Piccolo and Kera flew as fast as they could over the sea. The negative energies became clearer the further they flew out to sea. Kera looked behind her. She could no longer see the land from which they had started. But the island of the Turtle Hermit, which she had only set foot on once before when Gohan had set off from there to Namek, could not be far away.

Suddenly something caught her eye and she stopped in mid-air. Piccolo flew a few more feet before turning to look at her questioningly.

"It's dark."

Piccolo spun around once. Dark was not the right expression. It was a different darkness from when it was night or when a cloud had moved in front of the sun. It was as if the sun was further away from the earth. The clouds were coloured purple, an equally coloured mist wafted over the sea. The fog radiated a negative aura.

"We have to hurry. I don't have a good feeling," Piccolo said and flew on. Kera followed. An inner restlessness gnawed at her that she could not explain.

A few minutes later, a small island appeared in her field of vision. In the middle of it stood a small house with a terrace at the front entrance. "Kame House" was painted above the front door. It was possible to walk completely around the house. A few palm trees still stood on the island. It looked like something out of a picture book.

Certainly quite idyllic, Kera thought on approach, but her thoughts briefly drifted to the forest where she had lived with Piccolo for years. She preferred the forest to this small island.

Piccolo landed on the roof of the house, Kera followed him and immediately realised something was wrong. She saw Bulma, Chi-Chi and Yamcha, but they moved differently than usual. Strangely wooden.

"Piccolo! Kera!" She turned to Gohan, who had called to her. He was lying in the sand near the water's edge, backing away from his mother, who was striding towards him with her hands up. Kera jumped from the roof to Gohan, grabbed the boy before Chi-Chi could grab him and landed back on the roof next to Piccolo. She set Gohan down. Chi-Chi had followed her movements with her eyes. Was there something wrong with her eyes?

Gohan had gone straight into fighting stance and looked from Kera to Piccolo. "Thank you."

"What happened here?" wanted Kera to know now.

Gohan shook his head and shrugged his shoulders at the same time. "I have no idea. When I got here, everyone was acting all weird. Mum attacked me." Kera would have liked to take Gohan in her arms and comfort him. Having his own mother turn on him had to be a painful experience for him.

Piccolo jerked his head up, stared at the sky and growled. "Watch out!" he shouted, and then Kera discovered what had made him sit up and take notice.

From the sky now fell four outlines that landed on the island. The four beings were all wearing some kind of battle suit. But that was the end of the similarities. One of them had a greenish skin colour, white hair, pointed ears and was about as tall as Kera. Another was huge and looked as if he could easily uproot trees. His skin colour was a shade of lilac. The third did not look very human. His face had something dog-like, which also matched his brown skin colour. He had horns growing out of his head and his hair was flaming red around his head. The smallest of the bunch was only about as tall as Gohan. His face was the same shade as the dog-headed man's hair. The little one's ears were pointed and stuck far out from his head. Kera wasn't sure if the yellow something that was looped around his neck like a fur collar and then hung down his back was his hair or an accessory.

Chi-Chi, Yamcha, Bulma, Master Roshi, Oolong and Puar gathered in front of the newcomers and knelt down. So something had indeed happened to them. They were no longer in control of their senses.

The four pairs of eyes of the newcomers focused on Kera, Gohan and Piccolo. The red-faced one took a step forward. "Piccolo. How nice to see you here." He said it with such a sarcastic undertone, though, that he obviously found it anything but "nice" to see Piccolo. "I happen to know that Garlic Jr wants revenge on you too."

"You guys work for Garlic's son? Isn't that the guy who was banished to his own Dead Zone by Gohan? He's not a very bright guy. How did he get out of the Dead Zone?" Kera had to stifle a grin at Piccolo's comment. She darkly remembered that Piccolo had once mentioned the name Garlic. But she couldn't remember in what context it had been. Before she could deepen her thoughts, the guy with the greenish skin took the floor again.

"The star of black magic - the Makyo Star - approaches the earth every five thousand years. It increases the demonic energy tenfold. Strengthened in this way, we were able to escape from the Dead Zone."

"What happened to the earthlings?" Kera now asked Garlic Jr's henchmen. Since the creeps seemed to be quite talkative, she also hoped to find out with this question whether this condition could be reversed again.

This time the smallest one answered: "Garlic Jr has defeated your god and taken his place. We have spread the demonic steam from the jar of curses all over the earth from Kami's palace. Inhaling the vapour awakens evil in every being. If they are not healed with the Sacred Water within 24 hours, all remain in that state. Isn't that a great concept?"

This answered Kera's unspoken question. All of these guys didn't seem to be particularly bright, as Piccolo put it. All that remained was to find out where exactly the Sacred Water was.

'The Sacred Water is in Kami's palace,' Piccolo's voice echoed in her head. She winced a little. She hadn't heard his voice like that in over a year. Even though Piccolo was standing right next to her, his voice sounded as if he was addressing her from the other side of the world. She wondered if it was because the energy connection they had shared before his death no longer existed. Kera realised that her thoughts were already wandering again and nodded barely noticeably to signal to him that she had understood his hint. There was plenty of time for deeper thought later.

"Piccolo, you're a demon too, aren't you? Garlic Jr would be willing to forget what happened. Won't you join us?" This time the big guy with the big muscles had spoken.

Piccolo laughed once mirthlessly, then took off his turban and cloak and threw them behind him. With a thud the two things landed on the sand behind the house.

"So that's your answer. Very well." As if on a silent command, all four henchmen leapt into the air at once. Piccolo followed them and took a swing at one of them. But this one was gone in a split second.

Yamcha and the others began to climb the house and attacked Kera and Gohan. Even Bulma, who would never have believed Kera to be able to climb onto a roof, managed the ascent without any problems. Apparently the fog not only awakened the evil in people, but also athletic qualities. She and Gohan fought back as best they could without seriously hurting the others. Even though she didn't know what she was doing, Kera was hurting from Chi-Chi's kicks and punches, especially mentally. Suddenly, memories caught up with Kera from the time when Piccolo was no longer by her side, having been killed by Nappa's hand. Together with Chi-Chi, she had waited for Kakarrot to recover so that she could fly with him to Namek. Chi-Chi was often difficult and controlling, but she was also a loving wife and mother. Although she was worried about Gohan when he had left for Namek with Bulma and Krillin, and about Kakarrot since he had been badly injured in the fight against Vegeta, she had always found time for Kera and comforted her in her grief for Piccolo. Chi-Chi was Kera's friend. She could not hurt her.

Completely unexpectedly, she was swept off her feet and landed on the ground. With bared teeth and sparkling red eyes, Chi-Chi stood over her. She clasped both hands together, raised them above her head and was about to bring them down on Kera like a hammer, but there was Piccolo in front of her and threw Chi-Chi down from the roof.

He turned around and held out his hand to Kera to help her stand up. Chi-Chi slowly got back up. Out of the corner of her eye, Kera noticed Gohan struggling against Yamcha.

"Now, you grab Gohan, fly with him to the Palace of Kami and get the Sacred Water with him. Understood?"

Hesitantly, Kera nodded. "What about you?"

"I'll watch your backs so you have as much time as possible."

Another hesitant nod on her part. Piccolo lifted her hand, which he had held during the brief conversation, to his lips and breathed a kiss on the back of her hand.

Kera felt a slight blush rise to her cheeks. How she would love to enjoy this moment longer and Piccolo didn't seem to want to give up their closeness any time soon either.

But the smile that was on his face gave way to a pained expression the next moment. He let go of Kera's hand and gasped. Then she saw what had caused it. Chi-Chi had taken advantage of the moment of inattention and had climbed back onto the roof in no time at all, sneaking up behind Piccolo. Her pointed fangs, which she had grown because of the demonic steam, she had bored into Piccolo's neck.

"Fly!" shouted Piccolo to her before trying to shake Chi-Chi off. Kera tried to intervene, but Piccolo stopped her. "Get Gohan!" She was torn. If she and Gohan didn't get the Sacred Water, the inhabitants of Earth would probably be doomed to remain in this state and become Garlic Jr's slaves. But she would not leave Piccolo alone.

Piccolo cried out again. Now Bulma had also jumped up to Piccolo and sunk her fangs into the other side of his neck. Kera hesitated for a moment and then turned away. She sprinted to Gohan, who had just fought his way free of Yamcha, took his arm and flew up with him. A few feet above the island, they remained suspended in the air. Questioningly, Gohan looked at her.

"We have to get the Sacred Water."

A shout from Piccolo made them both spin around. Gohan called out his name. Kera felt her eyes fill with tears. She held Gohan by the shoulder, who was rushing to Piccolo's aid. Yamcha had now approached Piccolo as well. Garlic Jr's henchmen surrounded Piccolo.

"Gohan, we have to go," Kera pleaded with him.

"But Piccolo needs our help." Kera heard tears in Gohan's voice as well.

"He'll be fine," she tried to reassure Gohan against her better judgement. With one last look at Piccolo, she turned.

'Everything will be fine,' she heard Piccolo's voice in her head as she flew with Gohan over the open sea.

Kera swallowed hard and felt tears running down her cheeks. A sideways glance to her right showed her that Gohan was feeling the same way. He wiped his eyes with his arm to dry his tears. Even though Piccolo and Gohan had had a bumpy start back then, Piccolo had become something of a father figure to Gohan. Kera knew from Piccolo that the boy meant a lot to him.

For a moment, she allowed herself to think back to the year the three of them had spent training together before Vegeta and Nappa had arrived. At times it had felt like they were family. That thought gave her strength again. There were going to be beautiful moments like this again.

"Gohan, we can do this!" Encouragingly, she smiled at him. He nodded resolutely.

After some time, Gohan pointed ahead. "There is Master Koein's tower. Above it is the Palace of Kami."

Kera was excited to see the Korin Tower and the palace. Gohan had told her a few things during the flight.

Atop a narrow wooden tower that stretched through the cloud cover was a large covered platform. A staircase led down the side of the platform. Apparently there were other rooms below. Gohan and Kera landed quietly on the covered area. There was nothing there except a well. The wind whistled around them.

"Do you think Master Korin breathed that steam too." Kera shrugged. Since the steam had come from Kami's palace, and Master Korin's refuge was directly beneath the palace, it was quite likely that he too was a demon. Searchingly, she looked around.

Gohan was pacing slowly along the edge of the circular platform when he stopped in mid-motion. He turned to Kera and put a finger to his lips to signal her to be quiet. Then she heard what he meant and directed her eyes to the stairs leading down. A rhythmic knocking could be heard from there. Kera braced herself for an attack.

Nothing, however, had prepared her for what she now saw. A small white furry creature pushed its head over the edge of the platform. Its eyes were barely visible under the fur. Was it a cat? The body was now visible too. It had a tail and was no bigger than Gohan. In its left hand it held a stick. That explained the rhythmic thumping.

"What are you doing here?" Someone else appeared behind the cat. Kera blinked. It was Yajirobe. She hadn't known he lived up here. Gohan stepped towards the white tom.

"Master Korin, Earth is in danger." Alarmed, the Master looked at Gohan, who was taking a breath to explain everything.

With a wave of his hand, Korin silenced the boy. "You don't need to explain anything. I will read it in your mind." There was silence for a while. Kera could hardly stand the tension and was about to say something, when the master spoke again. "I understand. You must go to Kami's lookout at once to get the Sacred Water. Hurry."

With his staff he pointed upwards, giving them permission to enter Kami's palace.

"Thank you, Master Korin," Gohan and Kera said, indicating a bow, and flew on.

Kami's Palace was on a much larger platform than Master Korin's refuge. A large tiled area, punctuated by a few planted beds, took up most of the platform. In the rear was the actual elongated palace of Kami. Kera tried to take in all the details of the surroundings, as it would surely prove useful, but she was abruptly interrupted.

Several figures appeared out of nowhere at the entrance to the palace. They were Garlic Jr's henchmen. How had they got here so quickly? As Kera looked at each of them in turn, her gaze lingered on the tallest of them. He was holding Piccolo, who was resisting his grip. But his movements didn't seem purposeful, more as if they were just driven by instinct. Gripped by an evil premonition, Kera concentrated on his eyes. Glittering red, they stared in her direction.

Vegeta paced the rows of dead soldiers. All followers of Frieza, who had been in the midst of conquering a planet when he had found them. They had been weak, all of them. Even their highly-technical weapons could not harm him.

Vegeta stopped in front of a soldier whose body still had life in it. The man tried to crawl away from him, but Vegeta grabbed him by the collar of his breastplate and lifted him up.

"Have you seen another Saiyan?"

"I ... uh, I don't know. No," the man stuttered, trying to loosen Vegeta's grip.

"Then you can't help me." He raised his free hand, shot energy from it and killed the soldier without flinching. The body went limp and Vegeta dropped it to the ground like a piece of trash.

Vegeta stared up. Somewhere out there was Kakarrot, training. When the Namekian dragon had informed them that Kakarrot was still alive and therefore could not be revived, Vegeta's worst nightmare had come true. Kakarrot must have somehow made it off the planet Namek before it exploded and was surely learning some new technique.

He had been furious and just wanted to leave the earth. It had taken him days to calm down and then he had a guilty conscience. He had left Kera alone on earth. He had not even asked her if she wanted to come with him. His anger about her not telling him that she was a Super Saiyan, too, had already faded. Sometimes, Vegeta now had to admit to himself, he was too impulsive, too easily offended. If he trained together with Kera, he might have been able to reach the next level. But when this realisation hit him, he didn't want to fly back either. Kera would be fine. This Piccolo would surely take care of her. Though he didn't approve of a proud Saiyan warrior being so close to a Namekian.

He focused his energy. Stones flew up. He was about to become a Super Saiyan, he was sure of it. But when he couldn't focus his energy any further, he cried out angrily. He still hadn't managed to reach the next level. He had to find Kakarrot. When he faced him, his anger towards him, would surely help him become a Super Saiyan.

Kera sucked in a sharp breath. A quick glance at Gohan showed her that he too was surprised by the sight of Piccolo.

"I don't feel his aura," Kera whispered more to herself, but Gohan nodded in confirmation without taking his eyes off Piccolo.

Her gaze was diverted by another person stepping forward between the thugs. "Garlic Jr!" escaped Gohan quietly.

Kera looked from Son-Gohan back to the other being. He was supposed to be so dangerous? This tiny one with the big ears? She would be able to flatten him easily.

She took up an attack position and was about to shoot at him when he raised a hand holding a glass carafe. "Now, now, not so fast. I have your god here and you wouldn't want anything to happen to him, would you?"

Gohan and Kera leaned back a little again and gritted their teeth. There was indeed a miniature version of Kami in the pitcher. This was not good. Feverishly, she considered what they could do. With the movement of his free hand, the demon created a throne out of thin air and sat on it. Appraisingly, he looked at them and then pointed his hand at Kera and Gohan.

His henchmen understood the request. The two smaller ones charged at Gohan and Kera and attacked them. It was as if a switch flipped in Kera's head. She focused completely on the guy with the fur collar coming at her. Everything else around her disappeared. She exhaled slowly and her attacker seemed to slow down. Were her natural instincts coming back? She had only fought Frieza on Namek since she had regained her memories and not since.

She dodged the attacker, prancing. He couldn't stop and ran a few steps further. With the momentum of her turn, she let the edge of her hand come crashing down on the guy's neck. He stumbled and fell lengthwise. Instantly she was above him and held out her hand. "And bye!" With a smile on her lips, she shot a beam of energy. Her attacker's body reared up and then lay motionless.

That had felt good. She had really missed fighting. She turned to Gohan. He had defeated his opponent as well. Acknowledging him, she nodded. They turned to their remaining opponents.

At a beckon from Garlic Jr, his biggest henchman let go of Piccolo. And he sped straight towards them. As much as she had enjoyed fighting earlier, now all the muscles in her body seemed to tense. She couldn't fight Piccolo. She didn't want to hurt him. Taking advantage of her hesitation, he charged at her and grabbed her by the neck. He pressed.

Kera grabbed at his arms and tried to pull them apart, but he was too strong. "Piccolo, please, it's me!" His red eyes glowed. He didn't seem to recognise her. She had just flown to him, after all, and he wanted to help her find herself. Why couldn't something go smoothly for once?

Her strength drained from her arms and they fell down. "Piccolo, please," she gasped out. Blackness climbed into her field of vision at the edges of her eyes. Suddenly she came down hard on the floor.

She coughed and massaged her throat. That had been a close call. She saw that Piccolo was now turning to face Gohan. She thought for a moment. Should she rush to his aid or free Kami. Her eyes darted back and forth, then she jumped up and approached Garlic Jr, who noticed her too soon and tossed the carafe of Kami to one of his henchmen.

Garlic Jr rose from his throne and raced towards her. She braced herself for a chest-high attack, but Garlic Jr changed tactics at the last moment and swept her legs off the ground. She threw her hands over her head to cushion herself, but she couldn't get up because Garlic Jr was already on top of her.

He bent down to her. "I recognise a kindred soul in you, girl," he whispered in her ear.

Kera's eyes snapped open. Did he know what was wrong with her energy? Or what was he trying to tell her? He was a demon. There was no demon in her. Or was there?

She saw him raise his hand to strike her, but she was paralysed, unable to push him away. Garlic Jr formed a ball of energy in his raised hand. The light from the ball blinded her and suddenly it was gone. In an instant, she was jerked upwards and backwards.

Garlic Jr first looked at her in confusion, then his expression changed to a sardonic grin. Kera felt hands on her upper arms, pulling her further back, away from Garlic Jr, away from his henchmen, and away from Gohan, who was lying on the ground near the entrance to the palace.

Kera turned her head, though she already knew who had grabbed her. His scent was unmistakable. Piccolo. He glanced over her shoulder at the others with bared teeth, as if warning them not to come closer. His eyes glowed red.

Gohan straightened, wanting to shout something at her. With a curt wave of her hand, she let him know not to worry about her, but the boy seemed frozen.

After a few steps, Piccolo stopped, growled and then sank his sharp fangs into her neck without warning. Kera gasped in surprise. It had been only a brief pain, almost sweet. Then she felt his tongue running over her neck. A pleasant shiver spread through her body, she closed her eyes and moaned briefly.

Then she opened her eyes again. What was she doing right now? Piccolo had attacked her and was about to turn her into a demon too. She couldn't enjoy this. Yet she found it so hard not to. She felt his body pressing firmly against hers from behind. His hands were no longer holding her by the arms now, but had crossed in front of her chest.

He pulled her even closer. He had pulled his teeth out of her neck again and was gently stroking his tongue over the spot where he had bitten her. "Kera," he murmured against her neck. His warm breath brushed over her skin, making her shiver again.

Gohan cried out as he saw Piccolo sink his teeth into Kera's neck. No, this couldn't be happening. Now she was transformed too, a demon. How was he supposed to stand alone against all these opponents?

Limp, Kera fell to the ground and remained there. He took a step towards her. He had to do something.

Piccolo charged at him. Gohan could only pull his hands in front of his face before Piccolo's punch hit him hard and threw him backwards. The light around Gohan changed. Piccolo had driven him into the palace.

"Piccolo, please stop!" cried Gohan. He would not accept that the Namekian no longer recognised him. "It's me, Gohan!"

But Piccolo did not stop punching him. His blows hit the boy hard and drove him further and further into the palace. Gohan only defended himself, he himself did not attack. He couldn't. He knew he was fighting for his life, but he just couldn't hurt Piccolo.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw another figure rushing towards him. He pushed away from Piccolo and just managed to avoid the kick. Kera's leg whizzed over him.

How was he going to stand up to both of them? He barely stood a chance against Piccolo and now he had to fight off Kera as well. Damn it! He had to think of something fast. He fired a bolt of energy in the direction of the two, but didn't wait to see if it hit, instead he turned and fled into the next room.

This room was gloomy. The ceiling disappeared somewhere far above in the darkness. Diffuse light illuminated a small table in the middle of the room. On it stood a bottle sealed with an elaborately decorated cork. He wondered if this was the Sacred Water?

Gohan moved towards the bottle, but in the next moment was pushed hard to one side and fell to the floor. Garlic Jr was on top of him. Gohan cursed. He had let his guard down. Piccolo and Kera would reprimand him for that.

Garlic Jr was about to say something, then he was out of his sight again. Gohan half straightened and saw Piccolo had grabbed Garlic Jr by the collar with one hand and reached into his jacket with the other. He brought out the two bottles that Mister Popo and Kami were locked in and threw them away from him.

Gohan followed the flight of the bottles. Kera caught them and opened them immediately. Light mist rose from the flats and a few seconds later Mister Popo and Kami were standing life-size next to Kera.

In the meantime, Piccolo had flung Garlic Jr out of the room, closed the door and stood in front of it.

"Piccolo, thank you," Kami said, taking a step towards him.

"It's okay." Piccolo put his hands to his neck. There was a brief glow under his palms. When he took his hands away again, the wounds inflicted on him by those possessed by the demonic mist were gone. He turned to Gohan. "I'm sorry, kid. I had to fool Garlic Jr."

"Does that mean you were never a demon?" asked Gohan incredulously.

"A demon cannot be made a demon again," Piccolo said with a grin.

Kera leaned down to Gohan. "I'm sorry too, Gohan. You really put up a great fight."

Gohan smiled briefly at her. It was a relief to him that Kera and Piccolo hadn't been transformed after all.

"Enough banter!" Piccolo brought her out of her thoughts again. "We have to distribute the Sacred Water."

"It's going to be a close call," Kami objected, looking to Mister Popo, who nodded.

"If we take Sacred Water to God's shrine, we can distribute from there," he said.

Piccolo pressed himself even harder against the door, which was being pounded violently from outside. The door leaves bent inwards with each bang. They had to act.

"What is the shrine of the gods?" asked Kera.

"It's where the seven world currents converge. However ..." Kami spoke no further.

"What?" inquired Piccolo gruffly.

Kami sighed. "If we make it in time, the water can spread from there all over the world. Not everyone is allowed to go to the god's shrine. I can lose my power there."

Piccolo growled. "Then go!"

Popo reached into his waistcoat and pulled out a roll from it, which he held at one side and unrolled with a sweep of his arms. It was a brightly patterned carpet that floated half a step above the ground. Kami and Popo immediately jumped up.

"Hurry up! We'll stop them!"

Kami nodded once more to Gohan, Kera and Piccolo and the next moment they were gone.

"Let's hope they make it then." Piccolo took two steps into the room and gloomily stared at the door that would give way at any moment.

Kera stood beside him in a fighting stance. "If anything should happen to Kami, then ..."

Piccolo nodded very briefly, barely perceptible. Kera swallowed. "We have to stick together now."

Gohan posted himself on his other side, looking more determined than ever. The boy had fought really well. He was proud of him. His fighting talents had developed well. Now he just hoped Kera could control her energy.

The door leaves crashed aside. Three attackers rushed into the room and went straight for them. They had to get out of this room. There were too few options for evasion here. Piccolo did not wait for his attacker to approach, but jumped up and over the attacker. Let's get out of here.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Kera do the same. He focused on his opponent again and only now realised that it was Garlic Jr. Dismissively, he grinned at him.

"The Makyo Star is near!" He laughed with a chuckle and rushed after Piccolo.

He saw what the demon meant. His body had grown and his energy was much stronger than it had been at the beginning of the fight. Piccolo cursed inwardly. That made the whole thing even more complicated.

Garlic Jr followed Piccolo outside and attacked him. Piccolo fought back as hard as he could, but he felt a new sensation. A pulling in his chest that spread to his arms. It became so strong that it was torture to lift his arms. The pressure in his chest increased. Breathing became more strenuous.

He managed to fight back one attack from Garlic Jr, then all at once his strength faded and he went down with a groan. Something was happening to Kami.

Kera had immediately realised what Piccolo was up to and did the same. She paid no attention to who was coming towards her, but simply spoke over him. The room was definitely too small for six fighters.

She flew out of the palace as fast as she could and reached the exit of the palace at nearly the same time as Piccolo. He jumped to the right, followed by a bluish flash, she to the right. Someone followed her too. She turned around, got into a fighting stance and awaited her attacker.

It was the guy with the dog-like head. He was clearly bigger and his muscles seemed to want to tell her a story, but she was little impressed by that. It had taken him a long time to get after her, so he was quite slow. That was her advantage.

She let the muscleman come within a step of her and already saw the triumphant flash in his eyes, then ducked under his fist in a blink and swept his legs out from under him. He stumbled and came to a halt again a few steps behind her.

She did not wait for him to turn around. She would like to enjoy the fight more, humiliate her opponent with words. Or at least Kera wanted to. Sitara cheered her on to finish the fight as quickly as possible. Rationally, this was also the only right thing to do.

A well-aimed energy ball made her attacker lurch forward again. She took advantage of his insecurity to bring him down with a well-aimed hand edge strike.

But her opponent did not give in that easily. The thick neck was more resistant than she had hoped. He performed a half turn and kicked at her, but she was already out of reach.

"Too slow!" she whispered back at him.

She landed with both feet on the ground, only to push off again immediately and ram both fists under his flabby chin. His head snapped back and he took a step backwards. With her right leg, she placed a kick exactly on the spot on his neck that she had hit with the edge of her hand earlier.

This time the blow was on target. The guy rolled his eyes and toppled to the side. Kera didn't stop to watch him fall. She couldn't spot Gohan and searched for his aura. He was still fighting inside the palace with his attacker and he didn't seem to have any problems.

Piccolo. She turned around. Scanned the surroundings with her eyes and her other senses. She took off running. He was hidden behind the corner of the Palace. His aura felt weak.

She quickened her steps. Garlic Jr was upon Piccolo, not letting him catch his breath. He punched and kicked at Piccolo so fast that Piccolo did not block every blow and was noticeably distressed.

Garlic Jr had grown. Not just his body, but his strength. She had to help Piccolo. She jumped up and yanked Garlic Jr off Piccolo. In flight, she delivered a punch to the pit of his stomach, but it only made him flinch for a moment and he immediately counter-attacked. Kera tried to block, but Garlic Jr was suddenly no longer above her.

Kera blinked. Gohan. He had taken up the fight with Garlic Jr. So he had managed to defeat his opponent. Very good.

She picked herself up and ran to Piccolo, who was sprawled on the ground. She took his hand.

"Hey, are you resting a bit?"

He smiled. Very briefly only, before his face contorted in pain. "Sorry. I guess I'm not in any condition to fight anymore."

She put a hand to his cheek. He paled. She could see the ground through him. Apparently Kami was not well in the shrine. He was dying.

Kera swallowed. "Gohan fights really well." She felt she had to say something. Anything at all.

"You too, right?" His voice sounded so weak.

"I fight to the last spark of energy!"

Kera looked up. There seemed to be a crack in the sky there. Was something moving there? A swirl of red and black mist? At the same time as the sky ripped open, she felt a new energy rising within her. An energy she had never felt before. Dark, but pleasant. Powerful. She took it in. It was as if this energy had always been a part of her.

Kera stood up straight. The mist spun faster and faster, creating a suction. Small pieces of rock whizzed past her. Kera stood in front of Piccolo to protect him. With every second, the suction grew stronger. Parts of the palace came loose and flew into the mist.

As suddenly as the suction had come, it ended. Kera blinked between her arms, which she had raised in front of her face to protect herself from the flying parts. In front of her, Gohan was floating and had put a protective shield around himself, Piccolo and her.

"Thank you, Gohan!" she called above the noise.

He turned to her briefly before turning back towards the swirling mist. Garic Jr hovered in front of the crack in the sky and laughed.

"The Dead Zone," Piccolo said quietly behind her. She had suspected as much. "You must destroy the Makyo Star."

Kera spread her arms. Then she raised her left arm above her head and her right in front of her body. Spheres of energy formed in her palms. Slowly she pulled the upper hand down and pushed the lower up so that she stretched both hands out from her at chest level. The two small balls of energy joined together to form a sphere that hovered over the heel of her hand. The black ball grew. Red lightning twitched around her.

"Gohan, lower the shield!" she shouted to him.

"But ..." He looked at her and widened his eyes in wonder.

"Now!" She shouted. There was no trace of her soft voice.

Gohan landed in front of Piccolo and then looked again at Kera. The ball of energy in front of her body was now one step in diameter.

"Lower ... the ... shield!" uttered Kera between clenched teeth. She felt a power inside her that she could barely contain. She didn't care where that power came from. It felt good. And she was sure she could destroy the demons' star with it.

At last, Gohan lowered the shield. She lifted the huge ball of energy above her head and threw it towards the vortex and Garlic Jr, who was still hovering in front of the hole, seemingly unaffected by the suction.

Garlic Jr caught the ball of energy. Gohan made a startled sound. She would not give up so easily. She stretched her arms out in front of her and crossed her hands.

"You're about done here, Garlic!" she shouted at him.

The demon laughed ugly. "You have no idea who you've messed with, girl!" He hurled the ball of energy back in her direction. "This here is demon energy. It can't hurt me!"

Demonic energy? What was that supposed to mean? She had simply used that power. Hadn't she?

She had to concentrate. A beam of energy released from her palms. Black, framed by red lightning. With it, she hit the energy sphere, which stopped in mid-air. Garlic Jr used his power to push the ball further towards her. She once again mustered all her strength to push the ball away from her.

A yelp made her look backwards. Gohan had moved up beside her and also released a beam of energy that connected with hers, sending the sphere hurtling towards Garlic.

It was a test of strength. It was only a matter of time before one of them would have used up all his reserves. What would happen to the earth then?

"Come on, concentrate!"

Surprised, Kera looked to the side and saw Piccolo standing there. He was no longer transparent. His power had returned. She turned her head further around. A few steps away stood Kami and Mister Popo. So they had done it and distributed the Sacred Water in the shrine of the gods.

This, and that Piccolo now also released a beam of energy to push the ball of energy away from him, triggered feelings of happiness in her that gave her new strength.

"Just a little bit more!" she called to the others. With a united cry, they let their energies flare up once more. The suction grew stronger, the bullet hit Garlic Jr, who caught it. But the momentum of the bullet was so strong that Garlic Jr was also pulled towards the Dead Zone. They pushed on.

Garlic Jr shrank, getting closer and closer to the Dead Zone.

"Keep going!"

With a smacking sound, Garlic Jr was sucked into the Dead Zone. Slowly, the sky began to close in again.

A curse made them look backwards. Kami and Mister Popo flew through the air. The pull of the Dead Zone had taken hold of them and they didn't seem strong enough to resist it. Piccolo reached for the hand of Mister Popo, who was grasping Kami's cloak. He reached his free hand back and Kera clung to it. They would not lose them now.

Only slowly did the Dead Zone close. Gohan kept shooting balls of energy into the heart of the Dead Zone to stop Garlic Jr from getting back out.

Kera's arms began to shake. Since releasing the energy ball, she felt weaker on her feet, wobbly. She desperately needed to recover.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the sky closed. It became light again. The suction was gone.

Exhausted, everyone sank to the earth. Kera patted Gohan on the shoulder. "Great fight, little one."

He smiled at her and then slumped down some more. His strength was completely exhausted.

"You fought very well too." Piccolo squeezed her shoulder briefly and smiled at her.

She returned the smile and then lifted Gohan up in her arms. "I think we'll take you home sometime, won't we?" Gohan nodded weakly.

Kera looked at her surroundings. The palace was almost completely destroyed. Pieces of debris lay everywhere.

Kami approached them. "I thank you for banishing Garlic Jr back to the Dead Zone. Without you, the world would be lost now."

Piccolo waved it off. "That's alright. I didn't fancy a world full of demons. They're so hard to control." Kami laughed briefly and Kera had to grin too.

"Can you rebuild the palace?" she inquired of Kami.

"Of course. Popo and I can manage." Leaning on his staff, Kami walked to where the remains of the entrance had been. "See you soon!" He waved to them and then turned to Popo.

"Are we going to Master Roshi's island?" asked Piccolo. Kera nodded. "Give me Gohan." The boy floated into Piccolo's outstretched arms. Gratefully, Kera nodded to him. She wasn't sure she could make the flight with Gohan in her arms.

They flew slowly. Kera's strength was exhausted, but she did not complain. Piccolo went over and over again in his mind the last minutes of the fight against Garlic Jr and still found no explanation for Kera's strange energy sphere. Not even he as a demon had produced such energy spheres. Had she used the power of the Makyo Star? But only demons could do that.

Kami had said that the two personalities of Sitara and Kera were fighting to come to the surface and therefore she could not concentrate her energy. He hadn't said anything about something demonic lying dormant inside her.

He felt for her aura. It was superficially as he had come to know it. But when he looked more closely, there was another aura underneath, only minimally shifted. Kera's. Depending on how she felt, either one or the other was more prominent.

Piccolo hoped that they could get a grip on this problem. He just had no idea how. They hadn't had a chance to talk about whether she would come back to the forest with him. That would certainly be easiest, but perhaps she would prefer to live somewhere else. He wondered if Vegeta was back on Earth. Piccolo hadn't sensed his aura, but that didn't have to mean anything. If he was here, Kera would surely prefer to be near him.

They landed on the small island inhabited by the Turtle Hermit. The latter, as well as Yamcha, Bulma and Chi-Chi were standing on the white sand, looking at each other in confusion, as if they weren't sure why they were standing on the beach.

Yamcha noticed them first and waved at them. Chi-Chi immediately came running towards them and took the sleeping Gohan from Piccolo's arms.

"What's wrong with him?"

"Don't worry, Chi-Chi, he's just sleeping," Kera tried to reassure her.

"But why? Where have you been?"

Piccolo and Kera looked at each other for a moment. They couldn't remember being demons.

"Can't you remember that ..."

Kera interrupted him. "... That Gohan wanted to do a training session with us? He was really good and he's very tired now. He fell asleep on the way here." She smiled at Chi-Chi.

Chi-Chi looked unsettled, but then nodded. "Okay," she said slowly, looking at her son who was slumbering peacefully in her arms. "Let me put him down in the house." She turned and entered the house of the Master Roshi.

"Kera!" Bulma ran up to her and hugged her fiercely. Then she took another step back and held her by the upper arms. "Where have you been all this time?"

"Well..." She faltered. "I just needed some time to myself," she then said quietly.

"I was worried when you disappeared from the estate so suddenly."

Kera shrugged, looked down at the ground and bit her bottom lip. She felt uncomfortable talking about it.

"We also just wanted to quickly bring Gohan back and then directly leave. The kid did a pretty good job of keeping us both in check." Piccolo put a hand on Kera's shoulder to make her look up at him. Questioningly, he raised an eyebrow. She understood.

"Yeah, sorry about that, guys. Some other time, yeah?" With that, she rose into the air and waved at them.

Piccolo raised his hand in greeting and followed Kera. Small talk was not his speciality, after all.

Piccolo caught up with her. Kera looked at him. "Thanks for getting me out of there."

"It's okay."

"Where's Kakarrot, anyway? I'm surprised he didn't get involved in the fight at all?"

"We tried to revive him. It turned out that he had made it from Namek alive after all and wanted to train. But he let us know via the Dragon that he would return to Earth."

She clenched her fists. "So that's why Vegeta flew away," she muttered.

"Were you going to fly with Vegeta?"

She nodded without looking at him. "It would have been my duty." Ab-ruptly, she stopped in mid-air. "Where are we flying to, anyway?"

"Do you want to go back to ... the forest?"

Kera had the feeling that Piccolo had actually wanted to say 'our forest', but had stopped short. "Is my hut still standing?" Piccolo nodded. "Let's go then."

The thought of the forest and the hut gave her a boost again and she reached the small hut next to the waterfall before Piccolo did.

She landed and looked at the little cottage from all sides. "It looks the same as always," she noted after her walk.

Piccolo had to smile. "I've been looking after it, after all."

She squeezed his hand briefly "Thank you. Good night then, Piccolo."

She entered the hut, lay down on her bed and was asleep within seconds. She had the feeling of being home again.

Dear Reader,

This chapter has become long, but I wanted to finish this storyline before moving on to the next section.

As always, stay well!

Yours, Jessica