Chapter 10
When the explosion subsided, Sawao plummeted to the ground like a shot, smoke wafting from his falling body to form a makeshift vapor trail. The impact with the ground was brutal, and it looked quite painful to the casual observer. Ho-Jun looked at Sawao's motionless form, the mangled armor pieces barely clinging to his heavilly damaged body as the blood flowed from many wounds along his body.
"He's not dead yet," Ho-Jun thought to himself as he reached out with his senses to the prone Saiyan's position. "He still has a fair bit of energy left within him. He's trying to remain still long enough to trick me into dropping my guard. He's strong enough to put me down with a sneak attack, but he can't hide his energy from me. I'm not going to give him a free target though."
Ho-Jun stood there for a moment in complete and utter silence, motionless as a light breeze blew across the landscape and over him. His eyes were locked on Sawao's motionless form, and he was determined to pry the Saiyan from his ruse. Kyoji and Yoko were watching this scene bewildered from their hiding place behind the huge rock. They didn't know what to think of this sight.
"Hey, sis!" Kyoji finally muttered as he scratched his head in total confusion. "What gives here? Why is Ho-Jun just standing there looking at the guy?"
"I don't know, Kyoji," she answered, also looking quite perplexed at the strange scene being acted out before them. "Wait! Do you sense that? The Saiyan's not finished yet! He's trying to lull Ho-Jun into a false sense of security so he can attack him when he lets down his guard!"
"Yeah! I sense it now too!" Kyoji exclaimed as both he and his sister now had knowing expressions on their faces. "No wonder Ho-Jun's just standing there looking at him! He's waiting on the Saiyan to make his move!"
Ho-Jun's gaze was unwavering, and he was rewarded with a sign. A small trinkle of sweat trekked across Sawao's face as he lay prone, and his facial muscles twitched in building excitement. Then, like a shot, Sawao suddenly raised up to his knees, using one hand to prop himself up, and fired a powerful energy blast at the Namek from his free hand!
The Namek was quicker, and he seemed to disappear from the path of the blast, allowing the blast to explode in the distance like a nuclear bomb! Sawao's eyes widened in shock, and then he began trembling as Ho-Jun reappeared right in front of him, looming ominously over him with one hand extended towards his face!
"No!" Sawao managed to mutter after a few seconds, the shock of the moment finally wearing off, and then he screamed with all his soul. "NOOOOOO!!!"
The blast was sufficient to completely vaporize the evil Saiyan warrior without a trace, and then, in an instant, it was over. Ho-Jun breathed a sigh of relief, knowing his job was now done. The kids rushed to his side, anxious and excited.
Later, the children arrived back at their space ship, landing a few feet from it and being greeted by Master Mitsuya, who was sitting down outside the space ship. He quickly rose to his feet as they landed, and he smiled with them.
"Ah! Good!" he exclaimed with an air of relief about him. "You're okay! For a while there, with all the strong energy signals I was sensing as I made my way back to the ship, I was worried that you might not make it back!"
"Nah!" Kyoji replied with a big grin on his face. "Ho-Jun took care of everything! He was awesome!"
"It was so unbelievable, Master Mitsuya!" Yoko added, her bubbling enthusiasm almost too much for her to contain. "After we got the senzu bean to him, he fought another Saiyan, who was Kenichi's superior! What a fight! I could just barely keep up with their movements, and, at times, they moved to fast for me to follow them! In the end, Ho-Jun finished with a bang!"
"Well, let's go inside and see if your grandfather is ready to go home," Master Mitsuya said with a smile as he and the kids went into the space ship.
Once inside, they saw Dr. Ono reclining in the pilot's seat snoring, soundly asleep. The bubble being blown by his nose drawing snickers and giggles from the children. In a moment, the bubble from his nose popped, and the old scientist woke up. He sat up, yawned, and stretched before he turned to see the others.
"Ah! What a great nap that was! I feel so relaxed!" he declared as he finally noticed the others. "Oh, there you are! I was so tired from the journey that I decided to take a little nap and catch up on my beauty sleep. So, how was your day?"
They responded by falling over with their feet sticking up in the air, prompting Dr. Ono to gawk at them in bewilderment, scratching his head.
"Oh, my!" he mused aloud as he pondered the meaning of their reaction. "I didn't know you were so tired. You must have had an exhausting time exploring the planet while I was sleeping. Oh, well. You can tell me all about it later."
The old man turned his attention back to the controls and began fidgetting with them. In a few moments, the door to the space ship closed, and the ship began taking off for space. From the distance, Ho-Jun was watching this, his arms folded in front of his chest and his cape wafting in the wind.
"Farewell, my friends," the Namek thought to himself as he watched them go. "Perhaps we'll meet again someday, but, for now, safe journeys."
Moments later, on board the space ship, Kyoji and Yoko stood looking out a side window towards the planet as they were leaving. They seemed somewhat subdued over their usual antics.
"Hey, sis," Kyoji spoke with a thoughful calmness as he nonchalantly gazed out the window, his head resting on his folded arms on the window sill. "Do ya think we'll ever see Ho-Jun again?"
"I don't know, little brother," she answered, also leaning onto the window sill with one arm pointing up so that her hand formed an elevated platform for her chin to rest upon. "Anything is possible, I guess."
"Well, I sure hope we do!" Kyoji replied with the sense of making a wish upon a falling star but without the falling star.
"Me too," Yoko muttered with that same wishful air about her as she then reached over to Kyoji and, with a devious smile, slapped him playfully in the back of the head while he wasn't paying attention.
"Hey! Cut it out!" Kyoji shouted as he began chasing his sister around the space ship to return the favor. "Come back here! Ooooh! Just wait 'til I get my hands on you! You'll be sorry! Stop runnin', ya coward!"
Once more, all was normal in the ship that Dr. Ono built.
The End.