Crono's Story
Chapter 25
Kennard
The sky was black, bordered with a dark green and blocking out any chance of sunlight spreading itself over us. The wish was being made, that much was certain, but the only part we didn't know was: Who was getting wished back?
When we'd flown off of Sky Palace,
Kami had no idea who was to be wished back, and neither did the rest of
us. Now, almost half an hour earlier,
the wish had been made, and still we had no clue who'd be coming to aid
us. Whoever it was, their help would be
greatly appreciated.
So we stood there, just behind a
small group of rocks and boulders, the lights of the Western Capitol glimmering
dully in the darkness. Nikita was the
only one out in the opening in front of the rocks, all alone in the giant open
field Kami had designated as the drop point of the Caprians.
I could feel the spaceship of the
Caprians grow nearer every second, and with every passing moment, the giddiness
I felt in my stomach grew larger. I was
never nervous going into a fight, I'd been in too many for that, but I always
got butterflies in my stomach, there was just nothing I could do about that.
As we waited we all concentrated on
pushing down our power levels, to such a level that the scouters the Caprians
possessed wouldn't pick us up. We were
doing a good job actually, if I hadn't been right there with everyone, I
probably wouldn't have been able to pick us up. Still, the feeling grew.
"Nervous?" Arsenia asked.
I wasn't looking at him, so I didn't
know he was speaking to me until I looked him in the eye "Uh, not really." I stammered out.
"Good. There's no place for that here, not now."
I nodded, and Gideon interrupted
both of us. "Shaddup guys, they're
here." Everyone turned to face him, and
he pointed straight up towards the dark sky. We all looked up, and we all saw a bright yellow streak race across the
sky, starting off in the south, and gradually moving towards our position. We all stood up, and turned to face the
approaching menace. The feeling in my
stomach was shattered, replaced with a feeling of anticipation and even a
little pleasure.
Almost as soon as we'd turned to
look out into the sky, the black wall that'd consumed the heavens faded away,
the wish had been made. No sooner did
the sky colour return to the normal blue though, then it was set aflame by the
crashing spaceship. It was on us in
less than a second, rocketing in a brilliant blaze of blue, red and orange
flame.
The ship connected with the ground
just a few hundred metres away from where Nikita was standing. The impact rocked the ground with such force
I was almost blown off my feet by the impact. I managed to keep my footing throughout the crash, and protect my ears
from the bang from the collision. A
wave of dirt, grass and rock was hurled violently from the epicentre of the
crash. Luckily the rocks we hid behind
blocked out most of the debris, but dust had saturated the air, invading my
eyes and causing them to water. I
brought my hands up to protect my face, but was mainly unsuccessful. I wanted to just make an explosion of ki to
destroy all the dust near me, but that would give away our position, so I
restrained myself and took it like a man.
After a few seconds, the filth and
various other items settled back to the ground, the shaking stopped, and we all
fell dead silent. We all backed up
against the nearest rock formation with the least possible sound emitted. No one dared move a muscle. We weren't really scared (I wasn't anyways),
just excited by the task ahead of us. I
guess that's why Kami and Krillin had chosen us; we weren't scared by new
challenges, just thrilled by them.
Karnai was on my right, and Gideon
on my left. Both of them seemed calm
and relaxed, in fact Gideon even offered me a weak smile to lift my
spirits. I tried returning the favour,
but just couldn't manage it, too tense I guess. The only sound that could be heard was the light breathing of the
two beings beside me.
We waited for almost two minutes,
just standing frozen in place against the rock, no one moving or speaking in
the slightest. Gideon broke the
silence, bending over to me and whispering, "Kennard, I need you to climb up
the rock and take a peek at what they're doing."
I nodded, took in a deep breath,
turned around and began climbing the rock ever so slowly. It took me a few seconds, but I reached the
top without a sound. When I scampered
onto the upwards-sloping top, I remained flat against the ground and crawled
slowly to the edge. Once I'd arrived at
it, I slowly pushed my eyes above the rim of the rock and peered out into the
open field beyond.
The first sight that caught my eye
was the spaceship. It looked to be over
500 metres long, and at least 100 metres tall, like a miniature
skyscraper. It was designed in the
basic oval shape reminiscent of the old Freeza empire flagships. It was capped with a small, silvery dome at
the summit of the ship, which I assumed was the bridge or main viewing area. There were no clear exit areas or doors, or
any open spaces yet, which meant they hadn't left the ship.
As big as the ship was though, the
crater it had created was even larger. The impact had made an incision in the Earth at least 400 metres deep,
with a diameter of a kilometre and a half. Parts of the crater and the ground surrounding it were in flames, giving
off a less than pleasant smell I could whiff from nearly half a kilometre away.
After surveying the actual ship, I
looked around for Nikita. She was
pushing his power signature down like the rest of us, but not to the extent I
couldn't pick her up. She was standing
just a few feet from the border of the crater, covered in soot, dirt and dust
thick enough to make her blonde hair dark brown. She looked like a little kid who'd been playing in the mud for a
few hours, it was actually quite humorous, but I didn't have time to enjoy the
absurdity of the situation.
Nikita and I both waited patiently,
staring at the huge round object in anticipation. Nothing on the ship moved for the longest time, like it had been
derelict for hundreds of years, so I was about to crawl back down the rock and
report to Gideon. Suddenly though,
there was a huge blast of steam out of one of the vents I hadn't seen on the
side of the ship facing Nikita. Then a
crack appeared near the base of the ship, and I realized it was a hatch, slowly
opening up. After five seconds the door
opened completely, revealing nothing but a cloaking blackness inside the
ship.
The lack of light within the ship didn't prevent me
from sensing the beings within though. I felt ten of the Caprian beings residing just behind the blanket of
black. I squinted tightly, zeroing in
on the open doorframe, just waiting for them to make an appearance. They didn't disappoint either.
Out stepped the first of the
Caprians, a tall, red-skinned individual with long blue hair, sort of like
Jeice from the old Ginyu Squad, except taller. He wore a new brand of armor unlike Nacran's group had. It followed more of the Freeza style armor;
a black base, with yellow "ribs" spread across the torso and kneepads, and
basically a thick black cloth everywhere else. Contrasting heavily with the red skin of the individual it gave him an
almost comic look. He had a green
tinted scouter on his left eye, which was displaying numbers in some foreign
language, most likely Nikita's power level.
The Caprian took a few slow,
definite steps forward, slowly surveying the landscape for a few seconds before
coming across Nikita and locking his eyes on her. Once he'd cleared the door sufficiently, another figure stepped
out. This one was the exact opposite of
the first. Instead of red skin and blue
hair, it possessed almost transparent blue skin and a ruby red mane. It was slightly shorter than the first, but
most likely they were related, they had very similar looks, and identical
clothing. The second ones face was
slightly thinner and its chest was much larger, so I assumed it to be
female. The pair slowly took position
next to the door, one on each side, their eyes fixated on Nikita
throughout. Once they'd planted
themselves next to the door the third being came out.
This one was far more imposing than
the other two, which was quite a feat. It was far more humanoid than the other two, with lightly tanned skin,
spiked blonde hair, and a build that went far beyond any of the Z
warriors'. He must've been at least 8
feet tall, shoulders a metre across, and a huge head that looked the size of my
torso. His sleeves were cut off just
below the shoulder, showing off his tree-trunk arms. His legs seemed so big they had to rub against each other every
second he walked. His power was nothing
to mess with either; by my account he was the strongest being so far. He moved much more quickly than the previous
two, almost jogging a few metres ahead of the door and pressing his blue
scouter in order to get a reading on Nikita.
As soon as he exited, four other
creatures sprinted out of the darkness of the ship and into the bright morning
sun. All four of the beings looked
remarkably similar, and then I realized they were Kalandrilians, a sort of
insect/reptilian race. They had
elongated craniums with small pink dots on their teal skin, armor identical to
the first two beings, and three fingers and toes on each appendage. The Kalandrilians had previously been some
of the front-line grunts of Freeza's army, and when Yoorabit came to power
later, they jumped ship and became grunts of the Caprian army.
The four of them took up defensive
stances behind the gigantic third entity. None of them seemed to take notice of Nikita at all; they were far more
preoccupied with the surrounding landscape, like they somehow knew we were
planning an ambush. It was when I saw
this I realized how smoothly they all moved. It was like a well-greased engine, running in complete perfection
without a single word. Compared to
these guys our group looked like a bunch of schoolyard bullies.
I chuckled, but was soon cut off as
another being peered its ugly head out of the spaceship. This one had obviously seen its share of
battles. He was obviously of the same
race as the huge warrior as he had the same size and facial definitions; but
you could tell just by appearance this guy had had several near-death
experiences. His face was scarred
badly, with what seemed like fire burns permanently etched into his skin. His armor (obvious mementos) were nearly
torn to shreds, and seemed to belong to a much older model, almost before the
Freeza empire. He walked with a slight
limp, and you could almost feel the pain he felt with each step, it was shown
in full detail on his face.
This one gimped over behind the four
Kalandrilians, looking out into the sky. I could still sense two more power levels inside the ship, so I didn't
bother to report to Gideon yet. After a
seemingly eternal wait, the last two beings stepped out of the ship.
The first one was the only true
Caprian of the group. His skin was
purple, his head large with the telltale two horns of the Caprians. He looked nearly identical to the (second) most
notorious Caprian, the old Captain Ginyu. His armor clashed with his skin just so it gave him a dark and menacing
look. His face was set grimly, like he
was permanently grieving a loved ones death. After he stepped out of the way the final person inside the ship came
out.
As soon as I laid eyes on him, a
strange feeling of nostalgia hit me, like I'd seen him somewhere before. It took me a few seconds before I realized
whom it was. Zarbon. The right hand man of Freeza for countless
years had been seemingly re-incarnated. This last being looked exactly like Zarbon, facial features, build,
everything I remembered about Zarbon from my time in the Room of Spirit and
Time was matched by this last person, right down to the jewellery and
armor. I stared in awe at the most
recent addition of the group, unable to tear my eyes away. Soon though, his aura overpowered me, and I
realized that this man must've been Yush, the one Kami spoke of.
I found it kind of humorous that
there was only one true Caprian in the entire group, and yet we referred to
their army as "The Caprians." I guess
Yoorabit was that powerful, so much so that every other species was fearful of
his power, I really didn't want to meet him.
I told myself to get off that rock
and tell Gideon what I'd seen, but something held me in place, something that
didn't want me to leave just yet. My
eyes drifted to Nikita, who was staring down the huge warrior that stood in the
front. Yush walked up slowly beside the
gigantic mass of muscle and whispered something into his ear. The big one pushed the side button on his
scouter a few times and Yush backed off to behind the four Kalandrilians.
When the power reading came out on
Nikita the large one laughed loudly and chuckled out in a deep, roaring voice,
"100. That's all its at Captain Yush, a
pathetic 100."
I watched with interest what Yush's
response would be. It came a few
seconds later. "Who's our weakest man
Blanka?"
I stored the name of the big one
away for future reference as he replied "Private Diamond." Yush just nodded in some sort of
signal. Blanka bellowed "Diamond, step
forward."
One of the small Kalandrilians
approached Blanka and shouted, "Yes sir!"
Blanka just nodded off in Nikita's
direction and said quietly "Kill her."
A smile spread across the face of
Diamond, and I thought I heard him reply "With pleasure." With that he cracked his three knuckles on
each hand and slowly began approaching Nikita. I thought she would immediately fly away and force the others to follow,
but instead she stood her ground as Diamond stepped nearer and nearer. "This is going to be too easy." He said with a grin the size of the Western
Capitol on his face.
Once he got within five feet of her,
he suddenly sprang, shooting forward with lunging fist. Nikita dodged with one of the most graceful
manuevers I've ever seen. As the fist
and body of Diamond approached the femme fatale, she arched her back in reverse
and let the fist fly over her torso and face. Diamonds momentum carried him even further, until his entire body was
centred over the curved form of Nikita. Right before he regained control of his body, she flung her left leg up
and planted her foot viciously into his stomach. I saw the air rush out of his body, but even I didn't have time
to relish the attack. She followed it
up less than a second later with a roundhouse from her previously grounded
right foot. The kick landed straight on
Diamonds cheek, sending the Kalandrilian flying at a hundred miles per hour
into a small boulder almost straight across from me.
When his body connected with the
limestone surface of the rock, it broke the top of the stone clear off, halting
Diamonds flight pattern. Nikita landed
back on the ground a split second after the collision with all the noise of a
dead cat. Instantly all the Caprians
eyes went wide with shock at Nikita's quick combination attack. I almost laughed at them for thinking that
she would let her true power show so quickly. I knew Nikita was probably nearing a power level of 15,000, so that
meant that Diamonds was probably near 10,000 or so. From what I could tell, all the Kalandrilians power levels were
near the same, which meant they would be no problem at all.
Blanka licked his lips at the
thought of the new challenge presenting itself. Yush didn't seem overly surprised; more like he knew it was
coming. All the others just stared at
Nikita in anger and injured pride. After a few seconds, she really blew their chops. She flipped the big bird to them in all its
glory, right at Yush's face, and then she proceeded to laugh her brains
out. I smiled; she was doing a good
job.
Almost instantly all the
Kalandrilians and the older version of Blanka shot off after Nikita, as did the
red skinned (male) of the pair of twins. Nikita just crouched and as all the Caprians reached her, she shot off
in a blast of white ki. The five that
had gone after her all crashed into the ground she'd previously occupied,
causing a huge explosion and a new crater to be formed. Nikita sailed away at her fastest speed, but
it wasn't nearly fast enough.
The "real" Caprian zanzokened out of
view almost as soon as his associates had failed in catching Nikita. He reappeared directly in front of the
female warrior before she'd even covered a hundred metres. She was forced to stop in her tracks, and
vainly flung a fist straight at the Caprians face. He easily caught it in his left hand, and with his free one
punched Nikita extremely hard in the stomach. She retracted her outstretched arm, and coughed up a small amount of
blood. The Caprian was unfeeling
though, and brought both his hands up and then down on Nikita's head. The blow propelled her down to the grass
below at a suicidal rate. She clashed
with the ground in a violent cloud of dust and blood.
When the smoke cleared she was lying
unconscious, her clothes torn, her mouth covered in blood and her ki signature
faint. The Caprian remained high above
her, his hand extended palm-forward, a small energy blast forming in his
hand. My heart tensed up, and then shot
up into my throat. I couldn't scream
out to get his attention, so I did the next best thing.
I think I incinerated the rock I'd
been resting on with my ki as I shot away from my starting point towards the
Caprian. He caught sight of me right
before I was upon him, but he was far too surprised to protect himself. With all the speed I'd built up and the
strength I threw into the attack, the fist I struck the Caprian with was
possibly the most powerful attack I performed that day. It connected with the right side of his jaw
with such impact the sound echoed for several seconds. He must've been thrown a good kilometre and
a half before his body made contact with a slanting rock face that shattered
apart with the collision.
I quickly dropped down next to
Nikita to make sure she was all right, but I didn't have any time to check, all
the baddies who'd first attacked Nikita were now zeroing in on me. I dropped into my fighting stance in
preparation, and I caught Gideon and the rest flying full speed towards me out
of the corner of my eye. I realized
that I'd just given up any chance of a sneak-attack, but if given the choice, I
would've done the exact same thing. There
was no way I was going to let Nikita get killed, not now, not when everyone
needed one another the most.
So as the approaching onslaught came
nearer, a feeling of eerie calmness swept over me, and I knew I would be
prepared for anything these damn Caprians would bring.