~*****~

I grimace at the heat, my hand waving at my face. "Listen, I think hiding is well and good, but it's really hot." I mention. "How is it not hot to you?"

Dende just chuckles. "Well, I do reside on the Lookout-- it's much closer to the sun than the surface of Earth is."

Sweat trickles down my neck as I heave out a sigh. "Yeah, that's true--" I stop talking and gaze out of our hiding spot. "Someone's coming."

Dende closes his eyes and concentrates. "Yes, I believe it's Gohan and the others!"

We exit our hiding spot and gaze upwards. Tears fill my eyes. "Hey, guys! It's Dende and my mom!" Mars shouts before he literally flies into my grasp.

"Hi everyone!" Dende exclaims they all land. Mars leaps out of my arms and returns to Goten's side, and I have to take a few steps back when I notice the small puppy besides Goten.

"You're alive, I don't know how you did it. You did well, kid!" Piccolo praised him.

"Thanks, but if it wasn't for Mr. Popo, I never would have escaped." Dende says. "Buu came out of the Time Chamber through a small hole. He was in liquid form." Dende went into detail about his escape.

Piccolo hummed with a smile. "Brave, Popo. Let's just make sure his sacrifice wasn't in vain. You two should be proud of yourselves. It was a very wise move. You're a fine Guardian, Dende."

"Thank you, Piccolo." Dende nodded.

"That... scrawny, green elf-boy, is he some kind of bodyguard or somethin'?" Mr. Satan asked.

"You oaf! He's no bodyguard! He's Guardian of the Earth!" Mars scolded him.

"Really? I'll be darned!" Mr. Satan exclaimed.

"I'm sorry to say, but we don't have the dragon radar... Bulma had it, so it's kinda been... ate..." I mention lightly.

Gohan laughed. "Don't worry about it! You can always make another one!"

~*****~

Mr. Satan didn't take the news well when we told him what had happened to Videl. "M-M-M-My sweet, little Videl is dead?!" He bellowed. "My poor Videl! How could Buu do that to her? Damn him! He was my friend!" He stops crying instantly as he locks his gaze onto Gohan, and slings himself into his face. "What's wrong with you? Why didn't you protect my little girl, huh? What kind of boyfriend are you, huh, pal?"

"I wasn't there!" Gohan exclaimed.

"Hey, don't worry, sir. She'll come back to life!" Goten tried to reassure Mr. Satan.

Mr. Satan rears up on Goten next. "What are you talkin' about? She's dead, you little imp! How are you gonna bring her back to life?" Goten just laughs as Mr. Satan shakes him. "No joking around! This is my daughter we're talking about!"

"I'm not joking!" Goten exclaims.

The hairs on my neck stood up and I immediately backed behind Piccolo. "Buu! He's coming back!" Mars shouts.

"That didn't take long." Gohan comments.

Mr. Satan stops shaking Goten. "What? Majin Buu's here!?" He asks.

"It's him! But why? Surely he doesn't want to fight Gohan." Piccolo says. "Unless he's managed to improve in the last hour."

Gohan stands up. "All right, I'm gonna go see what he's up to." Gohan says firmly. "Don't get sucked into the fight, you guys. Stay here." We crowd onto the ridge to see what happens.

"Hey!" Mr. Satan shouts. "Majin Buu! How dare you hurt my daughter! What's wrong with you? You promised not to kill anymore, remember?" Majin Buu doesn't even acknowledge him. "What? Don't you know who I am, Buu?"

"Wake up! The Buu you made friends with is gone!" Piccolo snapped.

Mr. Satan clenched his fists tightly. "Oh, hey! It's Bee!" Mr. Satan once again tried to appeal to the Buu he once knew. I tried to reign in the shudder of panic washing over me when he extended the small dog out, but I ended up pulling Dende in front of me. "You remember Bee, don't ya? This is the puppy you saved."

"All right, you gave it a try." Piccolo growled. "Now back off. Let Gohan handle it from here."

Mr. Satan glares over at Piccolo. "Please, Hercule," I plead softly. "Don't interfere. You're out of your league with these guys."

Mr. Satan must've seen something on my face that convinced him. "We'd better be quiet, Bee." He muttered to the puppy.

My gaze trailed back to the pink monster that.... ate my daughter. Tears well up again, but I manage to force them down. "Hey, I'll bet he's bluffing, guys!" Mars exclaims. "Ten to one, he runs away again!"

"Mars," I hiss in a scolding manner.

"Come on then, little worms! I want to fight you now!" Majin Buu barked at the two kids.

"No way! That is not going to happen." Gohan snaps. "You're fighting me, Buu. You got it?"

Majin Buu just laughs. "I have a score to settle with them, first! Then I'll take care of you, stupid boy!"

"Sorry, pal, but you're not the one making the rules around here." Gohan says. "If you wanna fight someone, then I'm your man!"

"What happened, boys? Don't tell me you're scared to fight, Buu." Majin Buu jeers, completely ignoring Gohan. "You were raring to go before, but now that your friend showed up, you're acting like cowards. Come on!" This monster was smarter than he seemed. There was something wrong here. Gohan won't let them fight, or let him near us. There was no way he'd get his fight he'd been so desperately wanting. "Oh, I'm sorry, I must have misjudged you."

"What's he saying?" Mars growled.

"I think he's trying to say we're weak!" Goten states.

"Then I guess he doesn't remember us kicking his butt! I wouldn't say we're down for the count just yet. We just thought Gohan deserved a shot."

"Ah, I see, for a moment, I thought you were hiding behind him." Majin Buu sneered. "Now why don't you do your little magic so we can get started?"

"Fine!" Both boys exclaims.

"Absolutely not," I hiss from behind Dende. "There's something wrong here, can't you see it?"

"C'mon, mom! You gotta be kidding. He's not smart enough for something like that." Mars retorted. "He can't even spell deception."

"Let's go!" Goten chirped.

"No--" I shout again. "Get your butts back here! Now!"

"There! You got what you asked for, Majin Buu!" Mars exclaimed as the two boys leapt onto the rocks besides Gohan. "Maten is back in the ring!"

"No, Mars, you two stay back." Gohan snapped firmly. "I'm dealing with this myself."

"But-- Aw, come on! We're really good!" Goten whined.

"This stinks, we can't just stand here and watch!" Mars whined.

"Yeah, I wanna fight!" Goten agreed.

The puppy starts barking behind us, but I shift myself further away from him.

"Don't worry about a think, Gohan, you haven't seen me and Mars in action yet. When we do fusion, we're unbeatable!" Goten states. The two leap further in front of Gohan. "Watch this, okay?"

"Now, are you ready, Goten?" Mars asked eagerly.

"Yeah!" Goten nodded. "This time, we should definitely start off as Super Saiyan Three!"

The two begin to perform the fusion dance. Maten appears from the flash of light, a smug grin on his face. "Sorry you were missing me, ugly!" Maten chirped. "But now I'm back, and stronger than ever!"

"Now, that's weird." Mr. Satan mentions dryly. "First there were two kids, and now there's one, and he's got blond hair instead of... what's going on?!" That disgusting feeling that had all but swarmed the battlefield got worse. Something bad was coming. The hairs on my neck stood on end, and every time I turned around to see why, all I hear is Bee barking up a storm. I couldn't pinpoint it with the small dog here, it was messing with my head. "If two kids became one, uh, they'd be twice as big! Right?" I give a sharp flinch as I back away from the puppy scratching at my leg and hold in my whimpering. "Look, I'm pretty hungry, too, but right now, there's this fight." Mr. Satan stated to the small puppy. "And I'm trying to figure out this other thing all at the same time."

The dog just barks at us. "Well, Gohan, I hope you don't mind that I take it from here." Maten mentioned. "You're looking like you could use a little break." Gohan just snorts. "I'll beat on Buu for a little while." He leaps a little further and that slimy feeling spread over me even more. God, what was it? "Then I might be nice enough to give you another shot at him."

"Nice attitude, you've definitely got some Vegeta in you." Gohan comments.

"Thank you." Maten snorts.

Bee barks again and runs towards Maten like he's possessed. "Wait! Bee! You're running the wrong way!" Mr. Satan runs after the puppy. "Bee! No! I-If you keep running that way, you'll end up killing both of us!"

That slimy feeling I'd been getting? Well, I now I knew why. Pink sludge was inching its way towards Maten. "Maten--" I shriek, trying to warn him before it attacks. Maten whirls around just in time for the pink sludge to attack, and wraps itself around the tiny fighter.

"What is that?!" Gohan shouts as Maten fights against the sludge.

"Get this nasty goo off of me!" Maten exclaims.

I let out another shriek as another pile of pink sludge covers Piccolo. "No, not Piccolo!" Dende gasps.

"Guys! Stay close! You'll be safer!" Gohan exclaims to the rest of us.

Majin Buu lifts his finger and the goo slings towards him. "Yes! Come to me!" Majin Buu shouts.

"No! What's he doing to them!" Gohan barked as the goo fused to Majin Buu's body.

I watch in horror as Majin Buu transforms again, taking on attributes of both Maten and Piccolo. His power level reaches dizzying heights. "No, he absorbed them..." Dende whimpered as Mr. Satan leaped over the ridge behind us to hide.

"Does that mean he's gonna run around us and absorb us all?" Mr. Satan whimpers.

"He might. He went after Maten and Piccolo, so we know he's absorbing the bravest fighters." Dende explains.

"I hope he doesn't find us back here." Mr. Satan says in a trembly tone.

"So, Gohan, what do you think of it? New clothes to match my figure, and a few new abilities as well!" Majin Buu mentions. "I suppose the sudden loss of your friends and family has left you speechless, Gohan. Hurry and drain your tears so we can fight."

Gohan just growls angrily at him, his posture shaking in irritation. "How could you do that to them? They've been fair in this fight since the start!"

"I'm not interested in fairness. I'm interested in the extinction of every living creature on this planet. A good fighter knows his mental and physical limitations, but a great fighter will figure a way around them. From the moment I felt your power, I knew I was beaten. And then I thought about something, if I could hatch a plan to absorb Piccolo and Maten and their powers, then no force on this boring, pathetic planet would ever stand a chance against me again. And then another important factor was revealed. Time... Individually, the boys were worthless to me, but together, they have the strength to make me invincible. So I decided to wait out the hour until they could do their little fusion trick again. Then all I had to do was get them angry."

Gohan scoffed. "Well, you got me angry, too." Gohan commented. "You know, if you wanted to best, you should've come after me. You just absorbed the wrong Super Saiyans, Buu. And if you're using Piccolo's brains, you know you've got thirty minutes until this newfound strength of yours defuses."

Majin Buu laughs. "I assure you, it will be over before then. And I didn't absorb you because I needed a punching bag. What's the point of having strength if there's nothing to hit? I kept you around because I'm stronger than ever, and I have to try it on someone."

"Sounds fine. I'm all yours." Gohan nods. "Let's do this."

"All right," Majin Buu smirks. "But be warned, in my new super form, I have the body of Buu, the intensity of Maten, and all the cunning of a Namek ready to drive the nails into your coffin."

"I'm tougher than Maten and smarter than Piccolo." Gohan comments. "So I guess the only thing you have to worry about is if I'm stronger than you."

"You know I'm going to kill you, Gohan."

"Well, let's hold off on the gravestone, Majin Buu."

It's tense for a few short moments before the two begin to battle. They're incredibly fast, and each blow between the two send a shockwave through the air, and I feel it in my bones with each passing moment.

"Where-- Where are all the army guys?" Mr. Satan asked after the battle halted for a moment. "I-- I thought the army was dropping bombs!"

"There's no army. Gohan and Majin Buu are fighting." Dende explains.

"All those explosions form two guys?" Mr. Satan asks. "They don't even look like they've taken a single punch. Do you think Buu's gonna come after me?"

"Uh-huh, if you're a strong guy, I think he might." Dende mentions.

"Do you not know who I am? I am Mr. Satan, Champion of the World Martial Art's tournament, and savior of planet Earth, gotta fan club!" Mr. Satan snapped.

I sighed heavily and pinched at the bridge my nose. "If you truly believe that, Mr. Satan, then Buu will definitely come after you." As always, Mr. Satan looks like he regrets what he said.