Last time on Majin of the Sixth...
A glorious battle to reclaim the ally, Kale was underway. However in a turn of events, Phazon used a technique specifically used by Destroyers. With it, Mel was doomed to be erased...
With no other option, a fusion began Majin Lem was able to beat the General, but at a cost of no longer seeing his better half. He disappeared soon after, still seething with grief.
Can his newfound friends find him, and give him peace? Find out now!
***
(Theme Cue)
***
I don't know which planet I ended up landing on. Perhaps it didn't matter, as I was readily sustained by my own powers. My candy beam was more...varied in it's abilities. Not only sweets and foods, but clay, and other such items. In the few moments I arrived, shelter was a thing I'd like to have, in my little pilgrimage.
Thankfully frogs make good building material apparently, as I slaved away a solid month making an elaborate hut that could be described as non-Euclidean. Smooth, curved on the outside with a few holes as makeshift windows. About two stories it would be. Then I added a few extra stuff.
See, I was originally just making a single room hut, but...let's just say I wanted something to get my mind off of things. So I expanded, making a longhouse style. Then I added a kitchen to the left. A dining hall in the original longhouse. A tower in the back that lead to a little nook, overlooking the surprisingly complex skyline. It just added onto itself until, well; I had a nice house to live in. Somehow even made plumbing.
Despite that...it felt empty. Very empty. A vineyard was added, mostly just because dealing with plants was a better distraction than simply adding onto my home. Still, not enough. I can't help but just look at my hands, the reflection in the rivers where I got water, and hunted big game. Again, for decoration.
They were her hands once. I just...I know I should move on. This was me now. A strange creature, a Majin. One half good, the other a reincarnation of the evil within. Back to a single entity. I should feel happy, complete. I should be with my friends, but...I doubt they'd care. Caulifla is a hardcase, and her people skills only are decent around those named Kale. Kale herself would still be wary of me. Cabba...he needs to grow a pair first before dealing with a Majin's problems.
As I looked at the sun rise above the same exact rocky terrain, I sighed. It'd be another week just attending to plants I could just magic out of thin air.
"Another time alone...funny...I normally wouldn't feel so upset," I laid on the savannah grass of this planet. However, what I found instead of solitude was a massive signature, and the sound of a spaceship coming into orbit. Landing. I knew that power. "Didn't think she'd find me fast. Then again, why didn't Vados just tell her to go here?"
***
"...This is definitely farther than any star system charted," The pilot commented. "Does look great to look at though. Say, boss? Even if you find that Lem guy-"
"I'll deal with it, runt. Kale, follow closely. I'm...not exactly soft,"
"That's an understatement..." The pilot mumbled, getting a death glare from Caulifla.
"S-Sure sis..." Kale wasn't happy. Not that Lem being gone was good to her, there were other matters. Especially concerning her sister-in-arms.
Soon they flew, far enough to see a pink dot in the distance.
***
They landed near me, about a few feet, looking down on me. I simply looked back with a frown. They weren't going to just leave me be. Don't they get it? No...they don't. Losing someone is small potatoes to Caulifla. Her Super Saiyan transformation taught me that much. And Kale really doesn't have any care, as it doesn't pertain to the hedgehog.
"Spikes?" I got up, at least in a squatting position. "What are you doing here?"
"Ain't it obvious, salmon man? We're getting you back,"
"And I am guessing you were going to have Kale go Beserker if I don't comply?" I motioned toward the other one. "She's good, but...unless you're fighting human me, it won't happen anytime soon,"
Standing up straight I walked towards my home, trying to block them out. I wasn't in the mood to talk right now. I...had...tomatoes and grapes to attend to. At this point, I might think about the wine business. Yeah, get people drunk for a living. Sounds profitable if the bars I went to were enough to go on.
"Wha-" Caulifla ran over to me, furious. "That's it?! You're going to be living on some no name planet, and making crops?"
"Pretty much. It's fun..." Replying with a monotone voice, I looked over my tomatoes.
"Mister Lem...what about us? You're friends? Everybody, they're worried..." Kale told me, making me close my eyes in thought. I know they are...but...it just doesn't feel right. I can't just act like what happened was just another day as me. It wasn't. It was beyond that, it meant way more to me than just breathing the next morning.
"Kale. Just take your sister and leave...I can't be bothered...I...just need time..."
"TIME!?" Caulifla shouted at my face. "You've been gone for over a month! I say that is a great time to get off your pink ass and move on! It's not like Mel is dead, she IS YOU!!"
"...I have been telling myself that a lot, Spikes. It doesn't make it better," I shrugged, just trying to focus on something else.
Without warning, Caulifla fired an energy blast towards my house, half of it being destroyed in smoke and clay rubble. She was trying to rile me up, wasn't she? Well, normally it'd piss me off. But this instance, I felt nothing.
"THEN GO AHEAD AND MAKE IT BETTER, DAMMIT!"
"S-sis? I don't think-"
"QUIET! You think just because you don't have your other half staring at you with googly eyes gives you the right to abandon ship? Oh, hell no to that, pal! And I am NOT going to go home empty handed after an eternity of space travel! Oh...I am going to drag you by you're newly formed tail if I have to!" Caulifla punched me, with enough force to cause my feet to grind against the soil.
She was still trying to provoke me. How cute, and sad.
"...What could you hope to accomplish? Leave. You don't have to deal with this headache anymore than you have to," I said, reforming the imprint on my cheek.
"That's the deal, Lem. It's a headache if I do leave," Caulifla transformed into a Super Saiyan. Steadily she rose her ki, as Kale simply watched in horror. "And I never back down from ANYTHING!"
She rushed towards, flurry of punches and kicks, pushing me through the vineyard, into the open field. It hurt, but my healing was capable of taking her hits. I knew she got stronger though, as I expected. She has a natural talent for getting ahead of others in terms of raw strength. If this was any other Saiyan, I doubt they'd really do much to begin with.
I never made a move though, simply tanking every raging attack from the hedgehog. Each time, I healed. Each hit was progressively getting useless. And she knew it too. But her pride kept her going. But there I noticed something new, tears. She never once cried, not in public at least. What was so important about getting me to budge? Perhaps she did care for me more than I guessed, if not violently.
Still I never rebounded my attacks. Still, I was tossed around at her leisure, unable to be permanently injured, or persuaded to change my ways. If anything, It was annoying.
"Caulifla! Please, stop!" Kale was in the air, yelling for the attack to cease.
"NO! I am not leaving empty-handed. Not when this bastard refuses to move on..." She growled, powering up further, powering up a crush cannon. "SO STAY OUT OF IT UNTIL LATER!!"
Firing a massive barrage, the land in my general vicinity vanished into valley of craters. The water from the local rivers managed to get sucked in, a new lake forming below me. It hurt, as I could actually feel that, as if I was human again. How much energy did she waste with that attack? If she continued, she'd blow this place up. She'd get herself killed, as I am certain this form I had wasn't bound to oxygen.
I had to intervene, so with my instant transmission, I punched her into the dirt. She powered down almost instantly. With a heavy sigh, I signaled over to Kale to retrieve her. But, a grunt was heard. A small one. Turning, Caulifla was forcing herself to stand on her legs.
"Not...yet...you'll...you'll have to kill me first..." Turning to me with a stagger.
"...Why do you care so much about me? I'm just a means to grant you power. A punching bag to push your limits. So...why so much effort?" I knew a possible answer. But...until I heard it, I wouldn't believe it.
"...Y-You do push me. Hell...it's pissing me off how much of gap your fusion m-made...ugh...but...that's not...that's not the only reason...ghhh..." Trotting over to me, with glistening eyes, wet from tears. "You...I...I...."
"...Don't go another round. It'll end badly..."
"...GAH! STOP BEING DEPRESSED! ARE THIS MUCH OF AN IDIOT!?!? I...I LOVE YOU, GODAMMIT! YOU USED TO BE SUCH A STRONG PERSON. YOU WERE A LEADER. A STRICT TEACHER. WHY ARE YOU BEING SO DAMN SELFISH WHEN ONE PERSON IS GONE FROM YOUR LIFE!?! I'M HERE!!" I was shocked by that.
Not only did it confirm my suspicions. I now...felt rather off. Was I supposed to feel better? Was I really ready to interact with them again? I don't know. But, Caulifla being so honest with me? That opened a whole can of worms. I...I held her close. Honestly, her crying was so unusual to me. Nothing she did was out of care for another person...except Kale. Except...me.
"I'm here...*sniff*..." She sobbed, quietly into my chest. "...t-that form is yours. Please...come back...it's yours, it's you...just please move on and come back..."
"..." I had my hand placed on her hair, feeling how surprisingly soft such a spiky style was. This vulnerability was rare for a warrior. The fact this was how far she was? Not simply a tool...but...more?
I realized then the last thing Mel said. Keep them safe. I forgot about that. She literally told me as her dying words, and I forgot because of my mourning. How pathetic...
I had to be this way, didn't I? I cared too much. That was my reasoning. Why I woke up, why I even dealt with my horrible life. Because I distanced myself. The more I did, I assumed that it wouldn't affect me as much. To feel nothing. No. This was truly feeling nothing. And now...I needed to start allowing it back in, my emotions. My attachment.
I held her tighter, simultaneously healing and hugging her in place. I could feel myself on the verge of crying.
Perhaps it lasted quite a bit. But it felt...better. Maybe I need to listen for once; this was my family now. I had to protect them. No, I had to make them better than me. I know things can go south real fast, and I am not an angel. They must grow stronger, and become more.
***
Hours Later...
It had took awhile, but Lem was finally ready to leave. Now, they settled in the storage, napping next to each other. Caulifla and the Majin, exhausted by the emotional baggage just dropped on that planet. It seemed peaceful.
But Kale....something was wrong for her. She was glad that her sister was happy, but...it just felt off to her. Despite getting exactly what they came for, getting a close friend back from hiding, it just bothered her, watching the two sleep blissfully together. It annoyed, frustrated her. And she knew why, but refused to just blow up then and there.
"...of course..." Kale grimaced, her own aura stirring inside her. Somebody took something away from her. And it was just boiling beneath that innocent exterior.