Earth was a strange little place. Despite the numerous disasters that it had faced over the ages, it was a relatively safe place. In the galactic scale of things at least. There were no sun-blotting super storms or hazardous clouds, no acid seas or monstrously dangerous killer creatures. An average alien, say, from some warrior race might consider the place a safe haven of sorts. Still, safe was a strong word around here. Even in this world there were a number of forces that could cause devastating damage wherever they appeared. Wildfires, storms, earthquakes... And bored Majins.

One such creature, a girl named Zam, was basking in the sun on a steep slope of a nameless mountain. Well, maybe the mountain did have a name, but the pink creature didn’t care. She was much too busy being bored out of her mind. At a glance one could easily mistake the bubblegum-colored creature for a harmless one. After all, her frame was soft and shapely, with girly features complemented by a short, messy hair. She had no armor, instead wearing baggy white pants, black tube top along with matching arm sleeves and boots. In such an outfit she resembled a genie from some age old story. One might even say she looked harmless. But looks were deceptive. This here, in fact, was a creature spoken of in ancient legends, a fierce and relentless destroyer!

...Yes, really.

A long yawn escaped the little creature’s stretchy jaw. She could barely keep her eyes open, but she didn’t feel like napping either. Bored, bored, boooooored! Ugh... For a good while now she had been tossing rocks down the slope and watching them bounce. Some rolled nicely, getting friends along the way and raining down onto the trails below. Unfortunately most seemed to stop on a cliff bit further down, getting tangled on a messy bramble. She had tried throwing bigger rocks to knock them loose, but somehow the stubborn plant persisted. Ultimately all she had to show for hours of idle tossing was a pile of precariously teetering stones. Bleh. Like even the mountain was saying no fun allowed.

However, it seemed the child’s luck was turning. A new voice caught her attention. Immediately her eyes lit up with a mischievous gleam. Ooh, someone had climbed all the way up here? Yaaay! Her antennae twitched, quickly pinpointing the tingle. Soon the golden gaze zeroed in on a strange spiky-haired guy playing with a wild doggie. He was waaay stronger than normal people. That meant he could also play games that most Earthling folk couldn’t play! Immediately the idea had the child’s attention. Good plan? Great plan!

A gleeful giggle danced in the wind. The power that had been deflated by boredom suddenly flared to full power. In a zip and zoom, the girl appeared behind the spiky-haired traveler. "Hey! Hey, mister! Hey, listen!" A cheery voice demanded his attention. Hovering around neck level, she reached to pat his shoulder. "I’m bored... Play with me~!" Pat pat. The touches punctuated her words. "Come oooonnn! It’ll be fun~!" ...Patpatpat. The insistent patting wouldn’t stop until she was satisfied with his answer. That is to say, she wouldn’t accept no in any form. She had already decided that they were going to play.

The golden gaze shined with curiosity. With a big smile, the pink creature cocked her head. "No idea! Do you?" While it may have sounded like she was just being a smart mouth about it, she was actually entirely honest. She was totally sure she didn’t remember this person at all. Still, a lot of people back home said they knew her from something or other. Maybe that’s how Mister Spiky knew her too! Or maybe he didn’t? She wasn’t entirely sure about that... But then why would he ask? Uhhh... So confusing...

Zam’s jumbled line of thought was, fortunately, cut short by the agreement. Yay! However, a question paused her glee. A really good question actually. She folded her arms and closed her eyes. "Hmmm... Let’s play..." Tag was boring in a huge open space. Same for hide-and-seek. So how about... Her eyes flashed open and smile brightened. "Dodgeball!" Yes, this was a great place for it! Lots of space and no little people getting in the way! Plus making things go boom was fun!

Floating around and round the new friend, the little Majin flailed excitedly. "It’s very easy to play! I will explain!" She flexed her fingers and a small ball of ki filled her palm. First she pointed at the ball and then the man. "I throw a ball and you gotta dodge it or catch it! If you dodge it, I get to throw another! But if you catch it, then you throw it back and I gotta dodge or catch!" Suddenly she clenched her hand and the ball puffed into glimmering sparks. "If the ball hits you and you can’t catch it, then you lose! Okay? Okay!" She was very proud of her super good explanation.

Taking some distance, the little creature stopped to hover above the mountain. "Ready?" She brought her hands close, as if she was holding a ball. Pink energy crackled between her fingers. It quickly gathered into a luminescent orb, around the size of a volleyball, with a layer of rubbery ki around it. For someone so young, she had immense control over her energy. It all came from pure instinct, as if she had been doing this for untold ages... "Here we go~!" Flashing a mischievous grin, she launched the orb. Strength was clearly another strong point of hers. Even a simple throw as like a blast from a cannon. Her accuracy on the other hand had a lot of room for improvement...

When the Saiyan dodged the ball, it scraped a part of the cliff clean before soaring into the horizon. In the far distance a pink explosion cast an ominous light over the landscape. Either the orb had reached some sort of maximum range... Oooor it had hit a very unlucky bird. Well, regardless, Zarun’s gut feeling had been right. The childish creature was playing hardball. One careless move on his part and... Boom. Now the smart thing would be to stop the dangerous game before anyone got hurt, or worse. ...So leave it to a Saiyan to do the exact opposite of that. Maybe it ran in the blood.

Zam’s mischievous smile sharpened. She missed, but it was okay. "Yay~! My turn again!" She was super excited to see that her new friend was also excited. Way too often adults told her to stop playing, saying it was too dangerous. But that was so unfair! She never got hurt playing, so how could it be dangerous? And, and even if she somehow got hurt, then she would heal right away! Sometimes she just didn’t understand adults... But finally someone wanted to play! And because they were all the way up here, those tiny people down there couldn’t tell her to stop!

The excited Majin brought her hands close and another unstable orb manifested between her fingers. Just like before, she drew her hand back. "Okay, get ready, Mister... uh..." However, the throw never came. She was much too puzzled by the sudden realization that she didn’t know what to call this stranger. Hm hm... Then... She would ask! Hugging the crackling orb against her chest, she hollered over the whistling wind. "Heeey, do you have a name, Mister Spiky? Is it a spiky name?" Wondering the logic behind that nickname or the second question would have been a wasted effort. There was none. The mind of a Majin worked in mysterious ways.

Only if and when the new friend introduced himself, the girl would even consider throwing. ...Except that she didn’t have any kind of patience. Suddenly she giggled and spun around like a twirling top. Out of the blur came a crazy curve ball. To say it was aimed at anything was a very generous estimate. More like it just happened to head for the man’s face. If he didn’t dodge it, he would find it strangely similar to a rubber ball. The layer of translucent ki on the surface would flatten on impact before trying to bounce back into shape. Catching it was a tricky task.

Hearing the name made the small Majin tilt her head. Puzzlement shined clearly on her features. "Mister Zaaa...run...?" She rolled the name in her mouth, pondering it out loud. "Zarun..." Hm hm, nope, didn’t sting her tongue when she said it, so not a very spiky name. It was still a good name though. Easy to remember! She quickly regained her bright smile and proudly puffed her chest. "I’m Zam! Nice to meetcha!" Short, simple and energetic, just like the girl herself. She liked making new friends.

Shock and surprise flashed across the creature’s features when the opponent actually caught her ultra mega fantastic ball throw. "Ooh, you’re pretty strong for an Earthling!" No wonder his tingle felt different. Excitement flared in her aura, when the turns were swapped. She held her hands out, fingers twitching with anticipation. "Okay! Gimme your best shot!" Trying to catch the ball was her immediate instinct and not just because the energy had such a pretty color. As a Majin, avoiding attacks was not her thing. Adults often tried to teach her to dodge with games like tag, or this one, but the lesson never really stuck. She never understood why avoiding attacks was such a big deal.

Zarun’s tricky throw worked flawlessly, zipping past Zam’s grabby hands and right at her face. Bit too flawlessly actually... Her eyes widened. A gasp left her lips. But it was far too late. The blast passed right through without resistance and just kept going. In its wake, the girl’s body was now missing the head, neck and all. Somewhere behind her, the golden blast detonated with a bright flash. Her arms drooped lifelessly and body fell deathly still. The wind hissed in denial.

Game over...

Suddenly the grim silence was shattered when the headless corpse... giggled? "Heh heh hee, nice try, Mister Zarun!" The little trickster’s grinning head popped out of her torso, like she was imitating a turtle. All there and intact. "But that trick won’t work on me~!" Silly limitations like physics or logic didn’t apply to her bouncy body. She didn’t even know what those words meant. All she knew was that her super amazing secret special dodge move worked! Getting ready again, she excitedly flailed her arms. "Hey, hey! It’s still your turn! Throw another!" This time she would definitely catch it. Definitely!

The golden eyes blinked, shining with puzzlement again. Not an Earthling? But he looked like one... "Say-yawn?" Zam repeated the strange word quizzically. Well, she tried her best at least. She felt like she had heard it somewhere before, buuut she couldn’t really remember. Oh well! The return question pushed the thought out of her mind anyway. "Zam is a Majin, is what Zam is!" As for what exactly a Majin was, she couldn’t explain. After all, she wasn’t quite sure herself. That was what Grandpa had called her when they first met. Whenever she asked about it, he went weirdly quiet and just stared far away for some reason... Eh, maybe he forgot and was embarrassed.

Back to the game!

Twitching with barely contained excitement, the girl stared at her opponent. Come onnn... There! Another clever trick throw showed off Zarun’s accuracy, a proof of his training and fighting skills. However... He was in for another lesson in Majin anatomy... Just as the blast was about to slip past, the girl’s arms suddenly stretched several lengths. Her hands twirled around the blast and clamped on tightly. She managed to reel it back before it fizzled within her grasp. "Got it! Yay!" When it came to trickery, the playful creature was not easily bested.

And speaking of trickery...

Zam had an idea. A mischievous spark flashed through the bubbly mind. She raised her hand towards the sky. Crackling energy started pouring from her body and crawling up her arm. Slowly it gathered into a tiny orb above her palm, barely big enough to see. However, ravenously feeding on the pulses of pink power, it started swelling rapidly. Baseball, bowling ball, beach ball... Until finally it reached the size some warriors affectionately called a Death Ball.

Blissfully oblivious to the kind of damage that thing could cause, the little Majin snickered mischievously. A bigger ball was harder to dodge! Yup yup, she was super smart! With a devilish smile, she took aim. "Here, catch~!" She swung her arm down and effortlessly sent the destructive orb flying. An attack that big had no right to be so deceptively fast, but clearly it didn’t know that. Wind howled around the trembling peaks. The tremors sent rocks tumbling. Birds screeched and scattered. Down below, a mountain goat nearly choked on its grass and ran away bleating. Even animals knew that being around when the big glowing thing hit the ground would be very unhealthy.

A massive blast shook the landscape, blowing dirt and dust into the distance. The howl of wind was only matched by the uncontrollable giggling of the little destroyer. She wasn’t sure why, but seeing things go boom tickled her in the best places. It was so much fun! Meanwhile, the raging energy faded to reveal a ruined landscape and a ruffled Saiyan. One mountain less, one crater more... Then again, with so many crater-filled wastelands in the world, who was counting anymore?

However, Zam’s gleeful laughter was cut short when Zarun suddenly told her to go again. Puzzled, confused, all sorts of confuzzled, she stared at the grinning man. First she thought she heard wrong. "Huh...? Again...?" But, but she hit him! ...Right? Didn’t she? Slowly her stare narrowed in a suspicious squint. "Are you trying to cheat, Mister Zarun...?" Verrry suspicious. It didn’t make any sense. That had been her very best ball. So huge and fast! She saw it go boom too! But... She honestly hadn’t seen it hit him... Hm hm...

Eventually the distrusting child begrudgingly accepted the result. She couldn’t prove this Say-yawn was cheating... Not yet. But she got another idea. The hesitant suspicion faded. An ominous smile spread across her features. "Hey, Mister Zarun... Wanna see something COOL?" Judging by how her boundless energy just kept rising, now was a great time to consider beating a hasty retreat. Then again, had that ever been an option for a proud warrior?

The little Majin reached for the skies, charging energy with both hands. Again it formed a rapidly swelling sphere. Like a miniature star it shined pink light down on the man. However, this time she didn’t toss it just yet... No, she stretched her arms around it and grabbed tightly. Her brow furrowed with intense focus. The orb started... shrinking? Within moments it was small enough for her to hug. Whistles of steam escaped from her head, ruffling her wild hair. She squeezed the orb with all her Majin might. Smaller, smaller, ever smaller... Until it was as solid as a real cannonball. Within a translucent layer, the condensed ki buzzed angrily.

Zam gave the orb few more pats and nodded happily. Yup, this was perfect! Her shining stare focused on the adult and grin sharpened. Let’s see if he could dodge this one too! Cracking her arm back, she took aim. "Catch this if you can~!" For such a playful throw, it sure was heavy. If the Saiyan wasn’t prepared, he might find it plowing him backwards deep into the ground. Well, at least the solid surface offered something to grip.

This time Zam was watching the suspicious man suuuper carefully. Her antennae pointed at him as well, feeling out his energy. If he cheated, she would definitely notice! When the ball slammed into the man and took him for a ride, another burst of mischievous laughter echoed in the background. This time the ball hit! She was sure of it. But! If he caught it, then it would be his turn again~! Excitement was making her feel all tingly inside. This was the best!

Not a moment too late the destructive orb was deflected to the side. It bored through the ground like an out of control drill, upturning earth and scaring some poor moles senseless. At the end of the ride, another enormous explosion shook the scene. Pink light dug a second crater quite some distance away. After a brief moment of silence, the Saiyan emerged from the dark hole, far from unharmed, but still alive at least. Many would consider that a victory on itself. What a story he would have... Going against a real Majin and living to tell the tale...

When Zarun wisely admitted defeat, the tiny powerhouse exploded into jubilant flailing. "Yaaay! I win! I win, I win, I win~!" Her singsong tone danced in the wind, really rubbing in the childish celebration. Best not to think how she would have reacted if the result had been something else... She zipped down to float around the battered opponent. His question was met with a puzzled stare. Suddenly her expression brightened. "Cuz I live here! Duh~!" She underlined the simple answer by sticking out her tongue teasingly. Getting any sensible answers out of the scatterbrained girl was a challenge even the strongest warriors couldn’t handle.

Seeing the red stuff drip from the scratches caught Zam’s curiosity. It was called blood, right? Grandpa said it came out when people had an accident. Eyes shining with innocence, she poked the wounded man for attention. "Hey Mister Zarun! Hey, listen..." If he didn’t squirm out of the way, he would feel the insistent prodding hit some rather sore spots. She was especially interested in the burn on his stomach. "Why are you not regani..." Tripping over the difficult word cut the question short. "Uh... regenene..." No, that wasn’t it either. She cocked her head and took another angle. "Um... Why are you not healing?" Much better. Not the word Grandpa had used, but she was pretty sure it meant the same thing.

When Zarun offered the answer, Zam’s expression immediately brightened. "Yeah, regenitating! That’s the word!" ...And somehow she managed to butcher it anyway. However, when the man said he couldn’t do it, she fell oddly silent. The big, shining eyes stared at him. She just listened, trying her hardest to understand. Most others... couldn’t do it...? It took everything she knew and threatened to turn it upside down. Far too quickly, much too painfully...

Suddenly the girl’s brow furrowed and lips twisted into a childish pout. "That’s not true, Mister Zarun! You shouldn’t tell lies!" Her claims were punctuated by insistent patting, drumming against the armor. "Everybody can regalinate! I’ve seen it!" Patpatpat! And pause for pondering... "Hmmm... Some people are just a little slow, so they need help with it. Like medicine and stuff." Sooo, maybe Mister Zarun was just bad at relocating? And that’s when yet another spark of genius flashed in her mind. "Ooh, I know! Imma give you the zap!" Good idea, great idea! She was on a roll today!

Faster than one could say 'the what now', Zam lifted a finger and summoned a twinkling spark around it. "Zap!" She poked the man with gusto! Glimmering energy cascaded across his body. But instead of pain, it brought a strange sensation. In fact, he would feel much better within seconds. Healthy. Refreshed. Energized even. His wounds started rapidly closing. To say they were healing up was bit of an understatement. As if by magic, they were fading away without a trace. At this rate he wouldn’t even get any coveted scars. Only his destroyed armor served as any proof of the life threatening trial he had just endured.

Yep, that was the power of ultimate healing magic... in the hands of a childish destroyer who didn’t know any better... Power that was so overwhelming, yet absolutely innocent. Perhaps it was symbolic, a proof of how life and death were simply two opposing sides of the same coin. ...Or maybe the universe just had a weird sense of humor. Zam didn’t know anything about such things anyway. She just sat there, humming happily and looking incredibly smug.

If one were to ask the Majin why she did things, the answer would be very simple. Because it’s fun! Her understanding about reasons and morals started and ended with amusement. Right now, for example, she liked watching the twinkles make the icky skin go away. That’s all there was to it. ...Oh and being right about the regenoning thing was nice too. In response to the small smirk, the little girl beamed brightly. She didn’t really understand what he meant, but she agreed anyway. "Yup, Zam is always gonna be Zam!" Because if Zam wasn’t Zam, then who else could be as Zam as Zam was? Exactly.

When the twinkling magic finally faded away, the Saiyan was as good as new. Perhaps even better, considering how his blood reacted to near death experiences... Zam happily patted the healed hands. "See, Mister Zarun? You can regante too!" She was still super smug about it. Her gaze got a quizzical glimmer when it stopped on his stomach. Huh? There was still a hole? Giving it a tentative poke, she pondered idly. "Hm hm, looks like you can’t regonate clothes yet though... Maybe you gotta practice or something..." That... was a whole another misunderstanding caused by the Majin’s bizarre abilities. Best not to think about it too much.

Pushing the question aside, the floating girl backed away. While it was always bit sad to stop playing, this time she had to agree. Her stomach whined softly, reminding her that it was waaaay past snack time. "Yup yup, it was super fun! Let’s play again sometime!" With a happy wave, she rose to the sky. "Bye bye, Mister Zarun!" Her aura flared into a pink blaze and she shot off, quickly vanishing as a twinkle into the horizon. She couldn’t wait to get home and tell people all about her new Say-yawn friend! Oh and eat tasty snacks too! Hopefully they would meet again to play a different game.

But that would be a story for another time...