Land of Korin
April 3, A763

"Wow, I didn't know Yajirobe had that much power," Gine said.

"He's not to be underestimated. He might be a coward, but he's a natural fighter," Piccolo said. They were beelining for his location; his power-flare was conspicuous, and they wanted to make sure he was okay, but it also helped cover their own power levels.

The red flare of energy could be seen for miles around; they certainly didn't need to sense his energy, but it was spiking higher than Lord Slug when he'd fought Freeza's third form.

They flew into the clearing,and found that Yajirobe was not alone. A brown-skinned shirtless young man pointed a spear at them and took a defensive stance.

"Easy," Gine held up her hands, "Easy, it's okay, we're friends of Yajirobe's."

The young man relaxed, and put his spear up, "My name is Upa. He mentioned that some of his friends might come. He wanted me to flee, but after he saved me, I refused to leave him behind."

"You should still run!" Yajirobe said with a grunt, "I don't know how long I can keep this up! The Kaioken isn't meant to be run this long or this high!"

"Why are you doing this, Yajirobe?" Chi Chi asked.

"I have to! I saw what those people did to Upa's father, and how it turned him crazy! It was everything I could do to protect Upa from them! Then they bit me! It's like an infection!" Yajirobe pulled at his collar, showing where he'd been bit, "So I figured, the body runs a fever to kill infections, and Kaioken is the hottest thing going!"

"You've been like this for over an hour, Yajirobe. If the injection doesn't kill you, Kaioken will!" Piccolo said.

"Then I'll die, I've already done it once! But I'm not going to hurt anyone!" Yajirobe said.

"Yajirobe, if Kaioken eradicates the infection, you've more than burned it out. And if you do turn, we'll knock you out, and when we're ready to cure you, we'll come back," Gine said.

Yajirobe hesitated, and glanced to Upa, who nodded to him.

"All right...Here I go! Turning off Kaiken in one...Two...Two and half...Three!"

The red flare of Kaioken came to an end.

"AH NOW I'M GONNA BE COMPELLED TO EAT YOU I'M SO SORRY EVERYONE!" Yajirobe yelped, recoiling away from them. Everyone stared at the Samurai, who shuddered away from the others.

Nothing happened.

"Are you feeling murderous?" Gine asked.

"No…"

"Not even a little bitey?" Chi Chi chuckled.

"Well, now that you mention it…" Yajirobe patted at his belly, "I'm pretty hungry."

"Actually, Yajirobe, you're not just hungry, you're thin!" Gohan pointed to him.

"Wait, what?" Yajirobe patted at his chest, and realized that his gut had flattened out. He felt at his cheeks, and realized that, while he did have a bit of sagging skin, it wasn't as puffy as it had been before.

"I can't believe this," Piccolo groaned, "Using Kaioken like that for so long should have killed you, but instead it just burned away all your fat!"

"Aww, man, I spent a lot of years building up that gut! Now I gotta start all over," Yajirobe huffed.

"THAT IS NOT THE TAKEAWAY!" Piccolo yelled.

"Well, I guess the bite didn't take once I went Kaioken, so I think I'm good now," Yajirobe said, "Boy, am I glad I paid attention to King Kai after I died!"

"We should have left you to run Snake Way on your own," Piccolo grumbled.

"We're going up onto the Lookout to talk to Kami and Tien about the attack. Would you like to join us?" Gine asked. Yajirobe shook his head.

"I was with Korin when we got attacked. They knocked me off the tower, and that's when they attacked Upa and his father. If they're causing trouble elsewhere, that means they've already taken the Lookout," Yajirobe said.

"Damn," Gine hissed.

Piccolo said, "At least this way we know where Garlic Junior is. If we can get to him and release Kami, he'll find a way to help Nappa and Bora and anyone else affected by the Black Water Mist. We don't have time for anything other than victory, right now."

"Well you can count me out. I fought those things once, and I ain't doing it again," Yajirobe said.

"But Yajirobe, what about Korin?" Upa asked, "You said he was up there when you fell off! He could still be in trouble!"

"Well, he's! He's a clever cat, he...He, uh…" Yajirobe took a deep breath, "You're right…"

"Upa, can you help Gohan, Cargo, and Chi Chi find a place to hide? If we've succeeded, we'll be at the bottom of the tower," Gine said.

Upa nodded, "I wish I could fight, but…"

Gine smiled at him, "We'll make sure you can if you'd like. But right now, we need you to stay safe, okay?"

He nodded, and turned to the others, "Come on, I know the perfect place."

Gine looked to Yajirobe, "You ready?"

"No, but let's do it," Yajirobe said, "By the way, I still can't fly."

Piccolo let out a groan.

XXX

Kami's Lookout

"Having fun there, cousin?" Zorn chuckled to King Vegeta. The King just had a glazed look in his eye, focusing on nothing. Tienshinhan looked to Zorn and flashed his fangs, hissing at him. Zorn scoffed at him, but left Tien to return to his tormenting.

"I still have a hard time believing that a low-class like your son would have become the Super Saiyan," Zorn said to Bardock, "You're all just so pathetic, getting beaten by that low-class wench! His mother no less! She was just pulling your leg."

"She beat you and slipped away," Fasha said, "Besides, between all of us, who actually managed to find their target? Your boasting betrays your stupidity."

"Don't you talk to me like that!" Zorn snarled.

"Enough!" Spice called out, "I'm sick of your bickering! If Lord Garlic wanted you to fight, he'd have commanded one of you torn apart."

Zorn clicked his tongue and turned to the Makyan, "You're lucky your master is offering such a darling of a deal, or I'd have fed you your own entrails for talking to me like that."

"If you want to do that to Zorn, Spice, I won't stop you," Fasha said.

"I said, enough!" Spice hissed, "You're lucky Lord Garlic has noticed you at all!"

"Whether or not Kakarot really is a Super Saiyan doesn't matter, Zorn," Bardock said, "At least not right now. We need this power to defeat Gine and Piccolo right now. If Kakarot did become the Super Saiyan, we'll need it when he gets here, too, or he'll hunt us all down and kill us. And if Gine and Piccolo were lying, it won't matter anyway."

"Once we're alive, I'm finding the power for myself, and we won't need anyone but my power!" Zorn scoffed, "And you can all bow before your new king!"

"It's always healthy to have goals in life. And death, I suppose," Garlic Junior said, approaching them and holding a clay pot. He set it down before all the Saiyans.

"What's this? We having a spitting contest?" Sesamee asked.

"As amusing as it would be to watch you desecrate Kami's things, no. In this pot are tokens which will grant you all the power you need to defeat our enemies. So long as you keep them on your person, of course. Once we're finished, return them here, and you'll receive your reward," Garlic Junior explained.

"More magic, more layers, more mystery," Nion said, "With all due respect, Garlic, you said this about the Black Water Mist and the Makyo Star. It made us more powerful, but not nearly as much as we needed. What assurances do you have this is going to be enough?"

"Your impudence continues to grate on us," Spice said. Garlic Junior held up his hand to silence him.

"Your concerns are valid. You're right, we underestimated our enemies. If I had time, I would have ensured you'd gotten everything you needed from the Makyo Star. But we don't have time, so I went to an interested party to provide assistance," Garlic Junior said.

"Wait, there's someone else involved in all this?" Fasha said, stepping forward.

"As I said, they're an interested party, invested in our success. They stand to gain by our victory, and agreed to help fill in this unexpected gap," Garlic Junior said.

"No way, I'm not dealing with this shadowy, layer-in-layer crap. I'm out," Fasha said.

"Very well. You're welcome to return to Hell," Garlic Junior gestured to the Lookout's buildings, one of which would return her to the Otherworld, "I'm sure that King Kai would be interested in hearing of your adventures here, of course."

Fasha stood in place, and clenched her fists, staring daggers at Garlic Junior, whose passive, almost friendly face was beginning to irritate her. With a grunt, she walked over to the clay pot, and stuck her hand in it. She grasped one of the stones, and looked at it.

"This is just a rock with a weird symbol on-" she started, and then let out a scream. All the Saiyans took half a step toward her as she clutched her face and stomped about blindly.

"What did you do to her?" Bardock demanded.

"Such power from such sources can sting a bit when taken in such quantity," Garlic Junior said, "Have no fear, she's going to be much better in a moment."

Fasha stopped moving about, and began to laugh, "You're right! Oh, wow! The power, I can hardly believe this!"

Nion took a step back, being the one facing Fasha, a horrified look on her face. Fasha turned to Garlic Junior, a crazed look on her face.

"This is such a gift, I can hardly believe it! You should have led with this! It's so much! That weakling doesn't stand a chance!" Fasha said. The 'M' on the stone had disappeared, and had moved to her forehead.

"Like I said, there's nothing to fear," Garlic Junior gestured to the pot, "Victory is in our clutches."

Zorn walked up to the pot next, and took his stone. He grunted and wheezed, but did not scream and run amok like Fasha. They could see the 'M' burn into his forehead.

"You weren't kidding! This is amazing! I feel like I could do anything!" Zorn laughed. Nion shook her head.

"Bardock, I know you've been willing to sacrifice a lot for our goal, but look at this," Nion said, "I spent my life trying to understand how our people work, how we gain power. This is an insult to who we are! An insult to what low-class Saiyans like ourselves can accomplish. I won't take this kind of shortcut, and neither should you! Please!"

Sesamee said, "She's right. I saw what that woman was capable of. What Nion has done. If a Low-Class warrior can accomplish that, we don't need magic and shortcuts like this."

Bardock looked over his shoulder to King Vegeta's torment, and then to the jar.

"If we do this, you'll still bring all of us to life, even if they don't help? Even King Vegeta?" Bardock asked Garlic Junior. The Makyan lord smiled.

"All I care about are results. If you think you can do this without them, then fine. I'll bring them back to life, too," Garlic Junior assured him. Bardock stuck his hand into the pot, and grabbed a stone. When his hand was out of the jar, the M was already on his forehead.

"Since the two of you won't be joining your comrades, you have no use for your connection to the Makyo Star, either," Garlic Junior said, waving his hand. Sesamee and Nion's fangs disappeared out of their mouths, and they could feel the power seeping out of them, and the pull of the Makyo Star disappeared.

"You're soft, Bardock," Zorn said, "If they're too frightened of power to join us, then they don't deserve to be called Saiyans, much less come back to life and pose as being one of us."

"Shut up," Bardock said, taking off his Scouter, "They're here."

Three figures floated up over the surface of the Lookout, and they landed, facing the Saiyans and the Makyans. Garlic Junior let out a cackle.

"Why Piccolo! How wonderful it is to see you again! As you can see, I've prepared a party just for you. Bardock, Zorn, Fasha? Kill them," Garlic Junior ordered.