CHAPTER FOURTY-TWO: MAJIN

            Zangya peered over a rock at the only building in all of Zun that had some sort of technology: Babidi’s spaceship.

            She had been able to get away from the Zunians after Zarbon was captured, when most of them were busy trying to get the ship into Babidi’s castle, and had also been able to follow them here to the medium-sized stone’metal structure in the desert. Of course, with the way that thing stuck out in this barren wasteland of a planet, Zangya could have easily found it WITHOUT following any of the strange M-embossed aliens.

            She looked over at the five-story tall structure, and wondered exactly what she was supposed to do now. Right next to it was the saucer ship, parked neatly on the ground, with little purple-and-white aliens swarming around in it.

            She pushed her ki down as far as it would go-a trick that Bojack had taught her-and sneaked toward the ship with a kind of agility and carefulness that is only present in women and double 0 secret agents. She crept up to the side wall of Babidi’s ship, and listened inside, using some of her ki so she could hear well. If Zarbon were alive in there, someone would probably say about a prisoner, or an escapee, or something like that. And besides, listening in gave her something to do while she planned getting him out of there.

            Zangya was still listening when she felt a slight tap on her shoulder. Too alarmed to wince this time, she turned around to see Zarbon. Zangya breathed a sigh of relief.

            “Oh, Zarbon, there you are! I thought that he-”

            She was cut off as Zarbon backhanded her across the length of the ship. Zangya got up, too shocked to wipe the small trickle of blood from her mouth, and then noticed the large M on Zarbon’s forehead. He had an M on his forehead. Like the aliens. The slave-like aliens who acted like robots. Zarbon sneered at her.

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            Zangya’s entire world started crashing down. She had considered Zarbon her only real friend, and now he was...different. She could see it in his eyes. But, how can a single letter on your head change your personality?

            “Hello, Zangya, how’s your day been? What’s that? You’ve spent the entire time hiding around in the rocks of Planet Zun? Oh, you poor thing. If you just ask nicely, we’ll let you stay with us for a while.”

            He held out his hand, as if he meant peace. Zangya could not believe what was happening. She backed up and stopped when she brushed up against something. She turned around to see Babidi smiling at her.

            “I thought we’d find you sooner or later, girl,” he smiled at her, “I just didn’t think that you’d come to us! Now, I really don’t want another fight today, so if you just take Zarbon’s hand, there won’t have to be any fighting. Right, Zarbon?”

            Zarbon nodded. “He hit me,” Zangya told him, “he would never hit me. I don’t know what you’re doing, but-”

            “It was an accident, Zangya,” Zarbon’s face suddenly grew kinder, more like it normally was, “I thought you were someone else. Believe me, I would never hurt you, and you know it-I’ve been protecting you for a while now, haven’t I? Babidi just wants to help us out.” He extended his hand again in a seeming gesture of kindness.

            Zangya looked at him, and didn’t see that his eyes still weren’t right. Maybe he’s telling the truth...so what if he took a magic marker to his forehead?

            “Why did they attack us in the first place?” she asked him.

            “They thought we were dangerous, that’s why. And frankly, I can’t blame them!”“Then what were they working on?”

            “The chief natural resource of this planet is in its minerals. They were mining. Now please, calm down, and we’ll get this thing sorted out.”

            She considered his hand for a moment. He seemed exactly like he always was. Then she noticed it. Zarbon would never offer her his hand. He knew well enough how she hated being touched, and he often kept other people from offering theirs to her. Zangya’s face hardened.

            “You’re not Zarbon,” was all she said. The not-Zarbon smirked at her.

            “What? Of course I’m Zarbon!”

            “No you’re NOT!” she shouted, a rare occurrence for her, “Zarbon would never backhand me, and he wouldn’t make that mistake! I’ve never seen him rushing in at something like that! And I know for a fact that he’d never let anyone put any kind of Tattoo on his forehead!”

            “This is not a tattoo.”

            Zangya started back. If it wasn’t a tattoo...

            “I’m afraid the marking’s natural, my dear,” Babidi told her, “It shows up every time I put someone under my control.”

            Zangya looked at the short alien with an expression of horror on her face.

            “That’s right,” he said, “He’s mine now. Allow me to introduce myself! I...” he twirled around, letting his cape fly in the breeze. “Am Babidi, the Greatest Sorcerer in the Universe, and Second greatest of all time, with Bibidi, my father, being the best. I can control a person if there is any evil in his or her heart-and I’ve found that that really applies to just about anybody.”

            Zangya was shocked. “You mean to say that this entire planet is-”

            “No more than any other planet,” Babidi interrupted, “It’s just that most people are truly evil at heart, anyway. Besides, the few pure ones who could resist me were soon killed, anyway.” He grinned, showing his small sharp teeth. “My father,” he began, “Made the ultimate weapon fore destruction. A demon called Majin Buu. Buu was sealed away by the Kai’s three hundred years ago, and I have spent my life trying to find him. This planet is just one more stop along the way.”

She looked back over to Zarbon. “Zarbon-” she began.

Zarbon raised a hand to stop her. “That’s Majin Zarbon. please get it right. Now, agree to Babidi’s terms, or I will be forced to kill you.”

The look in Zangya’s eyes was almost exactly the same one when Bojack had nearly killed her less than a week ago. She barely noticed Babidi starting to move is hands in intricate patterns. But at least she did. The wizard pointed his fingers at Zangya.

“PAPARA-” he shouted, before Zangya hit him extremely hard with her knee, knocking the air out of the small creature and sending him flying like a football. Before she could move again Zarbon had grabbed her in a hold, effectively taking away the use of her arms. Zangya kicked up into the air and pushed backwards, driving Zarbon into Babidi’s ship and loosening his grip enough for her to get away and head toward Babidi. That little runt was going to pay. She got about halfway to him before Pui Pui appeared in the way and stopped her with his fist. The alien grinned and spoke for what probably was the first time in a while.

“Slow down, you don’t have to hurry. Your friend was easy-and somehow I think that you will be, too.”

Zangya instinctively jumped up just as he threw a ki blast where she was lying down a second earlier. She landed with a hard kick to the alien’s forehead, right on the M, sending him sprawling down. He got up just as quickly as he had fallen and hammered Zangya a few times. She backed away and realized something from how she saw him fight earlier, and how he was fighting now. Pui Pui was very powerful, but he lacked any real speed or agility. Zangya grinned.

She charged directly at him, but sidestepped as he threw his punch. Just as she expected, the line missed by a wide margin and still had his fist out when Zangya struck, hitting him in the elbow as hard as possible, and delivering a side kick to his stomach. As the alien bent over from the hit, she grabbed the horns on his back and tossed him into the ship, making a Pui Pui-sized hole in the side. Babidi’s started to freak out as he saw them take the fight inside his beloved ship, wrecking everything. Explosions lit up each story of the ship, one by one, as the two of them fought inside.

There was a loud crash and another hole broke into the ships outer hull as Pui Pui went flying through it, though not of his own volition. He steadied himself in the air as Zangya charged him again. Pui Pui put up a block as she literally sailed above him, inverted her-self, then did a vertical split kick, nailing him on the head. Pui Pui went flying back again. Zangya righted herself and landed, smiling. That was the first time that she had pulled off a Split Thresher move successfully. Pui Pui hit against the side of a rock, and just hung there as Zangya blasted him with a High-Pressure Bomb. Pui Pui did not get up. Babidi’s eyes widened and he made some sort of a squawking sound.

“What the-? How did she-?” he turned toward Zarbon. “I thought she was weaker than you!” he shouted at him. “Does she have some sort of hidden power or something?”

“Not that I know of,” Majin Zarbon said, gritting his teeth. “Here. Let me take care of her,” he said with a gleam in his eye, “Want me to leave enough for you to make her into a Majin, too?”

Babidi smiled. “Go right ahead,” he said.

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