Chapter IV - Through the Fire

------------
I will take it to the wire now
Until every race is run
I'll go straight into the fire now
Until every day is done
Voices say -- break away
Live each night as if each moment
Was the only one

Through the fire
To the wire
When the night out of control
Is breaking your heart
Through the fire
To the wire
When the flames are burning hot
They take you higher
Through the fire

There's a feeling that I can't ignore
Like a stranger at my door
So revealing that I cannot hide
When you settle up the score
Voices say -- night and day
Live your life as if each second
Was the final one

Through the fire
To the wire
When the night out of control
Is breaking your heart
Through the fire
To the wire
When the flames are burning hot
They take you higher

I look for signs that you are here tonight
When the passion calls the pleasure to the flame
Then I ask you of the meaning when you talk of love
Would you take the leap of faith?
Would you throw it all away?

Through the fire...
-------------

"What begins?" Vegeta snapped. Just then, one wall exploded in flames.

"Element: Water!" Kakarika thrust out her hand (the one not holding the lightsaber) and summoned a torrent of water to douse the wall.

"Um, 'Rika?" Trunks said shakily, "I hope you have a lot more water than that."

It wasn't just the Capsule Corp. that was flaming. Heat comparable to an active volcano poured from every crevice of the city. Flames roared in Kakarika's ears, mingling with screams and the crash of falling buildings. The heat distorted the scene into wavy patterns, the smoke stinging the Alcoan's eyes and lungs. Kakarika's pack appeared behind her, and she stuffed her lightsaber into it, zipping the bag closed and slinging it on her back.

"Get out of here!" Kakarika shouted. She broke into a dead run, her wings pinned to her back by the bag. The others followed.

Kakarika burst out of the flaming building, Trunks and Bulma (carrying Bra) following.

"Father's still in there!" Trunks yelled in a panic, preparing to run back into the flaming death-hole.

Kakarika pulled Trunks back, tossing him her bag, "I think this is the perfect time for me to gain some of his trust."

With that, Kakarika dashed into the inferno.

------------

Vegeta was trapped under a heavy beam, unconscious from the smoke. It was unusual for the prince to be in such a weak position, obviously something had been sapping his strength. He coughed weakly, praying silently for help.

------------

Kakarika turned another corner. The maze-like compound was huge, and several corridors were blocked by fallen debris. To blast them away only made more fall. Cursing, Kakarika was rapidly expending her energy for water blasts, getting nowhere and only making circles and backtracks. She had about 5 minutes to get Vegeta and get out.

Finally, Kakarika reached a room where she noticed Vegeta trapped under a beam. She dared not call out to him, for not only would it take energy, but it would take time, which was obviously something Vegeta did not have. She grunted and strained, trying futilely to lift the heavy piece of metal. Finally, she got an idea. Her tail snaked around her body, positioning under the beam. With three limbs lifting, she still got zero results. Finally, she tried one final thing. With beams and flaming pieces of the ceiling crashing down around her, she flapped her wings and lifted off the ground. The beam lifted as well. With one mighty heave, Kakarika hurled the beam off to the side, picking up the unconscious saiya-jin.

A sudden crash drew the Alcoan's attention. The way she had come was now blocked by some fallen shrapnel. She snarled angrily as she realized she had no more strength left to fire water at the flames. She gazed at the prince, gritting her teeth in frustration. She couldn't give up here, too much depended on her survival. She then looked upward at the steel-reinforced ceiling.

*I have one chance. Just one, and it's risky. But I can't afford to be picky.* With that, Kakarika spread her wings to the full, crouching down a little.

She flapped her wings mightily, launching into the air like a missile. Lowering her head, she bashed through the ceiling. Her flapping faltered and her vision blacked out temporarily. When she regained her senses, she noticed that she was still airborne, Trunks waving to her from the ground. She landed, concentrating her powers to get everyone out of the city.

Her body glowed with a black light, her form shifting and changing. When the dark light faded, she was a dragon. A huge black dragon with some purple, blue, and green scales. It was the jeweled dragon that haunted Vegeta's nightmares.

Vegeta's eyes flickered open weakly, "I knew it..." He sighed before passing out again.

Kakarika the dragon pumped her wings as soon as all of the Briefs family had loaded onto her back. She swept low over the city, smiling toothily as person after person climbed up. Suddenly, a column of fire shot towards her. Not risking a roll, she turned her head to the side, blasting a column of water to counter the flames. The two impacted with a blast of steam. Still the dragon continued to fly, leaving the city.

From atop a burning building, a deadly-looking creature snarled, "Soon, Kelli. Soon it all will come crashing down. Enjoy your victory while it lasts."

-------------

Kakarika landed in the outskirts of Satan City, watching as the citizens filed off of her back and onto the soft grass on the hill. They stood and watched their city, their home, burn. The wind carried the heat of the flames.

It was hours until the fire died, revealing the once-proud city. The buildings looked like ancient ruins, the smoke still hung over the skeletons of the buildings, blotting out the sun. Kakarika's sharp dragon hearing caught the sound of many people crying.

*They're just like I am, now.* Kakarika thought to herself, *We made it through the fire, but at what cost? Most of these people have no homes to go to. They're lost in this world now, just as I am.*

Suddenly, burning white dots exploded in front of her eyes. She involuntarily roared, catching everyone's attention. With a feral roar, she whirled around to face her attacker.

It was Vegeta. He was standing shakily on his feet, panting from the exertion of firing the ki blast.

She stalked quickly towards him, roaring, "I save your life and this is how you repay me?!!"

As she finished her hate-born sentence, she ended up in Vegeta's face, rank, icy breath blasting from her mouth and nostrils.

Vegeta didn't flinch, but rather replied icily, "You burned my home to the ground, tried to kill my family. Then you decide to play the hero so no one will know."

"Why do you insist that I'm evil?!!!" Kakarika twisted her neck to the left, blasting ice shards towards a tree. As soon as the attack hit, the tree was coated in ice.

Kakarika's tone lowered to a menacing whisper, "Do you think I could have caused that fire if all I can control is water? I have no quarrel with your family, in fact, I am in deeply in their debt for taking me in when I had no place to go. You, however..."

With that said, Kakarika issued a dragon-sized snort and reversed the transformation, becoming her Alcoan self again, "I think we got off on the wrong foot. You need to lighten up. I may be a stranger, but I'm certainly not here to destroy the planet."

Vegeta looked skeptical. Kakarika sighed and continued, "If I wanted you dead, I could have left you in the building to die of smoke inhalation. Even better, I COULD have let Trunks go in after you, and have him die too. And still better... when I stung you with my tail, I could have killed you then. An Alcoan's tail dagger can inject one of two substances. A tranquilizer, which I used on you, or a killing acid. If I would have used that acid, it'd be bye-bye Vegeta. But I didn't."

Vegeta shrugged coldly, "Simple miscalculation."

Kakarika snarled viciously, grabbing Vegeta by the throat, "I could kill you right now, I could. I could wrench your head from your body and stuff it up your ass. I could pull out your intestines and hang you from that tree by them. I could turn your insides to ice... literally. I could break every bone in your body and leave you to die slowly. I could. But I won't."

She hurled Vegeta back towards his family, laughing evilly, "As I said, I'm not here to kill anyone. I didn't start the fire, but someone did. There are is someone else we should be fighting, instead of each other. Round up the others, meet me here. There are things to be said, that I think need to be said."

Vegeta smirked evilly, activating his ki. He flew off, to find the others. Kakarika watched until he was merely a dot in the sky.

*Now, now all we have to do is plan, and then wait.* Kakarika thought.