Sidra's face kept tightening and loosening by turns. "I didn't expect it to spiral like this—damn it! Mojito, how do I fix this? I genuinely just wanted Broly and Buu to get some real-world training. I never meant to kill them! And I know they'll never admit it if they were involved in Muse's death.—no candidate Destroyer would confess like an idiot."
Mojito listened, patient and silent.
"Mojito, please—how do I undo this?" Sidra's head pounded.
"First, find Ken and Merus," Mojito said after a beat. "If you can locate them, ask your Supreme Kai to retrieve them and place them beside Mr. Broly. That's the best on-ramp to a solution."
"Hurry. See where they were sent," Sidra urged.
"I'm looking," Mojito replied.
Mule glanced from Sidra to the streak of light that was Broly fleeing into the distance. Ice seeped into his eyes.
He wanted to chase Sidra down and throttle him—but that would let Broly slip the net.
He chose.
Mosco flared and streaked out, a violet-red lance across the stars, pushing speed to its edge.
Up ahead, Broly found a thick belt of asteroids. He killed his aura, burrowed into a slab of rock, and hid.
Mosco arrived moments later, regarding the rock field with a thin, contemptuous smile.
"So…you think if you snuff your ki, I can't find you?" Mule's voice curled with mockery.
"Grrkk—grrk." Mosco's vox crackled.
"Ki masking makes it harder, sure," Mule said, eyeing a particular boulder. "But don't forget: Mosco is both a God of Destruction and an ultra-intelligent machine. Basic infrared will tag your exact spot."
He lifted his arm.
Fwoom!
A ribbon of violet-red erasure burst from his palm, drilling for Broly's hide.
A prickle of death raced Broly's spine. He lunged sideways at the last instant, the blast shredding the asteroid behind him.
Whip!
Mosco flashed in and hammered Broly's chest with a piston fist.
"Gh—!" Blood sprayed from Broly's mouth.
Before the ambush, Broly fused with Majin Buu had climbed to roughly "50.5" on Ken's purity scale—just over the old Mosco. But now Mosco was fighting with the hidden kill-state active, spiking to "53."
And while near-death surges had pushed Broly's growth, he'd hit the wall—his latest rebound wasn't enough.
Clack!
Mosco's metal hand clamped on Broly's skull.
Bleep. Bleep.
Twin optics swept Broly up and down with a full scan.
Shnk!
His other hand speared clean into Broly's chest.
"AAAH—!"
Mosco's fingers searched, then withdrew with five remaining senzu beans.
"So these are what keep snapping you back to full?" Mule's laugh turned colder.
"Grkk." Mosco tipped his head; the beans slid through his maw—down into Mule's waiting palm inside the cockpit.
Mule caught them, popped one into his mouth, and bit down.
In a blink, his wounds sealed; his power surged to the cap—and the thing he'd lost grew back as if it had never been cut.
Broly snarled through blood, liquefied and reformed with Buu's regeneration, then drove a hook into Mosco's chest plate.
Mosco barely rocked. Not a scratch.
"Still resisting? With that scrap of power?" Mule's smile sharpened.
"Grkk," Mosco added, almost amused.
"Talk. Did you kill my son?" Mule shook Broly by the collar after releasing his head.
Broly spat blood toward Mosco—only for the spray to hiss into vapor against Mosco's shimmering field.
"You think this is schoolyard spitting?" Mule cracked Broly across the nose.
Bone collapsed; several teeth pinwheeled into the dark.
"Go on—regenerate again," Mule taunted. "Show me."
Broly's regen lagged. The injuries had piled too high.
"Last chance," Mule said, killing intent leaking through. "Was it you?"
Broly fought, wordless.
"Then I'll erase you—and this armor will be Exhibit A." Mule pressed his palm to Broly's chest.
"Hakai."
Violet-red aura crawled over Broly like frost, then detonated inward.
In less than three seconds, Broly unspooled into nothing—like a soap bubble popping in vacuum.
Silence fell.
A single red suit of armor drifted where he'd been, its glow dim, its life gone.
Clack.
Mosco's belly hatch opened.
"Hmph." Mule stepped out, took the armor in both hands, and examined it closely.
He couldn't read its origin from the finish alone.
"I trust the Grand Priest will judge fairly," Mule murmured. "If I can't see its source, he can. He'll know its first form at a glance."
"Grkk," Mosco agreed.
"I avenged you today," Mule said through his teeth, head tipping back. "My son, rest."
Then he noticed a small, odd button on the cuirass.
"What's this?" He pressed.
Zing.
The armor shrank and folded until it was a wristwatch.
"How curious. What universe makes tech this advanced—compressing a full combat suit into a watch?"
Mule slid the watch into Mosco's internal storage.
"Hakai."
Mosco swept a hand. Every rock in the belt atomized. Space fell silent again.
…
Universe 6, deep space.
Zzip.
Ken and Merus rematerialized, unscathed.
They shared a look.
"What was that?" Ken's voice went dark.
"Power spike tore a tunnel between universes and pitched us out," Merus said, frowning as he touched his staff.
A thread of angelic power flicked from the crystal to Ken's borrowed staff; Ken tossed it back.
Merus studied quickly. "Universe 6."
"How long to fly to Universe 9?" Ken asked, jaw tight.
"At our speed…two days," Merus said, voice low.
"Get Mosco on the line. Tell him to hold position," Ken said, eyes narrowing.
Merus nodded, linked the staff, and opened a holo.
Mosco and Mule snapped into view.
"Merus? What's this about?" Mule's tone was airy, playful.
"Where are Broly and Buu?" Merus asked at once.
"Oh—we traded blows and became fast friends," Mule said with a laugh. "Then they said they were hungry and went to find you two for dinner. And…sorry about that big move earlier. I accidentally shunted you to another universe. Please don't take it to heart."
Ken peered past him; the field was too clean. Not even a pebble remained.
Wrong. All wrong.
And a mean pinch twisted under his ribs—a warning.
"My apologies," Mule went on, performing contrition. "I was blinded by grief. I thought Broly or Buu killed my boy. It was all a misunderstanding."
"No harm done if the misunderstanding's cleared," Merus said, shaking his head—yet unease furrowed his brow. He knew what they had done to Mule's son. Mule's convenient humility only made it worse.
"Buu and Broly are together, right? On their way back?" Merus pressed.
"Yes, yes—right away. No need to fret. A misunderstanding!" Mule gave a final, heartfelt bow. "I'll call personally to apologize another day."
"That won't be necessary," Merus said, and cut the link.
Even as a calm angel, his instincts screamed: this wasn't what it looked like.
"You feel it too?" Ken asked, already summoning a lens of angelic power.
Merus nodded. He couldn't name it, but the wrongness was there.
"I pinged Broly—no signal," Ken said, sweeping the lens for coordinates.
"I'll try Buu," Merus said, reaching for the unique line every angel shared with their God of Destruction.
Nothing. The link was dead.
"I can't reach Buu either," he said, frown deepening.
Merus lanced his staff's light into Ken's lens; twin halos meshed and swept Universe 9 with a blanket search.
Seconds dragged cleanly into a minute.
Nothing. No Broly, no Buu.
"Did they leave Universe 9?" Merus wondered aloud.
"Time Rewind," Ken said suddenly. "How far back can you push it?"
"Time Rewind? You've already developed that?" Merus blinked, then answered honestly. "At my level…one minute, maximum. Why—unless…"
His eyes flashed as the thought clicked.
"He erased them," Ken said, voice flat. "He stalled us. Once we arrived, we were outside your one-minute window."
"He—erase Broly and Buu? Without proof? He wouldn't dare," Merus said, then shook his head. "Still…we can test it. I can roll one minute. But first we need the exact scene."
"Vados," Ken said, calling her.
Her face bloomed in the lens, luminous and amused. "My, my—Ken and Merus…from Universe 6? Are you two sightseeing?"
Ken clocked the background in a glance: Earth. Bulma's place. Of course Vados was snacking—without Champa, no less.
No time for that. "Ping our Supreme Kai. Have him bring you to me, then take all of us to Universe 9—this set of coordinates."
"What happened?" Vados set her plate aside, eyes sharpening.
"Broly and Buu may be gone," Ken said.
"I'm en route," Vados replied. "I'll also bring the Supreme Kai. Ten seconds."
The call cut.
Zzip.
Fuwa, Universe 6's Supreme Kai, arrived with Vados.
"Spare the pleasantries," Ken said crisply. "Take us to these coordinates in Universe 9. Now."
Vados glanced into the far distance, reading more than light. She said nothing.
"Understood," Fuwa said, and raised a hand.
Kai-Kai.
They stood before Mosco and Mule.
"Ah! Ken, Merus—back so soon? Broly and Buu left just now," Mule said pleasantly. "Did you reach them?"
"Merus, Vados—can your Time Rewinds stack?" Ken asked, ignoring Mule.
"I can bridge off his roll," Vados said lightly. "He can't stack; I can push to three minutes, max."
Merus dipped his head, chagrined. "Yes. I can only manage one minute. But Vados can pick it up and carry us to the three-minute mark."
"Three minutes is my limit," Vados confirmed.
Ken's gaze cut to Mule. "If you're lying, you won't enjoy what comes next."
"What are you two saying? Oh—Universe 6's Vados and Supreme Kai," Mule said with a cordial nod. "You don't trust me and plan to run Time Rewind, yes? By all means. I'll cooperate fully."
He stepped back into Mosco's chest cavity; the hatch shut.
Mosco flexed his arms and hammered his torso once, the metallic boom echoing across the quiet field.
Vados stared at Mosco, silent and deep, as if her eyes could strip the paint and look straight into his soul.
"I'll start," Merus said, drawing a breath and lifting his staff.
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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