Chapter One-Hundred-And-One: Just When Things Couldn't Get Any Worse…
On the other side of Magan…

It was nighttime in Magan, and the sapphire stars winked and sparkled in the ebony satin sky. Ten of the hundreds of streetlights in Magan still worked, and they were glowing, illuminating what they could of the darkened city. King Kitchator had put the entire city under a curfew, and everyone was now inside. It was windy outside, and the leaves, trash, and other debris danced and twirled along the broken streets. The wind, at thirty miles per hour, was so powerful that it seemed that a giant was huffing and puffing throughout the city. All of the trashcans were toppled over, and the garbage had now joined the other litter and debris in their blinding dances along the concrete. All businesses were closed, except for a makeshift CRP station and makeshift firefighter station, which were now both in a building that once housed a bank headquarters.

Many of the skycars were now piled up in huge, twisted, colored heaps of metal and glass, and most of the dead bodies that had been found were now piled into any remaining garbage trucks to later be identified (hopefully) and then buried. The city streets in the bad parts of Magan was illuminated brightly, thanks to the piles of burning Saibamen corpses that reeked of spoiled meats. Green smoke emitted from the burning Saibamen bodies, and all of the men attending the fires were wearing gas masks. They and the CRP officers were the only ones left patrolling the streets. No women or children were out anywhere.

Captain Qatar, having been informed by Lieutenant Balboun of General Norbrook's treachery, had become the temporary leader of the CRP officers. He had ordered a citywide patrol to find any remaining members of Frieza's forces. Captain Qatar's orders: Kill first and ask questions later.

While Captain Qatar was barking orders to his men, King Kitchator and Prince Julien joined him. Captain Qatar immediately bowed down before them before the king gestured with a hand for him to rise. King Kitchator's proud, regal head was hanging down, like the head of a dying flower, and his eyes were bloodshot. Julien was somber, the full realization of Ridikar's death finally hitting him. Captain Qatar noticed their moods; he hated to add to whatever sorrow they were feeling by telling them of Norbrook's betrayal. He also noticed that Filcor Sedemeyer was with them.

"My king," Captain Qatar addressed King Kitchator quietly. "Are you and Prince Julien well?"

Barely able to keep the tears in his aged eyes from forming, King Kitchator sighed heavily, "No, Captain, I'm not. My grandson, Prince Julien, and Sedemeyer have informed me of Prince Ridikar's death. It seems that my beloved Ridikar died while protecting Princess Tayla Chloe, my niece-by-marriage, from an attack from one of Frieza's women."

Captain Qatar said mournfully, as he held his head down in respect. "I am sorry, my king; my condolences to you and Prince Julien and all of your family. Prince Ridikar was a fine young man, and we all will greatly miss him. He would have made a fine ruler in his father's place, my king."

King Kitchator said softly, "Yes, Captain, he would have. It was hard enough to lose my Amitar, but Ridikar's death seems to be far the worse; all Calmag was looking to him to lead them after Amitar's death. And now Julien here must take his place, but I am sure that Prince Julien will do well. Fate is cruel; it is not right that she took both Amitar and Ridikar from us."

"Ah, Fate can be such a wench," Captain Qatar agreed. "But at least, she has spared Prince Julien and Prince Naykiar. Speaking of Prince Naykiar, where is he?"

"Ah," King Kitchator said wearily. "Julien has sent Naykiar to inform Caline of Ridikar's death. The poor girl's going to take it very hard, for at one time, she and Ridikar were very close, and it seems that they had reconciled, from what Lieutenant Balboun told me earlier. But something is coming up that will surely help to distract Caline from her grief."

"And what would that be, my king?"

King Kitchator gave a small smile, and he patted Filcor Sedemeyer's shoulder companionably. "She is soon to marry Filcor Sedemeyer, if we all survive this war. Filcor Sedemeyer here has served us well, and I never understood as to why Ridikar broke his engagement to Caline. I had no problem with Julien reinstating the betrothal; Caline does not need to be without a husband, for she has mourned Alberm Dunlop long enough."

"But Your Highness, Alberm Dunlop has been dead for less than two weeks that we know of," Captain Qatar protested. "Isn't it a little soon to betroth Princess Caline to someone else so soon?"

"It was my son, Prince Amitar, who had betrothed Caline and Sedemeyer to begin with. Sedemeyer deserves a reward for his services, and I am honoring my oldest son's wishes."
Captain Qatar spoke, "Your Highness, I know that Princess Caline's wishes do not matter in this, but I have heard that she was strongly against marrying Sedemeyer here, and Prince Ridikar agreed with her and broke the engagement. With due respect to Sedemeyer, I am not so sure that I am comfortable with forcing the girl to marry someone that she seems to fear and despise."

"She will learn to be happy with me, or else!" Filcor Sedemeyer snarled out of turn.

"Sedemeyer, you forget your place," King Kitchator rebuked. "You will get your Caline, I promise you, no matter what."

"Your Highness…" Captain Qatar began, uncertain as to what he would say next. Captain Qatar was one of the more liberal men in the CRP, as in he treated females with more respect than most of his cohorts. He had three daughters whom he had allowed to choose their own husbands, and he was one of the minority of men on Calmag that did not believe in forcing girls to marry men that they did not want to be with. He also believed that females would be happier in marriages, if they were married to men that they at least liked. And he also felt that men would be happier with wives that actually wanted to be with them. Captain Qatar had lost his own beloved wife, Hayle, five years ago, but he had fallen in love again-with Zilly Fedamare, whom Lieutenant Saychelle had brought to him for protective custody. Zilly's fiancé and immediate family were dead, so there was no one to object when Zilly had willingly become engaged to Qatar, whom she had become immediately attached to.

Qatar pulled on his collar, as beads of sweat slid down his middle-aged face. "Your Highness, I must protest this; I know that it's none of my concern whom you marry Princess Caline off to, but I don't feel that it's right to force her marriage to Sedemeyer, especially all that Princess Caline did to save us."

Before King Kitchator could speak, Caline snapped at Captain Qatar, "Listen here, Qatar! I am to be the next king after my grandfather, and unless he overrides me, what I say goes! I reinstated my sister's engagement to Sedemeyer, and marry him she will, even if I have to drag her down the altar in chains! I don't need to be burdened with her, especially when I will need to learn all of the royal duties that my father and Ridikar would have done. And furthermore-"

Julien did not get to finish his speech, for at that moment, Captain Qatar's communication radio beeped, and Captain Qatar answered it. "Yes?"

"Lieutenant Saychelle speaking, Captain. We have problems…some men have burglarized a sweetshop."

"Saychelle, we have bigger things to worry about than some men's appetites for sweets. Send a couple of privates to arrest them immediately."

"Captain, you don't understand! The men involved are from Frieza's forces-reported to be from the Ginyu Force that had helped to take the hostages!"

Captain Qatar nearly choked, as he wheezed, "Th-thank you, Saychelle! Do not have any of your men attack them until I give the order! Signing off now."

"What's going on?" King Kitchator demanded to know.

"Frieza's men are in Magan again, Your Highness. The ones known as the Ginyu Force."
King Kitchator grumbled every curse word in every galactic language that he knew of.








At the invaded sweetshop…

Zarbon had ordered the Ginyu Force members to track down the remaining Astorians and destroy them, but of course the fearless Ginyu Force members just had to eat and practice their poses first.

They had raided an abandoned candy shop called "Sweet Treats", and were now feasting on the many candies before preparing for battle (of course, their ideas of preparing consisted mainly of posing). All of them were sitting in the display window, making gluttons out of themselves. Reccoom was munching down on a giant chocolate telope covered in green nuts that were popular in Magan. Guido was shoving milk chocolate bars that were shaped like trees into his huge mouth while Jeice, who rarely ever ate chocolate ("bad for my skin!") was slurping giant ropes of Calmagian licorice (which came only in bizarre colors like electric blue, neon yellow, and neon green).

Baata, who enjoyed sour candies, was puckering his lips and gulping down water after eating a dozen cases of rainbow candy bars that tasted of strong flavors such as sour cherry, sour apple, and sour lime. Of course the Calmagians called those flavors by different names than what Earthlings would normally call them. On Calmag, the flavor and scent of apple was known as the flavor and scent of "elppa" (pronounced "elp-PA") and cherry would have been called "yrrehc" (pronounced "yer-RECH"), and so on.

The men had temporarily stopped their feasting after Jeice received a scouter message.
"Cap'n Ginyu's not comin' back," Jeice informed the other Ginyu Force members. "I just got a message from him sayin' that he's leavin' Calmag to get to the medical ship. Apparently, Shalila Chloe convinced her Namek hubby to blast Cap'n almost to death."

"Now who's gonna lead our poses?" Reccoom wanted to know.

"I will!" Jeice declared.

"Why should it be you?" Guido asked.

"'Cause I'm the most graceful and athletic," Jeice pointed out to him.

"Says who?" Reccoom wanted to know.

"Says me," Jeice told him.

"I vote for Jeice," Baata spoke up.

"I'd want to lead for once," Reccoom protested.

"Same here," Guido added.

"You two couldn't lead Dodoria to a seven-course meal," Baata pointed out. "But if we're going to do our poses, we'll need to do them soon 'fore our dear Head Commander and Lord Frieza both have a conniption."

"Ginyu Force members rise!" Jeice ordered, and the other three Squad members arose, Reccoom and Guido reluctantly. "Poses now!"

"GUIDO!"

"JEICE!"

"BAATA!"

"RECCOOM!"

"WE ARE THE GINYU FORCE…EVEN WITHOUT CAP'N GINYU!"

All of these calls were accompanied with elaborate spread-eagle poses that could fit well in any ballet-if the ballet consisted of only clowns for dancers.

"Now!" Jeice commanded. "We have a city to clear and Astories to take care of…except for the two pretty blonde Astorie women that I made the moves on earlier…if anyone finds them, capture them for me!"

"Whatever, Jeicey," Baata sighed and rolled his eyes.









Back at the hotel in Magan…

Tayla slept peacefully still under her blue dome, completely oblivious to her surroundings. She would not awaken until Toria's healing spell finished its work on her, and that would not be for another thirty minutes or so. Caline and Naykiar came out of the closet.

"Are you two okay?" Kekron asked them when they had emerged from the closet.

Caline panted, "Yes, but is Bendros really going to fight Zarbon?"

"Zarbon is dangerous; we saw what he did to some of our grandfather's guards," Naykiar gasped. "And one man thinks that he can fight him?"

"Bendros is very strong…he is an Intergalacticpol officer taking a temporary leave of absence," Kekron told them as confidently as he could.

"I hope that he knows what he's doing," Naykiar persisted. "You yourself saw what this Zarbon was capable of."

"Yes, I did," Kekron told him. "But Bendros and many of my family members are strong, and they surely can stop Zarbon before he hurts anyone else."

Caline hurried to the sleeping Tayla, and she hovered protectively near her friend. She watched Tayla worriedly and asked, "Is there any way that we can move her, so that we can hide her somewhere safe?"

"I don't know," Kekron told her honestly. "Great-Aunt Toria didn't say that we couldn't touch the dome, but she didn't say that we could either." Kekron himself was afraid to touch the ominous-looking dome.

Naykiar quickly looked under the bed skirt of the bed that Tayla was laying on. He cried out with relief, "We can move her! Almost all hotel beds these days are on wheels, like hospital beds! These beds were made, so that the elderly, small children, or the handicapped in the hotels could be moved out quickly in case of fire! These beds are easy to move, even on the carpets!"

"Good thinking," Kekron told him. "Do you think that you two can help me move Tayla's bed?"

Caline and Naykiar nodded eagerly.

"Okay, Naykiar you get on one end, and Caline and I will get on the other. Be careful not to touch the dome. We can take her to an elevator and hide her in the basement downstairs."

Caline and Naykiar hurried to follow Kekron's instructions, and they were clinging to the ends of the bed. "How long will it be before she heals?" Caline asked worriedly.

"Not too long, I hope," Kekron assured her, as all three of them began to wheel Caline's bed across the thin carpet. Caline ran to open the door, and then she rejoined the two boys in wheeling Tayla out of Toria's room. Frantically, they wheeled Tayla and her bed down to the nearest elevator.

"Once Princess Tayla heals completely, she'll be able to fight again, right? And the dome will go away?" Naykiar asked, as the elevator doors opened.

"That's what Great-Aunt Toria told Bendros and I," Kekron replied. He silently prayed that Toria's healing spell would do its magic soon, as he, Caline, and Naykiar entered the elevator with Tayla in her bed. Naykiar pressed a button to go down to the basement below.









On the way down to the hotel basement…

Kekron cursed when the elevator stopped on the twenty-fifth floor of the fifty-story hotel. When the door opened, Rojal and Dedron entered, and Kekron sighed unhappily. Those two were just he needed; even with Rojal's improving attitude, Kekron still did not like to be around him or Dedron any more than necessary. Naykiar nodded politely to the two boys. Caline watched them warily; Rojal had been courteous to the little Calmagian princess, but Caline had seen the way that he and Dedron had both treated Tayla in the past. Dedron had not been cruel to Caline (Rojal had warned him in advance not to mistreat the girl), but Riccan hadn't hesitated to tell Caline about Dedron's part in having Ridikar kidnap Tayla.

Caline felt that maybe she could get along with Rojal, but she was rightfully uneasy around Dedron. She was aware of how cruel Dedron could be, but she did not know that Dedron himself had developed an interest in her; she would have run from the elevator had she known that Dedron had now joined the ranks of her admirers.

Neither Kekron nor Caline were aware that Dedron was now interested in courting Caline when she grew older. Dedron knew of Rojal and Kekron's interest in little Caline, and at first, he was for Rojal having Caline for himself. (Dedron looked down on Kekron and thought that he was too much of a weakling to be a good match for Caline; actually he had always held his peaceful cousin in contempt because Kekron did not normally fight.) Then Dedron had started to pay more notice to Caline while she had been in the labyrinths with him and his family and the CRP officers, and he had noticed her unusual maturity at her age, as well as her delicate beauty. Sure, he couldn't touch her now because she was still a child (and he was wise enough to know that most of his relatives would kill him, if he bothered her at this time), but Caline would be old enough in a few years for courting. And Caline had already been initiated sexually, thanks to the hated and deceased Alberm Dunlop of Rendor.

The huge, burly Astorian warrior smiled slowly to himself at that thought; Caline in a few years would be easier to couple with than some inexperienced virgin. He himself already had plenty of sexual experience with females since he had been about fourteen; his promiscuity was something that would not have been approved of among his Clan members, since he was still unmarried. He had often slept with some of the teenaged female servants of the Palace of Chloe, and he could be charming with them when he wanted to be-that was until he decided that he was no longer interested in them. The four female servants that he had slept with all had the same things in common: they were unusually beautiful, mannerly and sweet-tempered, and they all had pale skin, fair blond hair and large, mesmerizing blue eyes. Dedron only liked blondes; brunettes and redheads he would not even consider. And on Calmag before the war began, Dedron had coupled with two more lovely blond, blue-eyed lasses, charming them into bed and then jilting them just when they were starting to care for him. He had been carrying on with a married girl named Ruschelle for two weeks before the war before Ruschelle had to go home to Hensley to her aged, impotent husband. Ruschelle would have gladly ran away with Dedron, but Dedron, tiring of her at that time, had threatened to tell her husband, if she ever bothered him again.

Looking intently at her, he flashed a private smile at Caline, but she became ill at ease immediately and moved closer to Kekron for protection. Dedron looked away from her and smirked.

"What happened to Tayla?" Rojal asked, looking at Tayla still sleeping under the dome. "And what is that blue thing over her?"

"It's one of Great-Aunt Toria's healing spells," Kekron explained. "But I have no time to elaborate; we have to move her to the basement. Zarbon knows she's here, and Bendros left to fight him."

"Then why are we taking her to the basement?" Rojal pointed out. "Why not take her out of the hotel altogether? Zarbon and his cohorts will tear up this hotel searching for her and possibly kill everyone in the process."

"Where are we going to move her?" Kekron wanted to know. The elevator was now on the twentieth floor, and it continued to descend.

"The labyrinths?" Caline suggested.

"Good thought, but Frieza's men knows about them now, and that will be one of the first places they'll look," Rojal told her.

Naykiar spoke up, "We can use the labyrinths briefly to go to this underground bomb shelter not too far from the hotel. It would only take about ten minutes. There will probably be people hiding there, but there should be enough room for us and Tayla."

"How will we enter the labyrinths from here?" Dedron demanded to know. All the boys looked to Caline, who knew the labyrinths better than any of them. Caline closed her eyes, trying to think about the way; Ridikar had taken her to the bomb shelter two years ago.

But before Caline could fully remember, the elevator stalled, stopping at a complete halt, and the lights went out. Caline shrieked, and Dedron nearly fell onto Rojal, who had been standing near him. Kekron and Naykiar froze. Kekron frantically pushed at the buttons, but they did not work, and the elevator was completely dark, except for the glowing blue dome over Tayla. Not even the once lighted elevator buttons were lit. The air-conditioning in the elevator was no longer working.

"Electricity's gone out," Naykiar said needlessly.

"No, really?" Dedron muttered sarcastically. "I thought that your deity must have been pulling a prank."

Caline trembled and shook. "I don't like it being so dark," she whispered shakily. She could feel Kekron still near her, and she huddled closer to him. "Kekron, would you hold me, please?" she asked fearfully.

"Su-sure," Kekron told her, trying to remain calm, as he took her into his arms. Caline clung to him, as they neared Tayla's bed. Tayla continued to sleep, as the blue dome gave off what light it could, casting a faded blueberry light upon all of occupants.

Rojal tried to push the elevator buttons, but again they would not work. "Curses, we're trapped," he grumbled. "Now what?"

"Don't you people have emergency generators?" Dedron asked Naykiar.

Naykiar sighed, "We're supposed to, and this hotel was running on one, but apparently that one must have died just now."

"How will we get out of here now?" Caline wanted to know.

"We may have to blast our way out," Dedron replied.

"If we blast our way out, we'll be sending ourselves to an early grave," Kekron told him. "And Caline and Naykiar cannot fly. And what do we do about Tayla?"
"Tayla's the least of my concerns," Dedron scoffed. "And as for Caline and Naykiar, we can carry them. I'll be happy to take Caline."

Caline's scared expression told exactly what she thought about Dedron's last idea, and Kekron noticed it, even in the dim light, and spoke, "If we have to abandon the elevator, I will take her."

"And I can take Naykiar," Rojal added. "One of us can blast a hole in the roof of the elevator, and then we can-"

Caline interrupted, "What about Tayla? Who's going to carry her out? How will we get her out of here?"

Rojal mumbled something unintelligible under his breath, and finally he spoke up, "She's right. How are we going to get Caline, Naykiar and Tayla out? It's going to take at least two of us to carry Tayla's bed out. And how are we going to get her out the elevator?"

"Can't we just break that wretched blue thing covering her?" Dedron asked impatiently. He lightly tapped it with his right index finger, but the ki force field was solid, like a Shield Field. Sparks of electricity flew off of Dedron's finger, but of course, electricity could not hurt him. The electrifying dome, however, could easily shock Caline or Naykiar.

Dedron growled and tried to stab it with his sword, but the ki dome was durable, and his sword would not even scratch the surface. Finally Rojal told him to give it up, and he turned to Kekron.

"What are we going to do now?" Naykiar asked, after he tried to make an emergency call from the elevator with no success. The phone line was down. "I can't call out."

Dedron said edgily to Kekron, "Kek, you're a technical genius; can't you fix the elevator?"

"Not without electricity, I can't," Kekron pointed out, a bit impatiently. "It's not the elevator or the control panel; the electricity must have gone out in the entire building."
Rojal and Dedron cursed, and Naykiar sighed in great frustration. Caline was still holding onto Kekron, and Tayla was still sleeping under her protective healing dome. Kekron finally sat down under the elevator panel, trying to think. Caline sat down with him, still clinging to him. She rested her head on his shoulder and began to tremble. Kekron took her hand and squeezed it gently to calm her-and himself.

Caline hung onto his hand tightly, and she whispered shakily, "Are all of us are going to be able to get out of here, even Tayla?"

Kekron smoothed her hair with his free hand and held her closer. As uncertain as he was, he said bravely to Caline, "We will, Caline, don't worry; we'll figure out something."

Caline hugged him tighter and drew comfort from his presence. Kekron allowed himself a brief smile; he found Caline's presence as comforting to him, as his presence seemed to be to her. Rojal, who had now formed a small ki ball in his hand to give more light to the enclosed elevator, watched them intensely, and Dedron scowled, as he too made a ki ball and watched the pair. Exactly what did that weakling cousin have that he didn't? Caline should be clinging to him like that. Rojal was wise enough to know that Caline was still a little girl, and that she only saw Kekron as a good friend and older brother type, but even he envied his cousin Caline's attention and trust.

"BOOM!"

Suddenly, a giant planet-shattering explosion erupted, and the entire building began to shake and tumble, and the shakes were felt in the elevator.

"What the in the universe?" Rojal cried, as the entire elevator shook violently.

Caline screamed, "Someone help us, please!"

"What's going on?" Kekron asked shakily.

Naykiar fell to his knees, trembling, with his hands on the floor. Rojal kicked and pounded the walls in frustration, but of course that didn't do any good. Dedron looked around frantically, as the building continued to shake when another huge explosion erupted near the building, only much closer.

"This is the end!" Naykiar cried. "Frieza's remaining soldiers must have found us!"

"No-no," Kekron tried to assure him, but he, like the others, did not believe the words. Caline cowered closer to Kekron, nearly squeezing the life out of him, as she hid her face in his shoulder.

The elevator continued to shake harder, as if a giant had stepped into the elevator shaft and started to swing the elevator like a yo-yo.









At the same time, on the empty parking lot not too far away…

Zarbon had just fired a powerful ki blast just less than fifty-feet from the hotel, and Bendros had just dodged that blast that was meant for him. Zarbon fired another powerful ki blast from both of his hands, once again missing Bendros, and this time the second one crashed only within twenty feet from the hotel. Bendros flew at him to confront him immediately; he couldn't risk having Zarbon destroy the hotel and its occupants.

Zarbon rained punches and kicks upon Bendros, who was able to match him blow for blow and kick for kick. Zarbon had blasted Bendros's sword out of his hand, and Bendros had had no time to leave Zarbon to retrieve it. He was too concentrated now on keeping the powerful Zarbon at bay.

Bendros shoved his fist into Zarbon's cheek, breaking his cheekbones, and a furious Zarbon punched Bendros hard in his ribs. The Sastorian warrior then fired a small ki blast that forced Zarbon to fall backwards, and when Zarbon fired a ki blast at him, Bendros used Mirror Shield to send Zarbon's blast at him. Zarbon's body was sent crashing into a big, bare tree, and his back collided with a solid trunk. Zarbon quickly recovered, wiping blood off of his lip.

"I'll give you credit, young man; you're holding out much longer than I thought that you would. You're about as strong as the little Tayla is reputed to be; hmm…maybe Lord Frieza should take you as a fighter for him as well. How about it, young man? Someone like you could easily make it into Lord Frieza's Elite? Why, you probably could even compete with Vegeta and the other monkeys that we have working for us? So, what do you say? Let's end this fight, and you can join our side."

Bendros hissed, his face contorting, "No."

Zarbon sighed and smiled. "Don't say that I didn't offer. Shall we continue?"

"Yes," Bendros said quietly.

Zarbon sighed again, no longer smiling, as he crossed his arms majestically. "Young man, why don't you just give up while you still have a body left to breathe in? All you have to do is tell me how to get that dome off of Princess Tayla, and I will take her away and leave the rest of your people alone."

Bendros said coldly, crossing his muscular arms in a manner similar to Zarbon's, "Even if I wanted to tell you, which I don't, I couldn't. She's under a spell that not even you can break. I suggest that you leave."

Zarbon smirked. "I don't think so." And with that, he shot out both of his hands, and began to rapidly fire small ki packets at Bendros's body. Bendros flew into the air to dodge Zarbon's attacks, but Zarbon continued to fire the ki packets straight at him. Bendros deflected them easily with Mirror Shield, deflecting some of them right back onto Zarbon, who cursed when one of his own ki balls scorched his handsome cheek.

He knew then that he would have to take harsher measures, so he fired a medium-sized ki blast at Bendros to distract him. While Bendros was preparing to deflect that attack with Mirror Shield, Zarbon shot a much larger, much more powerful ki blast, which hit Bendros hard, especially in his eye.

Bendros's eye began to feel, as if it were burning in a forest fire. Bendros cried out in pain, covering his eye protectively. Taking advantage of Bendros's distraction, Zarbon zipped into the air and punched Bendros hard in his face before the Sastorian fighter could recover. Before Bendros could respond, Zarbon slammed his fist into Bendros's stomach, and then he flew higher into the air above him. Zarbon clasped his hands together, and then he sent them crashing into the middle of Bendros's back with the force of a falling spike. Bendros's body fell rapidly into the parking lot, crashing into the concrete, creating a hole five feet deep.

Zarbon wasted no time in rapidly firing more ki blasts at Bendros, hoping to kill him. Finally, he opened the palms of his hands and shot out a giant ki blast that had the power of a small missile. The ki rocket shot into the ground-exactly where Bendros had crashed.

"KA-BOOM!"

The entire parking lot exploded into thousands of concrete pieces. Giant shards of blacktop, metal, and other debris scattered from the explosion. A giant, smoky, hazy gray cloud arose from the ashes. Zarbon turned on his scouter after the dust began to settle, and he smiled. His scouter was registering no ki of Bendros's.

"Half-breed monkeys must be so much frailer than the full-blooded kind," he said, chuckling.

Bendros's ki still did not register on the scouter. Zarbon smiled wider.

"That battle was much easier to win than I thought. I didn't expect a monkey to be so easily destroyed. Now to go claim my prize."

And satisfied with himself, he flew back towards the hotel for Tayla.