"These guys are ridiculous. Nothing kills them!"
Yajirobe fumed.
All non-combatants had crowded into the palace, watching the battlefield with white-knuckled tension.
"Who would've thought we'd be fighting shoulder to shoulder with the likes of Majin Buu and Frieza," the Elder Kai murmured.
"Ancestor, I'll take the Potara earrings to Frieza and Piccolo," said Supreme Kai Shin.
"We have no other choice," the Elder Kai sighed.
Piccolo's hearing cut through the chaos; even in the thick of battle he caught their plan. His face changed. "What? They can't be serious!"
He swept the scene in a glance. Aside from Majin Buu and Frieza, the strongest present was himself in his awakened Orange state. A bead of cold sweat crawled down his temple.
Shin did not waste a second. Before Piccolo could suggest a better candidate, he flashed to his side and laid out the situation.
"Me and Frieza… we are not a fit," Piccolo said, mind racing.
"It isn't ideal, but it's the only way. Right, Frieza?" Trankon called out while trading blows.
Frieza's eyes narrowed to slits; the killing aura he'd been holding back bled free. A Death Beam lanced from his fingertip toward Trankon. "Even fused you are infuriating, Tra nk on. You had better live. If you die to someone else before I take your life myself, I will not be amused."
"It's a last resort," Shin pressed, voice weighted and somber. "Every ounce of power matters now. Otherwise, we all die here."
"Hmph. I am the Emperor of Evil. No one is worthy to fuse with me," Frieza snapped.
A tic tugged at Piccolo's cheek. He shook his head as well. "Forget it. Let Gohan and Trunks do it. They've done this before."
Trunks had spent half a year training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and now wielded Super Saiyan 2 with ease. Gohan, newly awakened by the Elder Kai, held his Ultimate/Mystic power at will.
No time for dithering.
The orange-gemmed earrings were pressed into Trunks' and Gohan's hands. They clipped them to opposite ears.
Light flashed.
"Yossha heck yeah!"
A new warrior stood where two had been.
"For the Fusion Dance, call me Gohanks. But with Potara, just call me Truhan."
Confidence tugged at Truhan's mouth. He rose straight into his strongest state.
Crackle, crackle.
Arcs of lightning ringed his body as a golden aura surged up, and a faint milky sheen seemed to glaze his skin.
He stared at his hands, awed by the power pouring through him. "Unbelievable. This combines Earthling refinement and Saiyan might their ultimate forms, together."
He blurred forward and slammed into a Fused Zamasu, driving him back in a roaring exchange.
Boom
At that moment Rose Vegito strode onto the temple terrace.
The whole edifice bucked. The structure teetered on collapse.
"You all die here."
He smiled, cruel and sure, and scythed a blade of ki.
Shnk
The temple split cleanly in two. The center line sheared apart and a rain of stone plummeted.
"Ah!"
"Help !"
Inside, people clung to pillars, desperate not to fall.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh
The fighters flickered back to the terrace, surrounding Rose Vegito in a blink.
He smirked. His aura spiked sky-high.
Rumble
An invisible, raging shockwave rolled outward. Everyone braced with everything they had just to avoid being flung away.
"D damn it!"
"How did he get this strong this fast?!"
Crash
The temple gave way and disintegrated into drifting ash.
Trankon and the others spun toward the palace eyes blazing red with fury.
The people inside had been swallowed by that single burst. Rose Vegito laid his monstrous power bare.
"Yes. That look," he purred. "Mortal fear is such a delight."
Then he moved.
Shlick. Shlick. Shlick.
Blood sprayed. Limbs spun.
In a heartbeat the defenders were cut to pieces.
Android 16, Dabura, the two Gamma androids, and three from Cooler's mecha squad died on the spot.
The rest were all wounded.
Piccolo took the worst of it one breath from death because, at the last instant, he threw himself in front of Truhan.
"Uncle Piccolo !" Truhan's scream tore the sky. Blood threaded his eyes as an overwhelming surge of power erupted from him.
Levos arrived at the temple just in time to see the carnage.
Pain flashed in his gaze. He flickered forward and caught Bulma as she tumbled toward the shattered ground.
Rose Vegito turned, watching Levos with amused interest.
"Heh. You guessed it, didn't you? I've grown again. You are no longer my match, mortal."
"Next I will kill everyone you care about so you can savor a god's wrath."
Levos gritted his teeth and held Bulma tighter.
"You're here…" Bulma's eyes were wet, her voice a whisper.
Her right shoulder had been cut away; blood streamed down her side.
"Don't speak. Leave the rest to me," Levos said evenly.
His gaze swept the ruin and locked on Android 18.
She was barely standing, a gash across her waist so deep the earlier ki blade had nearly cut her in two.
Their eyes met. Android 18 understood.
She floated to Levos' side and gave him a bright, fearless smile. "Do it. Absorb me. Let me finish what I can do. You're the one who can save this world."
"Alright." Levos held her gaze for a long breath.
Resolve hardened in his eyes. The tip of his tail flared and surged toward 18.
"Wait " Bulma's voice cut in.
"Bulma, don't. To stop Zamasu for good, I have only one way forward evolution."
Android 18's upper body was already within the field, seconds from being drawn in.
Bulma fumbled a pair of orange earrings from a pouch at her waist.
"The Potara? Why do you have those and what are you planning?" Levos blinked.
"The Elder Kai gave them to me. Help me put one on her and one on me."
"This "
"Evolve, Levos. Carry our hope with you." Bulma's eyes shimmered. She smiled as bright as dawn.
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