Chapter One-Hundred-And-Seven: Darkest Hour

In downtown Magan…

Shalila, Dirkan, Bajal, and Cirono were having as hard a time with the Ginyu Force, as Tayla and Bendros were having with Zarbon. Shalila was currently fighting Baata, who proved to be more than a worth challenge for the Superior Gran. Baata had launched his Blue Comet Attack upon Shalila earlier, which Shalila had successfully deflected back onto him using Mirror Shield. Baata's backfiring attack had sent the huge blue minion crashing into a five-story unoccupied apartment building. When Baata crashed into the building, the entire building was destroyed on impact

Unfortunately, Baata didn't remain down for long, for he wasted no time in emerging from the building wreckage to attack Shalila again. He fired his Blue Comet Attack once more, and as the blue ki attack shot after Shalila, Shalila once again used Mirror Shield, but this time she was not as lucky as before, for Baata managed to dodge his own attack, and his ki blast smashed into a bakery and demolished it on contact.

"KA-BOOM!"

Shalila waited a few moments for the dust to settle, and then she flew after Baata again. Baata met her in the air, and a melee of punches and kicks began.








Meanwhile, Dirkan was fighting Reccoom in hand-to-hand combat, with Reccoom having the upper hand; Reccoom was holding Dirkan in a headlock, with Dirkan fighting to get free. The huge giant repeatedly pounded Dirkan hard in the middle of his back with his ham-sized fist, and then he shoved his knee into Dirkan's crotch. Dirkan cried out, as he struggled to break free of Reccoom's viselike grip, but it was useless, especially after Reccoom punched Dirkan hard in his face with his free fist.

The Namek warrior fired several ki blasts at Reccoom's feet, but they didn't seem to affect the giant in the slightest. Reccoom then decided to swing Dirkan around by his neck, using both hands. The Superior Granden was unable to free his hands from Reccoom's tight grip, as Reccoom swung him around and around, as if the Namek was a yo-yo. Reccoom then flung Dirkan into a garbage dumpster, and afterwards, he fired a huge red ki blast after the Namek before he could escape.

















While Dirkan was trying to survive Reccoom's next attack, Cirono was swinging at Jeice with his sword. He even managed to deflect two of Jeice's Red Comet Attacks with his blade, sending one blast at Jeice and another blast colliding into an armored bank car. Jeice was physically stronger than Cirono, but Cirono was equally as fast. However, Jeice did manage to slam both of his fists upon Cirono's arm, forcing Cirono to drop his sword to the ground.
Before Cirono could retrieve his blade, Jeice landed an uppercut to Cirono's jaw, and when Cirono tried again to regain his sword, Jeice punched him hard in his cheek.

But Cirono was equally adept at hand-to-hand combat, as he was at sword fighting, so he obliged Jeice with a nice, swift kick to his ribs. Jeice did cry out, for Cirono's steel-toed boot had managed to dent the side of his armor and crack Jeice's middle rib. Cirono then landed two punches to Jeice's face, as Jeice kneed Cirono in his crotch. Cirono fell back, and then he threw his slight body weight upon Jeice with all of his weight, knocking the red minion off of his boots. Jeice quickly recovered, as he leapt off of the ground and upon Cirono. Cirono then kicked him hard in his shins, but Jeice then seized Cirono's neck and shoved him hard. Cirono was now balancing on one foot, and before he could steady himself, Jeice flew at him, with both fists. One fist crashed into Cirono's jaw, and the other fist landed straight into Cirono's stomach. Cirono fell back, and he tried to block Jeice's attacks, but now Jeice had increased the speed of his punches and kicks, and the Calmagian prizefighter was now hard-pressed to defend himself. He was still holding his own, but Jeice now clearly had the upper hand.














Bajal was the one who was faring the best out of all of his comrades, but then Bajal had the weakest Ginyu Force member to tangle with. He had easily beaten Guido to a pulp, and now the Basin fighter was on the run from Bajal. Guido flew swiftly through the empty streets of Magan, with Bajal in hot pursuit of him, firing various ki attacks. Finally Guido managed to elude Bajal long enough to hide behind a huge garbage truck and hold his breath.

Then time stopped, and Bajal was suspended in mid-air, his palm open with a ki blast only halfway leaving his hand. His jaw was stuck open, and even his hair was standing still. It was as if Bajal was no more than a statue placed in a huge diorama depicting a battle.
Guido tried to hold his breath for just a few more seconds, as he swiftly dashed through the alleyways, trying to get as far away from Bajal as he could. Guido's face was bruised and bloody, and he was missing three teeth. Two of his four eyes were swollen to the size of Earth golf balls, and his mouth was bleeding. Two of his ribs and his thumb were broken. Guido was holding onto his ribs, as he tried to hold his breath for just a little longer.

But finally Guido couldn't hold his breath any longer, and he was forced to breathe again. At that moment, time began again, and Guido was once again on the run. Unfortunately, Guido didn't get to run for long, for at that moment, when he ran into another alleyway, Raakon and Alora were standing there, as if they had been expecting him all along.

"Hello, fish-face," Alora said triumphantly with her slim hands on her slender hips. A wicked smirk rested upon her stern features, as she walked confidently towards Guido.

"He's mine," Alora called to Raakon. "If he gets past me, then he's yours. Okay with you?"

"Fine with me," Raakon told her. "Just don't underestimate him."

Alora laughed. "Believe me, I won't."

Guido paled, especially when he saw Alora's little Saiyan tail. Guido had a secret fear of the Saiyans because any Saiyan had more physical strength than he did, although they did not possess his time-stopping abilities. Guido wisely decided that it was once again time for him to flee, and he turned away from Alora and flew out of the alley, with the Sastorian female warrior in hot pursuit. Raakon followed behind her, even though he would not be fighting Guido himself yet.















At the cliff where Bendros, Tayla, and Zarbon are battling…

Tayla was paler than her own teeth, for she sensed the sudden huge increase in Zarbon's ki. Bendros was now tense and rigid, for he had sensed the rising of Zarbon's power as well. He and Tayla stayed near each other; they were hovering in the air.

And at that inopportune moment, a huge, pale green monster leaped out of the hole where Tayla and Bendros had sent Zarbon into earlier. Tayla nearly shrieked at the sight a huge, hulking Zarbon, who was drooling and growling. Zarbon's armor had amazingly expanded along with his heavy form. He rose into the air immediately to join them.

Lightening crashed in the background, with pink and green streaks dancing and streaking across the dark, threatening sky. Thunder roared loudly, a sound resembling a planet exploding, and then it began to rain heavily upon the three fighters.

"You two will pay for forcing me to do this!" he roared with clenched fists. "Transforming like this takes so much time and energy, not to mention it makes me look like a green Oozaru…ugh! Now who wants to challenge me first?"

Nearly soaked already, Bendros and Tayla both crouched in combat positions. "Tayla," Bendros whispered. "It would be better if we once again attacked him at once-this time with ki attacks. You use either your Blitzer attack, or your Double Janus Bolt attack, and I will either use my Ribbon Coil, or some other strong attack. If we both shoot at him at the same time, we may have a chance."

"Have you ever fought against someone like him before?" Tayla asked.

"Not anyone as strong as him before," Bendros admitted. "He is much stronger than any Saiyan, even me, but together I believe that we can take him. Ready?"

Tayla nodded; she trusted Bendros implicitly. He had been a lieutenant in Intergalacticpol for years, and he knew about strategizing and battle planning better than many of her peers her age. Bendros had been known to save many lives during his Intergalacticpol years because of his brilliance and cunning. Many of his fellow officers would have perished during that time, if it had not been for him.

Bendros held out his hands, launching his Ribbon Coil attack once more, and Tayla launched her Blitzer attack upon Zarbon. Zarbon stood there and smirked, as both powerful ki blasts flew at him and landed upon him. Then Zarbon's smirk turned into a scream of horror, as he was engulfed in a blinding blast of pure light.

"BOOM! CRASH!"

Tayla and Bendros flew into the sky

A huge mushroom cloud arose from the ashes, as the rain continued to pour down from the dark heavens, as if someone up above was wringing a giant rag that was heavily saturated. The rain quickly put out any fires that would have spread from the attacks that Tayla and Zarbon had launched upon Zarbon. The smoke slowly began to dissipate, as heavy raindrops continued to pelt the fighters and the landscape.

"KA-BOOM! CRASH!" The lightening grew louder and louder.

And to make matters worse, Zarbon was standing in the dusty mist, in his second form with his column-like arms crossed. He was grinning, and very little damage had been done to his massive body. He threw back his head and laughed harshly, his cruel laughter mixing and blending in with the deafening thunder. His face was distorted and twisted, and his malicious laughing only added to his ugliness. His eyes now seemed to resemble windows into purgatory. His green hair was now darker, almost black and dirty. The sight of him sent a shiver snaking down Tayla's spine.

"He's-he's barely hurt," she whispered.

"Yes, yes, he is," Bendros gasped in horror. "Our attacks hardly touched him at all."

Zarbon chuckled. "Good try, both of you, and if I had not been in this form, you two might have defeated me. But…it didn't turn out that way. Now it's my turn."
And Zarbon rose into the air, higher and higher above Tayla and Bendros. He put his hands together facedown, and before they could dodge or retreat, two giant streaks of yellow light the size of logs burst forth from his hands and crashed into Tayla and Bendros. And Zarbon didn't stop there; he continued to fire smaller ki blasts upon them.

Tayla and Bendros screamed during the ki assaults, which knocked them both out of the stormy sky back into the cliff. Their bodies crashed into the ground, sending them many feet into the solid earth and rock. Zarbon laughed, as he continued to fire more and more ki blasts upon them, and then to top it all off, he re-released his huge first attack in this round of the battle.

"Say hello to the next dimension for me!" Zarbon cried out, as he continued to shoot ki blasts at them on the ground, like a machine gun.














Under an awning at the Angori Hotel…

"Julien and Filcor, have you gone insane?" King Kitchator roared. His voice matched the rhythm and intensity of the thunder now cracking and booming outside. "We need the Astorians on our side! We must convince them to ally with us!"

"I understand your feelings, Your Majesty," Filcor told the king smoothly, as they stood outside the hotel entrance with Julien. Queen Kildara had gone to join her family a few feet away. "But if it weren't for the Astorians, Frieza's forces would have never bothered us. They mainly came here to Calmag, so that they could take the Princess Tayla for use as one of their soldiers. Your Majesty, if you will remember, I did tell you a few days after this war began that we should have just agreed to surrender Tayla to Frieza's forces. What is one little girl to us when millions of lives were-and still are-at stake? We could still turn the girl over to them."

"Because Tayla was engaged to Ridikar; if Ridikar had lived, Tayla would have been Calmag's next queen!" King Kitchator hissed.

"Sire, thousands to millions of lives of our people have been taken because Frieza's forces were after the Astorians. The Astorians brought this plague down upon us, even if it was indirectly."

Before King Kitchator could respond, Julien spoke up, "Grandfather, Filcor is right! I say that we just let the Astorians finish off Frieza's soldiers and then make them leave Calmag once the war is over!"

"I agree," Filcor told the king. "As long as we are allied with Astoria, we will continue to be a target for Frieza's forces. Frieza's soldiers had never bothered us before, and they wouldn't have came had it not been for Princess Tayla and her family being here on Calmagian soil." Filcor and Julien were unaware that Frieza had planned to have Calmag cleared long before the Astorians had arrived on the planet; the evil tyrant had just been waiting for the right opportunity with Alberm Dunlop's help. With the help of Shalila, Dirkan and Raakon, they had correctly surmised that Alberm Dunlop had purposely led the Astorians onto Calmag, so that Tayla could be abducted and her most powerful family members destroyed. To this day, they still found Caline's story about Alberm wanting to become King of Calmag very hard to believe since Alberm had not been related to the royal family by blood at all.

"No," King Kitchator argued. "If anyone is to blame for this mess, it is Alberm Dunlop of Rendor. His greed for power has led to our potential doom. Our weapons and soldiers and warriors have been useless against Frieza's soldiers. It is only because of the Astorians that we have survived this long."

"But Grandfather," Julien argued. "They are now blackmailing us by refusing to sign the alliance papers just because they don't want my sister to marry Filcor. That's ridiculous, and I don't want to give in to blackmail, and you shouldn't either, Grandfather."

King Kitchator was very quiet, and then he turned to Filcor and said, "Filcor, are you certain that it is that important to you to have Caline? I can easily find you another bride. We need Astoria as our ally, and you would have no trouble obtaining someone else as a second wife."

"I want Princess Caline," Filcor said evenly. "I realize that it is your and Prince Julien's decision to make, Your Majesty, but Prince Julien is right; we shouldn't give in to blackmail. I don't think that it is a good idea to have the Astorians remain after the war ends, if any of us are left alive. Think about it, King Kitchator, of how much Calmag would change should the Astorians start visiting here regularly. Our women and girls would see the overly liberated attitudes of the Astorian women and would want to become like them. They would start to want to work outside of the home, choose their husbands, divorce their husbands, if they are displeased with them, and break engagements. Young girls would feel free to refuse perfectly good engagement and marriage contracts. A female's place is in the home, Your Majesty. And may I also remind you of that ridiculous women's right movement demonstration that took place almost a week before Caline finally married…Alberm." Filcor scowled heavily when he spat out Alberm's name. Alberm had taken Caline's virginity, something that Filcor had wanted to take himself.

"Ah, yes," King Kitchator sighed. "Not one of our best times, especially since little Caline herself participated in it during her weeks on the run. That was how we finally found her, when she was disguised and marching with the other girls and women demanding women's rights. It was a messy time, I remember, when we had to send the CRP officers to break the demonstration up. The women and girls resisted, and things then became violent, with the CRP men eventually having to shoot. Twenty females died, and so many more were arrested before their husbands and fathers came to retrieve them. It was a huge embarrassment to all of us, especially with one of my family members involved. I had to keep Amitar from murdering his daughter, even though Caline had it coming to her. That little girl is very sweet, but she is so troublesome! I was hoping that marriage to Alberm would settle Caline and make her into a polite, obedient, meek young woman, but then Alberm had to have turned out to be a spy for Frieza."

"And what if the women and girls here decided to hold another women's right demonstration, and the Astorians decided to intervene and help?" Filcor inquired fiercely. "Your Majesty, they could upset the entire social order here, and cause problems in many marriages throughout Calmag. If they see how our little Caline behaves, more and more wives may go to the Astorians begging for asylum and freedom from their husbands. What if other girls and women refuse to honor their engagement and marriage contracts, and defy their fathers? I know that Caline wishes to leave Calmag with the Astorians, but if she's allowed to do that, then other girls and women will want to leave for Astoria. We must put our boots down, Your Majesty. Surely Frieza's forces will not bother us again once the Astorians leave Calmagian soil. Your Majesty, even if you don't allow me to marry Caline, at least don't let her go home with the Astorian people."

"I never intended to let Caline leave in the first place!" King Kitchator roared. He then lowered his voice, as the thunder rumbled in the background. "But you have made some valid points, Filcor, and I will consider them seriously. I admire the Astorian people for the most part, for they have done so much for us, and we would not be here, if it hadn't been for them. But you are right in that they could cause problems among our people, particularly between wives and husbands. And I am not letting a little girl go off by herself with people from another planet, even if they are my in-laws. I am king here, and I run my family and my people, not the Astorians! If they wish not to ally with us, it is their choice to make, although of course, we won't tell them until the war is over."

"Good for you, Grandfather!" Julien cheered excitedly. "And you know what, Grandfather…" A sly grin formed onto Julien's face. "I think that if we win this war, we should have Filcor and Caline marry right away. I understand that the people may be mourning their dead, but a big wedding between a Princess of Calmag and one of the heroes of Calmag should be just what our people need to have a reason to celebrate and get on with their lives. We have a planet to rebuild, Grandfather, and we need to give our people a reason to be happy again. And what could be better than a wedding?"

King Kitchator frowned, and then he finally said, "Very well, we will have Filcor and Caline's wedding-but only after we are certain that Frieza's forces have either been driven off of Calmag, or destroyed. When we are sure that we are safe, then Filcor…" King Kitchator put his huge arm companionably around Filcor's shoulders. "…Will be married to dear Caline. Filcor, I believe that you will make Caline a fine husband."

"Why thank you, sire," Filcor told his king. Then Filcor knelt before King Kitchator to kiss his ring finger to show his loyalty and respect. King Kitchator touched Filcor's cheek in a gesture showing approval and friendship. Julien did the same, and then King Kitchator left to join his wife.

Filcor smiled, as if King Kitchator had handed him the throne of Calmag. Julien was grinning widely too. Filcor commented happily to Julien, "I want to thank you, Prince Julien, for this."

"My pleasure," Julien said. "And I thank you, Filcor, for taking the burden of my sister off of my hands. I will have enough to do to learn all of Father's and Ridikar's duties without having the responsibility of raising my sister as well."

Filcor chuckled softly. "I don't consider dear little Caline a burden-in fact I view her as the grand prize! Oooh, I have been waiting for her for a long time, my prince! I can't wait until she is officially my wife! Not only will I have a sweet little girl bride in my bed every night, but also I will have everything that she will inherit from her husband's estate. Thanks to Alberm's immense fortune, Caline is going to be a very rich young lady. And all that is Alberm's shall be mine, along with his wife, for of course, Caline's property and wealth will be mine after we say 'I do'. Am I being a bit too greedy, my prince?"

"Not at all," Julien chuckled. "Not at all. After all the grief my sister's been giving you and us lately, you deserve a little reward. May you and my sister stay together forever, even though she will be a handful! She is very defiant now and disrespectful, but I know that you can tame her and make her behave."

"That part is going to be fun!" Filcor said wickedly. "I like a challenge, and unlike Alberm, I will be able to meet the challenge of taming Caline."

He and Julien laughed loudly, at that moment ignoring the chaos and conflict surrounding them.















Back in downtown Magan…

Shalila and Baata were still battling against each other, and it was coming out evenly. Baata punched Shalila hard in her jaw while Shalila's foot landed into Baata's knee. Baata fired a small ki blast at her, but Shalila deflected it away from her with one hand. But while she was distracted with Baata's ki attack, Baata landed his fist hard into Shalila's cheekbone, and Shalila fell out of the sky.

Before Shalila could steady herself, Baata flew after her with both fists poised, and he clasped them together. Shalila was falling facedown, and before she could turn back up, Baata pounded both of his fists into the small of Shalila's back. Then Baata punched Shalila hard in the back of her head, and Shalila's body crashed into the street, through the metal and concrete in a loud, deafening boom.

Baata then shot his Blue Comet Attack at her before Shalila could emerge from the wreckage of the streets. The rain was pummeling Baata's tough blue skin, but Baata ignored it. A streak of lightening slipped past Baata, and he barely managed to dodge it, as it landed into a pile of garbage on the sidewalk and set it afire. The hammering rain quickly put out the fire.

Baata then sustained a rapid series of ki blasts upon the hole in the street where Shalila had fallen.












Dirkan had narrowly dodged Reccoom's attack, and he was now behind an office building, planning his next strategy before Reccoom could find him. He had lost his Light Blade during the battle some time back, and he fervently wished that he knew where it had disappeared. Finally, he had recovered enough to come out from behind the building to find Reccoom once more.

Reccoom was now hovering in the sky above Dirkan, and the huge minion of Frieza's lowered his head and stuck out his elbow. He began to fly down towards Dirkan like a huge, living comet, with his fist stuck out. Dirkan flew up into the air to meet him, and he shot out his Tri-Force attack, which collided into Reccoom and knocked him out of the sky. Reccoom's jumbo-sized body fell towards an alley and fell into a pile of rotting crates.

Dirkan then came after Reccoom and launched a second Tri-Force attack, but this time Reccoom managed to recover in another time to escape. Reccoom then flew into the air again and fired a series of huge, pillar-like ki blasts as Dirkan. One of these Dirkan was unable to deflect with Mirror Shield, and it slammed into his face, shoving him out of the sky.

The Namek warrior's body crashed into a nearby apartment building into a once-luxurious penthouse apartment. Reccoom was already coming after him, firing more ki blasts as he went. The huge soldier of Frieza then fired a ki ball towards the building where Dirkan had crashed.
The ki ball collided into the brick building, and the building exploded on contact-with Dirkan inside!












"Take that, Calmagie!"

PUNCH! SLAM!

"I don't think so, pretty boy!"

Kick went Cirono's foot into Jeice's jaw.

"Pretty boy! I'm not Zarbon!"

Punch went Jeice's fist into Cirono's ribs.

"I almost decided not to fight you because I mistook you for a woman!" Cirono taunted, as his fist rammed into Jeice's eye. "With all that long, pretty hair, it was an easy mistake to make!"

"You're going to pay for that, boy!" Jeice screamed, as he head-butted Cirono and knocked him off of his feet. Cirono fell backwards into the dirty, muddy gutter, but he quickly leapt back up.

"Please, put it on my charge," Cirono responded, as his fist slammed into Jeice's nose. Jeice, with his nose bleeding, flung himself upon Cirono and pushed him into the dirt. The two fighters wrestled each other, punching and kicking whenever they could, as they rolled around in the muddy streets, as the rain continued to shower upon them. A ray of lightening struck twenty feet away from them, but neither one of them paid any mind to it.

Cirono managed to land one good punch to Jeice's face once more, but then Jeice decided to aim a small ki blast towards Cirono's face. Cirono dodged it barely, by turning himself away from the minor blast.

But Jeice used Cirono's being distracted to his advantage, for at that moment, the red and white Ginyu Force fighter slammed his fist into the back of Cirono's head, and Cirono passed out into the mud and muck. Jeice arose from the ground, wiped his hands on his armor and grinned triumphantly.

"Not a bad battle for a Calmagie! But, I have better things to do, so see you later, weakling! You'll probably get hit by lightening sooner or later, so you're pretty much done for."

And with that, Jeice flew off into the stormy night to find Baata and the others while Cirono lay in the mud, alive, but barely breathing.















"'Lora, come on now, we've got frog-face to find!"

"Oh, just one more kiss, handsome, come here!"

"Ah, well, why not?"

Bajal seized Alora in his arms and gave her a huge, sloppy kiss, which his wife happily returned. Alora slipped her tongue into Bajal's mouth, and their tongues danced together in a quick tango while Raakon was anxiously feeling about for Guido's ki.

"C'mon, you two…" Raakon pleaded, but the two lovebirds were oblivious to him now, too lost in their passion.

When their lips finally tore free, Alora gasped, "Bajal Chloe, I love you-and I better never catch you panting after another woman again!"

"'Lora, that wasn't my fault!" Bajal protested. "Seductia enchanted me, although I think that the wench had a fixation on Dirkan."

Alora laughed. "Lucky for you that you were under her spell! I guess it's hard for women to keep their hands and spells off of you! But if any other female even thinks of trying a Seductia on you, I'll hold her down and pull out all of her hair! It's too bad that Seductia went to Enma Daiou before I could find her-how disappointing! I had wanted to kick the little pink-haired whore about a few times before I killed her myself!"

"Ah, well, 'Lora, don't worry about it now! I'm just glad that you're not going to kill me!"

"I will, if you ever chance another female like you did earlier for real!" Alora declared, and both of them laughed.

"C'mon, you two!" Raakon ordered his relatives. "Guido's not too far from here!"

The three warriors quickly found Guido, after the last time that Guido had stopped time. When Guido had been forced to allow time to continue again, it was then that Alora and Raakon had caught up with Bajal. Now Guido was still flying away from his pursuers desperately, and his pudgy green body was tiring. He knew that he couldn't keep his pace up for much longer, so he now had to resort to desperate measures.

Grinning to himself, he led his pursuers on a merry chase until they reached a monorail tunnel. Alora, Raakon, and Bajal chased Guido down into the monorail tunnel, and Guido once again held his breath to stop time. All three warriors from Astoria were suspended in time once more, as Guido escaped from the tunnel.

He then concentrated hard just before breathing again, but Alora, Raakon, and Bajal still could not move. Time was continuing once more, but they were frozen in place, able to breathe, but not able to move. All three of them were suspended in mid-air just a couple of feet above the tracks.

Guido then swiftly flew to the nearby monorail station that had a monorail that was supposed to have departed for another city three hours ago. Guido then concentrated hard and used his mind (like Chestra, he was an expert in telekinesis) to move the monorail along the tracks without a conductor. The conductor had abandoned the monorail a long time ago, along with the other monorail employees.

Guido laughed, as his mind powers moved the monorail along the tracks. In a few minutes, it would reach the tunnel-and crash into the Astorian warriors, killing them once and for all, smashing them up!

He laughed triumphantly at his own brilliance. And to think he was not highly thought of in Frieza's Top Elite! He would make sure that would soon change.


















Back at the cliff where the battle between Tayla and Bendros vs. Zarbon is taking place…

Tayla and Bendros were faring badly now that Zarbon was in his second form. After the two now badly wounded warriors had emerged from the hole where Zarbon had sent them, things had gone downhill from there. Zarbon had given them just enough time to come out of the hole before he attacked them again.

Zarbon and Bendros had been battling for some time now by themselves, and they had been evenly matched for a while. Bendros had managed to use his Ribbon Coil attack on Zarbon once more, but with very limited success. Zarbon escaped the attack, recovering much faster than he had the first time that Bendros had ever used Ribbon Coil on him.

While Zarbon had been distracted, Tayla had tried to lasso him with a Rings of Saturn attack, which Zarbon had dodged. To punish Tayla, Zarbon had sent a medium-sized ki blast at the girl, which had actually pushed her off the edge of the cliff. Tayla tumbled almost fifty feet to the ground below before she could steady herself again and come back up. When she had reemerged, Zarbon and Bendros were battling it in hand-to-hand combat, using hard blows and sharp kicks that cracked ribs and various other bones.

Zarbon had punched Bendros hard in his sternum, but Bendros recovered just hard enough to slam his fist into Zarbon's now-wide jaw. Zarbon fell back, and he head-butted Bendros in his stomach, throwing the Sastorian warrior off of his feet. Zarbon decided to fight dirty now; he was through playing with the "half-breed monkey", whom he was now finding almost as much troublesome as before. He punched Bendros in his face, and before Bendros could retaliate, Zarbon punched him hard in the back of his head, nearly causing Bendros to pass out. Zarbon then stood up and kicked Bendros hard in that same spot, and then he kicked Bendros hard in his ribs.

Bendros had just barely managed to keep himself from passing out, and he tried desperately to sit up. Zarbon then seized Bendros by his tail and squeezed it hard. Bendros screamed in horrific pain.

"NO! SOMEONE HELP ME!" Bendros cried. Zarbon neatly wound Bendros's tail around his fist, twisting it as much as he could. Bendros screamed louder and louder, as Tayla flew towards both of them.

"LET HIM GO!" she screamed at Zarbon, who used a free hand to fire a small ki blast to keep her at bay.

He then went back to twisting and winding Bendros's sensitive tail around his huge fist, enjoying Bendros's screams of agony.

"STOP PLEASE!" Bendros cried in terror, as tears streamed down his face. "TAYLA, HELP ME PLEASE!"

Tayla then launched herself upon Zarbon, firing a ki blast at his arm to force him to release Bendros's tail. Zarbon managed to deflect her attack with his free hand, but then

Tayla aimed her next ki blast towards Zarbon's eye, and now it was Zarbon's turn to scream. He was finally forced to release Bendros's tail, as he clung at his eye.

Zarbon growled at Tayla, "YOU'RE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT, YOU SNEAKY LITTLE WENCH!" He then fired a medium-sized ki blast at Tayla with one hand while holding his eye. Tayla couldn't deflect it with Mirror Shield, because the deflected attack would hit Bendros as well as Zarbon, so she was forced to leap to the side and dodge.

Zarbon was furious now, for Tayla's little ki blast attack had burned his eye severely. He would make the brat pay for that! He completely abandoned Bendros, as he went after Tayla. Bendros struggled to his feet, clutching his ribs with one hand.

Bendros was about to leap into the stormy air to fly after Zarbon, but a bolt of lightening pierced the ground three feet away from him, with the light, blinding him. The lightening couldn't hurt Bendros, since he had the Astorian immunity to electricity, but it blinded him for a few moments, as he covered his eyes.

While Bendros was blinded, Zarbon was unleashing his full fury upon Tayla. He had just fired a huge ki blast at her, which Tayla had just dodged within inches. While she was dodging the attack, Zarbon flung himself upon her, landing swift punches to her face and body. Tayla tried to electrocute him, but Zarbon was resistant to Electric Touch. He fired two small ki blasts at Tayla after pushing her to the ground. One of the ki blasts punctured Tayla in her torso, causing her to scream in agony. Zarbon took advantage of her pain to punch her hard in her face. Tayla retaliated by slipping her foot under Zarbon's legs and kicking his behind; the pain that Zarbon had caused earlier significantly reduced her effectiveness.

Zarbon then seized Tayla by her long hair and forced her to her feet, dragging her along. He then grabbed her throat and hissed into her face, "Ready to surrender yet?"

"NO!" Tayla screamed, as thunder boomed in the background. Her hair and Kekron's clothes were now plastered to her small frame like a second skin.

"Then take this!" Zarbon commanded, as he flung her away by her slim throat. Her body flew into the air, but Tayla was able to stop herself before she went any further. By then, Bendros was at her side, and both of them charged at Zarbon.

Zarbon found a boulder behind him, a huge boulder twice as large as he was. He then easily picked up the three-ton boulder and threw it at Tayla and Bendros. The boulder came at them, but Bendros blew it up with a ki blast before it reached them. He threw Tayla to the ground and shielded her with his body, as falling rocks and debris rained upon them, most of which hit Bendros's muscular body. Tayla was tucked safely under Bendros's strong form.

"Thanks," she wheezed to her crush.

"No-no problem," Bendros groaned. He and Tayla struggled to their feet after the debris had finished falling, and they were greeted by a horrific surprise.

For at that moment, a huge ball of ki the size of a comet came crashing towards them. They tried to deflect the ball of powerful light with Mirror Shield, but the ki globe was too strong for them. It had come too fast for them to even form a Shield Field.

Tayla and Bendros screamed, as the pain and light engulfed their bodies, burning them, causing their body temperatures to rise. Bendros seized Tayla and threw her to the ground again, shielding her with his body. But when they fell, Tayla's head hit a huge piece of rock, and the ki blast, along with Bendros's weight, caused Tayla's head to crush against the rock, knocking her out.

The next thing that Tayla felt and saw was a comforting black void, as she heard Bendros's cry of agony and Zarbon's cruel laughter in the background…