So I meant to say this last chapter but I forgot, so I'll share it nowbr
I have made the official decision that every time that The Ultimate shows up in fic, Braveheart (digimon) is playing in the background. Do with this information what you will
thewittywhy: that so?
Qinlongfei: yeah, the earth fighters really got the short end. At least Krillin stays relevant by the ultimate plot armor: being the main character's best friend, even if he'll never be one of the real heavy hitters
And yeah, SIGohan is only barely more diligent in training than Raditz, however she also had a higher starting point, having most of her training back in the Cell Saga shooting her up in PL. And you are totally right in that'd have created more stakes, and narratively it would have worked, it I wasn't going in another direction entirely, which I have to have a very specific thing happen to get to
And yeah, I got to write Anouncer Guy and Clover in the same scene, it was great. I don't really have anyone in particular in mind for Clover's mother, always just figuring it as a one night stand sort of deal, and then the mother didn't really want to deal with a strange apparently alien child with a tail. And yeah, Nappa is an, interesting character to write lol. I've tried to balance his general vibes and his implied ability to not die under Frieza for 20+ years. I will admit I do like my interpretation of Nappa more than canon Nappa lol
And yeah, Dabura was so smart and so cool, I am almost disapointed he didn't become, not even a redeemed character but like, a character the cst has a truce with. His vibes are so cool and it would have been so fun for him to show up again. Obviously he ain't in my fic though lol
JCINNABAR: Thanks ^.^ and same to you
ArguableReader: Getting to write Clover and the Announcer Guy in the same scene was fun lol.
Writing the children in general is fun.
Maga: Yeah, I know. In The Ultimate's debut episode I specified a ruleset so that the transformation wasn't completely broken for this point in the fic
The waiting this time didn't last nearly as long before Vegeta was pointing a hand at the door.
"What are you doing?" Shin demanded, "you'll wake Buu!"
"Please. Babidi's just lost his right hand. Either he's scrambling right now to find a solution or he's already gathered enough energy to wake your monster. And considering the track record of the brat's ultimate form, I'd be willing to bet on the latter."
"The Ultimate," I corrected again, even though that time it felt like he deliberately went out of his way not to use its actual name.
Vegeta then preceded to blast down the door, heedless of Shin's concerns.
When nothing immediately happened, we proceeded.
The growing sound of Babidi's demented giggling was not encouraging.
When we found the room Babidi was hiding in, we found him smiling as a pulsating veiny egg glowed in the middle of the room.
Well, that's probably not a good sign.
"Welcome friends," Babidi greeted.
"I'm afraid you're too late, but I am so glad you could join me in this momentous occasion. Especially you, Supreme Kai."
"We're here to stop you, there's still time, if we combine our power we should be able to-"
Vegeta scoffed, "please. At this point, we should just let the thing wake up. I'm hardly going to take the coward's way out."
"What? You can't possibly-"
"Can't possibly what? At every turn so far you've overestimated the enemy's strength. Why should this be any different?"
I rolled my eyes, "ok you know what- I'll just-" I pointed a hand at the egg and went Super Sayain-
Only to immediately stagger back, dizzy, "okay that, that was a bad idea should not have done that. Haha, yeah no sorry, you're up to their whims." I waved my hand over to Goku and Vegeta, my other hand rubbing my forehead.
Shin gaped at me, before turning to Goku, apparently realizing Vegeta was a lost cause.
And Goku looked, conflicted.
"Well, if this Buu guy is as bad as you say it'd definitely be bad if he did wake up, but I can't say I'm not curious…besides, I don't really like the idea of killing someone in their sleep…"
"Is it worth risking the fate of your planet and the universe to sate your curiosity?"
It took a good amount of my willpower not to point out that Shin glossed over the whole "killing someone in their sleep" part.
Kinda tempted to still, but it probably wouldn't be productive.
I really wanted to point out the hole, but it would be a whole lot easier to snip the Buu Saga in the bud here.
"It's too late didn't you know? Now that Buu's gotten to this state, there's nothing you can do to stop it. Might as well sit back and enjoy the show," Babidi grinned.
"Though it is rather cramped in here, wouldn't you say? I'd hate for Buu to wake up in such an enclosed space, he might even turn on me if that were the case."
Babidi raised his hands and we were no longer in the room, but in the land outside.
I squinted at the change in light, far dizzier this time than in previous cases of teleportation.
Huh. Interesting.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Piccolo and Krillin over the cliffside. I couldn't tell what their reaction was but I waved anyway.
Good, getting rid of Dabura did bring them back. Didn't have to worry about that.
Shin was distracting Babidi. Seemed easy enough since they obviously hated each other.
Goku and Vegeta bickered about actually killing Buu or not. Well, Vegeta bickered. Goku actually tried to talk through it, since he didn't really disagree with Vegeta either.
Piccolo landed by my side.
"What's going on?"
"Buu's about to wake up. Shin's distracting Babidi. Dad's probably gonna try to kill Buu before he wakes up, but I doubt it'd work," I yawned, "that'd be, way too easy."
Piccolo squinted at me, "did you use The Ultimate?" He asked.
"Maybe a little. Didn't pass out, but it was also cut off super early. Kinda tired now."
Piccolo frowned, "I think tired's an understatement."
"Hm? Nah, I'm fine. Promise."
Goku and Vegeta's bickering eventually ended with Goku powering up and cupping his hands back to charge a Kamehameha. Vegeta scowled and rolled his eyes.
Babaidi actually looked concerned as the beam charged up, but by the time he thought to interfere it was too late, the beam pierced through.
And nothing happened.
Until
It did.
The egg began to smoke, and Goku quickly charged another beam, immediately followed by another. And yet another.
The egg landed on the ground. Unharmed.
The seams glowed. And the egg cracked open.
And the egg
Was empty.
Nothing came out of it but smoke.
…
Huh.
That. Didn't seem, right.
Piccolo glanced out at me, but I probably looked just as confused.
Babidi looked distraught, and Shin seemed to have a moment of hysterical relief.
Vegeta was looking up.
And Goku seemed concerned.
I looked up, trying to follow Vegeta's gaze and some of that smoke was lingering.
I tried to sense towards it, but I honestly could not tell if the, fuzzy, I felt was Buu or just cause I was tired.
I sensed out Piccolo. Ok, a bit off but I could still sense him. Weird cold fuzzy feeling was definitely Buu then.
Shin caught onto the vibes first. Then Babidi.
They both looked up to the pink smoke next.
The smoke congealed. Whipping around until it took the rounded shape of a body, then arms, then legs, and-
"BUUUUU!" The being that formed declared.
Well. That pretty much said it.
Nearly everyone was just, confused by the joyful blob of bubblegum that was Buu, including Babidi.
Shin, however, looked terrified. Which was pretty much all the verification needed.
Babidi tried speaking with Buu first, who was, moderately receptive.
"Well," I said, "we can try this the easy way."
I ignored the glances and walked over.
"Hey there. Buu right? My name's Gohan." I held out a hand to shake.
"Hmmm?" Buu's voice was high-pitched and uncanny as he tilted his head towards me with all the naivety of a child.
Buu looked down at my hand, "AH! I SEE! IM BUU!" It took every bit of willpower I had left not to flinch back at his shrill voice as he grabbed my hand.
He, mostly got the concept of a handshake. Definitely too rough about it, but it'd pass.
"Ah- Buu? What are you doing? Kill him!" Babidi demanded.
"Hmmmm?" Buu looked back at Babidi.
I refused to flinch. Not wanting to prompt Buu.
"Hmmmmm…BUU HUNGRY!" Buu decided.
"I- I see! Well that's not a problem at all! Just kill these nuisances, and we'll get you something to eat!"
"Hmmmm… OK!"
I didn't have time to blink before I was dragged away by the back of my shirt.
Which was definitely a good thing considering the rock that got zapped instead was turned into chocolate.
Well. That could have gone better.
Should have promised him food first.
'You didn't actually expect that to work,' Piccolo said more than asked through telepathy.
'I mean, I figured it'd be 50/50. If Babidi wasn't around then it probably would have.'
Of course, now there was Buu to deal with.
It was a bit of a problem that I couldn't use The Ultimate just yet. Definitely, definitely cannot do that.
I feel like there was something I should be able to do about it but I couldn't quite put my finger on it…
Oh well, I'm sure even without it we should be able to-
"Hey Gohan, you should head back," I blinked at Goku.
"'M fine. Just a 'lil bit tired."
"I don't think you can really fight right now, and there's no need to risk it. You can join later, after you're rested."
"…you just, wanna try to fight him before I can Yeet him, don't you..?"
Goku laughed, somewhat sheepishly, "well, it's not like you can use The Ultimate again right now anyway, right?"
Well. Not much I could say to that.
I guess it was probably somewhat frustrating that any enemy of any threat can just be beaten so easily. It makes sense that he'd want to try first.
Though it probably spoke to how tired I actually was that I left without much of an argument.
So I did. I turned and flew awa-
Oh hey, my coat.
I saw my coat caught between a couple rocks. It was a bit rough where the petrifaction had started but other than that, it looked fine.
I put it back on, and began to fly back.
…
Krillin.
Krillin hasn't felt this lost since- well since the last time things happened.
Though it was pretty obvious that the monster that they'd come all this way to not let wake up, was awake.
So that was fun.
He was a bit surprised when Goku sent Gohan back, but it made sense. Gohan was the trump card, and pretty obviously wasn't up for fighting.
Of course that left Krillin to question another thing.
Why was he still here? He couldn't help. He should have left with Gohan, to make sure he got back safely.
But instead, he stayed, and he was still here with the monster.
Was it a good or bad thing that the wizard did quite seem to have full control over that, thing?
On one hand, it was good that the guy who wanted to kill everyone had to at least bargain with the thing first
On the other, if even he ended up not being able to control it, what was anyone else supposed to do?
Well, no. That's only in the worst case. Goku and Vegeta were here and they could definitely put that thing down before it came to it.
He hoped.
Though, he also didn't really get how fighting this thing was supposed to work.
He just seemed so…he wasn't even sure how to put it. He couldn't imagine that thing fighting.
The Supreme Kai seemed awfully worried but, he hadn't even glanced twice when Gohan left.
But when Vegeta voiced the concerns Krillin was silently having, The Supreme Kai insisted that it was normal behavior for this Majin Buu.
This only seemed to make Vegeta angrier.
But as Vegeta shot forward, apparently intent on eliminating Buu quickly, Krillin got a sinking feeling in his stomach. Because every second that passed the more he felt like something was truly wrong.
And when Buu swatted him away that feeling was vindicated.
Krillin couldn't even begin to have an idea about what to do.
The Supreme Kai seemed intent on marking their doom and that wasn't helping.
Krillin almost felt overwhelmed as he quickly felt Goku charge up to full strength.
But the playful demeanor Buu had as he "fought" back was, terrifying.
There was nothing. Nothing they could do. The best chance they'd have is if they retreated for now, wait until Gohan was back to full strength, and- wait- who had the Senzu Beans? Weren't there some left? Did Goku still have them, or were they left at the tournament? He couldn't imagine why they would have been.
Dammit, why didn't anyone give one to Gohan? This could have been so much easier!
Krillin just felt, so useless here. He might as well still be stone for all the use he was.
He looked up at Piccolo, who also was only watching, but he was watching the fight with such intensity that at least made it look like he had more confidence.
And then he nodded, as if coming to a decision.
"Babidi's the problem," he declared, as he made to walk towards the now alone wizard.
"No stop!" The Supreme Kai ran into his path, "Babidi's the only one who can seal Buu back away! If you kill him all is lost! Babidi will lose control over Buu eventually, and then he will have no choice but to seal him away. Unfortunately, it seems as if we will be unfortunate casualties before that can happen however…"
And Krillin's stomach sank to his heels. He couldn't die- he- he promised Eighteen! He promised her he'd get back, that he'd leave if things got too dangerous.
He couldn't-
He couldn't break that promise.
He-
He didn't want to die. Not again. Not yet.
He couldn't leave Eighteen. He couldn't leave Marron. He had to watch her grow up first.
Piccolo also didn't seem to know what to do. He seemed so certain that killing Babidi would be enough, but out of all of them, he was the one who respected the Kai's position the most.
Krillin couldn't imagine killing the wizard having any real effect though. Buu would still be there. He'd still be a threat. Even if he could be manipulated into not killing people, it'd always be dangling on a thread, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
The Supreme Kai's insistence on not killing Babidi did him no favors since she was next on the chopping block. Kibito tried to protect his, boss? Friend? Krillin wasn't sure how that dynamic worked, but either way, he faired no better.
It was painful, to just stand there and do nothing. But what was he supposed to do? Jumping in was as good as suicide, and then he'd definitely be breaking his promise.
Just when the Kai seemed about gone, Goku had recovered enough to jump back in.
He kicked Buu, sending him flying to the side!
He turned to check on the Supreme Kai- as well as Kibito- neither of whom were exactly doing good. Kibito could barely stand and the Kai couldn't even do that much.
Buu got back up. He wasn't even injured.
He then cartwheeled back to Goku.
This really was all a game to him. Wasn't it?
The Supreme Kai shouted a warning, but it was for nothing as Buu blasted Goku away, far off into the horizon.
He- he couldn't sense him anymore.
Was he unconscious? Weak and too far away to sense?
Was he-
Krillin shook the thought.
The Supreme Kai did, something, but whatever it was it didn't seem to have any real effect.
But now with nothing to prevent him, Buu turned back to the Supreme Kai.
Krillin couldn't tell what they were saying but whatever it was it made the wizard overjoyed.
Piccolo looked disgusted, and for a second Krillin thought he'd have to try to stop Piccolo from jumping in next- he wasn't sure how but-
A hole blasted through Buu's stomach.
"How dare you," Vegeta growled, half climbed out of the rubble with his hand outstretched. His hair burned gold and electricity sparked around him, "how dare you bat me around like a fly. Do you have any idea who I am? Do you think this is a game?"
Well, from what Krillin could tell, he did think this was all a game so-
Majin Buu laughed, "YOU'RE FUNNY!"
"Funny am I? We'll see how funny you think I am in a few minutes!"
Vegeta charged forward, and Krillin was pretty sure it was the sheer rage that had him fairing any better than Goku in Buu's game.
Kibito grabbed the Supreme Kai and in the next second, they were gone.
Well, that- ok.
Krillin hoped that they had a plan.
Vegeta meanwhile was not wasting any time to pause and see how Majin Buu would react to anything, he was only on the offensive, until finally, he charged up a Final Flash that felt like it was trying to burn through his retinas.
And then Buu was nowhere to be seen.
It was, far, far too good to be true. And sure enough, when he tried to sense the area, that same cold, empty energy persisted.
And then he could see it start. Globs of pink goo rose from the ground and reformed into a bigger shape.
Vegeta blasted it again.
The process began anew.
"Vegeta," Piccolo said, "the best thing we can do right now is retreat. We can return later when-"
"No."
"No?"
"No. No, because you know what will happen? We wait. The brat recovers. Then he kills this Majin Buu. Makes it look like nothing at that. He makes an utter fool of me yet again. I will not stand on the sidelines and allow others to fight my battles! I am the Sayain Prince! And I will fight to the bitter end if need be!"
"If you stay here you will die," Piccolo said. And Krillin felt a chill run down his spine, because Piccolo said it with such certainty that it simply had to be true.
"Then so be it," Vegeta decided.
Piccolo nodded and turned away.
…
What?
Krillin looked between the two, trying to decipher their conversation, because surely it couldn't have been what it sounded like?
They couldn't just leave Vegeta here?
But still, Vegeta's eyes were trained on the ever-reforming Buu and Piccolo's in the exact opposite direction.
And, sure, they couldn't actually do anything, but they should all leave! How the hell was he supposed to explain to Bulma that he'd left Vegeta to die because his stupid pride refused to let him retreat!
He couldn't leave Vegeta here alone, he couldn't-
"Krillin," Piccolo said, "don't you have to tell your wife you're ok?"
And not for the first time Krillin wondered if Piccolo was secretly a mind reader because he always seem to know the perfect thing to say to break through his resolve.
Really made him glad they weren't enemies anymore.
So he looked between them one last time before glaring at the ground.
"This is all crazy!" He declared, not that it did any good.
And, he also, turned to leave.
…
Krillin hated flying back. Every second they did so he debated turning back and dragging Vegeta with them by his stupid hair even if he'd probably kill him for it later.
But he didn't.
He kept flying.
And then, while less surprising than anything that's happened that far, something surprising did happen.
They caught up to Gohan.
Gohan didn't even notice them until they caught up, and they had to slow down once they did.
Gohan blinked when he noticed them.
"Oh, hey guys," he sounded so, tired only barely described it.
"You're, not back yet," Piccolo observed.
"Hm. No I'm not, am I?" Gohan just seemed so out of it it was surreal. He didn't even ask about Goku or Vegeta. Krillin wasn't even sure if he just assumed they stayed to fight or if he just, didn't notice.
"'M a lil tired," Gohan smiled.
"I feel like, it's getting worse," Krillin noted.
"Hmmm, maybe..."
Piccolo frowned and eventually got impatient before grabbing Gohan by the collar and speeding back up.
Gohan only seemed amused in his tired state.
It would have been funny in any other circumstance.
But as it was, he just focused on flying back.
And when they did get back, he did the right boy thing he could think of. He hugged his wife and daughter.