Super Saiyan Three

"Give me back my father!"

While Son Goku and Son Goten were arguing about the Great Ape Transformation, Trunks, seeing his father absorbed, could no longer suppress his fury. With a roar, he charged toward Buu.

"Trunks!" Son Gohan shouted when he saw Trunks recklessly rushing at Buu, and he followed suit.

"Stop arguing for now; you can forget about becoming a Great Ape," Son Goku said. Seeing Son Gohan and Trunks charging at Buu, he glared at Son Goten, instantly transformed into a Super Saiyan 2, and engaged Buu in a fierce battle.

"Heh, trash."

Buu curled his lips in contempt, calmly raising his hands to catch the fists of the enraged Trunks and Son Gohan. With a boom, a sonic boom echoed through the air, yet Buu remained completely unaffected.

"Nani?"

Trunks wore a look of disbelief; his full-power strike didn't even qualify to make Buu budge.

Buu grabbed the fists of Trunks and Son Gohan and violently flung them to either side, sending the two flying uncontrollably.

"Haaaaa—"

Son Goku's expression turned fierce. The energy within his body compressed and condensed frantically, his ki soaring. The terrifying energy leaking out caused the very heavens and earth to change color.

"Rumble, rumble."

The entire Earth seemed to be caught in a catastrophe; the world trembled as if hit by a magnitude-ten earthquake. Son Goku's entire form was enveloped in golden energy, and the surrounding clouds gathered toward him, drawn by the terrifying power he released.

Buu looked at Son Goku in surprise. Judging from the memories of Vegeta he had absorbed, he had never seen this level of transformation. If Vegeta were still here, he would surely be cursing up a storm.

What the hell, why didn't you bring out this kind of power when you were fighting me? Looking down on me, are you!

Unfortunately, that was no longer possible; the current Vegeta had already been absorbed by Buu. It was completely different from his self-destruction in the original story, but at least there was still a chance to save him, a chance for him to come out and be lovey-dovey with Son Goku again.

(Vegeta inside Buu: Buu, let me out for a second, I'm going to hack that dog of an author to death.)

Son Gohan and the others looked on in terror; the mere power of Son Goku's transformation was enough to scare them to the point of wetting themselves. Son Goten merely frowned slightly; his father's Super Saiyan 3 was impressive, but unfortunately, it was still not quite enough in the face of a Buu who had absorbed Vegeta.

"Stop, Goku, don't continue. Doing this will consume the time you have left to exist in the mortal realm," the North King Kai, who had been watching Earth from the King Kai Planet, urged anxiously.

"Haaaaa—"

Under the stunned gazes of everyone, Son Goku's golden hair, which had been standing on end, began to grow longer, and his energy surged once more.

As the golden light faded, a brand-new Son Goku appeared before them. His golden hair reached his waist, his eyebrows had vanished and hung slightly lower, and his pale green irises now contained an extra layer of green pupils. His expression was fierce, much like Piccolo's, with a single lock of golden hair falling over his forehead.

"Surprised?" Son Goku said calmly. "This is the result of transcending the limits once again, building upon the foundation of the Super Saiyan."

Under the shocked gazes of the others, Son Goku said slowly, "This is Super Saiyan 3."

"So that's it," Buu smiled faintly. "There was no such transformation in Vegeta's memories. It seems you were holding back!"

"Heh," Son Goku stared at Buu with a grave expression, a bead of sweat on his brow. Even after transforming into a Super Saiyan 3, he wasn't confident he could defeat the current Buu. Unless he used the Spirit Bomb, but Vegeta was still inside Buu—what was he supposed to do?

"Thump."

Son Goku pushed off the air and lunged at Buu. Buu smiled lightly and lunged toward Son Goku as well.

"Boom."

"Sizzle, sizzle."

The two collided in the void. As their fists met, ripples spread through the air, and the power generated sparks of electricity around them.

"Boom."

"Boom."

"Boom."

Son Goku and Buu locked eyes, their bodies turning into afterimages as they collided repeatedly in the air. Everywhere they went, ripples were left in the atmosphere, and the deafening roars refused to subside.

"So strong, Father's power is so strong!" Son Gohan stared blankly at Son Goku fighting in the void, a look of adoration in his eyes. Trunks felt the same.

Son Goten maintained his grave expression. Although Son Goku could fight Buu to a standstill for the moment, he was a dead man after all; there was a time limit to the power he could exert in the mortal realm. Couldn't they see he was already starting to sweat?

Damn it, if only he could transform into a Super Saiyan 4, he could pin Buu to the ground and make him call him "Daddy," even if Buu had absorbed everyone.

Son Goten gripped his tail even tighter at that moment.

"Damn it," Son Goten turned his head toward the Supreme Kai. "Supreme Kai, do you know how to use an Artificial Moon?"

"Huh?" The Supreme Kai was stunned.

"Huh, your head!" Son Goten was so angry his nose was almost crooked. "I'm asking if you know how to use techniques like the Artificial Moon, or even magic!"

"Er... I do," the Supreme Kai pondered for a moment before confirming.