PART TWENTY-FOUR: BUU’S ESCAPADES

Chapter 119

Translated by npberryhill

Without losing a moment, Buu left the main arena, knowing the Frost Demons of Universe 8 preferred to sleep aboard their ship. Perhaps it was due to their pride, being accustomed to certain luxuries, to plot without interference, or simply to avoid contact with the other participants. In any case, it suited Buu just fine, who sensed throughout the ship and didn’t detect any one active, no patrols that might detect him. He boarded the ship, then amused himself by bumping into and bouncing off of the walls like a bullet. Buu halted sharply in front of Freeza’s room, then slipped just under the door and inside, just for the sake of varying his entrances. He looked at Freeza, shaking his head.

“Well...you’ve got absolutely no chance. I’m going to have to be pretty creative if this is going to work...let’s see...I know! We’ll rely on...that yes...there we go!”

Buu touched his crest to Freeza, implanting a memory in the mind of the Frost Demon. As the latter was about to face Son Goku, he would have no realistic way to possibly defeat him in combat; clearly the Saiyan’s power was dozens of times higher. So, in order to make things interesting, Buu would provide him a new technique to deploy with his psychic abilities, which were already at an extraordinarily high level. But, the question was how to justify a new power like that suddenly existing? Freeza himself would be surprised and instantly realize he was being manipulated.

“I’ll just implant one little false memory, and that should do the trick... We’ll say you encountered a magician on a distant planet who taught you how to create a psychic world, according to the parameters of your liking, in order to give you the advantage. And all it will take for you to link your mind with that of another is to invite them. Whew, well that certainly wasn’t easy...and I still have no doubt Goku will prevail—he is a part of me after all.”

Buu left the room, next going to Cold’s as he already had an idea. Arriving near him, he transmitted a few ideas.

“Whenever you’re facing a Saiyan in battle, always goad them into a harder challenge...they’ll do almost anything to make the fight more interesting. Also, you’re facing Vegetto’s daughter, so you can choose practically any condition you like—she’s so arrogant there’s no way she’ll refuse. And, considering what I know about you, this fight actually might prove quite a good time. Your sons will have an especially nice surprise too.”

Leaving the spaceship, Buu returned to the main arena to visit one more competitor, as he had saved the best for last.

“And now, XXI, the mystery of universe five. No need to approach Gast, obviously. But this magician really arouses my curiosity. He managed to disqualify Vegetto, and I couldn’t hear the incantations he spoke at all. I wonder what I’m about to discover.”

‘Be careful,’ a voice suddenly spoke into his head, one Buu recognized as belonging to the Great Kaiô Shin. ‘I’ve got a bad feeling about this. Vegetto is indeed someone not to be taken lightly, but this XXI is equally intriguing—and from what I managed to hear from Old Kai in the 9th Universe, there’s a being of the same name from his universe that was a real pitless monster. It’s doubtful that these two have no connection, so investigate carefully.’

“Don’t worry,” Buu replied. “I’ll be as discreet as possible, and try to learn as much as I can.”

He stood at the door, analyzing it and trying to sense what was just beyond. From the outside, he felt nothing at all, neither hostile nor anything special. Slowly, he crossed the threshold, stopping abruptly just on the other side. He was stunned, taking in the sight before his eyes.

“But...what happened to the apartment?”

It wasn’t even a room anymore, or anything resembling one. There were no walls, floor, or furniture, only a vast white space like in the Room of Spirit and Time. Yet, there was also a cloud of thick black smoke present a few meters in front of him. The Djinn couldn’t recognize what or who was inside the dark gases, but the smoke was clearly not natural and he couldn’t say what it was made of. Suddenly, from the dark mist, there appeared two sets of piercing white lights, staring at him. A silence of three seconds followed, then a voice rose from the mist.

“You?” the voice was deep, grave, inhuman.

Instantly, an arm stretched out from the smoke, firing a burst of energy that struck Buu’s head full force.

“Hey, but...what power...” the djinn spoke his last words, before his floating head was completely disintegrated.

The armored scaly arm remained outstretched as the second set of eyes turned to the first.

“How did he get in here?”

A different voice answered, equally serious.

“Are you really asking me that? That’s not the question you want answered.”

“No,” the first replied. “My question is this: how can I defeat #18 easily in this tournament?”

Back in the universe 1 apartments, Buu’s ball began to suddenly tremble and shake—Grand Kaiô Shin’s arm swung with it.

“What’s happening?” East Kaioshin panicked. “Is he trying to free himself? I’ll go and warn the Vargas!”

“No, everything’s fine,” Grand Kaioshin replied, bracing with his other hand. “He just sneezed, that’s all,” he said, motioning to the pink prisoner.

“Oh...er...yes, please excuse me,” Buu said, his voice uncertain.

East Kaioshin narrowed his eyes, unconvinced, but said nothing.

Telepathically, Great Kaiô Shin then spoke to the Djinn.

“What is it? What happened?”

“This...this guy...” Buu replied. “Whatever IT is...it’s clearly not normal. Not only had the entire apartment disappeared as if it had been sucked into outer space, but there are two beings present, and neither resembles the old man we’ve been seeing! As soon as I saw them, one attacked—disintegrating me completely, down to the smallest cell. Before now, only Vegetto was capable of that! I wouldn’t say necessarily that this person, if it is a person, is more powerful than myself or Vegetto, but...his attack was fully effective, and the energy level was very high. This is definitely something to worry about.”

“Hmmm,” the Grand Kaioshin thought. “This is indeed disturbing. Will you be able to return tomorrow night and try to learn more? We must make sure the security of the arena is not threatened, and find out both the identity of those two characters and what they are up to.”

“I’ll do it,” Buu replied, “but I’m sure they’ll be prepared for me if I try again. It could get complicated. But, the main part of my work has been accomplished, and the fights we’ll see tomorrow should be beautiful entertainment!”

“You know what I think about your escapades,” Grand Kaioshin said in a rather scolding tone. “Intervening in these fights is completely unfair, goes against all my own rules, and nothing good can come of it.”

“Aw, give it a chance,” the djinn replied playfully. “You’ll see, tomorrow will be full of interesting surprises, you may change your mind after you see all the fights.”

Finishing their argument, the nocturnal silence resumed and no one suspected the events of that night would upset the continuation of the tournament as well as the lives of those participating.

Dr. Raichi stood beside his crystal ball, nervously checking it again. Tapion noticed his odd behavior as he stepped out of his room.

“What’s wrong, Raichi? You seem nervous this morning...”

“My ghosts have been fully recharged. It should've taken much longer...”

“This whole place is strange, I guess. I woke up this morning with a new idea for Hildegan, and it might be enough that I could win the whole tournament.”

Raichi was immediately suspicious. “This can’t be coincidence. Something visited us last night. I don’t like this one bit!”

“Well, whatever it was, it helped us didn’t it? Maybe it’s on our side.”

Raichi gave no answer, always anxious. He didn’t believe in any help whatsoever, and he intended to discover the secret of this mystery. Perhaps it could prove useful knowledge in the future, but he remained cautious, focused on the fighting to come.

Uub was up first, taking a shower in the shared bathroom. As he stood beneath the stream of cool water, which reminded him of the waterfall in his village (the only running water he had when he was little), he was caught up thinking about his dream.

“Why do I remember this dream so clearly? Was it real? Yesterday seemed like months ago...I spent weeks with Anju learning magic...but somehow the memory of it all hasn’t faded. It’s the weirdest dream I’ve ever had. Who was it really, speaking to me through Anju? And can I really do...?”

Once dried and dressed, Uub left the arena and began a morning walk among the stony hills of the asteroid. Once he was far enough away, hidden by several rocks, he stopped and concentrated.

“I’ll just give it a try...”

Back in the apartments, the rest of Universe 18 had showered, eaten, and were nearly ready, but the two half-Saiyans were just getting out of bed.

As Goten and Trunks hurried to dress themselves, yelling for the others to wait up, Trunks turned to the younger.

“Hey, did it ever occur to you that there might be more than one fusion dance?”

“Dude, it’s crazy you would say that! I literally was just wondering the exact same thing! I think I dreamed about it”

“So wait, could we have had the same dream... and do you want to try it?”

Goten glanced at the door, which was closed.

“Heck yeah, bro!”

The boys quickly modified their power levels, equaling them out as they had done so many times. While a crucial element of fusion, years of practice had made it almost second nature for the pair. Then, in perfect synchronization, the boys employed the new choreography they’d dreamt the night before. Their movements were so fast and so numerous, it took much less than a single second before their fingers touched, igniting the fusion.

There was a flash of light, then Gotenks stepped forth successfully. They hadn’t even needed to speak a word.

“Incredible...so many more possibilities,” Gotenks said with a smile. “And that’s not all that’s new...I’ll bet if I wanted to...”

Suddenly, the merger ended, as if on command.

“Woah! That’s awesome!” Trunks said.

“We can fuse almost instantly, and revert whenever we want!” Goten replied.

“This is major game changer,” Trunks said. “Seriously, we might win everything now. And I’ve got another idea...”

He leaned towards his comrade, whispering an idea that cause the other to smile. The fight against their old adversary would prove to be spectacular.