Whispers of the Unknown

The rustic kitchen of the Son family home buzzed with warmth, the air thick with the rich, earthy aroma of Chi-Chi's cooking as she bustled around the stove, her apron dusted with flour and stained with streaks of sauce.

In less than half an hour, she'd transformed the rough-hewn wooden table into a banquet, piled high with steaming platters of exotic fare, delicacies harvested from the untamed slopes of Mount Paozu.

These weren't the tame dishes of city markets; here were roasted slabs of saber-toothed tiger, glistening with fat, alongside tender cuts of dinosaur flank and the rare, spiced flesh of giant lizards, a bounty unique to this wild haven where only the bold or foolish dared tread.

Chi-Chi stepped back, wiping her hands on her apron, her dark eyes softening as she surveyed her work, then turned to me with a gentle smile.

"Goten, you must've been starving in that Time Chamber for two whole years," she said, her voice a mix of maternal concern and pride, gesturing to the feast. "Eat up, plenty here to fill that Saiyan stomach of yours.

"She adjusted a plate of lizard skewers, her hands steady despite the frantic pace, a housewife's instinct driving her to nurture after my long absence.

I nodded, a grin tugging at my lips as I settled onto the creaky wooden chair, the familiar scent of home washing over me.

"Thanks, Mom," I said, my tone light but grateful, before diving in, my hands tearing into the meat with a hunger honed by months of bland Time Chamber rations.

At first, when I'd crossed into this world, these strange dishes—hulking cuts from beasts I'd only read about—had turned my stomach, their raw wildness a shock to my senses; but now, they were a comfort, delicious and abundant, perfectly matched to the bottomless pit of a Saiyan's appetite.

The table emptied fast, a whirlwind of motion as I devoured every morsel, the flavors bursting with the rugged vitality of Mount Paozu's untamed life.

Two years of choking down my own crude cooking in that stark, endless chamber had left me ravenous, and this spread was a lifeline, a reward for battles fought and won.

When the last bone clattered onto the plate, I leaned back, satisfied, then rose to head out back, the call of training pulling me toward the mountain's shadowed slopes.

Mount Paozu's rear stretched into a jagged wilderness, its peaks clawing at the sky, dotted with gnarled trees and rocky clearings where I'd carved out my practice grounds.

I'd told Krillin and Bulma I wouldn't stop, couldn't stop; letting my edge dull risked turning me into what Gohan had become before his fall, a softened shadow of his potential.

Super Saiyan II was fresh in my veins, a power I'd only just claimed, and I threw myself into drills, punches splitting the air, kicks stirring dust, determined to forge it into something unbreakable.

Days bled into weeks, then two months slipped by, each sunrise finding me out here, sweat-soaked and relentless, the echoes of Cell's defeat spurring me on.

I didn't slack, didn't waver; every foe on the horizon—Majin Buu, the Gods of Destruction—loomed larger than Cell, their strength a specter I trained to face, a promise to myself that I'd never be caught unprepared again.

The mountain bore the scars of my effort, cracked boulders and scorched earth marking my progress, a quiet life woven with the rhythm of discipline.

Far from Mount Paozu's rugged embrace, in a desolate valley carved into the Eastern Capital's outskirts, a different scene unfolded, cloaked in shadow and secrecy.

A massive underground spacecraft hulked beneath the barren soil, its hull a patchwork of alien metal, humming faintly with dormant power.

Inside, a trio of grotesque figures stood in a dim chamber, their silhouettes warped and menacing, gathered around a towering pink egg that pulsed with eerie purple light, a heartbeat of malice stirring within.

Babidi, the wiry sorcerer, cackled, his voice a grating hiss as he circled the egg, his tattered robes dragging across the cold floor.

"Heh heh heh, my Majin Buu, rise soon," he muttered, his sunken eyes gleaming with greed, fingers twitching as he imagined the chaos to come.

"Awaken, and we'll rule this universe together, crush that pompous Supreme Kai, avenge my father's disgrace.

"The egg's glow intensified, a sign it gorged on energy siphoned from my clash with Cell two months prior, a battle so fierce it outstripped millennia of Babidi's cosmic scavenging.

A hulking figure stepped forward, pink skin gleaming under the ship's faint lights, pointed ears twitching as he spoke with a swagger.

"Lord Babidi, why wait for Buu? I, Dabura, Demon King, can conquer this world and gut that Kai myself," he boasted, his voice dripping with arrogance, chest puffed out as if his demonic lineage alone could topple gods.

His confidence was a blade, sharp and untested, forged in the dark pits of his realm, unshaken by the unknown.

Babidi whirled, his face twisting into a scowl, spittle flying as he snapped back. "Silence, you fool; keep spouting nonsense, and I'll feed you to Buu myself," he snarled, his tone venomous, a hand raised as if to strike.

"You're strong, sure, but the universe bows to Buu, not you; that's the only path." Dabura bowed his head, chastened but simmering, his will shackled by Babidi's magic, a leash that could snap his life with a thought.

The sorcerer turned back to the egg, his muttering resuming, a prayer to the monster within. "Hurry, my Buu, wake up," he whispered, oblivious to the world beyond, his minions cloaking their ki to avoid detection, energy harvested through human pawns too weak to ping my senses.

Mount Paozu was a world away, and I felt nothing of their plotting, my focus narrowed to the grind of training, the valley's secrets buried deep.

Back on the mountain, the sun dipped low, casting long shadows over my training ground as I paused, sweat dripping onto the cracked stone, my chest heaving after hours of relentless drills. Six, maybe seven hours I'd been at it, muscles aching, mind ready for a break, when a distant rumble pierced the quiet, a mechanical growl growing louder.

I glanced up, squinting against the glare, as a pink helicopter sliced through the sky, its garish hue a stark contrast to the earthy tones of Mount Paozu.

The ki approaching was faint, barely a flicker, stronger than a civilian's but weaker than Chi-Chi's, so I shrugged it off, turning back to my stance.

It circled overhead, blades chopping the air, then descended, kicking up a storm of dust and leaves as it settled onto a flat patch nearby, the roar softening to a hum. I straightened, curiosity tugging at me, as the door slid open and a figure stepped out, boots crunching on the gravel.

"Videl?" I muttered, my voice low, surprise widening my eyes as I recognized her, Satan's daughter, her short black hair tousled by the wind, her expression set with purpose.

Eight years ago, Cell's rampage had culled countless lives, yet she and her father had dodged the reaper, survivors in a world that chewed up the weak; Satan's knack for clinging to life was legendary, enduring even Majin Buu's wrath in the tales I knew.

She strode toward me, her gaze locked on mine, no hesitation in her steps, clearly here for me, and I braced myself for whatever storm she'd brought to my mountain.

***

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