FusionFall Adventures

4 - Kenju

He'd finally packed his belongings and was fully prepared for his departure. Carrying the box, Kenju made his way into the docking bay, watching as the ship containing Fusion Frankie, Fusion Numbuh Five, and Fusion Bloo zoomed off into the stars, heading towards the blue planet nearby.

"I wonder if they're gonna sound the Don Doom siren when I arrive as they do with Father..." Kenju pondered. "That'd be great..."

Upon arriving at the front of his spherical space pod, he immediately felt another presence and moved around the side, glaring towards a familiar sadistic fusion. "I didn't expect to see you here, Fusion Dexter..."

Fusion Dexter gazed at him for a moment, his usual sinister grin appearing immediately upon recognizing the prince. For some reason, that grin was a bit more sinister today than ever before. It felt like it was directed towards Kenju himself, but he doubted that severely. After all, if this fusion showed any signs of treason against him, he could just crush him and let his father replace him, right? Of course, he could. Fusion Dexter was the most dangerous, but he certainly wasn't the most powerful.

Then... Why does everything feel strange? It feels like something bad's going to happen... The prince thought before Fusion Dexter's voice broke the silence.

"I came here to give you some words before your... Departure," Fusion Dexter stated. 

"Funny," Kenju retorted, rolling his eyes before setting his metallic box down. "I certainly didn't expect one of my father's Big Three to actually care."

Fusion Dexter lifted a brow. "Oh? Who said I cared? In fact, if you become a casualty, I'm more curious about the massacre it'll bring. Your sister would love to hear about her precious little brother falling at the hands of earthlings." A laugh from the genius soon followed and he waved his hands a few times. "However, I actually only had one thing to say to you: 'Godspeed'. Take that as you will, Prince Kenju."

Kenju's space pod whirred to life, almost as if the word 'Godspeed' activated something in it. However, it was time for Kenju to leave. He packed his box into the pod and hopped inside, sighing and giving Fusion Dexter one last glare. "See you on the surface,"

"Farewell, Prince Kenju." Fusion Dexter nodded, offering a bow of his head in response.

"Oh- And one more thing..." Kenju stated.

"Yes, my prince?"

"Fuck you."

Once the pod door closed, it began to lift off and Kenju pulled out the photograph of his mother, staring at it as his pod zoomed off into space, heading towards the earth. His mother was watching over him, and knowing this, he'd be able to carry on with the mission. This wasn't just for his sake, but for Hestia's as well. He needed to get her free, make their father proud, and conquer this world. It was his duty, and it was his purpose in life other than to be his father's successor.

In the midst of his thoughts, everything decided to go wrong.

A thunderous collection of roars echoed through the vacuum of space, causing his pod to tremble. The Don Doom siren? That made Kenju excited, especially if the people on earth would hear it from all the way out here. He relaxed in his pod before holograms exploded to life all over the inside of his pod. Circuitry went haywire and sparks zipped around. That bad feeling crept up his stomach more and into his chest before he noticed some of the hologram's images.

The battle on Dlentev was shown in parts, some of which were his failures. He spared two people, although one managed to die regardless as the other escaped. Then, it showed him upsetting the planet's core in a fit of rage, nearly destroying it before Hestia calmed him down.

"Why am I being shown this?" Kenju asked. Then he remembered what Fusion Dexter had said and groaned. "Fusion Dexter, this better not be a prank... We have no time for games, there's an invasion for me to lead."

The roars continued and the holograms stopped, leaving Kenju in darkness. The view of the earth in front of him was beautiful, however. In about another half an hour at the usual cruising pace, he'd be there beginning his reign of terror just like his father wanted him to do. At this point, his momentum was keeping him at that pace, but the power to the ship had stopped completely.

"Unneeded," boomed his father's voice throughout the pod.

"Kenju, you weren't born to suffer. You were born to be perfection and the pride of my army. Failure isn't an option, nor do I forgive mistakes. You know this, boy, which means you also know that not even my offspring are safe from this wrath of mine."

"...Father?"

"Kenju, former Prince of Fusions. I hereby sentence you to exile and execution by Doom Laser. No longer are you a son of mine, nor a member of this legion. From now on, you are a ghost without a name, wandering blind and deaf in the underworld. This is goodbye, my begotten failure."

To say that Kenju was just in shock would be an understatement. He didn't know what was going on or even why it was going on. Had he just been exiled and disowned? What of his invasion? Thousands of thoughts swarmed his mind before his survival instinct kicked in immediately. The Don Doom's combined corruption beam took around 2 minutes to fully charge. It had only been one minute, meaning he had time. The male went to work on getting the ship to work as best as possible. All he needed was one quick boost forward and the laser could carry him to the earth where he could jump out and be fine. However, getting the ship operational was complicated.

The pod shook, then the power for it came back on just in time for Kenju to slam his palm onto a button for that quick boost of speed. Ten seconds remained, but would he make it in time? 

The burst of speed helped, however, the corruption beam hit its mark, slamming into the back of his pod and propelling him forward while also corroding the space pod. If he didn't swerve out of the way, he'd be a grease stain on the surface of the planet. He put everything into turning as well, breaking free from the corruption beam and heading even closer to the planet near him. A sigh of relief followed as he realized that the hard part was over.

Unfortunately, Kenju didn't account for the g-forces or the change in temperature as he breached the earth's atmosphere. The ship began falling apart around him, exposing him to more heat. There was so much turbulence as the gravity changed that his ship was literally tearing apart piece by piece and flying off in random locations. The exiled prince was greeted by the site of a town below him, with what looked to be a flying treehouse. The closer he got to the ground, the scarier things became. He was in enemy territory now, and not only were the people he was destined to rule against him now, but he was surrounded by even more enemies in the form of earth's defense force.

The bottom of what remained of his pod hit the top of a small hill, sending Kenju into a spiral before the pod outright exploded, sending him straight into the dirt where he made a smoldering crater with his body. 

Kenju stared up at the sky, attempting to process everything that had just happened.

Exile.

Everything he had known, fought for, learned, grew up with, and nearly died for was gone now. He wasn't the prince of  Fusions anymore. Who was he? Did he even deserve to live? Conflicting emotions bubbled up inside of him as he began to slowly lose consciousness. Strands of orange hair flew over his face, and he thought he could hear a girl's voice pleading for him to wake up and asking if he was okay.

He couldn't move, nor respond. He didn't have the motivation to, and he also just crash-landed from the sky to the ground in seconds. That sudden realization was enough to make Kenju's world go completely dark.