Crono's Story

Chapter 23

	I'll never forget the look on Kennards face when Yush arrived.  It was sort of a mix between utter fear and disbelief.  His jaw was twisted at an irregular angle, his pupils contracted smaller than peas, his eyebrows raised to about half the way to his hairline, and soon his whole face began to shake.
	His facial expression perfectly reflected my interior.  When I first sensed Yush's power, I was almost overcome by it's size, so much so that I almost collapsed on the spot.  It was that powerful, enough to sense from all the way out in space.  My breathing halted, something in my throat prevented air from travelling through.
	Kennard and I both stared into each others eyes, our hearts beating rapidly, neither of us willing to move from our spots, like we were frozen in fear.  I don't know how long we just stood there, in our fighting stances, staring at each other without the guts to move.
	Finally he spoke up "You feel that right?"  I didn't reply, I couldn't get any words out of my throat "I mean, it's not just me right?"  He continued.
	I swallowed the bulge in my oesophagus and managed a nod.  I started breathing again, slowly at first, but soon I was hyperventilating, like I'd lost all control of my body.  I looked vainly into Kennard's eyes, hoping for some sort of sanity within them.  Luckily he'd regained his senses faster than I, and quickly said.  "Let's turn off the gravity generator, and go see Kami."
	I nodded again, concentrating on slowing my breathing down to normal.  He scampered away, and soon I felt the load of 80 times normal gravity being lifted off my shoulders.  It felt nice actually; it'd been so long since I'd felt my normal weight.
	Soon Kennard had come back to me, he grabbed my arm hastily, and spoke in a raspy voice "Come on, we got to get to Kami and see what's up with that power source."
	"Right."  I finally managed to squeak out.  He nodded in reply, and then with a quick second of preparation, we shot off into the sky.  I found it amazing how fast we moved, but I guess that was the effects of the gravity training.  In fact, I felt stronger than I ever had before, like a million bucks.  I could actually enjoy the bright morning sky; not having to think about the gravity crushing me in my sleep, or what attack Kennard was going to hit me with next in one of our sparring matches.
	I didn't have time to appreciate the subtleties for long though, we reached Sky Palace in less than two minutes.  "We're here Yukia."  Kennard said, stating the obvious (a knack of his).
	We plopped down in the courtyard, finding Arsenia and Karnai hanging out there as well.  We both sprinted over to the other two warriors, who were standing impatiently at the Palace doors, waiting for Kami.  We reached them quickly, and I asked "You guys have any idea what that is?"
	Karnai shook his head, and Arsenia made no motion at all.  I sighed deeply, tracking the remaining members of our team as they made their way to Sky Palace.  I watched as one after the other assembled in front of Kami's doors; first Nikita, then Gideon, and then finally Phoenix.  I was amazed at how almost all of them had improved greatly in just four months, since we'd broken up to start our gravity training.  The weakest amongst us was Nikita, but even she was at least twice as strong as before her gravity training.
	We all stood in front of the magnificent palace doors, none of us uttering a word.  As strong as all of our aura's were, I knew even then that the one approaching Earth was far more powerful than all of ours combined.  A small shred of fear popped up in my heart, and as I began to wonder if this power was evil, another Nacran.  The fear snowballed, so quickly that soon I was shaking uncontrollably.
	"What's wrong Yukia?"  Karnai asked in a worried voice.  Instantly everyone turned to face me.
	"Wha?  Oh, nothing I guess."  I stammered out.  I tried to push the fear back down, but a seed of doubt had already been planted, and it wasn't easily uprooted.
	Almost immediately as I concealed my fear, the large golden entrance slowly swung open.  As usual I couldn't see inside, it was far too dark, but I did manage to make out the form of Kami, moving slowly with bereaved and uncoordinated steps.
	We all held our breath as our master, our god, walked out of the darkness and into the early morning sunlight.  As soon as he stepped out from under the arch of the doorframe, every ones eyes were locked onto his mouth, waiting for his lips to move and release the information we all desired.
	He took his sweet time, staring out into seemingly nothing for the longest time, before taking in a deep sigh.  When he didn't say anything, Gideon spoke up.  "Who is this Kami?"
	The old namek guardian turned to look at Gideon, an almost painful expression on his face, and a dead look in his eyes.  "His name is Yush."  There was a long pause and then he continued,  "He's a Caprian.  Looks like he was sent here as a follow up to Nacran's group."
	My heart sank with the news, my knees grew wobbly, and I almost collapsed on the ground, catching myself at the last second.  No one made any sort of sound for the longest time, each of us absorbing the grave news in his or her own way.  I looked around, studying my friends in the faint hope one of them would have a glimmer of confidence in their faces.
	I came up empty of course.  Nikita was staring into the ground, shaking her head.  Arsenia had his fists clenched tightly by his sides, some sort of rage swelling up inside him.  Kennard and Phoenix seemed shocked; their mouths hung open, their eyes wide and their bodies rocking back and forth slowly.  Gideon had turned away, his shoulders rocking ever so slightly, his ki power falling dramatically with every second.  Karnai remained staring at Kami, a grim look on his face.  Right as my eyes fell on him, he spoke  "Why didn't you see this coming Kami?"
	With the exception of Gideon, we all turned to face Kami.  The two Nameks stared intently into each other's eyes.  I caught a sight of a small tear running down Kami's cheek as he replied in a choked and soft voice "I didn't look." He blinked slowly as more tears came pouring out of his eyes.  "I... I just didn't look."
	I'd never seen Kami, or for that matter any Namek, ever cry, and the effect of the sight was more than slightly backbreaking.  Ever since I was a child, Kami had been the vision of hope and light in my life, and to see him break down like that was disheartening to say the least.
	I swallowed back a few of my own tears and took another glance at my friends.  They seemed defeated already, like somehow we'd give up without a fight.  I couldn't let that happen, to let them give in like that, so I took it upon myself to give them some sort of hope.  "Well there's no fucking way we're just going to let them come in here and take the damn dragon balls right?"  Everyone turned to me in amazement, but I remained focused on Kami.  "How long do we have before they land on Earth?"  I asked him brazenly.
	"Uh, I think just a little under an hour."  He stammered out.
	"Alright."  I thought for a split second before continuing.  "We already have five of the dragon balls.  I'm guessing you sent Mr. Popo after the other two, right Kami?"  He nodded quickly, and I continued, "Alright, then when he's found them all we get him to wish back Cris or Triono, and then we get ready to fight these shit-head Caprians."
	It wasn't like it was an amazing plan or anything, but everyone stood in some sort of stunned silence, like their feet were made of lead.  I knew we didn't have any time to waste, so I quickly asked Kami.  "Where are they going to land?  We need an exact drop-zone so we can clear out any humans and maybe prepare a trap or something for their ship."
	There was no response from any of my allies, but I could tell the message had gotten through.  Their heads were held higher, their eyes were dry, and they seemed in control of the situation once again.  I smiled, and turned to Kami.  "Let's do this."
	He nodded, and so did I.  With that pact made, I turned to Gideon and asked, "So what's our plan of attack?"  The dark-skinned descendant of Tien may not have been the official leader of our group, but he did possess the best leadership skills, and had always wanted to take control of the situation, no matter the circumstances.  It didn't hurt that he was the strongest human either.
	He looked me in the eye, his face burrowed in thought.  After a few seconds of silence he piped up "Well, I guess we could try and surprise attack them once they land.  I mean, if they're anything like Nacran's group, they'll rely way too much on their scouters and equipment, which means all we have to do is push our power levels down and then trap them with something."
	Sounded good, so I quickly nodded, and turned back to Kami.  The Namek was gazing outward into the sky, seeming almost aloof of Gideon's idea.  I knew he was plotting the crash course of the Caprians, so I let him do his thing, and after a few seconds asked, "So have you figured out where the drop point is yet?"
	He didn't reply for a few seconds, then turned to face me and nodded.  "Yes, just a few kilometres north of the Western Capitol.  If you guys are going to make a trap of some sort, I suggest you try and lead them away from the city.  I doubt even I could get all the humans to vacate the city for any sort of extended amount of time."
	The drop site sure sucked, but we had to do the best with what we were given.  The locale meant we'd probably have to lead them farther north.  That meant another decoy, which I didn't mind playing, just as long as the enemy wasn't a giant monkey that started clobbering my friends.
	I voiced my thoughts "I guess one of us will have to lead them away from the city, and then the others will spring."
	"Sounds about right."  Karnai agreed.  "All we need is a bait."  Everyone's heads slowly turned towards me, a nervous look in their eyes.  I smirked, and was about to accept the shitty job, when suddenly Nikita spoke up.
	"I'll do it."  She said in a barely noticeable voice.  All of our heads whipped in her direction, and she just stared into my eyes.  "I'll be the bait."  Our eyes locked, penetrating into each other like drills.  In the small amount of time our eyes attached I saw the past I knew she lived every night; the memories of her father, of her uncontrollable anger, of everything she hated about herself.  I knew she saw the fear I tried to hide, the fear of the Caprians, of the death that would envelope me if we failed, of all the things she stood in the face of and told to "Fuck off."
	We held the gaze for a few seconds before Karnai stepped between us and asked her "Are you sure Nikita, it's going to be very dangerous."
	"I'm sure."  Came the immediate reply.
	"Alright, then let's head to the site, and get ready for them."
	Everyone nodded silently, and then walked briskly to the nearest edge of Sky Palace, near The Arena.  We were about to head off when I remembered something I'd meant to ask Kami.  I turned around and yelled out "How many of them are there Kami?"
	His reply came tentatively; I could tell he was mentally tallying them up.  Finally he answered, "Ten of them I believe, including Yush."
	"Alright, thanks."  I replied, and with that jumped off the edge towards the huge green orb I would be fighting to protect.