Shimorekka's confidence finally began to crack as he watched Kale continue overpowering Seven-Three despite the copy of her abilities.
"What... what are you talking about?"
Jaco, on the other hand, immediately seized the opportunity to gloat. "Hah! What an idiot! You seriously thought copying our abilities would guarantee you a win?"
Shimorekka rounded on him. "Shut up! Nobody even copied you!"
"I'll say whatever I want! You can't make me shut up!"
Jaco pulled a face at him while Kale slammed Seven-Three into the ground again. Before the artificial warrior could recover, she hurled him high into the air and called out to the others.
"Piccolo! Gohan-nii! Now!"
The three attacked together, flooding the sky with concentrated energy. Seven-Three was caught in the combined blast and came tumbling back down through the smoke, one arm completely gone and his head hanging awkwardly to one side.
Gohan watched him fall. "Did we get him?"
"Not yet." Piccolo knew better than to relax after everything Seven-Three had already shown them. "If we give him time to switch back to Moro's abilities, we'll be right back where we started."
Shimorekka had reached the same conclusion. He rushed toward his injured partner and shouted, "Seven-Three! Switch to Moro's abilities before they finish you!"
The crystal on Seven-Three's forehead changed immediately, replacing Kale's image with Moro's.
"Drain them!" Shimorekka ordered. "Take their energy!"
Seven-Three raised his remaining hand.
Before the absorption could begin, two figures came streaking in from opposite directions and smashed their feet into Seven-Three and Shimorekka's faces. Both prisoners were knocked off their feet and sent skidding across the ground while the newcomers landed calmly between them and Earth's defenders.
Shimorekka groaned as he pushed himself up. "Who the hell are you two?"
Android 17 glanced toward Seven-Three. "Which one is the guy with the weird name? The one I just kicked?"
"I heard he doesn't show much emotion," Android 18 replied, brushing a strand of blonde hair away from her face. "So probably that one."
17 looked Seven-Three over and seemed almost disappointed. "Seriously? He already looks half-dead."
Piccolo flew over with the others, and 17 called out to him.
"Piccolo, did you really need us for this?"
"For what comes next, yes." Piccolo gave Seven-Three a knowing look. "We needed fighters whose energy he can't drain."
Shimorekka frowned. "What does that mean?"
Jaco understood immediately and looked at Piccolo with newfound admiration. "Of course! They're Androids. Seven-Three can't steal their energy because they don't have normal ki for him to absorb. That's actually a really good plan."
Piccolo had specifically called in both Androids for exactly that reason. Android 16 had stayed behind to help 17 protect his wildlife preserve, while Android 21 was home taking care of her child.
Gohan considered the rest of Earth's available fighters. "Piccolo, should we have brought Goten, Trunks, and Zarek too?"
"Absolutely not." Piccolo rejected the idea without hesitation. "Those three are enough trouble when there isn't a planetary crisis. I'm not bringing them into a battle where they'll spend half the time fooling around."
He had endured enough of their antics to know exactly how that would end. Powerful or not, three kids who treated every fight like a game were the last thing he wanted around Moro's forces.
17 stretched his shoulders and looked toward Seven-Three and Shimorekka. "Then let's finish this here. I don't usually care for ganging up on someone, but I'm not letting these guys run around destroying Earth."
"And Capsule Corporation is paying ten million for helping with the defense," 18 added with a cheerful smile. "So the faster we finish, the faster I get paid."
Piccolo gave both of them a more careful look. "You two have gotten stronger."
"Obviously. We train too." 17 sounded almost offended by the implication that he had been standing still all these years. "At this point, I could take Perfect Cell by myself and have him begging for mercy."
"Same here," 18 said.
Piccolo decided not to encourage them.
They had certainly improved, but boasting that much before the fight was even over seemed like an excellent way to tempt fate.
Across the battlefield, Seven-Three and Shimorekka had recovered from the surprise attack and were glaring at the two newcomers.
High above Earth, Moro was watching as well.
From aboard his ship, he surveyed the scattered battles taking place below and found himself increasingly unimpressed with the prisoners he had empowered.
"Pathetic. I never expected much from them, but they're even more useless than I thought."
Saganbo bowed apologetically. "We had no idea Earth had accumulated this many powerful fighters."
"This isn't the Earth your records are based on," Moro replied. "The original Earth belonged to Universe 7. This one is in its counterpart universe—Universe 6."
Saganbo stared at him. "So this is a different Earth entirely?"
"Exactly. Universe 6 and Universe 7 mirror one another. The planet below us belongs to Universe 6, which is why your old information is nearly worthless here."
Saganbo slowly nodded, even though the whole concept clearly sounded more complicated than he wanted to admit.
Moro didn't care. If anything, discovering a second Earth full of powerful life only made the journey more worthwhile. He gazed down at the planet with renewed interest, considering the abundance of energy waiting beneath him.
"Well, this saves me from having come all this way for nothing."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"The only question is who I should eat first."
On Yardrat, Vegeta's training still hadn't stopped.
Ken stood nearby with his staff, occasionally checking the situation on Earth through the crystal while Vegeta continued working under Pybara's guidance.
Eventually Vegeta glanced toward him. "Ken. What's happening?"
"They've reached Earth."
Vegeta's jaw tightened, but he didn't abandon his training. "Damn it... Then they'll have to hold on a little longer. Going back before I finish this would accomplish nothing."
"Fortunately, Moro hasn't entered the fight himself yet."
That eased some of the pressure.
"Good."
Vegeta immediately turned back toward Pybara. "Again. I need to finish this as quickly as possible."
While Vegeta pushed himself harder on Yardrat, the battles across Earth continued.
Krillin had resumed his fight with Yunba and was now attacking from range.
"Kienzan!"
Several razor-thin discs of ki tore toward Yunba from different angles. Rather than dodge, the huge prisoner tucked his limbs inward and curled his body into a ball, then began spinning at tremendous speed.
Krillin expected his discs to slice straight through him.
Instead, Yunba's rotating body struck them and knocked them away one after another.
Krillin stared in disbelief as his signature technique scattered harmlessly across the battlefield.
Yunba had somehow turned himself into a spinning projectile fast enough to deflect the attack before their edges could bite into him.
Krillin's confidence took a serious hit.
The Kienzan had always been one of the techniques he could rely on against opponents far stronger than himself. Even Nappa and Frieza had been forced to respect its cutting power—and Frieza's own attempt at using a similar technique had ultimately backfired on him.
Now Yunba had simply spun through it.
Krillin clenched his fists and stared at the grinning prisoner across from him.
This fight was going to be much more annoying than he had hoped.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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