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Earth.
Standing atop a rocky outcrop, Babidi looked back at the towering figure of Hirudegarn, nodding with satisfaction. He raised a bony thumb and grinned.
"You're my best asset, Hirudegarn. Much more useful than that idiot Majin Buu!" He sneered, waving his staff dramatically.
"Who would've thought Majin Buu would be such a coward? I still don't understand why my father even created that useless lump of pink goo!"
Babidi's eyes glinted with ambition as he turned to his growing army.
"Forget Buu! With you at my side, Hirudegarn, we'll crush everything in our path!"
Behind him, a horde of humans stood silently, each marked with the glowing letter 'M' on their foreheads, Babidi's mind-controlled slaves. Among them hovered dozens of Frieza Force soldiers, scouters blinking and armor gleaming, led by familiar faces like Salza, once Cooler's top enforcer.
Suddenly--
BOOM!!
A thunderous explosion cracked through the sky. Babidi froze, instinctively glancing upward. Fireworks of golden light burst over The Lookout, smoke curling in the air like a storm cloud.
He trembled with excitement, cackling like a starved monkey.
"That energy... So dark! So powerful! Ha ha ha! I love it! Let's go, Hirudegarn! Take me there, now!"
At his command, the massive beast let out a low growl and stomped forward, the earth shaking beneath its bulk. The puppet army marched behind them like a tide of malice.
Above The Lookout.
Cell stood with arms crossed, smirking at Frieza and his family.
"Yeah, that explosion? That was me. What, are you mad?" He said, tone mockingly casual.
Frieza narrowed his eyes, his lips curling into a frigid smile.
"Hoh hoh hoh... So the trash that once got stomped by Goku in Hell thinks he's strong now?" Frieza's laughter turned venomous as he spoke. "But Goku... damn that Saiyan. I'll be the one to kill him, no one else!"
Cell didn't flinch. If anything, he seemed amused.
"Oh? Then you're gonna love this," Cell said, voice lowering with a sinister edge. "I already killed both Goku and Vegeta."
Frieza's smirk vanished. His head dropped slightly, eyes shadowed by fury.
"...What did you just say?" he asked, voice deadly quiet.
Cooler and King Cold, standing at his sides, tensed, waiting. Cell shrugged nonchalantly while speaking: "I said I killed Goku and Vegeta. What, your scouters broken or something, fool?"
The words struck Frieza like a psychic blast. His face twisted, veins bulging at the temples.
"You bastard!! You killed Goku?! That was my kill!" His voice cracked with rage, and King Cold suddenly stepped forward, memories of his own defeat burning in his mind.
"You shouldn't have done that, Cell!" he growled, his body glowing with energy as he transformed into his hulking third form.
Just as a brawl was about to erupt, a strange sight in the distance drew all eyes upward.
Dozens of black dots appeared on the horizon. Moments later, a cloud of dust and magic swept over the sky. A grating, high-pitched laugh echoed in the air.
"Hahaha! All of you will become my pets!"
Babidi, perched on Hirudegarn's massive shoulder, raised his staff high and unleashed waves of enchanted energy toward Frieza and his kin.
Frieza stared blankly at him.
[Who the hell is this ugly little freak?] He thought in disdain.
Then, sharp pain appeared in his head causing Frieza's expression to become twisted as he clutched his skull.
"Urgh!!" Cooler and King Cold buckled as well, their faces contorted in agony, eyes wide with confusion.
Babidi's laughter echoed louder.
"Yes! YES! The universe is mine! All of you villains will bend to my will, Babidi's will!"
But just as quickly as his triumph began, it hit a wall. His eyes locked onto Cell who looked completely unfazed.
"Huh? Why aren't you affected?" Babidi stammered.
Cell smirked, brushing a speck of dust from his shoulder.
"These are pathetic tricks. The last guy who tried to control me? I erased him. You really thought that cheap magic could work on me?"
He turned to Frieza, now on his knees, face contorted.
"Hey, Frieza. Don't tell me you're seriously falling for this clown's act? That'd be... disappointing."
Babidi recoiled.
"W-what?! How are you resisting me?! That's impossible!! I refuse to believe this!!"
He snarled and thrust his staff forward, pouring even more magical energy into the air, but it didn't matter. Cell stood still with a grin playing on his lips.
What stunned Babidi most was what happened next, the pained expressions on Frieza, Cooler, and King Cold's faces vanished.
Frieza slowly lifted his head, a smug grin curling across his lips.
"Hoh hoh hoh… Drop the act, you two. Cooler, Father, you're not actually under his control, are you?"
Cooler and King Cold straightened, their previous grimaces gone without a trace.
Babidi staggered back, his voice trembling. "N-no... no way! That's impossible! My magic, there's no way it failed!"
His disbelief quickly turned to fury. "Damn it! You dare mock me?! All of you, attack! Now!!"
But the army behind him didn't move. Instead, they stood rooted to the spot, trembling. One by one, murmurs spread through the crowd of mind-controlled fighters.
"T-that's King Frieza… and King Cold… and Cooler…"
"We don't stand a chance against them!"
"They'll kill us all!"
Even under Babidi's control, sheer fear of the Frieza family lingered in their minds. His magic couldn't suppress the terror carved into them through years of galactic dominance.
Cooler casually scanned the crowd, then narrowed his eyes at a familiar face.
"Well, well… Salza? I didn't expect you to get caught up in this circus. Don't tell me you're siding with him to try and kill me?"
Salza's face went pale. His legs buckled.
"N-no! Lord Cooler! I would never! I, Salza, will serve Lord Cooler until death!"
Without hesitation, Salza turned and fired a blast straight at Babidi. With that spark, the entire group erupted in rebellion. More blasts flew toward Babidi, the controlled masses turning on their former master.
"You traitors!" Babidi shrieked, eyes bloodshot. "Hirudegarn! Kill them all!!"
He clenched his staff, pouring what was left of his power into the towering monster beside him. Hirudegarn roared and unleashed a massive energy wave, obliterating everything in its path, loyal or not.
The battlefield was bathed in chaos and fire. Yet even after wiping out his supposed army, Babidi still wasn't finished.
"Hirudegarn! Kill the---"
He never got to finish, as suddenly, a cold chill touched his neck. A second later, pain followed. With a wet snap, Babidi's head was severed from his body, rolling to the ground with a dull thud.
BOOM--!
A thunderous shockwave tore through the air as everyone turned to see Cell, arm extended, having punched straight through Hirudegarn's back. The monstrous beast flew through the sky, vanishing over the horizon like a discarded toy.
Cell lowered his hand and dusted off his arm.
"Hmph. Trash removed."
Then he turned, a smirk creeping across his face as he looked directly at Frieza.
"So, Frieza... still thinking about getting revenge for Goku?"
(End of Chapter)