As they approached the observatory, Juze's pace quickened. His wound hurt something fierce. He'd never been injured this seriously before, but he had to deal with the pain. He could feel another power inside the observatory. It was another one of those aliens.
But as made to walk through the revolving door, Wu stopped, holding his shoulder and groaning in pain.
"What's wrong?" Juze asked, rushing to his aid.
"Ugh..." Wu groaned.
"Talk to me, Master!"
Wu looked down in shame. "It's my arthritis. I can't fight that thing like this! You go on ahead!"
"Are you serious...?" Juze said, putting a hand to his forehead in disbelief. "Go help the civilians or something. I'm dealing with the murderous alien on the loose where my parents work."
With that, he pushed his way through the revolving door.
It was utter chaos inside. Bodies lay on the ground, with visible claw marks and body parts ripped off. Some were half-melted from acid sprays. Others were blasted apart by an energy beam.
"Oh God..." Juze said, before throwing up on the floor. His vision swam. The trauma of his injury, mixed with the murder of so many people, was getting to him.
He got to his knees, putting a hand to his face. Of course, Wu wasn't around to hear his plight, or feel his emotional trauma. He couldn't call him: He'd left his phone at the dojo. He wasn't going to bother him telepathically about this, either. Not when he was busy getting the civilians to safety.
He was spoiled, he knew it. But not enough that he couldn't learn to suppress it.
He heard screaming from the floors above. He needed to move, or his parents would die.
He didn't want to. His legs felt like solid lead. But he needed to.
He needed to.
COME ON! MOVE! MOVE DAMN YOU! he screamed in his own mind. He forced himself up, inch by inch, until he was back on his feet.
That was a start.
He pushed himself forward, one foot at a time.
He had killed one of these monsters, he could do it again.
He started running. And then sprinting. He made it to the stairs. He started flying up the stairs diagonally. Faster. Faster. Faster still.
Until eventually, he caught sight of that little green bastard holding his mother by the collar on the top floor, next to the telescope. His father was trying to smash its head in with one of the nearby computers, to no avail.
He screamed. It was something between rage and panic. He flew. He crashed into the Saibaman, and the next instant he was out the window, holding it by its remaining arm over the town. He had collided into it fast enough that the force of his impact had ripped the arm it was grabbing his mother with clean off. It was probably still stuck to her lab coat, spurting purple blood everywhere, just like this thing's stump was doing to his nice, clean gi.
This thing was going to die, because he wasn't going to give it a chance to survive. Not after everything it did to his town. And what it would've done to his parents.
Its mouth opened, and it fired a green ki beam directly into his face. The rage had increased his power, however. It only left mild burns. He, on the other hand, had jabbed his thumb directly into its left eye while it was distracted with that blast. It shrieked in pain.
He lifted it up as it writhed, bit, and kicked at at him, ignoring the pain of its eye and delivering shallow cuts in several places but too panicked to think of using its acid.
He broke its spine over his knee. It screamed again, this time so injured that its attempts to claw him was more like the pathetic scratching of an unruly cat that had been picked up by its owner against its will.
But it managed to get a good grip on his arm, which then tightened like a vise. It began, against all logic, to laugh.
But Juze wasn't going to let it explode this time. He knew its tricks. Taking some rock from the ground below in an instant, it swam up through the air, enveloping his fist. He grabbed its head and crushed it like a grape, splattering him with purple goop as its eyeballs bounced off his face. He let the corpse fall.
And only then did he realize what he had done. Everything went black.
When he woke up, he was in a hospital bed, with fresh bandages on his cuts and his parents looking over him.
But as made to walk through the revolving door, Wu stopped, holding his shoulder and groaning in pain.
"What's wrong?" Juze asked, rushing to his aid.
"Ugh..." Wu groaned.
"Talk to me, Master!"
Wu looked down in shame. "It's my arthritis. I can't fight that thing like this! You go on ahead!"
"Are you serious...?" Juze said, putting a hand to his forehead in disbelief. "Go help the civilians or something. I'm dealing with the murderous alien on the loose where my parents work."
With that, he pushed his way through the revolving door.
It was utter chaos inside. Bodies lay on the ground, with visible claw marks and body parts ripped off. Some were half-melted from acid sprays. Others were blasted apart by an energy beam.
"Oh God..." Juze said, before throwing up on the floor. His vision swam. The trauma of his injury, mixed with the murder of so many people, was getting to him.
He got to his knees, putting a hand to his face. Of course, Wu wasn't around to hear his plight, or feel his emotional trauma. He couldn't call him: He'd left his phone at the dojo. He wasn't going to bother him telepathically about this, either. Not when he was busy getting the civilians to safety.
He was spoiled, he knew it. But not enough that he couldn't learn to suppress it.
He heard screaming from the floors above. He needed to move, or his parents would die.
He didn't want to. His legs felt like solid lead. But he needed to.
He needed to.
COME ON! MOVE! MOVE DAMN YOU! he screamed in his own mind. He forced himself up, inch by inch, until he was back on his feet.
That was a start.
He pushed himself forward, one foot at a time.
He had killed one of these monsters, he could do it again.
He started running. And then sprinting. He made it to the stairs. He started flying up the stairs diagonally. Faster. Faster. Faster still.
Until eventually, he caught sight of that little green bastard holding his mother by the collar on the top floor, next to the telescope. His father was trying to smash its head in with one of the nearby computers, to no avail.
He screamed. It was something between rage and panic. He flew. He crashed into the Saibaman, and the next instant he was out the window, holding it by its remaining arm over the town. He had collided into it fast enough that the force of his impact had ripped the arm it was grabbing his mother with clean off. It was probably still stuck to her lab coat, spurting purple blood everywhere, just like this thing's stump was doing to his nice, clean gi.
This thing was going to die, because he wasn't going to give it a chance to survive. Not after everything it did to his town. And what it would've done to his parents.
Its mouth opened, and it fired a green ki beam directly into his face. The rage had increased his power, however. It only left mild burns. He, on the other hand, had jabbed his thumb directly into its left eye while it was distracted with that blast. It shrieked in pain.
He lifted it up as it writhed, bit, and kicked at at him, ignoring the pain of its eye and delivering shallow cuts in several places but too panicked to think of using its acid.
He broke its spine over his knee. It screamed again, this time so injured that its attempts to claw him was more like the pathetic scratching of an unruly cat that had been picked up by its owner against its will.
But it managed to get a good grip on his arm, which then tightened like a vise. It began, against all logic, to laugh.
But Juze wasn't going to let it explode this time. He knew its tricks. Taking some rock from the ground below in an instant, it swam up through the air, enveloping his fist. He grabbed its head and crushed it like a grape, splattering him with purple goop as its eyeballs bounced off his face. He let the corpse fall.
And only then did he realize what he had done. Everything went black.
When he woke up, he was in a hospital bed, with fresh bandages on his cuts and his parents looking over him.