Marcus had never flown before.
In his previous life, he'd been terrified of heights. The mere thought of looking down from a tall building had been enough to make his palms sweat and his heart race. Yet now, as he willed himself upward and felt the ground fall away beneath him, there was no fear. No hesitation.
Only exhilaration.
The golden aura surrounding his body intensified as he rose higher, the nine truth-seeking orbs trailing behind him like loyal sentinels. The wind whipped past his face—or rather, it should have. Instead, it seemed to part around him, as if even nature itself recognized his elevated state and chose not to impede his passage.
This is incredible, he thought, testing his speed with a burst of acceleration that sent him rocketing across the landscape. Mountains blurred beneath him. Rivers became silver threads. Forests transformed into patches of green on an ever-shrinking canvas.
The power coursing through his veins was unlike anything he could have imagined. It wasn't just strength—it was understanding. He could feel the natural energy of this world flowing around him, through him, becoming one with his very essence. Every living thing registered in his consciousness: the birds fleeing from the distant battle, the animals burrowing underground in instinctive terror, the fish diving deeper into lakes as shockwaves rippled across the water's surface.
But above all else, he felt them.
Two titanic power signatures clashing with enough force to reshape the planet. One felt chaotic, ever-shifting, like a malevolent storm given physical form. The other burned with fierce determination—two distinct energies somehow merged into a single, brilliant flame.
Fusion, the knowledge whispered in his mind. Two warriors have become one.
Marcus pushed himself faster, the truth-seeking orbs compressing closer to his body to reduce drag. He needed to see this. Needed to understand exactly where—and when—he had landed in this universe.
The journey that would have taken hours by any conventional means lasted mere seconds at his current speed. As the battlefield came into view, Marcus slowed his approach, hovering at what he judged to be a safe distance—several kilometers away from the main conflict.
It wasn't far enough.
Even from here, the shockwaves from their exchanges buffeted him like hurricane winds. The sky itself seemed to crack with each collision, reality struggling to contain the forces being unleashed. Clouds had long since been scattered, leaving nothing but clear blue canvas painted with streaks of destruction.
And there, at the center of it all, Marcus finally saw them.
The first figure was unmistakably Saiyan—the wild hair, the proud bearing, the sheer overwhelming presence. But something was different about him. His hair was golden, swept upward in familiar Super Saiyan fashion, and his eyes blazed with teal fury. He wore a strange combination of clothing—an orange and blue gi mixed with white gloves and boots. Two Potara earrings gleamed on his ears.
Vegito, Marcus realized with a start. The fusion of Goku and Vegeta.
He'd watched Dragon Ball Z countless times in his previous life. He knew this saga. He knew this battle. Vegito versus Super Buu—it should have been a complete domination. The fused Saiyan should have been toying with the monster, demonstrating the overwhelming power of the Potara fusion.
But that wasn't what Marcus was seeing.
The second figure was massive—a grotesque pink creature whose very existence seemed to radiate wrongness. Super Buu stood nearly twice the height Marcus remembered from the anime, his body bulging with absorbed power. The creature's antenna was longer, more developed, and strange patterns covered his flesh—patterns that looked almost like...
Faces.
Marcus felt his stomach lurch. Buu's body was covered in what appeared to be the screaming visages of his victims, their features stretched and distorted across his pink hide like grotesque tattoos. It was as if the monster had absorbed so many beings that their essences were literally spilling out of him, unable to be fully contained.
"What the hell happened here?" Marcus whispered.
As if in answer, the battle intensified.
Vegito launched forward with a devastating punch that should have sent Buu flying into the next continent. Instead, the creature caught the blow with one meaty hand, a twisted grin spreading across his face.
"Surprised, Vegito?" Buu's voice was a chorus of stolen tones—deep and menacing, yet underlaid with what sounded like dozens of other voices speaking in eerie unison. "You're not the only one who can combine powers."
The fused Saiyan's eyes widened as Buu's other hand came around in a brutal counter-strike. Vegito managed to block, but the impact sent him hurtling backward, crashing through several floating rock formations before stabilizing himself.
"This doesn't make sense!" Vegito snarled, wiping a trickle of blood from his lip. "Even with everyone you've absorbed, you shouldn't be this strong!"
Buu laughed—a horrible, echoing sound that seemed to come from everywhere at once. "Did you really think I only absorbed your little friends? While you two were busy fighting each other, arguing about who got to fight me..." The creature spread his arms wide, gesturing to the devastation below. "I had time to grow my collection."
Marcus followed Buu's gesture and felt his heart sink.
The landscape beneath them was a wasteland. Cities had been reduced to craters. Mountains had been leveled. And scattered among the destruction were countless impact sites where battles had clearly taken place—and ended.
The Z-Fighters, Marcus realized with horror. How many of them did Buu absorb?
He reached out with his senses, trying to get a read on the energies contained within Buu's monstrous form. The signatures he detected made his blood run cold.
Gohan. Piccolo. Goten. Trunks.
Those he'd expected. Those were canon.
But there were more. So many more.
Tien. Yamcha. Krillin. Even—
Eighteen. He absorbed Android 18.
Marcus didn't know how that was possible. In the timeline he remembered, Buu had turned 18 into chocolate during the lookout massacre, killing her outright rather than absorbing her power. But here, now, her energy signature was unmistakably woven into the creature's essence.
And that wasn't even the worst of it.
There was another signature buried deep within Buu—something ancient and terrible. Something that felt like pure destruction given form. Marcus couldn't identify it, but its presence alone explained the power gap. Whatever Buu had absorbed, it had pushed him far beyond anything the original timeline had seen.
This isn't the Dragon Ball Z I remember, Marcus thought grimly. This is something else. Something worse.
A tremendous explosion drew his attention back to the battle. Vegito had launched a desperate offensive, unleashing a barrage of ki blasts that lit up the sky like a second sun. Each one carried enough power to obliterate a planet, raining down on Buu in an endless stream of golden destruction.
"Big Bang Attack!"
"Kamehameha!"
The fused Saiyan was combining the signature techniques of both his component warriors, weaving them together in ways that should have been impossible. It was a display of martial might that transcended anything Marcus had witnessed, even in his most dedicated viewings of the series.
And it wasn't enough.
Buu weathered the assault with casual indifference, his regeneration working overtime to repair the damage even as it was inflicted. Pink flesh tore and reformed, vaporized and reconstituted, the creature's body a self-sustaining engine of recovery.
"My turn," Buu said, and the sky turned pink.
Marcus barely had time to register the attack before it hit. A wall of destructive energy, at least a mile wide, swept toward Vegito like a tsunami of annihilation. The fused Saiyan crossed his arms and braced himself, golden aura flaring to maximum output—
The collision was cataclysmic.
Even from kilometers away, Marcus was nearly knocked out of the air. The shockwave stripped the earth bare for miles in every direction, reducing everything to bedrock and ash. He could feel the heat of the exchange even through his enhanced defenses, the truth-seeking orbs automatically moving to form a protective barrier around him.
When the light faded, Marcus's enhanced vision cut through the dust and debris to find Vegito.
The fused Saiyan was still standing, but barely. His gi was torn and bloodied, one arm hanging limp at his side. The cocky confidence that had defined the character in the anime was nowhere to be seen—only grim determination and barely concealed desperation.
"Damn it," Vegito growled, struggling to catch his breath. "At this rate..."
"At this rate, you'll die," Buu finished, slowly descending toward his wounded opponent. "And then I'll absorb you too. Can you imagine it, Vegito? The power of your fusion... added to everything I've already consumed?"
The creature's grin widened, splitting his face in a way that defied anatomy.
"I'll be truly perfect."
Marcus watched the exchange with growing unease. This wasn't how the story was supposed to go. Vegito was supposed to dominate this fight. He was supposed to push Buu to the brink, force the absorption, and ultimately enable the rescue of everyone trapped inside the monster.
But if Buu won here—if he actually managed to absorb Vegito—there would be no rescue. No triumphant return. No Spirit Bomb to save the day.
There would only be Buu.
I should help, Marcus thought, even as doubt gnawed at his conviction. But what can I do? I don't even know the extent of my own abilities yet. I don't know if Six Paths Sage Mode can even affect someone like Buu.
As if sensing his uncertainty, the truth-seeking orbs pulsed with gentle warmth. Information flooded his consciousness—the nature of the spheres, their capabilities, their limitations.
Truth-Seeking Orbs: Composed of all five nature transformations plus Yin-Yang Release. Capable of negating all ninjutsu, reducing targets to atomic dust. Immune to standard regeneration...
Marcus's eyes widened.
Immune to regeneration?
He looked at Buu, at the creature's seemingly endless ability to rebuild itself from any damage, and felt something stir in his chest.
Maybe—just maybe—he had exactly what this battle needed.
But did he have the courage to use it?
The sound of another explosion ripped through the air, and Marcus watched as Vegito was driven further back, another wound opening across his chest. The fused Saiyan's aura flickered dangerously, his power beginning to wane.
"This is the end," Buu declared, raising one massive hand. Pink energy gathered in his palm, condensing into a sphere of pure devastation. "Any last words?"
Vegito spat blood and forced himself upright, defiance burning in his eyes even as his body failed him.
"Yeah," the fused Saiyan said. "Go to hell."
Buu laughed. "After you."
The sphere descended.
And Marcus made his choice.
Golden light blazed across the battlefield as he shot forward, truth-seeking orbs screaming through the air around him. He didn't have a plan. He didn't have a strategy. He only had instinct and power and a desperate need to change what was about to happen.
The attack was milliseconds from impact when Marcus appeared between them, six of his truth-seeking orbs expanding outward to form a barrier of absolute defense.
The collision was unlike anything he'd experienced. Buu's attack crashed against his shield with the force of a dying sun, reality itself seeming to groan under the pressure. Marcus gritted his teeth and pushed, channeling every ounce of his strange new power into maintaining the barrier.
For a long, terrible moment, he thought it wouldn't be enough.
Then the attack shattered, dispersing harmlessly into the atmosphere.
Silence fell over the battlefield.
Marcus floated between Vegito and Buu, golden aura blazing, cross-shaped pupils fixed on the pink monster with unwavering focus. The remaining three truth-seeking orbs circled behind him slowly, their black surfaces seeming to drink in the light.
"What?" Buu's voice had lost its confidence, replaced by something that might have been surprise. "Who are you? What are you?"
Marcus took a deep breath, trying to project a confidence he didn't entirely feel.
"Something new," he said. "Something you've never absorbed before."
Behind him, he heard Vegito's sharp intake of breath.
"Who the hell are you?" the fused Saiyan demanded, suspicion evident in his tone. "I've never sensed energy like yours before. You're not using ki. You're not using magic. What kind of power is that?"
Marcus glanced over his shoulder, meeting Vegito's teal gaze with his own golden eyes.
"It's complicated," he said. "But right now, I'm on your side. That's what matters."
Buu's confusion was rapidly transforming into anger. The creature's body began to swell, power gathering as he prepared another assault.
"I don't care what you are," the monster snarled. "I'll absorb you just like everyone else!"
Marcus turned back to face Buu, truth-seeking orbs moving into an offensive formation.
"You can try," he said quietly. "But I don't think you'll like what happens if you do."
The air crackled with tension as three impossibly powerful beings faced off in the devastated sky. Behind Marcus, Vegito struggled to recover his strength. Before him, Buu's rage continued to build toward a terrible crescendo.
And somewhere deep inside, Marcus wondered if he had just made the best decision of his new life—or the worst.
Guess I'm about to find out.
The standoff lasted only seconds, but to Marcus, it felt like an eternity.
He used the time to study his opponent more closely, his enhanced senses cataloging every detail. Buu's energy was massive—far beyond anything he'd felt since arriving in this world. It churned within the creature like a storm contained in flesh, dozens of different signatures tangled together in a chaotic mess.
If I'm going to fight this thing, Marcus thought, I need to understand what I'm working with.
He reached deeper into his new instincts, searching for any knowledge that might help. The response came immediately, flooding his consciousness with information about his own capabilities.
Sage Art: Sensory Perception. He could feel the truth of things, perceive lies and deceptions, sense the very nature of the world around him.
Six Paths Senjutsu. Access to all five chakra natures, plus the mysterious Yin and Yang releases. The ability to heal, to create, to destroy.
Flight and enhanced physical abilities. Speed and strength that transcended normal limitations.
And of course, the truth-seeking orbs themselves—nine spheres of absolute power that could negate nearly any technique and reduce targets to nothingness.
It was an impressive arsenal. But was it enough to challenge a being who had absorbed some of the strongest warriors in the universe?
Only one way to find out.
"Last chance," Marcus said, his voice carrying across the distance between them. "Release everyone you've absorbed and leave this planet. I won't ask again."
Buu's response was a laugh—that horrible, multi-toned laugh that made Marcus's skin crawl.
"You think you can threaten me? You don't even have ki! I can barely sense you at all!" The creature's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Whatever trick you used to block my attack, it won't work twice. Nothing can stop me now!"
"He's right about one thing," Vegito called out weakly from behind. "I can barely sense you. What kind of warrior are you?"
Marcus didn't take his eyes off Buu. "The kind that doesn't belong here. But that's a conversation for later—assuming we survive."
"We?" Vegito let out a pained laugh. "I appreciate the save, stranger, but you're way out of your league. Buu's absorbed half the planet's strongest fighters. Even I couldn't—"
"Which is why you're going to rest," Marcus interrupted. "Let me handle this for now."
Vegito sputtered. "Handle this? Are you insane? He'll destroy you!"
"Maybe." Marcus allowed himself a small smile. "But I've got a few surprises of my own."
Without waiting for a response, he shot forward, truth-seeking orbs blazing in his wake.
Buu's eyes widened as the golden figure closed the distance in an instant, one black sphere reshaping itself into a long staff and swinging toward the creature's head. The monster raised an arm to block, confident in his regeneration—
The staff connected, and Buu screamed.
His arm didn't regenerate. Instead, the limb simply ceased to exist, nullified by the truth-seeking orb's fundamental negation. Pink flesh turned to dust where the weapon touched, unable to rebuild itself through any means.
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!" Buu shrieked, staggering backward. He stared at the stump where his arm had been, watching in horror as the wound refused to heal. "MY ARM! IT WON'T COME BACK!"
Marcus spun the staff, settling into a combat stance he hadn't known he possessed. It seemed his new existence came with some martial instincts as well.
"I told you," he said calmly. "You've never absorbed anything like me before. My power doesn't play by your rules."
For the first time since the battle began, genuine fear flickered across Buu's face.
But it was quickly replaced by fury.
"I'LL KILL YOU!"
The creature's remaining arm stretched impossibly, launching toward Marcus like a pink missile. He dodged easily, the attack seeming almost slow to his enhanced perception, and countered with another swing of his staff.
Buu barely managed to pull back in time, losing only a small chunk of his shoulder to the nullifying weapon. The wound remained, a permanent gap in the monster's regenerating flesh.
"Interesting," Marcus murmured, already analyzing the exchange. "So you can still dodge. You're not completely mindless."
"SHUT UP!" Buu's body began to bubble and shift, additional arms sprouting from his torso. His head split into multiple copies, each one wearing an expression of absolute rage. "I'LL TEAR YOU APART!"
The assault that followed was like nothing Marcus had ever experienced. Dozens of limbs struck at him from every angle, each one carrying enough force to shatter mountains. He wove between them, his enhanced speed and perception keeping him just ahead of the attacks, but it was clear he couldn't avoid forever.
Time to go on the offensive.
He willed three of his truth-seeking orbs to act independently, sending them spiraling into the mass of stretching limbs. Each contact removed more of Buu's flesh, permanent wounds accumulating across the creature's body.
But Buu was learning too. The monster began to pull back before the orbs could connect, sacrificing reach for safety. The rain of attacks slowed as the creature reassessed its opponent.
"You can't dodge forever," Marcus pointed out, landing a glancing blow that removed a significant portion of Buu's side. "And every hit I land is damage you can't recover from. Eventually, there won't be enough of you left to continue."
Buu's multiple heads snarled in unison. "Then I'll just have to hit you first!"
The creature's body compressed suddenly, all the extra mass folding back into a single, more compact form. Power gathered around Buu in visible waves, the air itself beginning to burn from the intensity.
"VANISHING BALL!"
The attack was enormous—a sphere of destruction that dwarfed anything Buu had thrown before. It contained the combined power of everyone he'd absorbed, all focused into a single, devastating blow.
Marcus felt the truth-seeking orbs pulse in warning. This was beyond what his barrier had blocked before. If he tried to tank this attack directly...
Then don't tank it. Redirect it.
The knowledge came from somewhere deep within his new consciousness—an understanding of physics and energy manipulation that transcended his previous life's understanding. He couldn't match Buu's raw output. But he didn't have to.
He just had to be smarter.
As the Vanishing Ball descended, Marcus raised both hands and formed two of his truth-seeking orbs into flat discs. Rather than trying to stop the attack, he angled the discs precisely, creating a channel that caught the sphere's edge—
And redirected it into space.
The Vanishing Ball shot past him, missing by mere meters, and continued out into the void beyond Earth's atmosphere. A moment later, a distant flash lit up the sky as it detonated harmlessly in the vacuum of space.
Buu's jaw dropped. "That's... that's not possible..."
"Apparently it is." Marcus was breathing harder now—that maneuver had taken more focus than he'd expected. But he was still standing. Still fighting.
And Buu was running out of options.
"My turn," Marcus said, and attacked.
He closed the distance before Buu could react, truth-seeking staff sweeping in a wide arc. The creature tried to dodge, but Marcus anticipated the movement, adjusting his strike to intercept.
Another chunk of Buu's body vanished.
Then another.
And another.
What followed was less a battle and more a systematic dismantling. Marcus pressed his advantage relentlessly, using his speed and the nullifying properties of his orbs to carve away at Buu's mass piece by piece. The creature fought back desperately, but every exchange cost him more than he could afford.
"This can't be happening!" Buu wailed, his form now barely half its original size. "I'm the strongest being in the universe! I've absorbed everyone! I'M PERFECT!"
Marcus paused in his assault, hovering before the diminished monster.
"You're not perfect," he said quietly. "You're just a thief. All that power you're so proud of—it was never yours. You stole it from others. And now..." He raised his staff. "It's time to give it back."
"NO!"
With a desperate shriek, Buu's remaining mass erupted outward, not as an attack, but as an escape. His body split into dozens of smaller pieces, each one rocketing away in a different direction.
Marcus's eyes widened. "What—"
"You can't kill all of me!" Buu's voice echoed from every fragment. "I'll regenerate! I'll find more power! And then I'll come back for you! I'LL NEVER DIE!"
The fragments were scattering across the globe, each one moving at speeds that would make pursuit difficult. Marcus could maybe catch half of them, but the others would escape, and if even one survived...
No. I can't let that happen.
He reached deep within himself, searching for something—anything—that could solve this problem. The knowledge that had guided him so far didn't disappoint.
Sage Art: Infinite Perceptionn.
Suddenly, Marcus could feel everything. Every fragment of Buu, no matter how small or how distant. They were all connected, all part of the same corrupted whole. And if they were connected...
Then I can reach them all at once.
He closed his eyes and focused, extending his awareness outward in all directions. The truth-seeking orbs resonated with his intent, their nullifying power amplifying through his spiritual connection.
For one perfect moment, Marcus touched every piece of Buu simultaneously.
Goodbye.
The fragments screamed—and then they were gone.
Every piece of Buu, scattered across the planet, simply ceased to exist. The nullification swept through them like a wave, erasing the creature from reality in a single, comprehensive instant.
And in that moment of erasure, Marcus felt something else—the freed essences of everyone Buu had absorbed, suddenly released from their prison.
They're alive, he realized with relief. They're really alive.
The truth-seeking orbs returned to their passive orbit as Marcus allowed himself to breathe. The battle was over. Buu was gone. And somehow, against all odds, he had won.
"How?"
The question came from behind him. Marcus turned to find Vegito staring at him with an expression that mixed awe, suspicion, and utter confusion.
"How did you do that?" the fused Saiyan demanded. "That power—I've never seen anything like it. You just... erased him. Completely. Even the Dragon Balls can't bring back someone who's been erased that thoroughly."
Marcus considered his response carefully. The truth was complicated, possibly unbelievable. But after what they'd just witnessed, maybe complicated was acceptable.
"I'm not from this world," he said finally. "I'm not even from this universe. I died somewhere else, and when I woke up... I was here. Like this." He gestured to his glowing form, the truth-seeking orbs, the cross-shaped pupils. "I don't fully understand it myself."
Vegito studied him for a long moment, then let out a bark of laughter.
"Great. Just great. As if things weren't weird enough already." The fused Saiyan winced, one hand going to his injured side. "Look, whoever—whatever—you are, you saved my life. Probably saved the whole planet. So... thanks."
"You're welcome."
"But don't think this makes us friends," Vegito added quickly. "I've got a lot of questions, and you're going to answer them. After we check on the others."
Marcus nodded. That was fair.
Together, the strangest pair of allies the universe had ever seen descended toward the scarred earth below, where the freed warriors were beginning to stir.
A new chapter was beginning.
And Marcus had a feeling it was only going to get stranger from here.