Chapter Text
"So here we are..." sighed Maron as Atticus and her hovered in the sky and over Central City. "... Central City," she murmured with a cross of her arms. "Home,"
"Are you afraid of him?" asked Atticus. As he did do, he placed a hand on Maron's shoulder. After a breath that was deep and loud, Maron clasped the hand on her shoulder and then looked and smiled at Atticus.
"What do I have to fear from him now?" asked Maron in a forced, half-hearted laugh. "I am beyond that fear, I believe that firmly because I should be far beyond fearing that terrible man, and yet..." she continued with a nibble of her lip.
"...and yet you fear him?" reiterated Atticus in a sigh. "You know, you don't have to-"
"I want to," corrected Maron with a float away from Atticus and then a look straight into Atticus' eyes. "I need to,"
"Alright," accepted Atticus in a sigh. "Ready?"
"I should be asking you that," giggled Maron. "You're doing the heavy lifting after all,"
"The Cerealian Dragon Balls aren't that heavy," chimed Atticus, earning himself another giggle as he did so. Although confused by the extra giggles, Atticus didn't question the snickers. Instead he aroused his ki into an emergence from himself and then directed his ki into an emission towards Planet Cereal. As soon as Atticus' ki arrived upon Planet Cereal, Atticus employed his Far-Seeing Art and thereby scanned Planet Cereal for the Cerealian dragon ball that was lost somewhere on its surface. Not long after, Atticus found that Cerealian dragon ball and then seized the Cerealian dragon ball with his telekinesis. At this point, Atticus casually dragged the Cerealian dragon ball off of Planet Cereal and into a bright and fiery soar towards his right hand!
"I can hear Tarble crying foul from the Otherworld," cackled Maron as the Cerealian dragon ball arrived before and was caught within Atticus' right hand. Subsequently, Maron encased the Cerealian dragon ball in a magical portal and thereby teleported the Cerealian dragon ball straight to Kami! "Last one," hummed Maron as Atticus applied his farsight to find the Cerealian dragon ball in Central City and then applied his telekinesis as a means of dragging that Cerealian Dragon Ball into a flight towards Maron and him!
"And it's coming in hot..." groaned Atticus as Maron and him beheld both the incoming Cerealian dragon ball and an incoming saiyan, whom was being dragged towards Atticus and Maron by his double-handed hold on the Cerealian dragon ball. Atticus and Maron also beheld an entire horde of saiyans following behind the saiyan that was clinging onto the Cerealian dragon ball. However, both Atticus and Maron disregarded the horde and focused on the saiyan with the Cerealian dragon ball in hand. As that saiyan boasted a basketball player's height of 6'6", a brawny build with the idealized musculature of a sculpture, and porcelain yet scarred skin. He also bore azure, chin-length, and curly hair which was styled into a mullet. In addition to both blue-grey eyes and a blur-furred tail!
"Th-th-that hair! That fur on his tail! C-could he be‽" asked Atticus in a gulp of nervousness. "N-n-no..." he refuted as he detected the blue saiyan's ki. "...I can detect his ki, so it's not god ki," he noted in a sigh. "He's not a Super Saiyan Blue, he's-"
"My father,"
"Your father?" gasped Atticus after Maron's whisper. And as the blue saiyan halted into a hover by letting the Cerealian dragon ball go to Atticus' left hand. "Your father!" realized Atticus in a snarl and with sparks of violet erupting from his person and flashing into fuchsia lightning! However, at the same time, Maron retrieved the Cerealian dragon ball from him and then teleported that Cerealian dragon ball to Kami. Subsequently, before Atticus could act on his rage...
"GueSS wHAt?"
...the Jiāngshī assaulted Atticus with a roar of telepathic thunder, causing Atticus to claw at his head and curl into a fetal position. "i'M bAcK!" announced the Jiāngshī in a cackled that ravaged Atticus's sanity as it roiled Atticus' thoughts!
"You're alive, daughter?" questioned the blue saiyan, just as Maron detected the Jiāngshī's telepathy and noticed Atticus' torment. "All of this time, this entire time, you've been- BITCH!" howled the blue saiyan with a clench of his fists and gnash of his teeth. "You dare to defy me, to ignore me, to leave ME‽" he raged as he rushed Maron with a-
"Shut up!" interjected Maron as she blitzed her father as a flash of sapphire sparkles and then flailed herself into the hardest haymaker that she's ever thrown in her entire life! As Maron flew up to and lashed out at the blue saiyan, the blue saiyan blinked and then Maron's fist impacted with his face. As Maron punched the blue saiyan into a rearward and rocketing soar, and as blood burst out of the blue saiyan's face and sprinkled into the welkin, the blue saiyan appeared to become a comet with a sanguinary tail! Subsequently, the blue saiyan hurtled beyond the farthest reaches of the Earth's atmosphere and into the depths of outer space!
"Attie!" cried Maron as she dismissed the blue saiyan's existence from her thoughts and flew to Atticus' side. "Let me-"
"It's alright," asserted Atticus as he ceased to claw at his head and unfurled himself. "I'm alright," he insisted as Maron and him became encircled by the saiyans whom had followed the blue saiyan and Cerealian dragon ball. "It just caught me by supr-"
"Are you sure about that?" cooed the Jiāngshī as a darkness overtook the light within the sky!
"No..." breathed Maron as Atticus, the saiyans, and her beheld the darkening of the sky with horror.
"...no he didn't!" continued Atticus in Maron's stead. "No way!"
"YES WAY!" refuted the Jiāngshī in a laughter that pierced into Atticus' psyche! It then applied its telepathy to assume control over the saiyans that had Atticus and Maron surrounded. Subsequently, as the Jiāngshī dominated the minds of the saiyans, the eyes of the saiyans began to glow red with vampirism! "Your ability to become invisible, hack signals, and hide your power allowed me to rampage throughout the Other World unimpeded!" revealed the Jiāngshī in a hum and snicker. "Ambushing and consuming the Kais was sssooo easy! Almost a bore really!" it bragged in a drawl. "All I had to do was distract their strongest students and then swoop in while those warriors were gone!"
"And as you ate the kais, you attained their farsight," finished Atticus in the Jiāngshī's stead. "Allowing you to scry throughout the whole of the universe, and thus keep an eye on Kami, right?"
"Bingo," confirmed the Jiāngshī. "I am in control of your Kami, Atticus!" it continued in a sneer. "I had him recharge and upgrade the Earth Dragon Balls for me! And in accordance with my needs! And now I'll be employing all of the power of Shenron without any of the rules!"
"Attie!" cried Maron as Atticus began to glow with the magic of Shenron. Immediately, Maron attempted to counteract Sheron's magic with her magic. However, the Jiāngshī assaulted Maron with the brainwashed saiyans and thereby foerced Maron to protect herself rather than save Atticus. "Get out of my way!" demanded Maron as she conjured portals in the path of the saiyans. Although the saiyans attempted to break in midair; ultimately, each of the saiyans flew into a portal and then found themselves boiling and suffocating in outer space!
"It's alright Maron..." assured Atticus as Maron about-faced towards him and then began to cast a spell. At this point, Atticus beamed with a loving smile...
...and then disappeared in the middle of Maron's spellcasting.
"...I'll be back,"
❧ ❧ ❧
Above the buildings of Gingertown, and amidst the town's sprawling streets, an army of saiyans was battling a contingent of the Z Warriors whom had sequestered and trained themselves within the Room of Spirit and Time.
"Th-th-that ki!" gasped Tien after he bodied a saiyan with a kick and and then felt Shenron fuse Atticus, Chiaotzu, and the Jiāngshī together! "Chiaotzu? I-i-is that Chiaotzu‽"
"Eh?" uttered Goku as he caught a saiyan's punch with his finger and then kicked the saiyan in the chin! "I think it is..." agreed Goku as the aforementioned saiyan dropped face-first onto the ground and fell unconscious. "...yeah!" he confirmed with a nod and smile. "That's definitely Chiaotzu!"
"But that was the Eternal Dragon, Shenron, too right?" noted Krillin as he bashed a saiyan's face with a punch and consequently hurtled that saiyan into a slam through a building's wall! "Kami couldn't recharge them without resting, right? That's what he said, right? So how is Shenron here‽"
"I don't know..." admitted Tien with a bite of his lip. "... and I don't like being kept in the dark!" he spat as he leapt into a soar towards Chiaotzu's location!
"Hey!" cried Krillin as Tien ditched Goku and him. "We're kinda in the middle of a battle here, remember‽" he shouted in a snarl.
"Nappa is already gone, I felt him lose to Yamcha, so you guys should be fine without me too!" insisted Goku as he erupted into a flight of his own and then pursued Tien! "I'll be back!"
"Goku!" complained Krillin as Goku ditched him as well. "Not you too!"
"You should join them," argued King Chappa as he descended into a landing near Krillin. Not long after, all of King Chappa's now saiyan students descended into a landing behind King Chappa. "I can feel something wrong with Chiaotzu's ki," warned King Chappa with a frown. "It's destructive, evil, and unnatural! Completely different from how it was at the last tournament!"
"I can handle Nappa's goons by myself," added Pamput — of all people — as he decapitated a saiyan with a flying knee strike! And then kicked the head of that saiyan into a piercing slam through another saiyan's stomach! "Whether they're humans changed into saiyans, or Tarble's warriors, they don't stand a chance against me anymore!"
"If they don't stand a chance, stop killing them!" complained Krillin in a hiss. "If they're that beneath you, killing them is unnecessary!"
"Focus on your own opponents or scram," retorted Pamput in a sneer. "Don't backseat fight for me!"
"I shall temper his wrath, if I can..." offered Nam as another band of saiyans descended towards and fired ki missiles towards the Z Warriors! "...so go!""
"If you can," accentuated Pamput. At the same time, King Chappa, Nam, and him accelerated the air above them with an infusion of their ki and thereby aroused a gale which deflected the incoming ki missiles! As the ki missiles crashed and detonated in the distance, Krillin acknowledged his fellow humans' strength with a proud smile and then flew of in pursuit of Goku and Tien.
"He's at Kami's Lookout?" assumed Tien as Goku and him continued their flight towards Chiaotzu's ki. "Chiaotzu and the dragon balls are at the lookout, yeah?"
"No..." corrected Krillin as he caught up to Goku and Tien. "... it's below the lookout," he noted with a frown. "So Korin's Tower!"
"Same thing!" asserted Tien in a snarl. "And the question is the same too!"
"Why?" agreed Goku with a nod at Tien. "Why is Chiaotzu alive when Kami said that he died killing Tarble, and why is Chiaotzu at Korin's Tower?"
"Because..."
"Maron‽" gasped Goku, Krillin, and Tien as each of them heard Maron in their head!
"...that place is where all of this began," murmured Maron in Goku, Krillin, and Tien's thoughts. "It's where the Jiāngshī was born, technically, so I assume that it's where the Jiāngshī has decided to end all of this,"
"Huh?" uttered Goku with a blink. "Maron..."
"...what are you talking about?" asked Krillin after a blink of his own. "Jiāngshī? What?"
"Th-th-that damn water!" spat Tien at a thunderous volume. "You mean the water, yeah?"
"Water?" asked Goku and Krillin. But then Goku blinked. "K-K-Korin's sacred water‽"
"The Ultra Divine Water," corrected Maron in a groan. "I'll make this quick," she decided. Subsequently; Marron applied her magical telepathy to easily and instantly exposit the Jiāngshī situation to Goku, Krillin, and Tien!
"That cat's stupid water awoke a Jiāngshī within Chiaotzu‽" snarled Tien in a yell. "I knew that I should never had allowed-"
"Tien..." interjected Maron in a sigh. "...Chiaotzu, well that Chiaotzu, he isn't-"
"I know that!" revealed Tien in the same snarl that he had yelled in. "I know that Chiaotzu isn't the original Chiaotzu!" he clarified in a dismissive snort. "I've know that for years now!"
"Wh-wh-what?" uttered Maron. "What, you, WHAT‽"
"The Crane Hermit attempted to avenge Atticus and my abandonment of him by revealing to me that Atticus was not Chiaotzu," elaborated Tien in a grumble. "Crane asserted that there was dark magic that could meddle with reincarnation and that he had replaced and slew Chiaotzu with that dark magic,"
"And you believed him?" asked Maron in an incredulous tone of voice. "Just like that?"
"Fuck no," admitted Tien. "But, just in case, I asked Korin about the matter while Atticus was studying and training with Kami..." he added in a sigh. "...and he confirmed that Chiaotzu's body and soul were disconnected from one another, as if Chiaotzu was a ghost that was possessing the body rather than the natural soul of the body,"
"I am so confused," admitted Goku with a shake of his head. "Chiaotzu is not Chiaotzu?"
"Chiaotzu is a fraud," explained Krillin to Goku. "A Fraudzu!"
"I couldn't accept, no, I couldn't even believe that the Crane Hermit had murdered and replaced by best friend — my brother — without me even noticing!" snapped Tien. "So I asked Fortuneteller Baba if she could bring Chiaotzu's soul onto the Earth for a day..."
"...and she could," whispered Maron. "And she did! She proved it to you by reuniting you!" she gasped. "Wait a minute! Hold on! Are you telling me that you met with the original Chiaotzu, through a deal that Baba and King Yama have with one another, without King Yama putting two and two together‽" she questioned in a scream. "I-if that is true, if that actually happened, a-a-all of this really is the ogres and his fault!"
"I've been aware that Chiaotzu isn't, well, Chiaotzu ever since that day," continued Tien in a murmur. "But Chiaotzu, the Chiaotzu that all of you know that is, didn't know that," he stressed. "He didn't know that there was another, original Chiaotzu! He didn't know that his arrival killed someone and that he was living someone else's life!"
"And he'd feel terrible if he did, yeah?" deduced Maron in a huff. "Is that what you told yourself, is that how you justified it to yourself, as you let him live a lie‽"
"He'd blame himself," asserted Tien. "You know that he-"
"Should have been given that opportunity, that truth!" insisted Maron. "You're always babying him, coddling and infantilizing him, rather than respecting him!" she continued in a huff. "Atticus was just as scared to tell you the truth as you were to tell him. But why? Why is it that Atticus and you love one another, but neither of you trust one another‽"
"I don't exactly understand any of this..." began Goku before Tien could respond to Maron. "...but if Chiaotzu isn't Chiaotzu and you know that Chiaotzu isn't Chiaotzu, why do you treat Chiaotzu like he is Chiaotzu?" he questioned. "Is Chiaotzu a Chiaotzu to you in his own way?"
"What?" uttered Krillin and Maron together.
"Yes," answered Tien with a nod. "It's exactly that, Goku!" he reiterated in a shout.
"I understand," chuckled Goku.
"We don't!" complained Krillin and Maron.
"Chiaotzu and Chiaotzu are different people, yes, but both Chiaotzu and Chiaotzu are brothers to Tien," elaborated Goku in a laugh. "Both care for Tien and Tien cares for them in turn,"
"That makes sense?" acknowledge Krillin. "At least, I think it makes sense..."
"We don't have anymore time for such talk!" interjected Tien as Goku, Krillin, and him arrived within sight of Korin's Tower. "We're almost there!"
"I'm almost there, Attie!" added Maron as she conjured a portal ahead of Goku, Krillin, and Tien. Afterward, Maron emerged from that portal and then joined Goku, Krillin, and Tien's soar towards Korin's Tower. "You'll be back?" continued Maron in a hiss. "Of course you'll be back, because I will be bringing you back myself!"
Not long after; Goku, Krillin, Maron, and Tien arrived at Korin's Tower and landed within the obloid and residential tip of Korin's Tower. As they did so; they found Chiaotzu standing in wait...
...alongside Kami and Korin‽
"You've arrived," acknowledged a Chiaotzu; albeit a Chiaotzu whom was different from Atticus as Chiaotzu, the canon Chiaotzu, and the Jiāngshī as Chiaotzu. As this Chiaotzu exhibited an impossibly white complexion, but he also exhibited heavily scarred skin. This Chiaotzu was equal in height to Krillin, but he also exhibited Atticus and the Jiāngshī's lithe yet muscled physique. This Chiaotzu exhibited Atticus' afro of billowing and black hair with the texture of wool, but he also exhibited the Jiāngshī's pair of chest-length bangs with bat-shaped braids. This Chiaotzu exhibited a beady, crimson, and left eye which was as dimly lit as the embers within a pile soot. But he also exhibited a beady, cerulean, and right eye which gleamed with the ocean's shimmer. This Chiaotzu boasted a full-fledged nose, contrary to the canon Chiaotzu and Krillin, but he also boasted both fangs rather than teeth and claws rather than fingernails. This Chiaotzu displayed blue fingernails, but he also displayed red toenails. And this Chiaotzu was dressed in a black, hooded, and long-sleeved tunic. And a black pair of fingerless gloves. But he also was dressed in a black pair of baggy and Metamoran shorts emblazoned with a crimson and cerulean embroidery of catnip flowers. And he was devoid of any footwear whatsoever!
"Chiaotzu?" asked Tien as he beheld the Chiaotzu before Goku, Krillin, Maron, and him. "No..." he realized as he detected an evil ki within the Chiaotzu and eyed the Chiaotzu's random sparks of violet! "...you're the fusion‽"
"I am Chiaotzu, Chiaotzu, and Chiaotzu combined!" answered the Chiaotzu in a dignified huff. "Atticus Charlwood, Chiaotzu, and the Jiāngshī reunited and united!"
"Against Atticus and Chiaotzu's will!" added Maron in a hiss.
"And controlled by the Jiāngshī's will alone, because that is what the Jiāngshī wished for!" added the Fusion Chiaotzu atop of Maron's hiss. "An advantage of a dragon ball fusion over the dance and the rings..." it continued in a cackle as Maron glared harder and harder at it. "...is that you can customize the fusion to your liking!"
"All I'm hearing is that Chiaotzu and Chiaotzu won't feel a thing as we beat you down!" interjected Goku as he began a disciplined yet excited stretch. "Yeah?"
"Y-y-you..." cackled the Fusion Chiaotzu with a grab of its stomach. "...b-beat ME? Is I am NOW?" it continued an instant before its telekinesis dragged Kami and Korin's faces into its clawed grasp! "I'd like to see you try," it cooed as its claws liquidized and then sucked up Kami and Korin!
"You monster!" exclaimed Goku as he leapt from the middle of a stretch and into a surge towards Fusion Chiaotzu. However, Fusion Chiaotzu appeared face-to-face with Goku and then kicked Goku into a face-first puncture through the ceiling!
"H-h-he blitzed Goku‽" gasped Krillin as Maron, Tien, and him entered the fray with a rush towards the Fusion Chiaotzu! "Damn it!"
"As expected from you..." cooed the Fusion Chiaotzu as Tien arrived before it first and then attacked it with a kick! "...Tenshinhan!" it continued as it dropped into a flight under Tien's kick and then flashed into a rising uppercut which struck Tien in the jaw! "You assessed the situation, rather than leapt into it unprepared!" it hummed as Tien backflipped from the impact of the uppercut but then casually and gracefully landed into a kneel. At the same time, it beheld a crimson and erratic gleam where the iris and pupil of Tien's 3rd eyes used to be! "You've already activated your Evolved Central Eye (中目の進化, Chūboku no Shinka), huh?"
"Hyakubai Taiyōken (百倍太陽拳, "Hundred-Fold Solar Fist")!" chanted an approaching Krillin as he channeled his ki into the lighting of the room and then energized that lighting into-"
"That ain't gonna work!" interjected the Fusion Chiaotzu as it assaulted the energized light within its telekinesis and thereby dragged the energized light into the grasp of its right hand‽ "After all, that is a Crane technique!" it added as it bashed Krillin's face with the glowing palm of its right hand and thereby blinded Krillin with Krillin's own Solar Flare!
"Actually..." cackled Maron after she circled the distracted Fusion Chiaotzu and as she clasped the crown of the Fusion Chiaotzu's head! "...it did work!" she declared as her magic conducted through her fingers and then straight into-
"Nope!" refuted the Fusion Chiaotzu as it blasted Maron with its telekinesis! As the blasted Maron arose away from the Fusion Chiaotzu and towards the ceiling, Maron clawed the Fusion Chiaotzu's scalp as her cling on the scalp failed to keep its hold!
"Damn it!" swore Maron as the Fusion Chiaotzu's blast of telekinesis flung her into an embedment within the ceiling. "I! Will! SAVE YOU!" hissed Maron as she aroused her cerulean magic into a barrier of sapphire!
"No," asserted the Fusion Chiaotzu as it aimed an index finger at Maron and then began to charge the same sort of Super Dodon Ray that had obliterated Tarble! "You won-"
"Kaiō-ken (界王拳, "World King Fist")!"
"Kaiō wh..." asked the Fusion Chiaotzu as it abandoned the Super Dodon Ray and then about-faced into catching Goku's punch! "...at did you THINK was going to happen, huh?" it questioned as it dragged Goku into a flail and then flung Goku towards Maron! "That I wouldn't know about that little trick of yours?"
"TIMES TWENTY!" added Goku as he augmented his Kaiō-ken and blazed into a fiery surge towards Maron? As Goku accelerated into a charge towards Maron rather than the Fusion Chiaotzu, the Fusion Chiaotzu blinked at Goku's attack upon Maron...
...and then cried out in a fright as Maron's aura of magic teleported Goku behind it!
"SHIT!" swore the Fusion Chiaotzu as Goku crashed fist-first into its back and then pushed it into a soar straight towards Tien!
"Kikōyaken (気功八拳, Energy Cultivation Eight Fist)!" howled Tien as he both complemented his Evolved Central Eye with an Evolved Left Eye (左目の進化, Saboku no Shinka) and equipped himself with 6, extra arms! Subsequently, Tien attacked the incoming Fusion Chiaotzu with an octet of punches and Goku drove the Fusion Chiaotzu into an impact with those punches!
"That bitch's magic is a problem..." asserted the Fusion Chiaotzu as blood emerged from its mouth. Immediately afterward, the Fusion Chiaotzu's arms elongated into a stretch and then the Fusion Chiaotzu stabbed into Goku and Tien's backs with his claws! "...while the rest of you is but a snack! A treat of this vampire!" it snickered as Goku and Tien cried out in horrific pain and then liquidi-"
"No!" roared Krillin as he bashed in the Fusion Chiaotzu's face with a flying knee strike and then kicked the Fusion Chiaotzu's into a cartwheel that tore the Fusion Chiaotzu's claws out of Goku and Tien!
"Huh?" uttered the Fusion Chiaotzu after it cartwheeled into a landing stumble and then found Krillin face-to-face with it again! At this point, Krillin flew into a midair roundhouse kick upon the Fusion Chiaotzu's face and thereby dropped the Fusion Chiaotzu onto its hands and knees. "WHAT‽"
"What?" uttered Goku and Tien in agreement, as Krillin punched the Fusion Chiaotzu onto its feet with an uppercut and then vanished into the wind! "I..." uttered Goku as he attempted to find Krillin but failed‽ "...I can't detect him!"
"Nobody can," asserted Maron as she emerged from a portal and then landed behind Goku and Tien. "He's entered the No Ego Zone (無我の領域 Mūga no Ryōiki, "Domain of Selflessness") after all,"
"I can't detect his mind! It's as if he's an object without thoughts, and he is hiding his ki too!" complained the Fusion Chiaotzu an instant before Krillin elbowed it in the side and into a wall! "Without my ki and mental senses, detecting this little shit at that speed is troublesome!"
"But not impossible..." admitted Maron as the Fusion Chiaotzu abruptly caught a full-speed Krillin in a dashing lariat. The Fusion Chiaotzu then back-flipped and flew into a landing stomp upon Krillin's stomach! "...Goku, Tien!" called Maron after the Fusion Chiaotzu embedded Krillin back-first into the floor and as the Fusion Chiaotzu aimed an index finger at Krillin's face!
"Dodonpa (どどん波, Dodon Wave)," huffed the Fusion Chiaotzu as it fired a Dodon Ray at Krillin's face...
...but into 1 of Maron's portal, as Maron conjured that portal at the last possible second!
"Shit!" cried the Fusion Chiaotzu as its Dodon Ray emerged from another portal and then struck it in the back! Not long after, a x20 Goku and Double Evolved Eye Tien arrived before the Fusion Chiaotzu and then assaulted the Fusion Chiaotzu with a flurry of kicks and punches!
"Th-th-thanks," coughed Krillin as Maron helped him onto his feet. However, as soon as Krillin stood up, Goku crashed into Krillin and then dragged Krillin into an impact with a wall! At the same time, Tien crashed into the ceiling and then dropped face-first onto the floor in front of Maron.
"I am done with the fucking portals!" spat the Fusion Chiaotzu as it amassed its green ki into a sphere and then conducted the Current of a Destroyer into that sphere! "Hakai (破壊, Destruction)!" chanted the Fusion Chiaotzu as it directed the sphere into a surge towards Maron and Tien! "Bye bitch! Bye witch!" it giggled as the Hakai accelerated towards Maron and Tien faster than either of them could react!
"Maron..."
"...Tien!"
"...no,"
"No,"
"NO!"
"NO!"
"Guh..." grunted the Fusion Chiaotzu as the Hakai abruptly curved into a flight over Maron and then dusted the entirety of Korin's Tower as soon it touched the tower's wall! "...b-b-but I made a wish!" whined the Fusion Chiaotzu as Goku, Krillin, Maron, and it were caught in a downpour of Hakai sand and thus dragged into a plummet towards the surface!
"The Eternal Dragon can't affect a creature against the creature's will if its creator is weaker than the creature," cackled Maron as the Fusion Chiaotzu, Goku, Krillin, Tien, and her crashed into the ground with the downpour of Hakai sand. Not long after, everyone — except Krillin — emerged from the Hakai sand as if the Hakai sand was water. "By changing the Eternal Dragon's rules, you didn't make it possible to bypass the old rules, you only made it possible for the Eternal Dragon to grant wishes that can not and WILL NOT last!" screamed Maron as she enchanted the Hakai sand with her magic and then flung and hardened the Hakai sand into missiles!
"I ain't defusing per se, so that aspect of the wish is remaining strong, but my dominance within the fusion is losing its strength!" hissed the Jiāngshī as it destroyed Maron's missiles with its own flurry of punches! "As Atticus and Chiaotzu are arising into consciousness and challenging my control of the fusion, they're also dividing the energy of the fusion between the 3 of us and that is limiting me to only a third of our fusion's stre-"
"Kienjin (気円刃, Energy Circle Blade)!"
"Ki-WHAT‽" gasped the Jiāngshī after he broke a missile of a sand with a punch and as Krillin erupted out of that broken missile's sand! At this point, a blade of cycling and golden ki elongated from Krillin's right hand and then sawed into the Jiāngshī's arm as it struck the Jiāngshī's arms! As blood erupted out of the Jiāngshī's sawed and stabbed arm, the Jiāngshī blasted Krillin with his telekinesis and thereby knocked Krillin into a rearward skid! "You bald bastard!" roared the Jiāngshī as it blitzed Krillin with a dash and then found a Kaiō-ken kick to his face from Goku!
As Goku followed up with a punch; the Jiāngshī caught the fist of Goku, elbowed Goku in the stomach, and then kicked Goku into a skyward whirl! At this point though, Krillin appeared before the Jiāngshī and then booted the Jiāngshī in the face! However, the Jiāngshī endured the stomp without giving an inch and then lashed out with a punch! This allowed the Jiāngshī to daze Krillin with a jab and then slap Krillin face-first into the ground! Subsequently, Tien ambushed the Jiāngshī with 4 punches to the Jiāngshī's face and then Krillin arose into a back-flipping kick upon the Jiāngshī's chin! While in midair and upside down, Krillin armed himself with a Power Pole latched to his back...
...and then revealed that Power Pole to be a katana's saya, by drawing the blade of the katana out of that saya! "Kientō Zanra (気円刀斬等, Energy Circle Sword Cuts)!" chanted Krillin as he attacked the Jiāngshī with a flash of slashes. Because the Jiāngshī could neither detect Krillin's energy nor read Krillin's thoughts, the could neither detect the energy of the slashes nor discern the pathway of the slashes from Krillin's thoughts! Instead, the Jiāngshī had to depend on its physical senses. But the Jiāngshī quickly found those physicals senses to be lacking as Krillin hacked into it and slashed through it!
"Taiyōken (太陽拳, "Solar Fist")!" chanted the Jiāngshī as it blinded Krillin out of desperation and then broke the blade of Krillin's katana with a punch which slammed through that blade and then straight into Krillin's face! As Krillin crashed back-first into and cratered the ground, Goku axe kicked the Jiāngshī with a descent upon the Jiāngshī and then Tien 4-punched the Jiāngshī into a rearward skid!
"Uhh..." uttered Krillin as the Jiāngshī halted its skid with a stomp and then snarled at Goku, Tien, and him. At the same time, the Jiāngshī began to discharge a fuchsia lightning and then began to heal its slash wounds‽ "...since when could Chiaotzu do THAT‽" complained Krillin as the Jiāngshī fully and perfectly regenerated in a second! "And HOW is he doing that‽"
"He calls it the Breath of Destruction (破壊の気息, Hakai no Kisoku)," answered the Jiāngshī in a cackle. "All of our bodies depend on the energy and functions of our metabolism, but that metabolism is imperfect and limited. That is, its ability to create and distribute energy is inefficient..." it clarified as Goku, Krillin, and Tien were joined by Maron. "...so he came up with the idea of applying his mortal Power of Destruction as a component of his metabolism! As that allows his metabolism to create and distribute 100% of the energy within its fuel!" it cooed. "So anything that the body of a human can do, my body can do perfectly! The body of a human can heal; and as such, I can heal perfectly!"
"He?" asked Krillin, while Goku and Tien blinked in confusion at the Jiāngshī's science.
"He means Atticus," answered Maron in the Jiāngshī. "Chiaotzu, I mean. My Chiaotzu that is. He's stealing my Chiaotzu's newest technique!"
"Even if his body's metabolism is perfect, he isn't perfect, so there is still a way to win!" insisted Goku as his aura of the Kaio-ken flared to the height of a skyscraper! "And we're going to find it!"
"Yeah!" agreed Krillin and Tien, as the blade of Krillin's sword elongated like the Power Pole and fixed itself as it did so! And as Tien brightened the crimson within his central and left eyes!
"Aaahahahahaaa!" cackled the Jiāngshī at Goku's insistence. "Even with just a 3rd of this fusion's base power, I am a MONSTER true, so there isn't any way for you mortals to win!"
"So you say..." cooed Krillin as he blurred into a couple of flashes and then charged the Jiāngshī as a gang of images rather than as an individual! "...but let's see how you handle this, Tazanzō Zanra (多残像斬等, Multi-Afterimage Sword Cuts)!" chanted each image of Krillin as each of them darted towards the Jiāngshī and readied their katana!
"Shishin no Kaiō-ken (四身の界王拳, World King Fist of Four Bodies)!" added Tien as he divided into 4, 2-armed individuals and then empowered each of his 4 selves with a 4x Kaiō-ken! By doing so, Tien cloned himself without diminishing his power!
"Kaiō-ken no Kansei (界王拳の完成, Perfected World King Fist)!" roared Goku as he collapsed the aura of his 20x Kaio-ken into a confinement within himself and then burst into a sprint towards the Jiāngshī and with the 4 Tiens!
"Now that is a dangerous technique!" admitted the Jiāngshī as Krillin's blurs blurred into extra images and then circled the Jiāngshī with their flight and as a flurry of silhouettes! "I can detect neither his ki nor his thoughts, so discerning which is a flash and which is a Krillin is some tough work!" noted the Jiāngshī as Krillin's blurs began to charge in groups and chop at the Jiāngshī with their katana. "But I have the Power of Confronting Death (臨死の力, Rinshi no Ryoku), so..." cooed the Jiāngshī as its experience of the situation slowed and its perception of the situation strengthened! "...you can't defeat me with that old trick!" it asserted as it armored its fist with its telekinesis and then began to defend itself from each of the actual and corporeal Krillin's slashes by deflecting Krillin's blade with punches!
"That's just the start!" asserted all 4 of the Tiens as they augmented their life with a 2x Kaiō-ken and then expended that extra life as a means of momentarily powering themselves up‽ "Kaiōkikōken (界王気功拳, World King Energy Cultivating Fist)!"
"All the power of the Tri-Beam, without any of the price‽" deduced the Jiāngshī as 2 of the Tiens accelerated into an instantaneous kick of its face! At the same time, another 2 of the Tiens accelerated into an instantaneous kick upon the Jiāngshī's legs and thereby swept the Jiāngshī into a trip! Subsequently, Krillin appeared before the Jiāngshī while the Jiāngshī was in the middle of the trip and then slashed through the Jiāngshī's eyes! At this point, all 4 of the Tiens assaulted the blinded Jiāngshī with a collective kick that launched the Jiāngshī skyward! And then Goku appeared above the Jiāngshī and hammered the Jiāngshī into a plummet! Subsequently, a flurry of Krillins darted above, around, and under the Jiāngshī as Krillin ravaged the Jiāngshī with slashes!
"We got him!" cheered the Tiens as the Jiāngshī neared them...
...but then vanished?
"What?" uttered the Tiens as the Jiāngshī achieved invisibility through a combination of the Solar Flare and its telekinesis!
"Gogododonpa (五剛どどん波, "Five Strong Dodon Waves")!" chanted the Jiāngshī as it blasted each of the Tiens with a Dodon Ray! At the same time, as 4 of the Dodon Rays impacted with and scorched a Tien, the 5th Dodon Ray crashed into the ground and detonated an explosion which launched the Jiāngshī skyward! "Nijūjita Maradodonpa (二十舌魔羅どどん波, "Twenty-Tongued Mara Dodon Wave")!" continued the Jiāngshī as it discharged a Dodon Wave from each of its 10 fingers.
"That's not gooaaauuuggghhhaaaa!" screeched Krillin as the Jiāngshī guided the Dodon Rays into both Krillin and his afterimages, allowing the Jiāngshī to blast Krillin into burn without needing to discern the fake Krillins from the real Krillin!
"Krillin! Tien!" cried Goku as he arced into a flight towards the Jiāngshī by detecting the Jiāngshī's ki! "Sarugakaiō-ken (猿牙界王拳, Monkey-Fang World King Fist)!" exclaimed Goku as he arrived before the Jiāngshī! At the same time, Goku allowed the aura of his Kaio-ken to erupt out his wrist as a jet of propulsion! By doing so, Goku accelerated and augmented a punch into hurtling the Jiāngshī as it instantly struck the Jiāngshī in the face!
"Combing the Kaio-ken with that old Saruga..." grunted the Jiāngshī as it became visible and as Goku blitzed it with a kick that struck its stomach! "...you must be desperate, SON GOKU!" howled the Jiāngshī in laughter, as it clasped its hands together and then hammered Goku into a plummet! Afterward, as Goku crashed into a crouch upon the ground, the Jiāngshī charged a Super Dodon Ray atop his index finger and then smirked as Goku flinched in terror. "This is goodbye..."
"...to that finger of yours!" asserted Krillin as he ambushed the Jiāngshī as a flash and then cut off the Jiāngshī's index finger with a slash of his Power Pole katana! The Jiāngshī blinked as its index finger's lost and then screeched as the index finger's Super Dodon Ray detonated in his face! After the explosion of the Super Dodon Ray, all 4 of the Tien appeared in the explosion's smoke and then attacked the Jiāngshī within that smokescreen! "I can heal, but Krillin and Tien?" gasped the Jiāngshī as all 4 of the Tien blasted him with a Tri-Beam and then enhanced their Tri Beams with the Kaio-ken! "How are they fine‽"
"Kikōkaiōhō (気功界王砲 , Energy Cultivating World King Cannon)!" chanted all 4 of the Tiens, as they blasted the Jiāngshī into a crash into and embedment within the ground! And as Maron appeared beside Goku and then healed Goku with her magic! Subsequently, 3 of the 4 Tien disappeared as they expended the entirety of their existences on their respective Tri-Beams!
"MMMAAARRROOONNN!" howled the Jiāngshī as it arose from its embedment underground and hefted Tien's Tri-Beams overhead as it did so! At the same time, the Jiāngshī armored and augmented itself in an aura of its green ki and purple sparks! "You bitch!" it swore as it tossed the Tri-Beams into the sky and towards Tien.
"Ahh!" screamed Tien as he barely dodged the tossed Tri-Beam. And then the Jiāngshī appeared beneath Tien, grabbed Tien's ankle, and threw Tien back-first into Maron! "Shit!"
"I-i-it's getting stronger!" warned Krillin as the Jiāngshī destroyed its pain and rage and thereby fueled itself with more power! "How is it getting stronger‽"
"You've ANGERED me NOW!" announced the Jiāngshī as brightened from its green ki and thereby illuminated the planet with rays of verdant! "And NOW you'll PAY!"
"You don't scare me!" declared Goku as he bulked up into a Max Power state, clad himself within a MAX Power Kamehameha, and then empowered that MAX Power Kamehameha with a x20 Kaio-ken! "Kairōgakiryūken (界狼牙亀流拳, World Wolf-Fang Turtle School Fist)!" howled Goku with all of the lupine savagery of a Yamcha! "Maron!"
"Don't you fucking-" swore the Jiāngshī an instant before Maron applied her magical portals to teleport Goku into being face-to-face with the Jiāngshī! "Damn it!" cried the Jiāngshī as Goku attacked it with a x20 MAX Power Kamehameha-powered punch and as it attempted to block that punch its forearm! "Aaauuuggghhhaaa the pain!" cried the Jiāngshī as Goku's attack cracked the entirety of its forearm! "The pain is SSSOooo-just kidding!" chimed the Jiāngshī as it augmented itself with its damage and then casually deflected Goku's punch with a elegant flail of its forearm! "You believed you could defeat the monster with that shit?" sneered Jiāngshī as it axe kicked Goku with a front flip and thereby knocked Goku into a plummet that punched through the planet! "As if!" continued the Jiāngshī as it clasped Goku with its telekinesis and thereby dragged Goku through a second smash through the planet and straight into a punch to the face!
"Haven't won yet!" retorted Goku as he bit the fist of the Jiāngshī and then enhanced his jaws with the Kaio-ken‽
"Augha!" cried the Jiāngshī as Goku bit off its hand! Subsequently, the Jiāngshī's back-handed Goku into a descent with its wrist and then its hand regrew in a second! "You little..."
"We aren't getting anywhere with brute force!" hissed Krillin as he caught the falling Goku and then glared up at the Jiāngshī. "We have to stop that technique! Or we're finished!"
"I-I-I can do that..." huffed Maron as she healed Goku. "...b-b-but I need-"
"To rest!" asserted Goku as he dropped From Krillin's arms and onto his feet. "You're exhausting yourself by healing us too m-"
"I know that!" interjected Maron in a yell. "I'll save Attie or succumb trying!" she added in a snap. "So don't worry about me!"
"Maron..." whined Goku. "...that's not okay!"
"Goku! Maron!" called Tien as the Jiāngshī began to elevate its ki a second time. "Focus on the problem!"
"That is..." murmured Maron as the Jiāngshī's power skyrocketed!
"...the apex of our power!" asserted the Jiāngshī in a hum. "The Art of Mortality actuates an adrenaline rush and a near-death experience as its means of strengthening its user, while the Principles of the Power of Destruction destroys emotions as its means of strengthening its user!" it continued in a sneer. "Combine them together and you have the Art of a Destroyer (破壊者の武術, Hakaisha no Bujutsu), where the Art of Mortality's detrimental emotions are destroyed for EVEN MORE POWER!"
"But that's false!' announced Maron in Krillin and Tien's minds. "That is not the apex of Attie's power at all!" she stressed. "It's the apex before Atticus and the Jiāngshī split though, it's the apex before Atticus attained the capability to emulate Super Saiyan 3 and thereby made the Art of Mortality obsolete!"
"Maron, what the fuck are you talking about?" asked Krillin in a gulp at the Jiāngshī's power. "And why does it matter in this situation?"
"What I am saying is that this thing DOES NOT KNOW!" answered Maron in an ecstatic shout. "What I am saying is that WE CAN WIN!" she added as she began to detail a plan to Krillin and Tien.
"I am aware of the downfalls of your foes, Goku!" announced the Jiāngshī as Krillin and Tien gawked at Maron's plans but then resigned themselves as the Jiāngshī spoke to Goku. "I have metaknowledge of the narrative pitfalls that this show's villains fell into, so I know that the first one to slay is you," it announced as it blitzed Goku with a dash up to Goku's face and then uppercut Goku in the chin and into the welkin!
"Goku!" cried Krillin, Maron, and Tien as the Jiāngshī disappeared from the ground before Krillin and Tien could react to and strike it! Afterward, the Jiāngshī appeared before Goku as Goku rose upward and then dodged a punch that Goku aimed towards its face!
"It's over, Goku!" cackled the Jiāngshī as it clawed into the arm that Goku had punched with and thus held that arm in place! As Goku cried out in pain, the Jiāngshī cackled in glee and then clawed into Goku's throat with its free hand! "This fight, your fight, is over!" declared the Jiāngshī as its claws commenced to liquify and suck up Krillin and Tien...
...wait.
Krillin?
And Tien?
What?
"What?" uttered Goku and the Jiāngshī as Goku's clawed arm appeared in Krillin's place. And as the rest of Goku appeared in Tien's place. As the Jiāngshī absorbed Krillin and Tien in Goku's place, and as Maron healed and reattached Goku's clawed arm, both Goku and the Jiāngshī eyed one another in confusion and then with terror!
"Maron swapped them!" realized Atticus, Chiaotzu, and the Jiāngshī in unison. Immediately afterward, in a fit of rage, Atticus and Chiaotzu arose into a complete consciousness within the Fusion Chiaotzu! "No, no, NO!" cried the Jiāngshī as Atticus and Chiaotzu appeared before it in the Fusion Chiaotzu's mind, and as Goku began to darken the entirety of the planet and glow with a golden ki! "I WONT LET YOU!" hollered the Fusion Chiaotzu in the Jiāngshī's voice alone, as the Fusion Chiaotzu blazed into a burning and dashing soar towards Goku! "THERE WILL BE NOSUPERSAIYANSINMYSTORY!" asserted the Jiāngshī, as the Fusion Chiaotzu arrived before Goku in the middle of Goku's transformation and then bit into Goku's throat!
"Yes..."
"...there!"
"WILL!" refuted Atticus and Chiaotzu as they pounced upon the Jiāngshī together and then tackled the Jiāngshī to the ground! "You will NOT have him!" hissed Atticus and Chiaotzu as both of them clawed into the Jiāngshī's head and then clashed their combined will against the Jiāngshī's single will! "And you will RETURN what you have STOLEN!"
"This can't be happening!" complained the Fusion Chiaotzu and the Jiāngshī in tandem, as the Fusion Chiaotzu's absorption of Goku was canceled by Atticus and Chiaotzu's clash with the Jiāngshī! "You can't DO this!" asserted the Fusion Chiaotzu and the Jiāngshī as the Fusion Chiaotzu was blasted off of Goku by an eruption of golden ki! And as Atticus and Chiaotzu began to break through the Jiāngshī's will and thereby cause cracks to form on the Jiāngshī's body in their mindscape. "I have the telekinesis! I HAVE THE TELEPATHY!"
"You inherited it, yeah..." confirmed Chiaotzu in a hiss. "...but I relearned it!" revealed Atticus in a snarl. "So you should have been spying me rather than kami!"
"Goku!" called Maron as Goku became a Super Saiyan for the first time and then felt a telepathic touch as Maron informed him of Krillin, Tien, and her plan!
"Right!" agreed Goku as he blitzed the Fusion Chiaotzu before the Fusion Chiaotzu could recover, circled behind the Fusion Chiaotzu, and then locked the Fusion Chiaotzu within a Full Nelson hold! "Enma no Katamewaza (閻魔の固め技, Yama Lock)!"
"That is not a real technique!" complained the Jiāngshī as Super Saiyan Goku held the Fusion Chiaotzu in place. "You believe you have power to restrain me?" scoffed the Jiāngshī as the Fusion Chiaotzu began to break out of the Full Nelson with but a flex of its muscles! "Compared to a fusion like me, even a Super Saiyan is NOTHING!"
"He'll hold long enough," asserted Maron as she appeared before the Fusion Chiaotzu with a teleport, clasped the Fusion Chiaotzu's head, and then pressed her forehead against the Fusion Chiaotzu's forehead.
"Damn it Atticus, damn you Chiaotzu! Don't you fools realize that you're making a mistake‽" hissed the Jiāngshī as Atticus detected Maron and then linked Maron to the telepathy too! "Atticus' bullying, Chiaotzu's murder, don't you remember that?" asked the Jiāngshī in a snarl. "The anger, the fear, the NEED for power!" it reiterated in a snap. "I am that anger, I am that fear, I AM THAT POWER!" it asserted in a roar. "All of the abuse that others subjected us to, all of the fear that others roused within us, all of that will disappear if we join our power together and reign as the strongest!"
"I-i-if we become a monster with you‽" retorted Chiaotzu in a spat. "A monster that feasts on our family, our friends, and the whole of the world‽"
"We're ALREADY monsters!" argued the Jiāngshī. "We are assassins, we are murderers, we are swindlers and thieves, and we are VILLAINS!" stressed the Jiāngshī. "We have deceived, killed, lied, and stole!" it noted. "Because we knew, no, because we learned that the only way to beat the monsters of the world is to become a monster ourselves!"
"NO!" refuted Atticus, Chiaotzu, and Maron together. "Not monsters, but people!" argued Atticus, Chiaotzu, and Maron as the 3 of them continued to fragment the Jiāngshī! "All of us are flawed, maybe even a little monstrous, but we are still people!" stressed Atticus alone. "We are capable of changing for the good as much as the ill, so NO!" shouted Atticus as Chiaotzu, Maron, and him managed to overpower the Jiāngshī! "We are not monsters, we will not become a monster, and we will not lose to a monster like you!" declared Atticus, Chiaotzu, and Maron as one. As the 3 of them did so, all 3 of them accessed the Jiāngshī's capabilities as easily as the Jiāngshī had accessed the capabilities of its victims. This allowed Atticus, Chiaotzu, and Maron to begin a Fission just as the Jiāngshī had Fissioned itself from Atticus in the Otherworld!
"I-I-I, no, I am the DEVOURER OF SOULS!" asserted the Fusion Chiaotzu as it began to brighten to the radiance of the Sun itself! "The END OF WILLS!" continued the Fusion Chiaotzu as its definition began to fade and as its form began to flicker.
"Th-th-the haunt of, no-no! No! Ssstttoooppp this! You can't, YOU CAN'T DEFEAT ME! I am YOU!" whined the Fusion Chiaotzu as its body distorted into a misshapen radiance and then expanded out of Goku's grasp! "I am the desperation that leads to sin, I am the fear given reign, I am the rage without temperance, I am the VILLAIN WITHIN YOU ALL!" insisted the Fusion Chiaotzu as it ballooned from its growth and into a multicolored and shiny sphere.
"All of you are corrupt, all of you are impure, all of you are MONSTROUS!" argued the Fusion Chiaotzu and the Jiāngshī in a disembodied yet thunderous voice! As all of the Earth, and all of the Solar System as a whole, began to quake from the thunder of the Fusion Chiaotzu's voice! "So you can't deny the lull of power! And can't escape the evil that lurks within!" asserted the Fusion Chiaotzu as it brightened to the limit of it radiance and expanded to the maximum of its size! At this point, Goku and Maron knew to run. But dared not risk ANYTHING at this point. So they remained. They stayed. Until... "The challenges of life WILL drag you to me! And you WILL embrace me! In this form or the-"
...the Fusion Chiaotzu detonated from its fission.
"AAAUUUGGGHHHaaauuuggghhh!" cried Goku and Maron as the both of them were blasted by the Fusion Chiaotzu's detonation. In an instant, the battlefield became an inferno and both Goku and Maron were hurtled into a whirl! After burning in the inferno and crashing through tree after tree, Goku and Maron fell into a haphazard roll and then found themselves hailed upon by an infernal squall of trees!
Around the same time, the Fusion Chiaotzu's fission divided the Fusion Chiaotzu into both Chiaotzu and each and every last one of the Jiāngshī's victims. In an instant, all of the Fusion Chiaotzu disappeared from the world and all of the Fusion Chiaotzu's victims reappeared into the world. As such; as Goku and Maron arose out an enormous pile of scorched and toppled trees; Goku and Maron beheld Chiaotzu, Kami, Korin, Krillin, Tien, and a horde of ogres and the pure souls of Heaven!
"B-b-but this..." gasped King Yama, as he arose from the ground and eyed his hands. "...is impossible! Completely impossible!" he asserted in disbelief at his and everyone else's salvation. "Consumption by a Jiāngshī is erasure, isn't it? Right?"
"Before creation..." began Atticus as he appeared not as Chiaotzu but rather as a disembodied soul, a wisp. "...comes destruction," hummed Atticus as King Yama beheld and gasped at him. "Destruction isn't the end, King Yama, but rather the start!" he insisted in a laugh. "I combined Fission with the Power of Destruction," he revealed with a whistle. "That allowed me to recreate you all, or rather restore you all, by accessing the creation that follows destruction,"
"You applied the destruction of the Jiāngshī as a means of restoring its victims?" deduced King Yama in a murmur. "How is that possible?"
"I have an Aura Beyond Destruction," answered Attics with a ghostly shrug. "It's a culmination of my life within this world," he added in a murmur. "All of the destruction that I have wrought upon the world, brought under control, and now employed to protect and save,"
"This is unprecedented..." mused King Yama. "...but welcome," he added with a big smile. "I caused these circumstances with my incompetence and negligence, allowing the incarnation of your soul within a person whom already had a soul of their own and creating a Jiāngshī — of all things — when I honored you with a vessel," decided King Yama with a frown. "It's a disgrace!"
"Actually King Yama..." interjected Atticus with a frown. "...I believe the Crane Hermit-"
"No!" refuted King Yama with a shake of his head. "I'll hear you out, Atticus, but no!" he huffed. "I am responsible for our souls and their transmigration, that is my work!" he stressed. "I became complacent and inattentive," he insisted. "But I'll adjust my behavior and our policies to remedy that," he decided next. "So that nothing like this ever happens again!"
"I understand," hummed Atticus with a nod. "But-"
"Give it to me in a report," asked King Yama with a raise of his hand. "Allow me to fix this mess of mine and then I'll read the report and respond,"
"Alright," agreed Atticus. Afterward, he eyed Chiaotzu's reunion with Tien and then frowned. "What happens to me now?"
"How is it that the real Chiaotzu is alive and embodied?" questioned King Yama as he frowned with Atticus. "That doesn't make any sense,"
"I altered an amount of my energy into life and bestowed my body and that life onto Chiaotzu," answered Atticus in a murmur. "That body belonged to Chiaotzu, so I returned it to Chiaotzu,"
"I ain't comfortable with resurrections of that sort..." groaned King Yama. "...but it is what it is," he relented. "As for you Atticus, well, there is no body for even the Dragon Balls to resurrect you into now," he noted in a sigh. "And I can't even incarnate you as a physical spirit in your present state, because the Jiāngshī may return..." he added in a snarl. "...so all that is left to you is to reincarnate or remain a wisp,"
"Is that so?" chuckled Atticus. "Is that it?"
"It is so," confirmed King Yama. "That is it,"
"I'll be back..." murmured Atticus as he focused his gaze on Maron, whom was conversing and recovering with everyone else. Whom could see King Yama and the other ogres, but because of the diminishment of her magic, could not see Atticus and the other ghosts on the scene. "...that is what I promised her," he remembered in a whisper. "That I'll be back!"
"Atticus..." groaned King Yama. "...you can't go back," he stressed. "It's not possible! At least, not without-"
"Maybe not as Chiaotzu per se..." interjected Atticus as he returned his sight to King Yama. "...but I can as a new self," he argued. "As my next self,"
"It's a reincarnation then?" asked King Yama in a hum. "That'll cost you though," he warned. "All of your effort, all of your progress, all of it vanishes!" he stressed. "You can keep your memories and self, but everything else, you'll lose it ALL!" he stressed. "Your body, your ki, your psionics! EVERYTHING!"
"That's fine," accepted Atticus. "I'll rebuild that strength!" he asserted in a snicker. "And even if I can't..." he added in a murmur and then a whisper. "...as long as I can see her again, I'll be content even as a weakling,"
"You're choosing love..." questioned King Yama with a smile. "...over power?"
"I've always have," hummed Atticus. "My Maron and my Tien, my family and friends, they've always come first and they always will," he stressed. "That's why; unlike many of those whom I have battled; that's why..."
"...that's why I am NOT a monster," declared Atticus happily. "That's how I've redeemed my soul, yeah?"
"Yeah," confirmed King Yama with a nod. "Very well then," accepted King Yama. "Come," ordered King Yama as he aroused the magic within him and then applied that magic in assembling all of the ghost and ogres in his vicinity. Subsequently, King Yama conjured a door to the Other World and then that door opened to the Check-In Station. At this point, Atticus eyed his family and friends — Chiaotzu, Goku, Granolah, Kami, Korin, Krillin, Maron, and Tien — for the last time in a long time. Afterward, Atticus departed from the Earth as he followed King Yama and the others into the Other World.
❧ ❧ ❧
"Pa..."
"...papara,"
"Paparapapa!" heard the Crane Hermit as Mercenary Tao and his souls were conjured from Hell and into a completely dark and extra-dimensional space. "I am becoming weary of resurrecting you two," heard the Crane Hermit and Tao as in echo in the shadows.
"I apologize for the inconvenience," gulped the Crane Hermit as Mercenary Tao and him bowed to the darkness that surrounded them. "B-b-but if it p-pleases you, o-oh mighty Author of Delusions (妄想の作者, Mōsō no Sakusha), I've accomplished m-my task!"
"WHAT?" bellowed the darkness in an umbral wail. "Do you speak of that boy?" it guessed in a gasp. "Has that boy mastered the Power of Destruction‽ Really? All by himself? Without any instruction? And so soon‽"
"Yes," confirmed the Crane Hermit in a giggle. "Behold this fact in the mind of my soul, great writer..." he offered in a coo. "...for the boy felled me with a Hakai after all!"
"Interesting..." hummed the darkness. "...although an accident rather than your purposeful intent, as that boy is merely pet project after all, you've still proven your worth Crane!" it admitted. "This calls not for a punishment, but rather for a reward!" it decided. "I'll bestow you with bodies to live anew, completing your resurrections, and grant thy a request too,"
"Excellent!" cackled the Crane Hermit with a greedy jiggle. "I mean, uhh, thank you! O' migthy scriber thing!"
"No, no, no..." cooed the darkness. "...thank you, Crane," it hummed. "For bringing me one step closer to my God of Destruction Buu!"
TO BE CONTINUED