Poisoned Hearts

Chapter 24

Consciousness came and left like childhood memories passing through time. Sometimes there, sometimes not. He was carried, who knows how long or far, before he fully woke. Sitting, on only Kami knows what; Mirai sat straight, hissing in pain as he tried to move. He was eyed briefly by Vegeta and Goku, before they continued their collecting of those who had been absorbed. Mirai stood with a wince, and limped along through what could only be, from the vast emptiness, Buu's head. Traversing the terrain was easy, but what he saw, made the next few steps, the hardest thing he had to do.

Gohan, his angel, was in one of those cocoons, his eyes closed, he almost seemed dead. Mirai found a new strength, a new power deep inside of himself as he walked to the cocoon, and grabbed it, pulling as hard as he could. With a cry, he fell back, the cocoon falling beside him. Panting, he rolled it so he was facing Gohan. Goku could only watch as a tear fell from Mirai's blackened eye, and his lips moved, pressing softly and lovingly to Gohan's. "I couldn't save you from myself...but...this time...I'll save you from a greater monster...I love you...so much..."

A nudge from Vegeta, more like Vegeta throwing Piccolo at Goku, snapped him out of his momentary lapse, and he started to grab the bodies of his friends and family. Soon Mirai stood, grunting as he lifted slightly into the air, only to fall to his knees gripping, tightly at the cocoon Gohan was still incased in. Once they got them all out, they'd worry about freeing them. Vegeta grabbed the kids, and watched as Goku grabbed Piccolo, and went to lend a hand to Mirai. An almost prideful smirk came to Vegeta's lips as Mirai pushed Goku away, and lifted into the air a second time. Goku flew to the cocoon that held the original Buu, and broke him free. All hell broke lose then. Steam shot out through holes that would open and close in the new Buu's head, giving them a way out, but timing would be a problem. First Vegeta got out, Followed by Goku. Mirai looked up at the exit, seeing his time slipping, he frowned, gripping tightly onto Gohan as he tossed him up, the steam propelling Gohan's cocoon out of Buu's body, all of the Z-fighters returning to their original shape. Laying the cocoons down, Goku and Vegeta tore them open, freeing those trapped inside.

Goku and Vegeta watched as Buu screamed and changed, shrinking, no sign of Mirai. As Buu changed into what seemed almost like a child, Vegeta's rage grew, knowing that Mirai was still inside of the beast. As Kid Buu finished forming, Vegeta and Goku powered up to Super Saiyan, willing to die to protect their planet.

Dende and Hercule watched the entire scene with fear and amazement in their eyes. Dende's eyes were keen, but it was Hercule who saw the broken figure stumbling towards the unconscious people, his lavender hair streaked red with his own, and Buu's blood, if it could even be called that. Hercule pointed him out to Dende, who asked him to bring him to safety where they were. Hercule, as scared as he was, made it the point of saying he was the strongest man on the planet, and slowly, snuck his way to the figure, catching Mirai as he fell, before running as fast as his legs could carry him back to Dende, and hid with the puppy behind the rock, once more. Dende focused solely on healing the injured half Saiyan, not even noticing the battle between the Saiyans and Kid Buu.

As Mirai groaned, Dende smiled, but then could only stare at Kid Buu in shock. His attack was big enough to destroy 10 planets, was he mad? Dende stopped his healing as Hercule moved closer to him, unable to speak, merely staring at the giant ball, as was Dende. Soon though Dende held onto Mirai's hand, as both he and Hercule were grabbed by Goku, and carried through the air, towards the unconscious others.

Mirai had no idea how long he was unconscious, or where he was, all he knew was he was about 3 seconds away from being engulfed by a giant ball of pink energy, and could barely manage to cry out, before everything went white.