Into the Inferno

Okuma stirred in his bed, half-awake. He sat up slowly, stretching and yawning in the dark room, letting his eyes adjust. He started off every morning this way, waking at the same time getting ready for another long, boring day at Capsule Corp. Every day, the same old hum-drum. He'd even stopped practicing his martial arts, having no use for them since leaving his homeland. He decided that this morning he'd try something a little different, but looking at the clock he noticed, as usual, that he had no time to do anything except get ready and go. He turned on a lamp, illuminating the stone-decorated room and forcing his eyes to squint. He looked at himself in a full-length mirror, sighing at the sight of himself. He was huge, 7 feet tall or better, and very muscular. At a guess, you'd say he had to weigh 800 lbs. The brown-furred bear-man looked around the room, taking in the sights. The room was simply decorated, everything seemed to be made of stone. It looked like the inside of some cave that had gone modern, even the television casing was made of stone. He stood and walked over to the bathroom, preparing his morning shower. "Another day...Another dollar...Another life is what I need..." He closed the door, and started the shower.

The door slammed hard, causing a few items to fall to the floor, a glass vase shattered against the stone, sending water and the flowers it held everywhere.

"How the HELL could they do this to me!?" The kuma-jin roared, slinging his hardhat across the room with such force it shattered into pieces against the wall. "Twelve years of my life, and this is the thanks I get!? This is an outrage! I'll...I'll..." He flopped down on his chair, putting his hands in his face and bent over, huffing in half anger, half sadness. "This should not have happened...This company needs me...I can't believe this." A single knock, barely audible through the door, announced a visitor to Okuma. He waited for the usual accompanying cursing that occurs any time someone knocks on his door, not expecting it to be made of stone.

"Okuma...Open the door..." A sweet female voice breaks through the stone, sounding very muted. "It's me, Oval, now let me in."

Okuma stood slowly, moving to the kitchen sink, and turning on the water. "Hmmph...it's open."

The stone door slid open, revealing a slender, sharp-featured, white- haired beauty wearing the standard cover-alls of Capsule Corp. "You act like you LOST your job or something...this promotion of yours is going to be great! You're gonna get to see all the planets you have always wanted to, and not to mention the money..." She slid deftly over to the huge kuma- jin, wrapping her arms around his waist, or at least trying to, the small woman could barely reach around Okuma's massive back.

Okuma sighed, letting a single tear fall, breaking his facade of the big, tough, bear. "I know...but Oval, it's on New Namek...do you have any idea how far away that is!? It's a six month ride alone! Six months there, two years service, and another six months back. I can't be away from you for three years."

Oval looked up, smiling. "That's why I told them I wanted to go with you. And I do, more than anything else. You know for a fact that you are the best foreman this company has, and they do to, that's why you were chosen to go to New Namek and head up the new factory there. This is an important raise, and you know it...there's no other excuse you could possibly make." Oval moved between Okuma and the sink, sitting on the counter to look up at him.

Okuma looked down into his lover's face, those ocean green eyes always able to melt his resolve, and force an agreement. He sighed deeply, and pressed his forehead to hers. "Okay...if you're sure you want to go, and leave everything here on Earth behind...all your friends...your family, everyone. And not see them again for 3 years. If that's what you truly want, I'll go."

She lifted his face, locking eyes with him, and smiling lightly. "I wouldn't have it any other way."

"Hurry up or we're going to miss the shuttle...and It'll be another year wait...I don't want to stay on this rock a second longer." Oval held a very full bag in each hand, already fully packed as Okuma finished on his first bag. "Hurry up, am I going to have to stay on this planet for another year or what!? I'll leave without you if you don't hurry!"

Okuma grinned back at her, and shook his head lightly. "I told you, we've got an hour wait at the very least...the transmission from the ship said that they'd hit a meteor shower, and had to hold off on landing. Besides...if you remember our discussion that day, you wanted to come with me. And you wouldn't leave me, you and I both know it." He finished packing, and double-checking he had everything in control, his passes, his company ID, and all his documents. "Ok, I guess that's it."

Oval huffed and nearly leapt out of the door, getting into the aircar before Okuma could even capsulize the house. Okuma followed after her, getting in the back of the aircar with his her. The robotic chauffer immediately took off, racing to the landing zone for their ride back home. "I don't know why you like this planet so much...No one told me it was going to have increased gravity...I feel like when I get back on earth I'm going to be looking like a female bodybuilder."

Okuma stifled a chuckle, and gave his new wife a hug and a kiss. "And if you did, I'd just have to find someone else to sleep with." He grimaced lightly as she elbowed him. "Hey, that almost hurt."

Oval glared at him, but in a jokingly serious sort of way. "I swear ever since we got here, you've been happy and I've been miserable. The only moments of joy I've had on this planet were when Morri and I were training. You know for an old guy, he's pretty good...no wonder he's the elder."

Okuma grinned at her. "He's the elder because he's the oldest...and what's this about the only moments of joy? What was that last night?"

Oval blushed slightly, then turned to him with an evil grin. "I said what I meant." She grinned again and snuggled into her husband's fur.

The ride went by rather quickly, since Okuma and Oval took the opportunity to practice their martial arts that Morri insisted on teaching them. Though not the only moment of joy on New Namek, Oval certainly was happy when training, especially once she learned Bukujutsu. She had a natural nack for it as well...she had gotten much stronger both physically and mentally during their stay. Okuma's work kept him from training much of the time, but the time he did have was well used. He also had learned many new techniques and gotten much stronger. Morri often pushed them as if something pushed him...as if he knew something they didn't. Their only real break from training and work came with their wedding, a small ceremony with very few people in attendance that ended quickly. Their honeymoon was spent out at sea on one of the many oceans New Namek supported. The sealife was quite large, some of them bigger than even a blue whale! But they were all so docile.

Okuma's eyes lit up when the robotic pilot informed the two that they were on schedule to arrive on earth in ten hours. These six months had been a great opportunity to spend time alone with Oval without work interrupting. "Oval...we're here...wake up." He lightly teased at her neck with his hand, coaxing her awake. "The pilot just said it. Ten hours from now, we'll be back on Earth." Okuma moved to the viewport as Oval slowly woke up.

Oval jumped at hearing Okuma gasp in horror, bolting awake, having felt something wrong herself. "What is it!? What is this feeling...it feels like I am sick." She stood and went to the viewport, joining Okuma in horror. This could not be their Earth...this IS not their Earth...their beautiful Earth where they grew up, where they met, and fell in love, where they worked together and had plans to live together...this barren ball of rock isn't Earth.

Rappa grinned, his multi-fanged mouth splitting in sick humor as he took aim with his finger, the dead center of the apple in his sights, though that was clearly not what he was aiming at. The blue-green creature shot forth a small energy dart, which pierced straight through the center of yet another helpless human's eyes. The apple fell, but never hit the ground. In an amazing burst of speed, the legless, serpent-like alien had moved to the apple, caught it, placed it on the head of yet another human that was tied up, next to another forty or so others, and returned to his original spot. He hissed with delight as he took aim once again. "This is so much fun...Queen Rocka would love this, eh Jazu?"

"Whatever you say, Rappa, I wish you would just take care of these worthless humans faster than you are...I'm bored. I am not as easily amused as you are..." Jazu, a creature identical to the first except for his size which was noticeably larger, lay back beneath a tree, looking up at the smoke-filled sky, the buildings burning around him, and the gigantic crater which at one point was the center of Satan City. "Some of us actually like to pursue intellectual means of entertainment." He yawned boredly as the silence of the area was broken once again by a scream, a sickening pop and the sound of scales scraping on the rubble which is all that is left of a once beautiful city. "I don't see how this can be happening...do these creatures actually die of old age? I've heard of some planets where that happens...This planet was a hotbed of energy not too long ago, now it's dead. Queen Rocka will not be pleased when she finds out we were unable to find any energy here."

"Well...whatever happened...it couldn't have been too significant...look at this, these creatures didn't even put up a fight. And they die so easily...it's boring to you, but I enjoy being uncontested." Scream, pop, scrape.

Jazu sits up, grinning as well now, his fanged visage looking skyward at nothing physical, but a feeling instead. "Hold the phone...looks like we've got incoming...we may just get something back to the queen after all."

Rappa's aim falters, actually hitting the apple as he looks skyward also. "Yes, I feel it...not bad. This may be fun." He moves over towards Jazu, grinning even wider now. "This may be very fun..." With that, he lobs a large energy blast towards the rest of the 'target stands,' the entire area echoing in the screams of forty innocents being obliterated.

"Okuma...what the hell is going on? I'm scared...this isn't normal. Look at the Earth, it looks like something destroyed it...you don't think...could the legend of Cell be true? Could he have came back? Mr. Satan is long dead, what's going to happen!?" She hugs her husband, feeling something wet hit her head. She looks up to see another tear fall from Okuma's face. "What...what is it?"

"Oval...I wish I knew...all I know is this is why Morri was so insistent on teaching us how to fight. It's so we could come here and help...I know it...deep in my heart. Morri knew it too, but he didn't tell us because he knew we would have asked for them to help. They can't get involved in Earth's affairs...this is something we have to do ourselves. Oval, like the great Satan-sama before us...we must protect the earth."

"But...if it's Cell...do you think we can beat him? I mean, Cell was extremely powerful, and Satan-sama was seriously hurt in that fight...we may die." She hugged her husband a bit tighter, praying to Kami that Cell wasn't waiting for them.

Okuma couldn't help but feel excited inside about this. His hum-drum life. Him, the boring foreman of Capsule Corp factory number 56, which produced rubber pencil erasers. Him, the one who showed up for the haloween party on all fours so he could say he was a regular bear. He is now one of Earth's two sole defenders. No thoughts rushed his head as to could they do this. They had to do this, to uphold the name of Satan-sama, Earth's greatest hero. He reached into one of his bags, pulling forth his orange training gi, which held a symbol on the back placed there by Morri. The symbol signified that he was a student of Morri's and that he was a great warrior. Oval did the same, producing a light purple gi with the same symbol. This time, the fight wasn't training, this time it was for real.

"One minute 'til touchdown, thank you for flying Capsule Space Courrier Services. We hope to have you back onboard soon, and don't forget to tip your wait--" The explosion rocked the ship, cutting off the robotic voice of the autopilot, and sending the craft plummeting to the ground. The ship exploded once again upon impact, leaving the scent of rocket fuel lingering in the air about them. Okuma and Oval stood in the air, floating as they watched the ship burn, trying to figure out where the blast came from. Before they really wanted to, they found out. Another dark green blast of energy came ripping upwards from the wreckage headed straight for them. Their skin tingled from the heat of the blast, they have no choice now but to head directly into the inferno.