Disclaimer: Eh, I gotta finish this story soon. I'm runnin out of disclaimer ideas. Well, I don own DBZ, Tenchi Muyo, Farscape, Pokemon, Star Wars, X-Men or Animorphs. I think that covers everything.
Cryos's mouth dropped. "She is? I figured we wouldn't be, you know, able to. Cause of my genetic problems."
"You may have to face the possibility that it's not even yours." Washu said. "Because the odds that you two would be able to have a kid are astronomical."
"No, that's not possible." Cryos told her.
"How do you know. You've only known her for a few weeks. Unless you were her firs-" Cryos nodded. "Oh…" Washu looked down at the ground embarrassed. "I guess it's a miracle then… You should consider yourself very lucky."
"You know what, this is kind of a touchy subject. Lets find the Kelbrid and finish this little chat later with Kentra."
"All right." Washu brought her paralyzing weapon back up into a firing position and they went after the rest of the group.
They caught up with everyone else at the door to the storeroom. A hole had been melted through it. Kelbrid acid at work.
Washu punched in the code that opened the door and it slid away into the wall.
It was dark inside, but Kentra pointed off into a dark corner. "There!" She cried. "It's right over there digging another tunnel!"
Cryos dashed off where she had pointed, but he was running blind. He tripped over a small box and fell right into the hole!
It was only a few feet deep, but he felt the Kelbrid's breath on him and rolled aside just as a stream of acid sizzled into the ground next to him.
"Listen!" He shouted. "The only way you're going to get back to your Universe and complete that prophesy of yours is to cooperate with us!"
The Kelbrid made a hissing sound. "You took me away from my destiny! And now you expect me to trust you?!" It roared in a very unsettling voice. It sounded like two different voices speaking together. One deep, growling voice and one that sounded more like a child than anything else.
"You don't need to trust me, I thought I was doing this for your own good. Maybe I was wrong, but all we need is to do one more test, then I'll take you back."
"NO MORE TEST!" The Kelbrid roared in its unsettling double voice. Cryos heard it sucking in air, preparing to spit more acid, and quickly focused on that sound. He pulled back his fist and punched for everything he was worth.
His fist connected squarely with the thing's face with a wet smack. Then everything was quiet.
Cryos looked back over at the door. "Can I get some light in here?"
The lights clicked on, and Cryos saw the Kelbrid. It had mutated more since last he saw it. It was larger now, and had faded to an off white color much like Cryos's own skin. It had grown more spines, and they were longer as well. Some of the ones on its back were several inches long. And the last few on the tip of it's tail had gotten long as well.
Cryos grabbed it by one of the longest spines on its back and carried it back into the lab, leaving a trail of acid leaking out of its mouth.
"Run that test you wanted quickly, I want to get him home before he wakes up." He threw the Kelbrid back on the med-scanner table and Washu came running up with a tiny scalpel. She took a skin scraping and went over to a table covered with jars and tubes full of multicolored liquids.
Cryos was pretty sure the table hadn't been there just a second ago, but he knew better than to ask.
"I've got it!" Washu announced after just a few moments of work. "It's just as I suspected. The amount of Cryos's DNA that was absorbed by this creature suggested some kind of relation between the two. I did a check, and it proved it!"
"It proved what now?" Draco asked from somewhere unseen. Everyone looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be seen.
"It proved that Cryos shared certain genes with the Kelbrid. I believe that his Ice-Jin ancestors were a related to Kelbrid. Much like Humans and apes. Or lions and housecats."
"So you're saying that I'm related to that?" Cryos asked as pointed at the Kelbrid.
"Well, not directly, but closer than any of us." She explained. "This really explains a lot about the Ice-Jins anyway. I'd always suspected that you'd evolved from some subterranean species, it would explain why you don't need air (Tunnels are subject to floods and cave ins, not to mention how difficult it is to get fresh air into them). And now I have the proof of it!"
"Ok then," Cryos said, "I guess this means you can't do anything about it?"
"If it was anyone else's DNA I could," She told him. "but I can't eradicate yours once it's begun to replicate. The only reason Kentra wasn't mutated by your blood was because your genetics were too different to fuse. Or, at least that's what I thought before-" She stopped suddenly when Cryos shook his head just slightly. "Oh, nothing…"
Cryos breathed a sigh of relif when she stopped.
"Is this process dangerous to the Kelbrid?" Asked 16. He'd always been very concerned about living things. He didn't even like hurting his enemies. Very odd considering he'd originally been built as an assassin.
"It should be." Washu exclaimed. "Its absorbing DNA from a different species! But its Cryos's DNA, so any damage it's causing is being compensated for by the immortality powers."
"So now we have another immortal on our hands…" Cryos muttered. "Lets just hope he's on our side."
He opened another wormhole back to the Kelbrid world. Draco came swooping out of a dark corner somewhere and giggled hysterically as he flew into the portal.
"What's his problem?" Asked Kentra.
"I don't know," Cryos said sadly. "Washu could probably tell you, if you can understand what she's saying."
Cryos, Kentra and the androids followed the little lizard through the portal and back into the jungle.
The sun was just starting to come up. It was Cryos's first day on the world, and he was planning to make full use of it.
Cryos dropped the Kelbrid to the ground. It stirred and sat up. "I must speak with the Queen!" It said and slithered off.
"Come on," Cryos said. "lets go see what Vegeita's doing. This should be good."
As they walked, Cryos kept looking at Kentra. He knew it looked suspicious, but he couldn't help it. After awhile, she noticed and he stopped doing it. But she kept giving him odd glances every now and then.
Could she not know about it? He thought. She has to know about it, it's happening to her. Or maybe it works different for Ba'Ranians than it does for humans. Well, Mom always said it was different for Ice-Jin's. But even Ice-Jins had some symptoms in the first few weeks. I'll have to talk to her later. Or maybe I could get that Mewtwo creature to-
I'm not going to help you spy on her, Cryos. came a psychic voice.
"Would you stay out of my head already!?" He yelled at Mewtwo as the androids looked at him like he was insane. "We have a telepath on the team, he reads minds and is highly irritating with it!" The last part was directed at Mewtwo and not the androids. You'd better not tell anyone what you read in my thoughts. He thought, knowing that the psychic would hear him.
It is not my secret to give. But I suggest that you talk with Kentra about this as soon as possible. It is very important that you do.
"Where is everybody?" Cryos asked out loud.
We're all about five hundred yards to your left. Came the psychic answer. Cryos could tell it was Mewtwo's 'open' voice, meaning everybody could hear it. Nobody has their power raised, we're just talking right now.
Everyone turned and started walking in the direction Mewtwo had told them. As they were walking, Cryos noticed Kentra giving him odd glances again.
She stopped walking suddenly and grabbed Cryos by the arm, stopping him too. "Go on, we'll catch up." She told everyone else.
As soon as they were out of sight, she spun and grabbed Cryos by the neck and shoved him backwards, slamming him against a tree.
"You can talk to me about anything, right?" She asked.
Unable to speak, Cryos nodded slightly.
"Then why didn't you tell me what Washu said back in the lab?" She sounded mad, but when Cryos looked, he saw tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She let him go and fell to her knees, sobbing softly. "I could hear everything you said. My hearing's much better than yours, remember?"
Cryos rubbed his neck for a second before dropping down and putting his arm over her shoulders. "I don't really know. I didn't want you to feel like I was spying on you." Cryos tried to comfort her but she kept crying. "Oh, cheer up." He lifter her face up by her chin and looked into her eyes. "Why are you crying?" He asked.
"It's the mood swings. They started just a few days ago, but I kept them under control till now. They're getting worse. I guess it really is true. I'm having a baby…" She muttered softly.
"And this makes you cry?" Cryos asked her.
"I'm just so happy…" She burst into tears again.
Cryos smiled and pulled her close into a hug and laughed. "So, just how long will it be before we have a little bindle of joy keeping us awake all night?"
"Keeping you awake maybe, I'll already be up. But if it's anything like Ba'Ranians it'll be about six months from now. But I don't know how you figure into it."
"Ice-Jin's are about a year," He told her. "then another year for the egg to hatch. Sayians are about ten months, and Humans are nine. But hybrids always seem to take after the mother before being born. So we'll probably have a little one running around in about six months or so." She leaned into his shoulder and made a sound halfway between laughing and crying. "So are there any other symptoms I should look out for?"
"Other than the mood swings?" She asked with a big smile on her face. "I'll get all big and round like I've seen human women get. My hair will get darker, gray, and maybe even black. And the mood swings will just keep getting worse for awhile. But that's all just temporary, I'll go back to normal once the baby's born."
"Well that's a relief," Cryos said with a laugh. "I wouldn't want you to stay fat, dark and grouchy forever."
Now as soon as he'd said it he knew he'd crossed a line. The normally good-natured Kentra would have laughed at it, but now she gave him a glare that made him stand up and back away. "I'm just kidding!" He said. "It's a joke, I didn't mean anything by it!"
She took a deep breath and seemed to calm down. "I know it was a joke, but it'd probably be better if you don't taunt me like that. I was able to resist the rage that time, but still… I almost attacked you a second ago. I'll just try to stay calm till I get control over this thing."
"Ok, I'll try to keep everyone else from getting you all worked up too. Here, let me give you a ride." He picked her up in his arms and jumped into the air. He flew over the treetops in a long arc and landed in the clearing where Zeethra, Trunks, Vegeita, Mewtwo, Piccolo, Zon, the Animorphs, and several of the Kelbrid messengers were standing in a line passing messages to their Queen deep down her hole.
"Cryos!" One of the small Kelbrid came slithering up to him. "The Queen demands your presence! We must go!" It turned and slithered away without waiting for a response.
"I'll stay here." Kentra said and slid out of his arms. "That Queen gives me the creeps."
"All right," Cryos said and leaned in for a quick kiss. "I'll be right back."
He leaned to kiss her again, but was interrupted. "Please Cryos," Came Vegeita's gruff and annoyed voice. "Hurry so we can get back to the planning."
Cryos made a face at him, but didn't say anything. Then he turned to follow the Kelbrid messenger.
It was waiting for him at the entrance to the hive, but the Queen was nowhere in sight. "So where is she?" He asked.
"Our Queen in inside the hive, she cannot emerge right now, but has sent some specialized drones to take you to her.
At that moment, a pair of Kelbrid emerged from the hive. They looked like any of the other fighting drones that had been killed during the battle earlier, except that these had a pair of long horns coming up out of their heads.
"We are here to guide you to the Queen," They said in one voice as they bowed.
Cryos looked down the dark tunnel. "Eh, I don't mean to sound disrespectful, but how does the Queen expect me to get to her, even with guides. Maybe you don't have trouble with the dark, but I'll be blind down there."
The twin Kelbrid glanced at each other for a moment before they closed their eyes and appeared to concentrate.
Suddenly, an arc of electricity sparked between each's horns and quickly flowed up to the tips. The controlled lightning jumped and sparked, but was bright enough that Cryos would be able to see it the tunnels.
Cryos took a step back in surprise, but quickly recovered and went up to the hive's entrance. "All right then, lets go."
