Part 10, Chapter 49.

PART TEN: VEGETTO'S LAST RESOURCES.

Chapter 49

Translated By Kakarotto Ka Power Level Kya Hai? and Davidstarlingm

It was a dangerous race across a huge battlefield. Numerous explosions sounded around them, knocking them off course. The four white dots moved stealthily, in a tight undetected formation. They were about to carry out a crucial mission.

After many obstacles, they finally arrived. They passed through the energy shield that Vegetto created around Broly's unconscious body, arriving on the left side of his chest. With a swift stroke and a small popping noise, as if a cork was being removed from a bottle of wine, the tiny dots became small figures the size of a thumb. The mini-Buus looked proud and happy.

Congratulations, my friends! We've finally made it! one of them exclaimed.

We've finally entered enemy territory... said another.

...at the risk of our own lives! ended a third Buu by saluting his hand like a soldier.

Yeah, wept a fourth one, followed by his comrades.

It was indeed a great success. While the other parts of Buu's body were fighting Vegetto, Gohan, and Bra, the others that were sprayed were able to achieve their primary objective. Only one thing to do, and they finally would win!

Let's go! Surround this guy!

Yeah! Yaaaaaay! answered the three others, beginning to morph into a sort of chewing gum that could stretch almost endlessly.

Just as they began to expand around Broly, they all exploded. They were not disintegrated, like Vegetto's technique would have done, but rather they found themselves in a pinkish vapor state. And, as they were all in motion, their vaporization had enabled Gohan to launch them further away. It was impossible for that body part of Buu to reform in the same place to try and absorb Broly again.

For Universe 16, that was one less enemy. For Buu, it was disgusting that he was stopped right when he reached ninety-nine percent of his goal!

Insolent little--! Not nice! I was almost there! cried one of the Buu heads next to Gohan, who was sweating profusely... As a result of the zero gravity, the sweat seemed to rise instead of fall...

"We have to hold on until Broly is sent back!" said the son of Vegetto, to reinforce the fact that they had to stay more vigilant.

He didn't want to risk such a close call again. It would be much too dangerous for Buu to absorb Broly. If he could have unlimited power, and continually increasing power... Gohan didn't dare imagine the result...

At the Varga Command Center, the technician repaired the return system with the newly-recorded program finally rectified. Normally, it should work. Turning to the Varga who was 'observing' him, he gave him the remote. The latter, rather stupidly, returned the remote to the head chief Varga and Namek both present.

"Here! It's fixed!"

"Well, send this Broly back, then," the other Varga said simply.

What kind of idea was it that the most important thing was to test that the button was working?

“What’s the point? He is far now," the Varga simply and close-mindedly replied, laying the remote on the side consoles. "It's true..." he continued, "it's not like we and the other participants are directly threatened by him anymore..."

It had been several long minutes since Bra had been fighting Buu alone. And it was quite obvious that he was much stronger than she was! Much stronger than Gohan too! And superior to Vegetto's Super Saiyan form.

But she did not despair. In the beginning, it pleased her that she was getting beat up by the legend that her father and brother had told her about in their stories. The most powerful of opponents. But gradually, she faltered. It was all the more serious because she couldn't catch her breath. She was limited in time and strength in efficiency. And after all, Super Saiyan was not her only level...

After taking several punches to the face, without being able to counter-attack for once, Bra thought and was heard by her family:

Dad! He is stronger! I need to breathe, I... I can't stand it here anymore!

Suddenly Bra realized that she could potentially die here, if it continued like this. With that, her eyes lit up and widened. She could not let that happen!

I won’t die here, I’m going to the next level!

She wasn't allowed to do so, as she very well knew...

"The nex... NO! I forbade you to! shouted Vegetto telepathically. Don't do that, Bra!

It’s really not the time for...

Gohan stopped... Bra was already out of strength and anger... The two members of his family only knew too well that this kind of power just made things messier... and it could become dangerous for herself and her family!

On the other hand, she won’t break much around here! Gohan ended up thinking, remembering quickly the first time his sister had become a Super Saiyan 2...

Suddenly, a blinding light was produced from Bra's body, stopping everyone in their tracks. The Buu heads froze, and faced this new power. Vegetto and Gohan prepared for the worst, remaining on their guard, but kept attacking Buu for a few seconds.

Aaah... said the latter, fixed on this transformation. Bra was more powerful than Gohan now. But she didn't scare him at all. She was well below Vegetto's potential. Her father was tired, so she was the strongest for the moment.

The cords that bound her hair at the back and front broke off, allowing her hair to rise up in peaks, as is always the case with the second level of Super Saiyan. Her muscles thickened and her eyes became terrible. Her gaze seemed crazy, devoid of any rational thought. Or was she rather completely focused on her opponent?

When she was ready, she stretched out her arm at Buu and launched her first attack. The entire lower half of his body vanished instantly, to his great surprise and dismay.

Vegetto's technique! cried one of the heads at Bra.

She, too, can kill me! cried another not too far away.

As if she had heard, Bra turned and with a large swing to the right she sprayed a wave of energy of the same sort that had wiped out Buu's lower half. In under two microseconds, all 15 heads exploded, leaving no trace. She was efficient, focused...

…focused on only one thing: to destroy everything around her before she ran out of energy and oxygen. With nothing but this goal in mind, she turned to see another group of Buu’s heads, placed around Gohan and Vegetto. But she did not see them – her vision was obscured. All she saw was a threat – a threat that she attacked violently.

— No! Bra! called Gohan, a moment too late. Besides, would she have even heard?

The attack was swift. They had no time to avoid it. As a score of heads around them disappeared, Vegetto and Gohan were hit heard. Their clothes were in tatters; they were covered with wounds, burns, and cuts. Vegetto, already exhausted, was hit harder than Gohan. He coughed up blood, losing his Super Saiyan transformation…

“Ha ha! This girl is great!” exclaimed one of the heads as it began dividing into two again.

“But you’ll never get all of us!” cried another as it, too, multiplied.

“Gohan! Dad!”

Bra realized what she had done. Her pupils returned to normal. Suddenly losing its Super Saiyan shape, her hair began to float loosely, tears filling her eyes. “I, again…!”

Buu looked at his three opponents. Vegetto was unconscious, and Gohan was badly injured. He could still fight, perhaps, but what could he do against him? As for Bra, she let herself go, no longer looking at him but simply staring into the void of space. For Buu, the fight was now over; he was victorious. He recalled all parts of him back to his head, which slowly began reconstructing his lost half.

“So? No one left to stop me?” he said with a smile.

Gohan flew toward Vegetto, trying to catch him. There were no more threats to Buu. He turned toward Broly, finally about to achieve his goal.

— So, Broly is mi—?!

The smile disappeared immediately as Buu realized that the object of his desire was gone.

“He’s not there!” he cried as he saw the glowing orb of energy, the last remnant of Vegetto’s attack that had surrounded Broly.

He was too slow…universe 16 had distracted him for too long…the stupid ducks had been given ample time to repair the mechanism he had destroyed.

“It’s important,” the leader of the Nameks said as he pressed the single button on the remote. In front of him, the idiot Varga was still protesting:

“Who will care that he isn’t in this universe any more, frankly…” he said, shrugging his thin shoulders.

“It is the right thing to do,” another Varga beside him said. “We are not here to disrupt the universes. We send them all back home, no matter what.”

The little idiot shrugged again. For him, it didn’t matter whether Broly was in universe “20” or universe “0” or universe “3.14159”….

For someone else, it mattered a lot.

Buu was enraged. He seethed inside, smoke beginning to pour out of the holes on his body.

Gohan grabbed Vegetto and raced toward Bra. With their father unconscious, she was the only one able to bring them back to the arena. They were desperately short of air, Gohan almost sinking into unconsciousness as well from his lack of oxygen. Just a little farther and he could reach his sister….

“Bra! Snap out of it! We’re heading back!” he said to his sister, shaking her.

She started to come out of shock. She looked at Gohan, tears in her eyes, still trembling. Then, slowly, she raised two fingers to her forehead and searched for the energy that emanated from the arena several million miles away.

Buu, having fully recovered, was furious. Gritting his teeth with rage, he lunged at the group, fist raised to strike. But he swung through empty space; they had teleported…

A few hundred meters from the arena in a passage between rocky cliffs, three people appeared, exhausted. Bra had the presence of mind to use Kibito’s teleportation to go to a deserted place, so as not to attract the attention of other participants.

Bra doubled over, bracing her arms against her knees to keep from collapsing in exhaustion. Her hair fell lose over her neck and forehead. She was prettier this way, less menacing – the look suited her, no matter what she herself would have thought. Gohan gently lowered his father to the ground, and the fused Saiyan began instinctively breathing the fresh oxygen. In a few moments, he regained consciousness, but he was still unable to stand.

After taking several breaths, trying to ignore the injuries all over his body from Bra’s attack, Gohan spoke to Vegetto. “Dad! Are you okay?”

“I’ll survive,” he replied weakly, almost whispering. “Piccolo…got the senzus, he’ll find us soon…”

A light wind seemed to caress them. They were wounded and broken, but their mission had been a success. Buu had not absorbed the infinite power of Broly. Their little adventure, so dangerous, was over…

Suddenly, a new noise was heard. Turning toward the sound, the three warriors from universe 16 saw Buu standing uninjured, as if he had never fought in space. He was clearly furious. Teeth clenched, eyes burning with hatred and a desire for revenge – his glare was murderous and he seemed ready to attack them, despite being so close to the arena.

Bra transformed into her Super Saiyan state immediately: there was no question now, they had to defend themselves. She now looked completely disheveled, her golden hair raising in a messy tangle around her head. Gohan also stood, forcing his swollen right eye open. Vegetto, even, managed to get up with a burst of courage. But he had no strength; he could not even transform to the first level of Super Saiyan. In fact, he could barely stand: his legs trembled and he seemed ready to collapse at any moment.

“I can breathe, but I’m even more harmed, and still out of energy! Bra and Gohan should be able to…”

Vegetto stopped. His concern froze as well. Buu was smiling. Was it a sadistic smile, the brutal laugh of a victorious villain, ready to crush the insects that had thwarted him without mercy or remorse? No, not this time. Buu smiled because…he was simply happy!

“Congrats for these fights, I had a wonderful time! Thank you all,” he said, turning toward the arena and starting to walk away. “I’m really looking forward to my matches against you, at your best!” he finally said, waving.

Like a child who was upset because he was denied a toy, the pink demon had finally calmed down and decided to dwell on the fun he’d had. The Buu that Vegetto and Gohan knew from Universe 16 would have never have behaved like that…

Bra, still a Super Saiyan, didn’t believe it and remained ready for anything. Was this some strange ruse? Vegetto, still panting, thought to himself. “Was he really trying…to absorb Broly?”

The trio remained silent for a few minutes, wanting to be sure that Buu really would not attack them. Once he disappeared into the arena, Gohan turned to his father and helped him fly quietly in the same direction. Without attracting attention, they found the outside entrance to their universe’s room and entered it, walking. Piccolo, who had finally detected their energies, joined them at the entrance to their space. He had seen Buu from universe 4 enter just seconds before, arms crossed, in the center of his space. The pink demon smiled as he watched the fight taking place on the ring above his head.

The Namek asked no questions, but quickly gave senzus to his friends. They would explain soon enough. Gohan took one senzu, Bra took two, and Vegetto swallowed two handfuls.

“Thanks, Piccolo,” said Vegetto as he watched his injuries melt away.

“”I’ll redo your clothes as well,” replied the Namek quietly, still eager to hear about what had happened between Vegetto, Buu, and Broly.

Indeed, Vegetto asked him to come inside their space quietly. They walked past Trunks and Goten, who were still staring at the fight between Yamcha and #18.

In the space of Universe 18, they also asked questions and wanted immediate answers.

"Universe 16 went for quite a jaunt, it seems..." said Vegeta, his arms eternally crossed.

"It's related to Buu," confirmed Goku, looking at Universe 4 with Piccolo.

With Gohan back, they hoped they would have time to ask what happened, even though they had a good idea... In Universe 17's space, Cell realized something.

"If we fight far away from the arena, no one sees a thing... I take note. But who's that guy from Universe 4? And why were they fighting for Broly?" he wondered.

A few minutes later, Vegetto returned from inside his quarters with new clothes, followed by Piccolo, Gohan, and Bra.

"What did I miss?" he asked Son Goten and Trunks innocently, as if he had just come back from a potty break.

"Yamcha's a cyborg!" Trunks almost shouted, quite excited by the fight that was unfolding.

"That's rad!" Goten added equally happily.

"Really?" Vegetto was astonished.

For him, like for many others as well, the story of Universe 9's warriors was intriguing. And he already knew Kulilin, Yamcha, and Tenshinhan, which made him even more eager to talk to them.

Looking up at the ring, he contended himself to observe the end of the fight...