PART TWENTY-FOUR: BUU’S ESCAPADES

Chapter 117

Translated by npberryhill

In the apartments of the four Saiyans, the atmosphere wasn’t exactly jovial, far from it actually. Neither Nappa nor Raditz dared say a word in front of their newly resurrected leader, who leaned against the wall, arms crossed and locked in an icy silence. Kakarotto had gone to sleep, mocking that he would defeat the other “misfire of a Vegeta”, ridiculing their leader all the more. Since then, the emperor’s forehead had been shaking, veins protruding angrily. The tension seemed like it might never diminish, so Raditz finally butted in.

“So,” he hesitated, “what are we gonna do now, Vegeta?” he asked. “With only my little brother left in contention, and given the level of fighters here, we don’t have much left to hope for. Should we just leave?”

“Yeah, that sadistic idiot will never defeat their Vegeta,” Nappa added. “There’s no way, that Vegeta’s probably just as strong as you are. No doubt he can probably reach that new level of Super Saiyan too, after all their Kakarotto can.”

“We stay to the end,” their proud Saiyan leader interrupted sharply. “We will bear witness to that fool’s humiliation by my counterpart, and after we will observe the remainder of the tournament.” Vegeta paused briefly. “Pay attention to the Saiyans of these other universes, you never know what they’ll show us. It was only by observation that I managed to understand the evolution of the Super Saiyan grades and transcend to level 3. It’s possible we’ve yet to learn some other useful secret, and I will not miss my chance.”

Nappa nodded, while Raditz remained silent, plunged in reflection. He was having trouble coming to terms with Vegeta’s actions in the fight with Raichi — slaughtering the ghosts of his own people without hesitation. Sure, they were ghosts, he knew that. But what disturbed Kakarotto’s older brother was their leader’s intentions. His viciousness as he massacred them, getting sadistically carried away, was surprising for their normally calm and composed leader. It begged the question of whether or not the emperor was capable of doing the same to himself, Nappa, and Kakarotto without even a second thought. They were useful to him in managing the universe, acting as his ambassadors to certain sectors, conquering unexplored planets, and suppressing rebellions when they arose.

But, now that Vegeta had reached an even higher level, he might come to feel they had outgrown their usefulness. Raditz’ fears were well founded, and as he considered his own fate the Saiyan had a thought. His nephew, Gohan of the 18th universe, had spoken to him of Old Kaioshin, and his ability to unleash hidden power. If he could somehow convince the elderly god figure that he would use the power to live a quiet life, peacefully, in a far corner of the universe — one filled with good fights and good food with his brother — perhaps, he could still get the powerup. It would of course involve him eliminating Vegeta and Nappa. The universe would be far better off without them, and he could have what he always wanted. So, he secretly decided, regardless of the outcome of Kakarotto’s fight, he would visit the Old Kaioshin under the pretext of negotiating to receive the mystic powerup for himself. He would need to become much stronger than his younger sibling, who was totally uncontrollable without someone clearly his superior around.

For the occupants of universe 11, anxiety seemed a vague and distant word. Babidi could be found encouraging his champion, promising him mountains of sweets for each victory. Majin Buu, in his great naivety, applauded at each and every word, while Dabra merely sighed from the corner. He could no longer bear these comedic attempts at evil, which weren’t a tenth of the depravity he was witness to in his own world, the demon realm. Oh what he would give to return but for a single day in his own dimension, the cascading flames of darkness, the hoards of dancing succubus to pleasure him, the burning meteors crisscrossing the sky — if only he had the permission of his master! He recalled each bloodshed, each torture, his wicked court cheering him, prostrating themselves as he passed. Warriors would joust and battle merely to gain his favor.

Dabra rose suddenly, speaking. “Master, allow me to leave a few moments. I wish to explore the space surrounding this asteroid to... clear my head.”

“Fine, fine, do as you wish,” his master answered distractedly. He was clearly too busy motivating Buu to care. “It’s not as if you’re actually useful to me now that you’ve lost, so get out of my sight, I don’t care.”

The demon king bowed, tensely, then left the apartment. As he flew up into space he was met with the sneering gaze of Cell, who upon seeing him recalled their amusing battle. Once Dabra was far enough away that the ring was nothing but an insignificant speck, he clenched his fists and expelled a wave of energy that obliterated one of the decorative dummy planets — it disappeared without a single trace. The question the Southern Kaïoshin had asked him burned inside his mind.

“Dabra, did you not say you would never leave the Demon Kingdom?”

“My beloved kingdom is nothing compared to my loyalty to master Babidi,” he had replied.

Indeed, he had replied sincerely. When the sorcerer had first come into his world, he’d initially held him in little regard. Then, strangely, he’d been compelled to pledge all of his services to the yellow-skinned wizard. Babidi had promised him the thrill of terrorizing a world similar to his own — the world of mortals, a place he had despised for millennia, insignificant in his eyes. A sudden thirst for conquest and struggle had been born inside him, and he would do anything in order for his master Babidi’s plans to be fulfilled. But he’d known nothing but disappointment the moment the mountain of juvenile sweets had emerged from his mythical cocoon, the supposed most destructive monster the universe had ever known! Pah! Although he couldn’t deny the power of the absurd and childish entity, he maintained even now that the Majin was nothing but a waste of time, and that he would turn against them at the drop of a larger sweet treet. If things were to go sour during the tournament, he would take matters into his own hands. In order to regain some semblance of worth in Babidi’s eyes, he would come up with a plan of some kind, were Buu to be defeated.

In the hours that followed, Dabra destroyed many more of the gaseous spheres, until he finally decided to return to the arena discreetly, concealing his energy. Suddenly, a person teleported in front of him, startling the lord of demons. He immediately recognized the imposing silhouette of the South Kaioshin, the same he’d thought of moments earlier.

“I must insist you refrain from destroying any more of the superficial planets,” he said, his voice quite stern. “Their creation requires valuable resources and time, things the Vargas are spent on.”

“The demon king apologizes to no one,” he taunted. “There’s no rule against blowing up any planet here should I feel like it!”

“In that case,” the Kaioshin replied in a calm but stern voice, “feel free to explain to your master why his participant was disqualified from the tournament and your group was returned to universe 11.”

The threat was sufficient, as Dabra was clearly frightened at what Babidi might do to him if that were to happen.

Frustrated, he grumbled under his breath before bowing slightly. “Very well. If it pleases your grace, I’d like to go back to my master’s apartment now,” he spat.

“Wait, I’ll accompany you,” the Kaioshin replied. “Vegetto and I are playing a little game, you see.”

“What’s that?” Dabra asked, hoping to get rid of the Kaioshin as quickly as possible.

“Well, you see, the Frost Demons are desperately trying to get their hands on the Dragon Balls. So, the two of us have taken it upon ourselves to teleport to them very quickly, discouraging them from any sneaky or foolish searching. I scared one of them so badly that, in his shock, he tripped, banged his head into the ground, and fell unconscious! I had to take him all the way back to their ship, but they’ll take care of him. In summary, we are the night patrol. Would you be interested in joining us? It would certainly be a better distraction than blowing up planets.”

“Not a chance,” Dabra snarled, the Kaioshin bursting into laughter. “I prefer to remain by my master’s side and end this useless conversation as quickly as possible.”

“Very well,” the divine being said. “Just remember, no more destruction or any kind of angry bursts, understand?”

Dabra grumbled as they parted, each heading across the arena to their respective areas. As he flew, his demonic eye perceived a suspicious and barely noticeable movement behind the building. He hurried to the spot he had seen it, scrutinizing the ground sharply but finding nothing out of the ordinary. The demon assumed he must’ve merely been tired and it wasn’t worth mentioning to his master if he wasn’t able to prove anything. But as he left, a shining pair of eyes followed him gradually as he withdrew to his apartment.

After making sure he wouldn’t be noticed, Majin Buu of universe 4 emerged from his hiding place, but not his whole body, merely the miniaturized form of his head. He gave another quick glance around, being extra cautious. He could feel the presence of Vegetto making his way around the arena, and he’d overheard the conversation of Dabra and South Kaioshin in the distance, confirming his fears — the evening’s escapades were going to be perhaps more complicated than he’d expected. But, seeing the coast was clear and he hadn’t been discovered, the djinn smiled.

“Tada!” he exclaimed quietly. “So far, so good. The piece of myself I managed to hide outside was untouched, and now it’s time I make this tournament a bit more interesting. Let’s see, who should I start with...?”

He turned to the neighboring apartment, that of Universe 3. “I suppose I’ll make my way around by starting to the left. I’ll begin with these fine gentlemen...” he whispered, phasing through the apartment wall like a ghost.

He found himself in the living room area, in which Raichi was sleeping, levitating on his crystal ball just above the ground. In the adjoining room, with the door wide open, Tapion was also fast asleep in his bed, his sword leaning against the wall by the entrance.

‘You first, Tapion,’ the Djinn thought. ‘I mustn’t wake Raichi though, he can be perceptive.’

Without a sound, Buu began to shrink, decreasing in volume to about the size of a tennis ball. He then slowly slipped into the room, rising above Raichi’s companion and thinking. The next opponent for the sleeping fighter was Cell, and from everything he knew of the latter, the bio android was certain to win. But, if he could find a way to force Cell to fight the monster only, bypassing Tapion’s weakness...yes. And while he was at it, why not reinforce the giant creature somewhat.

‘Alright, let’s do this,’ he thought, gently placing the end of his crest against Tapion’s forehead. ‘Here, a better way to deploy your monster. This way you’ll be protected, invulnerable. Now we’ll get a much more entertaining show!”

Having completed the transfer of information, he slipped over beside Raichi, watching him carefully all the while. He would’ve read his mind to make sure he was indeed asleep, but he feared any tampering might be detected, the old doctor being quite unpredictable — he might have some sort of mental defense. But for him, the appropriate help was easy enough. Buu repeated his crest gesture from before, reloading all the ghosts used during his previous battle.

‘There,’ Buu smiled. ‘Given your opponent, it would be unfortunate if you couldn’t use your entire army, I’m sure you’ll need it. There’s no need to add extra power, you’ll already be able to put up an interesting fight.’

Satisfied, he left the room. Continuing on his way, he passed the areas of universe 2, 1, 20, and 19 without stopping — none of them had any fighters left in contention. He did, however, cast a glance back at the 20th apartments in regret. Absorbing Broly might have proven truly invaluable, though, on second thought the Legendary Saiyan’s tempestuous personality might’ve only brought chaos into his mind. Shaking his head, he continued, being cautious of Piccolo, who levitated at the entrance to the Universe 18 apartments. Vegetto, also, was teleporting at crazy speeds across the stadium, whom Buu avoided carefully.

‘Let’s be discreet, there’s quite a crowd in here,’ he thought. ‘Although, the one most likely to have spotted me is Piccolo and he’s outside.’

He already knew who to start with. He floated slowly towards the room of his former foes, the two sons of Goku and Vegeta. Buu recalled with some nostalgia their legendary clashes nearly two decades ago, back when he still lacked decent intelligence. At the time, he had already become the most powerful being in the universe, but all the fighting against Goku, Gotenks, Gohan, and Vegetto had enabled him to reach a level of existence that far and above transcended any other. Thanks to them he had truly evolved into a divine being, and was now obliged to continue amassing strength, power, and abilities. From then on, they were apart of him, constituting an important part of who he was even. In fact, he’d been overjoyed at the tournament to see all the Z fighters once more, though he’d never admit it. To re-live the sensation of battle against them on Earth would be a dream come true, one he would personally ensure lived up to the expectation.

‘Son Goku, Vegeta — I know neither of you would want to be helped,’ he thought, passing their rooms. He suspected that each of them had made incredible improvements since fighting his alter-ego in their own dimension, but Vegeta in particular seemed to be hiding something. He was tempted to investigate, but the thought of discovering it for himself in the coming fights was more exciting. He arrived at the door to the two youngster’s room and phased through it, hovering between their two beds and splitting his crest in half. He placed it on their heads.

‘As for you two, Gotenks absolutely needs a power-up against me! The fight wouldn’t last a minute if you used your full strength, which you absolutely must do. So, I’ll give you all the secrets I’ve discovered about fusion during my vast exploration of the universe. With that, you shouldn’t have to deal with the fusion expiration problem any longer, just fight to your heart’s content!’

In spite of his hopes for a grandiose confrontation, Buu was still skeptical. While the power of the two boys was incredible, the general behavior of Gotenks was still childish and generally unbecoming of a warrior — it might end up spoiling their long awaited rematch. Buu recalled the insolence of the younger Gotenks and the two boys when they were mere children, but it seemed as though they hadn’t matured all that much. He sighed silently, hopeful for the best but prepared for the worst.

‘Alright then, on to my reincarnation!’ he said inwardly.