Goku woke with a headache that felt personal.
He pushed himself up, one hand pressed to the back of his skull. "Ow… What happened?"
Vegeta stood a few steps away, arms crossed. "Take me back."
"Back?" Goku blinked through the pain. "Back to Earth? Wait, why was I even on the ground?"
Vegeta turned his head just enough to avoid looking at him.
The memory came back a second later.
Goku's mouth fell open. "You hit me."
"I got tired of your voice."
"You hit me, tried to go fight Buu alone, and then realized you couldn't get home without me."
Vegeta's jaw tightened.
Goku sighed and climbed to his feet. "You really do make everything harder."
He pulled out the last Senzu Bean and ate it. The pain faded, his strength came back, and he held out his hand.
"Come on."
Vegeta stepped closer with all the enthusiasm of a man walking to his own execution and put a hand on Goku's shoulder.
The dead planet vanished.
When the world snapped back into place, they were on Earth, right beside Majin Buu.
The Supreme Kai lay half-crushed in the dirt. He had been past hoping for help, but the sight of Goku and Vegeta made him stir.
Buu climbed off him and turned around.
Far above the battlefield, three figures cut across the sky.
"It's Dad!" Goten shouted. "And Vegeta!"
Zarek slowed before they got too close. "Mountain. Now. We're not landing in the middle of that."
Goten and Trunks followed him down to a distant ridge. From there, the battlefield looked even worse than it had from the air.
"That's Majin Buu?" Goten asked, staring at the round pink figure below.
"Who else would it be?" Zarek said.
Goten's gaze shifted, and his voice caught. "Gohan! Piccolo!"
He shot forward on instinct.
Zarek grabbed him before he could leave the ridge. "They're breathing."
Goten struggled for half a second, then stopped.
"Look again," Zarek said. "They're out cold, not dead. Running in now just gives Buu another target."
Goten swallowed and stayed put.
Down below, Goku had already taken in the damage.
Gohan and Piccolo were both down. Cabba and Caulifla were gone. Kale's ki was nowhere to be felt. The Supreme Kai looked like Buu had used him as a toy and gotten bored halfway through.
"Gohan!"
Goku disappeared from Vegeta's side and rushed to his son.
Vegeta did not move. His attention stayed on Buu.
"So," he said, looking the creature over, "you're Majin Buu."
Buu blinked at him.
Vegeta's mouth curled. "Ugly little fool."
The smile vanished from Buu's face.
"You called me ugly."
"And a fool," Vegeta said. "Try to keep up."
Buu's ki rose.
Vegeta let his own answer it.
The ground shook under him as golden fur spread across his body. His power climbed fast, packing itself into that compact Great Ape form he had forced under control.
On the ridge, Trunks gripped his fists. "Dad's going to beat him."
Zarek did not take his eyes off Buu. "Don't decide that before the fight starts."
Trunks wanted to argue, but the words died in his throat.
Vegeta attacked.
He hit Buu like he was trying to erase him from the planet. Punches sank into soft flesh. Kicks folded Buu's body in half. Every time Buu started to recover, Vegeta was already there with another blow.
For a while, it worked.
Buu staggered, bent, twisted, and finally hit the ground hard enough to crack it.
Vegeta did not wait for him to stand properly. He fired a blast through Buu's chest.
The beam punched clean through.
Buu flipped backward and dropped into the dirt, a smoking hole where his chest had been.
Vegeta lowered his hand.
On the ridge, Trunks shouted, "He did it!"
Goku looked up from Gohan. "Vegeta! That was too much!"
Vegeta gave him a look of pure disbelief. "Too much? That thing nearly killed your son."
"Gohan and Piccolo are alive."
"And that makes him harmless?" Vegeta snapped. "Ken said Buu was a demon. I see no reason to spare one."
A wet, soft sound came from the ground.
Buu sat up.
The hole through his chest was still there. For one absurd moment, the sky was visible through him.
Then his body closed.
Vegeta's confidence went still.
Buu stood and dusted himself off like the attack had been a rude interruption. "Only Broly ever beat me up that badly."
His voice dropped.
"Now I'm angry."
The air around him swelled.
Zarek moved first.
"Go!"
He was already flying before Goten and Trunks understood why. A heartbeat later, they followed.
Goku did not waste time shouting. He grabbed Gohan and Piccolo and vanished.
Buu's energy burst outward.
The battlefield disappeared under a purple-white wave. Stone tore loose from the ground. The horizon shook. When the blast finally faded, a new crater had swallowed the land around Buu.
Vegeta was still there.
Barely.
He had crossed his arms in front of his head and taken the blast straight on. Blood ran down both arms and soaked into the golden fur.
Buu floated above the crater, smiling.
"Dad!" Trunks shouted from the sky.
Zarek finally stopped flying. His breathing was uneven, but he kept his voice low. "That would've killed us."
Vegeta forced himself upright.
"Damn it," he muttered. "So he was hiding this much."
He glanced to the side. "Kakarot, don't interfere. I'll settle this."
No answer.
Vegeta turned.
Goku was gone.
So were Gohan and Piccolo.
For a moment, Vegeta simply stood there.
Then his teeth ground together.
Kakarot.
He took the wounded and left him here.
"Trunks," Zarek said from the ridge, "your father's in trouble."
"My dad isn't losing to that fat freak!"
Zarek did not argue. "Then keep watching."
Buu drifted down and landed in front of Vegeta.
"You're finished," Buu said.
Vegeta straightened. Blood still ran down his arms, but his pride had taken the insult harder than his body had taken the blast.
"You think this is enough to beat me?" he said. "I'm going to become a God of Destruction. I'm not falling to you."
Buu tilted his head.
A future God of Destruction.
That was supposed to be his title too.
He decided not to say it. The fight was more fun than the conversation.
Vegeta pointed a thumb at his chest.
"Majin Buu, you've annoyed me long enough. Now I'll show you what a real Super Saiyan looks like."
Buu perked up. "Oh?"
Vegeta's ki rose again.
This time it did not burst outward wildly. It pulled inward, crushing the golden Great Ape power down even further. The gold faded from his fur, replaced by deep crimson. His hair turned black. His eyes burned red.
The change settled over him with a heavy, dangerous calm.
Buu's mouth opened a little.
He had seen Saiyans transform. He had not seen this.
On the ridge, Goten, Trunks, and Zarek watched in silence.
Trunks was the first to speak. "Dad…"
Goten leaned forward. "What is that?"
Trunks grinned. "Dad calls it his Primal form."
Zarek studied Vegeta's new shape. "It's built from the Great Ape form. An evolved version."
"But we don't have tails anymore," Goten said. "So we can't do that, right?"
"Doesn't matter," Zarek said. "It's too flashy. Destruction energy is cleaner."
Buu looked Vegeta up and down. "What did you turn into?"
"The Primal transformation," Vegeta said, savoring the name.
It was Super Saiyan 4.
But Kakarot had not even reached Super Saiyan Three yet. Vegeta refused to number a transformation around a form Kakarot did not have. "Primal" sounded better anyway.
The form came from the Great Ape, the oldest and most savage root of Saiyan power. The name fit.
Buu nodded as if that made sense.
Vegeta flexed his hands.
"Ready? Because I am.".....
The Lookout.
Goku appeared with Gohan and Piccolo.
"Goku!" Dende ran over, saw the two bodies, and went straight to work.
Healing light spread over Gohan first, then Piccolo.
Goku looked down toward the world below. Vegeta's ki had changed again.
"That's Vegeta," he said. "He just got stronger."
He focused harder, and the battlefield came into view.
"Huh. That form…" Goku scratched his head. "It kind of reminds me of Daru from Universe 11."
Gohan stirred. Piccolo woke a moment after him.
"Dad?" Gohan sat up.
Piccolo rose more slowly, already looking toward the edge of the Lookout. "That ki… Vegeta?"
"Yeah," Goku said. "He's fighting Buu."
Piccolo walked to the edge. His cape settled over his shoulders as he looked down at the battle. "Buu is worse than we thought."
Goku joined him. "Ken said even Merus might not beat him."
Piccolo's expression turned grim. "Then we may need to wait for Ken."
"I hope Buu gives us that much time," Goku said.
Gohan looked around.
Something was wrong.
"Dad… where's Kale?"
Goku turned back. "Kale? I didn't find her. I only saw you and Piccolo, so I brought you here."
The color drained from Gohan's face. "You don't think Buu killed her, do you?"
"Her ki disappeared," Goku said. "But that doesn't always mean death. She could be unconscious."
Piccolo pointed into the distance. "Cabba and Caulifla are over there. Their ki is steady. They probably didn't fight. If anyone knows where Kale landed, it's them."
Gohan stood at once.
"I'm going."
He launched off the Lookout and flew toward them.
Goku let him go.
Then he and Piccolo looked back down at the battlefield.
Buu was humming.
That alone was bad enough.
Then he grabbed his own belly and tore off a chunk.
Vegeta's eyes locked onto it.
What is this lunatic doing?
Buu pulled the flesh into a long strip and smiled.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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