As the smoke and debris finally clear from the devastating Kihimurra explosion, Hakuna is seen standing amidst the destruction, his body crackling with residual purple energy. He is grabbing the barely conscious Khidorra by the neck, his grip firm.
"I really wanna kill you right now, but not yet. Your life has value as information. Psycha, where are they? Give me a location," he says, his voice devoid of patience.
"Oh, now you wanna talk to me, Prince? After you ignored me for an entire battle? I'm hurt," Psycha responds, injecting a dose of playful rebellion into her mental voice.
Hakuna then reprimands her, his yellow eyes flashing with urgency. "Psycha, this is genuinely not the time for your emotional baggage. Give me the intel."
"Fine, fine. They've been moved into the main chamber, deep inside the palace. Nolitha is secure, for now," she says, relaying the location with speed.
"Good. Now, Psycha, how good do you think my long-range, high-power kinetic aim is on a scale of one to ten?" Hakuna asks, raising Khidorra's massive body high over his head.
"Average at best, Hakuna. You focus too much on raw power and not enough on trajectory," Psycha says flatly, refusing to inflate his ego.
"I think it's time you rethink your completely biased evaluation," the prince voices, bracing his feet into the earth.
He then throws Khidorra towards the palace with such unimaginable kinetic force and pinpoint accuracy that the demon's body becomes a living battering ram, hurtling through the air. The impact violently destroys the massive, reinforced main doors of the Tshabadira Palace, sending splintered wood and stone flying inward.
"Haa! See that, Psycha! I got skills! I hit the bullseye!" he declares, briefly vindicated by his feat of destruction.
"Not the time for victory laps, remember? Your girlfriend is still in a cage," Psycha says with a dry tone.
"Oh, right. Focus," Hakuna mutters.
Hakuna's eyes become pure, searing yellow, and he vanishes, a streak of purple light heading straight for the massive hole in the palace wall.
The Hostage and The Harassment
...Deep within the Palace, Rorisang is standing before Nolitha's energy-sapping cage, waiting. The unconscious figures of Super, Freddie, Enzo, Bodega, and the others are levitated nearby, gently deposited into a secondary, smaller cage crafted from the same dark metal.
Rorisang beckons with a theatrical wave of her hand. "Oh Princess, I've brought you company, and a lovely audience for the upcoming main event."
"Where is Hakuna? Don't you dare tell me you hurt him," Nolitha asks, her voice sharp with instant concern, ignoring the proximity of her friends.
Rorisang puts the boys, now tightly bound in energy restraints within the nearby cage.
"None of you truly have any patience, do you? Always rushing to the climax," she questions, circling Nolitha.
"I said, where is Hakuna? If you have harmed one hair on his adorable head, I will dismantle this palace with sheer will," Nolitha questions again, pushing her body against the bars.
The ground begins to shake violently. The ancient stone walls of the chamber begin to crack, reacting to the immense, chaotic energy closing in.
Rorisang interjects, trying to maintain her composure. "Relax, Nolitha. He's obviously on his way. But how is the cage not having a debilitating effect on your energy? You should be entirely powerless."
Sparta chimes in, his voice echoing with technical concern in Rorisang's mind. "It seems her sudden high emotional output has temporarily surpassed the threshold that the cage's magical weave can handle. The cage is struggling to drain her fully."
Rorisang then voices, trying to sound confident. "No matter, Sparta. I don't think she'll be able to brea—"
The massive, carved front doors of the chamber collapse inward with a spectacular crash as Khidorra comes flying through the entryway, skidding violently across the floor until he piles up near Rorisang's feet.
"Khidorra! What did I tell you about using the front doors, and especially about flashy, destructive entrances?" Rorisang yells, furious at the display of incompetence.
Khidorra mutters, groaning in pain. "Princess, it's... not... what... it..."
In the swirling dust cloud, a dark silhouette with piercing, glowing yellow eyes walks in, radiating pure, lethal intent. "Rorisang, I don't think I ever gave you permission to kidnap my girlfriend."
Rorisang then speaks, her hostility instantly melting into sickly sweet affection, completely ignoring the gravity of the threat. "Oh, Hakuna, you're finally here! I'm here, my lo—"
Hakuna punches Rorisang instantly, catching her squarely in the face with a flash of controlled energy.
"That felt very weird. I don't hit women. It's just so fundamentally wrong," he recoils, rubbing his knuckles.
"Oh, I don't mind, Hakuna. I actually enjoy the physical pain, and it's rather invigorating coming from you," Rorisang says, wiping a trickle of dark blood from her lip, her black eyes flashing with excitement.
"Hey! That's my line! Get your own psychotic defense mechanism!" Nolitha yells from the cage, momentarily forgetting her predicament.
Super then comments, fully conscious but unable to move. "You women are both alarmingly freaky, and you should probably seek therapy after this is all over."
"Oh hey, Super! You're still alive! Good to see that," Hakuna says, finally noticing his friend in the cage.
Super retorts, his voice flat with annoyance. "Of course I am, you self-centered idiot. Now, get this done quickly so I can get out of this hell hole and go watch more anime. My schedule is being ruined."
"Oh, right. Nolitha first," Hakuna murmurs, nodding.
He flares his energy to a blinding purple hue, preparing to finish the job.
"Oh this'll be interesting. You're certainly more aggressive than I anticipated," Rorisang says, her eyes turning pitch black, fully activating Sparta's influence.
The Clash of Vessels
They begin the fight instantly. Hakuna throws a punch, but Rorisang catches it with shocking speed. Rorisang throws a retaliatory punch, but Hakuna catches it with equal force. They spin around the chamber with inconceivable speed, their energy signatures twisting the air, until they land back on the ground, still locked in a stalemate. Hakuna attempts to get Rorisang off her feet and slams her to the ground, but she twists mid-air and lands effortlessly on her feet, barely registering the attack.
"Nice try, honey. You need to put more force behind those attacks," she says, mocking his technique.
She retaliates, catching Hakuna off his feet and violently slamming him onto the floor, the nearest wall, the cracked ceiling, and then she throws him with extreme prejudice towards Nolitha's cage.
Hakuna, recovering instantly, runs towards Rorisang to try and tackle her, but she doesn't budge an inch, bracing herself with dark power. She then proceeds to punch Hakuna, over and over, and over again, the force of each blow pushing him deeper into the stone floor.
She then grabs him by his hair and lifts him roughly to her eye level, their faces inches apart.
She then speaks, her voice a low, seductive whisper. "You know, all this violence, all this pain, all the destruction could be over right now if you just agree to my marriage proposal, Prince. You belong with me."
Nolitha, now completely enraged by the proposition, musters every ounce of her remaining spiritual energy and kicks Rorisang violently in the head through the bent bars where Hakuna had been knocked into, the blow shocking Rorisang enough to make her drop Hakuna.
Titanium skeleton strikes again...
"Like hell I would let that happen, you pathetic home-wrecker!" Nolitha shouts, the power of her conviction momentarily surpassing the cage's drain.
She grabs Hakuna, who is swaying drunkenly, and stands him up straight.
"Pappie, are you okay? Are you fully conscious?" Nolitha asks, her concern palpable.
Hakuna doesn't say anything coherent at first. "So pretty... Your hair smells like jasmine and righteous anger," he mutters, staring dazedly at her.
Nolitha then reprimands him, a rare moment of exasperation crossing her face. "Honey, I'm already your girlfriend! You do not need to give me disoriented compliments right now! Focus!"
"THAT'S IT! I will not stand for this display of forced affection!" Rorisang roars.
Black, corrosive energy shoots violently to the ceiling as Rorisang walks out of the dust cloud, entirely consumed by Sparta's rage.
"See, Pappie? Focus, okay? You can grab me and tell me how beautiful I am once this is done and she is defeated," Nolitha says, pointing towards the raging princess.
"Ugh, fine. No compliments for now," Hakuna says, finally coming to his senses.
Hakuna's yellow eyes glow with focused intensity as his energy flares calmly, balancing the earlier chaotic rage. Nolitha's energy also flares, pushing back against the cage's suppression.
"Nothing annoys me more than idiotic sentiments that hinder my perfectly laid plans!" Rorisang snarls.
"Were you always this dramatic? This must be the Sparta in you speaking, right? You weren't this theatrical before," Hakuna asks, trying to gauge the level of demonic influence.
"Sparta?" Nolitha queries, her eyes widening.
Hakuna then continues, briefly explaining the situation. "Oh yeah. She's got Sparta inside of her now."
"Oh, that explains the sudden competence, the legions of demons, and everything," Nolitha says, accepting the logic instantly.
Hakuna and Nolitha look at each other, their understanding communicated in a single look, and they both get into their fighting stances respectively.
Rorisang then growls, her voice thick with hatred. "Grr, let's see where your pathetic, shared 'True Love' will get you when faced with absolute power!"
The final fight begins.
The Power of True Love
Hakuna and Nolitha's coordination is impeccable, a dance of pure, synchronized power honed by shared survival.
Each of their motions compliments the other's attack, forming an impenetrable, dual-focused offensive. Rorisang, fighting alone, stands no chance against their perfect synergy.[1]
Rorisang tries desperately to dodge Hakuna's high-velocity punch, but she ends up being instantly kicked by Nolitha, the limited Divine force of the kick driving her back further.
Rorisang then mutters in despair, her voice breaking. "No, this... this love, this trust, this perfect coordination... it was meant to be mine! Hakuna was meant to be mine!"
Hakuna and Nolitha hold hands, their connection stabilizing their combined energy. Their free hands begin to form superheated flames, channeling their ultimate combined attack.
"Sorry girl, but I'm already taken. You should have checked the dating status first," Hakuna declares, his voice loud and clear.
"Fist of Inferno!" Both Hakuna and Nolitha declare in unison, unleashing a combined, devastating flare of pure energy.
They both punch Rorisang away with so much overwhelming force that the massive stone wall behind her is completely destroyed, leaving a gaping, smoking hole in the palace.
"Now, can I grab you, Nolitha? And can I give you that compliment I was going to give you before all the yelling?" he says to the Xhosa princess, his rage already gone.
Super then chimes in, his voice cutting through the romantic moment. "Sorry to interrupt, but I'm still stuck in this cage, and I would really like to be freed from this hell hole before the rest of the palace collapses."
Rorisang, struggling to rise from the rubble, sends an ear-shattering screech of pure malice, the sound tearing through the chamber.
She walks out of the smoke, covered in dust, her eyes burning with a terrifying, new intensity. Her Dark Energy and the fading white light of Nolitha's Divine Energy briefly collide and fuse within her. She has seemingly activated an unstable, corrupted Divine Energy of her own.
"I WILL NOT HAVE THIS! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU TOGETHER! NEVER!" She roars, driven by madness and the conflicting powers within.
A black explosion, darker and more intense than anything before, envelops the vicinity, consuming the palace and everything within.
Fade out...
End of Episode 35.
[1] Hakuna and Nolitha have never fought side by side before, despite this flawless synergy, it's a feature of the Royal Tie.