Chapter 6
Ho-Jun was flying along in search of Kenichi, pondering what the Sovereign Elder had said to him. He covered a vast area of landscape in a short amount of time, homing in on Kenichi's energy signal. He let his thoughts wander.
"What did the Sovereign Elder mean that 'all is not what is seems'?" Ho-Jun thought to himself as he flew along. "Why did he say that defeating the final enemy will not be what it seems, and that I shouldn't let the trees prevent me from seeing the forest? What a cryptic old man! A little more specific detail would've helped.
"Why does every leader of a people have to be so enigmatic and cryptic? I'd like just for once to run across a leader of a people who is straight forward and concise in everything he says. Oh, well. At least it won't be any problem finding that fiend Kenichi. He still doesn't know how to hide his power from me. He's like a beacon of darkness on a bright sunny day. Evil like his is usually easy to find.
"Still, when I get to him, I'm going to use the increased power that the Sovereign Elder gave to me to make Kenichi pay for his evil deeds, once and for all! Davorkia will be his last stand, and I will be his last foe! I will break him, bring him to his knees, and put an end to his bullying ways for good!"
Ho-Jun continued onward for a great distance, disappearing over yet another horizon. He seemed completely focused on his mission to the exclusion of everything else. He withdrew his thoughts from wandering and renewed his focus.
Meanwhile, back at the sanctuary, the trio of humans were trying to decide what to do next. The Davorkians stood around pondering what the humans were thinking. Master Mitsuya was focused and stoical, remaining perfectly quiet and still as he pondered their next move. Yoko folded her arms in front of her chest and lifted one hand up to her face, tapping her lips with her index finger as she hummed occasionally while thinking.
Kyoji had a perplexed look on his face, similar to a look of discomfort. He had one hand on his hip and the other hand scratching his head for a moment while he let out growl-like sighs. He then took both hands and positioned them in front of himself with his elbows bent and his fists clenched, his face contorted to appear as though he was in greater discomfort than before, and his growl-like sighs grew more distressed and frustrated. He seemed to then alter his posture, his facial expression, and his growl-like sighs over and over again, giving each change only a few seconds before going to something else.
"I'm very worried about Ho-Jun," Master Mitsuya said as he finally broke his silence. "I don't like this one bit. That Kenichi is a powerful warrior. He's a Saiyan, which means he could use another one of those artificial moon techniques to cause himself to transform into that giant ape creature too. The one that Ho-Jun defeated before wasn't half as strong as Kenichi."
"Yeah," muttered Kyoji in his frustration over trying to think of something to do. "So what are we gonna do?"
"You've got a plan, don't you, Master Mitsuya?" Yoko said with building enthusiasm and excitement.
"It might not be a good one," Master Mitsuya replied as he took a dynocap from his tunic, activated it, and tossed it to the floor, "but it's all I can think of."
The dynocap exploded into a puff of smoke, and the Davorkians looked on in wonder. When the smoke cleared, there was a small treasure chest about the size of a six-pack cooler on the ground at their feet, and Master Mitsuya knelt over it. He opened the chest up, pulled out a pouch, and tossed it to Yoko, and she caught it, but she was as bewildered as everyone else.
"That's a pouch of senzu beans," Master Mitsuya explained as he closed the chest, recapsulized it, put it back into his tunic, and stood up once again. "Follow the Namek, but keep your power levels suppressed this time so that no one notices you. If he gets beaten up pretty badly and looks like his energy is running low, give him a senzu bean. It will restore his strength and his energy, as well as heal him from a good pummeling. Don't waste the beans though. I don't have a whole lot of them. There are six in the pouch. I expect a few to be left when you get back.
"If things look dicey, get back to the ship. I'll be waiting for you there. If things get too bad, we'll have to leave. Understand?"
The two siblings nodded as they smiled in eager excitement, prompting the old martial arts master to crack a slight smile of his own.
"Then go, and be very careful!" Master Mitsuya commissioned them as he cupped his hands behind his back.
The children responded that they would be careful and then they took flight with the pouch of senzu beans, following Ho-Jun's ever-so-subtle energy signal. They realized he was very far away, and that he was trying to keep as much of his power suppressed as possible while he tracked Kenichi. They then realized that they were doing the same exact thing while tailing the Namek. Kyoji was bubbling over with excitement at the prospect of their new adventure. Yoko seemed happy, but she wasn't nearly as excited as her younger brother was.
Meanwhile, Ho-Jun continued to search for Kenichi, and he allowed a slight smile to escape his lips as he savored the thought of getting his hands on the Saiyan warrior and take him apart.
"That Saiyan won't know what hit him!" Ho-Jun thought to himself as he closed in on the Saiyan's position. "I can feel my increased strength! My power is more than twice as strong as it was before! Won't he be surprised!"
Within seconds, Kenichi was in sight. He was about to climb into his space pod and leave, but he paused to see what his scouter was reacting to. He was looking in Ho-Jun's direction until he saw the mighty Namek arrive on the scene and land on the ground just a short distance away. Kenichi glared at the Namek with a cocky smirk upon his face.
"You shouldn't have come here!" Kenichi taunted the Namek, still smirking haughtilly. "I was about to leave the planet and blow it up from space, but now I'm going to have to kill you slowly and painfully instead of quickly and mercifully like I had planned! You must have not only a death wish but a masochistic side!"
"I've got a surprise for you, my friend!" Ho-Jun replied as he widened his stance and flexed and tensed his muscles until every vein in his body began to bulge. "I think you should always have a back-up plan because I'm changing your original plan! Do you ever think about retirement?"
"Retirement?" Kenichi muttered in a bit of confusion, observing the Namek incredulously before returning to his cocky demeanor. "You're a real funny guy, aren't you? You almost made me laugh!"
"Oh, yeah?" Ho-Jun replied with a smile on his face as he prepared to reveal his true power. "Well, let's see how funny you think this is!"
Ho-Jun began his power-up with a drawn-out yell, and his body was ensheathed in a pale flaming aura immediately! The ground began to shake, and the winds began to howl as Kenichi's scouter began reading the Namek's increasing power! Small pebbles, stones, and rocks began rising from the ground as the sky darkened above them! Kenichi noted the rising power level with disinterest!
"Power level three thousand and still rising," Kenichi noted with passive interest. "Big deal. I already know your power level is over three thousand, almost equal to mine when you discard that heavy cape of yours. It doesn't matter."
Powerful winds began to gust out from Ho-Jun's body in all directions, blowing against the mighty Saiyan and everything else in the area with great fervor! Kenichi's scouter continued to monitor the Namek's rising power level! Huge rocks began erupting out of the ground around them as the ground began shaking more violently!
"What's this?!?" Kenichi muttered in horrified shock at the Namek's power reading on his scouter. "Five thousand?!? And it's still rising?!? Impossible! How could this be? Was he hiding his true power from me all this time? How could he be this powerful? No wonder he defeated my last footsoldier!"
"For your information, my power has increased since the last time we fought!" the mighty Namek shouted as he continued to power-up. "I met the Sovereign Elder of the Davorkian people, and he awakened my hidden power! I'm not finished yet, you barbarian! I still have a bit more to go! Hang in there, my friend! I'm almost done! Then you'll see my true power!"
Ho-Jun renewed his power-up yell as Kenichi watched on in horror, noting the power reading on his scouter as it continued to climb! Lightning flashed in the sky, and electricity crackled around the Namek's form, a sparkling electicity resembling the energy from the Borcon Comet! Kenichi was horrified by what his scouter read concerning the Namek's power level! After a little while, Ho-Jun's power-up came to and end, and the environmental effects subsided gradually, the sparkling electricity crackling around the Namek's form for a few more seconds after all the other environmental effects had subsided!
"Seven thousand five hundred?!?" Kenichi screamed in shock as he noted his scouter reading. "But that's impossible! There's no way!"
"Oh, yes!" Ho-Jun said with a smile as he prepared to engage Kenichi in battle. "I'm afraid it's very possible! Let's see what you're made of, barbarian!"
Ho-Jun launched himself at Kenichi and engaged the Saiyan warrior in a tremendous hand-to-hand clash! Both fighters seemed to be evenly matched, and their fighting was very intense! The sounds of their exchanges echoed across the landscape like small-scale artillery fire!
Meanwhile, Yoko and Kyoji were flying along in their pursuit of Ho-Jun, then they sensed his enormous power from a-far! They stopped in mid-flight, barely remembering to remain airborne, as they reacted to what they sensed!
"Do you feel that?!?" Kyoji inquired of his older sister with a perplexed look on his face as he pondered what he was sensing.
"Yes, I do!" Yoko muttered in stunned disbelief as she tried to think of a rational explanation for the Namek having that much power. "It's Ho-Jun, and he's even stronger than Kenichi now! How did he manage to get so strong?!?"