Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Broken Seal ❯ Old Allies ( Chapter 17 )

Krillin dropped to the ground, and trotted up to Yemma's door. As before the doors were closed as far as their crooked hinges would allow. This time, though, Krillin was unfazed by entering due to a combination of past experience and a job well done. He was particularly looking forward to giving King Yemma a blow-by-blow account of his success with the Siayans.

Stepping up to the door, he pushed the right one aside and entered the office.

"Hey, King Yemma." He called. "I'm ba…"

However, he froze with surprise before he could cross the threshold, as the backs of three familiar bodies confronted him.

"Ah, Krillin." Yemma greeted him. "There are some people here I think you might recognise."

With that, all three individuals turned to face Krillin.

"Hey there, Krillin." Grinned Yamcha. "Long time, no see."

"It's good to see you again." Tien added, a beaming chiaotzu floating at his side.

Krillin did not reply. He just stood, dumfounded at the sight of his fallen comrades.

"What's the matter, Krillin?" said Yamcha. "No greeting for old friends."

With that, Krillin broke his silence and ran up to meet his friends.

"Wow!" he enthused. "I don't believe it! It's so great to see you guys again."

The little fighter was grinning broadly, yet could still feel a slight tear welling up in his right eye. It was hard to forget the circumstances under which he had seen them last.

"How have you guys been?" he continued. "I heard you've been training with King Kai."

"That's true." Said Tien. "The training has been most intensive."

"You can say that again." Chiaotzu agreed.

"Yeah, but it's been worth it." Said Yamcha, flexing his right bicep. "I've never felt better."

"I can tell." Krillin replied.

And indeed he could. At these close quarters, the improvement in his friends' fighting powers was quite evident.

Suddenly, there came the intrusive sound of someone deliberately clearing their throat.

"Ahem!"

Krillin turned to the source of the sound. Stood at one end of the row of fighters was a peculiar looking little creature. Rotund and squat, its blue amphibian-like face glared angrily at him from behind a pair of round, darkened lenses.

"Erm, aren't we forgetting someone?" It said, its two narrow antennae twitching in annoyance.

"Oh, right." Said Yamcha, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "Sorry about that. Krillin, allow me to introduce the great King Kai."

"Wha?!" Krillin exclaimed, before he could stop himself.

This strange creature was the great King Kai; one of the mightiest warrior in Other-World?

"That's right." King Kai grinned. "It is I, the great King Kai."

The king paused for a moment.

"Hey, I'm a poet and I didn't know it."

He then placed both hands over his mouth began to titter to himself inanely.

"You're King Kai?" Krillin asked, after having composed himself.

"That's right, kiddo. Well, I'm North Kai to be more precise, but I prefer King Kai anyway."

Then, apparently noticing the look of surprise plastered across Krillin's face, he asked,

"What's the matter? You never seen a Kai before?"

"Yes. I mean no." Krillin floundered. "Well, it's just that. . ."

"Oh, I get it." King Kai smirked. "You didn't expect me to be this good looking, did you?"

Krillin thought about it for a moment, before replying,

"Err, you got me."

"Yes." King Kai said. "Happens all the time."

"Are you people finished down there?" Yemma boomed. "In case you've forgotten, we've got more important things to discuss."

King Kai looked up at his counterpart, apparently unfazed by the disparity in size.

"Oh quit being such a worrywart, Yemma." He said. "The bad guys aren't going anywhere."

"Yeah, that's the problem." Yemma retorted.

King Kai scowled.

"Oh, fine then." He complained. "But I think we've discussed everything there is to discuss."

Krillin felt a hand on his shoulder. Looking up, he found Tien's face peering at him with a more serious cast than before.

"King Yemma has briefed us on what's been happening." He informed Krillin. "From the sound of it, things have become quite serious."

"Yeah, you could say that." Krillin sighed.

"It must be serious if we're asking the Saiyans for help." Yamcha growled.

The disdain that all three of Krillin's fellows had for the warrior race was evident on each of their faces, even that of the usually temperate Tien. But it was not without warrant. All three could attribute their demises to the Saiyans: two of them to one in particular. It was for this reason Krillin thought better of discussing the particulars of his most recent mission.

"That's what I wanted to discuss." Yemma stepped in. "How did it go with the Saiyans?"

"Pretty good, I think." Krillin replied. "From what I heard it looks like they'll be fighting on our side."

"Excellent." Said King Yemma. "Then preparations are complete."

"Woah." Yamcha gaped. "You mean you managed to persuade the Saiyans to fight on our side?"

"Well, I didn't do it on my own." Krillin confessed.

"Well in that case, who helped you?" asked Tien.

Krillin gave a short laugh.

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you."

"Try us." Said Yamcha.

Krillin scratched the back of his neck, and began to try and choose a place from which to begin his story.

"Well. . ."

"Say, guys." King Kai interrupted. "Can we do this another time? We should really be going. I hear that the other Kais are bringing some of their fighters. It wouldn't look good if I showed up late."

"Come on, King Kai." said Yamcha. "You never heard of being fashionably late?"

King Kai began to rub his ample chin thoughtfully.

"Hmm. I never thought of that. Perhaps you're right. This *is* an ideal opportunity to score some social points, after all. Hey, maybe the Supreme Kai will be there. . ."

"Er, King Kai." Tien intervened. "I think it would be better if we showed up on time. This battle is pretty important."

"Yes, you're right." King Kai relented. "We can save social climbing for a another time. Oh, remind me to add social studies to our training schedule when we get back. You can never have too many friends."

"Right, King Kai." Smiled Tien.

"Alright!" King Kai exclaimed, thrusting a finger skywards. "C'mon, boys. We've got some bad guy tushy to kick!"

With that, the strange little king began to scuttle towards the open door, his three charges in tow.

Yamcha paused on his way out, and turned to Krillin.

"Hey Krillin," he called. "You coming?"

"Oh yeah!" Krillin said enthusiastically.

Picking up his feet, Krillin made his way to the door after his associates.

"Actually. . ." there came a loud call.

Krillin stopped and looked over his shoulder. There he saw King Yemma, looking distinctly unsettled and sitting awkwardly in his chair.

"I was kind of hoping I could have a word." The ogre stated, looking as if he might have something to say.

"Hey Krillin!" Yamcha called from outside the building. "Are you coming or not?"

"I'll catch up to you guys!" Krillin replied.

"Okay then!" said Yamcha.

"Hey Yamcha!" Came King Kai's voice. "Quit holding up the line!"

"Sorry King Kai!"

With that, Yamcha gave a brief wave and then departed into the murky skies.

Krillin turned, and marched up the front of Yemma's desk.

"What is it you wanted to talk about?" he asked gingerly.

Yemma shifted about uncomfortably in his chair. Pausing for thought, he kept Krillin waiting for a good minute before he finally got up the nerve to speak.

"Er, you might recall me saying some things." He stated, enigmatically.

"Um, yeah." Krillin frowned. "I guess so. What things are you talking about?"

Yemma grimaced. Apparently, he had hoped Krillin would guess what he was getting at without him having to go into detail.

"Oh, just some things, about. . . stuff."

"What stuff?"

Yemma rumbled with frustration.

"I'm just saying, that I may have said some things. . . about certain people not too far from here. Things that. . . well. . . may have been. . . a bit uncalled for."

Krillin realised then to what King Yemma was referring. As he did so, he gave a slight smile.

Yemma went on.

"It's just, I've been under a lot of pressure and. . ."

"Apology accepted." Said Krillin.

There was a pause in the conversation as Yemma assimilated the information. He then cleared his throat loudly.

"Yes, good." Stated the proud ogre. "Okay, now that that's out of the way. . ."

King Yemma stood up and proceeded to amble out from behind his desk.

"As you probably already guessed, we now have a large task force forming to deal with the problem at hand." Yemma informed Krillin.

"You managed to find more fighters?" Krillin asked.

"You wouldn't believe the response I've had since you've been gone." Said Yemma. "Fighters and soldiers have been coming from all over Other-World to volunteer. It's been crazy!"

"Wow, cool!" Krillin said. "I knew everything would be alright in the end."

"Woah, not so fast." Yemma warned. "Our army isn't the only one that's been growing."

Krillin's heart sank.

"You mean there are even more bad guys now?"

"I'm afraid so. Fortunately, the coming battle is only secondary. What we really need is to get the seal up and running again. After that, most of this sorry mess should fix itself."

"But we have to get past the condemned souls to get to the chamber, right?" Krillin hazarded.

"That's right." Yemma said. "We don't have to worry about winning the battle. We just have to get the seal to the entrance of the underworld."

"Sounds like it's gonna be tough." Said Krillin.

Yemma nodded.

"Sure is. That's where you come in."

The ogre opened up his desk draw. Rummaging through its depths, he extracted the seal.

"The way I see it, a small, quick guy like you could get the seal where it has to go a hell of a lot better than a big guy like me."

"I guess so." Krillin said, nervously.

"That's right." Yemma concurred. "So, wha'd'y' say?

The ogre then tossed the glittering seal to Krillin, who caught it firmly in his right hand. Opening is palm the fighter examined the artefact. Then, closing his fingers around it, he gave his answer.

"You can count on me, King Yemma."

With that, he slipped the chain over his head and dropped the seal into the front of his tunic.

"Excellent." Yemma thundered. "Now, I guess it's high time I got ready for battle. Hey. . . you wanna see something cool?"

"Cool?" Krillin said. "Yeah. Uh, okay then."

Yemma grinned broadly, as a child preparing show off his favourite toy, and walked over to the wall at Krillin's left. Stopping, he rubbed his hands together and then made a fist with his right. Raising the fist, rapped slowly but firmly three times on the wall. The sound of the knocking reverberated through the infrastructure of the office, dissipating through its support beams and causing a slight rain of dust to fall from the ceiling. There was a brief silence, and then a low rumbling began to emanate from the wall.

Suddenly, the wall began to rise. Half of that whole side of the room began to retract into the ceiling above, revealing a dark alcove behind. As the hollow was revealed, a wave of dust and musty air tumbled from within, rolling silently across the ground in a thick, brown fog.

Krillin coughed as some of the dust particles invaded his lungs. Yemma did not seem bothered by the dust. He just continued to rub his hands together and grin excitedly as the aforementioned *cool thing* was disclosed.

After a short time there was a dull clunk as the wall was locked in place. It had now disappeared almost entirely into the ceiling, leaving behind a similar, though considerably more grubby wall in its place. Set into this wall was an alcove, of similar dimensions to King Yemma, the interior of which was completely obscured by darkness.

"Oh boy. Oh boy." Yemma muttered to himself.

He then reached into the alcove. He fumbled around in the darkness for a moment before making a soft bark of discovery, which was followed by a loud click. There was an intermittent electrical buzz, and then the whole alcove was bathed in light. What that light revealed was an amazing sight.

Resting within the alcove, draped neatly across a large, wooden manikin, was a mighty suit of armour. It was immense, clearly for use only by King Yemma. The breastplate, fashioned from a jet-black metal, was the size of a small house. Its surface was adorned by a spiralling maze of golden ornamentation, the vast coils and swirls of which funnelled the light to all corners of the object. Great thy-guards hung from the armour's sides, and huge horned shoulder-pads rested across its top. On the floor below was stood a pair of boots, taller than Krillin himself, baring glaives of gold and ebony. And atop the manikin was placed a mighty helmet. It two was cast in shades of black and gold, and was adorned with defensive flaps at the sides, a long, curling neck-plate at the back, and two long, bovine horns on top.

Krillin stepped out in front of the alcove to get a better look. It was then that his eyes fell upon another object. Propped up in the corner was a long, thick mace, comparable in size to a large tree. This too bore the black and gold design of the other items, and seemed to be earning a particularly fond look from King Yemma.

"Krillin," said Yemma. "I'd like to introduce you to some friends of mine."

Then, gesturing to the armour, and then to the mace respectively, he said,

"Meet Old Ironside, and The Judge."

Krillin looked up at Yemma. If it seemed strange to the fighter that Yemma would name his combat equipment, then was even stranger for him to see the ogre holding back a tear at the sight of these old friends.

"Oh, it's been a long time." Yemma mused as he removed the helmet from the manikin.

He then wiped away some of the dust with his sleeve, and held it up to the light.

"You know," he began. "The Other-World wasn't always the tight ship you're used to. Once was, the whole place was a lot like it is right now. All kinds of chaos and evil, made it so a guy couldn't tell which way was up. But then we came along. That is, the Kais and me. Boy, we were a force to be reckoned with back then. There was nothing like the sight of me, Old Ironside and The Judge to make the bad guys wet `emselves and run like little girls."

Yemma lowered the helmet and polished the golden fretwork a little more.

"Those were the days." He sighed. "Still, looks like we're gonna get one more chance to show `em what we can do."

As Krillin looked at the nostalgic Yemma, he began to realise that in some ways, they were a lot alike. It seemed that, like Krillin, Yemma had begun to tire of his humdrum existence in this world, and longed for a more exciting time. For all these times were dangerous and trying, they *were* exciting, and Krillin felt a little less guilty for feeling that way as he now knew he was not being on his own.

Yemma smiled in satisfaction as he cleaned the last of the centuries of grime from his head ware.

"I think it's time to see if the old ensemble still fits." He mused.

He then placed the helmet under his left arm and proceeded to remove his hat.

Krillin yelped, and jumped back in surprise as he watched Yemma take off his hat. . . horns and all.

"What's the matter with you?" Yemma asked of the startled Krillin.

"Th-th-they're not real?" Krillin stammered.

"What, these?" Yemma said, looking down at the horned hat in his hand. "Well, of course they're not real. What do you think I am, some kind of monster?"

"Uh right, of course not." Krillin said. "What was I thinking?"

Krillin sighed. He wouldn't be able to take too many more surprises like that.

What followed was some twenty minutes watching King Yemma trying to manoeuvre his way into his ill-fitting suit of armour. It seemed that his desk job had done little for his waistline since the old days. Grunts of effort and words of frustration were bountiful, and were punctuated by the groan of warping metal. Nonetheless, Yemma was eventually able to get into the armour, but not without using up much energy, which might have been better employed in battle.

"Right." Yemma said, as he picked up his shirt, tie and jacket from the ground. "Ready to go?"

"Ready when you are." Krillin replied.

"Good." Yemma smiled.

He then tossed his clothes onto his desk, and kicked his shoes underneath. Reaching into the alcove once more, he grasped the handle of his mace and brought it into the light. It too was quite dusty from its ages spent in storage. This did not seem to concern Yemma, however.

"Hey, King Yemma." Krillin said. "Aren't you going to clean that?"

"Nope." Yemma replied, and then with a couple of soft swings added. "We'll be knocking the dirt off of it soon enough."

Krillin smiled. That was as good an answer as any.

"Okay, time to go." Yemma said.

He then began to pat around his person.

"Car keys, car keys, car. . . oh yeah. My jacket."

Yemma looked to Krillin.

"Here, hold this." he said.

Before Krillin could decline, the ogre released the handle of the judge and allowed it to fall towards the fighter. With a startled yelp, Krillin dove out of the way just in time to see the great tree-trunk of a weapon plough into the parke floor with an almighty crash.

"Ah ha!" said Yemma as he pulled a large bunch of keys from his jacket. "*Now* we're ready to go."

Reaching down, King Yemma grasped The Judge and pulled it from the cleaved flooring. He then turned and headed for a door in the back wall.

"Time mount my chariot." He said, the feel-good factor of being reunited with his old friends evident in his voice. "I've got a good feeling about this battle. How about you?"

"Yeah." Krillin muttered as he pulled himself from the floor. "Can't wait."

It seemed that the bad guys wouldn't be the only ones Krillin would have to look out for.

Standing upright, Krillin dusted himself off and followed Yemma out of the room, most probably to the courtyard where he had previous seen the ogre's car parked. It would certainly be impressive if the vehicle had survived the pounding it had taken whilst escaping the scene of the breaking seal. In that case it would definitely be a worthy steed upon which to ride into battle, though Krillin doubted that both he and Yemma would fit. Especially now that Yemma had donned full battle gear.

Krillin pushed these thoughts from his mind. Now was the time to focus, for the battle that lay ahead would be of a scale inconceivable to the mortal mind. Mere hours away, was a conflict that would decide the fate of a dimension, and all those bound to a finite existence. One way or another, the end of this saga was drawing near. The thought of this was overwhelming, but there was comfort for Krillin that came in the form of a single, undeniable certainty.

He was ready.