Chapter 13

Zenika stood over the helpless prince. “You’re a fool,” she said. “You’re father turned me down as well. None of this would be happening to you right now if it weren’t for him. He should have given me my way the first time. Just think, Kaioshin…if your father had agreed to handing you over to me when I returned, your kingdom would still be alive. You would’ve been perfect for me, but there’s too much of your father in you.”

Kaioshin heard her words. She continued to put down he and his family. His eyes opened to see the bottom of her dress dragging on the floor. Moving his eyes to look ahead, he saw his sword. It was only an arm’s length away. He’d have to move quickly though to get to it and not get blown to pieces like Jaki.

Kaioshin didn’t listen to what she said about his father. He knew that his father did the right thing. But she was right on one thing…his family and kingdom were destroyed, because of her. “Forgive me…” he said, making his voice sound weak. “Let me join you…”

Zenika raised an eyebrow, raised her head up a bit, but kept her vision on the young prince. “So, a change of heart, I see.”

Kaioshin pushed himself to his feet and stood before her. “I didn’t understand your power, until now,” he lied. “Let me join you, and we can rule the universe together…”

“No Kaioshin!” Someone called from behind Zenika. Both turned around to see Nishi standing at the opposite end of the room. Nishi was able to get past the guards, thinking she could help Kaioshin defeat Zenika. When she arrived, she heard Kaioshin pledging his loyalty to the sorceress.

“Intruder!” Zenika cried and pointed her staff at Nishi.

Kaioshin looked down and saw his sword. He quickly leapt to the ground, grabbing it as he rolled over and jumped to his feet. His quick motions had distracted Zenika from killing Nishi, long enough for him to swing the blade and make contact with Zenika’s arm.

“Liar!” Zenika yelled with fury.

“Nishi, get out of here!” Kaioshin yelled. Zenika held out her hand and a small energy ball formed from it and fired towards the prince. Kaioshin gripped the sword tightly with both hands and let the blast reflect off the blade. It quickly zoomed back to its maker, causing her to fall as she avoided it.

Kaioshin quickly ran towards her, swinging the sword down to her body. She raised her glowing staff and disappeared. Kaioshin stopped dead in his tracks and looked around, Nishi being the only other person there.

“Where’d she go,” he asked demandingly. His words barely came out of his mouth when the entire castle began to shake. The walls, floor, and ceiling started to crumble and fall. “Nishi, we must get out!” He ran over to her and grabbed her arm. The two ran out of the door and jumped through a window before the entire castle collapsed down on top of them. Flying down and gently landing on the ground, Kaioshin immediately looked back. He couldn’t believe what he saw. First, the castle was still in tact, not even falling apart. And second, a large black and goldish cloud circled over a platform at the top of the castle.

“What is she doing?” Nishi asked, as high winds started to pick up rapidly.

“I don’t know, but I won’t let her continue.” Kaioshin flew up, sword in hand. He found Zenika standing with her arms raised in the air, and head back.

“How do you like my cloud of death, Kaioshin?” She asked.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Kaioshin asked as he landed.

“I’m going to destroy this planet once and for all. If I can’t have it, no one can!” The cloud continued to get bigger and bigger.

Kaioshin looked up and then back at her. He took a deep breath and then lunged at her, raising the sword above his head to slice her down. As he was just about to hit her, she looked at him with glowing eyes. Both he and the sword were sent backwards. Kaioshin grabbed the ledge of the platform, while the sword bounced off a roof below, breaking into two. He looked up as he held onto the edge with both hands. The wind blew harder, almost causing him to blow away. However, his shoulder was hit with something. He looked down to see his father’s pendant blowing in the wind. The blue-jeweled eye of the dragon twinkled in the moonlight.

Kaioshin was reminded what would happen if he fell. He’d be letting down not only his planet, but also the entire universe. Zenika would continue her rein over all the planets and their people. For the first time in his life, he felt power flowing through his veins. He knew what he must do.

He pulled himself up and got to his feet. Zenika was busy laughing as she created her cloud of death. Lightning started to strike and rain started to come down hard, making it harder to see. Kaioshin started to boldly walk over to her.

The sorceress paused her spell and looked over her shoulder. “You don’t give up, do you?” she asked mockingly. “I’ll have to just teach you another lesson.”

Kaioshin was silent. He wasn’t more than ten feet away from her when she brought her staff down to hit the top of the prince’s head. Her eyes widened in shock when it stopped and she couldn’t make it move. Kaioshin’s eyes looked up at her. “What are you doing?!” The witch questioned.

Kaioshin’s eyes suddenly glowed blue, energy surround Zenika and sending her flying into a wall. Her staff went flying off, the orb shattering when it hit the ground, causing the cloud of death to shrink and disappear.

Zenika shifted her body to sit upright, and she glanced over to the approaching Kai. “Kaioshin, you know you don’t want to go any further,” she pleaded. “Let me go, and I’ll retire in peace. You’re planet will be safe…”

---

Meanwhile, Nishi joined Tym and Kibito who had also believed the castle was falling apart. They had rushed out the front doors only to see Kaioshin flying up towards the area where Zenika was.

“What’s going on?” Nishi asked Tym.

“I have no idea. I can’t see anything in this terrible rain!”

“Look!” Kibito pointed up to the sky. “That cloud is vanishing. Kaioshin must be winning!”

---

Kaioshin stopped walking. He stood before Zenika with a serious look on his face. “No, Zenika,” he said steadily. “You have caused enough pain and suffering. I made a promise to myself.”

“And what would that be?” She spat, knowing darn well that her life wouldn’t be spared.

“You would pay for destroying my terrible life.”

Zenika quickly jumped into the air and fired an energy blast towards the prince. He held up his arms firing his own, a quick yell coming from his mouth. His feet slid back a few yards as their blasts collided. The wind picked up even more, Kaioshin’s dirty white hair blowing everywhere.

Zenika started laughing hysterically when she believed that she would win. Little did she know, however, that Prince Kaioshin had taken his place as the guardian of the planet. His power started to intensify and hers grew weaker.

“No!” She yelled as she struggled to keep herself in place. No longer being able to hold her attack, she let go, Kaioshin’s taking over.

However, Zenika opened her eyes when she felt herself hit the ground. She breathed hard, realizing she was still alive. Kaioshin was no longer on the platform. The sorceress looked around frantically, wondering where her opponent was. A bright light from above caught her attention.

---

Mrs. Oltenier walked by her bedroom window. She saw a bright object out of the corner of her eye. “Louis! Come here! Quickly!”

Her husband came bursting through the door. “What is it?” he asked her. She could only point out the window. Something extremely large and bright was forming in the air towards the East.

Nishi and the others stood on the ground in awe as they watched the display above them. Nishi heard Tym saying something to himself. “What was that?” she asked.

Tym continued to watch. “The Supreme Kai…” he muttered. Both Kibito and Nishi looked at him. “He’s obtained the powers…making him the strongest being on this planet, if not the universe.”

---

Kaioshin hovered in the air as he looked below and formed the energy blast above the castle. “This is for you, father.” For a moment, the ball of energy stopped forming and seemed to be paralyzed in the air.

Zenika watched below in fear. The fear built up when she saw a thin purple beam racing towards her. She raised her arms for protection as she felt the beam destroy the diamond shaped pendant that hung from her neck. She looked down to see the pieces sitting in her lap. Then her hands and face started to feel as if they were shrinking. She looked at her hands to see them forming wrinkles and becoming thin and bony. Her life power had been destroyed, and she wouldn’t last much longer. Looking up in anger, she saw the final blow being sent.

Kaioshin raised his vision to the energy ball he created. He slowly brought his eyes down towards the castle, the ball following. It slowly sped up to crush the castle underneath it. He looked up at the sky, as if giving one last thought to those lost weeks ago.

Chapter 14-->