The Bond

The Mighty Mask was soaring up at 18 again and she steeled herself. She figured that kick had been too soft. Who was this guy? He began circling her, and she watching him, ready to defend. His tactics had changed completely! How was it that he could switch from battle forms so easily? Why was he so difficult to read?

Mighty Mask darted forward, and 18 barely managed to doge his punch, but his kick was coming up just as she ducked and slammed into her. He then punched her hard as she came up and she was sent sailing down toward the ground. She managed to recover before she hit, and steeled herself, pushing back up into the sky, a fierce cry on her lips.

Her opponent was taken off guard at her swift recoil, and she managed to land a hit hard on his face. She bolted beneath above him as he was sent up and thrust her elbow down, sending them crashing down to the stage again. They landed in the same crater she had made the first time.

"Yay, mama!" 18 smirked lightly as she heard her daughter, Marin, call.

The announcer ran to the fallen Mighty Mask, "Would you like to give up now…?" he asked hesitantly.

18 watched closely as Mighty Mask seemed to be shifting in the crater oddly, like he was twisting his spine. Suddenly, he hopped up and shot back up into the sky toward her. Once again, his fighting style was completely different. He was much more direct, and he began dishing out kicks and punches at the same time.

The android had to block with both her arms and legs. It was astounding that his movements from his arms and his legs were so random and unmatched! She finally had an openening, and 18 took it, forcing a knee through the man's guard and making some distance between them. She shot out blasts, red in color, hoping to catch him off guard.

Mighty Mask dodged very oddly. It was like his spine could curve and twist beyond normal human restraints to avoid the blasts, top half going one way and bottom half going the other. He began to mutter to himself, and 18 strained to hear. His voice seemed odd and high pitched.

And then, his power level rocketed. 18 gasped in shock as his top half glowed with a blue aura, and his bottom with gold. How- but of course!

A slow smirk came to her lips.

"So that's it," she muttered, "A little Ascended Tygrian and Super Saiyan…"

The Mighty Mask as they were trying to be, began to advance, but 18 called out, "Don't you think it's time to end this, Trunks and Goten?"

Two voiced yelped from the man, both high pitched.

"Oh no!" Trunks yelped from behind the mask while Goten, which she could see his little green eyes from the stomach, cried, "She knows!"

18 chuckled and formed a Distructo Disc in her hand and threw it at them. Krillin had taught her the move back when they started dating.

The boys yowled in shock and tried to go in opposite directions. The disc cut right through the space of fabric between them.

At first, there were howls of terror and horror, and the announcer screamed, "Mighty Mask has been cut in HALF!"

But then Goten's top half was revealed from the gown. He was pouting, his hair golden and standing on end.

"Goten, you moron, why did you go that way?" Trunks cried, making it look like Mighty Mask's top half was just floating in midair.

"I was the feet, you were supposed to stay on my shoulders!" Goten shouted.

"Whatever, we got to finish this!" Trunks shed his out fit, the mask, gloves, and top half of the gown falling to the ground, revealing him, still purple haired but tattooed in dark lines all across his skin, his eyes glowing yellow.

Goten nodded and shook off the boots and bottom half of the gown and to 18's surprise, both the boys launched at her. She quickly went on the defensive, now having to worry about two pairs of arms and legs trying to get in at her, plus their incredible strength increase.

"HEY!" the announcer called, "You two can't fight together! You're disqualified!"

Both the boys stopped, pouting and then they rocketed away, "Your tournament's stupid!" Trunks called over his shoulders.

18 sighed and slowly went down to land. That explained the entire thing, the scrawny legs and arms and the incredible strength, and the unpredictable movements. Now, there was only one last opponent and she will win the tournament and the prize money. She slowly turned to look at Hercule Satan, who was looking at her with pure terror.

He slowly gained his composure, "L-let's go!" he cried, getting in a fighting stance, "It's on, sister! You've defeated the dog just to get to the lion!"

She stood there, watching him, pulling her hair behind her ear. Interesting. He knew he didn't stand a chance, she saw it in his eyes. What made hm act like this?

"What's wrong?" he cried, "Ya scared?"

"No."

He yelped like an injured dog when she began to walk forward, he held up his arms as if he were guarding from attacks already as she readied her stance.

And an idea occurred to her.

She darted forward, so fast that she was certain none of the humans saw her travelling to where she arrived, behind this "world champion". He was looking around for her frantically. She reached forward and tapped him on the shoulder. He wailed like a terrified child, and she swiftly slipped in when he made to turn and put him him a tight headlock.

"Please don't kill me, I don't wanna die- I have a child- please-!" he was flailing his arms wildly, and trembling under her grip.

"Shut the hell up," 18 snapped in his ear, and he froze, "Would you like to win this, champ?"

"I don't care about winning!" he wailed, "Just please don't hurt me- please!"

"God damn, you are such a pussy," 18 hissed, "Listen to me, now that I have you here, I wouldn't mind letting you win."

"I just wanna live- I have a family- wait, what?" Hercule gasped.

"I said I wouldn't mind letting you win the match," snapped 18.

"B-but why?" the man stammered.

"You think I want all the publicity and fan groups? Hell no," 18 growled, "All you have to do is give me twenty million zeni. Seems like a pretty good deal to me, especially given the embarrassing situation you're in right now. You just give me the prize money and ten million out of your own pocket, and you get to keep your title. Or… I can beat you until you're unconscious and take the title while everyone laughs at how you got beat by a girl."

Hercule seemed to think about it for a long moment.

18, getting impatient, squeezed his head, "What's it going to be?" she demanded.

"Yes!" he wailed, "I'll do anything to win! You have a deal!"

"Good, smart man," 18 smirked.

She let out a wail of feigned pain and jumped backward, landing heavily on her back.

The crowd around them gasped and cheered, the announcer calling, "Incredible! After being held in a paralyzing technique for almost five minutes, Hercule Satan has broken free! The kick was so fast I couldn't even see it!"

"You bastard," 18 cried as she got to her feet, "That kick was pure luck!"

Hercule slowly began to smile. "Yeeeaaah!" he cried, throwing his fists into the air and then planted them on his hips, "I studied your technique, and learned to break from it! Now you're doomed, girl! I can't believe they let and ametuer like you in! You're in the lion's den now-"

"Shut the fuck up and start fighting," 18 snapped.

Hercule flinched at her undertoned threat and nodded, "R-right!"

He started charging at her, and began to punch her everywhere he could reach, slamming them into her as hard as he could, which, unfortunately for him, didn't make 18 move a single centimeter. She stood there like a statue, allowing him to continue for a moment, before getting annoyed and thrust up her knee, lightly burrowing it into his stomach. He bent with the blow and she caught him on her index finger, pushing him upright again, the tip of her finger in the center of his forehead.

"I- I thought you said you were gonna let me win!" he wheezed.

"I am," said 18, annoyance like venom on her tone, "But we have to make it look good for the fans. And you DID call me an ameture."

"I-I'm sorry," Hercule rambled, "I was just trying to act like myself!"

18 considered for a moment. "Accepted," she said, looking at him fully now, "Now throw me across the ring and finish me off with a special fighting move of yours."

Hercule hesitated.

"NOW!" snapped 18.

He yelped and grabbed her by the upper arms and tossed her over his head. 18 remained limp to allow him to do this, then twisted and landed on her feet on the other side of the stage, just at the edge.

"Time for the MEGATON PUNCH!" Hercule cried, and began to charge toward her, his fist held back, his battlecry bursting from his lungs.

She saw and felt him throw all that he had into that punch, and it landed on her forehead. 18 didn't budge. She stood there for a moment, the crowd around her completely silent in shock.

"That… was the best you could come up with?" she hissed.

"Er-" Hercule blushed, "Y-yes, I'm afraid so."

"… Whatever." 18 sighed and then let out a cry of fake pain and threw herself back and off the stage, landing in the grass.

The crowd remained silent, now even more shocked.

"I- I don't understand what just happened," said the announcer, "It seems that… there was a delayed reaction…?"

"I did it!" Hercule cried to the sky, "After YEARS of training a special variation of the Megaton Punch, I made it so that the energy behind it was compressed and therefore gave a purposely delayed reaction to catch my enemies off guard! Ten years of training every single day, and it finally worked!"

The crowd went wild. 18 slowly got to her feet as Hercule threw a peace sing in the air, grinning and roaring with victory. She made her way to the edge, and began to walk toward the changing room.

"Well," she said, making him cut off mid-roar, "Looks like I'll be paying your house a visit tomorrow. You better pay up," she began walking and then glanced back at him, making eye contact, "Or I'll kill you."

And she meant it.

*scene change*

In stage four, Katima, Vegeta, Goku, Gohan, and Shin stood waiting for their next opponent. About a half an hour ticked by, and Vegeta growled irritably

"This is foolish," he snapped, "What does he think this is, a waiting game? Well I've waited long enough!"

He began marching toward the door.

Shin grabbed his arm, "Vegeta- wait- what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm going through that door and going down to where that coward Bobbity is hiding!" Vegeta snarled.

"You can't!" Shin cried, "Vegeta, I told you! Any unstable shock could set Majin Buu free! Please, you mustn't!"

"Uegh!" Vegeta ripped from the Supreme Kai's grip, "This is ridiculous," he snarled.

"Relax, Vegeta!" Goku grinned at him, "He's probably just having a hard time deciding who to send to fight Gohan!"

Time ticked by, and Katima stretched her arms as she sat down, sitting cross legged and propping her head in her hands, elbows on her knees. She watched as Gohan did stretches, as Goku eventually sat like her, legs sprawled out in front of him, holding himself up by his elbows. Vegeta stood, eyes narrowed, arms folded tightly across his chest.

After about an hour, Goku yawned.

"What time is it?" he asked.

Katima sighed, "I've no clue. I bet the tournament's over by now. I can't believe we missed it for this shit."

"I wish they would hurry up!" Gohan grumbled, "I want to fight already!"

"I can't wait to see you fight, Gohan!" said Goku excitedly, "You were only a kid when you beat Cell, I can't imagine how strong you are now!"

Gohan looked back, blushing a bit and rubbing the back of his head, "Uh- yeah, well… I'm not as strong as I was then…"

"Gohan doesn't have time for training, Kakarot, he's been too busy going to class and studying," Vegeta smirked, "You, myself, and Katima are all stronger than him in his state. Or maybe I'm wrong!" sarcasm dripped from Vegeta's lips, "Maybe he's been practicing between classes, maybe he's the strongest of all of us!"

Gohan laughed nervously, and Vegeta snorted, still smirking, "I didn't think so," he said flatly.

Katima sighed and smiled apologetically at her nephew. She knew Gohan had began to focus on leading a normal life, but she and Vegeta hadn't stopped training for a second, still trying to unlock the Bond's power to a point where it didn't require such dire cercumstances.

She remembered a time, back when Makoto was still and infant, and they had left him to be babysat by Bulma while they went out to the forest to train. Katima remembered squaring off with her husband, and the intense battling that proceeded.

He had come at her, aiming to uppercut her. She had twisted to the side and snatched his arm, pulling him over and thrust up a knee to his gut. Vegeta had gasped, but grabbed her leg with his other arm, lacing it beneath her, his hand grasping her right ass cheek, and he had smirked devilishly up at her before charging forward, flipping her up and over his shoulder.

Katima had landed heavily on her black and her husband turned to jump on her to pin her down. Katima swiftly rolled away and jumped to her feet, managing to block a kick just in time. She twirled, throwing out her elbow recklessly. Vegeta ducked and punched her in the stomach. The breath had left her body and she bowed with the blow, completely winded. Vegeta took advantage of this and collided his knee to her face, sending her sailing backward. Her back slammed into a tree and she fell onto her front. The back of her head had hit the tree trunk pretty hard and she was slightly dazed.

Pushing herself to all fours, she looked up to see Vegeta rushing at her through the stars. Steeling herself, Katima raised a hand and shot a blast at him. Her husband hadn't seen that one coming and cried out as he thrust him back and into the woods, out of sight.

Given time to recover, Katima got to her feet and shook herself out, duting off her pants. She stood ready for Vegeta to return, but he never did. She frowned and cast out her senses to find him. He was surpressing his energy, and she could not feel him anywhere around her. She prodded the Bond, and realized only a moment too late that the distance between them was far too slim for her to be safe.

An arm locked around her neck.

"I win."

Katima brought up her hands to clutch the thick arm that was about her throat, a smirk coming to her lips, "Do not believe me so easily bested, love."

"Oh?" Vegeta breathed on her ear, his breath warm, "How do you think to get out of this predicament?"

Katima grinned darkly as her hair suddenly leapt to blond and she thrust back her elbow, landing him in the gut. He howled on pain, and his grip on her vanished. She twisted around and held out her hand, her palm right in his face.

Vegeta was clutching his stomach and he growled in annoyance before transforming himself. He grabbed her wrist with one hand, throat with the other and pushed her back against the tree. Katima grabbed his wrist with her free hand, but before she could make the attempt to free herself, Vegeta's lip were on hers.

Katima's body went molten, her muscles instantly softening, and so did his, hand moving from her throat and wrist to plant on either side of her head against the tree trunk to continue to kiss her. Katima wrapped an arm around one arm, the other going to his hair, fingers knotting in it, pushing him against her, the kiss gaining heat.

Even as they danced their lips together, their powers went up, their auras flashing wild golden about them, the ground shaking. Katima gasped as Vegeta broke from her and they stared at one another for a long moment, eyes like green flames.

"Let's try it now," Vegeta had said.

Katima nodded, and they began to power up.

With themselves so focused on each other, the power of the Bond was magnified. Their cries had blinded the sky, their auras bursting with lightning, but something happened, it always seemed to happen, to put a stopper on their energy. They would stop, both falling to their knees, their power completely spent.

"I don't understand," Vegeta had panted, "Why can't we access it?"

Katima didn't want to tell him her theory. When they had defeated Dengen, Vegeta had, for one split second, stopped caring about power and only cared about Katima, his feelings for her, and his passion. All hope had been lost, and he had nothing else to look to. It had unlocked the powers of the Bond, and they had killed Dengen, but now that Vegeta knew that the power lay there, that he had tasted it…

That was the only reason he wished to access it. His heart and true feeling were not in the correct place to make the Bond click again. He had come out and admitted and felt his true love with Katima for a moment, a moment that saved the universe.

And ever since then, it never once came back.

Because Katima was correct, had been all along. Vegeta couldn't handle that power, and it had gone to his head. Now he couldn't gain it back because of it, and they had been growing distant ever since… Katima knew Vegeta still loved her, but he was so upset that he couldn't find the Bond's power again…

And now that Goku was back, it was like what happened on Xeknos never happened. He was back to that stupid rivalry, back to his thirst for power.

Katima was snapped back to the present when the door, at long last, opened.

And Dabora stepped through.

"It's Dabora!" Shin cried, looking absolutely terrified, "Why would Bobbity send him so soon?"

Dabora smiled at them, "Play time is over," he said darkly, "You all made short work of the others, and so Bobbity had no choice but to send me to end this quickly. Which means you will go no further. I want you all to fight me, here and now!"

"Hey!" Gohan snapped, "No way, it's MY turn to fight!" he thrust his thumb to his chest, "You're going to fight me and me alone!"

"Insolence!" hissed Dabora, "If you want your death so swiftly, then who am I to deny you?"

*scene change*

Makoto flew along with Krillin and Videl, his brow furrowed. Why couldn't he just go back now? He guessed Mister Krillin DID have a point. He knew at least his mother would be worried about him if she showed up and probably wouldn't fight at her best, but still… maybe if he stayed hidden and just watched! That seemed to be a good plan, that way he could see the Buu monster and watch his mother and father send it back to where it came from!

They were almost to the island now, and Makoto wondered how the tournament was going. There had only been three fighters since they all left, and Trunks and Goten had been one of them, if that made sense. He still thought it was unfair that they wouldn't let him join them, and then he got cheated out of actually seeing the monster.

"So you're sure they'll be okay?" Videl asked Krillin.

He looked at her and gave her a smile, "Sure! I mean, you have to understand, Gohan and his whole family are strong enough to take care of themselves."

Videl looked him over, "I'm still coming to terms with how they're all aliens, are you an alien too?"

"No, I'm full blooded human," said Krillin, frowning a little, "It didn't do me any favors back there."

Videl looked down at the ground flying beneath them, "I just can't believe it, but it makes sense… Oh Gohan…"

Krillin got a smirk, "You're really worried about him, aren't you?"

Videl blushed, "I- of course I am! He's my friend!"

"Friend… yeah…" Krillin chuckled.

"Makoto! Videl! Krillin!"

Makoto stopped with the others and turned to see Trunks and Goten flying toward them. They were just at the coast that led to the island.

"Hey guys!" Makoto smiled and waved, "Why are you out here?"

"We got caught," Trunks shot a glare at Goten, "Thanks to Goten."

"HEY!" Goten pouted, "It wasn't all my fault!"

"You kids were up to no good, weren't you?" Krillin sighed, "Well let's get you back to your parents."

"What happened?" asked Trunks, "Where are the others? My dad?"

Krillin seemed to blanch, "They're all dealing with the problem-"

"There's an evil wizard that stole Gohan's powers and is feeding it to a Buu monster to wake him up and destroy the world!" Makoto said in an excited rush.

"Wh-what?" Goten gasped, eyes slowly getting wide.

"A- a wizard?" Trunks' hands were shaking, "And- a monster?"

"Now, boys, I know it seems a little scary, but I'm sure your dads-" Krillin began but then Goten and Trunks burst into excitement, getting huge smiles, their eyes wide with thrill.

"Goten, can you BELIEVE it?" Trunks cried, "It's like all the old stories about Cell and Frieza!"

"I know!" Goten's limbs flailed around in excitement, "It's gonna be a HUGE battle! Like one that will shake the WHOLE planet like Master Roshi talks about!"

"I bet it'll be even BIGGER than the stories about Cell and Frieza!" shouted Makoto, "I bet it'll take all of them to beat the monster!"

They all wriggled excitedly and Trunks exclaimed, "Do you know what this means?"

The three boys shouted together, "WE GET TO SAVE THE WORLD!"

"Now, boys!" Krillin waved his hands frantically, "You can't just rush off- it's dangerous-"

Too high off excitement, Makoto barely registered his words.

"Come on guys!" Trunks bellowed, "We're gonna miss it!"

"I don't wanna miss it!" Goten cried, flailing his arms, "Idontwannamissit Idontwannamissit!"

"Let's go!" Makoto shouted.

He and Goten powered up to Super Saiyan, and Trunks to Ascended Tygrian, and they blasted off toward where they had been heading before Gohan made Makoto turn around. He barely heard Krillin calling after them.

"BOYS! IT'S DANGEROUS! STOP!"

But not one of them registered his words. They rocketed over the city, causing a massive wind behind them. Makoto flew between his two best friends, excitement flooding him.

A monster!

They were going to save the world!