In the end, Marcarita never managed to reclaim the remote control she had been pining for.
Even when she tried to turn on the television, Vados had already switched the channel to the news.
With no other choice, Marcarita slumped into the sofa, watching the broadcast with a defeated sigh.
Uchiha Chiga, seated nearby, found her sulking expression rather amusing. He leaned back comfortably and decided to watch along with her. Occasionally seeing what was happening on Earth wasn't such a bad way to pass time—and, truthfully, he'd always had a soft spot for observing mortal affairs.
Marcarita sat cross-legged, chin resting on her palm, her face blank and spiritless.
But then, one particular report on-screen caught Chiga's attention.
The news anchor announced that a large number of residents had recently vanished under mysterious circumstances. The footage accompanying the story showed piles of scattered clothing strewn across the ground—no bodies, no signs of struggle, just eerie emptiness.
Chiga's golden eyes narrowed slightly. He turned his head toward the stairway and called out,
"Lazuli, have you been in contact with Lapis recently?"
Upstairs, Vados and Lazuli were chatting, but upon hearing Chiga's voice, Lazuli descended to the living room.
"Yeah," she said casually. "I spoke to him yesterday. He's busy doting on his girlfriend. We only exchanged a few words before he hung up. Why? Did he do something again?"
Chiga shook his head, his gaze fixed on the news feed.
"No… but something is about to find him."
Lazuli blinked, puzzled.
"Something that can threaten Lapis? On Earth?"
"There is," Chiga replied quietly, "but it's nothing serious. Just… a bug."
A golden gleam flared in his eyes, and the dragon-shaped tattoo upon his chest began to shine faintly.
Marcarita watched in awe as a subtle, ethereal dragon phantom appeared behind him—its presence divine and commanding.
---
Far away, in another city, Lapis had purchased a small villa. Wealth wasn't a problem for him anymore; with his strength and abilities, earning money was trivial. Even if he had taken a normal job like food delivery, he would've become rich in no time.
Despite his power, however, Lapis remained a man of simple heart. His first romance with Malun was a failure, but that hadn't turned him into a playboy—it had merely made him cautious.
By chance, he had met a university student named Mel—a name as simple as her personality. She studied biology, her dream to become a zoologist. Lapis wasn't sure if she was the same woman he had married in another timeline, but something about her grounded him.
Their relationship was pure and stable. Lapis had already decided that once Mel graduated, he would marry her.
The villa he bought was close to her university, and most nights, Mel stayed there rather than in her dorm.
Today was her birthday. Wanting to surprise her, Lapis parked his motorcycle by the university gates long before class ended. As he adjusted his hair in the rearview mirror, a sudden, terrified scream echoed from within the campus.
Students began pouring out in panic, their faces pale with horror. The flood of terrified bodies surged toward the gate, but no matter how many crashed into him, Lapis didn't budge an inch.
Frowning, he reached out and grabbed a passing student by the collar—a boy wearing glasses and trembling uncontrollably.
"What happened inside?" Lapis demanded. "Why is everyone running?"
The student's teeth chattered as he stammered,
"Th-there's a green monster in there! It—it's eating people with its tail!"
"Monster?" Lapis's brows knitted tightly. His built-in energy scanner activated automatically, displaying a rising power level that made his heart pound.
The reading was unmistakable—something truly dangerous was on campus. And that energy… it wasn't human.
Scanning the crowd, Lapis's gaze darted back and forth, searching frantically. But Mel was nowhere to be seen.
"Damn it," he hissed. "She's still inside!"
Without hesitation, he tossed the student aside and slammed his foot against the pavement. The concrete cratered beneath the force, and in the next instant, Lapis shot forward like a missile, tearing through the air toward the campus.
Students frozen in fear stared at the cracked ground he left behind.
"Was that… Superman?" one whispered in disbelief.
---
Inside the university's main building, the hallways were littered with discarded clothing—school uniforms, casual outfits, all belonging to the young and now-missing.
At the end of the corridor stood a tall, green creature covered in black spots, a sharp tail twitching behind it. Its name was Cell—the ultimate Android, a being that had crossed timelines to arrive here.
He held a man in a suit—head of the university's biology department—by the neck. The terrified man had already wet himself, pleading incoherently for mercy.
Cell only smiled darkly, enjoying every trembling second of it. Then, when the man's voice broke into hoarse gasps, Cell's tail shot forward, piercing cleanly through his waist.
A grotesque slurping noise echoed down the hall as the man's body withered, skin shriveling until it collapsed into nothing but empty clothes.
Cell flicked the lifeless suit from his tail with distaste.
"Tch. Big frame, but pathetic life energy. Not even as satisfying as a college girl," he muttered, disgusted.
So far, he had drained the life from four entire cities, his power now immense. He could easily overpower either Lapis or Lazuli alone—and soon, once he absorbed more, he'd surpass them both. Then, he would reach the perfection he longed for.
Grinning at the thought, Cell's low, guttural laugh reverberated through the hallway.
Suddenly, a faint sound came from a nearby classroom. He froze mid-laugh, eyes glinting maliciously, and turned toward the noise.
---
The classroom was dimly lit and eerily silent. Three girls hid under the large podium, trembling.
The one in the middle, short-haired and modestly dressed, was Mel. Her two friends clung to her sides, pale with terror.
The noise that betrayed them had come from the girl to Mel's left—she'd dropped her phone, the small thud echoing through the room.
Now, the sound of Cell's approaching footsteps filled the corridor—slow, deliberate, like the tolling of a death bell.
The girl whose phone had fallen finally broke. She screamed, scrambling out from under the podium in blind panic.
But she barely took two steps before Cell's tail whipped forward, striking her square in the chest.
A chilling gurgle followed as her body shriveled and disappeared, leaving her uniform crumpled on the ground.
Cell chuckled darkly, turning his gaze toward the podium where the remaining girls hid.
Just as he took his first step forward—
BOOM!
The classroom wall exploded outward in a burst of debris and smoke.
Through the settling dust, a furious voice roared:
"Stop it, you damned monster!"