Chaos in Hell, Janemba Is Born

"Clang, clang, clang."

"Ding, ding, ding, ding."

In Hell, Red Ogre was wearing headphones and entertaining himself, completely oblivious to the Soul Cleansing Machine behind him. Its gauge had already reached the critical point, and it was sounding an alarm.

BOOM-sakalaka.

With no one there to replace it, the black-purple energy produced by the Soul Cleansing Machine exploded. Then the jars nearby, all filled with evil hearts, blew up one after another in a chain reaction.

In an instant, the entire area beneath the Soul Cleansing Machine was filled with black-purple gas. Holding something like a fire extinguisher, Red Ogre stared in bewilderment. "What do I do? How could this happen?"

"Boom."

Another jar exploded, and the black-purple gas washed over Red Ogre. It clung to him, mutating him as his body turned yellow and began to swell, growing bigger and bigger.

"Oh my goodness, how could this happen!" Blue Ogre hurried down the stairs. Seeing the mutated Red Ogre, he panicked. "I have to report this to King Yemma!"

"What's going on?" The tremors from the explosion reached King Yemma's Palace. The tall, portly King Yemma stared in confusion. Damn it, I only took a nap to slack off. How did it explode? Let me catch whoever did this, and I'll make them try the full eighteen-levels-of-Hell deluxe service.

"King Yemma, the Soul Cleansing Machine has been damaged, and one of the Red Ogres has mutated!" Blue Ogre shouted as he hurried over. But the crystals spreading down the corridor quickly encased him, freezing him in place.

King Yemma stared in shock at the changes around him. On the image reflected back by the crystals, a yellow, goofy-looking fat guy sat atop the crystal-covered King Yemma's Palace, calling out "Janemba, Janemba."

"Damn it, looks like this place has been taken over by that guy up there," King Yemma said with a grim expression, sweat beading on his forehead. "King Yemma's Palace is sealed off. We won't be able to use our righteous power to keep this world in order, and the living world will descend into chaos. The dead will come back to life."

At the Other World Tournament, the bored King Kais had gathered again to hold the tournament. After all, they were dead and had nothing to do all day. It was a nice way to pass the time, and since they were all dead, they could fight with all their might without being able to kill each other.

Now, Son Goku of the North Galaxy was facing Pikkon, the strongest fighter in the East Galaxy.

(Pikkon, Tien Shinhan, Chiaotzu—the original creator really knew what he was doing. Chinese dish names could be used as character names, and nobody seemed to find it strange.)

"Boom."

"Boom."

"Boom."

In the ring, Son Goku and Pikkon were fighting fiercely, pounding each other with punch after punch without holding back. It wasn't as if they could kill each other anyway.

"Crack, crack."

A crystal shot up from the ground, startling the two fighters. What the hell? What's this thing doing popping up out of nowhere?

"Goku, Pikkon, stop fighting for a moment. Something's happened at King Yemma's place. Go take a look," Grand King Kai called from the highest platform.

"Oh, sure."

Son Goku accepted Grand King Kai's assignment and said to Pikkon, "Pikkon, grab hold of me."

Pikkon's mouth twitched, but he reluctantly grabbed Son Goku by the shoulder. Son Goku pressed two fingers to his forehead and focused.

That's strange. Uncle Yemma's energy has gotten so weak. Son Goku sensed King Yemma's energy and looked surprised. Never mind. I'll go check it out first!

"Whoosh."

Son Goku used Instant Transmission to take himself and Pikkon to King Yemma's Palace. When they saw what it looked like now, they stared in confusion. What the hell? Where did King Yemma's Palace go? And why is Uncle Yemma's energy outside when I clearly sensed it just now?

"Is that you, Goku?" King Yemma's anxious, hopeful face appeared in the crystal.

"It's me, Uncle," Son Goku greeted him.

"Goku, the culprit is up above. You can only save us by driving him away," King Yemma said urgently.

"Up above?" Both of them stared in confusion.

Son Goku and Pikkon used the Flight Technique, slowly rising above King Yemma's Palace.

"Whoa!" they both cried.

A huge, fat face suddenly appeared, startling them both. What the hell is this thing? You scared the daylights out of me! Pay up!

The yellow, fat Janemba had a goofy expression and kept mumbling, "Janemba, Janemba."

"Hey, are you the one responsible for all this?" Pikkon demanded, pointing at Janemba.

"Janemba, Janemba." Janemba didn't even acknowledge him.

"Janemba." Pikkon first froze, then put on a sleazy old man's face and said in a slightly lecherous voice, "Good boy, could you open the barrier?"

Damn it, there's a creepy old man trying to lure me away. Clever Janemba didn't move at all. He just kept saying, "Janemba, Janemba."

"Damn it, you're making me do this the hard way!" Pikkon snapped, furious that negotiations had failed.

"Janemba, Janemba." Janemba pointed at Son Goku. I want to fight him.

"Me?" A glint appeared in Son Goku's eyes. "So he wants to fight me! Hey, Pikkon, you go rescue Uncle Yemma. I'll fight him!"

Clearly, Janemba had awakened Son Goku's fighting spirit. He'd been looking for an excuse to fight, and now this guy had chosen him. He's damn clever.