"Sure thing, let's get this thing over with," Alex said with a smirk.
"Okay, it's set! Pinky swear on it," Pilaf said as he raised his hand and showed his pinky.
"Pfft, hahaha! Sorry, but I can't—asking for a pinky promise? What are you, five?" Mellon started laughing as she held herself back. Alex himself cracked a smile while Pilaf and his gang blushed furiously.
"Don't laugh, you uncivilized people! Don't you know a pinky swear is like a handshake, but instead of holding hands—" Pilaf said as he went in front of Alex, linked their fingers, and continued, "You link your little fingers together, then shake up and down like this, and now the deal is sealed! Haha!"
"Now that was a promise! You can't take it back!"
"Alright then, let's do this," Alex said as he took his stance.
"Hmm, you seem pretty sure of yourse—" Before Pilaf could complete his sentence, Alex disappeared from his place and reappeared in front of Mai, punching her in the gut. Then he appeared in front of Shu and kicked him away before grabbing Pilaf by the neck.
"Let sire go, please!" Shu said as he stood up. Mai also joined him and said, "Please don't kill the Emperor!"
"Hey, no fair! We weren't ready yet!" Pilaf said as he started squirming.
"Yeah, Alex, what the heck?" Mellon said as she walked toward him. Alex looked back at her, confused, as she continued, "You can't just attack them! You have to let the bad guys get ready! Attacking them out of nowhere is just no fun."
"Mellon, tell me exactly how many times you fell on your head as a kid," Alex said, glancing at her before looking back at Pilaf. "Now hand over your Dragon Balls and Dragon Radar, and I'll let you go."
"No, I won't! You think I'm scared?" Pilaf said, trying to appear confident.
"Oh, you're not? Then you'll definitely enjoy this," Alex said with a smirk as he started flying up and stopped above the clouds.
"W-W-WAIT! Please let me go!"
"Trust me, I will let you go—if you don't give me what I want," Alex said in a menacing tone.
"Wait! I mean, please don't let me go!" Pilaf immediately understood what Alex meant as he hastily removed a capsule from his pocket and gave it to Alex. "Here! This capsule contains a box with the Dragon Balls and the Dragon Radar! Now, please, let's go back!"
"Well, let's go," Alex said as he took the capsule and landed back down on Earth, throwing Pilaf at Shu and Mai as they crashed.
"That was too easy. Like, 'stealing candy from a child' easy," Alex said as he showed the capsule to Mellon, who didn't look very happy. "What? You don't want the Dragon Balls? It's okay, I'll keep it."
"No! I didn't say that!" Mellon said as she snatched the capsule out of his hands before he could put it in his pocket. "It's just… this time, it felt like we were the bad guys, and I didn't like it one bit."
"It's alright. Besides, it doesn't look like they've given up," Alex said as he looked at the Pilaf gang.
"Shu! Mai! What were you doing when he was holding me?!" Pilaf started shouting at Shu and Mai the moment he got up. Both Shu and Mai lowered their heads.
"We are sorry, sire!"
"Now is not the time to apologize—it's time for revenge!" Pilaf said as he took out another capsule from his pocket. Shu and Mai also followed, pulling out capsules of their own. They pressed the buttons and threw them in front of them, and soon, three robots appeared before them.
"Hurry, let's go!" As all three jumped into their robots, Pilaf struggled a bit but was still able to climb inside safely.
"Hahaha! Well, well, look who's back on top now! These are the most advanced armored battle bots ever made. I call them… the Pilaf Machines!" Pilaf said, laughing. "Mai! Why don't you give him a little demonstration of how terrifying my inventions are?"
"Why do I have to do it? You're the boss—it's your privilege," Mai said, looking away to avoid eye contact.
"Alright already! We'll attack together! On my mark—ATTACK!" Pilaf shouted as they started running toward Alex. Mai was the first to reach him, trying to grab him with both of her robot arms.
Alex jumped, dodging the attack, and then caught the mechanical arm. Using its momentum, he spun around and kicked it away before landing.
"Whoa! You guys are strong. I didn't expect that," Alex said, then started running around to avoid the energy beams Shu was firing at him. He then tried attacking again, this time with a flying kick to Pilaf's robot—but instead, it was Alex who was sent flying by one of Pilaf's punches.
"Hahaha! That would never work! This baby is made of triple-reinforced titanium! It's a hundred times stronger than regular steel!" Pilaf said while still laughing.
"Those guys are strong… I hope Alex is gonna be fine," Mellon said as she watched the fight while hiding behind a rock.
Pilaf attacked Alex with an extended mechanical arm, but Alex dodged it and caught its wrist. He then started spinning the entire robot.
"Whoa! W-What?! I'm not feeling well—please stop it!" Pilaf shouted. After spinning the robot around, Alex threw it at Mai and Shu, causing them to crash.
"Had enough yet?" Alex said, crossing his arms as the robots slowly got up.
"What are we supposed to do, Emperor?" Mai asked.
"Well, we still got our trump card. He's got to tire out sometime! Now, you two—let's get connected!" Pilaf shouted. All three robots linked together, forming one giant robot.
"Now, ATTACK!" Pilaf shouted as the giant robot fired a missile. Alex dodged easily.
"Even if you dodge, you can't escape!"
Just as Pilaf said that, the missile turned around and started chasing Alex. He ran around, trying to dodge it.
'Man, this is annoying,' Alex thought, then started running toward the giant robot.
"Emperor, he's coming at us!" Mai shouted, panicking. Just as he reached them, Alex disappeared.
They sighed in relief—until they saw the missile heading toward them.
"Shu! Mai! DO SOMETHING!" Pilaf shouted—then the missile exploded.
Soon, they were revealed lying in the rubble. Even though their robot had exploded, they were fine.
"That was a good fight. We're going now. C'mon, Mellon, how long are you planning to hide?" Alex said as he started walking ahead.
"Hey, wait! I'm coming too!" Mellon said as she started running behind him. Then she turned around, waved, and shouted, "Bye-bye, you three! Take care!"
And they left.
---
Power Levels:
Alex: 165
Pilaf (Pilaf Machine): 35
Shu (Pilaf Machine): 45
Mai (Pilaf Machine): 60
Pilaf Machine (Combined): 140