by Jamie L. Word
"Hope Short-Lived"
Back at Dr. Dreg's place, Yoshio and Borgo battled even more fiercely than before, and Yuko and Dr. Dreg mirrored that conflict as well! Yoshio once more pulled off a solar flare technique that successfully blinded the android for a moment, and then he followed that up with his most intense kamehameha wave! The explosion was enormous and terrifying to behold!
Dr. Dreg turned to see what had happened, and Yuko floored him with a leaping side kick to the jaw! Dr. Dreg rolled back up to his feet, and Yuko caught him offguard with a solar flare technique, temporarily blinding him! Yuko then charged up her most intense blast, put her hands onto Dr. Dreg's torso, and discharged her blast from point-blank range! The explosion was impressive, especially for her power level!
When the smoke clouds dissipated this time, Borgo was utterly destroyed, and Dr. Dreg was 'mortally wounded' on the ground at Yuko's feet. Yoshio flew over to Yuko and landed beside her. They looked down at Dr. Dreg as a greenish blood-like liquid trinkled from his mouth, and he coughed and wheezed like a dying man at their feet. There was a gaping hole in his chest, and smoke wafted up from it in the breeze. A greenish liquid oozed from his gaping 'wound' as he lay there helplessly, and his exposed circuits gave off sparks of electricity.
"Your androids must have a weakness!" Yuko scolded the demented doctor as she demanded his cooperation. "You must tell us what it is!"
"You ... fool!" Dr. Dreg managed to sputter as sparks shot from the enormous hole in his chest. "I ... will ... never ... tell ... you!"
"You have to!" Yoshio rebuked the evil scientist as he became even more aggravated with the fiend's uncooperative nature.
"No!" Dr. Dreg said as he began to glow slightly, smiling and chuckling just a bit. "I ... don't!"
"Yoshio, we've got to get away from here!" Yuko shrieked as she realized what was happening. "He's going to self-destruct!"
Yoshio wasted no time following Yuko high up into the air and away from the demented doctor just seconds before he exploded into a million pieces! Yuko and Yoshio looked down at the carnage below in disbelief!
"Well, it looks like we came up with a big goose egg here!" Yoshio griped as he pointed towards the demolished lab, which was destroyed in the explosion. "He destroyed both himself and his lab!"
"Then we'd better get back to the others quickly!" Yuko declared with grave concern. "They may need our help! I can't sense Kien's energy anymore, but there's a new energy there, and it feels horrible!"
"You're right!" Yoshio replied, noticing it now too. "That new power is even stronger than Kien was when he was at his strongest - before his energy signal vanished! We'd better get some senzu beans over there right away!"
The duo quickly started flying off to find the others, fearing the worst but hoping for the best as they went! They both had a bad feeling about Kien, but neither wanted to accept that possibility in their hearts!
Meanwhile, Android Titan knocked Usami across the battlefield with a powerful roundhouse kick! The incubus android seemed to be losing his battle with the powerful android! Everyone there was amazed at the sight!
At Shun's lookout, Shunfound hope in what he sensed from the battlefield, yet he was still troubled by the fate of Kien.
"I still can't sense Kien's energy signal," Shun thought to himself. "Could he be - ? No, I refuse to think such a thought! Amazingly enough, the monster's power level has taken a sudden nosedive! Perhaps that giant Android Titan may possess enough power to defeat Usami!"
Meanwhile, Android Titan charged up a powerful energy blast and fired it onto Usami's position! There was a huge explosion, and debris was scattered all across the battlefield as a result! When the explosion subsided, Usami was nowhere to be seen! Android Titan scanned the entire area looking for him!
"Impossible!" Android Titan muttered in frustration, unable to locate the vile fiend. "That blast wasn't strong enough to have destroyed him after everything he has stood up to thus far! Where is he?"
Across the battlefield, Android Prime weakly got to his feet still trembling from the abuse he'd suffered at the hands of first Kien and then Usami. He struggled to remain on his feet and steady his balance. The others looked around in disbelief that the hideous beast could actually have been destroyed by Android Titan.
Suddenly, Usami surfaced stealthily behind the battered Android Prime, expanded his tail tip into the funnel form once again, and shoved it over the top of Android Prime, much to the shock and horror of the others!
"No! Android Prime!" Android Titan yelled in dismay as he rushed to try to rescue his ally before it was too late.
"Android Prime! Look out!" screamed Android Alpha as he too began running towards his endangered colleague's position.
"You're too late!" Usami snarled as his tail swallowed Android Prime and drew him into the incubus android's body.
Usami was then immediately surrounded by a glow, and electricity crackled around him and his glow! Small pebbles, stones, and rocks began to rise once more, and the ground began to shake! The remaining androids stopped in their tracks, and all observers watched on in horror!
Usami's features began to change! His toed feet began to transform to resemble boots as his framed increased in size considerably! His face altered to take on a more human appearance, but he still didn't have a nose! His tail became thicker as well, and, when the transformation was finished, an incredible power surge sent powerful winds out from his body in all directions, blowing hard against the remaining witnesses!
Yoshio and Yuko stopped in mid-flight when they sensed it! Jontu stopped in mid-search when he sensed it! Shun froze in absolute horror when he sensed it as well! Sumio and Sumie trembled and blubbered in terror when they sensed Usami's power in his new form!
Inside the Chamber of Spirit and Time, Koji and Kato were training in their normal state in Koji's modified space pod with the gravity machine set at one hundred fifty times normal gravity! Koji still wore the heavy training weights, but his son still wore no such training accessories! The sweat poured off of them profusely as they trained hard for the upcoming war, not realizing just how desperate things were about to become!