Chapter 4
Jenny sprung off her right foot, charging at the Spice Boys. Garlic Jr. evaded her attack, but Spice moved in front of her. Jenny threw a flurry of punches at him, but Spice was quick enough to avoid the attacks. He flew up into the air, and Jenny followed.
"That was a dirty trick you pulled on us!" Spice yelled.
"Hey, you guys were gullible enough to fall for it!" Jenny told him. "You guys are supposed to be evil; I didn't think you'd be so nice to a wench like me!"
"Watch me go!" Hallie rushed forward to Garlic Jr., who narrowly sidestepped her punch as well. Seconds later, Garlic Jr. felt the cut on his right cheek. He touched his face, and then saw the blood on his palm.
Hallie turned and went up to Garlic Jr. "What happened? Did I cut your face? Cool!"
"It's none of your damn business!" Garlic Jr. screamed.
Turning her attention to Garlic Jr. now, Jenny dashed at him again. Garlic Jr. threw three energy discs at her, and she dodged them in mid-air. Jenny then threw an energy blast of her own, and then followed in behind it. Before she could reach him, though, Garlic Jr. concentrated his energy. Suddenly, his muscle size increased tenfold, transforming him into a dark green, bulky monster. As Jenny closed in for the attack, Garlic Jr. quickly nailed her in the stomach with his powerful elbow. When she doubled over in pain, Garlic Jr. punched her squarely on the face, sending her flying down, crashing violently in the courtyard.
"Sis!" Hallie landed beside Jenny to check on her. Dende landed nearby and quickly healed Jenny with his powers.
"Whew, thanks, Dende," she said.
"No problem!" Dende said.
Jenny flipped to her feet, ready to face Garlic Jr. again.
"Why do you even challenge me?" he called. "You're the one who's so eager to die! I'd be more than happy to oblige!"
"Now don't get me wrong," Jenny replied. "I'm not so far gone that I would just let the opponent kill me. I'll fight to the best of my ability! I'll try my hardest to win!"
"Yeah, we're not gonna lose to you!" Hallie rushed into the battle again.
"Hallie, wait!" Jenny cried out.
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Meanwhile, the wolf wizard Canis Lupus was watching the battle, hovering in the sky from a long distance away.
"Hmm...I suppose they're off to a good start," he told himself. "But then again, they haven't seen anything yet. All of their dreams have been shattered; the battle is all they have left. Jenny claims to fight to the fullest, but as long as she truly wishes to die, she'll be holding back. That will truly be her downfall one day. The question is, how long will she continue to fight? She may be better off if someone put a gun to her head and got it over with. She has no idea of the suffering that awaits. None of them do.
"But on the other hand, if they die too soon, this universe will never be cleaned up. They need to survive at least long enough to find some successors. Yes, I know some people who could clean up Black Shadow's mess. It's not too late for the Rebels just yet. If they can just inspire the survivors in the universe, their legacy will continue even after their deaths."
Canis then smiled to himself. "You know, perhaps I should start keeping a log of their journey. I'm sure the Rebels will become legends one day. People would love to read about their adventures. Yeah, that's what I'll do..."
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Back in the battle, Spice's white hair literally grew longer, ensnaring Yamcha by the limbs. Yamcha twisted into every possible position, trying to free himself, but he had no luck.
"Yuck! What a hairy situation..." he mused to himself.
Spice flashed an evil smile. "If I squeeze even harder, the hair will cut through your flesh, like so."
He squeezed even harder, causing Yamcha a great deal of pain.
"Argh! Do the words 'barber shop' mean anything to you!?" Yamcha groaned.
"No, actually they don't."
"Hang on, Yamcha!" Fulgore flew in, extending the blue claws that were built into his forearms. He lashed out with the claws, slicing through the hair and freeing Yamcha.
"Argh! You'll pay for that, you overgrown kitchen utensil!"
"Hey, I resent that!" Fulgore yelled. "Just be glad that it was just your hair and not your flesh. Anyway, if you're going to call me a kitchen utensil, I'll just show you a few of my...nicer features."
"Nicer features?"
"Yes. I can do this!" Fulgore teleported behind Spice, striking him with a powerful midair uppercut.
"Ahh! Damn you!" Spice growled.
"That was my teleporter," Fulgore said. "And this is called a plasma storm."
He thrust his palm forward, firing his blue energy blast. Spice simply swatted the attack away with his arm.
"That was pretty weak," he remarked.
"Well, what's even cooler is my eye laser." Fulgore fired a red laser from his eyes, piercing Spice's shoulder.
"Damn you!" Spice growled. "I'm gonna kill you!"
He gathered energy into his hands, firing a rather large energy blast at Fulgore. However, the cyborg simply shielded himself with a dome of blue energy. The blast bounced off the shield and struck Spice squarely in the chest, sending him flying backwards until he stopped himself.
Fulgore shrugged. "Did I tell you about my plasma shield? Now, combine all ingredients, and we've got a recipe for kicking ass!" Fulgore activated his cloak, an ability that camouflaged his body, and rushed in, striking Spice with a flurry of invisible attacks. He concluded by teleporting behind, throwing another uppercut to Spice's back.
Yamcha flew in next to Fulgore. "Fulgore, that is so awesome!"
"Thank you," Fulgore smiled.
"Arrrgh!" Spice roared. "Now I am mad!"
Yamcha propped his hands on his hips. "Oh, now you're mad?"
"Time to finish this then," Fulgore said.
He unleashed his eye lasers at Spice relentlessly, piercing his body at multiple points. When he finally let up, he threw another plasma storm shot from above. The blast hit Spice dead on, sending him falling through the air, crashing into the concrete with a sickening thud.
Fulgore landed next to the dead body. "So this kitchen utensil is very dangerous, and if handled improperly, it can lead to your untimely death. That's my victory quote for this battle."
Yamcha landed next to him. "You're still comparing yourself to a kitchen utensil?"
"Let's not get carried away, okay?"
"Sure."
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Meanwhile, Vegeta was facing off against Vinegar. The Saiyan prince rushed into the battle, throwing an incredibly fast flurry of punches and kicks. And yet, despite the speed, Vinegar was still able to repel the attacks. When Vegeta backed off, Pico flew in with a flurry of his own, but with the same results. Vegeta grabbed Pico by the shoulder and pulled him back.
"What do you think you're doing!?" Vegeta hissed. "Can't you see that I almost had him!?"
Pico scoffed. "Like hell you did! You didn't even scratch him!"
"Will you back off already!? You're in my way!" Vegeta gave Pico a rough shove.
"Ohh, you idiot!" Pico returned the shove.
As Jenny was still facing Garlic Jr., she happened to look up to see Pico and Vegeta bickering with each other. In response, she rolled her eyes with an exasperated sigh.
"Hallie, would you please do something about those two?" she asked.
"Sure," Hallie replied.
She flew into the air, hovering in between Pico and Vegeta.
"Hey, knock it off, you two!" she called. "What the hell are you doing!?"
"He started it!" Vegeta yelled.
"Oh, stuff it, you big ape!" Pico growled. "Or I'll stuff you!"
"I said knock it off!" Hallie growled. "Vegeta, you're acting like a child!"
Vegeta snarled at her. "I don't need to hear that from a twelve-year-old brat!"
Pico folded his arms. "Well, if you two are just going to stand there and bitch, I'll just return to the battle, if you don't mind."
The alien turtle turned to face Vinegar again, but instead of charging in to attack, he pulled out his shotgun rifle and fired a blast. However, Vinegar simply raised his right arm, catching the bullet in his hand.
Pico lowered his weapon. "What!?"
Vinegar opened his hand and examined the bullet in his palm. "You're still using bullets? Bullets are obsolete in this day and age, you know that?"
Pico attempted to hide his surprise. "Well...I suppose it's to be expected..."
"But bullets might still work...what say we find out?"
Pico's eyes widened, sensing Vinegar's intention. He simply leaned to the side as Vinegar flicked the bullet at him with his fingers. The bullet shot right past Pico's head, missing it by mere centimeters.
"So you managed to dodge it, eh?" Vinegar asked. "Not many people can do that."
"I know everything about guns and bullets," Pico responded. "I sure as hell won't be killed by one."
Meanwhile, Jenny put her hands to her side, gathering energy within her palms. She then thrust both arms forward, hurling a large blue energy blast at Garlic Jr. The general held his ground briefly, then began to dive right through the energy blast like an F-16 jet.
"I can't die!!" he beamed. "I am immortal!"
"What...?" Jenny gasped briefly as she fed more energy into her blast. The effort didn't help much, as Garlic Jr. continued to pierce through the blast, delivering a powerful punch to Jenny's abdomen. Jenny flew back several feet before hitting the ground, and then rolling from the momentum. Garlic Jr. leaped into the air, attempting to stomp on her, but Jenny managed to spot him and roll out of the way. As she stood up, she threw a quick foot sweep, sending Garlic Jr. to the ground.
Jenny backed off as Garlic Jr. picked himself up. So we can't kill him, she thought. Well, there is another way to get rid of him...
She reached into her pocket, pulling out a triangular shaped talisman, holding it in her palm and grasping the edges with her fingers. The talisman was blue with gold edges, with a gold dragon logo in the center.
"Hey guys, cover me!" she called out.
She began to concentrate on the talisman, which began to give off a white glow.
Fulgore and Yamcha watched her as she concentrated on the talisman.
"What is she doing?" Yamcha whispered.
"I don't know..." Fulgore replied. "Let's cover her."
"Hey, Mustard!" Salt pointed down at where Jenny was concentrating. "What is that wench doing?"
Mustard looked down from his place in the air. "Whatever it is, it can't be good. Let's stop her!"
They both dove down towards where Jenny was standing. Fulgore and Yamcha quickly moved in to intercept them, both delivering a fierce kick to each of them right above Jenny's head.
Vegeta looked down, sensing an incredible energy from below. "What is that useless woman doing!?"
"I'll go find out!" Hallie lowered herself to the ground, landing next to Jenny. "Sis?"
"Hallie, stay back!" Jenny called, her voice strained.
Hallie studied her carefully, and then recognized the talisman in Jenny's hand. "Hey, that's the Phoenix Gate!"
"Yes...Garlic Jr. is immortal...so we can't kill him. The only way to defeat him is to send him to another dimension. Like I said...cover me..."
"Right!" Hallie rushed into the battle again.
As Jenny continued to concentrate on the talisman, the wind began to blow gently around her. She could feel the ground rumbling at her feet, as her hair began to flow softly with the wind.
Garlic Jr. watched her briefly for a moment. "Whatever you're doing, it won't work. No matter what you do, I will not die! Don't you realize that you can't win!?"
With a roar, he rushed at her again. Jenny's heart skipped a beat as she felt him closing in on her fast, but she would not break her concentration. Luckily, before Garlic Jr. reached her, Fulgore teleported in front of her, activating his plasma shield. Garlic Jr. crashed into the plasma shield, forcefully knocking him backwards. At the same time, the plasma shield shattered upon impact.
"Argh!" Fulgore screamed as he staggered backwards, but stopped himself before bumping into Jenny.
"Fulgore!" Yamcha stopped beside him. "Are you all right? What happened?"
Fulgore straightened himself. "It's nothing. He just broke my plasma shield."
"What!? That's impossible!"
"No, it's possible. My shields may be powerful, but they're not invincible. It can still be broken with a concentrated attack. I'm just glad I was able to stop Garlic Jr.'s attack, because it would have done a lot of damage to Jenny if it hit her."
"Hey Jenny, what the hell are you doing?" Yamcha asked casually.
"I'm almost there!" Jenny responded, without really answering the question. "Brace yourselves!"
Fulgore and Yamcha raced off to battle Garlic Jr. again. As Jenny focused her attention on her talisman, it began to flash all rainbow colors. Jenny's arm began to tremble as she could feel its power coursing through her body.
"Des legrate...muri tempi...et intervalia!!"
Hallie continued to watch Jenny, realizing what she was doing. "Uh-oh. Everybody, hold on!"
With a full swing of her arm, Jenny hurled the talisman into the air. It flew through the air for a while, then suddenly stopped, spinning in place. The talisman emitted another bright flash, opening up a gray and black vortex of sorts. Instantly, everyone could feel the fierce winds being sucked into the vortex
"Oh, damn!" Yamcha exclaimed as he flew down towards the courtyard, hiding behind one of the trees.
The other Rebels followed suit, grabbing onto anything they could find to avoid being sucked into the vortex. Vinegar, Mustard, and Salt all screamed as they were instantly pulled into the vortex, disappearing within the eye. Garlic Jr., however, held his ground, resisting the suction power.
"Damn, it's not working!" Jenny exclaimed.
"What're you gonna do now, huh?" Pico snarled.
"Everybody, open fire!" Jenny fired short, concentrated energy blasts at Garlic Jr., striking various points of his body. The other Rebels fired short bursts of their own. Garlic Jr. swatted away most of the blasts with his arms, but even the ones that struck him had no effect.
"Let's try altogether on three!" Jenny called to the others.
The Rebels aimed their palms at Garlic Jr., waiting for the signal.
"I have an idea..." Pico pulled out his handgun and took aim.
"Ready?" Jenny called. "One...two...three!"
The Rebels fired their concentrated bursts at once, striking Garlic Jr. squarely in the chest. The general staggered backwards, but still resisted the suction of the vortex.
Pico then fired a shot from his handgun as Garlic Jr. staggered. The bullet tore through his ankle, and Garlic Jr. screamed in pain. He grabbed onto his ankle, now unknowingly being sucked into the vortex.
"Yeah, nice shot, Pico!" Fulgore called.
Pico blew the smoke from the barrel. "I can still make good use of my bullets in this age."
Garlic Jr.'s last scream of agony echoed into the air as he disappeared into the eye of the vortex. The chaos continued as the wind, leaves, and everything not secured to the ground was sucked into the vortex.
"Okay, Jenny, you can stop this thing now!" Yamcha called.
"Actually...I can't stop it!" Jenny confessed.
"You what!?"
"Just hang on!"
"Oh shit..."
"Don't worry, it'll stop after a while!" Hallie called.
The Rebels continued to hold on, struggling to avoid the vortex suction. Eventually, they could feel the winds gradually getting softer, and the vortex slowly began to shrink. Finally, the vortex disappeared completely, and the talisman dropped lightly to the ground.
Now that the winds were calm, the Rebels stepped out of their hiding places with a relieved sigh. "Whew..."
Jenny walked calmly across the courtyard, picking up the talisman. Then, grasping it with both hands, she broke it in half like a slice of stale bread. She then turned to face her comrades as they assembled behind her. "Did everyone make it?"
The Rebels looked around, checking if everyone was accounted for.
"Yeah, it looks like we're all still here," Fulgore said.
"That was so cool!" Hallie said. "We sent Garlic Jr. straight to hell, didn't we?"
Jenny gave an exhausted sigh. "Just don't ask me to do it again. Now, let's go back."
The Rebels nodded in agreement. They they pressed on their rings, teleporting away.