Piccolo:

"There are no more people. I want to fight now."

Piccolo swallowed. He had not expected this. He brought his hands in front of his body and created a large hourglass out of nothing. He placed it on the ground in front of him.

"When the sand has run through, the fighters will be ready," he said. He hoped he could stall Buu with that.

"Too long!" the demon roared.

"Wait a minute!"

Videl had suddenly appeared beside Piccolo. Had she lost her mind? She had guts, Piccolo had to give her that. Buu growled and reached out with one hand to strike Videl.

"I wouldn't do that. That's Hercule's daughter." Realisation resonated in Buu's eyes. He sniffed. Piccolo sensed an opportunity. "Hercule's daughter asks you to wait."

Buu hesitated and seemed to consider. Then he crouched down and looked at the hourglass.

Piccolo breathed an inward sigh of relief and moved away with Videl.

"Are the children already in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" asked Piccolo of Videl.

"Yes, Kera and Chi-Chi have just walked in that direction."

"Good."

"How did you know Buu would spare me?"

"It was just an attempt. His good side seems to have made friends with your father. Hercule is also still alive and was not killed by Buu. So he seems to remember him despite all the evil."

"Let's hope it's enough," Videl murmured.

Piccolo silently agreed with her.

'Are the children in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?' Piccolo asked his mate in thought.

'Yes, I closed the door about two minutes ago.'

'Let's hope Buu keeps his feet still.'

Impatiently, Piccolo stood at the edge of the palace, watching Buu from the corner of his eye. Looking directly at him, he dared not. His malevolence seemed to be visible, stretching his arms out in all directions if you looked at him longer.

"Waaaahhhh!" Buu suddenly yelled out. "This is taking too long!"

"You haven't even waited thirty minutes. The warriors need ..."

Buu didn't wait for Piccolo to finish his sentence, but hurled a beam of energy in his direction. Quick-witted, Piccolo grabbed Videl around the waist and dodged upwards with her. Not a second too soon. The floor cracked open. Hectically, Piccolo thought. What else could he do?

Slowly he landed and set Videl down. "Run into the palace. Find the others. Hide," he whispered to her. She nodded and disappeared around.

"All right, I will lead you to your opponents. Follow me." He spoke calmly, not letting his uncertainty show. He had to buy time.

Piccolo turned and entered the palace. Buu followed him. Piccolo walked as slowly as he could. He did not lead Buu on a direct route to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but followed the winding paths inside the palace.

'Where are you?' he asked Kera.

Still outside the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber', was her answer.

'Good. Go away from there. I will lead Buu to the room. We will lock him in there.'

'Understood.'

Then he made contact with his daughter. Through her blood connection, he could also contact her in another dimension.

'Menka, can you hear me?'

'Yes, Papa.'

'Listen carefully. I'm on my way to you with the demon Buu. I'll hold him off as long as I can. Try to rest and get some more strength.'

'Got it!'

He was proud of his daughter for being so level-headed. It only remained to hope that the four of them had trained enough to defeat the demon.

Kera:

She felt Piccolo step into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. It felt like her soul wanted to leave her body for a moment. As if it was being pulled apart like a rubber band. It wasn't painful, but it was very uncomfortable. Was this all that happened when they were in different dimensions? Or did the Supreme Kai's spell he had put on her after Piccolo had turned to stone still have an effect? She shook herself. She didn't want to test it out any further. The fear that it was only the spell after all and that she would actually suffer torment now because Piccolo was in another dimension made her nauseous.

Kera tried to make contact with Piccolo. Their connection was still there, the golden bond that connected them was visible in her mind's eye. But it was as if she had to wade through an increasingly dense fog. She called his name.

'Good. ... don't worry...', Piccolo's words came to her in a broken voice.

"So, can you hear him?" asked Krillin, staring at her, transfixed like the others.

"Only fragments. It seems all right so far."

She tapped her thumbnail against her front teeth uneasily. She didn't want to feel so useless. She wanted to fight, but she couldn't just walk into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber now.

"Dende, what are we going to do if Piccolo and the kids really need to lock Buu in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" asked Bulma.

"If the entrance is destroyed, we can revive them with the Dragon Balls," replied Dende.

"Do they even get to the afterlife?" asked Chi-Chi.

"I'm, uh, not so sure about that." Dende's reply seemed a little meek.

Curses crossed most of their lips, then they fell silent.

Kera closed her eyes. She tried to concentrate on Piccolo and so learn what was going on in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Were the children fused? Could they fight? Had they outgrown Buu? Did Piccolo have to fight too? Would she even sense it?

Suddenly the palace shook. "Dende, what was that?"

"The entrance ... it's destroyed."

Piccolo:

"Papa, why did you do that?" cried Renks and Menson as if coming out of one mouth.

Piccolo was irritated for a moment. Being called Papa by both beings seemed a little disturbing.

"You said you were at the end of your strength," he explained the destruction of the entrance.

"We were just pretending!" outraged Renks, who seemed to have regained his composure first.

"Why are you doing such nonsense?"

"We're kids," Menson said. Piccolo was pretty sure Menka just had the upper hand in this fusion.

"Hey, what are you doing?" shouted Buu at them.

"I destroyed the entrance. You're not getting out of this dimension!" At least there was that. At least a small triumph. He only hoped that the others could revive the children and him with the Dragon Balls. Longingly, he thought of Kera. The energy connection was there, but it seemed so interminable. He would have liked to tell Kera again that he loved her. Since he had entered the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, he felt an uncomfortable pressure on his chest. Was it because he and Kera were in different dimensions?

"I'm locked in here? Is there chocolate here?"

"Uh, what?" Piccolo was caught off guard by the question.

"I want chocolate!"

"There's no chocolate here," Renks shouted at the demon.

"No chocolate?" The demon seemed to let the words sink in. Then he roared out. His scream went through everyone. He did not stop.

Behind the demon, the sky changed. Was that a crack? Piccolo blinked and tried to look closer. Was that the palace?

"Mama!"

Piccolo turned to the children, then looked again at the crack in the sky. The edges twitched like black snakes. Menson was right. Through the crack he saw the palace and there the others stood staring at them. Clearly he saw Kera.

'Flee!" he shouted in his mind.

She seemed to have understood, for she turned around. Unfortunately, Buu had also noticed that he could see through the crack in the dimension. With one last nasty grin thrown at them, he turned and jumped through the shrinking crack.

"No!" shouted Piccolo, Menson and Renks simultaneously and ran forward. Before they reached the crack, however, it had closed again. What now?

"You did a great job!" he snapped at the children.

"We didn't destroy the entrance," came Renks' answer in return.

Grumbling, Piccolo folded his arms in front of his chest. "We have to get out of here. Quickly. The others don't stand a chance against the demon."

"So how do we get out of here?" asked Renks.

"What if we scream too, like Buu did?" suggested Menson.

"Good idea. Let's go! All together!", Piccolo urged the two.

He counted to three and at the same time they shouted. He saw a flash in the air, as if there was something there, but before it could manifest, they ran out of breath.

Menson and Renks looked at each other. "Then differently."

Questioningly, Piccolo looked at the merged children. "What?"

Instead of an answer, Renks roared and gathered energy. Menson also gathered energy, but did it silently.

Lightning flashed around the small bodies, golden energy swirling around them. They transformed into a super Saiyan. No, this was more, Piccolo thought. The hair of the two grew longer until it reached far down over their hips.

Triumphantly, the two looked up at Piccolo.

"You are both Super Saiyans 3. Respect!"

"Come on, let's try it again!"

Again, all three of them shouted at the same time. This time a crack actually formed and they quickly jumped through it before it closed again.

Immediately Piccolo looked for his friends' auras. He couldn't find them. Was Kera still alive? The connection was still there ... or was it? He was not sure. He didn't feel any pain, but he didn't feel her aura either.

He was distracted by the demon sitting on the platform a few steps away from them, eating chocolate.

"He turned them all into chocolate," Piccolo whispered tonelessly.

"Mum too?" said Menson and Renks simultaneously.

It took Piccolo a moment to realise that all four of them had just spoken at the same time. Bulma, Chi-Chi and maybe Kera too. Piccolo swallowed.

Renks was attacking Buu. Piccolo felt his anger. Buu dodged out of the way. Immediately, Menson set after him. She kept her attacks at a distance. She formed a ring from her energy that wrapped around Buu, but he wriggled out of it before the ring could fully tighten.

Buu curled into a ball and shot towards Piccolo. He dodged. But he didn't slow down and instead hurtled unchecked through part of the palace and the platform below. Piccolo felt paralysed for a moment. He had not thought that the destruction of the palace would touch him in any way, but seeing it now with his own eyes left him with a sense of shock.

He wondered if Kami had the upper hand right now. Piccolo himself had never lived in this palace, but he clearly felt what it had meant to Kami.

A hiss tore him from his thoughts. At the last moment he jumped to the side. Buu had not stopped after a puncture and had penetrated through another part of the palace. Piccolo fervently hoped that Dende could rebuild the palace. It was by now barely recognisable as such.

Dende! Startled, he looked around, searching for Dende's aura. He did not find it. He felt the last anchors of confidence leaving him. If Dende was no longer alive, the Dragon Balls were gone too. They would not be able to revive the people and the earth would remain in its ruined state. Was there any point in fighting then?

His legs buckled. He slumped to the ground next to a pile of stones that had once been the entrance to the palace. Sounds only reached him in a muffled way. He felt as if he was in a bubble that did not allow any impressions from outside. Were they really finished now? Was the earth doomed? What would the demon do when it had destroyed every living thing on this planet? Probably move on and destroy more planets.

He took a deep breath, trying to remember what was important. No, they could not give up now. They could not allow the demon to continue its rampage.

Piccolo closed his eyes. Where was Kera? She had to be alive, otherwise he wouldn't be able to stand here either. That gave him back a spark of hope. He would find her.

He startled. Where were the children? They had fought on, leaving the palace behind. The destroyed palace. And he had left them alone. Piccolo cursed himself. What an irresponsible father he was.

Immediately he pushed himself off the platform and flew towards the earth. He followed the auras of his children, who, he realised with horror, were no longer fused.

He skidded to a halt next to Menka, who was struggling to pull herself up. She lay in a ruined landscape that still gave a hint of the remains of a city. Her face was full of scratches, her clothes were torn and her energy level was not that high anymore.

"What happened?"

"Where were you, Papa?" replied Menka with a counter question.

Concerned, Piccolo lowered his eyes. He cleared his throat. "I was ... lost for a moment."

She nodded as if she knew exactly how he felt. It was always amazing how well she could sense the feelings of others.

"Mama's alive," she said, turning her head to the right.

Piccolo followed her gaze and concentrated. Yes, there was her aura. Very faintly. Kera suppressed it. Piccolo felt as if thousands of stones were falling from his heart.

"Come, we need to check on the others." Stoutly, Menka grabbed Piccolo's hand and pulled him along.

He had to concentrate. Where was Buu?

"Buu is back there." Menka pointed ahead. He couldn't see Buu. He had disappeared into a huge crater.

"Can you read minds now?"

She shook her head. "Mum always says I can super-read everything." She smiled briefly and immediately became serious again.

"What happened?" asked Piccolo as he followed Menka, who pulled him away from the crater.

"Buu is strong. Even as Super Saiyans 3, we barely stood a chance. Maybe we would have made it if we ..." She broke off.

"If you guys hadn't been so much nonsense?"

Sadly, she nodded. "I don't know what was wrong with me either. I'm sorry."

Piccolo stroked her head. "It's all right. It can't be helped now. Your mother already suspected that the fusion would bring out the Saiyan blood in you more. And teenage Saiyans are a bit ... brash, I suppose."

Menka nodded curtly as she continued walking. They rounded a small rock and found the other three boys standing up again.

They too were marked by scratches. Their clothes were torn in several places. Trunks groaned and held his head.

Piccolo bent down to Reyak. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." He squared his shoulders, which cracked loudly. "Where have you been?"

Piccolo opened his mouth to say something, but Menka forestalled him. "Later. Sort it out first."

She put a hand on Reyak's arm and let her healing powers flow through her brother. Some of the scratches on his skin faded.

"Thank you." Smiling, he looked at his sister.

"Why were you lying on the other side of the rock, anyway?" asked Piccolo as Menka moved on to Goten.

"Buu hit me and Goten at the exact moment the fusion came apart. That caused Goten to be thrown in a different direction."

"Reyak and I still hurled Buu into that crater, then our fusion came off too," Trunks added grudgingly. It gnawed at him that he hadn't been able to defeat Buu.

"What about ... my mama?" Goten's voice sounded sad, as if he was trying to hold back tears.

"I'm afraid I don't know. When we came out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, I didn't sense any auras in the palace."

They fell silent. Piccolo swallowed hard. He was standing here with four children. Did they even stand a chance? He took a deep breath.

"Okay. I suggest we ..."

He couldn't finish the sentence because something whizzed past him. It narrowly missed his face and bored into the ground between Menka and Reyak. A pink beam of energy. How stupid had Piccolo been? How could he have been so inattentive? He had known that Buu was still behind them.