Chapter 12: The Search
Kana had left the others parked decently far as she ran back to where the incident occured with the second Den Na' Vor. She stopped and put her hands on her knees as she lowered herself panting, "Man… I need to work out more.." She sighed as she stood up and glanced around.
Good thing it was morning by the time they arrived, it was easier to look around and see, but it was also very dangerous in this area. Tattered buildings everywhere, homeless people also everywhere along with a bunch of garbage and junk that laid around.
Kana glanced at the road and noticed the skid marks left from the vehicle in the dirt road, she then looked in the general direction the cloaked Den Na' Vor had walked off towards and she pursued in that direction.
Kana was grateful this place was mostly dirt pathways and roads, she could easily track the left footmarks in the dirt considering they were dragon like feet and not human.
Kana came to realize that no one has literally attempted to rob or mug her, or worse. It was very common here, but it hasn't happened, nor has she seen an incident since she arrived. Kana stood up from crouching after inspecting some footprints in the dirt and glanced around, it was quiet, too quiet.
Kana jumped at the sudden scream she heard directly ahead of her, it was a man's scream, not a girl and it confused her. She stood there as it was heard again but it sounded like it was from a different man, she glanced down and noticed the Den's footprints in that general direction as well.
Kana let out a sigh and gulped deeply as she was somewhat uncertain with the situation, but she proceeded and marched her way towards the screams. As she got closer and glanced down every now and then to keep track of the prints of the Den Na' Vor, sounds of fighting could be heard more easily. And she came to the conclusion that there was a gang fight going on.
Kana slowed down and glued herself to the wall of a building and peered around the corner to see what was happening, her reaction became a surprised one when she noticed many many men in a circle and the Den Na' Vor they encountered earlier was right in the center.
"I don't want any trouble." The Den Na' Vor stated as it glanced around at the men that circled them. "Well we do freak!" One of the men shouted and slammed a bat in his hand and started chuckling.
Kana let out an unamused look, 'They are so asking for it..' she thought to herself as she watched the incident before her eyes.
A bunch of men began to charge as many held weapons of some sort, whether it be bats, guns, knives, or even hard rocks and scraps picked up off the streets. The fight honestly ended quickly, the Den Na' Vor practically mauled all the men down without killing any of them, only one had a gun that was loaded but had no luck as a bullet couldn't pierce their scales.
The hood from the cloak they were wearing had fallen off towards the end when they knocked out the last man and collapsed to the ground, their skin was definitely a reddish orange. Kana walked her way out slowly from the corner of the building she was lurking at and towards the Den Na' Vor who put the hood back on.
Kana raised her hands slowly halfway as she slowly walked towards them, "You're a Den Na' Vor, aren't you?" Kana questioned as she stopped and stood nearby. The cloaked Den only stood and then turned slowly and looked at Kana and raised an eye, "How do you know my species name?" They questioned.
"I've studied the one other that had arrived here on this planet, and learned a bit. But you're a different one, one that doesn't want trouble and chaos. Am I wrong?" Kana asked as she lowered her hands, she was showing she didn't want any trouble, just answers.
"Hmmm, you may call me Xen. You must leave and stop studying us, lady." Xen stated as she fully turned to face Kana who had to look up at Xen considering Den Na' Vor were much larger and could change their height to blend in with the humans as well. "The name's Kana, not lady. And no, I won't. This other Den Na' Vor here is wanting chaos and is planning to bring forth an army to conquer our world and I want to stop that, but my question is, why are you here, I thought it was just Dragor." Kana stated as she glanced at all the unconscious men around her.
Xen glared at Kana slightly, "Dragor? You mean, Zono of the blue flamed Den Na' Vors." Xen said as she lowered herself to Kana's height, Kana only looked at Xen in slight surprise, "Zono is their real name? Blue skinned?" She questioned. Xen nodded, "All though I do like Dragor more, I served him once, many many decades ago." Xen began but then stopped.
Xen growled lowly as they had glanced at something behind Kana, Kana quickly turned around to see why. "April! Casey! What the hell are you two doing here!?" Kana shouted angrily as she noticed it was the two who stood panting slightly as they looked at Kana. "You… are not…" April began but had to stop to catch her breath from all the running around and searching. "You are not going alone. And by the looks of it, you found them…" April stated as she stood straight.
Kana reassured Xen that they were with her and were ok and not wanting trouble, Xen only snorted slightly as they didn't like the situation. "How many of you know about Dragor and his plans?" Xen questioned as she glared at mostly Kana. Casey started counting with his fingers but April and Kana answered quickly at the same time, "Seven." "Wait, what about the purple Dragons, and that rat, and my dad…?" Casey stated raising a few more fingers at them.
"Not all the purple dragons know, Casey. Just two of them, Jenna and the leader of the purple dragons, but yes, your dad knows and one other knows. So in total, eleven people that we know of at the moment. But I am sure there's a chance others might know as well?" April said as she moved her look to Casey and back at Xen.
Xen sighed, the situation and reason why they were here has gotten far worse than they had expected. "Is there somewhere private we can talk?" Xen asked with a somewhat sad expression on their face. Kana, April and Casey all looked at eachother worriedly and shrugged, "Yeah, if you're willing to come with us." Kana said, Xen nodded.
"MIKEY! I swear to god if you don't stop that loud ass chewing and munching of yours, I'll make sure you won't be able to eat snacks again!" Raph shouted as he jolted to look at Mikey who sat in the back munching on some chips and candy decently loud. Mikey only smiled and chewed quieter as he did innocently, Raph let out a small growl and just leaned back in the passenger seat once more.
Donnie was sitting on the small couch with his hands on his cheeks as he was pretty much bored of waiting, Leo sat criss crossed in the driver seat as he watched the monitors, Leo gave an unamused look as he noticed April and Casey bring back Kana with an unexpected guest as she waved at the camera for him to open the doors.
"You're that vehicle that attempted to run me over…" Xen said as she glanced at the Shellcharger is slight amazement. "Sorry about that, someone got cranky with the stopping and took over the wheel angrily and forcefully." April stated with an innocent smile. Leo opened the side doors for them and they entered as he quickly shut the doors behind them once they came in, "Dude, you brought them here!? Are you crazy!?" Raph shouted as he was on his knees peeking over the passenger seat.
"I'm guessing that's the cranky one?" Xen whispered asking April, April nodded with a small sob as she felt really bad for what Raph did. Leo glanced at April for a sign if this was ok as he trusted her considering she and Casey both came back with Kana and the Den Na' Vor, April noticed this instantly and nodded at him, showing that Xen seemed harmless and didn't want trouble.
Leo only sighed and turned himself to face them slightly, "Mind explaining then?" He questioned as his eyes were on Xen mostly and wanting answers from them. Casey sat next to Donnie on the couch and April and Kana both sat down next to each other in front of Xen and offered them to sit down as well with a smile.
Xen appreciated how nice all these people were as it was mostly trouble they've been getting into and having to avoid them, they sat down and curled their tail around their feet and let out a small sigh as they were also grateful with the situation. Considering Xen just met some new people, they decided to start from the beginning.
"You may all call me, Xen. As you all know, Zono, I mean, Dragor is attempting to mass world conquer your planet. His real name is Zono, Zono of the blue flamed Den Na' Vors, king of the blue skinned Flamed Den Na' Vors. He is extremely powerful in the most heated places, just as I am. And weaker in cooler places, just as I am. I am a female red flamed Den Na' Vor, and I use to serve beside Dragor. But he became very evil many many decades ago, he built an army of his own and destroyed our home planet. Many Den Na' Vors traveled on their own in the galaxy in search of a new home, a place to survive and thrive. We managed to find a new home, but only a few of us remained, when I got word of Zono attempting world conquer of another world, I came searching for him myself to put a stop to him and revenge for destroying my home and family." Xen explained.
"How did you guys get here… can you actually breathe in space and fly in it to get from planet to planet?" Kana questioned, Xen nodded, "We travel with our wings, we do not need ships or specific oxygen. We can breath anywhere, even in worlds with no air or oxygen like you people." Xen stated as she pointed at Kana.
"Ok, so you're here to kill Dragor, are you here specifically in this location looking for him, or the final teleporter piece?" April asked, Xen moved her look to April. "I am here to find the final piece of the teleporter and find a way to destroy it before he comes and takes it. I arrived here a week ago, and I am still learning how this world works. I knew Zono was after the teleporter for a while now, but I never expected it to be here on this planet." Xen stated with a small shrug.
"Wait, so the teleporter IS from your world!?" Raph questioned her, Xen nodded in agreement, "The teleporter was lost for generations, gone missing, was hidden by our special ancient scientists, but rumors and clues of it still existing and being hidden still lurked around. And many thought to find it and use it for evil or good, Zono has by far been the first to discover it, let alone almost all the pieces."
April put a hand to her chin as she thought and remember what Xen said earlier, "You said, find a way to destroy it. Does that mean it's unbreakable, undestroyable?" She questioned Xen as she looked up at her. Xen shrugged, "Indeed, the teleporter was built and made from the strongest of our elders scales and materials of our world. But like anything and everything, there is always someway of destroying that something."
"This final piece, what is it exactly?" Donnie asked. "The power source. It is a glowing gem full of overwhelming power in order for the teleporter to operate and be powered." Xen explained, "You must stay out of this and let me handle Zono, we are too strong for you, we can kill you easily." Xen stated worriedly. April only smiled as schooched her way closer to Xen and grabbed Xen's hand as she smiled at her, "We're not going to sit around and let you do this alone, this is our planet and we want to protect it from chaos too, let us help you." April said with ease in her voice, Xen looked down at April with surprise but also appreciation.
Xen liked the comfort April was giving her from the softness of her voice and willingness of wanting to help, Xen also noticed everyone else smiling at her as they all agreed with April and showed that they did with nods. Xen began to form tears and smiled, "No one has ever been this kind to me since the war." April felt bad and gave Xen a hug who returned it, Xen was extremely grateful.
"Just because you're a different species doesn't mean we will take you differently, many might see the Den Na' Vors as evil overwhelmingly strong creatures, but just like us, our own worst enemy is our own species, or even ourselves." Leo stated as he pointed at Xen reassuring her that they accepted her for who she was, not because of her species and what Dragor has done. "Don't judge a book by it's cover." Mikey said as he smiled at her and munched on a chip.
Xen smiled at all them and wiped away her happy tears, "Fine, you may proceed to help. It won't be easy…" Xen said with slight worry. April chuckled, "We knew already it wasn't going to be. We don't even know where to begin here… Are you able to like sniff it out or something?" April asked.
Xen lowered her head sadly and shook her head, "Sadly no, there are no clues or directions on where this power gem is directly located." "So we don't know, you don't know, no one knows, so it's official that Dragor doesn't know either… great. Why don't we just leave it hidden then?" Raph questioned. "He will not stop searching for it, he has spent decades researching it and finding out where it was hidden, and spent many days gathering the pieces. It would be best if we came across it and got our hands on it first before he does and find a way to destroy it for good." Xen stated.
"Great." Raph growled and sat back angrily. "So, these scientists hid it because there was no way to destroy it?" April questioned, Xen moved her look to April and nodded, "The elders had no time to figure a way to destroy it as many many were attempting to take it away and use it for their own purposes of evil, so they all flew to a new world to hide it which is this world, many of the elders have passed away except…" Xen came to realization and became excited which confused everyone.
"Except one! His name is Marwin, he was the one who actually hid the power source gem. I heard he rests somewhere here on this planet watching and protecting it." Xen stated with excitement. "So we have a resting dragon here in Mexico!? You're kidding, right…" Casey said, "He could be anywhere, this place is huge and full of millions of people, how can he hide here, let alone rest? And how exactly long can you guys live…?" Kana asked, raising an eyebrow.
"We can live for thousands of years, Marwin is an earth Den Na' Vor-" Xen began but was cut off by Mikey and Casey. "Wait, earth!? Mikey, are you thinking what I am thinking!?" Casey quickly shouted and turned to Mikey with excitement, Mikey smiled and nodded and they both turned to face the others, "We know where to find him!" they both said. "I officially feel scared now…" Donnie stated as he lowered his head into his scarf.
"One of our games earlier took place in Mexico City, they made Mexico the exact same for an open world game. Downtown in a park, there was a dragon statue that looked exactly like you guys." Casey stated as he looked at Xen, Xen lowered her head sadly, April turned to look at her and tilted her head, "What's the matter? Is it him?" Xen nodded slightly, "When an earth dragon turns to stone fully, it's normally them passing away in their sleep."
Everyone looked sad from the sudden explanation regarding Marwin, "Well, the park clears at night, good thing Downtown isn't that populated like the city itself, it's the only lead we have so we might as well go check it out." Kana stated with a serious look as she glanced at everyone.
Kana was correct about it being the only lead they had, They drove closer to downtown before waiting until dark, April and Kana got out to go buy some food, everyone pretty much rested and took a nap until dark hit. It was approximately almost nine at night when everyone finally woke up, Leo didn't get much sleep due to Raph's loud snoring, same with April and Kana.
Leo drove and pulled up next to the park and powered off the Shellcharger and crossed his arms as he sat back. The park was pretty much silent, completely empty and no one was in sight nearby, it kinda worried Leo with how dead it seemed to be, so he kept his guard up.
Everyone exited the vehicle and stretched, Donnie was at the front of the Shellcharger as he leaned over the hood and rubbed his hand on the broken window where the piercing bullet went through. "Come on, Donnie! You can fix it when we get back home!" Raph shouted at him as the others were already decently far from the vehicle.
The dragon statue that was said to be here from the idiots was here after all, it was huge and standed out the most as it was almost directly in the center of the park. Xen was already fast walking towards it, when Xen reached it and faced it she placed a hand on the statue and rested her forehead on it.
"Elder Marwin." Xen said lowly in respect as the others approached her, "So it is him?" Kana asked, Xen nodded as she backed away slowly and looked up at him. "He has rested here for centuries on end. Just like our scales, he is still protected even within being stone, the stone is like his scales still, he will not break or rot away." Xen stated with a sad tone to her voice, "People must think he's just a carved out statue." Kana said.
"Is there any kind of motion he is doing that you understand that directs us, like some way of pointing?" April questioned as she glanced at Xen. Xen stood and looked up at Marwin and also glanced around to see but shook her head sadly, everyone pretty much sighed sadly.
Leo glanced around at Marwin and walked around away from the group and placed his hand on the statue as he walked, he wasn't sure what he was doing aside from searching, one piece of the statue in particular grasped his attention as he stopped and glanced at it and raised an eye as he did.
April noticed Leo was gone, she glanced around and realized he was on the other end of the statue and walked towards him in confusement. She peered around the other end of the statue and at Leo, "Leo!?" April lowly shouted, Leo jumped in surprise as he quickly looked at her.
"Jeez, you need to stop doing that…" Leo sighed, April approached him and raised an eyebrow, "What? Jump scaring you? Maybe stay more alert." April stated with an unamused look as she was serious.
"Sorry… something's just bothering me…" Leo said as he glanced up at the statue, he placed his hand on the one part that seemed off to him, and once he did it suddenly broke off. Both Leo and April were shocked as he lowered his hand with the part in it and both stared at it, "That's impossible… Xen said he is unbreakable…" April stated in shocked confusement.
"Impossible." A voice came from behind them, it was Xen and the others who came on over. "That's what I said!" April stated as she pointed at herself, the stone crumbled away in Leo's hand as the others gathered near him to see, a glowing gem appeared once all the stone broke off and fell to the grass. April gave an unamused look at the gem, "I knew it." She remarked.
Leo was very confused and surprised as he peered at the others who were amazed and shocked at the same time, Leo moved the gem to the point of holding it with two fingers and showed it to Xen, "This the power gem?" he questioned her.
Xen's eyes were wide with surprise, but she nodded in agreement. Leo tossed the gem to her who caught it and held in both her hands and glanced down at it with sadness. "Oh Marwin… he infused the gem into his scales… but how did you…?" Xen stated and began with confusement as she looked up at Leo. "Only our own kind or something or someone stronger can break us." Xen remarked.
April jumped excitedly and giggled as she hugged Leo and shook him a bit, "You really are a chosen one, aren't ya!" She laughed happily. Leo only gave an unamused expression, "Again… still too many unknowns." Leo growled lowly.
Everyone jumped at the sudden loud bang they all heard, everyone glanced in the general direction it came from. They all noticed a red and orange mix glow in the distance and tons of smoke, it was an explosion, and a large one at that.
Kana quickly looked at Xen, "Do you think he's here?" she questioned. Xen growled lowly, "It's possible. He enjoys destruction on a large scale." Xen stated as she quickly glanced at everyone, "We must leave, now!" Everyone quickly started running back to the Shellcharger, the explosion wasn't too far off at all, and there was a high chance it was Dragor here finally and searching for the power gem.
April came to a sudden stop and glanced behind her, Leo noticed this and stopped as well. Kana stayed put next to Marwin where they all were previously standing, "Kana!?" April shouted worriedly. Kana moved her look from the statue to April and waved, "You guys go ahead, I'm going to stick around. I'll give you a call in awhile, April! I have your number, don't worry!" Kana shouted at her as she waved with a small smile.
Leo stopped and grabbed April as she attempted to go back to Kana, April hated this as she got along very well with Kana and she felt like an older sister she has never had closely. April knew she was staying to attempt to talk to Dragor when he arrived searching for the gem, Dragor was a cold ruthless beast and a killer and knowing the chances, she wasn't going to receive a call later on.