by Jamie L. Word
"The Return Of Katao"
Zodoria.
Koji and Majestros were still fighting fiercely while the other heroes fought against the demo-hybrid minions of the diabolical invader! During the battle between Majestros and Koji, Majestros managed to activate his communicator insignia, and the signal was transmitted back to his space ship! Koji noted this, and he remembered that, a short time before the demo-hybrids arrived to attack his friends, Majestros had done the very same thing!
"A communication device, no doubt!" Koji thought to himself as he fought the villain fervently. "He's signalling for more back-up! Well, this will be the last time he does that!"
With that said, Koji snatched the insignia from Majestros' attire, tearing his tunic where the insignia had been! Majestros allowed for a break in the action, permitting some distance to be created between them as he marvelled at Koji's instincts! Actually, he pondered Koji's actions, and the two warriors engaged once more in a staredown during their brief intermission!'
"You won't be needing this anymore," Koji calmly informed Majestros as he crushed the communicator insignia in his hand and dropped the remains to the ground while maintaining eye contact. "There will be no more of your allies dropping in on us from this point on, Majestros!"
"So, you've caught on to my little ploy, eh, Saiyan?" Majestros commented with a slight chuckle and a smile. "You're far more shrewd than I gave you credit for! I'm quite impressed!"
"Are you really?" Koji inquired rhetorically, continuing in the staredown between them. "Let's just get on with it, shall we?"
"Very well," Majestros replied as he and Koji both smiled in eager anticipation of the renewed conflict. "Let's go!"
The two warriors battled a-new, and Kien had just finished peppering the demo-hybrid's position with his scattershot technique! Sumio and Yoshio finally stopped blasting their opponent as well! They were waiting for the smoke to settle from their attacks!
Back at the lookout, Makiko was ready for battle, and she flew into action, assailing her foes with her Super Saiyan strength and speed! The demo-hybrids found themselves at a disadvantage very quickly, but their numbers advantage gave them a fighting chance against her!
Tieh and Kumi turned to each other, and then they turned their attention back to Makiko's struggle! They reached deep down inside to gather all of their energy for battle! They powered up quickly and extended their hands in the direction of the demo-hybrids! With corresponding yells, the duo fired simultaneous power blasts at one of the demo-hybrids, getting its attention!
Makiko hammered that demo-hybrid with a vicious roundhouse kick to the side of that demo-hybrid's neck, knocking him directly into the path of the pair of incoming blasts fired by Kumi and Tieh! As the blasts exploded upon impact with the demo-hybrid, Makiko engaged the other in a short-lived energy wave contest in which both Makiko and the demo-hybrid fired energy blasts at each other! The blasts collided, but Makiko generated even more energy than the demo-hybrid could, causing her blast to overtake the desperate demo-hybrid's blast and engulf the screaming fiend! The terrified demo-hybrid was vaporized by Makiko's blast, as was the demo-hybrid blasted by Kumi and Tieh!
The moment the battle ended, Kato and Isao emerged from the sanctuary and rejoined the others. Makiko, Tieh, and Kumi turned to see the boys returning from the sanctuary.
"We're ready for another try at that geek!" Isao replied with renewed confidence as he smiled in eager excitement.
"It's time to send that sorry sucker packin' for good!" Kato declared with equal confidence.
Back at the battlefield, the smoke finally cleared, revealing that the demo-hybrids had been destroyed at last. Kien, Sumio, and Yoshio looked on with grim relief and satisfaction at their handiworks, but their celebration was short-lived as an army of Majestros' robots landed a short distance across the battlefield from them poised to attack them.
"Oh, great!" Yoshio muttered in disbelief at the sight of the new army of mechanical menaces for them to fight. "I should've known it wouldn't be this easy! I mean, it's just not my luck!"
"Suck it up, Yoshio!" Kien instructed his human friend as he poised himself for battle as well. "We're not out of the woods yet!"
"That's right!" Sumio added, channeling even more of his power in preparation to fight the robots. "We've got work to do!"
The trio of heroes rushed forward with battle cries to engage the robots in battle, and the lumbering machines of destruction emotionlessly moved forward to meet the heroes' charge! The engagement was fierce and desperate, and each hero pondered the situation within his mind! Kien seemed well-capable of defeating the robots, and Sumio was only a little less capable that Kien, but Yoshio was really struggling to defeat the robots!
Suddenly, Tieh, Makiko, and the three kids returned to the battlefield! Makiko, in her normal state, and Tieh joined Kien and the others in battle against the robots, and Kato and Isao prepared to do the fusion dance once again! Kumi stood back and watched it all carefully! The boys powered up to Super Saiyan level prior to attempting the fusion dance, and then they performed the dance! Kumi marveled at the fusion dance and the end result of the return of Katao!
"Wow!" Kumi exclaimed in amazement at the transformation she had just witnessed before her. "Unreal!"
"Now it's time to show that over-rated blowhard what he's up against!" Katao declared in his confidence, causing Koji and Majestros to pause their battle and take notice of the return of Katao.
Koji and Majestros looked on in astonishment, but Koji seemed to be concerned about something. Koji studied the fused Super Saiyan warrior intently, not sure of what to make of it. Majestros smiled evilly.
"What are they up to?" Koji thought to himself as he watched the fused warrior engage in a staredown with Majestros. "Their fused power level still isn't strong enough to deal with this! They've come back too soon!"
"Hey, stinkypants!" Katao called out to Majestros with a confident demeanor. "Did you miss me? Well, I'm back, and I'm gonna kick your butt!"
"Oooh, I'm really scared," Majestros joked as he erupted into a hearty laugh over the boy's threat.
"What are you doing?" Koji rebuked the fused warrior with a stern voice and bewildered concern. "You were supposed to become stronger before you came back and engaged Majestros again!"
"But, we are," Katao replied, still as confident as ever, perhaps even more so since the last fusion. "Watch this?"
Katao widened his stance and began to power up even more, and his flaming, golden energy aura flared massively, prompting everyone to stop what they were doing and watch him! The entire planet began to shake slightly as the sky darkened overhead, and radical lightning flashed in the sky! Powerful winds blew over the entire battlefield, and bodies of water over a great distance began to part to the bare floor and form towering walls of water! Rocks, stones, and pebbles began rising from the ground and shatter in the air, huge rocks began erupting from the ground, and the ground opened up around the battlefield! As lava sprayed up from where the ground opened up and from the bare floors of where the bodies of water parted, the ground began shaking more violently over the planet, and the sky grew darker still! While Katao's power-up yell intensified, his hair began to grow longer, and his eyebrows disappeared as electricity crackled in and around Katao's energy aura! Moments later, a bright light filled the area as Katao's power-up yell reached a crescendo! The result was that Katao had achieved the Super Saiyan Three state! Everyone was incredulous!
"It's the bottom of the ninth! The clock's ticking! It's fourth and goal! The fourth quarter is coming to a close!" Katao said, perplexing the crowd with sports lingo. "It's the fifteenth round in this championship fight, and the heavyweight title is on the line! It's the end of the line for you, Majestros! I hope you've enjoyed the game up 'til now 'cause it's 'game over' for you!"
"They did it!" Koji thought to himself as he landed on the ground and powered down to his normal state in a bit of fatigue. "They transformed into Super Saiyan Three!"
"So, you know that little trick too, eh?" Majestros taunted the boy as he relaxed, not concerned in the least. "Well, it won't help you! I'm going to crush you as easily as I would a fly!"
"Don't count on it, stinkypants!" Katao declared as he flew towards Majestros to begin the new clash.
Katao began pummeling Majestros with punches and kicks, battering the arrogant fiend savagely! Katao then fired a kamehameha wave into the fiend, slamming the menace from the sky in the explosion! Majestros hit the ground with a crater-forming crash, and the others were in awe of Katao's improvements from the last battle! Majestros released a power surge to blast the terrain away from him and free himself from the confining crater, he was bruised and bloodied from the battle thus far and very mad about the embarassment he had suffered at the hands of the boy!
"You will regret embarassing me like this!" Majestros roared in his rage as he prepared to attack Katao a-new. "Now, you die!"
Majestros flew at Katao to attack, but Katao disappeared as Majestros' fist passed through the empty air where Katao had been moments before! Surprised by this maneuver, Majestros never saw the flying side kick that came crashing into his jaw from the blindside as Katao delivered a fierce attack that knocked Majestros across the battlefield! As Majestros got back to his feet, Katao closed the distance with a furious assault of physical attacks against the supermenace! Majestros seemed helpless to keep up with Katao's speed, and only his unfathomable power and toughness kept him from being utterly obliterated by Katao's heightened strength and power!
Koji and the others then turned their attention back to the robots while Katao pummeled Majestros! Koji, in his normal state, began easily battering the robots with his superior strength and prowess! Makiko, also in her normal state, began pummeling the robots as well! Kien and Tieh were also carving a swath through the ranks of the robots, as was Sumio in his Super Zodorian state! Yoshio, however, was unable to match the robots' prowess, nor was Kumi, and the robots seemed content to dispatch only one of their number after each of the weaker fighters!
Meanwhile, Katao dominated the fight with Majestros, befuddling the outmatched villain with his new power and prowess! Majestros tried everything in his arsenal to harm the kid, but Katao was much to fast and powerful for Majestros to land an attack against! Majestros was terribly frustrated by this turn of events, and he couldn't get over the difference in the boy he toyed with earlier!
Koji saw that the two robots fighting against Kumi and Yoshio were overwhelming the weaker fighters, so he flew over to their position and drove a shoulder into one of the robots, knocking it into the other! The two robots exploded from the force of Koji's attack! Makiko took note of the rescue with a newfound fondness for the former scourge of the galaxy!
"Yoshio, take the girl and get her back to the lookout!" Koji instructed the human hero while blasting robots with repeated energy blasts. "Neither of you is up to this! You'll only wind up getting killed! Get out of here, now!"
Yoshio immediately took Kumi by the arm and flew as fast as he could from the battlefield, leaving the others to fight the big battle! Makiko was blindsided by a robot while watching the scene that transpired with Koji, Yoshio, and Kumi, and the metal monstrocity hammered her with a bludgeoning, clubbing blow to the head, knocking her to the ground! The robot then swung another clubbing attack to hit her again, but it was intercepted by Koji, who caught the robot's arm at wrist level with one hand! Koji then drove a fist through the robot's torso, causing it to collapse to the ground disabled! Koji then drove a back kick into another attacking robot attempting to hit Koji from behind, but that powerful kick knocked the disabled robot across the battlefield! Koji then extended his had to Makiko to help her up, and she accepted his offer of assistance!
Upon Makiko reaching her feet, the two Saiyans stood side by side, battling the army of robots! It seemed that the more robots they smashed, the more robots that took the place of the fallen! Kien and Tieh likewise were doing well, and Sumio was doing well himself against the robots! The Saiyans and the Nameks were carrying the lion's share of the battle against the robots, but Sumio was holding his own quite well in his Super Zodorian state!
Majestros finally managed to secure a momentary reprieve in the battle by breaking away from the action and allowing the overconfidence of the fused Super Saiyan Three to do the rest. Katao smiled a broad, confident smile as Majestros fumed in seemingly futile fury. Majestros was badly bruised and battered, bleeding from the nose and mouth.
"So, you think you have the advantage, do you?" Majestros snarled in fuming anger at the new foe. "Well, think again! Now, I finish this!"
With that uttered, Majestros tensed every muscle in his body and clenched his fists, and every one of his veins bulged! As he began uttering a drawn-out power-up yell as a dark, blood red, flaming aura ensheathed him and flared massively, and the sky went black almost immediately! The entire planet shook quite violently from the power Majestros was generating, and terribly powerful winds blew across the landscape! Rocks, stones, and pebbles began rising from the ground and shattering as huge rocks erupted from the ground, and radical lightning performed a celestial dance in the storm-tossed heavens! Bodies of water parted to the bare floor, and lava spewed from between the towering walls of water! Over a vast distance, the ground opened up, and lava spewed out of the places where the ground opened up! Terrible whirlwinds formed over great distances, over both land and water! Lightning crashed down to the ground all around them, even striking the unphased Majestros occassionally, and Majestros' energy aura became electrified like that of a Super Saiyan Two or Super Saiyan Three! Majestros' muscles began to increase in size gradually as his eyes glowed blood red!
The fused warrior noted this with interest and curiosity, as did Makiko, Tieh, and Sumio. Koji and Kien were very concerned over this latest development. The robots, as usual, weren't disturbed by this.
Other World.
Tong-Li and Yukio were incredulous at the power increase of Majestros, and both of them were gravely concerned.
"What power!" Yukio gasped in horror at what he was sensing. "I've never felt a power so strong in my life ... or since then!"
"Nor have I, Saiyan!" Tong-Li gasped in perplexion over this latest development. "I fear things have just gone from bad to worse! He's becoming much stronger now, stronger than even Koji in his Super Saiyan Three state! I just felt it, a slight glimpse of his true power, and it's bigger than anything I've ever sensed in all the thousands of years I've lived! What is this terrible power, and are there any limits to the depths of his true power! It seemed almost ... endless, ... like some sort of bottomless well! It's unbelievable, and it's pure evil!"
"Tell me you're kidding!" Yukio cried out in shocked terror at the old Kai's declaration. "Then, they're all ... doomed?"
Yukio looked upon the fused fighter's form in the crystal ball, and then the image of Makiko fighting side by side with Koji appeared on the crystal ball. After that, he saw the image of Kumi and Yoshio flying back to the lookout, and Yukio trembled, his eyes beginning to water.
"There has got to be a way!" Yukio managed to mutter, grimacing in intense emotion. "It can't end like this!"
"I don't know," Tong-Li muttered in a barely audible whisper, lowering his head as he pondered the possibilities. "I ... just ... don't ... know."
Zodoria.
Majestros continued to power up, his muscles still increasing in size and tone, and the side effects of his power-up grew more and more intense as did his power-up yell! The robots moved in to continue their conflict with the rest of the heroes, and the heroes responded by fighting the seemingly endless barrage of robots that were sent to attack them! Finally, Majestros had completed his transformation to his ultimate power level, and his muscles were massive and sculpted! Electricity continued to crackle around him and his blood red, flaming energy aura, even as the side effects of the incredible power-up gradually subsided!
"Now, boy, you shall know my true power!" Majestros shouted as he stood ready to begin the fight a-new. "I have transformed into my ultimate form, and you shall rue this day!"
Continued in Chapter 14.