Chapter 23: S*** Gets Real

                                                                       Chapter 23: Shit Gets Real

Xendo screamed at the top of his lungs as he pulled his fist back, still holding me by the collar of my shirt.

“Oh, hello.” Was all I could get out before his fist connected with my face, sending me across the room. I slid across a cold marble floor until I hit carpet.

I turned my head to look at the unusually soft feeling carpet. I saw it was a long, red, velvet carpet leading to two large double doors, encrusted with jewels. I turned my head the other way and saw where the carpet led, all the way to another set of doors. The windows were beautiful and magnificent stained glass. And then I realized where I was.

“Oh shit.” I thought to myself. “I’m in the fuckin’ castle. I hope Princess Celestia won’t be too mad.”

I was interrupted from the peace and tranquility of my thoughts as I was yanked up one more time by Xendo, this time holding me off the ground by my jaw. He cocked back his fist one more time.

“Last chance, you insipid excuse for a saiyan! Fight, or surrender!” He said quietly, and fiercely.

“You know what, I’ll have your answer in a little while, wake me up in a minute.” I said in a groggy tone, letting my eyelids shut.

“Then die!” I heard him say, before my eyes shut completely.

“Stop right there.” I heard a familiar voice say. It was Princess Celestia. Thank, well, Celestia!

“Who are you? The queen pony or something!?” Xendo demanded.

“I am Princess Celestia, and you must be Xendo, correct?” She said.

“Of course! I am the mighty, General Xendo! Commander of the once mighty saiyan army!” He said.

“I see, what happened to this great army?” Princess Celestia asked calmly, walking towards Xendo slowly.

“Here’s a hint, the planet got blowed the fuck up by a meteor.” I said through my bleeding lips. Xendo suddenly dropped me on the floor, hitting my head for about the fifth time. “Thank you, ass.” I coughed.

“You idiot, it’s not a hint when you actually say it!” He yelled at me.

I looked at Princess Celestia, then back to Xendo.

“What, you’re talking to me? Shit, I just wanted to help the princess.” I said, wiping the blood from my gushing nose.

“You are not welcome here. You have hurt my subjects, and destroyed this land.” Princess Celestia said calmly.

“Destroyed!? Ha! If you want to see destruction, be my guest!” Xendo said as he bowed slightly.

“Leave this land!” Princess Celestia shouted in what I believe was the royal Canterlot voice. Suddenly her horn glowed brightly, and a yellow force field radiated out from her, growing larger and larger. It made contact with Xendo, sending him flying out of the hole in the wall as the force field grew ever larger.

“Hell yeah, Princess.” I tried to shout with excitement, but I didn’t have the energy.

I heard hoof beats approaching outside, stopping at the double doors. The doors opened, revealing Twilight and the others.

“What the? Twilight, I thought I told you to hide everyone.” I said to her weakly.

“Everyone is hidden. Dako! What happened to your, to-?” She started, but I interrupted her.

“My everything? Oh, you know, I just went through a couple walls, trees, and other, miscellaneous things.” I said weakly, lying back down on the floor.

Fluttershy gasped louder than I’ve ever heard her speak. She rushed right over to me and put her forelegs around me.

“Oh, Dako, what happened? How badly are you hurt?” She asked.

“Well, Xendo’s back, and let me tell you, he’s winning this time.” I coughed. “I’m not hurt to bad, besides, I’m really numb anyway, so I can’t feel much.” I said reassuringly, although I failed to reassure her.

“Oh Dako, please don’t ever do this again!” She said, burying her head in my chest, squeezing me. “You promised me you’d never get hurt!” She said, tears beginning to run down her face.

“Ow.” I groaned weakly.

“Oh, I’m sorry, am I hugging you too tightly?” she asked me.

“Yes, sorry.” I replied weakly.

“Dako?” I heard Applejack ask me.

“Yes?” I said, struggling to look up at her.

“We brought you something just in case.” Applejack said, holding out a small bag.

“It’s the last Senzu bean we have.” Twilight said. “Eat it now.”

I then tried with all might to stand, and it took way more effort than necessary to do.

“No, I don’t want it, I’m fine. See?” I said to them. Suddenly the ground shook, and some plaster dust from the ceiling fell on top of us.

“Never mind, give it to me!” I said. I took the bean out of the bag.

I quickly put it in my mouth and chewed it. I swallowed it as quickly as I could. Within seconds the pain of my wounds disappeared, my bruises healed, my cuts closed up, and I felt energized.

“So, that was the last one, huh?” I asked, stretching out my arms, now back to full strength.

“Yes, we couldn’t find any others.” Applejack replied.

The ground shook again, more plaster dust falling.

“Don’t worry Princess Celestia, I’ll handle the rest of this.” I said with new authority and confidence.

I walked outside and looked straight up. I saw Xendo, shaking his hand. He was apparently trying to punch through the force field, but hurt himself in the process. Every time he punched the force field the ground shook.

“Dako, there isn’t much time. Hurry, go and face him.” Princess Celestia said.

“Yes ma’am!” I shouted back as I took off at full speed. Now I was ready to actually kick some ass.

I noticed I was much more powerful, and I could fly much faster with ease. I flew straight up to Xendo’s position. As soon as I was within 20 feet of him the force field disappeared, and I connected right with Xendo’s face as I punched with all my might. I sent him flying back about fifteen feet away.

“What!? How!? I was beating you to a pulp earlier, how did you regain your strength!?” He asked confused.

“Ha! Regained is a bit of an understatement, I’ve been healed and rejuvenated!” I said triumphantly. “Now what was that about saiyan nature? Oh yeah, we get stronger after being beaten. Well, now I must thank you, Xendo, because now I have the strength to beat you once and for all.” I said.

He lunged straight for me, attempting to punch me, but it was all for nothing as I caught his fist in the palm of my hand. I began to squeeze.

“AAH! Let go!” He yelled.

“How do you like it?” I asked coldly.

As he struggled to free himself I pulled up my knee and by using his arm the way he did to me, I slammed him back in forth into my knee, knocking the wind out of him. I threw him up above me and decided to blast him as hard as I could with as much energy as I could pull up on such short notice. I surprised myself at the size of the blast. A huge beam of bright blue energy shot from my hand, engulfing Xendo. He went flying higher into the sky, and when I stopped I saw him fall back down towards me.

Smoked streaked from him as he fell. I could have let him hit the ground, but I caught him from his suit of armor at the last second. As I caught him he suddenly sprang to life. He turned and smacked my arm away from him, freeing himself instantly. He drifted away from me and floated there, breathing heavily.

“Nice try! But even with your new strength, it’ll take a lot more than that to take me out. Honestly, how strong do you think you are now?” He shouted.

“Strong enough to teach you a lesson, at least.” I replied.

“I just hope it does you well to know that the entire time we have been fighting I’ve been holding back. But no more! Your new strength may challenge me now, but wait until I’ve used my full power!” He said with an evil grin.

“Bullshit! What do you mean, “holding back”? Go ahead and try, I can still take you.” I said in determination.

He was engulfed by a bright blue aura as he began powering up. I didn’t hesitate to start up the Kaio-ken. I decided times five would be enough, and charged him as fast as I could as he charged after me. We clashed in a blur of punches. We were really going at it now. Punch was met with punch, kick with kick. It seemed he was able to match me in speed and strength, but not quite. We were both thrown back from each other with a punch connecting to a punch.

“It seems I’ve met my match.” Xendo said.

“Nope!” I replied. “Kaio-ken times 10!” I yelled out as I charged back at him.

We started going at it again, pretty much trying to kick the crap out of each other. I was able to take a significant lead on him, I was blocking much more of his punches with my increased speed, and I was making more hits as well. I was forcing him back, instead of just hovering over one spot in the sky, we began moving. I was gaining the upper hand in the fight. For every hit that connected, I began hitting harder and harder, trying to take more out of him. In the middle of all this he suddenly threw me back with a blast of his aura. It flared up again, as he tried to match my increase. Unfortunately he did match my increase, only slightly though.

We continued fighting for another whole minute, until he threw the both of us apart again. I turned off the Kaio-ken, trying to conserve energy. His own aura faded as well. He was just floating, breathing hard and trying to catch his breath. I raised an eyebrow at this, and I couldn’t help but smile a little at that.

“You’re not, tired are you?” I asked.

“Of course not! What makes you think that!?” he snapped at me.

“Well, you’re breathing hard, you’re starting to break a sweat, and you keep taking these breaks.” I said.

“You, dare mock me!?” He asked in anger.

“No, but, you’re kinda making it easy.” I chuckled.

“I still want to know how you got stronger!” He shouted.

“I’ll let you know, if you surrender to me instead.” I said with a smirk.

“Never!” he shouted. He blasted me as hard as he could. I could hear him screaming at the top of his lungs, putting everything into it. Little did he know, I went up to Kaio-ken times fifteen and deflected it around me at the last second. As I waited for the smoke clear I could hear the others gasping from down below, and Xendo’s crazed laughter. I heard him gasp in surprise once the smoke cleared and he saw me sitting there, untouched.

“So, what was that supposed to do?” I asked disappointedly.

“Grr! If I can’t defeat you! I’ll just split this planet in half, leaving you in the cold vacuum of space!” He shouted.

“Holy shit, really? No, really? You’re gonna blow this planet up. No, I don’t think so, you’d be stuck here too.” I said, not buying his bluff.

“Oh really? Do you want to know how I healed so quickly?” He asked.

“Wait, how did you heal so quickly?” I asked. I honestly hadn’t thought about it before.

“I found my ship!” He said with a sinister smile on his face. “It ended up here with me, I could end this planet and leave in time to see the fireworks!”

“I would have enough time chase you to your ship, idiot! You can’t beat me, so what makes you think you could blow up the planet, get to your ship without me, and leave, all in time?” I said to him.

“Oh? Did somebody order a distraction!?” He shouted. At that moment he swung his hand over the area below him firing a string of energy orbs at the only group of ponies left in Canterlot by now, the Mane Six.

I flew right in front of the blasts and shot each one down as they came at me. Xendo didn’t flee, instead he looked in confusion.

“My! I’ve never seen you move so fast, ever!” He laughed.

“Watch where the hell you’re shooting!” I yelled.

“Did I make someone angry!? Come on! Let’s have some fun!” He shouted. The rotten bastard did his dirty trick again. He blinded me with a bright flash. But this time I remained calm, and sensed out his energy.

Although I couldn’t see him I knew where he was, he was flying straight for them, but I quickly used the instant transmission to get in his way, and as soon as he was in front of me, I kicked him as hard as I could. Luckily, I hit him, and I kicked him right in the chest. I heard him cough. Slowly, my vision came back to me.

“That wasn’t funny, and it didn’t work.” I said unimpressed.

“How did you know!?” He grunted.

“I didn’t need to see, I could sense your presence, idiot.” I said softly.

“Who are you calling an idiot!? I’ll show you any idiot!” He shouted.

He flew straight towards me, with his fist cocked back, for about the hundredth time. I knew exactly what to do, just block it as usual. Except this time as he swung, and I prepared to block, he switched to a kick, and kicked me in the side, sending me flying. The bastard faked me out. Then I saw him point a finger towards the group.

“TAKE THIS!” he shouted louder than I ever heard him shout.

“NOOO!” I couldn’t stop him in time.

He fired a single beam at random, and it was aimed at one pony in particular.

Fluttershy.

I watched in horror as the beam hit her in her side. It knocked her over on the ground. She wasn’t moving. I rushed to her side as quickly as I could move through the air. I landed right beside her, quickly picking her up in my arms. I held her close to me.

“Fluttershy! No! Please don’t die on me!” I cried out, my voice shrill.

“Dako, I-I.” Fluttershy said weakly.

“Fluttershy, you’ll be just fine! I-I’ll go get some more Senzu beans!” I told her frantically.

“Dako.” She said one more time. Then she closed her eyes.

“AH-HA HA-HA HA-HA! Wonderful! How amusing! You really do care for these pathetic creatures!” Xendo laughed maniacally from above.

I just sat there with Fluttershy in my arms, unmoving. I could feel the lump in my throat, that lump. The painful, swelling feeling that comes when on the verge of tears. I was breathing shallow and quickly, and I could feel a tear run down my face. I was shaking, just shivering all over uncontrollably.

“Fluttershy?” I said. A few more tears ran down my face.

“Fluttershy!?” I said again, still with no answer.

“FLUUUTTEEERSHYYYYY!” I screamed at the top of my lungs. I could hear myself echo off in the distance. I heard the others whimper quietly, and one of them sniffle.

“This is absolutely priceless! Ha-ha ha!” Xendo shouted from above again. “You truly care about them! Ah-ha ha! Ha-ha ha!” he laughed even more.

“Rrgghh! NO! NOOO!” I shouted. “No no no no no!”

I gently laid Fluttershy on the ground. I stood up, tears running down my face. I was heartbroken, but at the same time, seething with anger. I was gritting my teeth trying to keep my calm. It wasn’t working. My heart began racing, I was breathing like I was running a marathon.

“I’m sorry, did I do that!?” Xendo asked mockingly. “Oh, that’s right, I did! And it felt great!”

“YOU!” I turned to look straight at him. “I loved her! And you took her from me! You miserable piece of shit!”

“What’s the matter!? Angry!?” He continued.

“I’ll kill you! And I’m not just gonna take your life! I’ll rip your fucking throat out!” I yelled in fury.

I was going insane by my intense anger. I just kept running through my mind, replaying what had happened to Fluttershy, everything I had lost. It wasn’t right.

“AAAGGHH!” I screamed out of blinding anger, screaming for the sake of doing so. The ground rumbled. I noticed small pebbles floating up around me, lifting out of the snow. The anger was rising, and my control slipping. I clenched my fists tighter and tighter. The ground continued to shake. I was no longer civilized, I turned into a savage, wild beast on the inside. I had lost all self control. I wanted to do something about all of this.

“Are you going to throw a fit!? Xendo mocked. He thought he was safe up in the sky.

“You evil, cold, fucking, MONSTER!” I continued shouting. Gusts of wind were blowing out and away from me, off and on. I could feel the cobble stones giving way, rising off the ground. The ground shuddered beneath me. All I could do was remember all the time me and Fluttershy had spent together, and how everything was suddenly ended. The events didn’t just replay over and over and over again, but they did so at a hundred times a second. I kept seeing her get hit by the beam, I was reliving the hell over and over again. It was the only thing that existed anymore. The only thing my mind could focus on was the sudden traumatic loss, what had been taken from me. Then I heard a voice.

“I love you Dako.”

At that moment something inside me snapped in two. Out of sheer primal rage I threw my head back and roared in anger, loss, and pain.

“RRAAAAAAGGGGHHH!” I thundered. The ground collapsed beneath my feet, the buildings all around me trembled, glass shattered, and a violent gust of wind radiated outward from me, throwing out snow, stone, dirt and any other thing unlucky enough to be in the way. I was instantly engulfed by a yellow aura, and I felt my hair lift up.

When I regained my cool, I looked around me. I had done it. If it weren’t for my current situation I might have been cheering and celebrating. I had finally become what I had always dreamed of. I had my answer to the problem that was Xendo.

I had become a super saiyan.