The Last Son

Chapter Five: My Personal Hero

  “Aaargh!", an angered voice echoed across the open fields.

  Xen opened his eyes and they darted to the right, where the voice was coming from. It was Skarr coming straight for him, his right leg extended and ready for a kick.

  “What the?!", Xen fell to the ground after the fatal blow, his jaw nearly broken and blood gushing out of his nose.

  Xen coughed up blood and slowly struggled to get his body facing upwards so that he could see Skarr's face. Skarr laughed, he laughed slowly and menacingly. He reached into his chestplate and retrieved a short blade from it.

  Xen's heart was pounding at this point. Skarr came closer with the dagger planted firmly in his palm, ready for the kill. It was too late. The battle was already over. Skarr violently jabbed the blade into Xen's chest and laughed even louder, before he twisted the knife and took Xen's life.

  “Noooooo!", Xen hollered as he sat up in his bed, grabbing his chest trying to slow the deadly heartbeat within it. He gasped for air as he stroke his hands through the hair on his head.

  “Just a dream... Just a dream...", he kept telling himself. He caught his breath and fell back into the bed, relieved that he still had his life. After an hour, he decided to get out of the bed and go outside, where King Kai and his Father, Xenga waited for him. It had been three days since he first came to the strange, tiny planet. There were only about four more before Skarr's journey to earth came to an end and the epic battle of humanity's fate commenced. Even though it had only been three days, Xen's power level had already skyrocketed, for King Kai's training had been far more advanced than Xanu's.

  “You have learned well my son, however, we mustn't get distracted. Skarr will most likely be prepared for anything you will learn here. But hope still burns bright, for you will prove to be King Kai's greatest student", his father, Xenga stated proudly.

  Xen nodded in the most confident way he could improvise. Even though he sounded and looked sure, it was obvious to both King Kai and Xenga that Xen was barely ready for battle.

  “I understand if you're having second thoughts, but you must know that a true warrior never backs down from battle. Especially not when something this big is on the line", King Kai said to the boy.

  Xen nodded again there was a short moment of silence between the three, “Before we begin today's training, can I got back to earth for an hour or two?".

  The two adults looked at each other again just before they each nodded. “You may go back to earth for a while. But be back soon, today's training will be long", Xenga smiled after saying that and the necklace Xen wore glowed again. He was teleported back to earth in the middle of his grandfathers living room, exactly where he was before he left. He looked around, his Grandpa Xanu stood on the far left side of the room, in the kitchen. He smiled and hurried over to his grandson.

  “Xen! How is the training, I can already feel a big difference in your power", he blurted before he gripped the boy into a hug.

  “Heheh... Actually, I came back to tell Ariela what's going on. I haven't been to school or talked to her in three days, she's probably mad at me". Xanu nodded and continued in the kitchen.

  Xen left the house and flew towards the city and Ariela's home.

  He landed roughly, putting a slight crater on the street in front of Ariela's house, but he didn't care. He ran up to the front door and was about to ring the doorbell. But he stopped and thought about what he would say. ‘What will I even say? Hey, sorry about the three days I've been gone. But yeah, I'm secretly training on a tiny planet in Otherworld to defeat an evil alien hitman who killed my father and is now out to get me', he thought silently. “No I'll sound stupid", he replied to himself, aloud this time.

  Suddenly, the door ahead of him swung open. It was a tall, old man who seemed all too familiar to Xen.

  “Hello, Mr. Davidson", Xen sighed sarcastically. The two hated each other. Xen thought the man was after his relationship with Ariela while Mr. Davidson thought Xen was after his daughter's... Anyway!

  The old man sighed in response, “What do you want, boy?".

  Xen rolled his eyes, “I'm here to see Ariela. Please it's important!". Xen stepped in through the door, nearly pushing the old man aside, and ran up the stairs before Mr. Davidson could reject.

  He gently pushed the door open and saw Ariela on the bed reading. “Xen! Thank God, are you okay?", she worried.

  “Yes, I'm okay. But, there's something I gotta tell you".

• • •

  Xen sighed after telling the entire story to Ariela. There was a look of disappointment on her face. He couldn't tell if whether it was because he might die, or the entire planet might die with him.

  “I'm sorry this has to happen... I can't promise that I'll be able to save you. I will promise that I'll try", Xen gave Ariela a short hug before standing up.

  “And I'll be gone for four more days, training in Otherworld", he looked back over to the girl.

  She gave him one last hug before saying, “You may save the world and all the people who live here, but you will always be my personal hero".

  Xen smiled faintly before the necklace glowed, and his body began to fade away, teleporting him back to Kai's Planet. “Goodbye", he said.

—Meanwhile, Fordock sat on his giant throne in space, waiting for Skarr to arrive on earth and do the job.

  “Ugh...  I grow tired of this waiting", he complained to himself.

  He began to hear quick little footsteps running up to his throne, it was one of his soldiers with a message.

  “Um... Master– I mean Lord Fordock! Y–You have a... a message! It's uh... It's from Sk–Skarr!", he stuttered.

  Fordock sighed and picked up the staff to the left of him. He hit the floor with the bottom of his staff and small flames went in all directions. He began to shrink down to the size of a regular person and walked toward the nervous soldier. He snatched the message out of the boy's hand and read it.

  ‘Lord Fordock, I'm nearly reaching earth's sector and I'll be on the planet within four or five days. I can already feel the tiny power levels of the earthlings from where I am. Till the time comes, farewell'. After reading the short letter, Fordock blew the paper into flames with just his bare hands. He looked at the soldier with angry eyes. The boy quickly tensed and tried his hardest not to look back at Fordock.

  “You stutter... I hate when people stutter. It annoys me. I am annoyed", he said looking deadly into the boy's young, innocent eyes.

  “Y– Yes sir, I'll try harder!", he pleaded.

  Fordock shook his head slowly, “No... You will PAY!". He jabbed his hand into the boy's abdomen like a knife.

  “Heheh", he laughed just before he moved his hand around inside the boy's guts.

  “Ughh...", he coughed blood and his eyes slowly rolled to the back of his head. Fordock quickly ripped his heart straight out of the ribcage and dropped the boy to the floor, blood everywhere.

  Fordock's smile slowly faded, “Someone clean this mess now!". He turned around, grew back to his giant size, and sat back onto his throne. He continued to smirk while the tiny servants below him began to wash the blood off of the floor and carry the boy's dead body out. In his head, he recited how he would do the same thing to Skarr after the job was done.