Inside Babidi's Ship - Final Chamber
The door opened with a mechanical hiss.
They stepped into the last room, wide, circular and eerily silent. Black pillars jutted from the floor, twisted with veins of red light. A foul magic tainted the air.
And in the center stood Dabura, arms folded, cape flowing behind him.
"I've waited long enough," he said, stepping forward. "Let's finish this."
Babidi's voice echoed from the control chamber above. "Yes… excellent. Take his energy, Dabura!"
Gohan stepped forward.
No hesitation.
No warm-up.
Lightning crackled.
His hair burst upward, golden and wild.
His aura flared, Super Saiyan 2.
Vegeta's eyes widened. "He transformed instantly?"
Goku's eyes narrowed. "No buildup... just straight to it."
Even Dabura blinked. "Hmph. You're confident."
"I'm angry," Gohan replied coldly.
Then he moved.
A shockwave rippled through the chamber as Gohan blurred forward, faster than anyone could track.
He threw a left hook toward Dabura's temple.
Blocked. Dabura raised his right arm just in time.
But then he spun with a right leg, aiming for Gohan's head.
Gohan ducked low, the kick grazing above his hair. Without pausing, he slammed his elbow into Dabura's exposed ribs.
Crack.
Dabura staggered.
Gohan didn't let up.
He spun behind him and landed a heel kick to Dabura's spine, sending him flying across the chamber.
He crashed into a pillar, shattering it.
Goku's mouth dropped open. "What?! That's not possible. He wasn't that strong training with me."
Vegeta's brow twitched. "Because you coddled him."
Goku turned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means," Vegeta growled, "I trained him. The real way. You played teacher. I made him a warrior."
Back in the arena, Dabura lunged, snarling. He slashed at Gohan with his sword, fast and furious.
Gohan caught the blade with his bare hand.
Sparks flew.
Then he shattered the blade with a ki pulse, the fragments clattering to the ground.
Gohan's fist shot forward, one, two, three rapid-fire punches to Dabura's gut, forcing blood from his mouth.
Dabura gasped and tried to jump back but Gohan was already behind him.
A spinning backhand smashed Dabura's jaw and sent him spiraling.
Gohan appeared above him mid-fall and drove his knee into Dabura's chest, plummeting him to the ground like a meteor.
Boom.
Dust exploded from the impact.
Kibito stepped forward. "Incredible… I've never seen such raw power in one so young."
Babidi slammed his fists into the console. "No! No! This shouldn't be happening! That's not what the data predicted!"
Vegeta smirked. "Your mistake was underestimating him."
Inside the crater, Dabura rose slowly, blood dripping from his mouth, his cape tattered, breathing ragged.
"How… how is this possible?" he wheezed.
Gohan descended in front of him, his eyes glowing with righteous fury.
"You turned my friends to stone," he said coldly. "Now you'll pay."
Dabura roared, lunging in desperation.
A flurry of blows, slashes, kicks, bursts of hellfire. Each one fast enough to kill a normal fighter.
But Gohan weaved through it all.
He ducked, twisted, blocked with one arm, and countered with ruthless precision.
A right cross to Dabura's nose.
A rising uppercut to his jaw.
A spin-kick to the temple.
A double palm strike that sent Dabura flying backward, again.
The ground shook as Dabura crashed through another wall.
Goku looked on in disbelief. "That's… beyond anything I've seen. Even from him."
Vegeta grunted. "It's not just training. It's fury. Focused, sharpened fury."
Goku stepped closer. "He never showed that with me…"
Vegeta's voice grew cold. "Because with you, he was still trying to be your son."
Their eyes locked.
"You didn't teach him much anyway. I was a better teacher than you."
Above, in the Control Chamber
Babidi was sweating. "He's going to kill Dabura! This energy… this tension… it's perfect for Majin Buu's resurrection! But not enough time to siphon enough power."
He reached out, siphoning the battle energy into the sealed orb.
"It's more than enough. But he is going to kill Dabura before Majin Buu can get enough power!"
Back in the Arena
Dabura tried to crawl from the rubble.
"Stay… back…"
Gohan landed before him, the pressure of his aura pinning the Demon King down.
"No," Gohan said. "You're finished."
Dabura wheezed, broken and bloodied, crawling from the wreckage of the shattered wall. Every movement was agony, but his pride forced him upright.
Across the room, Gohan hovered with calm fury in his eyes. His golden aura shimmered violently around him, wild lightning crackling through the air. He raised his hands to his side.
"Kame..."
The word echoed like a death sentence.
Dabura's eyes widened in horror.
"Hame..."
Vegeta tensed, recognizing the familiar cadence.
Goku's heart beat faster. "He's going to finish it…"
"Ha..."
The energy formed instantly, condensed into a blinding blue orb between Gohan's palms.
Dabura screamed, trying to rise. "No! Wait!"
But Gohan's voice was cold as ice. "You turned my friends to stone. You'll pay."
"ME...!"
Suddenly, Gohan's expression shifted. Something was probing… inside his mind.
A whisper.
"Such fury… such raw power… what if I told you I could give you more?"
Babidi's voice, oily and invasive, echoed in Gohan's skull.
"Let me in, Gohan. Accept the Majin mark. With my power, you'll be unstoppable. You could crush everyone who's wronged you. Even your father."
Gohan's eyes twitched.
Then narrowed.
He lowered the Kamehameha slightly, turned his head to the side and shouted into the void...
"Shut up. Get out of my head!"
A shockwave of golden ki erupted from his body, blowing dust and debris across the chamber. The orb of energy in his palms remained focused but then something else happened.
Vegeta suddenly gasped.
He grabbed his head, staggering.
"Ngh... what… is this?!"
His knees buckled, eyes wide with confusion and pain.
"Vegeta?" Goku turned toward him, startled.
Gohan looked over mid-charge. His Kamehameha flickered.
Vegeta clutched his temples, groaning louder. Dark magic slithered around him, Babidi's influence.
"You don't want the power, do you, Prince? No… you want the fight. I can give you that. I can give you Kakarot."
Vegeta gritted his teeth, sweat pouring down his brow as the pressure mounted.
Gohan's energy destabilized. He lowered his hands, the Kamehameha fizzling out.
"Vegeta!" he shouted, darting toward him.
At that instant, Dabura vanished, his broken body slipping through Babidi's magic.
Gohan skidded to a stop, furious. "Damn it!"
But his attention returned to the one person he respected enough to care about, Vegeta.
The Saiyan Prince was breathing hard, still kneeling, the dark magic swirling near his aura but not yet within it.
Babidi's voice echoed once more.
"I don't need to control you, Vegeta. I can give you what you want. Power. A true battle. A way to surpass even him."
Vegeta looked up, his hair falling over his eyes. Then he stood.
Tall.
Strong.
Defiant.
"I don't want your power," he said coldly. "But I will fight for you…"
Everyone tensed.
Babidi smirked.
"…because I have a score to settle."
He turned to Goku.
"With you, Kakarot."
A bolt of Majin magic branded Vegeta's forehead, searing into his skin. The "M" glowed brilliantly but Vegeta's spirit wasn't controlled, it burned even brighter.
The ship trembled.
A massive portal opened beneath Vegeta and Goku, swallowing them whole.
Flash...
They reappeared high above the World Martial Arts Tournament, shocking the crowd.
Vegeta rose into the sky, hovering above thousands of innocents.
He extended a single hand.
BOOM!
A massive explosion erupted in the stands, bodies flying, people screaming.
Gohan's ki spiked in horror. "No!"
Supreme Kai shouted, "Stop this madness!"
But Goku was already locked in.
His aura exploded around him.
"You bastard!"
Supreme Kai appeared before him, trying to block his path.
"We need to stop Buu...!"
Goku raised his hand. A sphere of ki charged instantly.
"Get out of my way."