About a week had passed outside of the planet our heroes were on. Earth had taken quite the harsh beating from Pepkorn during that week of the Grand Battlers' absence. The planet was already looking worse for wear in the first day. By now, humanity's population had vastly decreased from 7.6 billion to less than 10 million in mere days. God and Mr. Popo, along with Karin, had been kept alive due to them being useful. The Internet's functionality had ceased in some areas due to the destruction, while satellite TV seemed to be working still. Every single one of Earth's cities had been destroyed to varying levels of destruction, with certain buildings kept intact, such as Draft's home. His technology would be invaluable to him at a certain point. Pepkorn was starting to get bored and impatient. He paced around the burning ruins of the Western Capital, thinking about what to do. This is horribly boring...if they don't come back to this planet by the time the sun sets, I'll drag their asses to this planet myself if I need to! He thought. He thought he'd die of boredom before he'd die to them. He could probably fly around the world a couple more times to exterminate any more remaining humans, but at this point, he'd probably be better off hunting down animals.
Back inside the Void Chamber, which the Grand Battlers had entered in order to train, their strength had massively increased from when they last entered. Baezel and Radichio were both shirtless, their armor shattered into pieces. Their bodies were scuffed up, bruised and bleeding. Radichio's legs trembled, as he then fell to the ground. He let out labored breaths, and somehow he was still in Super Saiyan God. Baezel, still in his battle stance, positioned himself into a normal pose. His knees gave up on him, however, as he fell into a kneeling position. "Out of the dozens of rematches we've had here, this is the only that hasn't ended in a draw," Radichio weakly said. "Shit...you never fail to impress me, Radichio!" Baezel replied to him. He extended his hand out to get Radichio up, and turned to the others. Phoenix was busy healing everybody's injuries by using her own ki. The team had all grown far stronger than before prior to entering, with Taro having grown the most. They accumulated their strength via a combination of 1v1 rematches, physical training, meditation, and fights where the entire team fought each other in their base forms without transforming, using the Kaioken or using ki blasts, with Phoenix and Parakress being left out due to their base forms being higher than the others. It was typically Baezel, Radichio, Draft, Lemogras, Taro and Jimaka all fighting each other at once, and at the end of it, Baezel, Draft or Taro came out on top.
The group walked up to the door, with Baezel grasping the doorknob and looking back at their training grounds. He blinked, and turned back to the door, opening it. Once everyone had filed out, he closed the door shut, taking a minute to get adjusted to not being cooped up in a planet-sized dimension with seven other people in it. "Surely we've trained enough to defeat Pepkorn by now, right?" Taro asked. Thinking, Baezel said, "Honestly? With the amount of tricks that motherfucker might have up his sleeve, I can't say for sure," he replied, with little certainty. Radichio sweated a bit, but he still had confidence in Baezel. Phoenix placed a barrier around the gang, and rose up into the sky. They blasted off into space, now at a faster speed than when they arrived.
Pepkorn, having grown increasingly restless amid the desolation he wrought upon Earth, paced through the charred remains of the Western Capital. His impatience reached a boiling point as he contemplated the tedious wait for the Grand Battlers to return. The once-thriving cityscape lay in ruins, and the absence of worthy adversaries left him craving more chaos. "I should've followed them to wherever they were going," Pepkorn muttered to himself, his eyes scanning the decimated landscape. The smoldering ruins echoed with the eeriness of silence, punctuated only by the crackling of distant fires. The novelty of destruction had worn thin, and Pepkorn's frustration manifested in a palpable energy that crackled around him. Hovering above the shattered remnants of a skyscraper, Pepkorn considered his options. The sun dipped lower on the horizon, casting an ominous glow over the apocalyptic scene. Nighttime was coming soon, which would create a fantastic dark atmosphere for his ultimate, final battle. When his opponents arrived, it would be the deciding factor if he would die once again, or live on as the strongest in the universe. His Judgement Day.
Pepkorn sat down, and thought about his fate. He crossed his legs as he looked up into the sky and his mind began to wander. "So...this is how I'll die. Killed by own progeny one more time. Well, I can't say that I didn't have it coming. Kinda figured that something like this would happen."
Dust spiraled in the air, illuminated by the dying embers of a once-proud cityscape. Death draped everything in crimson, a fitting canvas for the symphony of destruction he'd conducted. Remorse? That was a dish for the weak, the whimpering souls who couldn't stomach the audacity of their own power. He had reveled in every agonizing scream, every city reduced to rubble, every tear that watered the barren earth. The scarred, barren land was drenched red with the blood of the billions of innocents slain by him, for mere entertainment. Entire countries had fallen to his power alone. And now, whatever was left of humanity was disconnected and stuck in hiding, in the hopes that this horror would come to an end already.
His gaze swept across the skeletal skyline, each jagged shard a monument to his might. This city, once his playground, now felt like a glove perfectly molded to his wrath. Narrow alleys would become constricting vises, trapping his opponents' ki blasts and amplifying his own. Crumbling towers would offer treacherous platforms for aerial assaults, a deadly game of tag played among the ghosts of the fallen. His grin widened, a predatory gash carving through his weathered face. Yes, the stage was set for a finale worthy of his amazing strength.
A flicker of something caught his eye - a subtle distortion in the air, a ripple in the fabric of reality itself. His amusement twisted into a predatory snarl. They were finally here, his prodigal son and his ragtag band of insects, drawn to the feast like flies to carrion. Let them come. Let them dance in the ashes of their own world before he sent them to join the rest. He relished the anticipation, the slow burn of the coming confrontation. Every second stretched like an eternity, ripe with the promise of broken bones and shattered wills. The teleportation sound could be heard from afar, as the man of the hour had finally arrived. Baezel and the Grand Battlers had returned to Earth. Despite that, they were horrified to see the state that the world was in. The vast majority of the population was personally cremated by Pepkorn - as in, blasted to death - and every city was either a crater or looked like a warzone.
Pepkorn slowly clapped, with a sarcastic smile on his face. He stopped clapping and began to speak. "Welcome back, Grand Battlers. I hope your week off was enjoyable for you. I know I had a great time, bombing cities and killing billions. I even got to see your house, Baezel! What a fine domicile you've got."
"What...?!" Baezel said, his anger beginning to flare up. "I know that you slaughtered most of the people here. If I'm being honest, that was a given with leaving you here. But if you so much as touched my little girl, I swear to God, I'll - "
"Cool it, yeah? I didn't touch your daughter, jeez," Pepkorn responded, in an attempt to try and console Baezel. "That being said, I hope you've written your last will and testament, made amends, or prayed to your personal deity of choice - I don't care. But you're not getting out of this alive. You're not getting another chance to escape me."
Pepkorn cracked his knuckles on his face, smirking as he did it. Baezel and Radichio clasped their fists and let out a shout, as they instantly transformed into Super Saiyan Gods. Phoenix turned her aura on, indicating that she was using her full strength. The three of them jumped Pepkorn all at once, blitzing him with their superior speed and strength. Baezel and Radichio punched him into an abandoned car, before Phoenix opened fire (heh) on him with a barrage of fireballs. The car was lit ablaze with her attacks, requiring Pepkorn to push it away and attempt to gain more distance. He rose into the sky, almost instantly pulling out a Kaioken x20. It hurt his body to use, but what other choice did he have for now? The Saiyan burst dashed towards the gang with his red aura, quickly closing the distance between him and everyone else.
With a ki blast in hand, which he was preparing to fire, Draft and Lemogras teleported behind him and put their arms around his neck, trying to choke him. Unfortunately, this proved to be ineffective, as merely charging his ki blew the mentor-student pair off of him. Baezel and Radichio went into their battle stances, with Pepkorn dusting his neck off. The two Saiyans dash towards Pepkorn, barraging him with a flurry of punches and kicks as he blocks them with one hand each, while slowly moving backwards. They teleport behind him, preparing for a heavy attack to the back, but Pepkorn sees them coming. He turns to Radichio, his eyes glaring white, as Radichio suddenly fell to the ground with a singed face. Phoenix curled her hands up next to her head, a purple outline surrounding her body, as she fired off her own Galick Gun at Pepkorn, which he was able to tank to the chest with minimal damage. She gulped, realizing that this fight wouldn't be an easy one. Turning to the others, she motioned for them to transform, and they followed her order. Simultaneously, as Pepkorn was fighting Baezel off solo, Lemogras and Draft transformed into their Super Saiyan 4 and Potential Unleashed states. Lemogras had achieved it with Parakress' help in the Void Chamber, while Draft spent his time improving on his transformation. Taro clasped his fists as his hair rose up and his body bulked up, unleashing the Legendary Super Saiyan transformation once more. He leapt into the sky and raised his hands into the air, creating a giant green ki sphere with bolts of electricity surrounding it.
Baezel slugged Pepkorn in the face, scratching his cheek, with Radichio using a kiai to force him away. "TARO! NOW!" Baezel yelled to his ally. He compressed his giant ki sphere into that of a normal one, as Taro launched it at Pepkorn. As Pepkorn was getting up, he was met with a miniature nuke to the face, creating an explosion upon impact. No one celebrated at the direct hit, as they could sense ki, and knew Pepkorn's ki didn't go down whatsoever. When the dust settled, the red aura of the Kaioken was gone. Pepkorn was a Super Saiyan now, with pale blonde hair to prove it. "I can't believe you people thought that a ki blast from someone that weak would hurt me. If this is the best you've got," Pepkorn taunted, with a false tone of concern, "I'm afraid that you're dead men walking. This fight was over before it could even begin." This sent a shiver down everyone's spine. Even Baezel himself was worried, a droplet of sweat rolling down his forehead. "But you know what? I'm feeling extra 'generous' today. So I'll allow all of you to land the best attack that you can on me. One by one. Except Taro. The first one I'll make an example of is...Baezel, ol' buddy ol' pal! Step right up and claim your free attack on me! It's one-time-only, so make good use of it!" Pepkorn said all of this with a mocking kind of voice, egging Baezel on to attack. The nervousness in Baezel's body faded, and was replaced with anger that he was being demeaned like some sort of game show contestant. Is this some sort of game to him?
"My best attack, you say? Oh, I'll give you far more than that, pal," Baezel angrily said, as a vein of anger bulged out of his forehead. The ground began to shake, as Baezel's aura burst to life. He clasped his hands together in front of him, pulled them to the side, and cupped them together. "You're gonna regret giving me this chance...prepare to be blasted off the face of the planet!" A large blue ki sphere formed in Baezel's hands, as his battle power began to rise. "KA...ME..."
"Are you seriously gonna use a Kamehameha on me? Jesus, you really are desperate," Pepkorn mocked.
"HAAAAA...MEEEEEE..."
The Kamehameha started to sound off, like it was higher-pitched. It seemed to be overcharged. Baezel truly was charging this up with the intent to kill. And he continued to charge it for a few more seconds, until he literally couldn't anymore. Suddenly, Baezel disappeared for a brief moment, and reappeared at point-blank range - right in front of Pepkorn. Pepkorn's eyes widened in shock, as he was prepared to tank it, but not straight to the face. Radichio and Phoenix were surprised as well, that Baezel would combine teleportation with this move.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"
Baezel unleashed the Super Kamehameha, throwing his hands forward and unleashing a massive blue ki beam. Pepkorn was barely able to tank it full-on, as he used his entire body as a shield. His clothes were being burnt off and he was slowly being pushed backwards, as Baezel continued to use more ki. Baezel used as much ki as he possibly could, making the beam larger and seemingly blasting Pepkorn to God knows where. What remained was a large divot in the ground, and unfortunately for Baezel, a Pepkorn who was very much alive. The expression in Baezel's eyes changed from fury to fear, given that he wasn't able to finish his "father" off. "Where'd that determination go, Baezel? What happened to 'Prepare to be blasted off the face of the planet', eh? You were all raring to kill me. But it looks to me like that was fleeting," Pepkorn said in disappointment. "You clearly aren't a challenge for me anymore. That must've drained your ki quite a bit, right?"
"Well," Baezel started, "maybe I can't fight you alone..."
"Replace 'maybe' with 'definitely'. You're not beating me solo."
"But I bet that me and my friends could defeat you if we took you on all at once!"
"...okay. I'll humor you," Pepkorn obliged.
"Oh, come on! I wanted to knock Pepkorn down a peg too!" Radichio shouted, irritated that Baezel stole the glory that should've been his.
Pepkorn rose into the air, and the entire team followed suit as well. Pepkorn looked at every single one of them, encircled around him. Eight against one. Baezel, Radichio and Phoenix immediately rushed him, with Pepkorn blocking Baezel and Radichio's punch with one arm, and Phoenix's punch with another. He swung the trio off of him, as he performed a teleporting uppercut to Radichio, ending it with a kick to his throat with the tip of his boots. Phoenix turned her aura on and put out both hands, unleashing an enormous blast of pure blue flames. And the color wasn't merely for show. It indicated that she was using the hottest fire that she could, as blue fire is hotter than the orange we recognize. Pepkorn immediately put a ki barrier up, the flames flowing around it like water being poured onto a sphere and dripping off of it. He expanded its size to destroy Phoenix's fire blast and shove her into a building, dissipating it. Baezel and Radichio put their hands together and fired a large Wild Cannon at Pepkorn, who countered it with a Galick Cannon of his own. A short beam clash ensued, with Pepkorn dominating it. The yellow Galick Cannon overwhelmed Baezel and Radichio entirely, leaving them heavily injured in the process.
The remaining warriors were Draft, Parakress, Taro, Jimaka and Lemogras. All of whom may as well be fodder to Pepkorn. Draft dashed towards Pepkorn, trying to create a ring of afterimages to confuse him. Pepkorn could very easily see right through this, and grabbed Draft's face with his hand. Lemogras shouted out Draft's name, as he held his wrist with his left hand and fired a Full Power Energy Wave. Via quick thinking, Pepkorn threw Draft into the beam, causing Draft to tank the blast to the chest. It merely singed his clothing, and luckily didn't pierce through his body. Trying to shuffle into his pocket, he found the perfect weapon - a Potara earring! "Lemogras, catch!" Draft shouted, but when he looked to his hand, he was shocked to find that they were gone. Pepkorn was holding it, and he crushed it in his hands. "Do you believe I'm stupid or something? I'll never allow a fusion to occur. Not now, not ever," Pepkorn said. He seemed to teleport forward, his fist embedded in both of their guts. He opened his hands, and their backs burst open, with purple ki pouring out of them. Two weaklings down, three to go. As Lemogras and Draft fell to the ground, Jimaka's aura started to warp from that of a Super Saiyan 3 aura to a much wilder, wispy one. He looked as though he was in pain, which shifted to relief. When he opened his eyes, the sclera were black, but the eyes remained blue. Ki claws shot out from his fingers. "Let's get him, Taro!" Jimaka shouted, as the brotherly pair dashed towards Pepkorn together.
Despite their admirable level of sync with each other, Pepkorn was still massively superior to them in terms of strength and speed. He dodged all of their punches, and decided that only Baezel wasn't enough - he would make an example of Jimaka as well. As Jimaka tried punching him, he used his hands to grab both sets of ki blades, and bent them off of him to the point where they instantly broke off, like removing an icicle from an awning. Holding both sets of ki blades in his hands, amounting to 8 blades total, he violently shoved them through Jimaka's hands, blood spurting out of them. Pepkorn quickly pulled forward on the blades, tearing off 8 of his 10 fingers, leaving only thumbs. Jimaka was screaming in pain, while Taro was enraged and shocked. Dropping the severed fingers to the ground, a white glint shined in Pepkorn's eyes. Two bloody holes burst open in Jimaka's head, which would automatically kill him. The Saiyan's lifeless, recently killed body fell to the ground, his hair fading from golden to black. Taro's pure white eyes twitched with fury, as his hands began to shake. He held his hand on his head, like there was a raging pain in his hand. His aura manifested as a green outline, as Taro finally snapped. He let out a sorrowful cry of pain and fury, as a green aura erupted from his body. Pepkorn was unamused by this light show, but decided that it'd be fun to humiliate the brute as well.
Taro threw a heavy punch at Pepkorn, only for him to dodge it, clasp his fists together in a sledgehammer and shove them into Taro's head. The Saiyan stopped himself midair and pulled his hand back, firing a large green ki beam. Pepkorn surrounded himself with a ki sphere and dashed into the beam, overwhelming it and bashing Taro in the nose, putting him in a crater in the ground. Somehow, he just wasn't done, as he got up and continued to charge his ki. He fired a barrage of homing ki waves at Pepkorn, who effortlessly dodged them all. "You've gotta be kidding! A ki blast barrage? Didn't anyone ever tell you that it never works?" Pepkorn said, in a demeaning manner. Using teleportation to appear before him, he uppercutted Taro into the sky and kneed him in the nose, then shoved his fingers in both eyes to blind him. One powerful kiai was enough to embed Taro into the ground, unconscious and detransformed.
Parakress floated there, somewhat worried. He had managed to combine Super Saiyan 3 with his Oozaru Power form, making it stronger than Super Saiyan 4 Baezel and Radichio. But even so, he knew this would be nothing before Pepkorn. He stared at Parakress, with a flat look on his face. "So...here we are again, Parakress. All your friends are defeated, one of them is dead, and you're the last man standing," he said. "Honestly, Parakress? Don't even bother trying to fight ba - " he was interrupted by a punch to his nose. Parakress punched him in the face several more times, and Pepkorn just caught his fist. He then twisted Parakress' arm in a full 360° turn°, breaking it immediately and putting it out of commission. He grabbed his face, and slammed him into the ground, walking away and cackling. "Now, there truly is no one in this universe who can surpass the almighty Pepkorn! GAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"