Episode #19: An Unlikely Assistance Saves the Day! Proof of Heritage

Drew stood tensely, his arms at his sides. He and his cousin Corey exchanged short glances with each other.

"I told you before...we can't stand here and do nothing. We have to counter his energy attack with one of our own. That way, we can kill two birds with the same stone." he said. "Or in this case, the same tortoise..." He cupped his hands at his side, his aura flaring. Corey nodded.

"We can't, really. If all four of us together unite our power, we should be able to withstand whatever attack he's throwing our way." Corey mimicked Drew's pose.

"Ka...me...ha...me..." both the cousins began, pausing between each syllable as power surged into the gap between their hands.
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Utonium's final attack continued to surge in power, visible as a small grapefruit-sized ball from ground level.

"What's that maniac up to now?" asked Jonny 2x4, watching the fight safely from his home. "Plank, you're right, this ain't good, buddy...."

The other Kids shared similar sentiments.

Tai Ma looked at the cousins charging the trademark blast, and thought, "The fate of the world is riding in our hands now...They're right..." Tai Ma stamped his foot down on the ground, and put his arms to his side. His energy was pouring out of his body. Instead of the orange color that he'd been fighting with for the majority of this battle, it flashed a bright white. "Ka...Ma...Ha...Me...!" The heroes' counterattack was almost ready...

Makuta bent his knees slightly, drawing his hands back. Golden-yellowish energy formed in both hands. The red aura of the Cousins and Makuta, mixed with the orange aura of Tai Mas Genso Hoshutso flowed together. The ground cracked and shook under the pressure of the red mass of chi, which contained a white spiral in its form.

"Final..." Makuta chanted, the energy drawn into his hands reaching there peaking point.

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The kids in the Cul De Sac now watched in silence as they saw the mass of aura in the city, and the large ball of energy high in the sky, a golden glint underneath it.

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Zymon lay in his own crater on a truck, barely conscious like the others. One eye was swollen shut, dry blood going from his lip to his chin.

"Come on...

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King Kai's eyebrows furrowed seriously as he watched the climax of the battle begin, a man standing next to him with his hands on his shoulder. The mans eyes were closed as if watching the battle.

It was clear the androids battle could not last much longer as it took a large amount of effort for them to continue their attack. Jasper landed a punch to the androids stomach that took a step back but recovered and landed a hard punch to Jaspers head. Jasper was about to lose balance but was able to stay standing and attempted to land a kick on Otis who dodged the kick by jumping back. Jasper pointed his hand forward and attempted to shoot a Ki ball but the energy seemed to disperse on its own unable to keep its form. Otis saw the moments of weakness and tried to fire his own Ki ball only to have the same thing happen to them.

“We can barely manage to channel our Ki anymore” Jasper thought to himself as he could still feel his body slowing crumbling from the overdrive core x25. Not wanting to let that stop him; Jasper charged in to attack as did Otis. Neither android would be able to last much longer but their will to see their fight through to the end drives them to continue. Both androids began to trade punches at close range some barely grazing the other whole other punches were dodged entirely. Eventually both android collided in a double head-butt with both of them showing their intent to defeat the other in their eyes.

The heroes' energy attacks all pulsed, their charge time complete. At the same time, the large Revenge Death Ball attack was completed as well. Debris from the crater began to rise and float into the air.

"Now, perish with the fools that sheltered you! Revenge Death Ball!!!" Utonium yelled, tossing down his energy attack.

"HAAAAA!!!" Corey, Drew and Tai Ma yelled, unleashing their Cousins' Kamehameha and the Wind Kamehameha, respectively. The beam changed from light blue to an even lighter blue with what appeared to be a wind drill surrounding the beam as it surged forth.

"FLASH!!" Makuta yelled, joining in the blast with a large yellow energy attack, the beam tinting the beam somewhat green and the wind drill not appearing as prevalent. The two attacks met, and produced a hellish shockwave. The skies above darkened, responding to the energy attack. Lightning struck around Peach Creek. Civilians ran for cover if they weren't adequately sheltered already.
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Above them, Utonium's aura faded. The Chaos Emeralds, now grayed out, revolved around him at a decreasing speed. When they stopped, they split up, dispersing into the air.

"Looks like I used up all their power..." he noted.
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Below, the twins watched the clashing of the energy attacks, not knowing what they could do.

"What's that?" asked Savannah, noticing a grayed-out glint heading right for them. A jewel landed on the ground right in front of them, and neither of the kids knew what to do.

Otis' eye was twitching more violently, the Android still ignored the overwhleming stress on his body, and continued to fight. Otis knew that if he were to lose the will to fight for even a few seconds, his innards would literally explode. It was not as if Jasper was faring any better, the recent failure of both Android's ki blasts was evidence enough that he was about to buckle under the immense upkeep necessary for the Overdrive Core.

"Heat level critical: Shutdown imminent." These were words that Otis really did not want to hear from his computer; at this degree of damage, shutting down would be the equivalance of entering a vegetated state. Unresponsive, incapacitated and for all intents and purposes, braindead.

The last part put the Android into a state of panic. To become offline, to die was something that was not an option. Otis conciously overrided his shutdown protocol, it was a very risky gambit, as the excessive heat could result in a meltdown in his elemental energy reserves, possibly coating a large portion of Peach Creek in permafrost. Once that was out of the way, with renewed determination Otis landed a punch in Jasper's face, which by now had been cracked to the point that patches of "skin" had been removed, practically giving the Android the appearance of a leper. Otis then followed up by tossing Jasper into a building's remains while the latter was flinching.

Jasper was inside the building barely able to move but he still managed to get back up “the others have some kind of last stand going down right now” Jasper noted as he picked up the spike of energy using his scouter. Jasper broke his way out from the building he was thrown into and stared down to see Otis waiting for him. Jasper charged down and tried for an axe kick which the android dodged so it hit the ground sending up rubble. Otis punched through on of the pieces of rubble which landed on Jaspers head. In response Jasper turned to reduce the damage and elbowed Otis in the back of the head knocking him off balance a little.

Both androids stumbled a little but managed to keep their stances but just barely. The internal system was warning Otis to the point where he had grown tired of it and had all warnings disabled while Jasper could hear the grinding of gears inside his body. Both androids bodies were so damaged they couldn’t event use regular Ki attacks. However neither one wanted to give up just yet so both androids charged in again to attack.

The heroes were now locked in the fateful beam struggle, trying to overpower Utonium's final desperate attack. The large black energy sphere pushed against the heroes' combined energy wave, while the injured looked on.

"Raise it higher!" Drew yelled out. No one objected as more energy poured from each of them, feeding the combined attacks and making it larger. In turn, the attacks began pushing the Revenge Death Ball back towards Utonium.

"You won't beat me! Not again!" Utonium yelled, forming a second, much smaller Revenge Death Ball and firing into t he first one. This caused the main ball to grow bigger and surge with the added hate energy, and it once more began streaking down, towards Peach Creek, pushing back the heroes' energy attack.
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Savannah picked up the jewel. "Huh, what is it? It looks like some kinda diamond!"

"Don't those usually come up from the ground?" asked Alysha, showing skepticism. As the two bantered, the jewel in Savannah's hand began to glimmer with a red energy, and suddenly, the color returned to it.

"It's really pretty...and it's glowing real bright!" Savannah called out, looking upon it. This drew Edd's attention...

Project Odysseus was running out of options, ki was out of the question, elemental energy would bring harsh consequences, and the ability to even move was growing more difficult. Despite this odds, the very thought of escaping and allowing Android Zero to live was unacceptable. The Android quickly assessed Utonium's struggle, it was indeed an uncertain one. However, there was little to no possibility of helping the professor now, Jasper made sure to that. One the plus side, Android Zero was now too weak to be of any substantial help to the Saiyans.

Otis was the first to attack, launching a kick into Jasper's side, and following with a hook into the Android's face. Jasper counter struck with a knee into Otis' stomach and an uppercut. The brawl quickly went from high speed punches and kicks to a slow rhythm of striking and evading, each successive attack was weaker than the last. Both Android's knew this, and realized no amount of willpower can keep you in a fight when your systems begin to shut down.

That was when Otis thought of an idea, it was risky, but it might give Otis at least a temporary advantage. The Android needed to wait however, for Jasper to wear himself out just a little longer.

The android battle continued but as the fight stalled out their movements began to slow down a little at a time. Jasper landed a punch to Otis who was able to block it but was forced two steps back; he then delivered a kick to Jaspers side which was also blocked with the same results. Any force on them was enough to cause them to slightly lose their balance yet they continued to fight. Jasper landed a punch to Otis who dug his feet into the ground to prevent him from stumbling and landed an elbow to Jaspers face. Jasper was sent back a few and was about to fall on his back but at the last minute he was able to keep his balance “I can’t fall now….if I do…I won’t get back up..” Jasper thought to himself as he went for an attack.

Jasper landed a punch to Otis which then a knee which knocked the android up a bit before he began to fall back down. Otis made sure his feet landed on the ground but he was too far back to keep his balance and began to stumble back until he ran into a piece of rubble that he used for support. Jasper went for another attack but Otis reacted and grabbed him; afterword’s slamming him into the piece of rubble he was leaning on. Both androids were having a hard time standing let alone fighting; if any of them were to fall it would mean the end of the battle and themselves.

The main heroes' powers dropped a bit after that surge from Utonium, but still they relented against the scientist. "D-damn IT...!" Corey cursed out loud.
Their powers were burning out fast, and unless some miracle swooped in from the sky and saved them, they would eventually lose to Utonium's hatred-fueled might.

Utonium cackled at their futile, but brave resistance. "GAHAHAHAHA! You've put up quite a fight, I will admit, but this is where it all ends for you!"
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Edd dashed to Savannah upon hearing her words. He looked upon it as well, saying frantically, "Did you say glowing..? Yes...this just might be...!"

"Might be what?" Savannah asked. She didn't get an answer though, for Edd held out his hand.

"Please, hand me the jewel! I must have it immiedately!" the older Saiyan demanded. When neither of the twins responded. "Please! There isn't any time to--"

A yellowish blur shot in front of Savannah, and the next, the red Chaos Emerald was gone.

"What? Where'd--" Alysha started. The three turned to see Eddy balancing the Chaos Emerald on his finger.

"Sockhead, when will you learn that politeness isn't good in a crisis?" Eddy asked.
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The heroes locked in the struggle continued to pour energy in their attack, but the Revenge Death Ball remained static.

A single thought ran through all four of them. Even if it destroyed their bodies, they might have to up their Kaioken usage above 10x to win...
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Utonium threw his hands above his head.

"SAY GOODBYE!!!"

Suddenly, the last bit of Chaos Energy left him. The golden parts of his suit returned to their blue hue, and the energy that crackled around his upturned hands faded.

"W-what...?! No...not now! I'm...too close!!" He tried to force the suit to generate a final burst of energy.

Eddy flipped the Emerald in the air.

"So we've got this, and i'm smart enough to know we can use it. Any idea how?" the short Ed said.

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The fours remaining energy slowly began to fizzle out.

"We're so close..." Tai Ma said, not making a innuendo at all...or at least not trying.

"Hes almost done, this is the last of his energy, if we can just push it back..." Drew replied, releasing a bit more energy, only to go back due to strain.

"And break threw it..." Corey said, one eyes closed as a sign of fatigue.

"Theres no choice, we have to gather all of our energy and use it all in once shot. It may break us, but its out last hope!" Makuta encouraged.

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Eddy extended the hand he used to hold the jem, and the two remaining Eds put a hand on it. They stood in a circle formation, the Twins standing to the side. At first there attempts at drawing energy were ineffective.

"Come, please! This energy is vital!" Edd pleaded to the emerald, something he would have never done if not for his tired and desperate state.

"We just need some energy so we can help out alittle! Being useless like this...it just ain't right!" Eddy said, and a glint appeared in the inside of the emerald.

"Gravy!" Ed suddenly shouted, and the Emerald began to react by glowing intensely as a response to there emotions.

"C'mon...c'mon...just a pulse of energy is all I need!" Utonium grunted. More lightning crackled around his hands as his damaged suit struggled to comply with the request.
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"Alright..." Edd said, feeling the power of the Emerald surging through him. The Eds crackled with red energy. "We've got to hit him with a blast now."

Each of the Eds raised a hand.

"Let's see...the attack he used earlier..." Eddy said. "Chaos..."

"Chaos..."

"Chaos..."

All three of the Eds gathered energy, and swatted their hands through the air, unleashing three identical attacks into the air, flying at awkward arcs towards Utonium.

"SPEAR!!"

The combined attacks of the Eds nailed Utonium directly, creating what appeared to be an opening for the remaining heroes to push everything into their combined beam.

Strained, and on the verge of catastrophic meltdown, Otis knew the time was upon him. Otis was slightly puzzled at his opponets behavior, it was indeed a grizzly fight to the death. However, it seemed Jasper was convinced that simply being knocked over would be the death of him. The Android was not completely wrong, however Otis found it unlikely that a fall would seal his fate, rather, he calculated that simply continuing the fight any longer was the threat.

Otis parried a punch from his opponet and then another, if his idea were to work, he needed to reserve his last ounce of strength, only occasionally counter attacking to try and dispel suspicion. However, after a few more strikes and subsequent blocks, Jasper began to suspect something. After such a long, brutal battle, Utonium's creation went and stayed on the defensive. The Android was planning something, possibly saving energy for a big finisher, but he still needed to know for certain what it was. There was no room for error at this point, and to react to what might happen would result in certain death.

Otis was as ready as he could get at this point, he could tell Jasper was onto him about something. The Android, however, still seemed oblivious to the whole picture. The fate of one of the Androids was to be decided in but a single moment. Otis drew back his good arm, as if preparing to unleash a strong punch to his foe, Jasper prepared accordingly, slowly putting his own good arm in an easy position to block, evasion was impossible at this point. Sure enough, Otis launched a single punch at his foe, which Jasper, with difficulty, had successfully blocked.

What Jasper didn't anticipate was that Otis prepared to strike with his limp arm as well. On its own, it would have made him stagger at best, but Otis' next move was the most unexpected. As Otis' fist was halfway to impacting Jasper's chest, the Android disabled his Overdrive Core. Without the enormous upkeep, Otis was able to pour more force into his attack. Surprised at this move, Jasper was unable to react except to express shock as Otis' attack literally drilled into his torso so hard that the Android was knocked onto the ground a few feet away, also discontinuing the transformation. Under normal circumstances, quitting the Overdrive Core would mean surrender or suicide. However, the insurmountable internal and external damage caused by each other and themselves over the course of the fight made the transformation a liability. Otis was to first to recognise this and seized the oppritunity accordingly.

Otis collasped to the ground on all fours, his plan worked, he could feel the internal heat in his systems begin to disapate ever so slowly, far too slowly however to make a difference at the moment however. The Android ran a diagnostics check, every system was in flashing red, practically meaning that his arm would cave in if a bug landed on it. Standing back up was still difficult but marginally easier, Otis held his hand up, creating a very weak ball of energy which would at best total a car. However, the upkeep of the Overdrive Core had rendered both Androids practically brittle as an egg, and would be more than enough to finish off the helpless Jasper.

Jasper was barely able to move but using the rubble around him as support; he was able to get up to his knee. Jasper saw Otis trying to charge a Ki ball regardless of how damaged his body was “I’m not going down like this” he said to himself as he rose his hand and pointed it at Otis’s direction. Jasper began to attempt to charge Ki using all that he had left; his body began to crack slightly and there were serge’s around him. Otis was about to fire until he himself began to have electrical surges which caused the Ki ball to lose some of its energy.

Slowly Jasper was able to build some energy into his palm forming a Ki ball roughly the size of Otis’s. Both androids stared daggers at each other wondering who would be able to pull of the next move. Jaspers arm was probably going to fall off and any moment as did Otis however neither let their arm drop now did they fire their Ki ball yet for they only had one chance left.

"Now!!" Drew yelled, feeling Utonium's energy take a nosedive from its base level. He knew that from the attack, he was distracted. The others in the struggle noticed it to.

All over Peach Creek, those watching the battle noticed Utonium's final attack was starting to deplete, and the heroes' attacks were slowly pushing the shrinking energy ball back. All the living watching the battle, as well as those in the next world, yelled out to Corey, Drew, Tai Ma and Makuta.

The cry was uniformly two words.

"DO IT!!!"

"Kaioken attack times 12!!" The cousins and Makuta cried out, their auras intensifying as more Ki surged forth from their hands, and pulsed its way up the beam.

"Genso Hoshotsu level 12!!" yellled out Tai Ma, the white aura around him intensifying as the wind picked up around the final attack. The pulse penetrated the Revenge Death Ball, and the energy beam drilled straight through it, shattering it. Utonium was helpless to stop it.

"N...nooo!!! Y-you will regret this, all of you!!!"

These were his final words before he was hit by the Final Wind Cousins' Kamehameha. The skies cleared, the lightning stopped, and the other signs of the struggle ceased as the beam went skyward, seemingly taking Utonium with it...

The two androids were giving each other a death stare as they waited for the opening they needed to end the fight but then a bright light caught their attention. What they saw was a massive beam of energy flying high into the atmosphere causing them to lose focus and their Ki balls dissipated because of it. Jaspers scouter was badly damage at this point so he could no longer pick up the energy signals from the battle; however Otis’s was still working and he notice that one energy signal had disappeared from his sensors.

Jasper stared at the direction of the beam for a while until he heard movement; when he turned his head he could see Otis limping away. “Where do you think you're going!?” Jasper said which didn’t stop Otis but he responded anyways “In response to my Master's death, I am withdrawing this battle so that I may recover and further continue his goals at a later date” he said as he continued to limp away. This angered Jasper over the thought of Otis just deciding he could walk away from their fight. Jasper forced himself to stand with help of some rubble “So that’s it?; you think I'm just going to let you walk away because your creator was destroyed” he said.

Again Otis did not care for what Jasper had to say but he answered his question with a quick and simple “yes…” which further annoyed Jasper. Jasper grit his teeth as he took a step forward “I promised my comrades that I would finish you and I will keep that promise” Jasper said as he got closer to the blue android. “Even to an Android a promise is admirable....As a promise to Saiyans?” Otis asked not understanding the purpose of an android making a promise. Jasper continued to make his slow chase for Otis as he answered “whether it's an android, saiyan, namekian, or animal....a promise is something that holds a bond no matter what you are....” said the android as he grew closer with each step.

To Otis there was no need for him to find a bond with anyone, to him it would only get in the way of what he was programmed to do “Let your vows cloud your judgment, the time of our reckoning is coming” he said; but then he felt a hand on his shoulder. “But today….” Jasper began as he forced Otis to turn around “it is your time” he finished following up with a hard right hook with all the might he had remaining. This caused Otis to fly back a few feet until he hit a large piece of rubble causing it to crack from impact. Jasper stared at Otis’s body to make sure he was down for good; Otis’s body did not move at all “it is done….” Jasper said as his eyes dimed to black and be fell back to the ground. The battle was over, Jasper had won and had not only kept him promise; but settled a score with the blue android.

As the beam pierced the clouds, the sky instantly cleared in a ring starting from the hold the blast made.

With Utonium defeated, the heroes released there energy, dissipating the beam. Corey and Drew collapsed next to each other. Tai Ma sat down, putting his hands behind him to lean on. Makuta remained standing. The four dissipated there respective power ups, the power they gained from the people of the world.

The Eds and Twins rushed over to the crater, the Twins slightly ahead. Savannah stopped in front of it, and leaned forward.

"Whoa! They did it! So cool..." Savannah said happily, and then started to loose her balance, almost falling into the crater before Alysha caught her by the back of her shirt. The Eds stopped in front of the crater as well, looking down into it.

"Barely made it...thanks for your help, everyone..." Corey mumbled.

"No...no shit, Corey..." Drew panted. The Eds began sliding down the edge of the crater, only barely able to keep their balance due to the beating they'd endured during the stalling session.

Streak lifted his head, chuckling.

"That was a close call..."

"That sure taught his ass a lesson!" Eddy called out, jumping four feet into the air in celebration.

"Eddy! We have children around!" Edd scolded.
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Boosts:
Rolf: +15% PL
Jasper: +40% PL
Kale: +42% PL (nearly bled to death)
Makuta, Streak, Corey, Drew, Kaia: +50% PL
Eds, Twins (Zenkai): +55% PL
Tai Ma, Alicia, Terra, Zymon: +60% PL

Makuta began walking out of the crater and Tai Ma looked up to Zymon. The Saiyan gave his trainie and thumbs up, and Zymon smiled and nodded. Makuta walked past the Eds, and cept walking.

"Wheres he going?" Eddy said.

"Big Green?" Ed asked.

"Don't worry about him..." someone said from behind them. They turned to see Terra, with Alicia helping him walk. The Eddy shrugged.

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In the crater, Corey and Drew had there own quite conversation.

"We did it..." Corey said.

"Yeah, its finnaly over." Drew replied. Both were staring at the sky ,still laying on there backs.

"We did it..." Corey repeated.

"Yeah...we won." Drew said, annoyed.

"We did it..." Corey repeated yet again, and he closed his eyes, breaking into a smile.

The world had just been spared a terrible fate from the hands of the evil Professor Utonium. The battle won, the heroes breathed a great sigh of relief. Some heroes sat on the ground while others went off in search of the others. The presence of silence was strong during their search, they had lost two friends to that monster and they were not in the mood for real celebration. Zymon and Tai Ma went and took Guriot's body and carried it with them back to where the heroes were.

Double D and Eddy went and took Kevin's body while Streak and Ed searched for someone else. Ed did the heavy lifting that consisted of throwing boulders out of the way while Streak was searching more intently. He spotted a hand sticking out of a pile of rubble and quickly called Ed over. The two dug the the rubble out and there was Rolf laying unconscious among the charred rocks. Streak put Rolf's arm over his shoulder and proceeded to walk back towards the heroes' location while Ed remained behind briefy to grab Rolf's armor and cape.

As Makuta neared his destination, his tired mind realized there was two energies were he was headed. The Namekian broke into a run.

Makuta stopped to the site of a blue anthropomorphic animal, most likely a hedgehog like Streak the Namekian realized. He hedgehog turned, and as Makuta caught site of his green eyes, it diseapered in a blur, shooting away down the road.

Makuta decided not to confront him about it, as he was already tired and hurt from battle. He had also seen no reason to believe the stranger was doing anything bad. But still.

Makuta walked over to the person he had been coming for, Kale. The anthropomorph must have wrapped him in a blanket, as the Saiyan was indeed covered in one. Makuta put the Saiyan boy on his back, and began to carry him back.

Corey and Drew forced themselves to sit up, and after some effort were able to stand on their own feet.

"That settles that," remarked Corey. "I guess the Kids are going to come out of hiding shortly. And when they do..."

He swallowed as he saw the Eds and Streak return with the deceased Kevin and Guriot.

"They'll notice the guys who died..."

The elder of the two looked over to Guriot, and recalled exactly how his death was caused.

"He wasn't even natural-born to begin with. He was man-made." Drew remarked. "The way he died was just as foul as the language he used daily."

The Eds and Streak looked upon the dead with sorrow reflected in their eyes. It was at this point, Drew noticed a red glint in Sockhead's pants pocket.

"Hey, Double-D, in your pocket..." he started. "Isn't that one of the jewels he used against us?"

"Huh?" Double-D came out of his trance. "Oh, yes. I plan to keep it, study it. I think if we know what other things these are capable of, we may be able to prevent other tragedies like this," he nodded to the dead bodies of Kevin and Guriot. "from happening."

"I see." Drew said. "Might put a mark on your head to keep it, though. But do as you like. Think of it as a trophy from the battle..."

while the others calmed down and wondered how they would break the news to the kids of the cul-de-sac Terra went in search for another of their members. "I remember seeing Jasper's Aura explosion somewhere in the sky in this area" he said to himself as he flew overhead checking for a sign of a battle. after a few minutes he looked over and could see a battle scared area "there it is" he said as he descended to the ground.

Terra walked around for a while looking for any sign of Jasper "man they really did a number on this place" he said to himself as he saw all the damage created from the fight. it took a while but eventually Terra caught sight of Jasper and ran over to the body "he must of used up all his energy in the fight...but I wonder how bad the damages are" said Terra who then put a hand on Jasper only to pull away in pain "AH!,hes overheated, gonna need to wait for his body to cool down a little" he said.