AN:This is a rerelease of this chapter to change several problems, though none of the grammatical variety, sorry.
31
The departure of their friends from the stands didn't go unnoticed by the competing Z-Fighters.
"I know that I said they would handle any problem that came up," Gohan spoke quietly as the ring officials cleaned up in preparation for the second round of fights, "but I wasn't expecting anything to happen so soon."
"I think I saw them talking to a short guy with a mohawk before they left," Yamcha added, not really as concerned as the others. His sense of danger was admittedly not as keen as the saiyans or the former Guardian of Earth, so he'd just been thinking they hadn't been looking forward to their matches against each other.
"Yeah, I saw him too. He didn't look like he was threatening anybody, so I didn't pay him any mind."
"Well you should." Piccolo at last spoke, turning to face the rest of them. With the number of contestants cut in half, it was now much easier for them to have a conversation without being overheard. "That was the Supreme Kai of our Universe they were talking to."
There was a sufficient amazement from all of them at the revelation. Gohan, the only one among them who had met the Grand Kai, seemed the most gobsmacked. "You mean to say that the singular being in charge of monitoring all life in the Universe was just talking to Trunks and the others at a martial arts tournament?!" He looked down at the ground for a moment before looking back to his mentor with a deep frown. "Why didn't you tell us earlier?"
"Yeah, what gives?" Goku crossed his arms, though he still looked baffled more than anything else. "That kinda sounds like a 'concerns all of us' thing."
Piccolo looked away. "We aren't meant to be interfering with the work of gods. I wasn't going to draw attention to him, but he said that he needed help with some enemy that is on Earth, and he needed their help. Our job is to watch Yamu because he could lead us to wherever their base is."
Goku and the others accepted this, as they would about many of Piccolo's decrees, but Gohan still glared at the namekian. "You should have told us anyway, the moment you knew there was trouble. God or no God, we have our responsibility to the planet and that comes first."
"Not everything is so black and white-"
"And some things are EXACTLY that black and white!" The sudden volume drew the attention of the other remaining contestants. Gohan seemed to hesitate under all the scrutiny before turning on his heel, a storm cloud around his head. He glared out at the crowd, annoyed that they were as much part of the problem as anything else, and was surprised when his eyes fixated on someone. A girl, with long dark hair and thick-rimmed glasses, seated right next to the exit. She stood out for how little she was moving compared to everyone around her, knees brought up to her chin and hugged tightly to her by thin arms. She looked very defensive for somebody not signed up for the tournament.
Gohan didn't know her name, but he nonetheless recognized her; the girl he'd had a collision with in the school hallway a few weeks back. She was unremarkable, but he still remembered her. He'd thought she was going to talk to him then, but seeing her now it looked like she didn't really talk to anyone, or had even come to this event with anybody for that matter.
Seeing somebody so visibly uncomfortable threw a bucket of ice on Gohan's irritation, making him take a step back and relax. He closed his eyes for a few seconds before turning back to his group, wiping his hands on his workout shirt to mask his slight embarrassment, determined but quieter. "Alright, I understand your reasons, Piccolo, but you have to admit that we are hardly the sort of people to just stand idly by and let things happen. We have information, numbers and definitely power on our side; let's formulate a plan instead of waiting to react. If we just let the enemy walk right up to us it could already be too late."
"Hm." Piccolo huffed, but the faintest grin was turning the corner of his lips. "When did you become such a grand strategist?" He nodded, once. "What did you have in mind?"
Gohan pointed at the tall, red man standing like a statue a ways off. "First, we're going to talk to Kibito: the way he's dressed and how he's been acting say pretty loud and clear that he's here with the Supreme Kai. Then, we're going to help Trunks and the others as best we can, even if we can't leave the Tournament right away. Contact Dende, see if he can tell us anything – he's the Guardian of Earth, he probably should have been the first person the Supreme Kai talked to." Gohan stopped to meet the eye of his father and friends. "We've got this."
Yamcha smacked his fist into his palm a couple of times, amped up. Chioutzou and Piccolo nodded to each other and started walking over to Kibito. Goku smiled broadly and put a hand on his son's shoulder. "Now that was a pep talk. I'll follow your lead, Gohan."
The bureaucratic administrator of Hell, King Yemma, was tapping his fingers repetitiously against his cheek, eyes looking out through the decorative openings of his office. His mind was, for the first time in centuries, drifting from his work and circling around another issue entirely. It was above his paygrade -anything involving the Supreme Kai was- but he just couldn't shake it from his thoughts. Twice in a decade, events were playing out in ways he had never even considered possible before. Earth had become such a hotspot for excitement, he'd had a few of his ogres make a projector screen large enough to cover one of his walls so that they could witness the next big episode that would surely transpire there, and he suspected the time was close.
But for so much attention to be levied on one planet...he had started to think. The natural way of things was slowly but steadily skewing out of balance, or at least in a way that he couldn't predict. Gods were being surpassed in strength by mortals, the rules of Hell were being tossed out the door, souls and bodies were being swapped, and it felt like there was a plan unfolding that none of them could perceive.
It was enough that he'd decided to be a little proactive.
Breaking his gaze away from the endless expanse outside, Yemma adjusted in his seat to face the other way and pulled open the top drawer of his desk. There were several papers, replacement pens, capped inkwells for stamps, and a solitary folder with a single sheet inside. Taking out that folder, he opened it up to look at the form, though he already knew the words on it by heart. A special pass for one soul to proceed directly to the living realm for twenty-four hours. Hardly a unique allowance, thanks to that meddling Fortuneteller Baba, who had been bothering him just that morning, but this one was special in that it was entirely of his own authority and choice.
If he had to authorize it, it would most assuredly be a gamble with what the Supreme Kai was playing with, thus his restless mind. He was unused to worrying about such matters, but he was no fool, and the decision would be met with the proper scrutiny and judgment if the time came.
He very truly hoped that it never did.
Trunks looked around the street several times before taking to the air, slowly and quietly at first but kicking up the speed as soon as he passed above the tallest building nearest them, his aura leaving a trail like a jet plane. Tien, Krillin and the Supreme Kai were right with him, matching his speed expertly, though the Kai was noticeably hanging back slightly, just enough to better watch their movements and copy them.
It was almost surreal to Trunks, how quickly he and the other two warriors slipped back into formation like they had during the hunt for Sel. It had been longer for them than it had been for him, but it still felt like a different lifetime. He hadn't missed the fear and uncertainty, but being with friends he trusted implicitly was something he would never undervalue.
He looked down at the palm-computer Bulma had given him and adjusted his course to match the directions on the screen.
"Babidi is extremely dangerous, moreso than even his father was. His magic is insidious and there is little he can't achieve with it. He especially delights in invading minds and twisting thoughts to suit his own purposes."
"I've had a little experience with the type," Krillin supplied, looking disturbed. Tien looked at him, interested.
"Something you encountered in space?"
"No, actually!" Krillin chuckled ruefully. "Here on Earth, a good while ago now. A guy called Dr. Wheelo brainwashed Piccolo to try and put his own brain in Roshi's body, it was...it was a whole thing, really weird day." The other three gave him a long look before silently allowing the subject to drop for the time being.
"Yes, well, Babidi is quite fond of the method and often surrounds himself with victims as converted followers. He can also bolster the power of those he influences, bringing out wells of strength that makes them dangerous and often unpredictable. Anyone he manages to put his mark on should be considered an extreme threat and treated with all possible caution."
"Should we be worried that he'll do that to us?" Trunks frowned, really not liking the sound of this at all. "If we show up, are we just giving him more soldiers to use?"
"I do not believe so. Though I have only witnessed the end result, I believe that Babidi can only effectively control those with evil in their heart, or else he would have mind controlled myself or any other kai long ago."
"Yeah, let's hope so." Trunks looked at the scanner again to reaffirm they were on the right course. He didn't like walking into a fight with an enemy that had a power they were more or less completely unfamiliar with, but what choice did they have? They would just need to be more cautious than usual, and really hope Shin could guard them from the worst of the magical attacks. Pretty shaky strategy, he had to admit. "Alright, let's pick up the pace; we can be at the Southwest Forest in ten minutes."
He allowed more of his power to bolster his flight and was shrinking against the horizon in an instant, the other Z-Fighters and the Shin following suit.
Kibito's back was so straight it might as well have been a wall as he glowered down his nose at the namekian and the psychic. His master, Lord Supreme Kai, had told him to keep an eye on the saiyan Goku, and by extension those with him, but actually engaging with them had not been part of his orders. What's more, the departure of Lord Supreme Kai had been unplanned and he had been uncertain about his course of action.
But now, with the two earthlings talking to him, he realized that his Master was trusting him to monitor the situation here, and proceed with his own judgment. The two saiyans and the human were approaching as well. Now that he had ascertained the human Yamu was the only servant of Babidi present, Kibito decided that he could safely converse with the lot without compromising the entire mission.
They did not have as much time as he would like, and he wanted to return to the side of his master as soon as possible, so he would need to work with these 'Z-Fighters' in order to outmaneuver Yamu and force him into a position of their choosing. But if that was what they were to do then there was only one thing they needed: bait.
"To start the second round of the tournament, would contestants Kephamet and Yamcha please enter the ring!"
Bulma watched as the former bandit walked up the steps ahead of the tall, sour-faced beastwoman with a strong resemblance to the earlier defeated Kapho. Family, most likely. She wasn't really paying all that much attention to the fight, her mind spinning around the problem the Supreme Kai had brought to their doorstep. Never before had they had this much information to act on but absolutely no time to work with, and that was sending her creative mind into overdrive trying to brainstorm a solution.
Surely, surely, there was a better way to solve this than to try and punch the hardest. All of the magic phenomena she'd encountered and dealt with in the past were insane and pushed the boundaries of possibility quite thin, but they had all been within a particular set of rules; physical contact, a certain time of day, purely aesthetic, whatever else. This Babidi jerk may have been the most powerful sorcerer in their entire universe, but she doubted he was good enough to use magic completely at his leisure and without cost, or else why would he even bother resurrecting Buu at all?
She scowled, irritated that she hadn't asked more questions when the Kai had been right here. Something about him told her that he wasn't as totally on top of the situation as he let on, but he at least knew enough to feed her hypothesis and theories much needed information. She had her communicator, the twin of the one she'd given Trunks, so if she absolutely had to she could get in touch with them, but the wireless technology was still finicky in places, and they were probably already going faster than the satellites could track them for a signal.
Looking down at the screen of the handheld computer, barely taking note of the 'New Mail' icon that had popped up in the corner. Not even on her days off or with the lives of everyone on the planet on the line could she get a real break from work. Honestly, the only reason she hadn't pawned the company responsibilities onto some executive better at shuffling and signing papers was the all too real threat of a hostile takeover occurring right under her nose. With the obscene amounts of money they earned every year from their numerous product lines, every other large company in the world was a viable threat if she was complacent for even a second.
Making a noise in the back of her throat, she tapped on the mail icon to open it up, immediately disappointed to see it was just a breaking news article from one of the outlets she kept tabs on. She almost closed it right away, almost cast the whole thing from her memory forever, but her eye caught the words "unexplained explosions" under the headline. Something in that whispered to her, and she skimmed through the first paragraph of the page to see if there was something notably out place.
"East City...midday commute...numerous explosions...strange lights...extreme property damage..." She didn't have to be one of the muscleheads to recognize the work of a super-powered being at play. With what she knew now, it would have been the simplest thing to reason that it was another minion of Babidi wreaking havoc and gathering energy. But another spark of information in the article had her thinking otherwise. "...many injured, but no reported casualties..."
Would Babidi or his men really go out of their way to make such a ruckus but abstain from taking innocent lives? From the picture the Supreme Kai had painted for them, that would be the exact opposite of their MO. No, this wasn't just destruction; this was the collateral damage of a fight going on. Someone, hopefully someone on their side, was duking it out with someone else, and that was where she was fairly certain it must be a member of Babidi's crew.
Seventeen had declined coming to the Tournament with them, last time she'd seen him, so it might be him out there fighting back, but she had no way to confirm that. That didn't mean she was out of options to find out, however.
"Trunks, stay here with Chi Chi for a few minutes, I'm going to go talk to Goku real quick."
Trunks immediately started to plead his case for coming along, Goten joining in automatically, but Chi-Chi put her hand on his head to keep him from jumping out of his seat. "What do you need to talk to Goku about right now?" Chi Chi queried, frowning a little. "We just had an intermission."
"I need him to use Instant Transmission to look into...something," she waffled, looking at the two young boys suspiciously, "over in East City. He'll get there fastest out of everyone, and I need it done right away."
Chi Chi, while not normally the easiest person to work around, seemed to catch on and only nodded to Bulma, getting up to sit between the boys to better manage them. The match ended with a KO and Yamcha was moving on to the semi-finals. Next up, Piccolo and Kibito.
Goku materialized with a sharp noise, startling the people on the sidewalk around him, but they all mostly seemed to be preoccupied with moving along, away from the oily smoke that was emanating from the multi-car pileup that was burning like a bonfire. The road had been blasted to pieces, some spots all the way down to the sewers underneath, and there were great chunks knocked out of the surrounding buildings, the rubble scattered around like they had been fired out of a cannon. The droning of emergency sirens, ambulances, fire fighters and the police was dizzying.
Looking around and expanding his senses outwards, it didn't take Goku more than a few seconds to conclude that whoever had been fighting here had already moved on. He didn't really think the fight was over, just relocated, but he couldn't clearly sense any abnormal power levels from here, so there wasn't much hope for tracking them. He didn't like leaving things like this, but he couldn't risk being away for too long, not when they were just starting to get a plan together. Even so, if he felt something like this pop up again he didn't think he would hesitate to interrupt and put an end to it.
The coordinates Bulma had gotten for them hadn't been pinpoint accurate, which was expected, but none of them had realized just how large the Southwest Forest was, or how little of a forest it would actually turn out to be. Mostly open fields and plains, which sounded like it would help with their search, but there were plenty of crags and the occasional valley to complicate matters.
There really was no better option than to lower their altitude and begin searching. Miles and miles of unremarkable land zipped by under them, blending together. They would stop to investigate any notable crevice or shrouded area for a sign of a spaceship making landfall with no luck. Any conversation had dried up as soon as they got there, so it was mostly silent work, and in that silence the tension started to grow. Every second they spent peering into shadows and ducking under branches further underlined just how unprepared they were for this mission, and that old fear started to set in.
Shin especially started to seem unnerved, wringing his hands and occasionally glancing over his shoulder like there was an incoming ambush. He had mentioned that he previously fought against Majin Buu, many, many thousands of years ago, though he had been light on details regarding the specifics, and it was starting to seem to the others that he may have some lingering baggage from back then, if that was even possible for a god.
Hardly a good sign
Piccolo and Kibito's bout started with an extended stare-down between the two. The crowd was restless and started to heckle the fighters but...slowly, everyone quieted down as an invisible sense of gravity started to surround them. A rare quiet took the stadium, uneasy whispers the most that could be heard. It was like the outside world had ceased to exist for those moments, even the wind hushing itself, only gently lapping at the edges of Piccolo's cape.
Kibito nodded curtly and they were both gone in an instant, thunderclaps following after their movements. Several resounding booms resonated as they collided around the arena, Kibito circling backward as he defended himself soundly from Piccolo's probing attacks. The audience abruptly came alive, yelling their excitement and cheering whoever they preferred. The announcer, taken aback, struggled to catch his commentary up with the action, eyes straining.
Despite how impressive it looked to the spectators, the two fighters were keeping their power subdued, just enough for the spectacle. Gohan glanced over Yamu's way and, just as predicted, the gaunt man had once again pulled out the little device and was directing the large point of it towards the ring, watching the screen closely. A power monitor, to help him track down an adequate energy source for his master.
What the man's baseline standard for an adequate energy source actually was, they had no way of knowing just yet, but if they played this smart then it wouldn't really matter; they would give him a target he couldn't possibly ignore. And Gohan was more than willing to put on a show.
Krillin hung from the rim of the gorge with one hand, mostly held aloft by his ki instead of his muscles, and he scanned the interior of the shadowy depths. The angle of the sun prevented him from seeing all the way to the bottom, but he could hear the echos of of a stream running uninterrupted through the unseen bottom. It was far too narrow a space for any spaceship he'd ever seen to enter without causing extreme environmental damage – even an attack pod would have to land perfectly in a vertical descent to avoid the walls, and that was best case possible.
Letting his grip relax, he rose swiftly into the sky above without disturbing a pebble. He could see Trunks poking around a cliff side a little ways off, his cerulean jacket standing out greatly against the uniform orange-brown color the landscape had morphed into for miles around. He wasn't too sure where Shin and Tien had gone, but it wouldn't really be a challenge to regroup.
The real problem was that they had no idea if they were even going in the right direction for their search; they could be moving away from Babidi's ship every second and there just wasn't any way for them to know. Shin had been asked about a magical solution, but he revealed that he had tried to use a crystal ball while on his home planet, but the sorcerer had apparently set up a strong shroud around himself that made any remote surveillance futile, thus the fieldwork.
That really wasn't making their prospects look all that great if the highest positioned Kai in the entire Universe was being stonewalled and needed to get his hands dirty. If he of all beings was stumped, what chance did anyone else have?
"H-hello? Krillin? Can you hear me? Can you hear my voice?"
The short human stopped in his tracks, frozen in the air as he looked looked around instinctively for a speaker before both realizing and remembering what this was: telepathy. He didn't recognize whoever it was, but they knew him by name, so he was willing to go with it.
"Uh, yeah? Hello?"
"It worked! I have never used telepathy before, but Piccolo used it to talk to me and instructed me how to use it myself, but I didn't know if I could get the hang of it in so short a time!"
Krillin frowned, thinking. Young, excited, deferential to Piccolo. If Gohan had still been a kid, he might have second guessed himself, but there was just one person on the planet he could really think this was. "Hi, Dende! It's been a long time, sorry we haven't had a chat since I got back, but things have been a little...hectic."
"I know about what's going on, Piccolo talked me through it. I had thought I sensed something strange not too long ago, but I couldn't See anything so I just thought I needed more practice."
"If it's any consolation, the Supreme Kai couldn't really sense them either, so don't feel bad about not finding them."
There was a longer than normal pause. "I, ah, did actually find them. I just needed to focus a bit and I can see them clearly now, where they've landed their spaceship."
Krillin stared up into the sky for a second before chuckling awkwardly. "Oh! Well...yeah, guess we should have come seen the Guardian of Earth first thing, then! I'll get everyone and then we can go from there." The human nodded to himself. "Here we go."
Bulma had put away her smuggled food, appetite effectively squashed by the mood in the stadium as well as the crisis that had snuck up on them. Figures, the first time they had gotten together as a group in years was the exact day this would fall in their lap.
She knew how serious the danger was, she could recognize that perfectly fine, but it almost felt like a weird joke that nobody was laughing at. This sham of a tournament, and then the boss of the Kais showing up and asking for her by name, it just all seemed...fake, forced. What wasn't she seeing?
Trunks was sulking in the seat in front of her, playing with a beaded bracelet. He had already known that he wouldn't be able to compete, but the idea of going off on his own adventure with the others must have sounded like a dream come true for the kid. He had been raised on the almost unbelievable stories about what she, Goku, Oolong, Yamcha and all the rest had been through in their lives; no chance he hadn't always believed he'd be able to make some of his own one day.
But interplanetary sorcerers and ancient beings of evil were weeeeeeellll past the line she would have accepted for him to face. If it was just a quest for the Dragon Balls, over a summer, or maybe one of those wackier nutjobs who tried to rule over a town or village, she would have packed his camping bag herself. But all of this...
Piccolo lost the match, seemingly knocked from the ring and landing on his feet several meters out of bounds. The crowd cheered, actually invigorated by this point, and the announcer sounded relieved as he called out Kibito as the winner. Neither really reacted to the result, just walking back to the side. Piccolo hadn't even taken off his cape and turban.
The very next bout was going to be between Chioutzu and Gohan, and the odds weren't favoring the former. Bulma had never really figured out all the ins and outs of ki, and energy, and whatever else they used to make huge explosions and break all conceivable laws of physics, but she was pretty confidant that the gap between their respective levels of strength left little room for hope for the short psychic. Last time she'd seen him compete, he'd been completely distracted by a simple math problem.
How could he feasibly bridge a gulf that wide?
Krillin had called Trunks over and the two had reconvened with the other half of their search party, information quickly being shared. For his part, Shin looked embarrassed to be outdone by the Guardian of Earth, but he didn't begrudge that someone, anyone, had succeeded in locating the sorcerer.
"This is great news. I shall contact Kibito and tell him to keep monitoring Babidi's agent at the Tournament, but I believe that we should head to the location of the ship now, since we are so close. If need arises, Kibito has the ability to transport extremely quickly across great distances and can bring backup."
Tien, Trunks and Krillin shared a look. "Ah, so can Goku."
Shin had turned around to start in the right direction, but he quickly swiveled back around, eyes widened. "Truly? I thought such magics would be beyond most mortals, let alone a saiyan."
"I don't really know if it's magic at all," Trunks filled in, taking a few steps forward with his fists on his waist. "But he learned a technique called 'Instant Transmission' years ago. So long as he can sense an energy level or has some familiarity with location, he can take himself and any number of people there, well, instantly."
The Supreme Kai considered this for a few seconds, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "I see, that does sound like an invaluable asset, though Kibito's version doesn't have any limitations on where he can go within the universe, the two seem like they balance each other well. Thank you for sharing this with me, it might prove instrumental. For the time being, we should get to Babidi's ship as quickly as we can so he does not have the opportunity to sow more seeds of chaos. Guardian Dende, please show us the way."
As the half-saiyan and the human(?) mounted the steps to the arena, it was to the excited buzz of the crowd and cheers egging them both on. Even with large patches of the seats left unoccupied, the vibe of Tournaments past was starting to bleed back in.
That was nice and all, but there was a job to do.
The two comrades took their places, standing with about a third of the ring between them. When the announcer called for the fight to begin and the gong was rung, they bowed at the waist before assuming their stances. Well, Gohan went into the Turtle stance, just as his father had taught him, but Chioutzu mostly just still stood up straight with unbent arms or legs. Gohan frowned to himself, not really sure if Chioutzu was ready or not, but decided to move first. Leaping to the right, he landed nimbly on one foot and then launched himself at Chioutu's side in a blur of motion.
He didn't even make it within a meter of the diminutive fighter when he crashed fully into something immovably solid, his forehead bouncing off and his arms painfully crumpling against his chest. Recovering, he stepped back, eyes darting around to find the source of the obstruction, but there was absolutely nothing between them, not even a shimmer in the air.
Pulling his arms back, Gohan filled both hands with golden energy and hurled them into the space around the psychic. Instead of impacting against an invisible barrier, both ki blasts seemed to implode midair and then shrink in on themselves in a perfect sphere before being released into the air as mere puffs of smoke.
No better off than before, Gohan opted to increase the quantity of his attack, looking for an opening. Throwing out a flurry of smaller ki blasts, he tracked them as they were either squashed like the first two had been, hit an invisible wall or seemingly redirected into the floor harmlessly. Whatever Chioutzu was doing, it was varied and fast enough that Gohan wasn't detecting a pattern in the defenses.
Playing into this strategy was getting him nowhere, he would just need to need to improvise until he made opportunity.
Jumping back once more, Gohan began to run around close to the perimeter of the arena, firing a constant stream of ki blasts at Chioutzu. He interrupted his rhythm by jumping about, changing direction, feinting, firing a larger ki blast that moved faster than the rest, just about anything he could think of to cause confusion in his opponent. Even so, he still was hit several times by psychic constructs and ran into undetectable barriers. Chioutzu had by this point assumed a meditative pose and was floating in the air, eyes still open as he watched Gohan's movements.
The audience was split unevenly between excitement at the light show and confusion at why only one competitor seemed to be doing anything. They had absolutely no idea what Gohan was struggling against and could very easily come to the assumption that he was just performing some kind of act, like a martial artist mime with lasers, terrifying as that thought was. That was until the fire started.
With only a sharp rise in the immediate temperature as warning, a circle of flame sprouted directly under Gohan's feet. The young man yelped and hopped away, but the flames followed after him like his own shadow. Gritting his teeth as his shoes and pants singed at the edges, Gohan leapt into the air, rising diagonally upward and away from the offending fire, half expecting it to erupt into a pillar of heat to follow after him. Instead, it shrank back onto the ground and spread out, tiny licks of phantom fire on the tiles of the arena.
Very aware that he was just as vulnerable to an invisible attack up here as he'd been on solid earth, Gohan tried to formulate a plan as quickly as he could. All the handicaps he was burdened with weren't helping, not to mention Chioutzu being way more formidable than he'd anticipated. The only other psychic he'd ever fought had been Guldo on Planet Namek, and there didn't really feel like there was any overlap in the styles of the Ginyu Force member and the other Z-Fighter; where Guldo had been mostly reactionary and panicked every time he and Krillin had closed in on him, Chioutzu had made himself the center of a storm of his own making and wasn't letting Gohan get anywhere near him.
Ramping up his attack wasn't going to get him anywhere other than potentially disqualified, so he would need to rely on his brain to crack this fortress.
Tipping forward, Gohan sped headfirst back down, holding his hands out and firing a short volley of ki bullets. When they impacted against nothing, he twisted around and changed his trajectory at a near right angle. He zoomed forward for a second before he fired another set of shots and once again changing his direction while steadily descending. He repeated the process twice more, and that's when he slipped a larger than average ki blast in among the rest, splitting his attention so as to remotely guide it in the opposite direction he was going, temporarily lost among the scattershot before hiding it just under the edge of the arena.
He replicated this maneuver again, and then a third time, but his speed could no longer protect him and he crashed into an intangible barrier. His vision flashed white for the briefest instant as his skull took the brunt of the impact, but he tried to move away on instinct. Instead, he was hit from behind by another telekinetic force, this one like a car dropped onto his shoulders from a mile up. He went limp and landed heavily on the arena, mind swirling for a moment too long.
He tried to push himself up, but yet another force was pressing down onto him and enveloping him to create a prison of impossible weight, constricting his arms and legs to the point of immobility. There was a sudden, splitting noise and cracks appeared under where he was restrained, the force of the telekinesis too much for the tiles to take. Gohan could still move his head and he looked up at Chioutzu, who was holding both of his hands out, palms directed at the half-saiyan, and his eyes were tightly shut as sweat dotted his temples. Without a noise, Gohan began to slide backwards, carted along by the power of the psychic's mind.
There was very little space between him and a ring-out, so Gohan tensed his muscles and began pulsing his power in rising levels, attempting as best he could to break free. Chioutzu doubled down, groaning as his mental strength was taxed closer and closer to the limit in holding down the superpowered teenager, his cap knocked off his head by the growing winds. Gohan kept flexing his power, letting more out until he was on the cusp of outright transforming into a Super Saiyan, poor Chioutzu looking like he was about to faint, barely able to inch Gohan across the floor.
That was exactly what Gohan had been waiting for. Extending his awareness out to the planted ki blasts, he called them back, slightly staggering their speed. Chioutzu somehow was able to sense them and react in time, clenching his fists and summoning a wall behind him to guard against the attacks, but they were all coming from different angles and he didn't have a line of sight on them, so one slipped past his defenses and hit him in the back with a small burst of light. It shocked him that he'd been hit far more than it caused him pain, and his concentration was broken.
Gohan needed no further incentive. Drawing his power back inside him for a heartbeat before unleashing it all at once, he shattered the invisible bonds on his body and caused a shockwave to ripple outwards and further stagger Chioutzu and even momentarily pin some of the closest audience members against their seats. At that level of release, his power made him faster than any camera on Earth could follow as he launched himself forward, grabbing the front of Chioutzu's shirt and dragging him along as they went arcing through the air and out of the arena. Just before they hit the neatly trimmed grass, Gohan stuck out the arm holding Chioutzu and, rather gently, planted his feet out of bounds while the half-saiyan floated upside down above him, his own shirt slipping down to catch under his arms.
There was a long pause in the stadium before the crowd started cheering, not entirely sure what they had just seen, but thrilled by the extravaganza nonetheless. Chioutzu blinked his eyes open, stunned for a moment as he took in what happened. He looked up at the suspended Gohan, mouth slightly agape, before he smiled. "That was incredible work, Gohan!"
The teenager allowed himself a smile as he let go of the smaller fighter and landed on his own feet. The announcer declared Gohan the winner by way of ring-out, Chi Chi audible over the crowd as she cheered for her son. The two Z-Fighters walked back to their group, amicably silent. Yamcha was the first to congratulate them on a great match, clapping Gohan on the back and holding out his hand for a high-five from Chioutzu. Piccolo and Goku expressed their respect as well, moreso from the latter as the first merely gave a half-grin and a nod to both of them. The only one of their number who didn't seemed pleased was, expectedly, Kibito, but it was for a different reason than just not caring.
"That was a tremendous expenditure of energy, far greater than nearly any being on this planet should be capable of, and yet Yamu did not act."
As one, they all looked over at the deathly pale man in the corner. He was clutching at his alleged power scanner with hands that would doubtlessly have had white knuckles if there was color to spare on his skin, and his eyes were practically bugging out of his skull at the result.
"Maybe he thinks Gohan can do better in the next bracket, or in the semi finals, against a stronger opponent," Goku ventured. If they got that far, it was pretty likely that Gohan would be facing one of them or Yamu himself. "Has the Supreme Kai gotten back to you yet?"
Kibito gave him an ineffective withering look. "Lord Supreme Kai's last message was that he and your compatriots were on their way to Babidi's ship under the guidance of the Guardian of Earth, nothing more, as you already know. When he requires my presence, he will summon me, and it is not my place to pester him with requests for an update on the situation."
Goku had tuned him out halfway through his protracted 'no', thinking hard while the next two contestants were called up. "If they're pretty much already there, then we don't really need to stay here and wait for Yamu to do whatever it is he's going to do."
"Wrong. Any servant of Babidi must be considered an extreme threat and capable of nearly anything to achieve his goals. We simply cannot allow Yamu to remain here to potentially cause a disruption to Lord Supreme Kai's plans."
Goku kinda doubted the Supreme Kai really had much of a plan since it had been them to suggest most of it, but he decided not to anger the big guy right then. "I'm not saying we leave him here! We can just go over there, grab him, and Instant Transmission to where the guys are at and then we'll all be there and can handle Babidi in no time!"
Kibito frowned. Lord Supreme Kai had relayed the information about Goku's ability and how it varied from his own teleportation, and an instantaneous movement did seem preferable when dealing with Babidi and his foul magic, but he was loathe to act so impulsively when he had not received any further instruction past keeping watch on Yamu. Then again, what Goku suggested had weight to it, and dealing with Babidi by Lord Supreme Kai's side rather than having to wait here was much more preferable for the attendant, and it would not be breaking his instructions to do so. He quickly decided that he could form a compromise between the two options.
"We shall remain here and continue to monitor Yamu. However, should Lord Supreme Kai request us, or if I sense that my master is near imminent danger, then we shall do as you suggest and apprehend Yamu and regroup with the others."
"Do you mean if you sense really high powers signatures by the Supreme Kai's location?" Piccolo queried, not wanting any ambiguity between them. Kibito once again frowned at the improper address of the universal deity, but he nodded without comment. "Alright, good, we'll be paying attention as well. Will we all be going?" He posed the question to his group rather than to Kibito, looking from one to the next. Gohan and Goku immediately nodded, but Yamcha and Chioutzu looked uncertain.
"Hurts to say, but I'm not sure how helpful I'd be, with three super saiyans and you there," Yamcha admitted, flushing a little with shame. All that training, and he still couldn't hold a candle to these guys.
Chioutzu was still sweating as he spoke up. "I would definitely go, but I'm not at my best after that match, and I would hate if Tien had to worry about me while he fought." Gohan glanced awkwardly to the side, thinking he had gone too far to win their contest.
"Very well, you two will remain here," Piccolo concluded, slightly surprised that Yamcha was backing away from a fight now, after that stunt he pulled against Metal-Broly. He supposed the human had a point that there would already be a surplus of power when they got there, but even so...
"For the time being, we shall continue to wait," Kibito asserted, looking at the current fight but not really watching it. Divine beings such as he didn't hold to superstitions like mortals, but he couldn't shake a sudden 'bad feeling' he was getting.
Trunks didn't have binoculars or any sort of view-finder, but looking down from the ledge of a cliff and into the valley below, it was near impossible to mistake the hut-sized white structure for something that was meant to be there.
For one thing, there was a large, near-perfect circle of heavily disturbed dirt with the small structure situated at dead center. There was also a stylized 'M' proudly emblazoned above the closed doorway, taking much of the guesswork out of it when you already knew to who that symbol belonged.
And, finally, the family members of the homestead situated just outside the perimeter of the circle lay slain on their front lawn, both parents struck down while trying to reach their child.
This was a scene the time-traveler was entirely too familiar with.
"No wonder Kibito and I failed to find Babidi's ship – we were looking for a vessel when he had disguised it from all but the closest inspection. He eliminated any witnesses while he was at it."
Krillin had forcefully shut his eyes, fists trembling for a few moments before he collected himself and breathed deeply to assuage his emotions. Tien was as appalled as the rest of them, but he put the feeling to the side as he observed the situation.
"I don't see or sense anyone down there. Since you said he almost certainly has Majin Buu on his ship, I highly doubt he left it completely unguarded, so his ship must have some protections around it to prevent anyone from detecting it or its crew. We have no way of knowing how many are in there or how powerful they are."
"We are at a disadvantage in that regard," Shin agreed, "but Babidi also doesn't know that we are already here, so we have surprise on our side."
"Well, yeah, but what are we supposed to do with that?" Krillin scratched the back of his hand thoughtfully. "Do we storm the ship or do we wait?"
"I think...I believe that we should wait. Babidi is being extremely cautious and would not want to deliberately bring attention to himself, so he more than likely wouldn't have sent out more than one or two servants to gather energy, at least not until he was close to reviving Majin Buu."
Tien hummed, not sounding convinced, but he didn't yet press the issue.
Trunks, however, seemed to have other ideas. He pulled an unmarked capsule from his jacket pocket and clicked the top without throwing it to the ground. A burst of smoke and fanciful noise after, he held his sheathed sword by the hilt, the weight settling in his hand comfortably. He jumped into the air as he slung the strap of the scabbard over his head, zooming straight toward Babidi's submerged spaceship.
The other three were briefly mute, the moment only broken when Tien clapped a hand to his head with a muttered "Saiyans..."
"No! Do not go down there!" The Supreme Kai panicked, scrambling up the rocks to call after Trunks. "That fool! He will give us away!"
Krillin had sighed mightily and was rising into the air to follow after his friend, Tien also following his lead. "Yeah, definitely. You probably shouldn't have told the son of Vegeta to wait around while the bad guys are just a stones throw away."
Shin pivoted to stare at them, his eyes somehow even wider than before, face noticeably paler, too. "He is Vegeta's son?!" The two humans shared a mildly confused look before Krillin simply nodded. "I thought the small boy at the Tournament was his son!"
"Well, yeah, he is - but Trunks, the one that just charged in over there - is the same guy but from the future."
"HE'S A TIME-TRAVELER!?"
"Uhhh..."
Krillin was saved from having to explain the whole thing by an explosion.
Goku had been just about to step up into the arena to have his match against the robe-wearing Magagigo when he'd felt the surge of ki. He froze, one foot on the steps, focusing his awareness with practiced precision until he could feel the source as clearly as if he'd been standing right there – Trunks, powered up but not yet transformed.
He looked back to Piccolo and the others, uncertain. All of them had clearly also felt the rise in power; they had been waiting for exactly that. But at the moment, it was only Trunks who was powered up. None of the others had raised their ki, and Goku couldn't even sense another person anywhere close to them. Was he trying to signal them? Get that Babidi guy's attention?
Gohan was frowning, eyes unfocused.
"Er, Goku, are you ready to begin?" The announcer queried, still over the speaker system. The fighter looked over to him for a second, then back to his group. 'Yes or no?'
After just another moment of hesitation, Gohan shook his head. They would wait, but there probably wouldn't be any more second-guessing. Goku strode to the starting position, but he looked off to the side as he did so, at Yamu, fixated on his little doodad. He hadn't reacted at all, so beyond not being able to sense energies, he didn't seem to have a direct line to his master. That was something, at least..
Trunks stood unflinching as the smoke and dust whipped past him, a decently-sized crater blown into the ground between him and the entrance of the spaceship; he hadn't seen a doorbell, so he'd made one.
He could hear his friends and the Kai moving over to join him, the deity actually shouting now, his stress having hit the boiling point, but he kept his focus on the door. Good thing, too, since it opened just before the others touched the ground.
A towering being stepped out into the sunlight, scarlet skin and prominent forehead horns immediately marking him as something more than human. He was dressed in finely made clothing, if on the extravagant side with those puffs, and his meticulously styled goatee perfectly matched his slicked back hair. Undeniably imposing, and also currently very, very annoyed.
"You worms dare assault Master Babidi's ship?! I will reward such insolence with pain unimaginable!"
Mere feet from the ground, Shin physically recoiled in shock. "Dabura?! How could Babidi have taken control over you?!" This was all going so incredibly wrong so very quickly and his worst fears were on the verge of occurring right there.
The irritation on the face of this Dabura changed to a mix of surprise and amusement when he fixed his eyes on the Kai. "Oh ho, Supreme Kai, we were not expecting you so soon." His voice was a deep rumble, like that of a lion making ready to pounce. "We had anticipated your involvement only when Majin Buu was awakened once more, but the plan remains unchanged by your promptness. If anything, we might amuse ourselves by extracting your own energy for Majin Buu; wouldn't that be quite something?"
"This is madness, Dabura!" Shin gestured sharply, anger lighting his eyes. "Do you truly believe that Buu will not bring destruction upon the Demon World as surely as he will with this one?" His defiance was met with a sneer.
"You have always been a fool, Supreme Kai, too fearful of power to act against it. Master Babidi holds no such shortcoming and will have complete control over Majin Buu and will thus control the Universe!" His slit-pupiled gaze went back to Trunks, and then the two humans. "Though you surprise me by bringing others to do your dirty work, you only further display your blindness by recruiting such weaklings. They will die for your ineptitude, and then I will personally wring every last ounce of energy out of you before-"
Trunks was right in front of him, fist careening in toward his jaw. Dabura lifted his hand to easily catch the blow, then raised his knee block the kick that immediately followed. A lightning fast jab to the ribs caught the saiyan hard, but he powered through and began his assault in earnest, cycling through puches, elbows, knees and kicks to try and land a hit on the imposing demon.
Krillin flew back into the air, building yellow ki into one hand before firing a concentrated beam directly toward the minion of Babidi. Trunks ignored it, but Dabura swatted at it before it contacted, only for the beam to veer away at a sharp angle. It circled around behind Dabura and came in to hit his side as he warded off Trunks' headlong rush, but the large demon shielded himself from harm by bring his free arm up to absorb the blast, not even looking at it. Trunks was continuing to press forward, his energy rising as he probed further and further, and Dabura quirked an eyebrow at the surprising strength of this contender, reconsidering just killing him outright.
An elbow slammed with pinpoint accuracy into the base of his spine, a grunt of pain escaping the demon. He swiped his arm at Trunks to make him back off before slicing his dagger-like nails down and behind him to eviscerate his assailant and found only empty air, Tien moving just outside his sightline with near silent hops. The saiyan was back at him immediately, his power yet further rising, and Krillin had gathered more energy in those brief moments and fired off a short volley of ki blasts, controlling half of them with each hand as he directed them to split around Trunks and pepper Dabura. They weren't powerful enough to hurt someone as strong as him, not even nearly, but plenty enough to create a sudden barrage of distractions that let Trunks land several punches on target.
Tien darted in again, very low to the ground, and speared his extended fingers into the back of Dabura's left knee, the leg he had his weight on in that moment. The joint folded and the demon lurched backward, eyes widened slightly. The three-eyed human spun out from under his falling form and threw a fist toward his throat, only for his strike to pass through a rapidly dissolving afterimage. Dabura reappeared directly above him and brought both boots down hard on the assassin's shoulders, knocking him to the ground. Trunks was only a second behind, rising into the air with a fierce uppercut.
"So, the Supreme Kai found competent underlings. Most unusual, this level of power for a world so lacking, but that very power will fuel Master Babidi's plans all the same. In fact," he deflected Trunks' attack with a viciousness that left him wide open for the demon to clench his fingers around the saiyan's throat, "I can feel the return of Pui Pui at this very moment. With him here, I will be able to extract twice the energy from your sorry lot before disposing of you." He grinned maliciously as he buried his fist into Trunks' stomach to drive the wind out of his lungs before backhanding him with enough force to send him flying.
Krillin had been just about to fire off a large ki wave when Dabura materialized face-to-face with him, still grinning with nothing but sadistic intent in his eyes. The short man yelped and tried to move away, but the demon grabbed his head between both hands, squeezing slowly and drawing out a panicked shout that turned into a scream as his thumbs dug into Krillin's closed eyes. Shin finally moved, rushing forward to try and stop what was about to be an execution, but even full-tilt his power was negligible next to Dabura's and a blisteringly fast roundhouse kick had him seeing stars as he skidded against the ground. Krillin grabbed Dabura's wrists, but rather than try to fruitlessly pry them away, he mustered his focus through the escalating pain.
"SOLAR FLARE!"
A nova of pure white light filled the very short space between them and Dabura reacted like knives had been driven through both eye sockets, convulsing backward as he clutched his hands over his face and let out a strangled scream of his own. Krillin's head was spinning and he was in no position to try and capitalize on this opening, but both Tien and Trunks had recovered enough to spring back at him simultaneously. Incredibly, even through the deep agony, Dabura sensed them coming and slashed his hand in their direction.
The air itself seemed to rend open as dark red energy with black fringes cascaded toward them, lightning fast and teeming with a palpable sense of evil. Tien crossed his arms in front of his face and tried to change direction, but Trunks once again took the direct approach: transforming into a Super Saiyan with a startling boom of power, he let his ki explode out around him and forced the demonic attack to scatter against it mostly harmlessly, though proximity alone was enough to sting his exposed skin.
With nothing between them, Trunks believed that he had the perfect opportunity to close in and end this quicklyx, but Dabura was canny enough to expect that, even blinded as he was. Right when the saiyan was about to land a devastating hook into the regal demon's temple, Dabura whipped his head around to face him and spat.
Trunks, taken by surprise, didn't avoid the gross projectile as it hit his jacket right at the edge of the breast pocket. He thought it was just a last ditch effort and carried through with his attack, but his momentum had been interrupted and he only landed a punch against Dabura's shoulder instead. However, he immediately felt that something was wrong, instincts buzzing loudly but he had nothing to react to. Not until he felt the unexpected weight on his front. Looking down, he couldn't help but gasp as what was unmistakably stone spread like a stain from the location of the spit, covering his jacket and spreading out to the rest of him faster than he could figure out what to do.
"Trunks!" A voice, not belonging to any of his companions, but he couldn't turn his head in time to see who it was before stone closed over his face and completely turning him into a statue of himself, expression of shock permanently frozen in place.
Dabura, his magic infused body allowing him to recover freakishly quickly, blinked away the rest of the dark spots in his vision in time to see Trunks' body succumb to gravity and fall heavily to earth. He laughed loudly, eager to see the man shattered to pieces.
Instead...
A rocket of golden light intercepted Trunks' fall and continued in an arc to the ground near Babidi's ship. The Demon King flinched, then snarled as the light died down to show him a man in an orange gi standing there, carefully holding Trunks in his arms even as his golden energy crackled in the air around him. The man turned to look back up in the air, and Dabura unexpectedly felt a sudden sense of unease as he met the glare of Son Goku.
The Super Saiyan wasn't alone. Grouped together on the valley floor on Dabura's other side was Kibito, Gohan, Chioutzu, Piccolo, and, in a chokehold courtesy of the namekian, a startled looking Yamu. Though none of them besides Goku were exhibiting any serious power just yet, Dabura recognized the tide had turned against him, and a change in strategy would be in order.
"Lord Supreme Kai!" Kibito had spotted his dazed master and rushed to offer his aid. Dabura could easily have cut him off and disposed of him in one swoop, but he had a wariness for the assembled crowd – if they weren't squeamish about attacking as a group or taking advantage of undermining techniques then there was a chance their numbers would prove too much for him as he was now.
Reaching within himself, he felt out the dark presence in his soul, the link between him and Babidi, and allowed it to broaden and pulse. He immediately felt the pressure of the sorcerer's magic enshroud him as a line of telepathy was opened between them.
'Dabura, I have been observing this little tussle you are having.' The reedy voice of the ancient mage was made scratchy and warbly through the invasive magic, but the Demon King was well accustomed. 'I must say, you seem to be having more trouble than I would have expected of my top servant.' A nasty chuckle. Dabura bowed his head in supplication.
'Forgive me, master Babidi, I allowed my curiosity to overtake my reason.' He knew better than to try and offer an excuse for his shortcoming, and that any punishment was deserved, but Babidi didn't seem to be in the mood for further teasing.
'These fighters, they have far more energy than they should, at least according to the scans we conducted. Having all of them here endangers the ship, but it also provides us with an unprecedented opportunity to collect a large amount of raw energy straight from the source. To this end, I am sending a contingent of my warriors to assist you. Do not waste this opportunity, Dabura, I will be most displeased if you underestimate them once again.'
The telepathy ceased, but Dabura still felt Babidi's presence around him, watching. Just as soon as the command had been given, the door to the spaceship swished open. Goku, surprised, sprang away, not turning his back on Dabura or the ship. For his part, the King of the Demon Realm was content to watch in smug satisfaction as figures emerged from the door way: a score of beings, none resembling the one next to them as they were each uniquely selected from their races to be the servants of Babidi, the mark of the Majin proudly stating as such from where it sat like a brand on each of them. Humanoids, several quadrupeds, one resembling a multi-legged insect, a heaving mass of transparent ooze with a dark core, a winged beast that immediately took to the sky to circle, one that wasn't a singular individual but a massive hive-mind that pulsed and squirmed in ways no living being ever should. All were the tools of Babidi, each deadly beyond compare.
Goku had rejoined with Gohan and Piccolo, laying the petrified Trunks delicately on the ground. He didn't know how they were going to return him to normal, but he vowed that he would gather the Dragon Balls if that was what it took. For now, though, he had to focus on foul bunch that had come up from the ship. He stood next to Gohan, eyeing their opponents warily. Piccolo gave a twitch of his arm and Yamu stiffened before crumpling to the ground, unconscious. Tien dropped down to join their line, followed momentarily by Krillin, pulling his travel cloak off and letting the wind take it, showing off the light brown gi with an orange sash he was wearing underneath.
"All of you, be extremely cautious." The Supreme Kai and his attendant landed just a few steps away from them, the god sporting a dark bruise on the side of his neck. "Babidi's soldiers are diverse for a reason; he is very astute in picking those with strange abilities to counter any who oppose him. Any of these servants could have a technique or biological feature that will stop you in your tracks. This is exactly why I wanted to wait and observe the situation. This was bad enough with the King of the Demon World against us, but now..." He grimaced, hardly needing to finish that thought.
"Warriors of Earth," Dabura called out as he landed ahead of his underlings, voice booming across the mostly flat plain. "You stand with the feeble Supreme Kai against the might of Lord Babidi. You know what your fate will be by taking such a course of action, and it would be my absolute delight to facilitate your demise." He looked up, towards the horizon. "Ah, Pui Pui has arrived at last! His contribution will not be vital, but welcome all the same."
Seconds after this grandiose declaration, the sound of hurried flight approached them, building until a being, not very tall compared to Dabura and with bone white armor of some sort including an elongated skull that stretched backward past his shoulders, landed poorly and staggered onto his knees just in front of his superior. It only took a glance to see that this Pui Pui had been roughed up; with soot and burns marring his body, one eye swollen half closed and his snout-like face speckled with dark blood leaking from the corner of his mouth.
"Dab-Dabura!" Pui Pui gasped, winded and holding an arm protectively against his stomach. "I went to that...energy source we detect-" He coughed, raggedly. "It was a trap! I had barely gotten there when I was attacked! I couldn't land a single...single hit-" More coughing, and some of his blood spattered onto Dabura's pristine boots.
"Who? WHO!?" Dabura barked, reaching down and lifting the beaten alien by the back of his neck, nails sinking into the skin and drawing out even more blood. "No earthling could have known of us before today!"
Pui Pui tried to answer, pathetically struggling against the immovable grip. "I don't-" His sight slid past his superior, into the sky above, but there was no time to shout a warning. A golden burst of ki shot through the air toward them, nobody else seeing where it had come from. Dabura didn't hesitate; wheeling the lackey bodily between him and the blast an instant before it impacted. Pui Pui let out a final scream before being cut off by an explosion that incinerated him near instantly.
The Z-Fighters all recoiled from the heat and sudden noise, trying to see through the smoke where the attack had come from. Babidi's minions seemed paralyzed with confusion, and that hesitation spelled their doom as a solid purple beam blasted down into their ranks and panned to the side, wiping almost all of them out in a heartbeat. Even more dust and smoke billowed out, choking at the survivors and making them shield their eyes and mouths as best they could.
In less than five seconds, the battle had started and ended.
Dabura loosed a roar, raising his energy and creating a corona of the red and black energy around him. The entire shirt sleeve of the arm that had held the late Pui Pui was burned down to the shoulder, exposing his soot streaked skin, but he seemed otherwise unharmed. The wind kicked up by his power tore against the barrier of smoke, pushing it backwards and into the air like storm clouds, clearing the view for all.
Goku's tensed jaw slowly, slowly, went slack, as he realized what he was looking at. The others, too, didn't say a word, not quite believing it themselves.
A man hovered just above the ground where Babidi's men had been, the remnants of which scrambled away in a panicked state. He wasn't tall, but the absolute sense of authority he gave off made him seem towering.
A sleeveless, blue bodyglove.
White armored vest with crimson paneling.
Immaculate gloves and boots.
Thin scar running up his left cheek and ending just under the red-lensed scouter over his eye.
Softly glowing halo stationed above his head.
Vegeta scowled at Dabura, singling out the only threat present even as he pointed his hand and blasted the other invaders to ash without hesitation - the light illuminating half his face but throwing the rest into shadow.
Dabura growled low in his throat. If that was how it was going to be then he had to admit to himself that he would need to retreat in order to gather his maximum strength to deal with these pigheaded offenders.
'Master Babidi, please, return me to your side so that I may ready myself in the meditation chamber. I will not allow these cretins to threaten you or your plan.' He could hear his master's deriding laughter, and his gut lurched slightly; was he to be abandoned to fend for himself? Now, when they were so close!?
'Oh Dabura, though you have managed to greatly displease me in record time, I acknowledge that you are my most powerful tool and throwing you away now would be rather silly. You have allowed our situation to become more taxing, but I have yet to see anything from this lot that would suggest we are truly in trouble. I shall recall you, and then the Supreme Kai and his little friends will discover how much hell I can really put them through.'
Dabura vanished, disappearing completely from where he had been surrounded by enemies. The Z-Fighters looked around in shock, trying to find where he was going to attack from, but Vegeta only narrowed his eyes for a second before he turned and descended down towards Babidi's space craft.
"Vegeta!" Goku called, letting his transformation end and rushing after him with wide eyes. "Vegeta, you're really here!"
The Prince already had a foot inside the entryway to to the ship, hand on the exterior. He paused as Goku landed a few steps away and hastened over to him. The Earth-raised Saiyan extended his arm, reaching for Vegeta's shoulder, and in a flash of movement found the limb being torqued at a horrible angle and he crumpled to his knees, screaming in both pain and surprise.
Vegeta sneered down at Goku, gripping the other man's wrist and elbow with brutal force. "Babidi is my only concern. I'll kill every last one of them, and if any of you try to get in my way..."
He slammed a single, devastating kick into Goku's face, the other saiyan going limp as his head rang like a bell. Vegeta dismissively released his hold and let him crumple to the ground, already turning back to the ship, only glancing over his shoulder long enough to glare at the warriors of Earth through the lens of his scouter.
"I will end your miserable lives like the trash that you are."