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The sky had turned into a pressure cooker about to explode. Coal-black clouds twisted above the ring as Hero and Ma Junior stared at each other like two wolves fighting for territory. The crowd had backed off several meters – pure survival instinct.
I stood there, my heart in my throat. Sweat dripped down my forehead as I tried to process what my eyes were seeing. It was no longer just a simple tournament fight. It was something ancestral. Something primordial.
The fight between the two Namekians had been going on for a while, and it seemed like it was about to move to the next level.
"It's about to start," Gina whispered beside me, gripping my arm so tightly it would leave marks.
BOOM! A lightning bolt cut through the sky, illuminating the tense faces of the two fighters.
Hero calmly removed his glasses, folding them and putting them in the pocket of his worn-out shirt. His eyes, now exposed, revealed an age that went far beyond the body he inhabited.
"It's time to end this, Piccolo," Hero said, his voice completely different – deep as an abyss, ancient as the mountains. "I won't allow you to sow chaos in this world again."
Ma Junior – no, Piccolo – gave a twisted smile that made my blood run cold.
"Kami, you old fool," he laughed, the mask of 'Ma Junior' finally falling completely. "You really think you can defeat me? I am your shadow... and shadows always grow when the sun sets."
WHOOSH!
They disappeared. Literally vanished before our eyes. Only the wind remained.
CRACK! TAP-TAP-TAP! BOOM!
The air above the ring exploded in small shock waves. They were so fast that we could only see the flashes of their blows – like miniature lightning bolts colliding in the sky.
"My gosh..." I murmured, barely keeping up.
Suddenly, the entire ring shook as both landed simultaneously, creating cracks that spread like spider webs beneath their feet.
Piccolo extended his hand. An acidic green energy sphere pulsed between his fingers.
"This is for all those years trapped in that damned pot! MAKANKOSAPPO!"
ZZZZZZZZZZ-KAPOW!
The spiral beam sliced through the air like a demonic drill. Hero – no, Kami – raised his hands, forming an X. The impact was so violent that the resulting wind almost knocked me down.
"GAAAH!" Kami was pushed back but managed to deflect the beam to the sky, where it exploded like green fireworks.
"Not strong enough, 'son'," Kami taunted, breathing heavily. "Looks like your imprisonment weakened you more than you thought."
Piccolo growled like a wounded animal. "Let's see who's weak!"
He grew. Literally. His muscles swelled like balloons, tearing parts of his clothes. In seconds, he looked like a three-meter-tall green giant, his fangs gleaming under the lightning.
"TIME TO DIE, OLD MAN!"
SLAM! CRACK! BOOOM!
The ring practically imploded as Piccolo started delivering blows as heavy as boulders. Kami dodged with the grace of an autumn breeze, but each time with more difficulty.
"He won't last long," Gina whispered, squeezing my hand tightly.
THWACK!
A precise blow hit Kami on the chin, making him spin in the air like a rag doll before falling heavily on the ring's edge. Purple blood trickled from his split lip.
"You're getting old, Kami," Piccolo laughed, slowly returning to his normal size. "While I... I was reborn stronger."
Kami got up with difficulty, wiping the blood with the back of his hand. "Maybe..." he murmured, "but age brings wisdom, and wisdom brings..." He closed his eyes. "...other resources."
Suddenly, it seemed like the sky swallowed all the light. A sepulchral silence fell over the stadium. Even Piccolo seemed confused for a moment.
"No..." he murmured, his eyes widening in recognition. "You wouldn't dare!"
Kami assumed a posture I had never seen before – legs bent, arms extended in a spinning motion. His hands began to emit a supernatural blue light.
"MAAAAA..." Kami's voice reverberated like thunder as the bluish energy grew in his hands.
"STOP NOW!" Piccolo shouted, true panic in his voice as he advanced to attack.
"FUUUUU..."
Kami's eyes glowed like two incandescent sapphires. The air around him seemed to be sucked into an invisible vortex.
"BAAAAA!"
WHOOOOOOSH!
A greenish-blue whirlwind burst from Kami's hands toward Piccolo, who froze, paralyzed by shock. It was like watching a giant wave about to engulf a castaway.
"It's the Mafuba," someone whispered behind me. "The Evil Containment Wave."
The whirlwind started enveloping Piccolo, who struggled desperately against the force pulling him. His angry screams were muffled by the deafening sound of the vortex.
"THIS TIME," Kami shouted over the technique's roar, "YOU WILL BE SEALED FOREVER!"
He pulled out a small jar from his tattered robes. The whirlwind began to direct toward the jar's opening.
But then...
CRACK!
Kami's hands trembled. A look of pain crossed his face.
"No... not now..." he groaned. The body he had borrowed was failing at the critical moment.
The whirlwind wavered like a flame in the wind. The control slipped through his fingers.
"HAHAHA!" Piccolo's laughter echoed from within the vortex. "PATHETIC!"
With a violent move, Piccolo pushed against the Mafuba's force. The vortex began to change direction, twisting like a wounded snake.
"No..." Kami gasped, struggling to maintain control. "NO!"
SWOOOOSH!
The unthinkable happened. The vortex, which was supposed to capture Piccolo, completely reversed its direction, swallowing Kami in his own whirlwind.
"NO!" I shouted, taking a step forward.
Gina pulled me back. "Ethan, don't!"
The Mafuba's roar reached a deafening crescendo as the technique devoured its own master. Hero's body spun helplessly inside the vortex, his eyes fixed on us with a silent apology before being sucked into the jar he had prepared for his enemy.
PLOP!
The ensuing silence was more terrifying than any scream. The jar fell on the partially destroyed ring with a metallic clink that seemed to echo forever.
Piccolo, panting and wounded but triumphant, staggered to the small container. His fingers gripped the jar, raising it to the light to examine its contents. A macabre smile spread across his green face.
"Hello, father," he whispered to the jar. "Comfortable in there?"
My stomach turned when I saw what happened next. With a deliberately slow motion, Piccolo raised the jar above his head.
"A toast to the family reunion," he mocked, opening his mouth impossibly wide.
GULP!
He swallowed the entire jar.
The crowd let out a collective groan of horror. My legs gave out. Piccolo ran his hand over his stomach, satisfied.
"Now," he turned to the terrified audience, his eyes meeting mine, "who's next?"
The sky finally broke into a torrential downpour, as if the world itself was mourning the fall of its guardian.
And I knew, as lightning danced above us, that the real nightmare was just beginning.