Crossover Earth '98
THE MAGNIFICENT BUTCHER
MICHAEL SURBROOK
The road was dusty and quiet. Each pace of her booted feet kicked up a small cloud of dust, dust that coated her once white armor and streaked the slick black of her bodysuit. She didn't mind, she'd had to deal with dust before.
To Kayli, the best thing about the road was the fact that it was empty. It gave her time, to plan... to plot.
Her fight with the man - or thing - that called himself Totem had been one of the most brutal of her life, and certainly the toughest she had had since landing on this planet. It had been at least two weeks since the battle and still her body ached. Her teeth and jaw hurt worst of all; especially if she tried to eat any solid foods. At least she could move normally again; for two days after the battle she had been barely able to rise, much less walk. She only could hope that Totem had been no better off.
Carlos had been pleased with her actions, praising her successful victory. He had also informed her that Totem had escaped - an unsurprising development to say the least - and was still threatening to destroy the lumber mill she'd been asked to protect. Kayli had accepted the praise and the news with as much grace as she could muster and had staggered off to soak in the hot tub for the rest of the evening.
So, she had returned. Returned to once again do battle with Totem. To show him what it meant to make a Saiyan warrior your enemy. Carlos had told Kayli to use whatever resources she needed to take care of the problem, in whatever way she saw fit. He didn't care if Totem destroyed the logging company. In his opinion they brought this whole mess onto themselves. He did want Totem to understand that it was a bad thing to meddle in business that didn't concern him.
'In whatever way she saw fit'... Kayli grinned whenever she thought about that statement. Not even Carlos understood what he had unleased, for Kayli was going to show Totem how a Saiyan went to war.
She had been walking for some time now, her jumpsuit and armor coated with a thin layer of road dust. She ignored it, much like she ignored the bright sun, or the occasional vehicle that passed her on the road. Occasionally, when she remembered she was thirsty, she took a drink from her canteen, but aside from that one small acknowledgement of her environment she simply schemed and planned.
The Cree village that Totem had appointed himself to save began to appear on the road ahead. It wasn't much, just a scattering of small houses and stores, surrounded the the obligatory pickup trucks, abandoned cars, and farm plots. Kayli shifted course slightly as she entered the outskirts of the small town, making her way directly towards what looked to be the town center.
Passing several buildings and homes, Kayli came to a halt facing what a sign proclaimed to be the 'General Store'. Out front were several trucks, a car, gas pumps and a stack of tires. Kayli gave it a brief once over and then unslung her water bottle from off her shoulder. Finishing the last swallow, she tossed it away.
"You," she rasped, pointing at one of the men standing out front, "Where do I find Totem?"
"Totem?" the man asked, a confused look on his face.
"Yess..." Kayli hissed, pointing her fist at one of the cars. "Totem!"
"I... uh... I don't know." The other men glanced among themselves and muttered.
A brilliant pulse of white energy was Kayli's response. The bolt tore though a parked car, sending it spinning out into the street. It rolled to a halt with a squeal of twisted sheet metal and a spray of shattered glass.
"TOTEM!" Kayli yelled. "Where can I find Totem?!"
Most of the men scattered, ducking into the store, or vanishing around the side of the building. Kayli turned and fired another blast across the street, caving in the front of a house, a second blast tore through a stack of tires, sending them arcing into the air and bouncing down the street. A third bolt blew apart a small shed, scattering flaming debris across a weed-strewn yard.
Leaping onto the porch in front of the store, Kayli snatched up a man who was too scared - or too stupid - to run.
Lifting him easily with one hand, Kayli glared at the man, eyes narrow and teeth bared, Her tail lashed back and forth, swishing slightly in the still air.
"I - want - Totem!" Each word was punctuated by a rapid shake, the man's flailing limbs unable to prevent Kayli's movements in the slightest. "Do you understand?"
"But... but... we don't know where he is." The speaker was an older man, who looked to be the store owner, speaking to her from the other side of the screen door that served as the front entrance.
Kayli turned to face the man and contemptuously tossed her current captive aside - sending him crashing through the storefront window. She strode forward, fixing the speaker with a dark look. "Find him. Tell him Kayli the Destroyer will be waiting. He will know where to find me"
Turning away from the store, Kayli snapped her beam sword alight, idly slashing though a utility pole as she walked away. A moment later, it crashed to the ground in a hissing shower of sparks as Kayli's laughter echoed across the parking lot.
Hovering over the Canadian timberland, Kayli surveyed the ground below. The invitation having been sent, now it was time to prepare the arena. Tapping into her inner energy, Kayli blazed with brilliant fury as her aura flared to life. Bringing her hands together, she launched a massive pulse of energy into the landscape below, the resulting explosion sending earth, rock and timber flying in a great cloud of smoke and splinters.
Dropping down into the crater, Kayli started flinging bolts of energy with wild abandon, shattering trees and blasting apart sections of earth. Her face was one of savage, almost feral excitement. This time, she would be the one who decided how the battle went, not the humanoid form-shifter who called himself Totem.
Pausing for a moment, her body streaming sweat and her breath coming in deep rasping gasps, Kayli examined her handiwork. She had managed to blast out a sizable section of the landscape, leaving a wide, flat-bottomed crater in its stead. Selecting a chunk of rock that poked up from amid the debris and wreckage of her rather violent landscaping, Kayli settled herself down to wait.
Several hours later found Kayli still sitting within her rough-hewn arena. Spitting a curse, she stood, kicking aside the partially-eaten corpse of a deer she'd shot to satisfy her hunger. Totem, it would seem, had decided to make a mockery of her by ignoring her challenge. So be it. Her mission was now simple, to destroy that which Totem swore to protect... the small Cree village on the outskirts of the logging encampment.
Taking to the air, Kayli activated her aura with a howling scream of rage and frustration. Wreathed in brilliant hissing flames of anger, Kayli streaked across the sky, eyes blazing red beneath her darkened brow.
Landing in the center of the small village she had so recently left, Kayli looked around, carefully examining her surroundings. Unlike her visit earlier in he morning, there was no one visible on the streets. No children ran through the streets, no dogs barked from their yards, there were no men lounging in the front of the general store. The wind blew through empty streets, that were as devoid of noise as they were of signs of life.
Gritting her teeth, Kayli summoned a glowing ball of energy. Point her fist, she launched the blast into the rear of a nearby car, blinking slightly at the sudden roar of flame and heat as the gas tank detonated. Turning slightly, she launched a similar bolt into a tank of heating oil near one house. It too exploded in a highly satisfactory blast of flame, the resulting pressure wave tugging its way though Kayli's hair.
Stepping away from the General Store, Kayli fired again and again, the bolts smashing two more parked vehicles. Making her way into the center of the street, Kayli started firing at anything that looked explosive or flammable. A stack of kerosene cans went off in a blast of blue flame, the burning gas sending some of the tanks streaking through the air like missiles. Fuel oil tanks exploded in great gouts of orange flame and black smoke, the heat quickly igniting the surrounding grass and nearby wooden houses. Cars and trucks where harder. Some went up almost instantly, while others sat and burned, sending great columns of black smoke to stain the sky and block out the sun.
Slowly walking down the main street, Kayli kept up her barrage of fire, blasting houses, stacks of fire wood, a tractor and a shed full of snowmobiles. A motorcycle went up with a sharp bang, chunks of shredded fuel tank whistling through the air. Many houses were burning freely now, the flames hissing in the bright afternoon sun. Here and there, some structures crashed into themselves with great clouds of sparks; sparks that were quickly picked up by the winds and dropped into dry fields of grass, to start new blazes.
Taking to the air, her white armor stained by soot and smoke, Kayli assessed the destruction she'd wrought. Virtually the entire town was burning now and every visible vehicle was some much smoldering wreckage. Nodding to herself in satisfaction, Kayli decided it was time for the finishing touch. Bringing her hands together at her side, Kayli concentrated, summoning every last dreg of energy stored within. With her customary chant, she launched a blinding blast of energy into the fuel tanks in front of the General Store, smiling grimly as the gasoline pumps and surrounding parking lot blasted up and out with a titanic detonation that managed to send even her hurling back through the air.
The road was dusty and quiet. Each pace of her booted feet kicked up as smallcloud of dust and soot, soot that coated her once white armor and darkened the grey skin of her face. She didn't mind, for to her the soot was a badge of victory, as were the dense clouds of black smoke and roaring orange flames that obscured the skyline behind her.