"Ergh...Hell knows how long I've been crawling for!" Kakarot huffed to himself as he continued to squeeze his body down the tiny tunnel. The walls scraped roughly against the material of his uniform causing the occasional tear as he used his elbows to propel himself forward, unable to crawl due to the lack of space. "But...I suppose if it is the centre of the planet I'm crawling too then I suppose it will take a bit of time and effort...The distance I've covered that's probably where I'm headed!"
He could feel the muscles in his shoulders ache due to the hours of crawling, the long exertion beginning to take its toll, his mind beginning to numb with a mixture of monotony and fatigue. "I really hope there's something at the end of this tunnel...Even if I can crawl backwards and back up this thing I don't really want to face that worm-thing again!" Just as his vision began to slowly blur his eyes made out what appeared to be a small pin-prick of light. "No way!" He whispered as he furiously blinked to clear his vision. "Either I've died, my eyes are playing tricks or I've finally managed to find a way out of here..."
He stopped dead in his tracks, staring unblinkingly at the light point and then suddenly began to crawl as fast as he could toward the light source. The pinprick of light slowly increased in size until finally Kakarot could make out some detail located at the end of the tunnel. After a few more minutes of struggling Kakarot finally managed to peek his head out of the tunnel and have a look around at the new surroundings.
He found himself yet again in an underground cavern, only this time there was an absence of ocean. It was much smaller in size than the previous, the walls appearing to pulse and twitch with life. This cavern was filled with a purple light which seemed to originate from the walls itself rather than plant-life like the one above. Kakarot whistled in appreciation as his eyes adjusted to the dim light. Creepily beautiful! He thought to himself as he tried to push himself out of the tunnel.
Unfortunately, his shoulders were rather large for the tunnel exit, and he found himself unflatteringly stuck. "Argh, dammit!" He growled as he tried to twist his shoulders into another position and push himself out. "Great!" He grumbled as he crawled backwards just a couple of inches to see if he could work his way out a different way, lowering his head so he could watch where he placed his hands.
But not a few seconds after lowering his head Kakarot felt a pair of squidgy, soft appendages grip onto his shoulders and, with a huge amount of force, tugged him from the tunnel, a large crack sounding as most of the tunnel wall followed after him. Kakarot was thrown from one end of the small cavern to the other, the impact of his back smacking against the wall echoing around, followed by a small thud as he fell to the ground.
As soon as he regained his bearings he stood up into a fighting stance and became face to face with his new opponent. It was of a similar appearance to the rock ogres on the planet's surface, only the one stood before Kakarot appeared to be more gelatinous and jelly-like than his rock counterpart. "Grrr not these guys again!" The jelly ogre opened its mouth wide and let out an ear-pitching scream in reply, causing Kakarot to cover his ears to save his ear drums.
"Was that because I didn't say 'Thank you'?" The jelly ogre wasted no time and quickly tried to land a punch, Kakarot dodging to the right just in time to miss it, causing the jelly's fist to connect with the wall with a loud splat. "Ergh! Well that was a very attractive noise!" The jelly pulled his saggy fist from the newly-formed crater and attempted to swing it at Kakarot in a backhand motion, however he once again dodged its attack, now placing himself behind his flabby enemy.
From his current viewpoint Kakarot could see a vine, similar in appearance to the set he had seen previously on both the Planet's surface and in the spacecraft, emerging from the back of the creature's neck. The same vines! Chichi must be around here somewhere! "Where's Chichi!" Kakarot shouted at the jelly's back. "The woman you took from the surface! I know it was you that took her!" From where the jelly was crouching he slowly raised his head up the caverns wall, Kakarot watched and followed his line of sight until he spotted what appeared to be a small jut of rock, a tiny hand hanging over its edge.
Jumping into the air and hovering slightly higher to get a closer look, Kakarot's face broke into a smile at the sight. "Chichi!" There was no response as she lay still, her face pointing in his direction showing that she was unconscious. Kakarot's smile quickly disappeared as he quickly realised that there was something attached to Chichi's forehead, yet more vines much smaller and delicate-looking than the ones that he had already seen.
Before Kakarot could respond he was quickly tackled in mid-air by the jelly, becoming so interested in Chichi's welfare that he had let his guard down. The jelly held him forcefully against the cavern wall, the force increasing so much that Kakarot was finding it increasingly difficult to breathe. With great difficulty Kakarot managed to bring his hands to the centre of his body and moved them so the palms were placed onto the jelly's abdomen. With a flash of light Kakarot released a ki beam which cut through the jelly with ease, leaving a large hole in its gut.
With the decreased pressure Kakarot was able to free his arm, allowing him to place a powerful right hook directly into the jelly's face causing it to crash into the floor, leaving Kakarot in the crater of the wall created by the tackle. Removing himself from the new crater, Kakarot landed perfectly onto his feet, wiping a small fleck of blood from his lower lip. "Nice sneak attack!" He smirked as he watched the jelly before him regain its footing and heal the hole in its abdomen. "Would have worked too if you weren't so squidgy!".
If it wasn't for the fact that the jelly did not have any facial features, Kakarot could have swore he saw it snarl. The vine attached to the back of its head began to twitch occasionally then sped into violent and rapid spasms. "C'mon! Can't you just gimme a break!" Small buds soon began to form across the span of the vine until they rapidly grew in size to form exact duplicates of the original jelly ogre.
They wasted no time and quickly raced forward to attack Kakarot. He could barely defend himself against the heavy barrage of fists that was thrown at him and could feel the sting of the creatures punches, feeling more like heavy slaps due to their squidgy forms. Due to the many fists Kakarot found it difficult to keep track of them all and so did not realise it when one of the jellys stop its attack and forcefully wrap its vine around Kakarot's neck.
The surrounding jellys quickly halted their attack and watched as Kakarot fought for air, his hands gripping tightly on the vine trying desperately to loosen its hold. No matter how hard he tried he could not gain any leverage, quickly dropping to one knee due to the lack of oxygen, his mind suddenly becoming fuzzy.
C'mon! Kakarot's mind screamed. You can do this! You have to remember it's not just your life you're fighting for now! With great difficulty, Kakarot managed to raise his gaze to the jut of rock Chichi was currently lying, still unconscious and unaware of what was taking place below her. If I die down here...Chichi will be stuck down here forever! Kakarot could suddenly feel an anger build within him, giving him strength to fight unconsciousness despite his lack of air.
With a loud rip the vine around his neck tore in half, the causing the connected Jelly to fall backwards due to the lack of tension. Still keeping hold of the connected piece, Kakarot used all of his remaining strength to catapult it into the crowd in front of him like a twisted game of skittles. Kakarot once again fell to his knees in exhaustion, panting hard to catch his breath but learning from his previous mistake and kept a full eye on the creatures before him.
He watched as the jellys quickly tried to pull themselves apart from each other, their bodies sticking together from the attack. All except for one jelly. The catapulted jelly that had tried to suffocate Kakarot previously lay unmoved ontop of two of its comrades. In a split second it quickly melted into a large puddle.
That's it! Kakarot's eyes dashing between the sticky pile of bodies and to the main vine connecting the original jelly and the budded forms. I severed that thing's connection! No connection, no vine! Like the signal between the Caw and its feather! Wasting no time, Kakarot propelled himself forward to an area of the vine furthest away from the struggling jellys and with a flash of ki energy, cut the vine clearly in half, watching as the pile vanished with a splash.
If Kakarot thought that was the end, he was wrong. Before he could even blink one end of the cut vine twitched erratically and wrapped itself around his left leg, the other his right, they began to produce smaller and more intricate vines like a tree stump beginning to re-grow. Kakarot's feet were instantly pinned to the cavern floor, the vines held a grip so tight he could feel the blood supply almost being cut to his feet. He began to feel disgusted as he felt the pair of vines move up his back and circle tightly around his arms, pinning them to his chest.
"Get...off...me!" Kakarot grumbled as he struggled to free himself from the tangle, shaking his head back and forth and side to side as he felt the pair of vines begin to make their way up the back of his neck. But no matter how much he struggled he could not stop their travels and felt small hair like projections make their way to his temples, feeling tiny niggles of pain when they attached themselves. "I said...get OFF!" He shouted as he squinted his eyes tight shut in case the vines decided to make their way to his face.
Silence, Saiyan.
Kakarot halted mid-struggle, his eyes opening wide in shock. "Who...who said that?" He shouted into the air. "How do you know who I am!" The voice once again sounded in his mind.
We are connected. I have access to your thoughts...your memories...your every emotion...we are connected...
"Yeah? Well I don't want to be! And neither does Chichi so let us go!"
She is my Healer
"What?"
She is my Healer...
"Yeah I heard you the first time! She healed the wound – "
The wound you and you're comrades caused –
"What? No!"
You fought alongside them, you all fought against me
"Yes, but in self-defence! The aliens on the surface didn't realise you were sentient! If they had they never would have attacked you! They never would have come here!"
I was the one defending, you and you're comrades were the attackers. You fought alongside them, you all fought against me
"But Chichi didn't! You already said she was your 'Healer'! Let her go!"
She is my Healer...
"Yes! You've already said that part!"
She is my Healer...I am defending her...I am defending her from the attackers...defending her from you...
"No! I would never hurt her! She's my friend!"
But you attacked us
"It was an accident!"
It was planned...you fore-warned your comrades but you did not fore-warn my Healer...you hurt her...
"I thought...I thought she heard me. I shouted – "
You did not fore-warn my Healer...you hurt her...she has not stirred since...I brought her into myself to protect her and keep her safe...but you followed
"Of course I did! She's my friend! I...care about her! She doesn't belong here!"
You are the foreign invader...you are the attacker...you want to hurt my Healer...
"No! You said we were connected! So search through my memories of her! Search through HER memories! You'll see I will do everything in my power to keep her safe...just like you..."
A flicker of memories quickly began as the being did as was asked, scanning through all of Kakarot's memories whilst present on Earth. His first arrival in the mountain range, first arriving in the near-by city, his trip to the hospital, his first meeting with Chichi, following her movements through the city in fascination, rushing to save her from the Caw, their second and third meetings. They all danced before his mind's eye culminating and leading to the memory when they first arrived here.
All the emotions that he felt during those times returned to him like a hit to the chest, how shocked and then pleased he felt when he found Chichi for a second time, the warm and fuzzy feeling he felt in his chest as Chichi tried to persuade him to stay the night. How happy he felt when she agreed to come with him...
Then Chichi's memories began. Kakarot watched in fascination as her version of events began to play in his mind, smiling as he saw her impression of him play through her eyes. An image of him grinning childishly, the goofy look on his face after Chichi stopped playing with his tail, him levitating in the air outside of the hospital window. The last and most vivid image of all was the image of himself standing in a pile of rubble after his recovery from paralysis and saving Chichi from the first appearance of the rock ogre.
These memories...the memories shown to me by my Healer...they play through her mind continuously...the memories shown to me by my Healer...they are memories of you...
"Exactly! What does that tell you! You've seen our memories! Shared our thoughts and feelings! Please...just let us go...or at least let her go..."
You are lonely
"...Yes"
As am I...no other life-form has ever shown me as much care as that of my Healer
"Yeah...I know the feeling..."
Once again Kakarot felt as if he had been hit in the chest as the being scanned his previous feelings of before he arrived on Earth, his heart once again felt heavy.
You have exiled yourself from your own species out of shame...your soul is cold and your heart is empty...I too know the burden of loneliness
"Please!" Kakarot had not begged for anything or anyone since his childhood. "Please...I can't feel like that anymore!" He lowered his head and closed his eyes. "...Give her back to me..."
For the first time since the being connected to Kakarot's psyche there was silence as it contemplated Kakarot's request. "...Please..."
Her soul resonates to me...when she dreams of you her heart sings...she is deeply connected to you...
Kakarot flinched when the being again scanned his feelings, particularly his feelings involving Chichi, including how he felt when Chichi stroked his tail, how pleased he felt when he saw how happy she was when he brought her her toy monkey, the rush of heat and tingles he felt when she rushed to him and cried with relief into his chest.
My Healer...she believes in you...I entrust my Healer into your care...
Kakarot could feel the vines around his body begin to lose their iron grip.
Protect her...Saiyan...
The vines decorating Kakarot's body and temples fell lifeless in a heap on the floor, his connection to the being now completely broken. Looking up above his head and to the rock platform where Chichi was currently placed he watched as the same procedure happened to the vines connected to her. Quick as a flash he jumped and landed softly next to her, gently moving a lock of hair from her face and placing it behind her ear as she stirred from her slumber. "Thank you." Kakarot whispered into the air, hoping the Planet could hear him now the vines were no longer present.