Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ. Which is a good thing, considering how often I update.

Chapter 46

Broly stared in disbelief at the girl who he had thought was dead. It seemed impossible, yet here she was. She was resting a big sword on her shoulder, but there was no denying that this was Zangya. The giant kept his eyes on her, the whole time wondering how this miracle had come to pass. He thought that it could have been the dragon balls, but then, where was Gohan?

"You okay Broly?" Zangya asked.

He had been staring just a tad too long and she had started to worry. Her words snapped him out of his ponderings. He rushed her and engulfed her in tender hug. What did it matter how? His friend was back, and this happy thought brought tears streaming down the face of the battle-hardened warrior.

The sudden show of affection from someone who was not especially expressive, nor what you'd call 'touchy feely', had surprised Zangya. But this surprise lasted only a moment. She smiled tenderly and returned the embrace, patting her weeping friend on the back.

"Looks like you've been having a hard time." she said softly. "I'm proud of you Broly. I'm sorry I didn't come back sooner, but you did a great job protecting Goten and Chichi for me." She pushed her friend away. "But I'm back now, so you can take a break."

Broly wiped the tears away before the questions started to pour forth.

"Zangya, I thought you were dead. How did you come back? Did Bulma gather the dragon balls? What's with the sword? Where's Gohan?"

With a heavy sigh, Zangya looked back in the direction where Buu had gone flying.

"It's kind of a long story. Let's just focus on the battle for now. We both know this isn't over yet."

Broly composed himself. Her statement had brought him back to the reality of the situation.

"Yes, you're right. I'm sure that didn't kill him. Nothing ever does." Broly clenched his fists in frustration. "I've thrown everything I have at him, but he just keeps coming back. He also has this technique that multiplies his strength. He calls it the Kaioken."

Zangya nodded. She remembered Gohan telling her about his dad's technique when they were trading war stories. She supposed it made sense that Buu would be able to use the technique after absorbing Goku.

"How much can he increase his strength?" The Hera asked.

"I'm not sure. At least one hundred." Broly shook his head. "Turns out all that training didn't mean a thing."

Zangya patted the Saiyan's arm.

"That's not true. You held him off for a good while. I could feel your power from otherworld. You've gotten amazingly strong."

The Saiyan looked down. "Not strong enough." He said in a dispirited tone. "Zangya, I put everything I had into that last attack. Even if I were at full strength and we worked together, even with all our friends combined, I don't know if we can beat him. Who knows if 100 is his limit? Besides that, I don't have any more senzu beans. I'm afraid…" Broly gulped as the hopelessness of the situation washed over him. "I'm afraid you've come back to life just to die."

At his words, an odd look crossed over her features. "Oh, Broly…" She said with a voice full of sympathy. She reached out to him, and he thought it was to comfort him. But instead of a gentle pat, what he got was a painful flick to the forehead.

"OW!" He rubbed the place that she hit and could already feel the goose egg forming.

"Listen up big guy, because there's at least two things wrong with what you just said." With a stern expression she held up a finger to his face. "First, I wasn't actually dead, and I don't plan on going back to otherworld anytime soon. Second," She held up another finger. "There's not a chance in HFIL that I'm going to let this monster live after what he's done. This freak will die today. You can count on it."

Broly stopped rubbing his forehead. The confidence that Zangya showed, even when faced with the evidence of Buu's overwhelming power, was incredible. "Zangya…"

"It's ok." She smiled. "You don't need to worry. I've got a plan."

Something was different about the Hera girl. He had marked the slight changes in her physical appearance earlier, but it was only just now that he noticed something else. There was an air about her. An energy that seemed to uplift and empower.

Feeling ashamed of his earlier attitude, he pumped his fist.

"Alright. Just tell me what I need to do." He declared enthusiastically.

"Heh. That's more like it." She replied. "What I need you to do…" she paused and looked at him with utmost seriousness. "Is nothing."

"What? Zangya, even at full power I couldn't beat him. You don't stand a chance on your own!"

"You want another bruise?" She gave him a dirty look and he covered his forehead.

"Nono, I'm good!"

"That's what I thought." She said with satisfaction. "Look, you're just going to have to trust me on this, ok? I know what I'm doing. I need you to sit this one out. Besides, you said yourself you used everything you had on that last attack. Get some rest and everything will work out."

"But-"

"Broly." Zangya looked serious. "Please?"

The Saiyan didn't respond immediately. She said she had a plan, but what sort of plan could compensate for the impossible gap in strength. Then again, she seemed confident that whatever it was, her plan would work. At last, telling himself that he would jump in at the first sign of trouble, he relented.

"Ok. Whatever you say."

"Good. Besides," she looked over Broly's shoulder. "I think this calls for a one on one approach, wouldn't you agree Buu?"

"Oh, I couldn't agree more."

Broly spun around to see Buu sporting a wicked grin.

"You know, I gotta say Zangya, I'm glad you're back. I really like your style."

Break.

Otherworld

Shin and Kibito were crouched around the crystal ball. Every muscle in their bodies tensed, hardly daring to even breathe as Zangya faced off against Buu. The Hera was clearly confident in her victory, but even so, the Supreme Kai couldn't help but worry. After all, the fate of the universe was hinging on her success.

"Ancestor, are you sure that your ritual will be enough to defeat Buu?" Shin asked of the elder Kai.

"Ancestor?"

When no answer came, Shin looked behind him, but the elder Kai was gone.

"Where in the world?"

Not far from them, the old Kai was bent over behind a tree. On his hands and knees, the man was feeling around in what looked like a rabbit hole below the base and between the roots.

"Now where is it? I know I left it here before that stupid cat locked me away… AHAH!" He cried out joyously and pulled out a small wooden box. Quickly looking to the right, then the left, he opened the box slowly. "Eheheh. Oh, my beauties, it's been too long."

With a big, goofy smile, the elder Kai lovingly extracted a magazine labeled 'Fruit of the goddesses.' On the cover was a beautiful woman with clothing that had a hint of Egyptian influence. It was only a hint because there wasn't enough clothing there to give more than that. "Oohoo! I'm glad I'm finally out of that sword."

"ANCESTOR!"

The old man jumped and fumbled to hide the magazine behind his back.

Shin and Kibito looked out from behind the tree at their 'honorable' forbearer, one with shame, the other with anger.

"Ancestor, how could you!?" The Supreme Kai reprimanded in a harsh tone. "The fate of the universe is at stake and you're here looking at girly magazines!?"

"Oh, but this isn't just any girly magazine." The elder Kai defended, sounding almost as indignant as the younger man. "This is the limited edition, 100-billion-year anniversary of the universe issue. All the Goddesses themselves posed for this! Even Vados from universe 6 and Heles from U2 visited for this issue!" The Kai calmed down slightly and narrowed his eyes conspiratorially. "If you like, I'll give you a little peek."

Shin blushed deeply and stepped back. "W-w-what! I-I would never! To objectify them like that! I can't even believe they would do such a thing!"

"Hmph, Prude." The old man huffed with a shrug of his shoulders. He went back to flipping through the magazine. "It was for charity you know."

"Look, that isn't even the point. The universe is still in danger!" Shin exclaimed, desperate to get back to the main issue. "Zangya is going to be fighting Buu, who seems to be able to increase his power infinitely! Even with her new power, how is she supposed to deal with that!?"

"Oh, would you calm down. I swear, the new generation just loves to make a big deal out of everything. That girl will be just fine. She's a direct descendant of Hera after all."

"I know the race of Hera is powerful, but still…"

"No, you misunderstood me. Here, let me show you something." The old man held up his magazine and Shin's head started to resemble a tomato. (Though whether it was from embarrassment or anger was hard to tell.)

"I DON'T WANT TO LOOK AT YOUR PORN OLD MAN!"

"But just look at this girl on page 9!" He held the page open to show his younger counterpart the model.

Shin took a breath and was about to yell again, but stopped when he noticed a familiar orange cloud.

"…That… Can't be who I think it is. Can it?"

The old man whistled. "No, but ain't our girl a dead ringer? Though Hera was much, ahaha, bigger." The old man drooled slightly over the blue woman wearing nothing but a small toga in the picture.

"I… I still don't understand." Shin puzzled, struggling to look away from the model, hard as he tried. "What is this supposed to mean? What does this have to do with the current crisis?"

Elder Kai became serious. "The ritual has different effects based on who I use it on. A sparrow might become an eagle, but what would happen if I used it on the eagle? And boy, that girl is some eagle. Judging by the family resemblance, I'd say this chick comes from the best stock there is. You go back to that crystal ball, and you'll see something special."

Shin nodded with wide eyes, understanding what the old man was trying to say. "Yes, I see. It's no wonder that Zangya has obtained great power at such a young age. Her potential must be incredible! Kibito! Let's go see what she can do!" Shin ran excitedly back to the crystal ball, followed closely by his faithful servant.

Elder Kai let out a sigh of relief. "Phew! Alone at last." He turned to the goddess.

But before the old man could get down to business, a purple hand grabbed him by the collar and dragged him away.

Break.

Buu kept his gaze on Zangya, smiling all the while. He was glad she was back, since maybe now Chichi wouldn't be so mad at him. Now he just had to get Gohan back and kill Broly then everything would be back to normal. One thing at a time.

"You know, I can't wait to have fun with you Zangya." Buu said sincerely. "But first, let me just kill this homewrecker."

Zangya's eyes narrowed. "No. I don't think I will."

"Oh, come on. You like pancakes, don't you? We could split him." The monster reasoned, as though sharing were her key problem with the murder of her friend.

Zangya raised the Z sword in one hand and pointed it straight at the abomination. "Try it." Her voice was light, but even Buu could feel the danger behind her words.

Despite his foreboding, neither Buu nor Goku could ever remember backing down from a challenge.

"Hehe. If you insist. KAIOKEN TIMES 20!" As soon as the red aura enveloped him, Buu vanished, and so did Zangya. Immediately after, she reappeared where Buu had been, while Buu appeared with a knife hand inches from Broly's face.

Broly braced himself for the attack, but none came. Buu was frozen in place for a brief moment, then, like a falling Jenga tower, the pink body collapsed into a pile of hundreds of gelatinous cubes.

Zangya rested the blade on her shoulder. "Just like cutting a cake."

The pink cubes started to jiggle, and with a pop, turned into hundreds of tiny Buus.

"Hey!" The little demons yelled in a high-pitched voice. "That's cheating!"

"Nuh-uh." Then Zangya stuck her tongue out to punctuate her argument.

"Grrr GET HER!" The tiny Buus yelled and charged at the Hera. Without moving from her spot, Zangya readied her sword. The inch high monsters swarmed around her, each one glowing Kaioken red. In a flurry of steel, Zangya cut each of them down with such speed and accuracy, Buu might as well have tried attacking a blender.

Now rather than a pile of cubes, Buu dropped to the ground in a puddle of mushy goo.

During both of these exchanges, Broly stared in shocked amazement at his friend. He had missed the first exchange entirely. He told himself that he had been focusing on Buu, but then during the second exchange, he couldn't track her movements at all. Even in his super Saiyan 2 state, he barely even saw the flashes. What had happened to her?

While Broly was trying to figure what had changed in Zangya, Buu had reformed and shot back into the air, level with his new opponent.

"Will you stop cheating!" He demanded in annoyance. It seemed like a weird thing for an indestructible blob to protest against, but every time the sword sliced through him, his whole rhythm was thrown off. Like someone was pressing stop then play really fast in a movie. He didn't like it.

"I told you. I'm not cheating."

"YES, YOU ARE!" Buu stomped his foot in the air. "You can't use a sword in a fist fight! Only wimps like Trunks do that!"

The Hera stared at this confusing statement. "Trunks is like, four."

"No, I mean the other Trunks!"

Question marks floated around Zangya. She shook them off, then pointed at Buu.

"Whatever. I'm still not cheating. If using a sword is cheating, what do you call absorbing someone else? You want to fight fair, then spit Goku back out."

Buu grinned. "Ha! Nice try. But even if I wanted to, I couldn't. Once I absorb someone, I have no idea how to un-absorb them. I am the new and improved Goku."

Zangya looked extremely put out by this, blowing a strand of hair from her face.

'I didn't think it'd be that easy, but it was worth a shot.'

"Then I guess all I can do is try and beat him out of you like the ugly piñata you are." She held the sword at arm's length, with the point down and let it drop.

"There, no more sword. Not that it will make a difference for you."

She disappeared and the next moment, Buu felt himself being folded in half backwards as Zangya buried her fist in his lower back.

"Gah!"

He unfolded himself and staggered forward, rubbing his back. He growled and spun around aiming a backhand at her. Hardly looking like it was worth the effort, Zangya brought her hand up and easily caught the oncoming blow by the wrist.

Zangya looked in amusement at the surprise on Buu's face. "Yeah, I've gotten stronger since last time."

Buu pulled back, but his arm remained locked in her grip.

"A lot stronger." She smiled a predatory grin. "Why don't you try the Kaioken X 100 again? See what happens."

"Heh, alright." Buu replied, returning her smile. "But just remember, you asked for it. KAIOKEN TIMES 100!"

Immediately, Buu was wrapped in the intense, burning flame of energy. The pink demon laughed maniacally as he reveled in his power.

"HAHAHA! Let's see what you can do against this Red Z girl OOF!" The demon's eyes bulged out of his head, and he doubled over.

"Sorry ugly, but red really isn't your color." Zangya taunted as she pulled her punch out of his stomach.

He looked up and gave her a dirty look, but she just laughed. His aura flared again, and he lashed out at the girl with a look of anger and embarrassment.

"What's wrong? I thought you wanted to have fun with me?" She tilted her head to avoid an oncoming punch. "I'm actually having a blast!"

She charged a red beam and let it loose point blank on the monster. Buu held out his arms to catch the blast, but only partially succeeded. The attack didn't envelope him, but he couldn't stop it from pushing him further and further back. As he struggled to keep the beam at Bay, Zangya appeared behind him.

"What? You don't like my red velvet? How about a taste of my CUPCAKE BLASTER!" Her arms moved like pistons as she sent a barrage of pink ki blasts.

Caught between these two attacks, Buu was helpless as the bombs detonated at his back while the red beam finally washed over him.

Zangya turned from the explosion's aftermath to Broly. Looking down at him, she flashed a grin and gave a thumbs up.

"See? I got this."

"LOOK OUT!"

Before Broly yelled his warning, Zangya was already bending sideways, a pink fist whizzing past her ear. Another stretched out punch shot out from the smoke cloud. The blue fighter reacted by sidestepping then grabbing a hold of the extended limb.

"Come on out Buu. We're not done PLAYING!" She yanked on the arm, then hand over hand, reeled Buu in at an absurd pace. Buu sped toward her with a comically terrified expression and before he knew it, he was in range of her fists. He put one arm up to guard his face, but this did little good. Zangya released a haymaker that tore past his guard and hammered the side of his head, sending Buu crashing into the ground.

Buu didn't stop at the ground though. On and on he went, the force of Zangya's punch drilling him through the earth's crust, all the way to the mantle. The Hera landed at the edge of the hole with folded arms. She stepped back a few paces just before a geyser of lava shot into the sky, riding on top of which was the pink Majin.

Buu jumped off the lava spout, his whole head on fire. He shook and patted his head till he was no longer burning. He glared in his opponent's direction, but she was gone.

"Missed one." She said from behind and blew out the remaining flame on his antenna like a candle. Buu clenched his fists and growled. He was feeling no enjoyment in this fight. She was toying with him. Doing everything she could to humiliate him and that just made him furious.

"Take this!" He turned around to face her. "JANKEN FIST! PAPER!"

Buu aimed a palm thrust at her, but Zangya diverted it with her own palm, slipping behind him again in one fluid motion. Buu morphed his hand into a spiked ball

"ROCK!"

He swung the weapon around, trying to smash Zangya with the weapon. His elastic arm made the appendage swing like a morning star. Zangya ducked to avoid the first swing, and then jumped over the second. On the third swing, Buu yelled again.

"SCISSORS!"

Turning his other hand into a cleaver and swung wildly with both arms, trying desperately to hit his quarry. Zangya swayed and twirled back and forth, each attack easily passing her by as she kept her distance from Buu. In a bout of frustration, the Majin extended both hands at once and, to his surprise, they passed straight through her midsection.

The image faded and the real Zangya appeared inches from his face. He tried to back away, but she grabbed the front of his shirt.

"Interesting technique." She commented with a wild grin. "Kind of reminds me of this one. HEAD!" She slammed her forehead into Buu's face. She let go of his shirt and Buu tried to back away.

"SHOULDERS!" Before he got too far, Zangya brought an axe kick down on his left shoulder, slicing the arm off. Buu retaliated with a roundhouse, but the girl caught it and brought her elbow down on his kneecap "KNEES!" Then changing her grip to his foot, she spun him around. "TOES!" She released him, sending him speeding toward the ground. Before Buu could do anything to slow his descent, Zangya popped in front of him and jabbed her fingers in his eyes.

"EYES, EARS, MOUTH AND NOSE!" Each successive shout brought a devastating blow to another part of Buu's face, ending with a straight punch that left a hole in the pink fighter's head.

Putting her boot on his chest, she pulled her hand out while pushing him away, letting his body fall to the ground. Shaking pink goo off her hand in disgust, she looked at the prone figure. "You ready to get serious now?"

The pink around the head swirled until Buu's face was filled back in, the stray pieces making their way back to the main body. He stood up, looking displeased, like he was pouting.

"You're not supposed to be this strong." He said petulantly.

Zangya smiled and shrugged in response.

"I guess I shouldn't be surprised. All you people have just been getting power up after power up. Broly got super Saiyan 2. I don't even know what the deal was with 18, but her power went wild."

Zangya stopped smiling. "What was that about 18?"

"Oh, well she must have blown a circuit or something, because her power skyrocketed. It wasn't enough to stop me from eating her or Krillin, but it was a bit surprising."

Zangya looked down. Her chest tightened and her breath hitched. Buu looked at her with curiosity. He wasn't sure what he had said, but something had changed in the girl's demeanor. When she looked back up at him, her stare wasn't contorted in rage. In fact, it was oddly blank. The lack of emotion frightened Buu perhaps more than anything before.

'First Gohan… Then 18. I'm sorry guys. I'll bring you back. I'll make him PAY! I just need a little more time.' Zangya hoped her thoughts would reach her loved ones. Inside she was seething with rage, but she had to stick to her plan. 'I just have to keep getting him frustrated.'

"Well, 18 may not have been much of a challenge for you, but as you are now, you're nothing compared to me. I even dropped my sword as a handicap, but you're still no fun to fight." Despite her inner rage, her voice and demeanor remained light, and seemed to indicate more boredom than anger. Buu became visibly annoyed by this attitude towards his skills.

"What!? I am too fun! You just wait till I get serious! Then you'll-"

"No, it's alright. I didn't realize this powerup would have left you so far in the dust. It's almost pathetic actually. You tried, but you're just not good enough. I don't even know if this is worth continuing anymore."

"No! We can keep going!" Buu cried, almost desperate to keep the fight going. "I am good enough. I-"

Zangya cut him off with a sigh. "I bet the real Goku would be a great challenge. Too bad you're just a lame copy of him. You probably don't hold a candy to the real deal."

Steam erupted out of the pink monster at this comment. "GRRI AM THE REAL GOKU! I'm better then the old model in every way! He didn't even like candy! Do you think he could do Kaioken times 100!?"

"Is 100 all you can do?" Zangya asked, clearly unimpressed by the number. "Sorry, but I've already seen that. It can't do much against me, can it?"

"Oh, I'll show you what it can do! Kaioken TIMES 100!"

Before he knew what had happened, the red aura had come and disappeared. Buu looked up, having found himself on the flat of his back, Zangya's boot firmly on his neck.

"See?" She looked down with a cold, frightening gaze. "If this is all you can give me, you have a better chance of boring me to death."

She took her boot off the demon's neck. "What a disappointment. After all those stories from Gohan about his dad, I expected more. I guess the Kaioken isn't such a big deal though. It must have been Goku that made it special."

Buu slowly picked himself up, glaring at Zangya as he did so. It didn't make sense that she would be this strong and it frustrated him. What frustrated him more was her constantly belittling him and comparing him to Goku. He was getting tired of it. Tired of the humiliation. He growled in discontent before his face broke out in a grin.

"You want to see something special, huh? I guess you have earned it. Besides, it isn't often that I get to test my limits." Buu assumed his stance for powering up. "Just so you know, I've never taken Kaioken this far before. I have no idea what will happen to you when I really let loose. But one thing's for sure."

"And that is?" Zangya asked.

"It won't end well for you. KAIOKEN 1000!"

The spike in power was as massive as it was fast. Buu was once again enveloped in red flames. The ground around the monster began to melt and evaporate from the magnitude of the heat. The aura rapidly expanded, like a wild fire devouring even the air as it shot toward Zangya. She launched a beam at Buu, but that was eaten by the expanding red flames and even the Hera herself was blown back by the intense pressure.

The female fighter planted her feet, keeping her from flying any further. Just as she did, Buu appeared at her side with his fist at the ready. Zangya caught the fist on her forearm, but the force drove her feet deeper into the earth and scorched her forearm. She grabbed his arm and swung him down; he retaliated by landing a kick in her oblique. She brought her elbow down on his ankle, the joint bending at a sharp angle. The foot extended and shot toward her chin, she caught the kick then, "THOUSAND KAMEHAMEHA KICK!"

Buu's heel, barely a foot from her face, fired an enormous wave of blue energy. The attack looked like a tower, growing ever wider and taller. When it dissipated, the scar on the land could be clearly seen from space.

Break.

Buu looked into the sky and dropped out of Kaioken. Despite his evident victory, Buu seemed rather confused. "It should have been a lot bigger." He said while scratching his head. Then, glinting in the sunlight, he saw something dangling from his arm. Before he registered what it was, the threads pulled tight, dragging him upward. Obscured by the brightness of the sun, Zangya came into view, injured but holding a fistful of the strings and swinging her catch upwards. Gathering all the spare energy she had siphoned from the blast; she fired the rest right back at its original owner.

Buu panicked, lighting up the Kaioken 1000 again to get out of the way. After successfully dodging, the Kaioken tapered out and Zangya was suddenly behind him, both hands clasped together overhead, then slammed them down on the pink fighter. Once again, Buu fired up his maximum Kaioken and charged at Zangya but as he did so, something came flying at his head from the side. He stopped and backed up just in time to watch the Z sword zoom past his face. His shock made him suffer a punch to the face from Zangya, followed by a knee aimed at his gut. He blocked the knee and Zangya began to spin around, one spinning kick after another aimed at the pink man's face. Buu dodged each one and was about to attack once more, but the sword passed by him again, this time slicing him perfectly in half at the waist.

Pulling his lower half back on like a pair of pants, he activated the max Kaioken again, only for him to have Zangya's elbow slam into his face. He landed a front kick to her gut; the sword came to her aid once again. He dodged the blade only to have a high front kick impact his chin. Zangya unleashed a barrage of punches, working on Buu like she was kneading dough at the bakery. Unable to overcome her pattycake fist, Buu aimed his antenna at the girl, attempting to turn her into candy, but the sword came back, slicing the antenna off. Rather than speeding away again, Zangya caught the sword and started to slash away till she had sliced Buu to pieces, ending her assault with a wide area ki blast.

Blackened chunks of Buu fell to the ground, pink smoke rising up.

"ZANGYA!" Broly Yelled. "YOU HAVE TO FIND A WAY TO DESTROY THAT SMOKE! HE CAN STILL REFORM FROM IT."

"I know!" She yelled back, though didn't appear concerned. She remained still, allowing Buu all the time he needed to regenerate.

When he finally did, he yelled, and steam poured from his pores. "THAT HURTS!"

Zangya gave him a cold look.

"Good." Was all the reply she gave.

Break.

"AMAZING!" Shin yelled. "Look at how she wields the Z sword! I knew it wasn't a dud! It's working in perfect unison with her intentions!"

"Wrong again." Elder Kai shook his head.

"But ancestor, just look! It's fighting side by side with her. Almost like it has a will of its own."

"There's nothing special about that sword."

"But sir…"

"Take a closer look you buffoon."

Shin did as he was told and peered deeper into the crystal ball. To his surprise, he saw that there was a small thread, barely visible, that attached the hilt of the blade to Zangya's wrist.

"It's one of her psycho threads." Shin realized.

"That's right. She's pretty clever if you ask me. Now I see why she asked me to fix that hunk of metal. That technique drains energy and was originally developed to seal the opponent's movements. But she's combined that aspect of it with the offensive nature of the sword, turning it into the perfect weapon to use against Buu and his Kaioken."

"What do you mean?" Kibito asked, unable to keep his peace anymore.

"Well, the Kaioken can raise your energy, sure. But it requires concentration and oneness of spirit. The higher the number, the more concentration it takes and the shorter the attack technique will last. Buu, through his unique biology, has been able to push it to its absolute limits, but even he isn't totally immune to the technique's drawbacks. Every time Zangya sends that sword through him, it drains his power, replenishing her own in the process. It also disrupts his flow of energy and ruins his concentration. Even if he uses a 1000x Kaioken, her constant slashing means he will only be able to utilize a fraction of that, giving her just as much of a benefit from his technique as himself."

"I see." Shin said in awe. "That's incredible."

"Yes. I agree. She's a one in a million fighter alright. She's even noticed the technique's other weakness."

"What other weakness?"

Break.

"Not Bad Buu." Zangya taunted while twirling her blade like a pendulum. "You're actually making me try pretty hard here. Too bad it's still not enough."

"Oh yeah!?" Buu countered.

Despite his comeback, Buu couldn't understand why he hadn't absolutely crushed the girl. 1000 times his power level should have been more than enough to overwhelm her. In fact, if it weren't for that stupid sword cutting in all the time, he was certain that he would have made short work of her. Something was off, but his mind was starting to become cloudy, and he couldn't think what it was.

"Let's see if you think THIS is enough! Kaioken 1000!"

Zangya backed away from the emerging aura. Just as his power had reached its peak Buu crossed his arms in front of him.

"MULTIFORM!" The pink powerhouse divided into 4. Then each of them split into four, and again until the blue swordswoman was surrounded by nearly 50 Majin Buus with an intense, fiery red aura.

Zangya stopped swinging her sword and caught it before brandishing it at the form right in front of her. "Let's dance pinkie."

"GET HER!" All the Buu's yelled and lunged at the girl.

Zangya slashed down through the first Buu, kicked a second in the chest, then spun around to cut another one clean at the waist. Undeterred by her actions, the army of bubblegum demons, even the dismembered ones, remained on the assault. She threw her sword and it cut like a buzzsaw through the mass of enemies. She backhanded the closest opponent, and followed up with a ki blast that reduced three enemies to goo and forced all others in the vicinity to back off for a moment.

Though a brief reprieve came from one sector, the Buus on the other sides of Zangya refused to let up. Several pink fists launched at her, but the sword came back and severed them before they made impact. The Hera warrior caught a kick from the left flank by the ankle and started flailing the owners body around like a second weapon, beating back the others without prejudice. With each swing of her makeshift bat another Buu went flying from the circle. The small army of monsters were forced to back off and decided to try a new tactic.

"Try this on for size! Kamehame…" The first Buu cupped his hands at his side and the others followed suit. "HA!"

At least nine Kamehameha waves came at the Hera all at once. With no wasted movement, she placed the Buu she was using as a weapon between herself and the blasts.

"Oh, thank kami. I was about to be siYIIICK!" Zangya rammed her shoulder into his back and charged the blue waves of energy. The pink copy took on the full impact of the blasts and Zangya used him as a shield to steadily gain more ground.

"Why you! Put more into it!" the middle Buu commanded. As soon as the intensity of the beam increased, Zangya hopped up over her majin shield, summoned the Z sword to her hands, and in one smooth slash, decapitated the line of Buus.

Unfortunately, the Hera didn't have time to catch her breath, as the enemy was once again starting to swarm her. She let her sword go, swinging the blade on a foot of psycho thread. She started to spin around, slowly at first, then picking up speed, while she let the sword out bit by bit until it was about ten feet from her. The girl spun round and round, vertical, horizontal, and diagonal. As she spun, the deadly blade arced around her, emulsifying any enemy that dared to get close. None of the Buus were able to regenerate fast enough to make up for the continuous destruction on their bodies. Each Buu was systematically cut into pieces, until the pieces were too small to even call body parts anymore.

At long last, when every enemy had been reduced to goo, Zangya slowly stopped her wild spin. She caught her sword, but started to wobble in the sky, her eyes like spirals as she tried to regain her balance. She shook herself and surveyed the carnage, unsurprised that the abominations were starting to regain their forms.

"You… You think you're SO clever with that sword, don't you!?" The first Buu to reform his face shouted angrily.

"I'm clever without the sword, taffy man." She replied. "The sword just makes me look that much cooler."

"Oh really? I'll show you what 'cool' really looks like!" Once again, the Buu brigade fired up their maximum Kaioken, each one looking like their skin was boiling as they did so.

"I've never tried this one before, but if Krillin can do it, so can I. DESTRUCTO DISK!" 48 hands reached to the sky and produced a yellow disk of spiraling energy. "TAKE THIS!"

As one, the Majins released their attacks, and the energy disks converged on their target. After her experience with 18, Zangya knew better than to try and take one of them head on. So, in classic Zangya fashion, the Hera girl dove at one of the disks head on. Before the saw like attack cut her, she summersaulted over the top of it and rushed toward the wall of Buus. The one she was charging put up his guard, but rather than slash from the sword, or a blow from her fist, Zangya opted for a less conventional attack.

As soon as she reached the copy, she flicked him in the arm. The victim of her flick didn't even have time to be confused, as he exploded as soon as she touched him. The nearby enemies stared in awe and started to flee when Zangya started going to town on all of them, each one exploding on contact. The Chaos from the explosions and the destructo disks that were still flying around wrought havoc on the Majin's multiform forces.

Once again, Zangya had reduced the enemy to puddles of floating goo. This time, instead of reforming as separate Buus, each puddle made its way to a central location and reformed as a single entity. As Buu emerged fully formed, he glowered at Zangya.

"I get the point. You're trying to tell me that if I don't stay as a single being, you can blow me away with a flick of the finger, right?"

Zangya smirked. "Not quite correct. In fact, I'm probably only half as strong as your max. Although dividing your power that much didn't do you any favors. When I was with Bojack's crew, I would go against hordes of opponents at once. Less than fifty enemies, even at the level they were at, is no problem for me. No, the reason I can flick you into oblivion isn't actually related to my strength."

"Oh really?" Buu asked disbelievingly. Then, after a moment of thought, the nagging feeling that he was missing something reemerged, and he decided to listen to the girl. "Why don't you tell me then?"

"Let's see if you can figure it out on your own genius." Zangya replied.

Buu scowled at her response. "Fine. I'll figure it out, and I'll waste you at the same time. So much for being a part of my family." The 1000 X Kaioken reignited.

"Kaaameeeehaaaaameeeee…" The familiar blue energy formed at his side.

Zangya hoisted her sword onto her shoulder and looked at her fingernails, not even bothering to show resistance at his attack.

"Grrr…" Buu growled, infuriated that the Hera girl was underestimating him. "I'll show you… HAAAAAA!"

The Majin thrust his palms forward, but rather than being sent at his enemy, the energy imploded on itself. Buu's torso expanded like a balloon until it exploded, bursting into a pink mist cloud.

Zangya waited patiently for the blob to reform. Once he finally did, his face no longer showed anger. It showed fear.

"H-how?" he whispered. "How are you doing that? What did you do to me? WHAT HAVE YOU DOOONE!"

Zangya sighed. "Well, you're probably never going to figure it out on your own. I guess I'll tell you. I didn't do anything. It's what you're doing that's breaking you down."

"What do you mean?"

"Your Kaioken. You're pushing your body too far, too fast. Your fragile body can't handle that insane powerup, so it starts to break down. Maybe your regenerative powers could have compensated for the breakdown at the lower levels, but you're far too unconditioned for 1000 times power up."

Buu looked incredulous. "Are you saying my body is too weak to handle it? My body isn't too weak! I'm indestructible!"

"Tch, yeah right." Zangya rolled her eyes. "You may as well be made of dough. Really strong dough, sure, like wheat, or maybe rye… Anyway, the point is, you may be able to reform and regenerate, but you're still pretty easy to rip apart. You're far from indestructible."

Buu realized the truth of what Zangya was saying. Maybe he did overdo the Kaioken. Why didn't Goku's memories alert him to this? How did this girl who had barely seen the technique figure it out? Was he really so far outclassed by her? No. No he couldn't lose.

"What do you know!?" He yelled in defiance.

"I know that every time you used that technique, your skin boils like it can barely contain the energy." Zangya said calmly. "I know that the more you used the technique, the less time it would last, and the more strain it would put on your body. You've been so caught up in the fight that you haven't even noticed your own weakness."

Buu took in her assessment with a look of distress. So, he couldn't use the maximum Kaioken without blowing up? How was he supposed to compete with this girl then?

"So," continued Zangya. "How does it feel to have no chance against an opponent? To be completely deconstructed and toyed with like the trash you are? I hope it hurts. I hope you feel even a fraction of the pain that I endured when I lost Gohan!" She was no longer putting up a playful front. Now, her anger showed fully on her features as she looked at the being she hated most in the universe. Buu slowly drifted away, scared of the sudden shift in the girl's emotions.

"I could have finished this at any time." She continued. "But I wanted to make you suffer for what you've done. I'm only sorry that this is all I could do to torment you. So, now that I've broken you down completely, you disgusting worm, I think it's time I kill you." She raised her sword and Buu began to sweat.

"You know, it's funny." Zangya gave a dark chuckle. "You probably could have compensated for your technique's little weakness. If only you had absorbed someone a little sturdier. Then you wouldn't have had to devote energy to holding your body together while you used the technique." She advanced on the demon as she chided his foolishness. Despite his fear, Buu listened with keen interest.

"Saiyans like Goku may be tough, but they have nothing on some of the other races. My race, for example." She pointed to herself. "Absorbing me probably could have given you the inherent sturdiness your technique would need, even at the max level."

Zangya stopped and held out her hand, gathering an enormous amount of energy. "But it's too late to do anything about that now. Choke on your regret as you burn in HFIL you pink freak."

"NOT TODAY!" Buu smiled wickedly and thrust out his arm. The appendage grew and became a wave of pink slime, intent on washing over Zangya. "Looks like you can be part of my family after all Zangya! HAHAHAHA!"

As the wave rolled over her, the Hera offered no resistance. In fact, if an observer could see her shining face, they would have seen that it was graced with a small, cunning smile.

"Fool." She uttered and closed her eyes.

Just as the wave was about to completely encase her, the female fighter felt like she had been rammed by a semi, followed by a sensation of flying through the air. These feelings not being what she expected, she opened her eyes. The shock at the sight before her was rivaled only by the Shock on Buu's own face.

Peeking out of the pink cocoon, and speeding back toward the main body, Zangya saw the disappearing face of the last full blooded Saiyan.

"DAMMIT! BROLY!" Zangya cried in desperation, as she rushed to prevent the absorption from taking place, but she was too late. The Blob and Buu became one and the transformation had begun.

"BROLY!"

Break

Gohan looked at the impressive door that stood before him. Behind him stood Towa with windswept hair, and another demon with grey skin and long black hair.

"So, these doors lead straight to Earth, right?" Gohan asked.

"That is correct." Shula, the grey demon, replied.

"What do we need to do to open them? Can I just break them down?"

Shula hesitated. He didn't want to offend someone who Towa herself was accompanying, but the idea that this monkey boy could have the power to break through these doors was ludicrous.

"If you could break through them, yes. However, the power required to break through has never been achieved by anyone in the demon realm. It may not even be possible."

Gohan nodded and walked up to the giant door and dropped to his fighting stance, prepared to smash the gateway to bits.

"Gohan." Towa interjected. The young Saiyan looked at the sorceress, nodding for her to continue. "If you do manage to break the door down, we will never be able to close the portal. There will be drastic repercussions, the likes of which even I cannot completely fathom. Are you sure you want to break the door?"

Gohan thought about this. It only took him a moment before he turned his focus back on the door.

"I don't know what these repercussions will be. That's a problem for the future. I do know that my home, my friends need me now. I'm not going to wait any longer." With this said, a thick, dark purple energy formed in the new demon's hand.

"I'm almost there, Zangya." Gohan thrust his palm out and into the demon doors. As soon as the energy touched it, a ripple was sent through the surface, and the material started to disintegrate, revealing a swirling, black tunnel.

Turning back to the awestruck demons, Gohan bid them a quick farewell. "So long Towa. Thanks for everything. Tell your jerk brother that if he ever steps foot on my turf again, these doors will seem lucky compared to what I'll do to him." With a smile and a salute, the young fighter took off through the void.

Towa and Shula stared after the teen in utter amazement, until Towa registered what Gohan had said.

"MY BROTHER'S NOT A JERK! HE'S JUST MISUNDERSTOOD!"

Gohan barely heard her as he sped through the tunnel.

'Hold on Zangya, I'm coming. Buu… I'm coming for you too.'

End Chapter