Eyes bloodshot, Turles' face slipped into an enraged snarl as his gaze darted to the remnants of the Tree of Might's fruit lying in Marzette's hands.
"That's it, isn't it? That's how you refined that dark power," Turles growled, a look of dawning realization creeping on his face. "By snuffing out the lives of millions... without regret... without a single shred of remorse!"
His gaze lingered on the fruit in Marzette's claws. "And the fruit would be a perfect catalyst for that. You... came here to steal what is rightfully mine!"
With a roar, Turles launched himself at Marzette, his murderous intent as clear as day.
Appearing like a phantom between them, Knox drove his foot into Turles's face, cleanly intercepting the berserk charge. The kick sent Turles hurtling away, the shockwave ripping through the ground as his body slammed into the side of a nearby cliff.
"The fuck is he talkin' about?" Knox commented to Marzette. "Did he go crazy?"
"I'm... not sure," Marzette replied, as she watched the rubble Turles was buried in. "Is it me or is his aura eerily similar to yours? And you look awfully similar too..."
"Nah," Knox answered her unanswered question. "He's a Saiyan while I'm an Earthling. We're sort of a like, but their species is more more, uh..."
Turles roared out in frustration, breaking free from the rubble in an explosion of black and red energy. Fury distorting his face, he charged from the ground all the way up to them in the air, screaming all the while.
"...Primal."
Shooting off the air, Knox met Turles in the middle, their fists colliding in a deafening crack that rippled the air around them. Both warriors lurched back, but neither gave ground for long.
'That's weird.'
Knox squinted as Turles' other fist barreled toward his face. He didn't move to dodge, choosing to take the blow squarely on his cheek. His head snapped to the side from the impact, but as he straightened back up, he touched his cheek in thought.
He'd felt the force of it, sure, but it was weaker than he expected. [Pain Suppression] was indicating it was even less damage than the time he'd first fought Marzette.
"I... thought you'd be stronger than that," Knox blurted out. "Honestly? You're kind of a disappointment."
Turles growled in response, his lips curling into a deeper snarl as his Ki flared brighter. Knox threw a hook aimed for Turles' ribs, but the Saiyan twisted around it with surprising speed, countering with a kick to Knox's side.
Knox grunted and grabbed Turles mid-move by the leg, spinning him to the side like a rag doll before throwing him away.
'Again, that hit was way too weak.'
Stopping himself from flying through the air, Turles flew back to Knox and launched into a rapid barrage of punches and kicks at speeds no normal human could follow.
Knox, however, was no normal human.
With his new power level amping up [Thought Acceleration], the attacks were easily dealt with. He ducked, weaved, and deflected each blow with precise movements, eventually interjecting with a savage counterpunch that rocked Turles in the ribs.
Turles skidded back, breathing heavily now, his eyebrows furrowed low in confusion. "What... what have you done? This planet's energy couldn't have possibly bolstered your strength by this much."
Unlike himself, Turles was losing stamina with each exchange.
'We should be about equal but... he's actually on the backfoot? Why-'
"Oh. I get it now," Knox realized. "You're a pretty shit fighter, aren't ya?"
Turles was definitely a better fighter than Knox currently was, but he didn't have the same level of skill as Marzette. He'd clearly relied on his Saiyan heritage and natural talent, leaning on it like a crutch.
Sure, Saiyans had insanely good battle instinct, but how much could a Saiyan truly learn if they only fought those weaker than them? To have survived this long as a low-class warrior, it only made sense that he spent his life choosing his battles very carefully.
Unlike Vegeta. Unlike Raditz. Unlike Nappa... Turles was more of a bully than a warrior.
"But there's actually one bigger reason why you can't beat me."
Turles panted, glaring daggers but unable to help himself from asking. "And what's that?! Because you've stolen the power of the fruit I was supposed to have?"
With a smug grin, Knox lifted both hands to his sides, palms up in a mock shrug.
"Nah, it's just 'cause I'm built different."
For a brief moment, all was silent.
Then Turles screamed, a guttural, frustrated howl that Knox swore sounded like that of a wild animal more than a human. Without another word, the Saiyan shot off into the distance, his aura flaring wildly as he vanished beyond the horizon in seconds.
Knox could only blink, his hands slowly lowering, completely thrown off by the sudden retreat.
It might've seemed like pointless mocking, but he was actually just telling the truth. Unlike anyone else in the universe, Knox still had his system enhancing him with things like [Impact Resistance], making him more formidable than anyone on the same power level as him.
Knox was quite literally built different.
He turned to Marzette, who was still floating a good distance away, but he didn't look at her.
"Did he just... leave?" Knox asked, pointing toward the direction Turles vanished to.
"I... think he-"
Before she could finish, a distant voice roared back through the air, nearly shaking the ground below. The raw hatred in his voice was almost tangible.
"FUCK!"
Knox turned his head quickly, his brows shooting up.
"YOU!"
They both spotted Turles far off in the sky, his body trembling as he floated, both hands outstretched. Red and black energy spiraled between his palms, surging brighter with every second as his screams grew louder.
Knox snorted. "Oh, a Ki blast clash?" He rubbed his hands together, an excited grin spreading across his face. "I'm game."
Knox brought his hands forward, fingers splayed as energy began to gather between his palms. Black-red tendrils of power whipped around him like chaotic ribbons, forming a glowing orb that pulsed with barely contained energy. As he charged it, his mind wandered.
'Man... I fuckin' love this world.' He thought, savoring this moment. 'But what do I call my attack? I can't just call it the Kamehameha... I've never even met Roshi. It has to be something more my style...'
"Killing one of my men? Stealing my fruit for yourself? I could've forgiven all of that, but now you dare to disrespect the power of the Saiyan race?! Every breath you draw is an insult to my pride! Die here, you ingrate!"
Turles' voice boomed even louder now, his growing attack flaring to life like a miniature red sun between his hands.
"I don't want your forgiveness, you fool! I want your soul!" Knox yelled back, his teeth bared in a manic grin.
'And I've just thought of a name to match that sentiment.'
At the same time, both of them yelled the first word of their respective techniques, almost in sync.
"GAME!" Knox roared.
"CALAMITY!" Turles bellowed.
Knox and Turles roared simultaneously, their attacks peaking in brilliance as they extended their hands and loosed the full force of their energy.
"OVER!!!" Knox screamed, releasing a massive, crackling black-red beam that seemed to twist reality as it barreled forward.
"BLASTER!!!" Turles bellowed, his red-and-black energy wave roaring to life like a tidal wave of destruction.
The two beams clashed in mid-air, their opposing forces exploding in an eruption of power and Ki that illuminated the entire battlefield. Thunderous shockwaves rippled out, ripping apart what remained of the nearby terrain and throwing both combatants in the vicinity off balance.
Knox gritted his teeth as his energy pushed against Turles' blast.
'...I see why he suddenly wanted to clash like this.'
The clash faltered slightly in Turles's favor, forcing Knox back a few inches through the air as Turles's grin spread wide, savage and triumphant.
"It was a good idea on paper," Knox muttered through clenched teeth, beads of sweat forming on his forehead, "Knowing that I have a slightly lower power level than him, he wanted to force this fight to be about raw power vs raw power..."
"Give up already and DIE!" Turles cackled, his energy surging.
Knox, however, wasn't done. With a deep growl, he refocused, the black-red tendrils of his energy twisting violently as he muttered, "Good thing power isn't everything."
[Thought Acceleration] went into overdrive. He felt his mind burn brightly, analyzing every erratic fluctuation in the flow of his Ki, and made split-second adjustments mid-clash.
His energy efficiency skyrocketed, the weak spots in his own attack fading as his internal mastery of [Ki Projection] evolved in real time.
Skill [Ki Projection] has increased.
+1 SOUL multiplier for increasing from E to D.
"Thinking like that is just arrogance!" Knox roared, pushing Turles' beam back inch by inch. "Victory is just never just-"
A sudden, searing heat clipped his face as a weak Ki blast exploded against his cheek. His eyes snapped to the side, catching sight of Amond on the ground, barely standing, grinning through labored breaths.
It took him a full second outside of [Thought Acceleration] to process what he was seeing.
"I... should've killed that bastard where he stood!" Knox hissed.
In that brief window of distraction, Turles capitalized, pouring every ounce of power into his blast. Knox winced as the pressure mounted, forcing his own beam dangerously close to collapsing.
"MARZETTE!" Knox bellowed as he felt more weak blasts pepper his back, each one disrupting the equilibrium of his attack.
Far below, the remnants of the Crusher Corps slowly reappeared, battered but standing. Energy blasts streamed upward from their hands in volleys, their desperate assault a coordinated effort to tip the balance in their leader's favor.
He almost cursed as he felt another blast detonate against his shoulder, sending his aim slightly skewed.
Quickly, his frustration reached a peak. At this point, the beam clash was firmly in Turles' favor, the air vibrating violently from the immense pressure of the two colliding waves of energy.
"Get rid of them! Now!" Knox ordered her through clenched teeth, struggling to maintain ground.
___________
"...How am I supposed to do that?" Marzette muttered to herself, helplessly staring at the clash below.
Even though the remnants of these space pirates were already defeated by Knox, bruised and battered as they were, they were still far stronger than her current self.
This entire battle overwhelmed her; the sheer power being casually thrown around was something far outside of her imagination. And yet, she couldn't help but be grateful that Knox told her about the dangers they'd face. That, currently, she was a hundred-thousand times weaker than the enemy he was chasing.
With that in mind, she'd been preparing a trump card to close the gap but...
'I haven't perfected it yet. It simply costs too much energy to get going.'
Still, she ground her mandibles together and raised her hand, leaving the fruit and her other hand and the seed under her armor.
"This has to work!" she hissed under her breath. Her clawed hands began to give off a faint glow, the Ki emanating from it slowly solidifying into a thin almost glass-like shape.
And for a moment, she thought it was working.
Then her energy faltered. The solidified Ki dissipated, unraveling into harmless wisps of fading white energy.
"Damn it!" she cursed, shaking the Ki off her arm.
Just as she was about to give up and simply rush in, Knox screamed once more, his tone dripping with the same frustration she felt.
"I don't care how you kill them. Just... figure it out!"
Those words struck her more intensely than she was expecting. At this point in her life, orders were almost a part of her existence. To be given complete freedom to accomplish a task, even as simple as this one, made a memory she'd nearly forgotten about ring in the back of her mind.
Back when she was just a warrior, travelling her planet in search of greater strength.
Before she'd been taken in by Queen Vanella. When the flame of her ambition was still burning brightly.
'If he doesn't care, then...' She glanced to her claws. 'Then I can be as selfish as I want, right? As long as the objective is complete.'
The thought hit her with startling clarity. 'Then what am I even waiting for?'
"Here we go."
Marzette raised the Fruit of Might to her mouth and bit down hard.