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+--- Thread: SB's exeunt (/showthread.php?tid=14478)
SB's exeunt - Super Buu - 08-05-2009
It's nowhere near finished yet, but I thought some of you guys might be interested in this, and I've been in a writing slump for quite a while so it would be nice to see if it's any good. I'll post it up as I finish the scenes, or I might just post up the entire thing once I'm finished.
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Dale Maxwell, reporter for the Earther Unearther, nodded. As if I’d turn back at this point, he thought. Dale had never wanted to do this story, but times were tough and a man had to eat. It was only ten minutes, but he was still terrified. Super Buu had killed twenty-seven Dante’s Abyss security officers with their own bullets in the space of a few minutes. He hadn’t even been trying. This was a monster who could disperse his body into a liquid state and reform at will, regenerate lost body tissue, manipulate metal and electricity … but that wasn’t the worst part. Dale would never admit it – reality television shows were tasteless enough without the game’s objective being to kill all the other competitors – but he’d been a huge fan of Dante’s Abyss. And he’d seen the look on Buu’s eyes when he fought. When he killed. There was no doubt about it – Super Buu was out of his Kai-damned mind.
Three guards accompanied Dale down the hallway. Though the prison was well-kept, with white floors and walls, it didn’t help the atmosphere. In fact, given the tension in the air, it just seemed to make the situation that much more ridiculous and contrived. He could feel the unspoken aggression radiating from the guards. As a self-admitted geek, Dale was natural prey for these kinds of people, and no doubt they were in loath at the idea of having to look after this weedy reporter.
As though reading his thoughts, one of the guards spoke up. “I suppose you know all about this guy.”
“We-well, just what everybody else knows. I mean, it’s not like there are any secrets left.”
“Then we won’t have to tell you to watch yourself.”
Dale tried to laugh offhandedly and failed, his voice cracking like a pubescent boy’s. “Right. Though, I mean …” he searched for the right words, painfully aware of the guard’s expressionless but plainly judging eyes. “… He’s safe right now, right? I mean, you guys have a power suppressor on him.”
“Didn’t stop him killing Chimes.” It was a different guard now, and this one was older. When he spoke, he continued to look ahead blankly, as though he was merely thinking aloud. “Didn’t stop him initiating a riot that ended with two guards and eleven prisoners dead.”
“That’s only ‘cause they see him as some kind of hero,” said the third guard, sneering. “The guy just keeps on getting dumber and angrier. That’s what happens when you hang around with cons.”
Dale felt an urge to point out the irony, but it was short-lived. “I’m surprised Lord Vine consented to train someone like him.”
“Maybe he thought he could control him. But then, those Saiyans are crazy too. All Lord Vine did was teach him how to control metal, and look how that turned out. If you ask me, we outta wipe out those Saiyans, go back to how it was before Earth became the fuckin’ gladiator ring for super-freaks.”
“Easy on, Gary,” said the first guard. “My brother’s wife is half Saiyan.”
“Well maybe we shouldn’t be mixing up genes.” Before the other guard could retort, he continued, “All I’m sayin’ is that Buu got Saiyan genes mixed in with whatever the fuck he was made out of, and look how that worked out. Everyone knows that Saiyans bring trouble, and maybe if--”
“That’s enough of that,” growled the older guard. “We’re dealing with a dangerous convict, I don’t want you two arguing whilst you’re supposed to be watching the target.”
“It’s not us who should be worried,” said the third warden.
For a moment, Dale thought he saw a couple of the guards smirk, and quickly wiped the look of concern off his face. They’re just trying to scare me, he thought. But he didn’t fully believe himself. Buu had done all those things. And what was more he could tell that, hide it as they might, the guards feared Super Buu too. As they walked deeper into the prison, Dale could feel an air of dread descending upon them. When the tension became almost unbearable, he knew they had arrived.
The older guard peered through the small flap in the door of the Security Housing Unit – ‘the hole’, the prisoners called it – before taking a small key out from the ring on his pocket. He unlocked the door and pulled it open.
“Prisoner 842! The man from the newspaper is here to speak to you.”
Dale peered in. He didn’t see Buu at first, the only light fixtures being on their side of the translucent stasis barrier. But as he stepped in, a figure moved closer to the barrier. Dale breathed in. Seeing this creature on TV was one thing, but in the flesh – if you could call it that – the experience was surreal. Buu’s rose-coloured skin was smooth and rounded, like that of a clay doll. He was hairless, though a forelock of whatever material he was made of dangled from the back of his head like an overweight antennae. His mouth was a slit, his ears were dark holes and he had no nose to speak of. But his eyes were anything but featureless. Red and black, they burned through the stasis barrier and straight into those of Dale.
“About fucking time,” came a rasp.
The older guard shook his head and turned to Dale. “He’s yours. Good luck.”
Dale looked at the monster before him and began to realise just how ridiculous the idea of the interview had been – why the guards had mocked him under their breath. But he was here now. Clicking down the ‘record’ button on his microphone, he extended it to the barrier that separated him and Buu. “My name is Dale Maxwell, reporter for the Earther Unearther. We’re … uh, very grateful for the opportunity to talk to you here today-”
“I didn’t agree to this for the sake of your little ‘news-paper’,” said the golem. “In fact, if you’ve got any questions you may as well forget ‘em now. But I’ve got a better story for you.”
“Here we go …” muttered one of the prison officers.
Dale wrung his hands, once more cursing his idiocy at having accepted this interview. What choice do I have? “I mean … if it’s that or nothing, then I suppose … well …”
“Fantastic,” said the monster. “I expect you know all about my history and all that shit, right?”
“You’re a construct. Your creator, Bibidi, was an ex-WANG member who …”
The monster burst out laughing. “WANG?”
“Um … the Wizarding Alliance for a New Galaxy. Bibidi belonged to it. You didn’t know?”
Buu shrugged. “I don’t give a fuck about his old job. Fact is, he’s a piece of shit who made me to be his ‘ultimate weapon’. For sixteen years, he tried to condition me into a crazy, violent asshole.”
“Did it work?”
“NO!” exclaimed Buu. “I mean … I suppose it had some effect.”
“According to the reports given by the mayor of West City, he was the source of a sonic disturbance a few years back, and you killed him at that point.”
“Well … that’s what I thought at the time.” Buu’s fists were clenched at his sides. “But the truth is, he faked his death.”
“Faked it? The autopsy report after his hidden laboratory was uncovered showed that it was his body. Genetic match.”
“You don’t know Bibidi!” exclaimed Buu. “He always takes account of every possibility, every variable! You think I could just walk into his lab and kill him so easy? It was a trick, dumbass!”
“Calm down, 842!” barked the older guard. “Or we’ll terminate this interview and give you another week in here!”
“Look, I’m trying to do a fucking interview in here.” Buu threw his hands up. “Will you just give me some fucking space? Jesus.”
The guards looked at each other, then shook their heads in collective resignation.
“Right, what was I saying?” Buu frowned, then snapped his fingers. “Bibidi. He wanted me to be invincible, but not so invincible I could do whatever I wanted. He already made that mistake with my brother.”
Dale leaned forward. “You mean Kid Buu?”
Super Buu grinned. “You know him, huh? Crazy bastard.” His mouth sank back to its normal scowl. “Kid hated me ‘cause I was Bibidi’s pet creation. But he had the better deal, if you ask me.” The majin tapped his head. “Bibidi gave me a bigger brain … but he also gave me a fuckoff vulnerability to his mind control. He’s a telepath, you know? And wherever I go, he can read my mind. I tried going to planet Vegeta … thought I might even be safe from him in here.” He laughed, but did not smile.
Dale, seeing another opening, blurted out: “But what good would controlling your mind be if you’re in here?”
Buu laughed again, this time more harshly. “Me being in here just makes his job easier. This is perfect for Bibidi. I can’t do anything too crazy, and he’s got all the time in the world to chip away at my mind. You know about the riot?”
Dale gulped. “I … I heard some things.”
“Yeah. That was him. I was angry, and he played on it. Just a little more, and I would have lost control completely.”
“But still, I mean … what would be the point of him taking over your mind, if you’re trapped in here?”
“Are you kidding?” Buu snorted. “Bibidi could bust this place wide open.”
“Nobody gets in or out of here without us,” came the flat tone of the older guard. Not dumb prisoners, and not dead wizards.”
“Does ‘us’ include prison guards possessed by Bibidi?”
The warden shook his head. “You’re deluded. Do you really expect anyone to believe that?”
“If you don’t, you’re all as good as dead.”
“You’re not going to get out of here by making threats, 842,” spat the guard. “You’re a mass murderer.”
“If you think the things I’ve done before are bad, you should wait until Bibidi takes control of me.”
The guard stepped forward and looked at Buu in the eyes. “You know what, 842? I will. We’ll see if it happens before you rot to death in here.”
“You’re dead,” Buu repeated. His voice was level.
With a look of disgust, the guard turned to the door. “We’re done. Come on.”
Dale stepped after the warden, and then hesitated, looking back at the pink monster. He’s not lying, thought the reporter. He really does believe it. No doubt about it, Buu was insane. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t spin a good story.
“Hope you get your paycheck,” murmured Buu.
Dale nodded in silent bewilderment before stepping out of the door.