FicWad

"One Good Deed" - Chapter 2

"I'll never live this story down." - Khri

"Let me go!" the little Namekian growled, baring its fangs at her.
Still in a crouch, Khri stared at her captive in amazement. She had long experience with Namekians, more than enough to know their youngsters were polite, sensitive, intelligent and a sheer joy to be round...at least until now. This one wasn't long out of its egg, which could account for some of the rudeness, but not for the anger in his eyes. She slipped her diacha back inside her jacket.

"Slow down, youngster," Khri said. "I won't hurt you, but some of these muscle heads might take offense at getting their ankles shredded. Sai, are there watchers on those fighters I specified yet?" She raised her elbow higher, putting her arm out of reach of the child's claws.

"The last ones are being put in place now, Commander. No sign of trouble, yet."

You're not standing where I'm standing, holding what I'm holding... "Check."

Khri became aware of chuckling around her and felt the inevitable blush work its way to her face. You'd think after all these years I'd have that reaction under control... The sight of a tall, poised young woman in black struggling with a savage Namekian child had to look ludicrous and worse yet, was bringing her unwanted attention. Khri tucked him under her arm, football style, pinning his arms. "We can finish this somewhere else, can't we, little one?"

"Release me right now!" he demanded as she marched off towards an exit tunnel and turned the corner, far from the eyes and ears of the fighters and the press.

Eyes narrowed to slits, Khri held him out at arm's length by the back of his tunic, letting him dangle. "Listen closely," she said sharply. "I have neither the time nor patience to deal with you. You need to be returned to your guardians immediately...Sai, I didn't know there was a contingency from Namek here. Where are they seated?"

He didn't keep her waiting long. "Ah...Commander? There are no Namekians in attendance at this event. I can double-check with Surveillance, but they insist there's no record of them being here."

"Have them check again, Sai. I'm now in the possession of a very young one who's determined to scratch my eyes out. Hurry."

"You've got a what? Hold on Commander...incoming...Surveillance confirms it. No Namekians are on Earth...officially, anyway."

"Humph. That doesn't surprise me, but it certainly doesn't explain where this little one came from or why he's here. Keep me on standby, Sai. If anything urgent comes up ping me. I need a few minutes to deal with this."

Khri studied her handful for clues as to his identity. He wore a simple, dark blue tunic with a sigil on the front, but it wasn't one she recognized. "Listen, youngster, I'm going to put you down now. I won't hurt you, I just want to talk to you a moment...and don't you even think about biting me!" Dropping back to a crouch, she set him gently on his feet but gripped one arm firmly. He growled and bared his teeth at her again, which almost earned him a slap. Khri's well practiced "command glare," which her crew went out of their way to avoid and withered under when they couldn't, was totally wasted on him. She grabbed the front of his tunic and pulled him towards her face until they were nose to nose. He must not have expected that; his eyes widened and he stopped struggling.

"Here is a bit of good advice," she hissed softly, letting her narrowed gold eyes burn into his black ones. "Never, ever bare fang at someone you don't know. Some races, like my own, consider it a serious sign of aggression." To prove her point, Khri gave him a slow, broad smile. Her own incisors were just as sharp as his.

The Namekian swallowed. Ah-ha! You're finally thinking and listening! Khri leaned back and brushed the dirt from the front of his tunic, but didn't release his arm. "Now...I believe we got off on the wrong foot...specifically, mine. Do you have a name? I'm called Khri."

"Its none of your business," he said, "but you will know it someday. I'll be the one who finally defeats Son Goku and all his friends!"

"Really?" Under normal circumstances Khri would have been amused enough to smirk. Today, however, there was a real threat against the present chi users and normal fighters. Her team was on the lookout for a covert attack from the Telkarri, not a threat from a package so small and so surly. Just how seriously was she supposed to take him? "And who will be the mighty warrior who defeats Son Goku?"

He clenched his fists and nearly showed fang, but the warning glint in her eyes must have given him second thoughts. "I will be the great Demon King! I will rule this world!"

Now that he was talking rather than behaving like a cornered animal, he a youthful charm and a streak of rebellion Khri almost admired. The records of the last Budoukai and the following days were vague at best and absurd at the worst, but there was no dismissing the name of Piccolo Daimou. Son Goku had relieved the Earth of his misery even though it was never reported that way. Daimou was dead, and this little Namekian now thought he'd take over where Daimou had failed. His determination and ambition, misplaced as it was, wasn't a thing she wanted to quench. She smiled, placed her right hand over her heart and bowed from the waist up. "Well, junior Demon King, I am Battle Commander Khri of the Leonid Fleet, also known as Khri the Valiant or Khri the Catastrophic, depending on whom you talk to. It's a pleasure to meet you."

His eyes rounded for a moment before his scowl returned. "You are mocking me!"

"Not at all. Those are my nicknames, whether or not I deserve them. I have many more, but those two nicely sum up what some civilizations think of me. Now, I need to get you back to your guardian. Where is he?"

"I don't need a guardian!" The child was back to growling. "I order you to let me go!"

Khri's irritation flared again. "I can count on one hand those qualified to give me orders, and you, 'Junior,' aren't one of them. I've had enough of this." At that moment the loudspeakers boomed a welcome to the audience and announced the start of the first match. Khri was thankful for the timing. The spectators were cheering the first contestants to enter the ring, so nobody saw her put a lock-hold on Junior and head for the stands. "Sai, who's the first chi user to fight in a match?"

"Surveillance says its somebody named Itchy-Robe, but not until the third set."

Khri spared a glance in the direction of the ring. The two current fighters looked evenly matched and were enjoying pounding each other into sand. "Good. We've got some time, then. Do you have a suggestion for a quick meeting spot?"

"There's a closed concessions stand on the north side of the second floor."

"Check. And bring two scouts with you."

The glass windows of the snack area were dark, as was the small eating area. Empty food wrappers flittered between empty tables and stacked chairs. Tucked far beneath the third floor bleachers it got very little light, making the shadows seem deeper and more sinister. Khri was about to reach for her eye dampers when a sharp pain flared through her left wrist. Hissing through clenched teeth, she tightened her grip on Junior until he extracted his fangs. Grabbing him under his arms, she hoisted him to dangle in front of her again. "Dammit, you little rotter, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

Junior grinned wickedly at her, blood staining his incisors. "Are you going to put me down now?"

Khri's eyes narrowed to glowing slits. "Put you down like a deranged animal? Don't tempt me. If you want to get yourself killed later, fine, but you're going to do it on your time, not mine."

"Commander?"

Shadows shifted around the empty chairs and resolved into familiar forms. Sai and the two scouts wore close-fitting black camouflage body armor and masks that completely covered their faces, eyes hidden by dampers. She envied them; she had wanted to wear armor but her role in this mission required to her to have a more public - albeit reserved -- face. "Gentlemen, I'd like you to meet Junior. It seems he wants to defeat Son Goku. I haven't had the chance to tell him that Son Goku isn't here." When Junior gasped, Khri cocked her head. "That explains why you haven't felt his chi, doesn't it?"

The little Namekian seemed to wilt, but his anger returned a second later. "It doesn't matter. It won't be long before I beat his friends and I'll beat Son Goku, and then I'll beat you!"

"It looks like he already tried that," Sai said. "Your wrist is bleeding pretty badly. You need that tended."

"I'm fine for the moment, Sai. But as for this one, what do you think? Is he the threat we've been looking for?" she teased.

Her Second seemed amused. "The day the Telkarri use a Namekian child for their dirty work will be the day Traeger turns himself in for his own bounty," he scoffed. "I think a hard swat on his behind would do a lot to improve his behavior, though."

"Do you hear that, Junior?" Khri raised an eyebrow. "I have a soft spot for Namekians, but I have to agree with Sai. One more attempt to chew your way free will get you a thwap on the backside. Am I perfectly clear?"

Junior's baleful glower could have burned a hole through the wall and his cheeks took on a purple tint, but he eventually nodded.

The whole absurd scene reminded Khri that stories traveled up the chain of command faster than light. Sai wouldn't breathe a word of this embarrassing incident and she could order the others to keep their mouths shut, but mouths leaked. Stories got out, sprouted legs and ran. Eventually it would reach home - after making a few strange twists and turns along the way - and Eldest would hear about it. Others would find out about her apparent fondness for Namekians and try to use it against her. Years of practice in controlling her facial expressions kept her from cringing at what Eldest would think and say. "Sai, I think we're going to have to make special arrangements to send this one back to Namek. He won't tell me..."

Khri's array sent her an urgent warning ping. The scouts drew their diacha but left them inactive; Sai pulled a sensor unit from his belt. "We've got Telkarri signatures sighted...at least six of them. Our scouts are on the move to intercept now. There's one on the first floor directly beneath us, in the practice arenas."

Khri shifted Junior to one arm, hugged him against her ribcage and whipped out her own /diacha/. "Any weapons scanned?"

"None...no blades, no projectiles, no energy signatures..."

"Damn!" Khri opened the broad channel to all her scouts. "We've got either planted explosives - probably not chem bombs, that would draw worldwide attention - or Telkarran suicide troops. Odds are these bastards plan to kill everyone and everything just to take out the fighters. Find the detonators and destroy them, then disarm the bombs. If you encounter suicide troops, you know what to do."

"Commander, should we notify the local authorities? We could always call in a bomb threat..."

Khri spared a glance at Junior; he was watching her face carefully and not fighting her, at least for the moment. He'd been listening, and the word "bombs" wasn't hard to understand. Did he finally realize just how dangerous the situation was?

Huge decisions like this were never easy. The stands were packed with thousands of men,
women and children, and none of them questioned whether or not they'd live beyond today. "No, Sai. If we're fast we can handle this without causing a panic. So let's be fast. " She lowered her head and whispered into Junior's ear, "if you want there to be a world for you to dominate tomorrow, you need to help me now, here, today. I won't let anyone hurt you, so just hold tight and don't interfere."

/So much for not making a scene/, Khri thought as she raced down the second floor concourse, following Sai and his scanner, trailed by the other two scouts. Startled spectators conveniently jumped out of their way as they flew down the wide, concrete stairs. Sai steered them into an abandoned corridor leading to the practice arenas, then came to a halt just outside a large set of open double doors.

There wasn't a need for the scanner anymore. Inside the first door on the left Khri could see the movement of a single Telkarri. Its dappled back faced her, its spiny forelegs clicking together in agitation as it rasped into its transmitter. Its carapace wasn't the lowly brown of a suicide trooper or a slightly-smarter-than-a-rock yellow of a swarmer, but a vivid bottle green. It could be worse/, Khri mused. /It could be a Blue. She cast a worried eye down at Junior and was surprised to see him glaring at the Green, clenching his fists. You see the real threat. Good. Now I just hope you've got sense enough to let me deal with it. She held her diacha at the ready with one hand, Junior tightly with the other. At her signal, they all slipped through the double doors.

That was where she saw her mistake.

To Be Continued...