Mason and Kano were preparing to fight. It was just like a Wild West showdown, only without guns, and they're not cowboys.
Kano laughed.
Mason asked, "What's so funny?"
Kano: "I was just thinking how nice it would be when I beat you up and rip your face apart.
Mason: "Well, dream on, 'cause that's not happening."
Kano: "Hmmph. We'll see."
They waited for the moment to make their move. The wind blew hard on Mason's face. He tried to ignore it, not letting anything distract his concentration. Suddenly, Kano ran forward, and Mason followed. They exchanged punches, elbows, kicks, knees, head butts, and bruises and pain. Mason and Kano formed an energy shield around their bodies. Their ki got bigger and bigger until they hit each other. The collision of the energies was devastating. All the trees around them were fried by the electricity. No one could've imagined that they can do that kind of damage just by standing there.
Then Kano jumped up in the air. He used his robotic eye to scan Mason's weak points. The eye said that his power level is at around 40,000.
Kano: "How do expect to beat me with such a puny power level?"
Mason: "That device can't tell you anything."
Kano: "You don't get it, do you? You're no match for me. I don't see why Dark Spectre sees you as a threat. I think he made a big mistake."
"Dark Spectre…that name again? I've heard just about enough of this guy. If he wants to kill me, then why did he send a damn space pirate to do it?"
"Shut up, sayan. I'll show you no mercy."
He fired an energy laser, Mason dodged and jumped straight at him. They hit each other in mid-air again and again. Their fight looked like a red and blue ball hitting each other and bouncing in the air. Each time they hit, the ground shuddered violently.Margrit: "Be careful, Mason."
Jerrell: "Wow…is this what a high-level fight looks like? It's going to be dangerous, we need to get out of here."
Margrit: "But...I have to help Mason."
Jerrell: "You can't help him now! Please, for once, just once think about our safety instead of fighting!"
"I guess you're right." She helped Jerrell to a safer distance where they could still watch. She whispered "I know you can do it. I know you will win, Mason."
Kori: "Looks like the fight has already started. It's too bad, Kano is going to win without a doubt."
Radus: "I wonder who's going to win? Mason might look weak, but when gets angry he goes all out."
Zorton (in a weak voice): "Hey...our f-fight isn't over yet..."
Radus: "I'm not even going to bother wasting my time with you. You haven't improved one bit, or is it because I've gotten stronger than you?"
Zorton got up. "D-Don't get too arrogant!" He charged.
Mason and Kano caught their breath as they're tired from the action. (This guy Mason is not bad at all. Maybe I underestimated him.)
(He's tougher than he looks. I need a strategy.) Mason thought.
They descended on the ground and resumed fighting. Kano threw sharp discs and knives at him, and he barely dodged them. One of the discs cut his face.
"I've got you!"
Mason touched his face and saw blood on his hands. "That hurts."
"If you think that hurt, then you're gonna hate this!"
Pow! Crack. Boom! Pow! Whack! Mason fought back with full force. Pow! Whack!Soon, both were injured and bleeding from the mouth.
Kano: "Ha ha ha ha! Had enough?"
"I'm not finished yet! I still have to take revenge for Margrit."
"Hmm, that girl from the Garden was so helpless against me, she didn't even stand a chance."
"Shut up!"
"And, you know what? It's all your fault! You couldn't even protect her! Ha ha ha ha ha!"
"Shut up!" Mason got really, really angry and powered up.
Kano: "What's the matter? Did I hurt your feelings? Are you gonna cry now? It's okay, big baby!" BOOM! Kano didn't know what hit him. "Ahhhhhhhhhhh! Impossible!"
In an instant, Mason was the victor. Margrit and Jerrell quickly returned to the forest to join the winner. Mason had won. Kano had fallen down and couldn't get up.Margrit: "Mason, you did it!"
Mason caught his breath and could barely speak.
Kano: "Owww, maybe I shouldn't have made him angry..."
Margrit: "Well, look who's helpless this time. You think it was fun hurting my leg! It's my turn."
Kano: "No, wait! Let's talk about this."
"There's nothing to talk about. I will do much worse than what you did to me!"
She kicked him once, twice, a third time, a fourth time, then she charged up energy to prepare for his doom.
"No, stop!" Mason said, grabbing her hand.
"What's the matter with you?"
"We can't just kill him..."
Margrit: "After all the things he did to us? Of course we should kill him."
Jerrell (confused): "What the heck are they doing?"
Mason: "I know he did some horrible things to you, but we can't solve violence with violence. If you kill him, then you're no better than he is...besides, he's no longer a threat to us, he's defeated."
Margrit: "So what if? If we let him go, he'll come back and strike again! We must eliminate all threats to the colony..."
Suddenly, an energy beam flew at them.
"Watch out!" He pushed her against ground and he ducked for cover. Zoom! It almost hit them. Kano laughed and flew outta there.
Margrit: "Blast it! He got away!"
Mason: "Who did that?" He saw a dark figure standing behind a tree. Then the figure blurred out of sight. "It must've been them..."
Margrit: "He escaped! Thanks to you. I could've killed him, and you stopped me."
"But-"
"Now look at what you've done! You're way too naïve, Mason. We don't need your kind of people in the colony-"
Jerrell: "Now Margrit, don't be rude. After all, it was him who defeated Kano."
The heroes returned to the colony and Zelfire and Piper told their exciting story to Leila. They told almost every detail, except about the part when they were beaten.
Leila: "Too bad he got away. Maybe you'll get him next time, if he returns."
Zelfire: "Yeah, it's too bad. I swear, if I ever see that one-eyed punk again, I'm gonna teach him a good lesson!"
Mason was sitting by himself on the fountain with the statue of the Nameless Warrior in the Garden. Margrit greeted him with a friendly pat on the shoulders.
"Hey there."
"Hey."
Margrit: "Listen, I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier. I shouldn't have said it."
"Did you mean it? That I shouldn't be here?"
"No, not at all. I just said something without thinking. But in fact, I'm very grateful for what you did for us. By the way, you fought incredibly today! Are you tired? Let me give you a massage."
"Ummm, sure."
"It's relaxing, so relax." Her fingers rubbed his shoulders in a circular motion and it really felt good. "My, you're so tense. You need this." She continued. "Does it feel good?"
"Uhhhh...yes, I feel much better...I didn't tell you to stop."
"Alright." She continued massaging his shoulders.
It seemed like that everything was going well between them again. Until she brought up the topic that she shouldn't have.
"Mason, why did you do what you did before?"
"You want to know? Because killing in cold blood is wrong."
"He's a space pirate! He's probably killed more people than you can count in a whole day! And you let him go just like that...what kind of justice is that?"
"Margrit, if you killed him then you would have been no different from him."
"Let me tell you something! I could never match up to his level of cruelness. I think you were living on earth way too long, Mason."
"What's that supposed to mean?" He raised his voice higher.
"I'm talking to the wrong person here. You never knew how to be a sayan, only an earthling. You have no idea what war is like."
Mason: "What? You expect me to be like you?"
"Huh?"
"I've seen the way you treat other people, and I don't like it."
"You are such an optimist! You think that by letting Kano go, he'll suddenly change his ways? You think your ideas of peace and forgiveness can end a century of war? A century of murder and bloodshed?"
"It's because of people like you that the war continues. People who live just to fight others."
"Because of me?! That is the most absurd thing I ever heard. Do you know why I do what I do? Because my parents were killed when I was just a child."
"I didn't even know my parents. You had it luckier than me."
"Of course you didn't, that's why you don't understand what it's like to be me! Or Jerrell! I don't even know why I bothered coming here!" She left the Garden in a rude manner.
Zorton: "Tsk tsk tsk. That went smooth."
Mason: "How long have you been here? How much did you hear?"
"I heard everything. I didn't mean to spy on you."
"Zorton, since you've heard what we've been talking about, I want to ask you a question."
"Go ahead."
"What exactly did I do wrong?"
"Mason, you and Margarita obviously come from different worlds. And certainly you two have certain views on things. Do you know how hard life is in this part of the galaxy? Each day they train and train and eat, then sleep. Every day might reveal dangers that they have to overcome. Every day is a fight for their lives. You can't blame her for how she feels. It's not her fault. It's the war that made her that way. Can you imagine how hard a life is, to be in one place all day, waiting for your enemies' next attack, all the time fighting and not knowing whether you'll live or not? How can you expect them to feel how you feel?"
"Gosh, well…I didn't think of it like that."
"I know you have your own idea of an honor code. But these Dark Lords don't believe in honorable one on one duels. They play dirty. You can't afford to even trust them for one second, it could be the end of you. Mason, don't forget why you're here. You were forced out of your home by Starburst. You and your friends are in danger now. Only you can help the colony. You have the ability to, yet you refuse to.
"I..."
"Look at it this way. What if some one killed a very close friend of yours? Would you kill him?"
"Gee, that's a bit different. I didn't think about that..." Mason was beginning to get what Zorton was saying. Maybe he was wrong to piss Margarita off. How should he talk to her now?
Kano, Radus, and Kori returned to headquarters to report the bad news to Dark Spectre. "Hmmm, such disappointing news. You have failed me Kano...and I had such high expectations for you."
Kano: "I'm, I'm sorry, I did my best..."
Dark: "Get out of my sight. Now."
Kano left the room. He was really angry and embarrassed. The worse thing that can happen to a pirate is to be defeated. None of the other pirates would respect him anymore, and he'll be the laughing stock everywhere.
Radus: "This is what happens when you get a pirate to do anything."
Kano: "Shut up." He left.
Radus: "Now what do we do?"
Kori: "As they say, if you want something done, have someone do the dirty work for you."