The chapter's technically on time and that's only because I got to a convienent stopping point early

OnTheTidesOfEvermore: Ah, yeah nah. keep me far away from the DBZ world actually lol

JCINNABAR: Aw thanks lol

TheRangerBoy: Thanks ^.^

MiharuTousaka: Well, I've moved the plot forward

Guest (I'm assuming theyre the same guest: Thanks, I've liked seeing your progression of reviews as you read through

Qinlongfei: yeah…Dragon Ball being the way that it is makes ddeath pretty meaningless most of the time lol
And yes. Raditz will have friends because I decided he does and no he does not have a say in the matter. It's such a fun dynamic to write, he really is one of my favorites
And I mostly used HFIL due to me stealing the swear censorship joke from The Good Place, and like, HFIL was right there for the use perfectly wrapped with the added DBZ dub reference
And Supreme Kai had to have at least one win (And he's a rather convenient plot device lol)

Dende

Dende had failed.

Completely and totally.

He was supposed to be the guardian of the earth. He couldn't even protect himself.

He couldn't do anything when Majin Buu arrived at the lookout. All he knew was that the second Buu was looking away, Ocari had pushed him towards Cargo, drawing his staff-

And then Dende wasn't there anymore. He wasn't anywhere near the lookout.

Cargo was clinging to his arm, his fingers still over his forehead. His eyes were wide and breathes shallow.

"I- I didn't- I should have- I should have grabbed Ocari- or- or something- I should have-"

"Ocari was standing in front of us, he was too far for you to have done anything. He was protecting us," Dende reassured. It was true, Dende was certain. But he probably would have said the same thing even if it wasn't.

Dende couldn't say it made him feel better, but it seemed to calm Cargo down a bit at least.

"Where did you take us anyway?" Dende asked, changing the subject. The area seemed like a desert, but there were many of those on Earth.

"I, um, I just latched onto the first noticeable energy I kinda recognized."

Dende's eyes fell on the person Cargo had latched onto.

Mr. Satan stood there blinking at their sudden appearance.

Dende restrained a sigh.

…

Mr. Satan

Mr. Satan just kept on walking. Oh sure, a couple of green kids just, magically appeared behind him. But at this point, why not? That is not the craziest thing that's happened today.

They were probably weird aliens or something. Yeah, that had to be it. Well, they didn't seem to be as freaky powerful as those guys from the Cell games, and definitely not like Buu, so, it was probably fine.

"Excuse me, but, where are you going?" One of them asked.

He glanced back. Weird alien kids or not, they still looked like kids, a couple years younger than Videl if he were to guess. Scared kids at that.

Well! He was still World Champ! He could comfort a couple of kids! A bit of confidence went a long way.

"This is the direction I saw Buu fly off in! Once I catch up I'll-" Well he hasn't actually worked that part out yet, but he'll think of something by that point. Buu looked scarier but maybe he could still be reasoned with- or maybe- ok he didn't actually have any other ideas but it'll probably be fine. He reasoned with Buu once, he could do it again! Besides, he had Bee with him, so that'll probably help too.

Even if he was scarier now. And kinda exploded that one guy- it was in defense- or revenge- of him, kind of, so there was probably something of Buu left to talk to!

"You don't have to pretend. We know you're not strong," the kid dressed up in fancy looking robes said.

His face fell slightly and he was glad he was facing away from the kids.

"You're going towards where you think Buu is?" The smaller one asked, and Mr. Satan really did not appreciate the tone in his voice.

"Of course I am! I'm still the World Champ you know! If anyone's going to be able to do anything about it it's going to be me!" He declared, choosing not to humor any more doubt from those kids.

So, he continued walking. For hours. Or what felt like hours. He eventually opted to carrying Bee since the pup seemed to be exhausted. He was too but- he just- he had to keep going.

He still wasn't completely sure of what he was going to do. But he couldn't stop. If he did he- he'd-

He couldn't stop.

So he kept walking.

Those kids followed him. He wasn't sure why, but it wasn't like he was going to argue. It'd just make him more determined to keep going, after all, he couldn't let himself show weakness in front of a couple of kids like that.

Over the trip, he learned the two's names. The one dressed in fancy robes was Dende and the guardian of something, he didn't quite catch what. And the smaller one was Cargo. Mr. Satan hadn't once noticed him let go of the other's hand and it looked to him like he'd flee at a rock falling too loud.

Not that Mr. Satan had much room to judge.

Though they must have been stronger than he'd thought because even after walking for who knows how long, they didn't look the least bit tired.

Now of course he, as the World Champ, had plenty of energy to spare!

But- he'd hardly argue against some water. Or better yet a beer or two.

But if he stopped to find a place to rest he'd stop so he just had to keep walking.

It was when he reached an area that had towering rock faces that something felt different. He wasn't sure what, but something did.

The closer he got, the more he smelled iron in the air.

With every step he wanted to turn back, but he, couldn't.

And then he saw- come to think of it he didn't know how to refer to the kid. He could have sworn he heard others refer to them as male back during the Cell Games, and that other tournament that those aliens infiltrated. But he's also pretty sure he heard Videl refer to them as a girl.

Well, that was hardly what was important right now. Cause the kid was clearly injured. Pretty bad too from the looks of it.

He didn't give it a second thought when he rushed over.

He couldn't tell the extent of the injury, not without moving them, which you're not supposed to do when someone was this injured.

The kid's skin felt cold.

That was- that was probably just because they've been laying here unconscious for who knows how long.

He removed his cloak and placed it over them, that's probably better than nothing.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something bright green. Looking closer one of those weird magic beans was laying a few feet away.

Kid must have been trying to get to it and dropped it. That's- that's fine. He could help now.

"Mister-" he ignored one of the kids as he placed the bean against the kid- Gohan's lips. They were unresponsive. He wasn't sure what he expected since they were so clearly unconscious.

He could have checked the kid's pulse to be sure- but that would have meant he'd have to take off their gloves and that seemed too invasive.

That- that was the reason.

But now he wasn't really sure what to do. He wasn't a doctor he didn't-

A doctor! That's what he needed! Right!

He placed the bean in the kid's open palm- just in case- before getting up and walking in, some direction. He was sure he'd come across a city pretty soon in that direction.

"Uhm, now where are you going..?"

"Well, I'm going to find a doctor of course! Kid's obviously hurt!"

It'd be better if he could bring the kid to a doctor himself, but you're really not supposed to move someone when they're that injured.

But it'd be fine. The kid was strong. He knew that for a fact. The kid would be fine until he found someone to help.

"…okay."

It was the robed one- Dende that said that.

It was hard for Mr. Satan to determine the look on his face- because it definitely wasn't pity. Nobody pitied Mr. Satan.

That didn't matter anyway.

He just had to find someone to help.

He just, had to keep walking.

…

Dende.

Dende didn't quite understand what Mr. Satan was doing. The man wasn't strong enough to really help, and Buu was far beyond reason at this point.

But he also didn't want to leave him alone. So, he followed him. Cargo following too by default.

Cargo still hadn't let go of his hand, but, he hadn't let go either so-

It's not like Mr. Satan was really heading towards Buu anyway. Buu had long since left where ever Mr. Satan thought he was going.

Then they found Gohan. Or rather, Gohan's body. Dende didn't have to get any closer to know that her soul had long since departed.

Mr. Satan didn't seem to realize that though. Either that or he was in denial.

Dende didn't have the heart to tell him otherwise.

So, he didn't.

And Dende still had no idea what to do. About Buu. The situation. Anything. At best, he could gather the Dragon Balls. He'd probably be able to find the radar if he looked. Even then he wouldn't be able to wish back anyone like Vegeta, or Piccolo or Goku-

Why was he looking at Goku?

"Hey Dende! What's happened?"

"Uh- Goku? We thought- we thought that Buu killed you."

"Oh, yeah. He got close, but Supreme Kai transported me to his planet. He wanted me to pull out and use this sword that's supposed to be really powerful, but I dunno, it wasn't really working for me. Maybe as training, but we don't really have the time for that. So I thought that Gohan would have better luck, he likes swords, and I'm pretty sure he was wanting a new one anyway. But ah- when I looked I couldn't sense him..? And then I couldn't sense anyone else either. But I could sense you two so I Came here. And ah- why aren't you at the lookout? I figured you'd stay up there in a situation like this."

Dende didn't say anything for a moment. He only stared. He could only stare. Because how was he supposed to- how was he supposed to explain- explain how drastically he had failed?

Fortunately, Cargo didn't have the same inhibitions.

"Gohan, Gohan went to fight Buu. But something went wrong with The Ultimate- I think. It worked at first but it was cut short for some reason. And Gohan, didn't get a second chance. Everyone else- um- Buu went to the Lookout- and- and-" Cargo's hands tightened around him as he all but shrunk into Dende's side.

This had distracted Dende from seeing Goku's initial reaction, but a few moments later Goku was kneeling in front of Cargo.

"Hey, it's ok. We can fix this later with the Namek Dragon Balls," and then the almost comforting tone melted away, "but for now. I want you to tell me where Buu is," he said. And there was something- something in his voice that Dende hadn't heard before from him. Something that felt deeply unnerving.

But that wasn't the problem.

"No!" Dende nearly shouted, "You, you can't fight him! You're the only one left now, and- we can't do anything unless we're sure it'll work."

Goku looked at him next. And fundamentally, Dende knew it was useless. That Goku was more than capable of sending out for Buu himself and trying anyway, and there'd be nothing he could do to stop him.

But, that didn't mean he could just let him go without trying to stop him.

Goku tilted his head. "Like what?"

And Dende drew a blank. He didn't know. He didn't know what they could do. He didn't know what was left to do. The Time Chamber? Maybe? But that was assuming Buu didn't destroy the lookout when he was there. And could Goku even get strong enough in the Time Chamber alone? Did they even have enough time for him to?

"Hey numbnuts."

Dende startled at the unexpected grainy voice behind him.

He turned and saw- oh. The Fortuneteller.

Fortuneteller Baba was, slightly unnerving. Her connection with Other World was something he didn't really understand. It didn't make sense to him that a mortal was so casually able to bring people back to life, even if it was so temporary. And her actual Fortunetelling was far too accurate to make sense either. It's not an impossible skill, but one that she wields far too well for a mortal.

Also, he wasn't sure how old she was. He wasn't sure if he wanted to know. He was almost certain it was older than mortals were supposed to be, or at least mortal humans.

As if to prove his unease, the person floating behind her was definitely supposed to be dead. The halo around his head more than proved that.

"Vegeta?" Goku questioned anyway, somewhere between surprised and glad. Which was odd considering how much Vegeta seemed to dislike him.

Dende wasn't sure he'd ever get over his, unease around Vegeta. His actions on Old Namek more than poisoned that well for him.

"You know the drill. 24 hours, do what you want with that time. I was going to grab your kid, but that situation, had complicated. But great for my reputation." The last sentence seemed to be more of an afterthought than anything. One that Dende did not understand in the slightest.

But that wasn't the point.

And The Fortuneteller was already gone anyway.

Now they had Vegeta. That was twice as many people who could fight. Maybe the Time Chamber was more of an option? Again that'd be dependent on the Lookout not-

"Oh!" All eyes turned to him.

And while he knew eavesdropping was wrong, he was quite glad for it at that moment.

"Earlier, back on the Lookout, I heard Piccolo and Gohan talking about the Supreme Kai's earrings. Apparently, if you each wear one of them you could fuse together."

It wasn't technically a lie so-

"How'd they know that?" Goku asked, ignoring Vegeta's immediate protest to the idea.

And Dende suppressed a cringe.

"It was, something that Kami knew. Piccolo knew it because of their fusion." Now that. That was a lie. But it was a necessary one. Probably.

Gohan had always seemed to know things she shouldn't- or even couldn't know. He'd always known that, ever since Guru mentioned it on Old Namek. And while he didn't understand it in full back then, he realized more of its extent over time. But it wasn't his place to pry. Not as a guardian or as a friend. Gohan had secrets kept for reasons, and whether those reasons were good or bad, that wasn't for him to decide.

"I see, is there a time limit? Or do you have to take off the earrings to undo it?"

"They weren't too certain on a lot of the details from what I heard, I'm not sure about any limitations."

Goku nodded, thinking about it.

Still ignoring Vegeta's protests.

"Well, if anyone would know more about it, it'd be Supreme Kai, so, I'll be right back."

Goku raised a hand to his forehead and a moment later he was gone.

In the minutes it took Goku to return, Dende remembered Mr. Satan.

He looked around until he spotted him, still safe, but looking very confused. But confused was fine, because that meant he was still here and safe.

And a few minutes later, Goku reappeared, a pair of circular earrings in his palm.

"Supreme Kai said that he didn't know anything about it, but I convinced him that it was at least worth a try. We're not allowed to damage them though, since he wants them back."

"For the latest time Kakarot, I am not doing something as ridiculous as-"

"Vegeta. Bulma is gone. Trunks is gone. Do you want Majin Buu to get away with that?"

And that tone was back. That tone in Goku's voice that was so unfamiliar to him. But, it worked at least. Vegeta was still glaring but he took one of the earrings.

They each placed one in opposite ears, and then a bright light blinded Dende.