Amanny: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. Goku and Raditz fighting is something I'm looking forward to, but Videl's next opponent is something that will remain a surprise for the time being.
Plmnko: Well you're entitled to your opinion.
xSonallyGirl129x: Thanks, I'm glad to see you liked it. You have a lot of good ideas in your stories too. Bulma vs Chichi, mom on mom violence is always funny, and Goten definitely needed to get something for himself. I've got a little bit more planned for him and Ranch, as you'll see in this chapter. The fight between Videl and Tien was something I really enjoyed doing too, since I got to show how much she's grown since she's been training with Kai. I really liked doing the other fights too. Piccolo vs Shen gave me the chance to dive into Shin's character and his thought process, whereas Krillin vs Cooler is a fight that nobody expected, but I sure as hell enjoyed doing. Granted those fights were seriously one sided, but it's not about making epic fight scenes. It's about showing character interactions and how they play off each other. As for the fight between Goku and Raditz, you're gonna have to wait and see. All in all I'm glad to see you liked this chapter, and I hope you're satisfied with the next one.
Guest: It's going to take a lot of time and effort, but he'll get there.
Guest: I can see how that would be confusing, but just pay close attention and it's pretty easy to keep track of.
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"Alright ladies and gentlemen, I think we can agree that the last few matches have been pretty intense up until now, with three incredible matches! Videl Satan herself, the daughter of the champ beloved by many throughout the world, has shown her growth, prowess and potential against the likes of a former champion, former tournament finalist Majunior has shown his growth and restraint against a formidable enemy, and tournament veteran Krillin showing his stuff against a powerful newcomer who withdrew after seeing his prowess. Those were all truly impressive battles in their own right, but while I may be incredibly biased in saying this, I can confirm based on personal experience that this match will surpass the others without breaking a metaphorical sweat! The fourth match of the first round of the 25th World Martial Arts Tournament will feature returning champion Son Goku facing off against Son Raditz, so this match will be a dream come true! Son Goku is also a veteran of the tounrnament, having competed in three before this one, and he's also the winner of the 23rd tournament! I have no doubt in my mind that the older fans of the tournament remember that battle all too well, a battle that raised the standards of the tournament for decades to come. Son Raditz is one of a number of newcomers to the tournament this year, but he's already grabbed a lot of attention from fans for one main reason: It turns out that he's Goku's older brother, and if these brothers from the same mother are anything alike, then this match is going to be as legendary as the last one Goku had been in! Let's give these two undoubtedly great warriors a round of applause for the match they're about to bring us!"
"So we're about to go up in our match then?" Goku looked up from where he was in the middle of stretching, and then he glanced over at Raditz with his classic Son grin, as forced as it appeared to be "Well we might as well enjoy ourselves while we can, we did sign up for the tournament to have some fun after all."
"And whatever those two try, any one of us could rip them apart no problem." Raditz breathed a sigh and cracked his neck "And we do have plenty of Senzu Beans."
"Might want to be careful about using those, I don't know what it is but a few of them smell pretty weird. It's not just Shen and Tao that have me kind of concerned though, it's these new guys Shin and Kibito. It takes a lot to make Piccolo have a hard time keeping his cool."
"And I get the feeling that Gohan and the sadist kid know something that they're not telling us, should we confront them about it?"
"That's where I draw the line. Gohan and Kai are both good and smart kids, they wouldn't keep something like that a secret without a good reason. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt, at least for the time being. Whatever happens, both of them have our backs every step of the way."
"I hope you're right about that Kakarot, I really do."
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Meanwhile, with Kai and Gohan…
By this point, Kai and Gohan were waiting in a small area away from the others, with "So I take it this is the match they're gonna try and attack?"
"Considering what the two of you have told me, that would be my estimate." Shin told him "I'm well aware of how both of them hold a grudge against Son Goku, and he may very well be the most powerful of you and your allies."
"Ahem."
"With two exceptions to that rule of course."
"I still don't feel right about this." Gohan muttered "I hate lying to my friends and family as it is, but now having to stand down as my dad and my uncle are subjected to something like this? It just makes me sick to my stomach."
"I understand your feelings Son Gohan, believe me I do, and I don't enjoy this either, but this has to be done for the sake of stopping this monster before it can be released."
"I know, but…"
"I already told you, if you wanna be angsty about it then do it later." Kai told him flatly "Right now we have a job to do, so let's head back over to the others."
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By this point, Goku and Raditz had made their way out of the waiting area and out into the open stadium for the battle ahead "Alright sorry to keep you waiting, we're ready to start whenever you are."
"Thank you for your patience ladies and gentlemen, you've been a great audience up until now, and I can confirm without a shadow of a doubt that what you're about to see will be well worth the wait! Alright then contestants Son Goku and Son Raditz, the time has come for the two of you to take the stage!"
"Right." so Goku made his way onto the stage, with Raditz following right behind him, the two being met with a massive amount of cheering "You're right about what you said, whatever sort of dirty trick Shen or Tao try on us, I'm pretty sure we can handle it."
"You've actually fought those two before, so you would know better than me." Raditz cracked his knuckles on both of his hands "So based on what I've heard, you've competed in this tournament a few times before?"
"Oh yeah, three of them actually, the same with Krillin and Yamcha. In the first tournament I was win I managed to get all the way to the finals, I fought Jackie Chun there. That was my first real battle against another martial artist, I fought him with everything I had but he still won it over me in the end. But that fight taught me a pretty important lesson."
"Which was?"
"It doesn't matter how strong you get, because there's always someone out there that's even stronger, so you have to keep pushing yourself to new heights."
"Makes sense. What about the others?"
"Well the second one was where I met Tien and Chiaotzu, they were still with the Crane school back then."
"You mean those two old geezers over there?" he was referring to Shen and Tao, though they weren't visible at the moment.
"Those are the ones, but we thought Tao was dead at the time after the last time I fought against him, and Tien, Chiaotzu and Shen all wanted revenge on me for it. In the end, Tien and I ended up in the finals, but during that he found out that Shen was making Chiaotzu cheat against me in the match, and Tien broke all ties with him. Tien and I finished the match, he won by a pretty narrow margin, but we still became pretty good friends and rivals."
"Fair enough. What about the third?"
"That was where I met Piccolo for the first time, and where I met Chichi again, after I had been training with Kami for three years. Piccolo and I fought for the first time in the finals, and that was the toughest battle I ever fought, at least before Frieza."
"Uh huh. Tell me something Kakarot, is it just me or are most of your friends from this planet actually people who have tried to kill you at some point? I mean between the Triclops, the bandit, the Namekian and so on, I think your track record speaks for itself."
"Huh. You know I've never actually thought about that, but I think you might be right."
"At least Bulma is the exception to that rule."
"No she did too."
"Wait are you serious?"
"Yeah, back when we first met. I was walking through the mountains with my fish when she hit me with her car, and then when I got back up she shot me in the face a few times."
"...You never cease to astound me Kakarot, and that's not always a good thing. Anyway can we get this match started already, because I'm pretty sure the announcer guy said to start about five minutes ago."
"Oh yeah. Hey by the way, given everything that's happened here, you think we should worry about the whole Super Saiyan thing?"
"I think if things really are going to end badly at this tournament, we can't afford to hold back on our power too much. So bottom line, if you want to go Super Saiyan then I say go for it, as long as you can control yourself going forward."
"Fair enough, so let's do this." with his aura spiked, Goku quickly blitzed out of view, still in his base form for the moment.
'Looks like he's faster than ever.' with his own aura spiking, Raditz managed to block Goku's first attack, which resulted in the two of them trading even blows, their collisions sending out shockwaves across the stadium, before the two of them broke away, stopping at opposite sides of the ring "Looks like you've grown pretty well over the past few years brother."
"All things considered, yeah I guess. Things are pretty different now though, compared to how they were before the fight with Cell."
"The fact that you have another kid or the fact that you own a sandwich shop and caused a massive traffic jam?"
"Are you gonna let that go anytime soon? But no, I mean that while training is still something really important to me, it just doesn't feel like it's the only important thing anymore. Like it's lower on my list of priorities and stuff."
"Sounds pretty sentimental."
"I guess it is, but putting that aside for the time being, you've gotten pretty strong too."
"Having a wife and a daughter to train with and fight for can act as pretty good motivators, but I can tell plain as day that you're still holding out on me, golden hair be damned."
"I think the same could be said for you, and since things are probably gonna turn out to be pretty bad at some point, I think we should kick things into the next gear." with a surge, Goku flashed into Super Saiyan.
"That works out just fine for me as well." Raditz flashed into Super Saiyan as well, just in time to block a kick that Goku was aiming at his head, and then hit him square in the chest with a palm strike, the force sending him skidding backwards to the edge of the ring, and then he fired off a quick Ki blast.
Goku spiked his golden aura to dissipate the Ki blast, as well as the smoke that resulted from the blast in question "I don't think either of us are close to being done yet, so what do you say we kick things up to the next notch?"
"That works just fine for me, going with our signature attacks on three?"
"That sounds pretty fair in my book, and I think it's the best way to go about kicking this fight up to the next level."
"Good enough for me! Shining Friday!" Raditz unleashed a purple Ki wave from his right hand and hurled it forward.
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Meanwhile, with the two schemers…
"To think how much that wretch has grown in power." Shen scowled at the sight of the battle between Goku and Raditz, and then he glanced over at Tao "So what does the device say, is it time yet?"
"Not yet, they're not putting out enough energy." Tao told him.
"Dammit, this means that either they're not the most powerful ones here, or they can push themselves to even higher levels of power."
"Do we let this play out?"
"We will, at least for the moment. Knowing what these wretches are like, they'll most likely continue putting out more power as the battle goes on, and once we're certain they've peaked, that's when we'll strike."
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Meanwhile, in the waiting area…
Tarble and the others were watching the battle between Goku and Raditz unfold, but he was starting to appear anxious "It looks like things are going well so far."
"It's incredible." Videl muttered "I thought the others were amazing, but these two are in a league of their own, not to mention they're keeping up with each other blow for blow without showing any signs of slowing down."
"Sensei and Raditz, like all Saiyans and even all warriors in existence, they've built every single part of their body, from every muscle to every fiber, from a lifetime of incredible challenges and battles, one after another. Anyone else could only dream of fathoming what he's endured up to this point."
"Woah…"
"If you're done sucking on Goku's (bleep) for all the world to see, we've got other things going on right now." Kai told them dryly, then shared a glance with Gohan and the others "Wait until they go Super Saiyan 2, then you can make your move."
"What are you talking about Kai, make what move?"
"You'll see soon enough."
"Seriously, what the hell are you talking about?" 17 shot him a look "You gonna explain what's going on?"
"Like I said, you'll see soon enough."
"And I say that's not good enough."
"Allow me to elaborate." this was when Shin stepped forward to face the group, his expression hardening "I'm afraid I will have to make use of your two companions out there, so please forgive me for what's about to take place. Also, I must make clear how vital it is that none of you make any sort of attempts to make a move against what you're about to see."
"I'm sorry, what now?" Yamcha and the others were quick to drop into combat stances when they heard this "What exactly do you plan on doing with them? And for that matter we're not in the mood for any cryptic threats, so who exactly are you?"
"Take it easy Yamcha, lashing out at him is the worst thing you could do." Scarlet warned him, her tone deadly serious "This man happens to be the Supreme Kai, and in case any of you are wondering, that puts him above everyone else in the universe, with only two exceptions, but they're not relevant right now."
"You mean… You knew about this?"
"It's hard not to from all of the stories that you hear about him in Other World, and I've met him a few times over the past few years. I don't like this any more than you do, but like it or not, we need this to happen to prevent something much worse from coming out to play."
"What about the rest of you?" he and the others glanced over at Kai, Gohan, Cooler and Piccolo in a mix of shock and slight anger "You guys knew about this?"
"Your anger is understandable, but it can wait for another time." Cooler told him calmly "We have other matters to attend to, if you'll recall."
"But what's going to happen when they go all out? What sort of endgame goal do you guys have going for you right now?"
"Please be patient." Shin told him "More likely than not, when the battle between those two out there reaches its climax, the one standing victorious will likely end up being attacked by the two known as Shen and Tao. Allow me to reiterate, you must not take any action against them when this takes place."
"You say that like we're gonna have to." 17 pointed out "Those two are pretty weak, any one of us could rip them apart without breaking a sweat."
"I'm well aware of how capable those two are, as well as the rest of you, but whether your claim rings true is a fact that is to be determined."
"You're saying you think they could lose to those idiots, who exactly do you think we're talking about right now?"
"You need not worry, it's far less than likely that they will be able to cause any sort of damage beyond repair. What's more, while they may hold grudges against all of you, the fact is that they only desire to claim hold of his energy."
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Meanwhile, with the battle between brothers…
"Good enough for me! Shining Friday!" Raditz unleashed a purple Ki wave from his right hand and hurled it forward.
"KamehameHA!" Goku fired forward a quick Kamehameha blast to cancel out the Shining Friday, the two attacks colliding and sending out another powerful shockwave as the blasts cancelled each other out, leaving the two of them to take a moment to compose themselves "You know you really are pretty impressive Raditz."
"That goes both ways Kakarot, but I think the time has come for us to start fighting seriously. Do you agree?"
"You'd better believe I do, I say go ahead and make the first move if you want to."
"If you insist." Raditz burst forward faster than most of those present would be able to see or react to, with Goku quickly following his lead, and their fists collided with each other with enough force to shake the stadium as a whole, the ground beneath their feet coming close to shattering from the sheer force, and then they vanished from sight, leaving behind only sounds of clashing, shocksaves and a series of Ki surges throughout the stadium. The two of them soon materialized in mid air, trading a series of even blows before breaking away from each other and descending back down to the ring "So I take it you're still holding out on me?"
"I shouldn't be surprised that you noticed, I'm just working my way up to it. But you're right, I think that's enough of a warmup. Feel free to go first."
"As if you had to tell me to do so." Raditz spiked his golden aura and fired another Saturday Crush blast from each hand.
Acting on instinct, Goku spiked his own golden aura, coated both of his hands with Ki and fired forward a Twin Dragon Shot to counter both blasts, dispersing all of them in a powerful explosion, during which he vanished from view.
'So he's trying to use the smoke as a cover to try and attack me from a blind spot, he's trying to get creative, but all I have to do is sense his Ki.' Raditz turned on his heel and flexed his muscles fast enough to unleash a shockwave that knocked Goku off balance, and then he dealt Goku a quick kick to the spine that sent him flying upwards.
Goku was sent spiralling upwards at full speed, and then crashing to the ground with a brutal kick to he gut, but he quickly recovered and stopped himself. The two of them began clashing once again, trading even blows with one another, sending a series of shockwaves throughout the stadium, shaking it with each brutal impact. But then he angled upwards to avoid any contact with the arena as he began charging a sizeable blue sphere of Ki in between his palms "Ka… Me…"
"So you're breaking out the good stuff for real this time then? So be it then, I suppose it's only fair to use my trump card as well." Raditz began charging pink Ki blasts n both of his hands, each sphere growing larger by the second.
"Ha… Me…"
"You'd better be ready Kakarot, because I'm not holding back any longer!"
"Neither am I! HA!" Goku quickly fired upwards a full power Super Kamehameha, the blast quickly exploding upwards.
"Double SUNDAY!" Raditz fired forward the two pink Ki waves, both of them combining into one and clashing against the Super Kamehameha in an epic beam struggle, though he quickly found that the Double Sunday was slowly but surely losing out.
"You're slowing down Raditz, you might have the high ground but you're gonna have to do better than that!"
"You wanna see better?! Well fine!" with a surge of Ki and a primal roar, Raditz was engulfed in a golden light that blinded almost everyone in the stadium. When the light subsided, Raditz had entered his Super Saiyan 2 form, his golden aura crackling with electricity, and with one swift movement he deflected Goku's Super Kamehameha. Now that the beam struggle had come to an end Raditz didn't waste any time returning to the ground "Well you did say you wanted to see better Kakarot, so you should've seen this coming a mile away."
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Meanwhile, with the Crane brothers…
"You mean…" Tao was left in mix of fear and disbelief at the sight of Raditz entering his Super Saiyan 2 form "You mean his brother is capable of producing this much power?!"
"Nevermind that now, take a look at this." Shen showed Shen the device they were holding and how much higher the meter was rising "The energy output is loads beyond what Goku is putting out, this must be the one!"
"But what about Goku?!"
"We can worry about him later, let's get the energy to Babidi and then we'll deal with Goku at whatever pace we desire."
"...Fine, but after that our dealings with him are over."
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Meanwhile, on the sidelines…
Shin and Kibito were pretty much left in awe by the sight of Raditz transforming "This is just incredible, his power is more magnificent than I had ever dared to hope! If all of your friends are as capable as this, then there's no way any of them will stand a chance against you!"
"Hate to break it to you mohawk." Kai held out a middle finger to Kibito to make him shut the hell up "Super Saiyan is one thing, but me, Cooler and Big Green over here are the only ones who can keep up with Super Saiyan 2. And my mom too obviously."
"Oh, I see. Well that is unfortunate, but it doesn't deter me. I've seen enough to know that you and all of your companions are highly capable. All of your powers are well beyond what I was prepared to expect, so even I am not certain that I will be able to properly contain the output of energy being released by Raditz at the moment."
"Well you're gonna have to, make the plan work and then we follow them back to their hype man and blow his pet dog straight to hell."
"...A rather crude way of saying it, but that is essentially the plan yes. If I may though, do you mind if I ask you something?"
"Depends on what you're gonna ask."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but while you make it clear you hold a considerable distaste for Saiyans, you share many traits with them, including the lust for battle-" he was silenced by a hand slapped over his mouth.
"First of all, as I've said many times, fuck power levels and fuck Super Saiyans. Second of all, your main question is why I'm not getting a boner over the concept of a challenge right?" he let out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair "I haven't forgotten what happened with Cell. You can make whatever bullshit excuses you want about how much good came out of it, but I haven't forgotten what happened. I let Cell reach his perfect form because I was so obsessed with proving I was stronger than a Super Saiyan, Super Namekian and anything and everything in between all of that because of my screaming ego. I'm not gonna screw up like that again, and that's all there is to it."
'It's not very often he gets sentimental or shows regret like that.' Gohan gave a small smile as he glanced over at Kai 'He's really grown a lot over the past few years.'
"But at the same time, if we fail and this thing gets released, and we've got a metric fuckton of a fight on our hands, then I think we'll just have to do what we always do: Wreck their shit in an overly destructive battle that has no real consequences, since we're gonna use the Dragon Balls to fix everything anyway.
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Meanwhile, in the ring…
Now that the beam struggle had come to an end Raditz didn't waste any time returning to the ground "Well you did say you wanted to see better Kakarot, so you should've seen this coming a mile away."
"Now's our chance!" this was when Shen and Tao both suddenly blitzed onto the scene and pounced at Raditz, the device being pointed towards him "You'll have to hold him still while I suck him dry and drain all of his energy from him!"
"So the two of you finally decided to make your move then? Well just know that I don't have any problems with ripping the both of you to shreds for good." Raditz whipped around and prepared to blast the both of them to hell, but suddenly found himself frozen in place, which was courtesy of none other than Shin 'What the hell, I can't move!' and then he was suddenly caught in a full nelson by Tao, with Shen using the device to stab him in the torso, causing him to cry out in pain as they did so.
"Raditz hold on!" Goku tried to blitz over to him to help, only to find himself suddenly pinned to the ground, and his eyes widened when he saw the cause of it 'What the- Cooler? He's using his telekinesis to pin me down, what the hell is he thinking?!'
Raditz was left in excruciating pain as his Ki was drained by Shen and Tao, causing him to drop back to his base form as his skin turned pale.
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Meanwhile, in the stands…
"Raditz hold on!" 18 tried to pounce towards the ring to help Raditz, only to find herself being held back by Kai "What the hell are you doing?!"
"This has to happen, so do the world a favor and get the fuck over it." Kai told her flatly "And let me just go on record and say that I don't have any problems with snapping both of your arms like twigs."
"The catharsis is misplaced, I'm the one who did that to you." 17 pointed out.
"Oh I plan on doing that to you either way, but my point still stands. Look I don't like this any more than you do- No wait that's a fucking lie, but either way it still has to happen and he's gonna be fine, so get the fuck over it."
"But what are they doing to him?" Videl gritted her teeth at the sight of Raditz being sucked dry by Shen and Tao "I can feel his Ki growing smaller by the second."
"And that's all they're doing, other than that he's gonna be fine so everyone quit freaking out over it. Speaking of which, Gohan do me a favor and torch this." he glanced over at Gohan and tossed a small notebook in his direction.
"Why do you have a book that says Death Note on the front?" Gohan raised an eyebrow at this, and then he proceeded to look at the contents of the first page "Raditz, stabbed to death in an attempt to sabotage his match during the next World Martial Arts Tournament, quarterfinals, around 1:45." he promptly turned back to Kai as his expression dulled "Seriously?"
"Don't fucking judge me."
"I passed the point of judging you years ago. But how did you guess Babidi and is men were going to attack him?"
"Well for one, it didn't have a damn thing to do with that. I figured Afro the Ass Clown was gonna try and cheat his way to a win because there was more competition at the tournament than he could handle, and Raditz pissed me off."
"...Like I said, I passed the point of judging you a long time ago." Gohan breathed a sigh of exasperation, and then he obliterated the journal with a simple surge of Ki from one hand.
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Meanwhile, in the ring…
As a blinding white light engulfed the entire stadium, Shen finished draining Raditz of all of his energy, leaving him a pale shell of himself that was barely conscious "Excellent, we have more than enough energy to satisfy Babidi."
"So we can finally get out of here?" Tao gave a menacing grin "That was far easier than I had ever expected it to be."
"Absolutely, so let's leave this wretches to sob over this one. We on the other hand, have a debt to repay, and then we'll be free." so Shen removed the device from Raditz, leaving him to fall to the ground in a heap that could barely keep his eyes open, and then the two Crane brothers spiked their auras and blasted off into the skies, leaving Raditz behind writing on the ground.
"Raditz hold on!" once he was free of Cooler's telekinesis, Goku rushed over and knelt down by his side, "I'm right here bro, are you still with me?"
"Kakarot… I…" Raditz's voice was weak and hoarse "I can't move…"
"Try not to talk, you're gonna be alright." Goku was quick to rush over to the others "Guys come on, I need to get him a Senzu Bean right away, the rest of you chase after them!"
"No please, let them escape for the moment." Shin held out a hand to stop them "Please be patient for the moment, I'll make sure that Kibito will restore him in a matter of moments."
"So are you going to tell us anything right now?" 17 shot him a raised eyebrow.
"I cannot as of yet, for the time being it is crucial that I'm able to follow them undetected."
"And what is the plan exactly?" asked Tien.
"If all of you would be so kind, I would like you to accompany me while I track them. It would be of great help to me."
"I was going to go after them either way. They are my former masters after all, and as such it's my responsibility to make sure that they don't hurt anyone else."
"Very well, I greatly appreciate your assistance." and so Shin promptly took off into the skies above, with Tien following right behind him.
"I'll be accompanying them as well, and those of you who wish to come, do so before you waste too much time." and so Cooler promptly blasted off after them.
"Well… that happened." 17 let out a low whistle "So I'm gonna check this out, it's already a lot more interesting than the tournament was going to be."
"Two of us already signed up for it years ago." Kai jerked a thumb at Gohan "I might be a fucking sociopath, but at least I still value life, even if I know death in most forms has no real consequence and at least a few of you will probably end up getting a free sundae out of this at worst. Whoever else wants in, go ahead and say the word."
"I'm going too." this was when Videl stepped up to the plate, only to be stopped by Kai holding out an arm in front of her "What?"
"You're the exception to that rule. You're not going, you're staying here."
"What the hell are you talking about? I can help!"
"No you can't, you've gotten stronger sure, but you've still got a ways to go before you can handle a real world ending threat. Besides, I've got a more important job for you."
"Which is what exactly, you want me to go track down the Dragon Balls? I can handle myself in a fight just fine."
"I know, and that's why you're staying here." he was met with a raised eyebrow "I told you before that my main purpose in this tournament was basically to go up to your dad and beat him within an inch of his life."
"I thought you said it was to restore the good name of martial arts."
"With me there's not too much of a difference, but you're different from me. You want to be the best just like I do, and like me you want to see the true good name of martial arts restored to their rightful glory right? Well here's the thing, I know that I can't do it with what's going on right now, and if it can't be me then I would sure as hell rather it be you." this left Videl to be taken by surprise, and considerably touched as well.
"Kai, I…"
"You don't have to say anything, just fight and win, for all of our sake's."
"...Right, you can count on me."
"I know I can." on that rather touching note, Kai turned to the others "You guys go ahead and catch up with Shin, I've got something to take care of so I'll catch up with the rest of you in a few minutes." and so he promptly took off.
'You just make sure you come back in one piece.'
"You know what I think Kai has the right idea. You guys go on ahead, I have to go talk to someone and then I'll catch up with you." Gohan started to take his leave, only to suddenly be stopped by Videl grabbing him by the back of the gi "Um… Is there something I can help you with?"
"Just trying to confirm something, you're gonna head over to the stands and talk to Erasa right now aren't you?"
"Well… I'm just talking to a friend, there's nothing wrong with that right?" he was basically sweating bullets under the pressure of Videl's glare.
"I never said there was, unless one of the friends in question connects lips to cheek like I heard about."
"...Kai told you about that didn't he?"
"He's a morally aware sociopath, you really shouldn't be surprised by that."
"Nor should I be surprised by the fact that he blackmailed me into this tournament for pretty much no good reason in the grand scheme of things."
"That figures. Anyway I'm not angry, I mean you're a huge step up from some of the jackasses she's gone out with in the past. Plus you actually won over her dad and understand most of the science related topics he talks about, that's more than I can say. But she is my best friend, so if you hurt her then I won't hesitate to blast you through the gut."
"...Yep it's official, you're Kai's apprentice alright." and so he promptly walked off towards the stands.
"He has an impact on you after awhile." Videl promptly turned to the others "So just out of curiosity, should I expect any of you to stick around for the actual tournament?"
"Well I was thinking of sticking around myself." Krillin told her "If there really is some new world ending threat about to pop up then I doubt I'd be much help, and Goku and the others can handle it. That, and there's the matter of the prize money. Crashing on your master's couch is one thing in your 20's, but I'm almost 40 now and it's getting to be kind of pathetic."
"It's not my place to judge. Who else?"
"For me it's more of a matter of a bruised ego, to be brutally honest." Yamcha told her "I don't doubt for a second that Kai told you about the last time I was in the tournament. I don't want that to be my legacy."
"Fair enough. So the rest of you are all going?"
"Actually there's one other person that's sticking around." Goku made his way over towards the group and looked down at Tarble "Okay listen, I need you to try and keep the others calm and let them know where-" he was cut off by Tarble holding a hand up to him "Um… what are you doing?"
"Sensei please, I know what you're going to say." Tarble told him calmly "You want me to stay behind because you know this is going to be dangerous, but that's the exact main reason why you've been training me for all these years, so that I can handle any sort of dangerous situation we come across. So I ask you this sensei, please let me come with you and prove that all of my training over the years wasn't for nothing." the look in his eyes held hints of desperation, but it was also filled with unwavering resolve.
"Enough of this, there's no time for debating this right now. If you want to come with us then just come." and so Piccolo blasted off, with 17 following right behind him.
"Please."
"...Alright, I get what you're saying Tarble. We'd better get moving then." Goku let out a sigh, and then he turned towards Kibito "We're gonna head out with the others, are you sure it's going to be okay to leave Raditz with you?"
"It's for the best to leave him with me." Kibito told him flatly "As soon as I've healed your brother and restored his strength to its full capacity I will be along to join you, and I think it more than likely that he will join you as well."
"Okay, I'm counting on you. What about you 18, you coming?"
"I'm going to stay here." 18 told him flatly "Keep in mind that the main reason I entered this tournament was so that I could get my hands on the prize money, if you guys want to go and do your thing then go ahead."
"Fair enough, I get it. I won't try and force you into this. Scarlet what about you?"
"Go on ahead, I'll stay with him too until he's fully recovered." Scarlet assured him "Plus I can catch up with you along with our sons."
"I gotcha, thank you for that." and on that note, Goku and Tarble blasted off through the skies after the others.
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Meanwhile, with Gohan…
By this point, Gohan had met up with Erasa behind the stands, and was explaining the situation to her "So that's about it, if I don't go with them then things are probably going to turn out pretty badly, so…"
"So you pretty much have to leave and go save the world." Erasa gave him a bright yet gentle smile "If your friends and your family need you then that's all there is to it, but make sure you come back in one piece okay?"
"I'll be sure to do that, and thanks for being so understanding."
"No worries, and one more thing." she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek "That's my way of saying, good luck and be careful."
"...Y-Yeah sure, I'll see you when I get back." and so despite being red in the face, Gohan then blasted off into the skies.
'Just make sure you come back, okay Gohan? Because I think the story between you and me is just getting started.'
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Meanwhile, with Kai…
At the same time, Kai had run into Goten and Ranch and explained the situation to the two of them, in his typical way "So that's the short version of what's going on, we're basically going to save the world again and all that typical anime crap."
"So why are you telling us this?" asked Ranch "Are you saying you want the two of us to come with you?"
"Not a fucking chance, the two of you wouldn't last five seconds."
"But you're about to go and fight, and we can help!" Goten protested.
"To put it so bluntly even you can understand, no you can't. I could personally oneshot the both of you with a single move before either of you could even blink."
"Then what do you want us to do?" asked Ranch.
"I want the two of you to make yourselves useful in the only way you really can, I want you to go track down the Dragon Balls for when shit gets real. I don't want any whining from the two of you either, got it?"
"...Alright, we get it."
"Good." he handed the two of them a Dragon Radar "Once you get the other Dragon Balls, bring all 7 of them to Capsule Corp. I'll make sure the others join you there once you're done, but don't summon the dragon until they get there." and so he promptly blasted off into the skies without another word.
"So… wanna go find the Dragon Balls and blow stuff up for pretty much no good reason along the way?"
"Do I?!" Goten's eyes lit up when he heard this.
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Meanwhile, back in the ring…
"What the…" still pale and unable to move, Raditz looked up to see Gohan and Kai flying away from the stadium "Where the hell… are they going?"
"You're going to find out a minute." Scarlet assured him "Just stay still and try to keep quiet while he does his thing."
"And the same goes for you mortal woman." on that harsh note, Kibito quickly knelt down beside Raditz and placed on his back, and he unleashed a pulse of energy 'This one is absorbing so much power, his full level of strength is beyond measure. I never realized that a mere mortal would be able to hold such a massive reserve of pure energy, no wonder those two were so insistent on obtaining this energy for themselves. Now rise Saiyan, for you have been restored to your full strength."
Sure enough, Raditz pulled himself back to his feet and took a moment to compose himself over the recent events "Wow."
"Looks like his healing did the trick." Scarlet noted "From what I can sense, you got a sizeable Zenkai boost from that."
"I can feel it too, but the only question is, who the hell is our mystery man?"
"Let's start talking as we fly, if this is anywhere near as bad as I was led to believe, then I have a feeling we can't afford to waste a single second." and so she blasted off after Kibio.
"Right." and so Raditz blasted off after her, the lot of them either not noticing or not caring about the massive problem they had left behind for the tournament.
The announcer knew what it was though, and he literally fell to his knees as he watched the lot of them fly away "They… They all just flew off in the blink of an eye… How the hell am I meant to have a huge tournament if all of the best fighters fly away?!"
"You realize we're still here right?" Yamcha pointed out, referring to Krillin, 18 and himself "I think we have to count for something." he was ignored.
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Meanwhile, with the cavalcade…
"Hey hold up!"
Shin looked back from where he was flying with Tien and Cooler, and he smiled at the relieving sight of Goku and the others flying towards him, with Gohan and Kai trailing at the back "I'm glad that all of you decided to lend a hand, all of you have my deepest gratitude for your aid. I do have my doubts that I could possibly be able to win if I were to go it alone."
"How do you figure that?" asked Goku "I've dealt with Tao in the past and I know what he's capable of, so I know that as we are right now, him and Shen shouldn't be a problem."
"I'm well aware of that, but it's not your former adversaries that have me concerned, but rather the dark wizard that has been driving their actions."
"And suddenly this sounds like something out of anime." Kai noted dryly.
"You say that as if you're surprised by this Kai, keep in mind that both you and Son Gohan have been made aware of this story."
"I never said that I was surprised, just making an observation."
"Fair enough. As I was saying though, this story dates back eons. Long ago during a time when the human race was still in its infancy here on Earth, a powerful wizard from the distant edge of the universe by the name of Bibidi made his first appearance. When he made his first appearance he brought with him a terrible monster of his own creation, one that existed with the sole purpose of bringing chaos and destruction, a monster by the name of Majin Buu."
"And based on what we've been told, his personality is about as original as the obvious pun on his name."
"His personality matters very little, the fact is that Majin Buu is but an instrument of terror and destruction, set to bring about darkness and bloodshed to all it encounters, and that's exactly what he did without a shred of conscience or morality to deter it from these actions. With Majin Buu firmly under his control, Bibidi didn't hesitate to set out and eradicate every single planet that he came across. Hundreds of planets one after another, whether they were inhabited or not, were reduced to nothing but rubble drifting amidst the cosmos. Entire galaxies had been erased from existence, and no one could withstand the full force of his malevolence."
"We've seen all of that already with Frieza, this isn't even original."
"The one you know as Frieza is nothing more than a spec of dust when compared to the power that Majin Buu possesses. There used to be hundreds of galaxies and four more Supreme Kais other than myself, and each one of us Kais had so much power that we would've been able to defeat Frieza with but a single blow. However as strong as we were, Majin Buu was able to prevail over all of us, and when his attack was done I was the sole survivor. Majin Buu became more and more powerful as his rampage continued, and as time went on even Bibidi had trouble with controlling him. Not trusting his creation to obey him, while he was unaware Bibidi had used a spell in his arsenal to seal Majin Buu within a sort of chrysalis and free him again at a later date. This spell was how Bibidi was able to transport Majin Buu from one planet to the next, and it was imprisoned he brought the monster to his next target."
"Which was here on Earth." Gohan finished for him, his tone grave.
"Yes, and the main reason Earth had survived was because luck had favored us. I was able to locate and confront Bibidi, and after a fierce battle I was able to vanquish him, though I couldn't have done so without the help of Sir Frigoro."
"That was my ancestor." Cooler jumped into the conversation "It was also how I became involved in the quest to destroy this beast. I had been isolated by my father to the far reaches of the universe as a child, because I had a low power level and was improving slowly, unlike the prodigy that my brother was, and because I lacked their taste for malicious control and desire for bloodlust and conquest. But the Supreme Kai here found me and informed me about the terror this creature possessed, and I agreed to aid him, not just for the sake of preserving life throughout the universe or preserving myself, but because it gave me something that I doubt neither my brother or my father ever truly felt… A sense of purpose, a reason for living, thriving and surviving for as long as I have."
"Yes, and I'm truly grateful for your aid. With your assistance, not only have our combined efforts led to what is about to happen today, but also to aid the rest of the universe in growing and thriving, and aiding in the long and slow recovery from Buu's initial rampage. But getting back to the story of Buu, I had succeeded in finishing off Bibidi, but not before he was able to start setting Majin Buu in motion. Fortunately for us, the ball in which Majin Buu had been contained was left where it had landed."
"Well that seems pretty stupid." 17 commented flatly "If this thing is as dangerous as you make it out to be, then why not just destroy it on the spot?"
"Because as long as he was confined within his seal, Majin Buu would not be a threat to anyone else, and until a few years ago we believed that Bibidi was the only one with the ability to set him free. However, Cooler's research on Buu's legacy and origins resulted in a horrifying realization that I had not been made aware of. The dark wizard Bibidi had a son before I had killed him, a creature just as evil as his father, if not even moreso. A dark wizard that goes by the name of Babidi."
"And he can free this thing can't he? Goddamn plot convenience."
"I'm sorry to say that the ability to free Majin Buu did run in the family."
"And what you're saying is that this Babidi is the one that's placed both Shen and Tao under his control in the first place?" asked Tien.
"I'm afraid so, Babidi possesses a heart just as black as that of his father, and his magic is every bit as powerful."
"It's kind of a weird change of pace compared to the usual sort of crap that we normally have to deal with." Kai pointed out, earning a variety of raised eyebrows "Think about it. First we have to deal with aliens and travelling to other planets, then we deal with all sorts of crap involving time travel and robotics. The kind of crap we deal with usually involves mostly sci fi stuff, but this is more mystical crap."
"I don't agree with the profanity, but based on what you've told me of your past exploits, this is indeed different from other foes you've encountered before."
"And the short version of what we're doing is ripping Babidi and his thugs a new one before he can bust his pet monster out of its prison."
"That is correct, and once we succeed in defeating Babidi the threat should be neutralized once again, and then no one in the universe will remain with the power to release the seal on the prison that binds the creature."
"So how strong is this wizard supposed to be exactly?" asked Goku.
"Physically he is nothing to fear, but the magic he has at his disposal is unlike anything I've ever encountered before. The same rang true for his father, thanks to his magic he can harness the evil that lies within in the hearts of others, even those whose evil remains dormant, prime examples being the likes of your enemies Shen and Tao. These two are more self aware than most of those placed under Babidi's control, but they are still mere thralls of his regardless. Let us pray that no one with true power falls pray to his spell, such as any of you." he had no idea that was going to happen, but who that is will be revealed later.
"There's one thing I don't get though, why did Shen and Tao bother to show up at the World Martial Arts Tournament in the first place, and what did they do to Raditz back there?"
"Based on the information I've been able to gather, freeing Majin Buu from his seal after being imprisoned in it for so long will require a staggering large amount of energy, in order to bring the creature out at its full strength." Cooler told him.
"And they came after Raditz while he was in his Super Saiyan 2, because he was putting out the most power at the time."
"As I said, Shen and Tao are more aware than most of Babidi's other pawns, and they knew that an event such as the tournament would be the perfect place to gather all of the power that they needed. Even if you and your group hadn't appeared, they would likely have just taken as much energy as they needed from as many people as necessary until they were satisfied. During your battle with your brother, when he turned Super Saiyan the energy he was putting out was a target that they couldn't help but seize. Knowing that Babidi would most likely try something of that sort, myself and Kibito, as well as Cooler here, arrived at the tournament in order to bide our time for the moment to strike. The ball containing Majin Buu has vanished, and while we had known of its location of old, but we have been unable to trace its location over the past few weeks, and as such we believe it has come into the possession of Babidi, and that is the main reason why it is so imperative that we follow those who attacked Raditz. Not only will you be able to deal with them once and for all, but they will lead us to Babidi's location, and where he may be hiding there is no doubt in my mind that is where Majin Buu's seal shall be located as well."
"I have to ask though, if this Majin Buu is as bad as you make him out to be, then why didn't you just go ahead and destroy him the last time? I mean you defeated Babidi's dad back then, so what was stopping you?"
"At the time I thought it was for the best to leave it untouched, I believed that there was too great a risk of breaking the seal myself and releasing Majin Buu in the process. Besides, I believed at the time that there was no one to disturb it. It had landed in a remote area and since humanity was still a new presence in the universe, they were still busy with figuring out the workings of tools and fire, the ball was of no threat to them."
"And then Shen and Tao got involved with your boi." Kai noted dryly "Leave it to the biggest pains in our asses to find a way to go out of their way just to piss us off."
"Babidi tends to have that effect on others as well, I can imagine that the malice in their hearts drew him to them, and he placed them under his control. They most likely believe that they are different from the rest of Babidi's underlings, and while I admit that they are more self aware than most of them, they are still his pawns just the same."
"They think they're big shots, they try to fit in with the big crowd, and they're gonna get butchered all the same."
"Yes indeed, we cannot allow any of them to remain once the dust settles." Shin then turned his attention over to Tien "I'm sorry about this, I'm aware that you once held strong connections to the two in question, but…"
"You don't have to say it, I already know." Tien's voice was quiet, but firm "I know that in the case of Shen and Tao, they have to be stopped at any cost. I know I once stood for their twisted ideals, but I soon realized that I did not share their beliefs. Still though, as their former student, it's my responsibility to stop them from hurtling anyone else. Please."
"...Very well, when the time comes I will allow you to deal with them."
"Thank you." and that ended any sort of conversation for the time being.
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Meanwhile, with Goten and Ranch…
While the main Z fighters were accompanying Shin on his quest, Goten and Ranch had set out on their own quest bequeathed to them by Kai, and now they were floating over the open ocean with their Dragon Radar in hand "This is weird, the signal says it's coming from right here."
"That probably just means it's at the bottom of the sea." Ranch told him "All we have to do is dive down and pick it up."
"Yeah, but… Wait a second, now I remember! My dad said that he fought some weird army guys in some kind of cave down here a long time ago with Krillin and Bulla's mom!"
"So you think that the Dragon Ball might be in some kind of underwater cave? Actually that does make sense, and it's not like we can't handle it."
"You think we should dive down and find it?"
"Like I said, the two of us should be able to handle it no problem. Let's go." and so the two of them dove down beneath the water towards the Pirate Cave, in search of the Dragon Ball that resided there.
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Meanwhile, back with the main plot…
"Kakarot, everyone!"
"Hm?" from where he was following Shin across the skies, Goku looked back to see Raditz fly up alongside him, the same with Scarlet and Kibito "Hey it's about time bro, I was wondering when you were gonna join the party."
"Oh yeah sorry about that, I just got stabbed in the gut by a few old pervs." Raditz's tone was increasingly dry.
"Well it looks like you've bounced back and recovered from it pretty well, and I take it you got the low down already?"
"From our big pink friend back there. Sounds like we're dealing with some particualry sadistic this time around."
"Sounds like it, but it does kind of excite me too. I'm looking forward to the two of us getting to fight side by side again."
"Glad to hear you've got the blood pumping, just make sure that you don't let yourself get in over your head."
"Yeah I know."
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A lone white pod like structure sat in the middle of an isolated field area.
A lone figure made his way out of the ship, clad in white armor and a black jumpsuit, with a large M mark on his forehead, and he smirked at the sight in the skies above "So the two of them actually succeeded in their task."
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Meanwhile, with the main group…
Shin and the others continued following Shen and Tao, and he frowned when he noticed something from the two of them "That's odd, the two of them are starting to land."
"Out in the middle of nowhere like this?" Tarble muttered "This seems strange."
"Yes indeed, very strange. I personally searched this area before the tournament even started. But if this is where they intend to stop, then we should survey them for the time being." and so he and the rest of the group dropped down to the ground and hid among a large plateau not far away from them "Everyone please be sure to suppress your energy signatures, do not delay or they will be able to discover us."
"And just now I'm realizing that you told us pretty much everything we need to know about this creepy magic imp, except for one crucial detail." Kai told him dryly.
"And what would that be?"
"You never told us what the fuck he looks like. For all we know, that ugly guy down there with the giant thing on his head could be him and we'd never know."
"Well I know from personal experience that that is not Babidi, but judging by the mark on his forehead that is one of his men."
"Well that helps, so where's the big hancho himself?"
"If I had to guess, then I'd say he's not far away." Gohan gestured down towards the area where the white structure sat on the ground "Take a closer look down there, it looks like the ground surrounding that white structure has been dug up recently."
"So you're saying that the reason the rest of you guys never found it was because he hid most of his ship underground, he was hiding under your noses and he played you like suckers."
"Which may also mean that he knows we're aware of his intentions." Cooler noted grimly "We will have to act soon."
"We're gonna have to be careful though, if he went to the trouble of hiding his ship then that most likely means that he knows that you followed him to Earth to try and stop him. I say we attack now, every second we wait he gets closer to releasing his attack dog."
"No, we should wait for Babidi to show himself." Scarlet told him "That way we can take him down before he tries to release this thing."
"Or we could go in and look for him."
"No Scarlet is correct, we wait for Babidi to show himself." Shin told him "He'll have to perform the unsealing ritual outside the ship so that he won't end up destroying it in the process of freeing the creature. Please Kai, you must be patient."
"So what the hell are we supposed to do, sit on our asses and count the number of bodies we can find in the surrounding area? Just throwing this out there, I'm already counting three."
"Three
"Cool it with the wisecracks, someone else is coming out." 17 told him, followed by two more figures revealing themselves from within the ship, which made Shin's purple face turn pale and his blood run cold.
"This… This can't be! That's Babidi for sure, but with him is Dabura! This is bad, Babidi is a big enough threat as it is, but to take control of a demon like Dabura?"
"So if I had to guess, I'm gonna go ahead and assume that the imp is Babidi and Dabura is the big bastard with the horns?" asked Kai.
"I'm afraid so."
"So how strong is he?"
"Far more than you can imagine, keep in mind that one could not become the king of the Demon Realm without being substantially powerful."
"And what is the Demon Realm then?" asked Gohan.
"The Demon Realm is an accursed plane of existence, the foul underbelly of this universe. Just as you and your companions are the physical exemplaries of your own universe, the terrifying specimen before you is the diabolical of his."
"So just for the sake of being absolutely clear about this, not only is there an actual place called the Demon Realm, but the king of this place is working with a madman planning to release an evil monster to conquer the universe?"
"That is correct Son Gohan."
"And that means Babidi is the ugly little imp down there." Kai noted "Yeah I'm gonna be real with you for a second, looking at him just made me throw up in my mouth a little bit."
"The only thing more hideous than him is the wickedness in his heart. Do not allow yourself to be deceived either, he may be feeble in body but he more than compensates for this fact through the power of his dark magic, which is apparently potent enough for him to tame a demon king and all of the might at his command."
"You seriously expect me to believe that the big guy willingly lets that walking zit keep himself under his foot like that? He looks like he can barely pick himself up off the ground."
"Be that as it may, you have to keep in mind that demons are very notably subject to the kind of greed and malice that answers readily to dark sorcery." Cooler told him flatly "In a sense, the evil natures of both forces feed upon each other. That is the secret behind the power of Babidi's hold over his forces. Dabura and the two humans down there that all of you are acquainted with, every one of his henchmen are being held captive by their own self interest, and as such only the pure of heart who can look beyond themselves and act for the sake of the greater good are resistant to the will of the evil wizard. Such examples include the likes of the Supreme Kai and Kibito here, and considering the powers that they hold at their disposal, it's no wonder that Babidi considers them to be some of the biggest threats to his plans."
"Which means what exactly?" asked Piccolo "Are you saying that they're so powerful there's no way we'll be able to beat them?"
"I said nothing of the sort, because I don't believe that to be true. I'm sure all of you sense it as well as I do."
"You mean the fact that he's as overhyped as Death Note itself?" Kai pointed out dryly "I think anyone with half a brain cell would be able to see that. The bottom line is that the universe as we know it is as good as gone if Majin Buu gets reborn right? Well there's gonna be a cold day in hell if they think I'm gonna let that happen. Either me or Gohan for that matter."
"Of that I have no doubt, I'm full confident that with all of you here contributing your power to this cause, that will never come to pass. However, if any of you are being overcome by fear or feel that you're unable to contribute effectively, now would be the time for you to retreat, before you get spotted."
"I get what you're saying Cooler, I think all of us do." Goku glanced back at Tarble and gave him a reassuring smile, then turned back to Cooler "Maybe we can help against these guys or maybe not, but I think I speak for all of us when I say we wouldn't be here if we didn't plan on giving it everything we've got."
"I see. So be it then, if this is what you wish then I won't attempt to dissuade you."
"You couldn't if you wanted to." Kai told him flatly "Like the idiot said, we wouldn't be here if we didn't plan on fighting. Anyway everybody shut up and look alive, I think something's about to happen.
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Meanwhile, down with the scumbags…
"As is per our agreement." Shen and Tao shared a grin as the former handed the energy canister over to Babidi "This energy is yours to use as you see fit."
"So it is." Babidi accepted the canister, a malicious grin plastered across his face "I can feel it positively brimming with energy. The two of you played your part quite well, the glorious return of Majin Buu will be that much sooner."
"What makes it that much better is that all of the energy we absorbed with that little device of yours, we only had to steal it from a single person, and there are many more to come." Tao told him.
'Now comes the part where I make these two explode from the inside out and- What was that about many more to come?"
"When we stole this energy for you, we encountered a certain group of individuals we have quite the history with. As much as I'm disgusted to admit it, to say they're formidable is a massive understatement. But with that amount of power at their disposal, they have an equal amount of energy. Energy that you can steal and use to further the revival of your little pet."
"So you're saying you want to go back out and steal it from the rest of them?"
"We don't need to, they're more than likely on their way to hunt us down, and if not already then they will be very shortly. All we have to do is absorb their energy-"
"-and then Majin Buu's revival will be upon us before we even know it."
"Exactly."
'...Perhaps these two are even more useful than I first thought. Maybe I should keep them around for the time being, see what other useful suggestions they have. Then once Majin Buu is full restored and at my command, I'll kill both of them with ease. Well then, we'll just have to bide our time until that happens, correct?"
"As my brother said, it won't be long." Shen assured him "For all we know, they're most likely on their way right now."
"You may be more correct than you realize. Tell me Dabura, you two, does the air suddenly feel closer? It would seem that the energy you were talking about has come sooner than any of us had anticipated. Whoever these guests may be, I can tell that the Supreme Kai is with them."
"So he is." Dabura let out a chuckle "They think they're hiding from us master, but I can sense them so clearly. There are 12 of them, all of them are powerful. This is interesting. Even if we are forced to factor Kibito and the Supreme Kai out of the equation, many of those still remaining have unheard of stores of power in their possession. Their contribution to our cause will be quite substantial, to say the least."
"Yes, those were my thoughts exactly. In fact, I dare to say that those of them in question would top us off, so to speak. Who would've thought we'd be able to free Majin Buu so much sooner than I had expected? Now then, what do you say we lure our newcomers into our spaceship for the sake of proper processing? After all, I believe that would be the fastest way for us to collect their energy."
"Of course my master, though I'm sure that the Supreme Kai will try to prevent it."
"Of that I have no doubt. Take care of the ones we don't need and then come back inside, the rest of the fools present will give chase out of sheer desperation to avenge their fallen comrades, so I'm sure they'll pay no heed to the misgivings of the Supreme Kai."
"Very well then, though I had hoped my role would be bigger."
"Have patience my friend, and be sure to leave the Supreme Kai intact. I'm sure you understand that I owe him dearly, the sad fate that befell my father so many years ago demands the most unique form of revenge."
"Far be it for me to argue with you my master, I've never been one for standing in the way of vengeance."
"Just be sure to have a little bit of fun though. Shen, Tao, come with me so we can make the preparations. I'll let the two of you be stage one, so that way you won't have to wait for too long to exact your revenge." and so Babidi made his way inside, with Shen and Tao both following his lead.
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Meanwhile, with the Z fighters…
"Well that was… considerably unexpected." Shin could only blink at the sight of the exchange taking place down below "I had thought for certain that Babidi would've betrayed both of them by now and used his magic to ensure they both met incredibly gruesome demises."
"Probably just means he took a liking to them." Kai pointed out dryly "Sadistic mother fuckers that live to make people suffer tend to attract each other. Give it time, chances are one of them is gonna betray the other and then you'll get the bloodbath you want."
"I don't want anything of the sort!"
"And yet you still expect it."
"Because I know how Babidi works, it's the way he's known to weave his web. A series of warriors are drawn in from across the cosmos, like flies to his honey, guided by greed, arrogance and blind ambition. They bow to his whim without hesitating for even a moment, and when they've outlived their usefulness he simply discards them. He tosses them aside like they're nothing more than garbage to him, and in the end their loyalty and devotion to him earns them nothing more than an agonizing death worse than anything they can imagine."
"Like I said, sadistic mother fucker and a typical megalomaniacal madman with delusions of grandeur and desires for universal conquest. It's nothing we haven't faced before."
"But that doesn't make it any less repulsive." Tien noted grimly "Even now, it pains me to think just how far both of my old teachers have fallen."
"If someone has to put a stop to them for good then it might as well be you. God only knows your Pokemon can't."
"Enough with the anime references, take a look down there." Gohan pointed at what was going on down below "Babidi just went inside with Shen and Tao, but they left Dabura outside by himself for some reason."
"If his most powerful henchman is staying behind, that must mean he knows that we're here already." Scarlet noted grimly "Whatever happens, everyone stay on their guard."
"Too late." this was when Dabura suddenly blitzed in front of the group with one hand extended out in front of him, and a single Ki blast was all he needed to engulf Kibito and obliterate him before he even had time to scream.
"Kibito!"
"...Meh." Kai gave a shrug, but still leapt up to confront Dabura regardless, and with the first level of his Kaioken blazing he launched a rapid barrage of punches and kicks at him.
"I think not." Dabura weaved his way around his attacks with ease, and then with a loud noise he launched a volley of his spit at Kai, a
"What the fu-"
"Get down!" Cooler suddenly grabbed Kai by the throat using his tail and hurled him out of the way, only for the spit to end up hitting his tail instead, but it ended with Raditz being hit by it as well.
"What the hell was that?"
"I didn't have the chance to tell you before, but his saliva is tainted." Shin told him grimly "That is to say, everyone who gets touched by Dabura's salive is turned to stone."
"That would've been good to know!"
"Perhaps, but it doesn't matter." Cooler turned to face the others, even as his body began turning to stone "Listen to me very carefully, because I only have time to say this once. Whatever may happen today, you must do everything in your power to stop Majin Buu from being restored, no matter what you may have to sacrifice, or whom."
"...We'll win this, count on it." Kai and Gohan both shared a glance and a nod absolutely brimming with determination "And then we'll bring you back with the Dragon Balls when this is over."
"Of that, I have no doubt." Cooler gave a simple nod, right before his body finished with the petrification process.
"He's right, I have faith in all of you." Raditz gave the group a small smile before he was turned to stone as well.
"Raditz no!" in his horror, Goku rushed over to the side of his brother, only to freeze once he reached him, and he gritted his teeth at the sight "We'll fix this, I promise. Just hold on, I'll break you out of there!" he prepared to unleash a Ki blast.
"Wait Goku, don't do it!" Shin was quick to stop him "This is one of Dabura's vial powers, all who come into contact with his saliva are turned into statues. You must not risk touching him, if you break them then they can never be restored to their true form. It would be no different from killing them."
"So what do we do then?" Goku let out a growl of anger.
"There's only one thing to do." Dabura gave a smirk as he suddenly materialized in front of the group, next to the petrified form of Raditz "If you wish for them to be restored, then there's only one way for you to do that. You'll have to kill me. If you can that is. And in case you haven't decided to take me seriously yet…" he summoned a sword in one hand, and with one swift movement he cut Raditz clean down the middle, causing the two halves to fall to the ground and shatter, much to the horror of most of those present.
"RADITZ!"
"Consider that a warning, to those of you who are foolish enough to believe they have the strength they need to defy my master." and with another laugh full of malice, he flew off in the direction of Babidi's ship, leaving the remaining 9 behind on the cliffside.
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Meanwhile, with Goten and Ranch…
"Okay come on, I think it's somewhere down here." by this point, Ranch and Goten were both venturing deeper into the underwater Pirate Cave in search of one of the Dragon Balls, only to stop when they reached another cave "Huh, cave inside another cave. Is this supposed to be what they call a Kodak thing?"
"I don't know what that means." Goten told her.
"Neither do I, I only heard Kai mention it once, but I think this is what he meant. Anyway let's go, it's in here." and so the two ventured into the entrance of the cave, only to be stopped by a massive pink tentacle slamming down on the ground in front of them, which quickly drew their attention to the source.
"Wow…"
"Well well, what do we have here?" as it turns out, the source of that tentacle came from the form of a large pink octopus sitting a short distance away from them "It's been a long time since I've had a decent meal, I was hoping it would be more than just a few obnoxious brats, but I guess you'll do for now."
"Hey Ranch, you see this guy… he's a squid right?"
"I'm not a squid you little shit, I'm an octopus!"
"Yeah it's not that hard to tell, just take a look at the head." Ranch told him "If it was a squid then his head would be pointy, but this one is just a big ball."
"Finally, it's about time someone gets it! Seriously, I've only had an actual conversation with like two people in the past 30 years, and they both have that exact same stupid haircut."
"...Same stupid haircut?" Ranch shot a glance over at Goten, studying his haircut for a moment as if a lightbulb went off in her head 'I wonder if he's talking about Uncle Goku. Well anyway it doesn't matter. Look we don't want to pick a fight, we just came down here looking for a little orange ball with stars on it."
"You'll get nothing from me brat, I was tasked by a powerful army with protecting a great treasure here!"
"Protecting treasure huh?"
"You think he means the Dragon Ball?" asked Goten.
"Either that or some kind of actual buried treasure that we can use for money. If that is the case, then I call dibs."
"Why do you get dibs?"
"Because you won the prize money in the tournament, let me have this!" and so she charged towards the octopus at full speed, with Goten hot on her heels.
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Things have taken a very interesting turn of events. On one end, Goten and Ranch have been tasked with searching for the Dragon Balls, and they've already come across the location of the first. On the other hand, Babidi has made himself known to our heroes, with none other than the king of the Demon Realm under his control, and in the blink of an eye, he's wiped out three of our heroes with his demonic powers. Now only 9 remain to take on the forces of Babidi and prevent Majin Buu from rising again. The clock is ticking and things are about to heat up, next time on Dragon Ball Z: the Next Generation.
A/N:
And after a crapload of buildup and foreshadowing, we finally see Sugar Honey Ice Tea hit the fan (who gets the reference?), as Shen and Tao make their move on the Z fighters, specifically Raditz, which I had actually foreshadowed back in chapter 34 of this story. You see it started as a funny reference to Death Note, with Kai writing in a certain notebook that Raditz would be stabbed during his match in the World Martial Arts Tournament, and that's exactly what happened here.
Videl is staying behind at the World Martial Arts Tournament to continue competing, the same with Krillin, Yamcha and 18. I know that she's a hell of a lot stronger than she is in canon, but she's still not ready for something like this, and that's something Kai knows all too well. Kai may be snarky and potentially psychotic, but he's definitely not stupid.
So while they don't contribute to the main battle in any way, Goten and Ranch still get to do something important, since they've been tasked by Kai with going out and finding the 7 Dragon Balls. The locations of the Dragon Balls and the enemies the two of them will be fighting are actually based on those from the old Dragon Ball Z game Attack of the Saiyans. I love this game and I thought it would be a lot of fun to do this. So basically, I'm gonna try and make this a little subplot for the next chapter or two, give them something to do and a little bit of light relief from the main plot.
Unfortunately, Raditz met his end at the hands of Dabura, along with Kibito. This was a decision I was reluctant to go through with, but he and Goku had their fight, which I really enjoyed writing, and I want to give as many of the characters as much spotlight as I can. See that's the problem that Dragon Ball has later on, it becomes all about the Saiyans. I'm trying to change that, give the Non-Saiyan characters some spotlight. If that means that I have to cut some of the characters out in order to do that, then so be it.
Power levels:
Kai: 1 billion
Scarlet: 1.8 billion
Gohan: 4 billion
Goku: 3.8 billion
Super Saiyan Goku: 26.6 billion
Raditz: 3.8 billion
Super Saiyan Raditz: 26.6 billion
Super Saiyan 2 Raditz: 159.6 billion
Raditz (Zenkai): 4 billion
Tarble: 3.4 billion
Yamcha: 200 million
Tien: 200 million
Krillin: 175 million
Cooler: 45 billion
Android 17: 2 billion
Android 18: 2 billion
Weighted Piccolo: 60 billion
Videl: 7.5 million
Mr Satan: 25
Majin Mercenary Tao: 20 million
Majin Shen: 20 million
Dabura: 15 billion