CHAPTER FOURTY-ONE: BABIDI

            Zarbon looked toward Zangya.

            “Are you ready?” he asked.

            She quickly nodded back. Clamping one hand on the other wrist, he threw a Fire Arrow just as Zangya fired a Spark Laser, both of which meant to hit near the ship, but not on it. The arrow hit on the right side of the ship, the laser on the left side. The explosions caused by both blasts upset the aliens milling around like ants. Both Zarbon and Zangya started firing small, well-aimed ki blasts at the creatures, picking them off one by one like flies. This much was easy-as long as the little purple creatures didn’t decide to come in en masse like a swarm of insects. They finished blasting the aliens and ran inside of the ship, hoping to all of the Kamis and Kai’s that had recharged enough to take off. This was getting too weird.

            Zangya took out another alien who was wandering around the ship, and Zarbon ran immediately to the controls. POWER CELLS: 45% POWER Good...that was enough...hopefully. Zarbon punched in the code to send the ship up, and breathed a sigh of relief as it started flying. He sat back in his chair and started laughing while the ship took off. This was one of those stories that you could tell your grandchildren. “How I ended up Running From Purple Aliens Because They all Had Funny Tattoos!” And there are some things you just DIDN’T tell the grandchildren. Zarbon’s thoughts were interrupted as something hit the ship with an extremely large jolt, knocking some more power out of the already spent cells.

            “Poop!” he shouted as he punched in a few more buttons, stabilizing it again. The ship was hit a second time, by a second blast, this time with a jolt so slight that it paled in comparison to the first one. But the power cells were empty again. Now THERE was something that made no sense! How could two ki blasts somehow drain a spaceship’s power cells, and yet somehow keep it in the air?

            Zarbon looked out of the window and saw why. The large purple alien that he had seen earlier was telekinetically guiding the ship down to the planet’s surface. He looked over to Zangya.

“Brace yourself,” was all he said.

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            Zarbon woke up some time later, chained to a wall. How in the world he had managed to lose to a bunch of wimpy purple aliens was something that he’d never understand. Well, technically, he hadn’t lost to them. He had lost to Him, to that larger, more powerful one. THAT guy was really powerful.

            Zarbon looked around him, and saw that he was alone in his cell. Zangya was either dead, escaped, or locked up somewhere else. It was probably the third option. Zarbon tugged slightly on the chain holding is right arm. The metal itself was durable enough, but the cold, metallic wall to which it was attached was just a tiny bit weaker. He started frantically tugging, pulling, and grinding, intentionally not charging up and breaking down the wall for fear of being noticed. The wall bent a bit, and the chain holding his right hand loosened. Just a little bit more...

            The door to his cell opened, flooding the room with light. Zarbon immediately stopped moving and hoped that whoever had just arrived wouldn’t notice the stress marks running up and down the wall. A short, bent over figure entered the room, not quite visible in the darkness. It hit a switch along the wall, turning on the lights. Deep inside himself, Zarbon wondered why the lights weren’t turned on earlier, when they put him there, and decided not to pursue the issue.

            “Hello there, my friend,” the new character said in its semi-old, cracked voice. Zarbon started when he saw it. He had been expecting another purple alien, but this thing was...different. It was a small, yellowish, rodent-thing with several wiry hairs sticking out of its head. The thing’s eyes were at a natural slant, and its arms were so thin that they looked ready to snap. It wore a blue robe with an orange cape, both of which were to large for the small creature, making him look like a bundle of clothes with a head and arms. The front of his robe was black, with a white emblem that had-big surprise!-a Large, ornate, capital M.

            “My name is Babidi,” The creature said, wringing his bony hands together, “It’s a pleasure to meet you! Now, may I ask, who are you?”

            “None of your business.”

            Babidi raised his hands to the side of his head and feigned shock. “My, my, such manners! C’mon, tell me your name-it won’t hurt!”

            Something in Babidi’s voice compelled Zarbon to spill everything about him. He managed to hold back everything but his name. “My name is Zarbon. Now, who are you?”

            “I just told you my name, what else do you need?”

            Ignoring him, Zarbon went on. “What’s going on? What are you people doing?”

            Babidi put one hand up, motioning for Zarbon to stop so he could answer. “This is the planet Zun, Mr. Zarbon. Not much of a site, eh? I’m only staying here and keeping these people working so I can find something. You just happened to get in the way-and we can always use more hired hands!”

            “What are you talking about,” Zarbon asked. “If you’re not smart enough to figure it out, yet...ah, well. Tell me about your partner.”

            “Who?” Babidi frowned. “The girl, you idiot! Who is she, and where is she?”

            “I won’t answer the first, and I don’t know the answer to the second.”

            Babidi rolled his eyes at Zarbon. “She escaped after Pui Pui captured you.”

            “Pui Pui?”

            “Our purple friend.”

            “Oh,” Zarbon replied, somewhat glad that he could attach a name to the big purple alien that had trashed him earlier. If you have any idea where the girl went, I’ll let you work voluntarily.”

            “Voluntarily?” Zarbon said, finally giving up and deciding to make a break for it.

            Charging up his ki, Zarbon let his aura out in a minor explosion, decimating both the walls and the chains, and sending Babidi flying into the outside wall. Ignoring the rodent-like alien, Zarbon took off out the door and right into Pui Pui, knocking the breath out of both of them. Pui Pui recovered first, grabbed Zarbon by the shoulders, and smashed both of their heads together. A stunned Zarbon tripped back into the cell and fell on his back, only to look up and see Babidi standing over him, ringing his hands again.

            “My, my, you are a feisty one. You’re one of Cold’s men, aren’t you?”

Zarbon nodded. What else could he do? He wanted to fry Babidi, but he knew that if he tried, Pui Pui would stop him quite easily.

            “Well, then, there’s definitely enough evil in your heart for what I’m planning. I have a lot in store for you, my friend. A lot.”

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