I rested on my hands and knees, dirty with white powdered bone, as I measured the guardian's footprints and tried to imagine how tall the guy had to be. By the impression in the bone dust, he walked on his toes. There wasn't much flying involved; he left a trail of footprints. From the ck of disturbances in the bone powder, I could infer a few things. The guy wasn't active, and not many challenged him. I read the past yers of bone powder hardened over centuries through ki sense. A part of me reviewed all the texts about horses and other animals from Mom's library. Many heavy animals walked on their toes. This guy wasn't an exception. He should be quiet, naturally. I checked the prints with some of the elephants and found they matched a little. This guy was heavy. Four or five tons at least.

  The fight came first. With the choice of what to eat first, chicken or steak, I chose steak. But what if the chicken was Kentucky fried with the original recipe instead of the knock-off made with cheaper ingredients?

  I held a hand over my eyes to blot out the yellow glow and falling cloud of ash. That guy was so strong. It was natural that there wasn't any focus or discipline behind it. There was a sadistic hunger. I felt that clearly through the energy. A part of me rexed holding back less of my power. A white aura surrounded me as I powered up to my natural resting power.

  I could say my PL was 25,000 or 250,000, and there wasn't much of a difference. I was certain that if I tried, I could blow up several pnets bundled together. That was my only real way to measure power. This guy was about as strong as a dwarf star.

  To compare him to the excitement I felt between him and the carbonite crystal's gravity well was like comparing a single bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken to an all-you-can-eat steak buffet.

  Never underestimate a Saiyan's raw need for a fight. I've gone too long without one. I needed this.

  "What are you waiting for? We have to go before the guardian gets back?" An alien with an elephant trunk and wrinkled pink skin asked before a trimmer rocked through the ground. "It's too te, he's coming back."

  I turned to see a shadow sweep over from the distant star. Dopamine shot through my body as I limbered up for the coming fight. The aliens stared at me in horror as I bent my back until I pced my palms ft on the bone dust. One group of aliens ran and I thought no one would get in the way of my fight.

  From the steps, a group in power armor approached. Their armor was made from scavenged parts, with rivets clearly visible. The armor looked like it wouldn't dent; they were practically marching up the stairs in coffins. I recalled pictures of car crashes from the forties and the remains of the people. Steel cars sounded strong until they hit another car, and the drivers took all the force from the impact. Maybe they had some kind of sci-fi inertial dampeners. I felt for any tech until one bumpy step nearly brained one of the aliens. They didn't even have suspensions.

  One of the men, a grasshopper alien with curled antennae, took a knee.

  "We've seen your courage, young mammal, and we've chosen to brave the guardian and fight for our freedom. Fear not for our safety these suits give us the strength of a hundred." An average human had a pl of 5-ish. These guys felt more like 9s, so I could conclude they had PLs of 900+, which was almost as strong as Raditz.

  "I didn't think the guardian did anything but guard."

  "He's killed millions of us, and we're trapped here. If not for him, we wouldn't be here." That was true from a certain point of view. "The crystal he guards powers the missiles and sers that shoot down ships."

  "That doesn't sound right. How does crystal transport power into space? There aren't any reys or drones to transfer battery packs."

  "There is no time to expin. He's here."

  A stone-faced giant frog with a square nose, thick brow, and a jawline made of granite trudged forward. It opened its mouth wide before belching fme. He wore a suit of some blue fabric with a red orb on his beltbuckle. The guardian looked over the aliens in power armor and sighed.

  "The least you can do is come without armor. It messes with my digestion."

  "Wait for my signal." The leader said.

  "You could leave. I won't chase you. My duty is to guard the prisoner."

  "Lies, it's a lure to trick us into coming here."

  The guardian scratched his butt and spat on the ground. The stone bubbled. I stared at this guy who had acid for spit. That was so cool.

  "Are you with us, little mammal? If we fight together, we can win." That was a major turn-off.

  "No, thank you. I'll fight him after you get a turn. I'm not interested in fighting in crowds."

  "By the way, you said prisoner. Does that mean the thing we think is an infinite power source is actually some creature?"

  "Its prison uses its power to keep it trapped. What other purpose is there in creating a gravity well?" The Guardian said.

  He was surprisingly forthcoming. "You'll pay for your lives." The bug charged, followed by three of her compatriots. The other two pretended to charge and stayed back.

  The guardian ripped its arm through the first one, spilling the bug's guts on the ground, before lifting the creature and taking a bite. He screamed as the guardian swallowed him down, power armor and all. The guardian's body didn't change; it was like watching a basketball get sucked through a pinhole.

  I kicked up some bone dust and watched it mix with the dust kicked up by the battle. I sang a song stuck in my head while I waited for my turn. The guardian had a slow start it took time for him to ramp up to match their speed. Once he did, they couldn't match him. Power armor without inertial dampeners was dangerous. Moving at 100 times someone's normal speed took time to adjust to.

  One fired shoulder-mounted sers at the guardian, which bounced off its body. The guy's energy was like a small star. It constantly radiated heat within him. I doubted the heat form a ser would do much. They tried other options, sshing with a bde whose edge was an energy field, to no avail.

  I watched it consume the first one, then it moved to the others. They fought and yelled, but grey hands crunched the metal of their armor before they were devoured. The st one continued firing one bst after another, with no effect. He didn't run, strafe the target, or change tactics. The guardian slowly approached the powered armored bug and devoured it.

  "So is it a fetish thing?"

  "Their souls will fuel my furnace to burn until my duty's end." He grinned, revealing blocky teeth with twisted metal between them. "What of you, little alien? You didn't join them. Are you not here to fight me or free the prisoner?"

  "Oh, I'm here to fight you. I don't care about the prisoner. I've been desperate to have a good fight, and you look tough." I said.

  "I should warn you, I'm beyond carbon organisms like yourself. Within me is the beating of a star. I am a Sorian." The temperature skyrocketed at his announcement.

  "That's cool. Do you need a minute after eating those three? I can wait. I wouldn't want you to bme a stomachache when you lose." The Sorian ughed.

  "Is your species really so proud? Have carbon-based lifeforms developed such hubris that they believe themselves equal to one born of hydrogen?"

  I threw an elbow, connecting solidly with his stomach. The Guardian folded and shot off the block into the scrap below. He bounced once before he threw his hands out, and the world shook, and he locked into pce. I felt a shift in the pnet's magnetic field. The guardian opened his mouth, and psma gathered in front of his lips. I crossed my arms completely willing to turn base this fight. My blood pounded in my ears.

  This was the first bite of a juicy steak.

  I stood there tapping my foot as I waited for him to show what he was made of. The psma grew rger, and then he swallowed it. His stomach bulged before fttening. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, I sensed the power, and I felt my mouth shift into a smile. My eyes widened before his lips opened, and a thin stream of psma swept an arc through the scrap in my direction.

  A side step took me out of the initial line of fire as pilrs of fire rose where the line touched. I stood on the block waiting. Boiling metal formed a ke between us. I uncrossed my arms as I looked him over. He was undamaged. Then I rubbed my elbow; despite my strength, hitting him had hurt. It was such a strange feeling. My blood sang from the feeling of the fight. This guy pulled a card out, even if he was a little dumb in how he used it. I would need to adjust my ki to hit harder and toughen up. I had the power and the experience through my Goku tempte. This was more hands on training.

  Maybe he's rusty and needs help polishing himself back into fighting shape. I hovered off the ground, and the guardian's eyes bulged as I crossed the distance. An uppercut shot him skyward. I outpaced his ascent, and I ax-kicked him back down. From each blow, I felt pain. The impacts affected him, but they hurt me more. I hit harder and adjusted my ki control to toughen myself more. I listened for a bloop that never came. He stopped his descent before he hit the pool of molten metal.

  I was like a pup teething on a bone.

  Clouds moved away from us as the stars became visible. A escape ship shot out of the ke of molten magma the second it touched space a ser cut it in half. I wanted to save the people on board but the guardian was too strong for me to lose focus. I was finally facing an enemy I had to pay attention to. This was a milestone.

  Heat poured off of him enough to make me sweat despite my ki strengthening me. I adjusted constantly; he was almost too good. I floated down as he floated above the ke of molten sg. His skin had been stained silver by the mix of metal. Heat increased around him. I could feel the air growing hotter with his every breath. My tempte was picking up on his breathing; it tickled my neurons about a breathing technique called sun breathing. We were infinitely far away. This was in the American comedy animation section, while Demon Syer was all the way in Historical AU Japanese anime.

  "Your soul will be a feast I won't forget." I rested my hands on the back of my head, foregoing a style.

  "With your showing. How long has it been since you've fought anyone?"

  "Let me show you why I was chosen to guard the Carbon Empress." He moved, and the world spun out of control. My cheek hurt. A tooth spun in the air before melting. The air boomed as I stopped my movement. I dodged the incoming energy, grabbed the arm reaching for me, and threw the being. Ki gathered in my cupped hands.

  "Kamehameha," A blue beam smmed into the creature, burying him under a tidal wave of molten metal. I felt him pass through stone into the mantle before I cut off my attack.

  I wiggled my tongue through the hole where my tooth had been. Maybe Rick had something, or I could buckle down and study myself if my Saiyan biology didn't regrow the tooth.

  I ran image training simutions as I grew accustomed to the guardian's power. He was a tough nut to crack. Several battles left me dead from the fight. I could be devoured at anytime. The danger only made it better; it made everything better. I licked my lips and saw a gamble that might work.

  With each exchange, I felt out his real energy levels. It was way more than mine. He had a lot of power, but he only used so much. I rubbed at my wrists. Even throwing that guy was a pain; he locked himself in pce using the pnet's magnetic field.

  The ke was growing into a sea of molten metal from centuries of crashed ships. I floated above the mixing pool, creating unknown alloys.

  Could I mess with the magnetic field? Not yet. It was wild. I lowered a hand, powered a small bst, and unleashed it when the guardian rose from the bubbling metal sea.

  He spun from my test throw, thrusting his arms out and failing to catch himself until he stopped above the swirling metal ke.

  "You… Are you trying to steal my job?"

  "Oh, jeez, no, I just want a good fight. I'm only 14, I can't get a job, it's against the w."

  "I won't let you embarrass me anymore." A change swept through him, and he moved faster.

  A smile covered my face as the being shot up. The bst did nothing as we traded blows. My fists grew harder, and so did my body.

  One of my eyes began to swell shut. His blows hit like trucks, and I couldn't move him anymore. He used more energy with each exchange until he dwarfed my own power by numerous times. A blow smmed into my face. I felt my teeth loosen. He seemed to forget about the only method I had to get space.

  Fists flew, spshing molten metal and breaking through my guard. The being slowly wore away any defenses I tried to put up. He hit a pteau; his power didn't rise anymore. There wasn't a scratch on him.

  I half expected Rick to appear out of nowhere and shoot the guy in the back.

  One of my eyes sealed shut at the worst time. I tightened my guard and made myself a smaller target. I threw fewer punches as my windows to attack closed one by one as the guardian dominated. Silver fists edge closer. Wind swept past my hair as technique was all that saved my opponent, and I was quickly catching up. His style refined with each exchange, as if he were relearning his old style.

  With each exchange, I ran simutions with more losses. I ran them faster, searching for any chance to survive. More windows closed until reality caught up.

  A blow slipped through my defenses and folded me. My eyes widened as I went hurtling toward the silver ke. I stopped myself before his boots smmed me inside. I lost my breath as burning metal crushed down on me. I pushed it away with telekinesis as the guardian opened his mouth. I felt it when he lunged to devour me.

  Goku was a master at copying techniques. If there was a technique he didn't use, most likely it was because he either had something better or something he liked more. When I was younger, I learned that Death Beam wasn't hard. I could do it with ease.

  The sorian's head shot back. Psma poured out of the back of the guardian's head as it cmped its mouth down on my arm. I felt the hungry star within this creature and coated my arm with energy. The sorian's flesh parted easily on the inside, a lesson I needed to learn for the future.

  When I pulled my arm free, psma burst forth as I flew out of the ke, the arm-sized wound I left in the creature spewing psma into the metal ke.

  I pushed the liquid metal off my body with telekinesis. After checking to make sure my eye was fine, my face was only swollen. I pulled the guardian free. The creature screamed in agony, its body a mess. Psma poured out of it like blood, and its energy dropped. The creature looked ready to fall apart.

  Urp! I turned to see Rick uncloak his ship.

  "Ya did it, Morty, you killed the guardian. Now we can harvest its psma and sell it. Do you know how much Sorian psma goes for?"

  "I thought we wanted the crystal." It was gone I no longer felt the carbonite crystal.

  "Who cares about the crystal? That's a Sorian. Do you know how much those assholes are sold for? We'll be rich, Morty."

  I ran a few simutions after I won and found far more options. Was I that high on the fight? My bones felt like they had been pulverized, my muscles were mincemeat, and there were tears across my body. Ki control was the only thing keeping me together. This Sorian did me a favor; he gave me a good fight. It wasn't perfect, but I felt like he put me through my paces. I had his signature recorded; I could train an image model to recreate him as much as I wanted.

  From how he described it, he couldn't get much stronger without burning souls to feed his inner star. I couldn't see a use in keeping him around in the hope he could become a better sparing partner.

  "Rick, do you have any nanite blueprints I could use that can contain psma?" I stared down at the copper, iron, and rare-earth metal streams, mixed with the alloys, in the metal sea.

  He showed me a hologram of something, and I felt confident I could recreate it. I flew down, and the guardian straightened before roaring. Psma poured out of him and condensed into a being of pure psma. The air shimmered around the small star.

  A shot from Rick froze it solid. I stared at it in disbelief. "Hurry up, we have maybe 10 minutes before it frees itself.

  I wanted to say something about freezing psma being impossible, but decided not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

  A half dozen simutions and a single attempt produced a nanite capable of storing a small amount of the being's psma. I tossed the mass on the dome, and they went to work.

  "You see, Morty Sorian's burn for a long time because they absorb echoes of the people they burn. They are small enough to be used by city ships even in the emptiest parts of space. Assholes who are escaping the destruction of the civilization pay big for it. I'm talking blueprints to all sorts of crazy inventions. Where do you think I got the blueprints for psma processing nanites from? They weren't cheap.

  "No, please, spare me. I only wanted to help you. If I die, who will guard the prisoner?"

  "Oh, jeez, yeah, Rick, I'm not sure this is a good idea. What if the Carbon Queen escapes?"

  "Did you buy that? No, these guys make power sources to trick desperate people into coming to these pces. They farm them. This guy sells the people stranded here to his people."

  "But that isn't true." The nanites devoured the st of the psma.

  "Put them in here." I fed them into a tank Rick offered.

  I didn't know who to believe.

  "I want blueprints for medical nanites that give superhuman strength, regen, and maybe a super soldier formu if you have one lying around."

  Urp! "We'll, take the rigged wormhole generator." Rick rolled his eyes. "If I make you a gravity room, will you drop your demands?"

  "For now," I said.

  "Good enough."

  Chapter 5 is on my for 1.