About a year passed. The quartet of organic fighters progressed rapidly, led by the ancient training methods of Kamis past, which Okome drew from, and a special diet. Turned out, the unusually strong and tough plants and animals in Kamiland had gotten that way because of a powerful nutrient native to Kamiland soil, and food grown with that soil was incredibly effective at boosting physical growth. The source of that nutrient was, in fact, the same as what Puttee needed to upgrade Gaita: A peculiar mineral in the bedrock of Kamiland, which seeped into the water table. The mineral was incredibly dense and difficult to extract, which made mining it an effective training exercise. Puttee had recently gotten her desired amount dug up and refined, and was in the middle of swapping out Gaita’s bones and supports for more durable units. With her infinite energy generator, Gaita’s power was only limited by her ability to withstand the release of energy, so this newfound metal was exactly what she needed.
At the beginning of their training, the Grand Elder explained to the others more about what happened the night of the first wish. “A man snuck into our camp as we slept,” she said. “He had strange knowledge of the Namekian language, which I could not expect any human to possess. I suspect that he learned our ways by studying old village sites. Long ago, there was a village of Namekians on Earth, though they were wiped out in a terrible disaster. So this man must have found the remains of this village. He had already made his wish when Regal and I awoke and discovered the Dragon Balls missing. We rushed to stop him, and he talked of bathing the world in blood as punishment for crimes against him. I asked Porunga to undo whatever he wished for, but was told it had already been done; this, I now know, must have been because Okome resealed the monster right away.”
“This man,” Okome added, “was a scientist named Dr. Munster, as I previously informed you. He had collected samples of the genmajin before it was resealed, and has used these samples to create clones, of a sort. The genmajin itself is a monster of mist and shadow, and it eats the life force of others. When attacked, it can melt into mist to avoid damage. It was quite a difficult task to defeat and seal it the first time. None of us can know in what ways Dr. Munster’s creations will be similar to the original genmajin, of course, but we can assume they will share things in common. Defeating these creatures is your goal.”
This was the story that motivated their training for the next year. One morning, Okome was leading Torta, Regal, Svenex, and Poboy through meditation training. “Focus on your breath and nothing else,” he said. “Your spirit and body must become one and the same if you are to access your true power.”
Joma looked puzzled, from her pedestal in the corner.
Far above them, entering the Earth’s orbit, the occupants of a ship peered down on Earth. “I have successfully cloaked the ship from the far-seeing arts and other scrying abilities,” said one passenger.
“Can we really find the Grand Elder on this backwater world?” another asked.
“If Limpet says she traced Porunga to this world, then this is where she will be!” said the first.
“Indeed,” said their commander. “We’ll just have to look under every rock as we conquer this world until we find her.” The ship landed outside a city in Knuckle. Disembarking from it was a group of five Namekians. Four had rather strange appearances, with saurian and draconic elements, while the leader was typically humanoid, her antennae upturned. She looked over the landscape before her. “All I feel on this world is weakness,” she declared.
Okome and Joma jolted as one, looking to one another. “I could not see anything, and yet it is happening!” Joma said.
“Me, neither,” Okome concurred. “This must be someone with powerful arcane knowledge attacking us.
“What’s going on?” Torta asked.
Okome had some doubts about the readiness of his students, but there was no time to quibble. “There is a massive attack happening in Knuckle right now,” he told them. “The attackers managed to cloak themselves from my sight, so I cannot tell you who they are, only that the damage is significant. No one in Knuckle could stand up to such an onslaught.”
“You have to let me go!” Torta cried out. Svenex, Regal, and Poboy all nodded in agreement.
“It’s more than you can imagine, boy,” Joma said.
“It’s true that you may not be ready for this enemy,” Okome warned.
“Like we can wait for that,” said Torta.
Okome sighed. He gave Torta, Svenex, and Regal talismans bearing the mark of the Kami. He led them to a doorway at the edge of the Temple. “Walk through this door with that talisman,” he said, “and think of the destination you wish to arrive at on Earth, and the door will take you there. It can also bring you back here.” With a flash of telepathy, he showed his students the city being attacked, currently a pile of blazing rubble. “Now go.”
Without another thought, Torta rushed through the door, quickly followed by his compatriots. On the other side, they saw the attackers clear as day. Regal let out a gasp. “These are Demon Clan soldiers!” she declared. “They must have found this world by the magic of Porunga when Munster made his wish! Now they’re here to kill the Grand Elder.”
Torta looked over the destruction caused by the invaders, and began to feel an anger he had never felt before.
Looking over, an overlarge warrior with a flattened dinosaur snout laughed. “Hey, Conch,” she said, calling to her master. “I found the bodyguard!”
Conch came over, examining Regal with contempt. Regal shivered in fear. “I’m not impressed with that child, or her friends,” Conch said. “Bladetooth, Threeband, Taluss, Scrubs! Kill these fools!”
Regal charged straight in at Conch, but before she could get close enough to strike, she was knocked out of the air by the dino-faced Bladetooth. Threeband, resembling a bipedal stegosaur, attacked Torta. Taluss, with knobby skin and batlike wings, went for Svenex. The mystically-inclined Scrubs, with her elongated body and forked horns, headed right for Poboy.
Torta was shocked by the sheer power Threeband displayed, easily commanding the battle. He did what he could to take back the initiative, but there were scant openings. Svenex similarly had trouble with Taluss, whose wings provided unusual agility. She had become more confident with her abilities in the past year, but saw herself as underperforming once again.
Regal traded blows with Bladetooth, better able to keep up, but still could not find an edge. Bladetooth laughed at her efforts. “You’ll never be able to avenge your mother like this!” Bladetooth said.
Poboy fared better against Scrubs, who placed too much confidence in her undulating body’s maneuverability, but he could not overpower her, either. After a moment, Scrubs noticed the talisman hanging from Poboy’s neck. With a smile, she snatched it and crushed it before Poboy could stop her. “Everyone!” she called out to her allies. “Destroy the talismans on their necks! It’s some form of escape spell!”
Torta, Regal, and Svenex all did what they could to protect their talismans, but their demonic opponents still claimed all three and destroyed them. Bladetooth laughed a big laugh. “There’s no running away for any of you now!” she announced. With a massive and heavy assault, she pummeled Regal and knocked her through a high-rise building, which collapsed on her. Threeband pressed the offensive and stabbed Torta through the shoulder before slinging him to the ground. Taluss grabbed Svenex and spun her through the air before drilling into the ground with her body. Scrubs wrapped her form around Poboy and began to squeeze the air out of his lungs.
“There’s no use expecting heavier resistance than this,” Conch said with complete disappointment in her voice. “Bladetooth, fly north. Threeband, fly east. Taluss, fly west. Scrubs, fly south. Whatever major capitals you find, destroy them. I’ll look for the Grand Elder.”
As Threeband flew off, Torta sprang up and flew in pursuit, not content to let the battle end there; he wrapped his gi over his wound as he went. Scrubs released Poboy and flew off, but Poboy did not let go of her, grabbing a hold of her foot, leading to a midair struggle. Regal popped up from the rubble and looked over at Bladetooth heading north, then turned her head towards Conch. Powering up to her fullest, Regal charged up at Conch and threw everything she had at the Demon Clan officer. Svenex climbed out of her hole, cursing herself for such a humiliating defeat, and saw Regal’s battle overhead. “She’s holding back!” Svenex called out, but it was too late: Conch slammed Regal into the Earth.
“Just stay there,” said Conch. “Enjoy the last moments of your life.” She then flew off.
Svenex went to Regal, lifting up her head. Regal stirred. “I have to find Conch,” she insisted. “I have to end this fight!”
“You’re being reckless!” Svenex said. “Conch nearly killed you just now, and she was only playing!”
“I know I’ll lose!” Regal yelled back. “I don’t have any other choice!” Though she covered her eyes, the tears streamed down her cheeks.
With a sigh, Svenex pulled Regal to her feet. “Then I won’t stop you,” she said. “You can go kill yourself for honor and duty. But I’m going after Taluss, because she’s going to kill a lot of people in some city somewhere. You could do the same with Bladetooth. It’s not like Conch is going to kill the Grand Elder right away. And if we all get rid of her lackeys, then we can all team up against Conch, right? We’ll have a real shot, and, more importantly, we’ll save a lot of lives.”
Svenex left after Taluss right away, surprising Regal. She expected Svenex to stay and see what her choice was. Regal stood there, torn between her duty and pragmatism. Her blood was boiling. She imagined the Grand Elder, and she knew what she would advise in that situation. Looking north, Regal flew off after Bladetooth.
Torta caught up to Threeband over the forests outside the capital of Knuckle. He fired a couple Sliders to her dorsal plates, getting her attention. Threeband turned around with a chuckle. “Are you that eager to see death, human?” she asked.
“This place is my homeland,” Torta said. “This planet is mine. It’s not yours for the taking. So I won’t lose. I’ve been training to beat much bigger fish then you. I just have to get serious!” Torta charged in at Threeband, hitting her with a devastating opening volley.
After getting knocked away, Threeband wiped blood from her mouth. “That was better, I’ll give you that, but not enough better!” She fired an energy wave from her mouth, and while Torta blocked, hit him from behind. She then pummeled him and slammed him into the ground. Torta shot back up, even more angry with himself.
Svenex found Taluss flying above the capital of Silico. Not long ago, she thought, she would have been the one attacking this place. Yelling out, “Fizzy Bomber!” Svenex threw a powerful energy bomb at Taluss, knocking her out of the sky.
Taluss turned and laughed. “I’d be happy to dig you into another grave!” she said.
Svenex gritted her teeth. “That will never happen again. I’ve learned my lesson.”
Taluss flew back up to attack Svenex. As expected, Taluss tried using feints and took advantage of her agility in the air to overwhelm Svenex. Though she took several good licks, Svenex was able to predict Taluss’s next strikes and counter them. With that, she was able to take the lead in this fight, landing a series of devastating attacks against Taluss.
Regal located Bladetooth in the icy mountains of Zoolia. With a burst of speed, she caught up to Bladetooth and secured both her arms before landing a double axe kick to the back of her head. Regal was then thrown around Bladetooth in a burst of raw power. Bladetooth snarled in anger. “I won’t even let you survive long enough to watch the Grand Elder die!” she declared.
The two exchanged blows for a moment, coming out even with each other. They separated, and Bladetooth laughed. “I’m just an average footsoldier in the Demon Clan!” Bladetooth said. “Yet you can barely keep up! Defeating Malacol isn’t a dream you’re worthy of dreaming!”
Scrubs wrestled with Poboy for miles, until she finally bit his hand hard enough to make him let go over the Unaffiliated Islands. She noted the mark on his armor. “You’re a weak excuse for a soldier of this planet’s guardian deity,” Scrubs said.
“Well, I was never aiming to be top dog on the battlefield,” Poboy admitted. “But I have enough strength to protect the Earth from the likes of you.”
The two fought intensely over the choppy waves. Scrubs no longer relied on tricks, instead opting for a straightforward fighting style. Poboy laughed. “Clearly, I proved there was no point in all that wiggling earlier,” he said.
In reality, Scrubs was paying attention to something else, a signature that was most potent on Poboy of all the heroes.
Conch flew high above the Earth, calmly flying across the landscape below. Earth was the sort of planet she cared least for, and yet her assignment brought her there. She considered trading the Earth with Limpet or Abalone once she had conquered it; they liked plain planets like this.
A group of elite soldiers from Knuckle and a squadron of fighter jets from Silico pulled up on either side of Conch. “Stand down!” “Land and prepare for arrest!” These and other overlapping orders were given by both sets of soldiers.
Conch sighed, not wanting to waste time like this. With a burst of energy from each hand, Conch wiped out both groups of attackers in an instant, with only a few chunks of scrap metal leaving a trace of the confrontation.
Conch could feel Scrubs reaching out to her telepathically. She took the message. “I found something on the bear,” Scrubs said. “It’s a trace of a rather peculiar magic, the source of which is on this planet’s southern geographic pole. If Regal arrived from this location with the bear, then it’s likely that’s where the Grand Elder is, as well.”
Conch smiled. “Thank you, Scrubs, for saving me some time.” Conch turned south and flew at top speed.
Landing at the frozen edge of Kamiland, Conch noted that the magics there were indeed powerful; even a mystic novice like herself could tell. She decided to gamble on having enough power to force her way in. Concentrating on the energies in her hand, she sunk her claws into the protective barrier covering Kamiland and pulled at it with all her might. She ripped a large enough hole to jump into the jungle. “This is a serious barrier,” Conch said. “I can’t believe a planet with such weak warriors ever produced anyone capable of erecting it.”
Okome, Joma, and the Grand Elder shivered in fear as one. “Is this a henchperson, or the big boss?” Puttee asked, reading the mood.
“This is Conch,” said the Grand Elder. “She’s an officer in the Demon Clan army. Not the most powerful officer, but formidable enough for us to fear for our lives.”
Okome grabbed his sword. “I’ll do everything I can to keep her at bay.”
“You’ll die!” Joma cried out in warning.
“Try to wait until I can boot Gaita up!” Puttee said, rushing back to her makeshift lab.
“I cannot wait, and I cannot decline this moment,” Okome said. “I am the guardian of this Temple and this planet.” Joma led the Grand Elder out of the grand hall.
Conch easily busted through the doors between each realm until she was stuck cycling through the dark hall and the mountain range. Angry, she charged an energy bomb and threw it into the dark hall, destroying it. She then flew through to the Temple, where she met Kami Okome, holding an ancient sword, with the look of death on his face.
“I have no business with you, human,” Conch said. “Bring me the Grand Elder of Namek, and the Dragon Balls she carries.”
“I cannot give you either,” Okome said.
Conch rubbed her eyes. “Look, this planet is a bore for me. I just want this mission to be over, go topple a couple governments, and then return home. But I guess you’ll make me go through you, huh?” Taking a stance, she rushed in at Okome faster than he could perceive.
Fortunately, Okome was not alone in that Temple. Gaita flew in and blocked Conch’s attack. “I won’t let you hurt any of my friends!” she declared. Puttee watched from the corner, worried how Gaita would hold up with only partial upgrades.
Conch squinted at Gaita. “Most peculiar,” the demon said. “No chi at all.”
Gaita charged a large star made of energy. “Don’t dare think any less of me for it,” she said. “I’m a fighter.” She threw the star, calling out, “Cowboy!” Conch dodged the star within a whisker, her cheek cut. She was impressed, but not enough to worry.
Torta continued to swing wildly with all his might at Threeband, but he hadn’t made any headway in a long while. Threeband easily avoided his attacks and continued to deal injury after injury against Torta. She once more slammed him into the Earth. “Anger is a useless blade when swung blindly,” she said, “and soon it will cut your own throat.”
He was even more frustrated with himself, but Torta also felt shame. He knew she was right, but he had never felt anger like this before. He had tried focusing the way Okome taught him, but his emotions still swirled. Then Svenex popped to mind. She was always a hothead, and she only got better with anger. He laughed, and the moment of levity was all he needed to get back into gear.
Like Svenex would, Torta directed his anger into his body, not his mind. Then, he strived to keep focused, like Okome taught him. He charged in at Threeband and blew right through her defenses. With a powerful assault, Torta paid Threeband back for all the damage she had done to his body and the lives she took. After punching through her stomach, Torta yelled, “Steak Bomb!” and blew Threeband apart with an explosive burst of chi from his fist.
Taluss changed tactics after Svenex proved wily enough to get around her normal acrobatics. Once she did so, she was able to take control of the fight, though Svenex proved resourceful. Taluss became incredibly angry with how long Svenex was managing to survive.
“Just surrender already!” Taluss yelled. “No matter how well you dodge, you’re a weakling, and you won’t survive the night!”
“Yeah, it does look like you’re stronger,” Svenex agreed. “But I never intended to win on brute strength. I’m an intelligence officer.”
They continued to fight, and it looked increasingly likely that Svenex would lose the battle. As they fought, Svenex would jab Taluss all over her body with her fingers, a little energy charged into them. It was something she had been doing periodically the whole fight. Taluss eventually stomped her into the ground, asking, “What do you hope to accomplish, with all these little pokes?”
Svenex smiled. “I’m just looking for a Soda Pop.” The bits of chi Svenex left all over Taluss’s body suddenly grew, formed a web of energy through her flesh, and erupted, exploding large portions of Taluss’s torso.
Taluss dropped to her knees. Svenex then got up and charged energy over her fist. “How…how could you do this to me?” Taluss asked.
“Only fools fight with fists alone,” said Svenex. She then knocked Taluss’s head off with her energy-charged backfist, saying, “Orange Whip!” She then sighed. “Torta’s rubbing off on me, with all these food names.”
The battle between Poboy and Scrubs had raged on for a while. Tracing magic and sending telepathic messages had been a fatal distraction for Scrubs, who suffered multiple wounds. Though Scrubs was clever and powerful enough to last a while longer, Poboy eventually brought Scrubs down, ripping her throat with his claws. He shook his head. “Not exactly the most artistic of martial arts. I shouldn’t be such an animal.”
Up north, Bladetooth and Regal were as evenly matched as ever. The main difference between the two was that Bladetooth enjoyed the fight, and Regal was desperate for it to end. Desperation being an exhausting feeling, Regal was running out of stamina fast, and Bladetooth could see it.
With a snarling smile, Bladetooth slammed Regal into the mountainside and pummeled her without mercy. The force of the blows started an avalanche, swamping the Namekians in snow. Bladetooth flew out of the snow, her eyes glowing. With glee, she fired powerful eye beams into Regal, collapsing rock into the snow on top of her. She then flew south, where she could feel Conch.
In the Temple, Conch was becoming increasingly frustrated with her mechanical foe. Though Gaita did not have the capacity to fight at Conch’s level, she was far more durable now, and Puttee was able to use the parts scavenged from Silico to give her a forcefield. Fighting a lone opponent, her twin Android advantages were proving as reliable as they could.
Torta and Svenex met up outside of Kamiland. “You also get the message from Joma?” Svenex asked.
“Yeah,” Torta said. “Let’s go!” Torta and Svenex flew into the Temple through a secret entrance they had discovered during their training.
They arrived in the grand hall. “Torta! Svenex!” Gaita called out, happy to see them alive.
Upon seeing the two humans, Conch sighed. “Did my soldiers at least put up a good fight?”
“I’ll kill you for what you’ve done to the Earth!” Torta vowed.
“It doesn’t matter how strong you think you are,” Svenex said. “We can overcome anything together!”
The two humans joined their Android partner for the battle. Their strategy, planned by Svenex, was simple: To allow Gaita to take the lead, with Torta and Svenex attacking from other angles to create openings to weaken Conch. They pressed the Demon Clan officer as hard as they could, working to injure her eyes and ears, damage her legs, and give Gaita the opening she needed to land a Chelsea into Conch’s stomach.
Once the smoke cleared, Conch was floating there, some blood dripping from her mouth. She wiped it away. “That was better than I expected from you,” she told the Earthlings. “But it’s not nearly enough.”
“We’ll see about that,” said Torta.
Another enemy landed in the Temple. Torta was relieved, thinking it was Regal. “Come on, let’s finish this!” he called out to her.
Instead, Bladetooth entered the grand hall. “Regal’s dead, idiot,” she said. “Now I’m gonna help kill you, too.” Torta, Svenex, and Gaita were devastated at the news.
In that northern mountain in Zoolia, two stones had fallen into an arch, making a cave that protected Regal from the rubble. Because of that, she only lay in a near-death state. She could feel herself dying, an undeniable sign of her utter failure. As she lay there, she decided to use the last of her energy to meditate and commune with the world around her, as the Grand Elder often did.
In that trancelike state, Regal felt the spirit of the Earth below her. Her mind, however, filled with visions of Namek, the last gift her mother gave her from a planet Regal could not truly call home, since she was born on a ship fleeing it. On that Namek, Regal saw her mother, Melodica. Melodica turned to Regal. “Are you truly finished?” she asked.
“It doesn’t matter,” Regal said. “I can feel my spirit slipping away.”
Melodica chuckled. “That’s not your spirit slipping away. That’s your spirit moving into alignment with your body. There’s great power sleeping within you. Now is not the time to give up on the mission, or your life beyond it. Live, and be happy making your own choices.”
Regal opened her eyes in the darkness of that snow-buried rubble cave. She felt much more alive, and in fact overflowing with power. Regal wondered how it was possible, and then remembered what Okome was trying to teach her. The spirit and body couldn’t be as one without truly appreciating life. Regal smiled. “Thanks for this gift, mother.”
Bladetooth had targeted Svenex early on in the Temple battle, figuring her to be the weak link. Torta tried to help her, but Conch targeted him, keeping him away from Svenex and forcing Gaita to guard Torta. Svenex tried setting up another Soda Pop, but Bladetooth repelled the chi infiltrating her body. “I’m not going to wait to see what Earthling tricks you want to play!” Bladetooth sneered.
Svenex was soon defeated, knocked unconscious against a pillar. “No!” Torta and Gaita cried out to her.
“Thank you, Bladetooth, for your service,” Conch said. “Now, find the Dragon Balls and bring them to me.” Torta tried following after Bladetooth, but Conch stretched out her arm to pull Torta back into the battle.
Bladetooth soon found the room where Puttee, Okome, Joma, and the Grand Elder were holing up. “Produce the Dragon Balls, Grand Elder!” she commanded.
Okome once again drew his sword, but the Grand Elder stopped him. “I have eaten the Dragon Balls,” the Grand Elder said. “You can only get them by killing me, which makes them useless.”
Bladetooth smiled and grabbed the Grand Elder by the collar, punching her hard in the gut. Though she tried to hold it back, the Grand Elder couldn’t help but spit up the Dragon Balls.
Returning victorious, Bladetooth rolled the Dragon Balls out of a blanket and onto the floor of the grand hall. Conch smiled while deflecting Torta’s and Gaita’s attacks. “Finish the mission,” she told Bladetooth.
The saurian mutant summoned Porunga from the Dragon Balls, breaking a hole in the roof. “What is your wish?” Porunga asked.
“I have none,” said Bladetooth with a murderous smile. She then fired a mouth energy wave at Porunga until he exploded. Everyone was shocked.
“Thank you for completing our work with the Grand Elder,” said Conch. “We just have to finish conquering this world, and then we can leave.”
“Why would you do this?” the Grand Elder asked.
Conch smiled. “Now that we’ve done that, you can guess what Malacol’s true aim is.”
The Grand Elder paled in fear.
Bladetooth turned back to the battle, looking to eliminate Torta next. Just as she was about to enter the fray, the group heard a voice call, “Uriel!” and Bladetooth’s head was blown away. Walking into the main chamber was Regal, her battered body charged with an energy no one had felt before. She turned to Conch. “This battle is over!”
Conch was visibly shaken, never expecting Regal was hiding this kind of strength. “This sudden change means nothing,” Conch said. “I am still the superior warrior.”
Regal calmly took her stance and waited for Conch to do the same. The two Namekians clashed, their fists sending shockwaves that rocked the entire Temple. As they traded blows, it looked more and more like they were even. Torta and Gaita were shocked, but not as shocked as Conch when she noticed how calm Regal was during the fight. They briefly separated. Regal looked over to Gaita and Torta. “I’m glad you were able to hold back a monster like this for so long.”
Torta got up. “I’ve sat here watching you long enough.”
“Just rest your body. I can see how injured you are. I have enough strength to end this.”
“No, you don’t!” said Conch, her voice shaking. Conch angrily charged Regal, knocking her up and out of the Temple, through the hole Porunga had made. Gaita flew up to see the battle unfold.
Torta, not willing to give into his wounds, started getting ready to fight, but a revived Svenex stopped him. “The Earth will need you when the genmajin clones attack,” Svenex said. “Take it easy now. But if you want to help someone, can you fly me up there? I don’t think I can manage it right now.” Sighing, Torta took Svenex on his shoulder and flew them both above the Temple.
Above the Temple, Gaita, Torta, and Svenex watched as Regal and Conch battled it out. Though Regal still had a few injuries from Bladetooth, her newfound power made up for the difference. It was startling to see her so easily handle an enemy that was all but insurmountable for the rest of them. Conch flew high into the air. “I’ll destroy this world along with you, if I cannot have it!” she declared. She charged up a massive energy sphere in both her hands.
Regal was alarmed and turned to Gaita. “Quickly! Generate your largest forcefield! The bigger, the better!”
Giving it her all, Gaita threw out a forcefield the size of a baseball stadium, pushing Torta and Svenex back onto the Temple roof and Regal closer to Conch. Conch fired the energy blast, and it was truly devastating in scope. As the wave hit the forcefield, Torta and Svenex cried out to the engulfed Regal. A moment later, they saw a bubble forming in the energy wave, and it grew and grew. Regal stood there, charging up a massive energy sphere of her own, until it was large enough to block the entire blast. She then let the sphere break into smaller blasts, and the massively powerful Raphael blasted Conch from all sides.
Conch fell from the sky, dying. Regal, Gaita, Torta, and Svenex followed her to the ground. “This is all meaningless,” Conch said through ragged breaths. “This resistance, all of it. I am the weakest of Malacol’s officers, and Malacol herself stands higher still. You cannot defeat us.”
“I’ll make my own way,” Regal said, watching intently until Conch’s life energy disappeared.
Everyone was relieved to see this battle put to an end. “How did you get so strong?” Torta asked.
“I had a vision of my mother,” Regal explained. “I nearly died, but seeing her made me appreciate my life more. It was the culmination of Okome’s spirit training.”
“Wow…” Gaita said.
“That’s great,” said Svenex. “Let’s get inside and take care of our injuries.”
Back inside the Temple, they found Poboy conferring with his mentor. Regal rushed to the Grand Elder. “I’m glad to see you unharmed!” she said, visibly relieved. “What happened with the Dragon Balls?”
“They are gone,” the Grand Elder said. “Porunga is dead. I hear Malacol is after something far more dangerous than the power of the God of Dreams. But let us speak of this later.”
Torta carried Svenex over to Joma and Okome, and Gaita insisted he get checked out, as well.
“Today has come with devastating losses,” said Okome. “That said, I’m proud to see how well you performed against this unexpected enemy. Especially you, Regal. Your spirit is as refined as I have ever seen.”
“I must apologize to you all,” the Grand Elder announced. “I chose this planet to keep away from the dangers of the Demon Clan, but instead I have invited the Demon Clan to your home.”
“There is no need to apologize,” said Okome. “On behalf of Earth, I am proud to give a noble elder such as yourself safe harbor from a foe such as Malacol.”
Torta still felt shocked, having been so left behind, but that soon turned into a fire to get back to training. Svenex, on the other hand, was making a different decision about the upcoming fight with the Genmajin. Gaita walked back to Puttee, her arm popping out of its joint. “I’m ready to finish up,” she said. Puttee caught her sister and brought her back into the workshop.
All original story, all original characters! Check out Dragon Ball ‘Redux’!
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Life in the Gutters 