Going Native: Rewritten: Namek 3.3 (ch. 14) (Patreon)

I’d taught everyone the Kaioken- well, everyone but Kori since she couldn't learn it. And Caulifla, because she wanted to figure it out herself, which she managed with some extra effort. 

So I just taught it to Cabba and Raditz. 

While the Kaioken lost its time in the spotlight in Dragon Ball because of the Super Saiyan transformation, it was still a great technique that could have kept the side characters like Krillin, Tien, or even Yamcha relevant until at least the Cell Saga. I could repeat it until I was blue in the face, but Saiyans lived and died by the power multiplier -- potentially doubling, tripling, or quadrupling your strength and speed in a pinch? It could save their lives, so I didn't hesitate to teach them once I got the hang of it myself. 

And I was proven right to do so as Kara just moved. It was almost hard to describe it -- one moment she was flying back, and the next she was upright and flying right at me. For a microsecond, all I could see was a fist racing for my head before Caulifla probably saved my life by kicking her forearm so the blow missed. Surprised or not, I seized the chance and delivered a blow to Kara’s stomach. 

The armor held strong under my knuckles, telling me it was going to be a tough nut to crack. Kara was sent straight into the ground and struck it like the meteor that killed the dinosaurs as she carved a line through the forest, smashing through a hill of solid stone. A felt a flash of heat on my face, which warned me enough to kick Caulifla out of the way as a skyscraper sized blood red beam erupted from the ground, followed shortly by Kara herself. 

I saw the blow coming. Just barely. I started to react, angling my body just enough that the blow wasn't entirely a clean one, but it still connected and I could feel the vast difference in our strength. At Kaioken x10, I had a power level that was over one million. The gap between us had shrunk considerably, but only enough that she didn't kill me instantly with that single attack that still had left the taste of blood filling my mouth. 

“Surrender the Dragonball immediately! You don't have to die today!” Kara shouted at me, cocking another fist back. “I don't want to kill you!” She shouted, throwing that punch and it slammed into my guard. My bones cracked from the raw force of it, but I spun sharply, using the momentum to deliver an elbow to her helmet. The blow connected solidly, but it remained unbroken. That was a little worrying. 

“Not doing a good job of convincing me of that when you're hitting me so hard,” I remarked, backing off while Caulifla dove in. 

Kara looked at me, “I'm pulling my punches.” 

Oh. 

Oh, damn. 

“Really?” I blurted just as Caulifla pounced on Kara. She grabbed hold of the floating disks near her helmet that seemingly enhanced her heat vision and slammed her knee into Kara's face, trying to break the glass of it, but she had about as much luck as I did. However, Kara responded, going to punch Caulifla in the stomach before I darted forward, kicking her in the nook of her elbow to slow the blow and giving Caulifla enough time to back off. 

“I don't want to kill you,” Kara reiterated as her helmet began to glow once more. “But I will for the sake of the Kryptonian Empire. The wish that the Dragonballs grant is ours.” There was a burning intensity in her voice that sounded a bit at odds with how young she sounded. All the same, she looked at me with clenched fists as the disks around her head seemed to focus her heat vision. “Now, give me the Dragonball.” 

The way she spoke of it, it sounded like a need rather than a want. She was betraying how desperate she was. How desperate they were. Could they need the wish to defeat You-Know-Who, he who shall not be named because I'm ninety percent sure he'd hear me even in my own thoughts? Did Krypton blow up? That was a staple of Superman's lore, but from what I knew, the reason changed a lot depending on the universe. 

Between the PTO and the Kryptonians, there wasn't a shadow of a doubt in my mind who the Dragonballs were better with. “You don't seem too bad,” I remarked to her, a ki ball appearing in my hand. A Riot Javelin, courtesy of Bardock. “But what about this General Zod guy, huh? We give you the Dragonballs, you get to make your wish. You get your happy ending. But what happens to the Namekian needed to make the wish?” 

Kara didn't answer but there was a shift in her posture. Behind her, Caulifla used the lull in the fight to start charging up a technique that I taught her. “Will he be free to go? Because that seems like quite the thing to just give up and accept as a one and done thing. Why let him go when you can keep him around as your personal wish machine, huh? Or maybe he's too dangerous. After all, if the Dragonballs can be used to grant any wish… then someone could wish that the Kryptonians disappear one day.” 

“No one would do that,” Kara argued. “The Kryptonian Empire is a force of good!” That betrayed her age a little bit, making her sound younger than what I thought she was. 

And, despite her sounding like she had been hitting the Kool-aid too hard, I actually didn't disagree with her. Not entirely, at least. Before the Kryptonians found themselves on the backfoot, back when they were still rapidly expanding in every direction, they’d brought their advanced technology to countless worlds and people. 

They introduced post-scarcity tech to flagging economies, restored worlds damaged by over-industrialization, and eradicated diseases that were in the process of killing millions. However, they delivered those gifts at the business end of a gun. They didn't uplift their client races. They conquered them, then forced them to conform to Kryptonian society. The laws were tailormade for each race they conquered, and while the Kryptonians didn't participate in actual genocide, they’d mastered the art of cultural genocide. 

Which was leagues better than what the Saiyans got up to, admittedly. Some individual Saiyans committed planetary genocide almost regularly, though usually a conquered populace was ‘just’ enslaved, then either kept or sold to the PTO if the Saiyans couldn't find a use for them. 

But still, being better than the Saiyans didn't make the Kryptonians angels.

They didn’t give the races they conquered a choice -- they would conform, or they would die. Never to the point of genocide, but they ruthlessly and mercilessly crushed any and all resistance. Once the resistance was done and dusted, those that remained would be integrated into their ever-expanding empire as client races. 

“Your enemies might,” I pointed out, leaving her nativity to the side. Now wasn't exactly the time for a morality debate. And Kara didn't seem to have a rebuttal for that. 

“...I don't know what's going to happen to the Namekian. But you don't get to decide the fate of my people,” Kara stated, and that was a fair enough point, I could concede. And she tipped her hand a bit too much with that slip -- to Kara, the Dragonballs were needed. 

Blood red lasers erupted from her helmet, which were then focused into a small red beam raced to my stomach where she intended to burn the Dragonball right out of me. I already knew exactly where she was going to be aiming, so I flicked the Riot Javelin at her, and it struck the beam. Despite the considerable difference in raw power, the Riot Javelin traveled upstream, splitting the heat vision around it. 

Bardock had developed a genuinely incredible technique. It was designed to counter techniques more powerful than it, to a degree at least. It punched through enemy energy attacks, making them slide right off the surface and dispersing the enemy’s energy as it raced forward. It was perfect for dealing with abilities like heat vision because Kara was perfectly still as she tried to burn a hole in my stomach, and she only realized what was happening too late. The Riot Javelin struck her in the face with a loud explosion before Caulifla, from behind, took aim with her attack. 

“Special! Beam! Cannon!” She exclaimed, sending the technique into Kara’s back. The Special Beam Cannon was designed to pierce -- it was a great technique, one created by Piccolo, but its charge time was a death sentence. And the beam itself moved… slowly. Slow enough that it was easy to dodge if you were on a similar level of speed as the person using it. 

Assuming you weren't distracted by Riot Javelin to the face, that is.

Kara cried out as she was knocked forward, the Special Beam Cannon sending her in my direction as the technique failed to break through her armor. I rushed forward, clenching a fist as I imbued ki to my knuckles. With a shout, I struck her in the gut before my arm was blown back from the recoil, my veins rupturing in sprays of blood as lacerations tore my skin. Kara was folded around the punch and sent flying back, nearly smacking into Caulifla, who instead wheeled herself around Kara to kick her in the side of the head. 

“You okay?” Caulifla asked, glancing at my arm. 

I flooded my injured arm with ki, leaning on the old trick I had pulled against Raditz. It was still incredibly inefficient, but at the very least, it stopped my injury from getting worse. “I'll be fine-” 

Kara erupted from where she had fallen and just appeared before me in a burst of speed, punching me in the gut so hard that I think the Dragonball touched my spine before I was sent flying away. I could sense Kara batting Caulifla away in the same manner before giving chase to me. I barely had time to right myself before she had already closed in, grabbing me by the armor to yank me back, kneeing me in the stomach once more and sending me flying up into the air. 

My stomach threatened to rebel, but I swallowed down bile, knowing what she was trying to do. “You… really were pulling your punches…” I gasped, spitting out blood as Kara followed me up. She cocked back a fist, determined to punch me in the face, only for Caulifla to appear and hook the arm at the elbow and pulled it back. 

Right. Kara wasn't playing around anymore. She wanted the Dragonball, and she was going to take it. 

I darted in, gritting my teeth against the pain and the strain of the Kaioken. She was stronger and faster than us, but the teamwork between Caulifla and I was flawless. Kara blocked my push, which just left her open for a high knee by Caulifla. When she recovered from that, lashing out at Caulifla, I diverted the blow, letting Caulifla deliver a punch. Then when Kara’s attention shifted back to me, Caulifla blocked a blow so I could deliver an enhanced strike to Kara’s face, snapping her head back. 

Individually we were both weaker, but together we could put up enough of a fight to keep her from using her superior strength and speed. But, there was one problem. 

“I don't think we’re hurting her,” Caulifla noted as Kara nearly took my head off with an uppercut, which barely missed because Caulifla kicked Kara in the chest at the last second. 

“We’re not even getting through the armor,” I agreed, diverting a punch at Caulifla by punching Kara’s arm, letting Caulifla knee her in the face. “I wonder what it's made of?” 

“You seriously can't be thinking about getting some? Armor is a coward's tool!” Caulifla cried out, indignant at the very idea. She blocked a blow for me, allowing me to deliver another enhanced blow directly to her helmet. Only for it to be a trap because as soon as I delivered the punch, she countered with a kick that I just barely managed to dodge.

“I dunno. She's making a pretty good argument to invest in some. I think I've done more damage to myself than to her armor,” I observed. We were skirting by with our teamwork, but it wouldn't last. She was already adapting to it. Once she got the hang of it, we would be screwed. 

Her armor wasn't even cracked. There were some dents, but that was the extent of it. 

I stole a glance at the other fight that was happening in the distance -- Faora against both Jeice and Burter. I could barely follow that fight. Burter just kept blinking around like he was teleporting while Jeice managed to fight at long range with the help of his armor. 

I looked over just in time to see a blood-red energy ball erupt from it. It was the size of a large building and it tore through the entire continent we were fighting on, carving a long, deep canyon until the energy exploded when it hit a mountain in the distance. I had been right on the mark there too -- their armor enhanced their abilities. I suppose that made sense. 

Dragonball, for all the space and time travel, wasn't that advanced. Not compared to DC. If Batman could develop a super suit that let him throw down with Superman, then I guess it shouldn't be a surprise that others could and did do the same. I just hoped that Cabba and the others were alright. 

“Tarble. Do you think you could manage it?” Caulifla asked, her expression tightening. I knew what she was asking. 

“Maybe. But I won't be able to maintain it for very long,” I replied, taking a bracing breath. This was going to suck, but I agreed with Caulifla -- I had to dig deep. As it was, we weren't losing but we weren't winning either. If we got through that armor, the whole game would change, but until we did… It was only a matter of time before we lost the fight. 

“I’m worried about the timing,” I admitted to her. I expanded my awareness, and while we fought here, I could sense the war that was being waged across the continent. It happened in fits and bursts as the Frieza-Force had been separated to comb through the planet, but I could sense the drones slaughtering them. I could also sense the brewing clash between the Kryptonian warship, and the four PTO warships. 

Above all else, I could sense the others fighting against Recoome. Which told me that they hadn't taken the second Dragonball yet. 

“You’re worrying about time you don’t have,” Kara said, and that was a pretty good line. I would remember that one. 

“That’s true,” I admitted. It was a card I could play only once and the strain would be too much for me to endure for very long. If it didn’t work fast, then I was going to have to cut my losses and come up with a new plan. “Kaioken…” The red aura around my body flared as a scream tried to crawl up from the back of my throat. Kara shifted from where she flew, suddenly cautious as a blood vessel in my eye exploded, leaving my vision red in that eye. 

“Times! Twenty!” I growled, my body trembling with exertion. A power level of 2,700,000. Still, only a bit over half of Kara’s power level, but that wasn’t really my concern. My concern was the armor. I needed to get through it, and I needed to get through it fast. Cabba and the others needed to get that Dragonball so Caulifla and I could beat feet and run away. But, if we beat Kara too early… that could lead to Faora turning her attention in our direction. 

And we would not survive that. 

Likewise, if we defeated her and ran from the fight, that could put us on Jeice and Burter’s radar. We may not survive that either, as those suits packed a lot more punch than I expected. Enough so that they could stall Faora, even if it looked like they were in the same situation we were in. 

And at the same time, if I couldn’t beat Kara fast, we’d lose the fight straight up and wouldn’t be able to run at all. 

We had to thread the needle. The best way to do it…?

Endure. Endure the pain. Push myself past the limit long enough for Cabba and the others to defeat Recoome and only take Kara out after they won. So, I needed to crack open that armor and keep the silver bullet I had prepared in the chamber until I was ready to pull the trigger. 

I just had to hope they got the job done fast. 

…

Cabba wasn't entirely sure what hit him, only that something had, and it felt like all of his bones were broken. Or, at least all of his ribs. His mouth was full of blood and dirt, so he spat the taste out as he forced himself to stand. Looking up, he saw Recoome looking down at them, unbothered as he held the artifact- the Dragonball, in one hand. 

Around him were the fallen forms of Raditz and Kori. 

“You boys are running out of steam already? That's disappointing! Stamina is the most important thing for men to train up!” Recoome stated, offering a theatrical disappointed shake of his head. “Did that opening attack take too much out of you?” 

Cabba grit his teeth, hating how his legs wobbled underneath him as he could sense Boss pushing himself -- He was pushing the Kaioken to x20. Something he couldn't do for long, and a move he admitted he'd only use if he was desperate. Boss was counting on them to get the second Dragonball so that he could leave with his own. The mission became less about the fight they could have and more about survival the moment the Kryptonians arrived. 

But Cabba wasn't even sure how they could have won if it was just the Ginyu Force here.

“Oh? Do you still have a little something something in the tank, little boy?” Recoome questioned, landing before Cabba. Cabba looked up at him defiantly, his hands clenching into fists. 

Recoome wasn't really that strong. It was his armor that pushed his strength and durability to such extremes that it let him appear untouched despite the three of them throwing all that they had at him. That shimmering blue forcefield that clung to him like a second skin had absorbed his strongest attack head on, and it didn't even seem to waver. He didn't feel like he had any notable weaknesses either -- he was fast, strong, and he fought perfectly for his size. 

“Maybe you need a little motivation?” Recoome asked, tapping his chin before he snapped his fingers. “Oh, I know! How about if the three of you don't pick yourselves up, I'll send Jeice a message about your friend? I knew he wasn't Ginyu Force material the second I saw him! And, look at that, he went and betrayed our position to steal the Dragonballs for himself! Hmph!” 

That got a reaction out of them. Raditz and Kori began to stir, pushing themselves up to their feet. Cabba glanced at them, his lips thinning while Recoome laughed with approval. 

‘Cabba. Our only shot is to break that shield,’ Raditz thought at him. ‘I think I see what's producing it. Six small disks. We break them, and we can get through the shield.’ 

And without the shield… they could take his head off. 

“Kaioken…” Cabba gritted out, a ki spear forming in his hands once more. “Times… ten!” A blood red aura flared around him, and Cabba really couldn't understand how Boss could endure a x20. It felt like his body was ripping itself apart at half that! Yet, he still was able to plan. 

‘Raditz, the two of us have to break through that shield. And whatever energy we have left, we need to give to Kori. Neither of us will be in any condition to beat him after.’ Cabba thought to Raditz, who nodded behind Recoome. 

“Kaioken! Times! Fifteen!” Raditz shouted, his own red aura flaring as he gave Kori the plan. She couldn't reply mentally, but she nodded, showing that she understood. 

Raditz flew up, bringing Recoome’s attention to him. He cupped his hands and with veins bulging in his face, he shouted at the top of his lungs, “TRI-BEAM!” 

The blast struck Recoome like a hammer, slamming him into the ground, but Recoome was already rising up the blast with a demented laugh. Raditz's Aura flared once more, “TRI-BEAM!” He roared once more, sending Recoome back down. “TRI-BEAM! TRI-BEAM! TRI-BEAM!” 

Each use of the technique hammered Recoome down into a diamond shaped hole in the ground. There wasn't a need for words, even if they couldn’t communicate telepathically. They had fought together every day for years by this point. Cabba probably knew what Rafitz was thinking better than Raditz did. He was paving the way, throwing everything he had at the shield in the hopes that it would wear thin. All to set him up for the chance to destroy it. 

“Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam!” Raditz shouted every time he used it, and each time he delivered a devastating blow. The shockwave rang out from each attack, tearing up the ground and felling trees. Cabba could sense Recoome getting buried further and further, each time starting to fly up, only to get knocked back down. “Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam!”

The Tri-Beam wasn't a technique that you could just throw around. Boss deliberately warned against it, saying it was one of the few techniques that he created that was liable to kill you if you pushed too hard with it. Yet, their hands were forced. Either it would be enough… 

Or they would die here. 

That wouldn't happen. It was one thing to let himself get killed, but he wouldn't get Boss killed because of failure. 

“Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam!” Raditz continued, but the impact of each attack was starting to lessen. Raditz was breathing hard, sweat rolling down his face, but without fail, he formed another Tri-Beam in his hands. “Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam! Tri-Beam-” The technique sputtered in his hands, and Raditz began to fall to the ground. 

Recoome surged up, however and Cabba raced to meet him. 

The tunnel had been dug deep and Cabba saw that Recoome was unscathed by the assault, but there was a look in his eye. Cabba recognized it. He used to have a similar look before he met Boss. 

Recoome was afraid. “You brats!” Recoome shouted up at him, his bravado faltering as he made to skewer Cabba with a hand. Cabba lashed out with his staff, wrapping it around Recoome's wrist, and using it as a lever to send him behind Recoome. Just as Raditz said, there were six disks on his back -- five of which had been ejected from his suit in an attempt to vent heat. “Wait-” 

“Lanza del Relámpago!” Cabba didn't hesitate. He drove his spear into Recoome’s back, directly into one of the ejected disks, and Cabba's world became light. 

He distantly felt a blast and some kind of impact. There was a high pitched ringing in his ears. Everything was pain, but that was a good sign. It meant that he was still alive. 

The explosion must have carried him out of the hole because when the bright spots faded from his vision, he discovered he was looking up at the sky. And that he was laying on his back. His eyes fluttered and he was about to close them before he heard a high pitched cry that pierced through the ringing in his ears. 

Kori was fighting a heavily injured Recoome. One of his arms was missing, he was covered in injuries, with his suit seared to his back. He struck Kori out of the air, raising a foot and stomping at her. Kori only saved herself from having her head crushed by catching the foot, but it only seemed to be delaying her death. 

His throat felt like it was covered in sand when he swallowed thickly. His Ki flowed to a hand and, nearby, he saw Raditz doing the same as he did. A Power Ball sputtered to life in Cabba's hand, only it wasn't a normal one. It didn't produce Blutz Waves to transform them into Oozaru. Instead, it produced ultraviolet light. Raising his hand up, he shot the Power Ball at Kori, watching it strike her. 

The action brought Recoome’s attention to him, “You're still alive?!” He shouted, enraged by his apparent audacity. 

That lapse in focus cost him. Raditz shot off his own Power Ball and it struck Kori, and just like with his, Kori seemed to absorb it. It flowed into her, and from where Cabba laid, he could see green energy gathering at her hands and her eyes started to shine. 

With a sudden heave, Kori tossed off Recoome's foot and rose in the air. Her hair was longer, Cabba noticed as dark spots danced in his vision. And the tail end of her hair looked like it was on fire. She cupped her hands at Recoome, and with a ferocious snarl, she shouted, “You will hurt my friends no more!” With every word she spoke, the starbolts swelled in her hands, and Recoome stumbled back. 

There was an expression of panic on his face before he shouted out, “Jeice! The Saiyans have be-” 

He said nothing more as he was consumed by starlight, and it was then that everything went black. 

…

I was dying. I could feel it. My body screamed at me to just give up and rest, begging for respite in the face of my demands for more. There was a hollow feeling in my gut that told me I was draining the well dry, but even then, I kept digging at the bottom, determined to bring up more ki. I had hit bedrock, and I was trying to squeeze blood from a stone, but I needed the earth to bleed. 

Blood dripped freely from my bleeding knuckles and the countless other cuts and scrapes that I had picked up as I tried to match Kara blow for blow. There was a part of me that rebelled at the mere thought that I could be giving it my all, forcing myself beyond my limits, and it could still be not enough. 

I struck Kara in the face, smearing blood on her helmet, while the helmet remained whole. There was a crack in it. A small one. Something that Kara was clearly aware of and defended zealously. It left gaps in her defense, but they weren't as promising as the one crack I’d managed to form in her armor. 

“You can't beat me! You should give up,” Kara said, punching at me, only for me to fly out of the way to deliver an elbow strike to her helmet. The crack grew, but it still wasn't enough. Whatever armor she was wearing, I really wanted a set because this was getting frustrating. And that frustration was making me sloppy as I barely managed to lean out of the way of an uppercut, before wearing between a left jab and a right hook. 

I was running out of gas and she could tell. During my training, I had managed to sustain a x20 for about fifteen seconds before it became too much for me. Now, I had sustained it for minutes. It wasn't a long time, but it felt like an eternity. 

“Tarble!” Caulifla shouted, kicking me out of the way of a blast of heat vision that I only noticed too late. Her own shimmering red aura had dimmed considerably, and rivers of sweat dripped down her face. “Keep going!” She demanded, but I found that I barely had enough air to breathe, much less respond. 

“Just give up! Before I really have to kill you!” Kara shouted, her helmet glowing a bright red again, but this time I noticed that light was seeping through the crack that ran over her face. 

I dove in, spinning out of the way of a blast of heat vision, before spinning out of the way from a second blast. Kara was learning as we fought, picking up my habits just as I did hers. She knew that my goal was to break her helmet, even if she didn't know why, so it meant she knew exactly where I would strike. All the same, I reared back a fist to smash through her guard- 

-I felt Recoome's ki signature vanish. 

He was dead. 

“Perfect timing!” I exclaimed, as I funneled what was left of my ki to my fist. A Power Ball formed in my clenched hand. A variant I had created specifically for Kryptonians, even if I had vastly underestimated how difficult it would be to crack open their armor. And, honestly, that just told me I wasn't the first to try to use this weakness against them. 

The light from the Power Ball that radiated red sunlight slipped through that crack in her helmet. Not enough to weaken her. But enough for her to flinch. With a roar, my fist slipped through her guard to strike her helmet. A pinpoint strike landed directly on the crack with the last of my strength, and I felt it give under my fist. Spiderweb cracks spread, some of them falling away, and that exposed Kara fully to the red sun that was in my hand. 

She cried out, plummeting down to the ground and I felt her power level plummet alongside her. From five million, down to four, then down to one. Still outrageously powerful, but weakened considerably. The shimmering red aura of the Kaioken left me, not so much because I let it and more because the power just slipped through my grasp. A ragged gasp escaped me before I found myself falling not far behind Kara, only to be scooped up by Caulifla at the last possible second. 

Kara curled into herself, the red sun sapping her strength. But, even still, she looked up to us -- me trapped over Caulifla’s shoulder with an arm, barely able to remain conscious and Caulifla huffing and puffing with exertion. Her helmet had a bad break in it, revealing about half of her face. Her skin was a pale white while a bright blue eye looked up at us filled to the brim with fear. 

I was right. She was younger than I thought. I'd put her at around ten years old or so. 

God damn it. There goes my satisfaction. I beat up another child. I had really held out hope that she was at least a teenager, but… damn it. I’m the worst. 

“Sorry for having to cheat like that, but you were too strong otherwise,” I offered, bowing my head to her as we touched down in the crater that she made with her impact. “We got a job to protect the Namekian, so we couldn't afford to lose here.” 

“Protect?” Kara questioned, and the fear was steadily being replaced by confusion. “But, you're with the Frieza-Force?” 

“Ah, no. We're with the Galactic Patrol, technically,” I corrected with a grin, seeing her eye widen. “We just tricked them into not fighting us for the moment. Frieza is the last person I would want to get their hands on the Dragonballs. Honestly, depending on what you're planning to wish for, I'm not exactly opposed to you getting a wish. So long as the Namekian approves of it.” 

Kara was silent for a second before she looked away. “I can't say. It's a classified secret.” 

I was almost certain it was to unexplode Krypton in that case. Or maybe wish You-Know-Who out of existence. I would be perfectly fine with either, really. Enough so that I'd be willing to plead their case to Dendan, if needed. Assuming that the Dragonballs restore their power once a year for another wish… This felt like a situation where everyone could win, except for Frieza. Largely because if he won in any capacity, then I automatically lost. Likewise, if Frieza lost, then I automatically won. 

“Shame. Well, maybe you'll have better luck next time,” I said, looking to Caulifla, to see her nod. That got Kara's attention. 

“Next time? You… aren't going to kill me?” She said, a strangled gasp in her throat like we might change our minds the moment she brought it up.

And it wasn't like I didn't understand where she was coming from. I'm not sure I would go as far as to say she had really been trying to kill me, but she had absolutely stopped pulling her punches during the fight. “Nah. You were fun to fight. I had to cheat to win, so the next time, I'll beat you fairly,” I told her as Caulifla brought us up into the air. 

Kara watched us, her lone visible eye losing the fear entirely as the tension bled out of her. 

And it would have been really nice if our troubles had ended there, but I sensed the arrival of Jeice above us. Even if I hadn't been able to sense him, Kara's widening eye would have told me that he had arrived. He announced his presence with a low dark sounding chuckle that promised violence, “Recoome was right. You betrayed us.” 

Ah. Suppose that cat is out of the bag. 

Caulifla turned us to face Jeice, and I saw that he was worse for wear. Still alive, which was a feat considering who he was fighting, but he hadn't escaped the battle unscathed. She snorted up at him, “We had to be on your side in the first place to betray you,” she pointed out.

Jeice's lips pulled back in a snarl that bared his bloody teeth, “Then die alongside the others!” He snapped at us, slapping his hands together and the arms of his suit began to merge into what I could only describe as a massive gun. An ominous glow emerged at the back of the barrel, and I could sense it now. I could feel the ki in the attack swelling rapidly -- climbing from the tens of thousands to the hundreds of thousands, to the millions. 

“Caulifla…!” I exclaimed, a note of alarm entering my voice. 

“I got it!” She replied, using her free hand to form a Riot Javelin. It swelled alongside the climbing blast that was coming our way, the swirling blue energy ready to meet Jeice's attack. 

“DIE!” He shouted, and there was a dull roar in the air before he fired the blast. It was massive, completely dominating my vision. It was greater than the blast I blocked to save Tamaran's capital a hundred times over. Yet, Caulifla was confident as she threw the Riot Javelin up and it sank into the blast. I could almost see it travel up the stream of the attack, a faint glow that was quickly lost to the naked eye. 

But I sensed it still moving straight to Jeice, who roared wordlessly, completely ignorant of what was about to happen. 

I felt the exact moment the Riot Javelin struck. The gun that Jeice fired at us immediately imploded, causing whatever amped up his energy attacks to go haywire. I thought I heard a brief scream of fear before I sensed Jeice's presence to vanish in the wake of an explosion. 

“Hold on!” Caulifla shouted, raising a hand as she backed down to the ground. I'm not sure if she did it on purpose or not, but she scooped up Kara as she formed a ki barrier between us and the following explosion that prematurely detonated the ki blast Jeice had already fired at us. 

Caulifla roared with effort as we were sent flying by the explosion that detonated like a million nukes all going off at once. I could feel the presences around us getting erased, either from the explosion or by the ensuing shockwave that seemed to carry us in its wake. Though it was more difficult than usual with all the energy in the air, I sensed both Faora and Burter dropping their fight and fleeing from the blast, far more cleanly than we were. There was no hope of controlling our destination, so Caulifla didn't even try, simply putting all of her energy into the barrier around us. 

However, slowly, the impact wore off, as did the light from the explosion. I couldn't tell if it was seconds or minutes, only that when I looked beyond the barrier -- I only saw devastation. There was a hole in the continent, and I could see a tide of water that was spilling into it from the ocean. I swallowed a lump in my throat, realizing just how powerful that explosion had been. 

I wasn't the only one. “You saved my life…” Kara whispered, her face bloodless. 

“Course I did! How else are we supposed to get a rematch if you're dead, dummy?” Caulifla said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “But now we really gotta go. So, see ya’!” With that, she dropped the ki barrier and Kara yelped in surprise as she suddenly found herself falling, still weakened from the red sun. She was shouting the entire way down. 

“I think that blast carried us to our Attack Balls,” Caulifla noted while I frowned. The blast had altered the landscape a fair bit, and even before that, the whole forest seemed to be on fire. Smoke made things hazy, but I think she was right -- it had blown us in the general direction of our Attack Balls. 

I closed my eyes, spreading my awareness, but… “I don't sense them,” I said, my voice sounding weak to my own ears. Caulifla glanced at me as we blasted forth, her brow furrowing. 

“Whaddaya’ mean? I sensed them,” Caulifla said, but I shook my head as we rapidly closed in on the position of the others. However, they weren’t the ones that I was talking about.

I could see Kori, and she was different. Her hair glowed with power while the end of it looked like it was on fire. Cabba and Raditz were both unconscious, lying on the ground. Cabba in particular looked like he was in rough shape with Kori tending to his wounds. She glanced up, her eyes filled with relief. “You are okay!” 

“We are,” I confirmed, looking around. “We have the Dragonball… but I don't sense Jaco or Dendan,” I pointed out as Caulifla dropped me and I found that I just barely had enough strength to stand. Though, mostly because I was using my tail to prop me up. 

At that, Kori wore an open grimace and I knew exactly what I was about to hear. 

“I'm afraid both Jaco and Dendan were captured,” Kori answered, producing a data pad that had a simple and short message written on it. 

‘Found by Kryptonians.’ 

“Well… shit.”