DB Multiverse

Time seemed to stop for several minutes.

Neither Son Gohan not Babidi apparently wanted to be the first to move. The two opponents were watching each other.

The young Saiyan was of course trying to think of the best strategy... He didn't know anything of the power this strange being could hide... He knew that he was strange... and incredibly dangerous!

His eyes travelled from the gnome to the sphere... It seemed to be very important to him... and the big Dabra? Had he paid for some kind of disobedience?

The white cloaked giant was far from being a sissy... It was hard to assess what his true fighting strength was but he undoubtedly was very strong... Stronger than the cyborgs! And yet, there he laid... without a single scratch.

A dull dread invaded Son Gohan's mind for a moment... It increased his heart's beating. If Babidi had got rid of Dabra, it could mean only one thing: he had something even more terrible!

Aware of the danger of this feeling of panic, he managed to get hold of his heart rate.. It wasn't the time to uselessly disperse his energy!

He sensed that he was going to require all of his resources, all he could to for the fight he felt was soon to happen.

He shouldn't yield to helplessness... On the contrary, he should change it into energy... in anger... in rage... The true motor of his strength!

It'd be so unfair if the population of this planet, already cruelly decimated, had to suffer a new plague.

The image of his father came to his mind... If only he could be as strong as he was... He would certainly have already found the way to put an end to the twin nightmare... He always had known how to surpass himself, to go beyond limits that everyone thought were insurmountable... Everything seemed possible to him.

If that stupid sickness hadn't killed him, he was sure that the world would be very different than what it had become.

But there it was, the great warrior was no more... And they had to manage without him... And without the other, they all died in a losing battle... The young Trunks was but just a little child... A precious little prince that it was best to preserve.. Once again, the young Saiyan realised how alone he was. And how heavy the burden on his shoulders was.

Trunks, Bulma, his own mother, all these fearfull eyed children, those men and those women who were obliged to live hidden, under the influence of terror... If he was to fail, all of them would be defenceless.

Even if it was just pathetic, and even if he hadn't much hope in this, he still was the last shield against barbarism.

Enough procrastinated!

Closing his eyes for a while, the Saiyan fighter concentrated intensely while the vibrations of his aura seemed to get stronger... more intense.

He looked at the bulged eyed extra-terrestrial once again. He hadn't moved, he just kept starring at him.

He only had removed his protective bubble... showing an insolent self-confidence.

Dabra still hadn't moved... His ki was still non-existent... But better not trust it, he already had proved that he could change it... And both he and his master had proved enough their treachery.

Maybe was he just waiting that, feeling confident, the young man would go down to him..

And that weird ball on its pedestal... What could it hide?

The desire of destroying it crossed Son Gohan's mind.

But once again, his instinct told him to be cautious... What if it was more solid that it seemed and that his attack just opened it instead of destroying it? Or worse, what if that thing just took his energy?

He shuddered at the thought of a dreadful plague getting out of the opened sphere to spread in an already wounded world...

The gnome's reedy voice broke the thoughts of the young fighter who was levitating above him.

“Congratulation for having come here... I can't say that I'm happy with the damages you've made... But I can acknowledge my mistakes... I have underestimated you...” He pointed at Dabra's body. “If that big idiot hadn't been so stupidly carried away by his pride, my space ship would still be intact... He had let down the hope I'd in him... Had I let him go on, he'd certainly have killed you. What a fool! It's his fault if we've reached this point.” He then went near the unmoving giant to scornfully look at it. “Incompetent and what's more, insolent! None tell me what I must do!”

Son Gohan's eyes darkened.

“So that's it... You've made him pay for your own mistakes too... That's disgusting!”

Babidi's shoulder shook at the rhythm of his snickers that the young fighter's words had caused.

“You're really as naïve as what your lack of negative spirit gave away... You see the world only in to color... Good is white and evil is black... Stupid fool... That'll be your downfall!”

Cut to the quick, Son Gohan pointed at the small being then at the brown sphere with a threatening gesture.

“You won't be laughing in a second... I'll get rid of you first.. Then I'll take case of that thing... Neither of you have anything to do in this world that's not yours!”

“That's where you err, my dear friend... This world is already mine, as are every other worlds... And that 'thing', as you say, contain your grave...”

In a split second, Son Gohan suddenly extended his hand to shot a direct blast on the creature.

“That's what we'll see!!” he yelled.

But his attack was too predictable... And Babidi had already locked himself in his defensive barrier. Son Gohan's attack bounced on the energy bubble and then exploded against one of the devastated ship's wall.

The bits that were torn away by the explosion hadn't finished falling that the wizard was behind Dabra's body... Suddenly, he cut his bubble... and, with his two puny arms, he lifted his servant's motionless body to place itself behind it.

Son Gohan was raging as Babidi was gloating.

“Yes! How can you be sure that he's really dead?” He snickered again, that sardonic laugh... “That's the good thing with the fools who put good and honor above anything else... Their little conscience, their so clean conscience, is so predictable!” Then, deepening his voice in a miserable attempt of imitating Son Gohan's. “I'd kill that awful evil man... But I don't know if the poor guy he's using as a shield is really dead... My code of honour forbid me from killing a defenceless being... I'd run the risk to dirty my so pretty and so white soul... And this would be unbearable...” Then, using his normal and annoying voice, he started defying Son Gohan the way an evil rascal would do. “Gnagnagna gnagnagna...” He said with a sarcastic snicker.

Surprised for a while by such a behaviour, the Saiyan's face quickly hardened. Not taking the trouble of verbally answering to this pathetic provocation, he was about to rush at him... But he had to stop the move he hadn't even initiated.

“I'd not do it if I were you.” Babidi's voice was nasty and threatening as he put an open hand on the temple of his shield of flesh. “He'll be dead before I'm.” He then sneered. “If he's not already!”

What a dirty little bug.

Without paying attention to him anymore, the small creature suddenly extended one of his arms towards the sphere on its pedestal.

“Well, in the end, by confronting me, this fool would have served me... I don't know why I haven't thought of it before..” He screwed up his bulging eyes. “Of course, he won't be at the top of his power, but it'll be enough.”

The look of the young fighter hardened again. So that was it, that monster had used the energy of the big Dabra! He calmly joined his hands at his right side to place them in the form of a flower as he slowly muttered the syllables without looking away from the despicable little creature.

“Ka... me.............. ha..............”

The gnome, a bit surprised, suspiciously starred at him, getting tense and creating his force bubble. He gritted his teeth as he started pouring out towards the sphere.

“Paparapapa...Paparapapa ”

But he wasn't fast enough.

“ME........ HAAAAAAAAA!!”

The Saiyan had literally yelled the last syllable, freeing that way his ki in the energetic blast that left his extended hand right away.

Babidy strongly started!

The powerful ray hadn't hit him... But it was rushing at the precious sphere...

He could see the color of the extra-terrestrial's skin turn pale out of dread as he saw this energetic wave, this so powerful rush of energy made the strange item shiver on its pedestal.

Even if the sphere was vibrating and wobbling under the deluge of fire... It didn't show any sign of being destroyed!

Son Gohan's face hardened even more with determination... He yelled as he drew on his reserves to intensify even more his attack... He forced himself to see the horrible scenes of destruction and of body being torn apart to feed his rage... the necessary fuel to his power!

With time and experience, he had found this trick to override at will the mental barrier that prevented him from using his entire potential... A barrier that had cost so much so many time.

So now with a complete mastery of his capacity, he unleashed all the fury he had in him on this worrying threat that didn't want to tell its name.

It was out of question to run the risk to let this demon release his abomination on Earth. And if it was so invulnerable as he pretended it was... Then the skirt-wearing gnome would never have protected it when he had destroyed the floor of the upper levels!

To hell with the risks, he had no choice left!

But this thing was still resisting as Babidi almost closed his eyes in spite of the protection of his bubble that had been blown away, along with Dabra's body, by the blast emitted by the Saiyan's incredible energetic spurt.

Stuck against the wall, Babidi was flabbergasted, he was assisting to the show of the fury of the Gohan's super Saiyan's power. Such a power that the ground all around its target was crushed into pieces by the blast. The pulverised fragments rose then in the tunnel above them.

The young Saiyan gritted his teeth out of rage... He was going to annihilate that thing!

Small lightnings ran on his burning arms then he tensed, standing straight in a last effort... Increasing his attack with a kind of force bubble that went down to cause a gigantic explosion. The shock wave was so strong that even he had to protect himself to withstand it.

Slowly leaving the protection of his crossed arms, Son Gohan looked down to observe the results of his formidable attack...

He had to wait for the smoke and the dusty cloud that the explosion had aroused to clear. Only then he could see the apocalyptic sight of a huge round hole in place of the remnants of the ship that was entirely destroyed this time.

Relieved, he also saw that the now gone space ship wasn't lengthened by no tunnel or no annex of any kind.

On the dug ground, Dabra's body had been completely annihilated... All that was left was the mutilated body of the gnome and, in the centre of the crater... showing no scratch... there was the big brown sphere!

Son Gohan quickly went down this time and landed near the thing. He gently pushed it with his hand in order to make it move and also checking its weigh... It was burning hot! As soon as he let go of it, it rolled down at the deepest place of the crater, as a gigantic marble in a bowl... And it hadn't been damaged at all... Didn't show a single crack.

A weak and twangy voice made the young man start. He immediately turned. Babidi, in spite of the deep wounds that had taken off a part of his anatomy, was still alive. He even had enough strength left in him to mock the Saiyan!

As he listened to him, Son Gohan noticed that there weren't a single drop of blood to flow from this body that was torn apart.

“You won't be able to damage it... You've no idea of the power of my Boo... A strength that'd beyond your imagination and even the limits of this universe...”

Gohan's blood froze in his vessel as he couldn't suppress a shudder than went up his spine to reach his golden hair... That dying creature couldn't be lying!

He was looking at the spherical enigma, trying to think of another way to get rid of it without opening it when the mage's bleak voice started chanting his strange incantation.

“Chabadabada-poussipoussa-booboopoza…”

Transfixed by surprise and unable even react, Son Gohan watched the sphere splitting in half, emitting a kind of steam and a whistle.

What dreadful abomination was going to leave this indestructible cocoon?

A demonic monster? An invincible fighter? A sort of organic plague? An evil cloud?

He started when the two parts of the ball separated suddenly to fall each on its side... opening like a flower.

His eyes filled with tears of happiness, Babidi emitted a cry of joy.

“My Boo-boo... finally!”

As an abundant and tick steam had a hard time vanishing, postponing the moment the precious content of the sphere would be revealed.. he was talking to his mysterious creature. A miracle had occurred as his voice was now strong as ever.

“Don't worry, my Buu... I had to use the energy of that useless Dabra, along with Pui-Pui's to bring you back to life... I know that you need much more than this to reach your true potential.. But you'll be able to take this intruder's energy... And if it's not enough, you'll go back in your shelter until I find enough energy to feed you... You'll see, when I'll free you again, we're going to accomplish great things!”

When this troubling speech was gone, the steamy cloud had dissipated and, his eyes opened wide and his heart beating fiercely in his chest, Son Gohan waited to discover this promise of apocalypse as the gnome was now standing on what was left of his torso. His lips spread in a horrible smirk of intense joy that distorted his already deeply cut face.

The fog had now entirely disappeared and still, nothing was moving.

Babidy was obviously surprised... even worrying..

“Buu? Hello... Show yourself... don't be shy!” he quavered.

But a grim silent still prevailed on the two motionless half-spheres.

Curious, Son Gohan went nearer to be able to study them better...