Cell and now he's fighting for us against Majin Buu!"
Corset rapidly turned around, glancing back at the furious warrior. The fury on his face quickly faded as he realised his outburst had been heard by the entire population of Earth. His posture changed to that of a confident man, fists resting on his hips as a smile appeared on his face and an idea in his head. "Th-That's right!" He declared. "I want my people to help me beat him! I need you all to raise your hands to give me the energy needed to beat Buu! Those other guys talking to you earlier are my helpers but they've all failed. Now it's up to us to finally put an end to this monster once and for all!"
"What are you...?" Corset started, stopping in mid-sentence as his plan popped into her own head. Mr Satan was the hero of Earth and a very influential man; he even had a city named after him because he'd supposedly defeated Cell! 'Of course!' A smile emerged on her face. She wasn't entirely happy with the little white lie being told but for now it was a good thing.
Mr Satan glanced up to Goku, "Sorry, I had no choice..." He apologised. "They won't trust us otherwise unless they thought it was me fighting Buu. Beating Buu right now is all that counts, right?"
A scream from nearby followed by an earth-shattering explosion panicked Corset; her attention was drawn to the billowing dust cloud just twenty feet from them. Buu was up in the air laughing and pointing down at the crater. Her father was in there somewhere.
"H-Hey!"
Mr Satan's cry went unheard as Corset charged, with all the strength she had left it was all she could do to muster her Super Saiyan form and fly. Buu's attention was ripped away; Corset's fist inches from his face-
Bafflement consumed her; it felt as if she'd gone straight through air. Buu had manipulated his body and dodged swinging his midriff out in the shape of an s. The tired Super Saiyan was unable to keep up with his movements or even comprehend what had occurred. Pressure was suddenly on her throat once again stopping the breath from moving inside of her. Buu's arm had wrapped itself tightly around Corset's neck. Before she could grasp onto him with her hands, her world was sent spinning; Buu's wrist violently tore her from the ground and sent her whirling around in mid-air. Pain struck her lower back; a kick sent her shooting through the air, caught by the wrist before being yanked back in like a yo-yo. For what felt like an eternity, Corset was beaten and battered, unable to gain any sense of control over the fight or even regain any orientation confused as to which way gravity went. Her body grew limp with every assault Buu made. Vision blurred as the world became hazy around her, just about able to make out the light coming from the Genki Dama.
She couldn't feel her legs. Nothing wanted to move anymore. Buu released her from his bombardment of attacks and took a couple of satisfied steps back. Corset staggered briefly before she finally collapsed onto the floor with a thud. For a while she lay crumpled against the bottom of a rocky outcrop, surrounded by shattered rock. Her half-lidded eyes were left glancing absentmindedly at what lay before her. She could make out the Genki Dama to her right; it looked a lot bigger than the last time she'd seen it... Then to her left was Buu and another person... Someone right beside Buu; he too was stuck upon the ground unable to get up, the little minion towering over them.
Her dad was on the floor face down and under Buu's foot. Pink flashes of light distorted her vision every-so-often as Buu started to shoot off energy attacks at Goku who defiantly remained on the spot keeping the Genki Dama in place. She could just about hear her father and Goku shouting towards one another, unable to make out what they were saying...
Fat Buu suddenly launched himself into her view, tackling the little Buu and pinning him to the ground. From what she'd seen of him the fatter Majin had taken a lot of damage and probably wouldn't last long against his evil small counterpart. "SATAN!" He yelled through all the commotion.
'... What's he... doing?' Even her thoughts were slow. Corset felt herself drifting dangerously close to unconsciousness, willing herself to stay awake for as long as possible.
Mr Satan had rushed towards her father, slinging him over his shoulder and running over towards her. A fragment of a smile came over Corset's face as she realised the man and the first Buu had just saved her father; in the corner fat Buu was sent flying on the receiving end of an energy ball out of her visual field.
"Good work, Mr Satan! Maybe you are the world's champion!" Goku yelled though his voice was distorted to Corset's ears. Her vision blurred, warm tears streaming down her cheeks. She felt so tired; her body wailed in agony, no longer able to move. She'd been reduced to resting against uncomfortable rocks which she was sure were making her injuries to her back worse. Her knees were bloodied, her body beaten, clothes ragged.
The Genki Dama was fired.