The New Brood
Earth – The late future
***I***
He paced nervously through the slums of Metro City, fully knowing the extent of his punishment for leaving, yet not caring. His eyes wandered before and behind him, each echoed step putting him further over the edge of uneasiness. Ruined buildings surrounded him, silent and still. Whatever life that lived within was now non-existent. The shiver ran down his spine making him zip up his black leather jacket and merely watch as his painful sigh turned visible from the bitter cold.
"We now return to our coverage of the Metro City Renegade," Announced a television reporter through the hundreds of thousands of television sets across the city. The young man merely looked up from the stone beneath his feet and looked to the screen behind the glass of an electronics store.
"This news station received reports of one missing resident, Jeir Burke, from Living Block X-21 earlier this morning. The Special Forces Unit member guarding his living quarters was found nearby…deceased. There was a struggle, local authorities reported, the guard being slain with the energy bonds binding the resident. The key to the energy links was not found on the guard so citizens be wary…this man is strong, powerful, and unbound. God only knows what monstrosities this freak is capable of." The anxious reporter said as a picture of a young man, his face covered in dirt and thin with starvation, was pasted everywhere.
Jeir pulled the hood of his sweater down before his eyes as he saw his picture and every personal fact about his "life" resting upon the screen. He shook his head as a single tear fell down his cheek, cleansing one strip of his darkened face.
"It's over." He said to himself, knowing that his escape and his running were futile. He and his entire race were damned to enslavement and imprisonment in their "new life". These humans and their stereotypes…their ignorance…their hatred, he thought as he fell to his knees, the tears now flowing freely.
"It's over!" cried out a larger man behind him, his deafening voice needlessly amplified with a mega-phone. Jeir turned to face the soldier, stubbornly wiping away tears so he would not enjoy his "capture" too much.
The man was short and round, his ego massively inflated from the suit of indestructible armor on his torso and the enormous firearm resting in his hands. A wicked sneer was forever placed upon him, his fat cheeks and dark beady eyes now distorted from his contemptuous glare.
"Power level…75. Not bad, though I've dealt with stronger." He said as he checked the scouter implanted to his helmet, the pale green visor showing all vital statistics about his foe.
"Power level???" Jeir asked before a rifle was shoved into the center of his back.
"Hands in the air!" Keegan shouted, saliva and food parts spraying into the air when he spoke. Jeir merely closed his eyes as he raised his arms skyward. He felt as the other members of the Special Forces Unit rebound his hands, the energy links burning his skin more than he could ever recall. They merely laughed at his torment, tightening the bonds just to see him wince in pain. Their superior did nothing in resistance to their cruel punishment, but rather, added fuel to the fire.
"Freak…get ready for a whole world of pain! You'll be begging to die before we get done with you."
Intense laughter ensued after this remark. Jeir simply kept silent and took his punishment proudly and honorably, as a true man of his ancient race would. They caught me fairly, he thought, let them do what they will.
"Hey Keegan! Get a hold of this! This Freak thinks he's human! Look what this one is hiding!" said a guard behind Jeir as he pulled the back end of his pants waist line away from his body. The entire crew laughed as Jeir's fur covered brown tail rose from around his waist and up into the air. Tears of mirth rolled down their cheeks as the days events proved too much to bear for them. Some rolled on the floor, laughing so hard that their sides began to ache. Even the head Unit member, Keegan, began to laugh, his massive gut jolting with every chuckle.
Jeir clenched his fists, trying to hold in his anger. Rage was his race's blessing and curse. When the Saiya-jin were angered, their strength was unrivaled by all but the mightiest of warriors. Legendary names passed from father to son, tales of Golden Haired warriors who rose up and fought against evil. He heard tales of the valorous Goku as well as the cold Vegeta. He heard of Gohan, a half-breed that rose to become one of the strongest warriors in the Universe. All young boys played Z-Warriors in the Living Blocks, yet all young boys knew that Saiya-jins were slaves now, freaks even, and Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan, were merely fairy tales.
Jeir was now beyond angry. His body shook with rage, the veins in his neck and arms now bulging. The Unit members were practically dying from suffocation now, their laughter growing too strong for them to hold. They saw this weak young man trying to stand up to the force of the highly trained Metro City Special Forces Unit, and saw he had no chance. These "highly-trained" warriors were not raised on fairy tales and told of impossible odds and successes. Jeir merely smiled as an image of the fabled Goku passed through his mind.
Keegan stopped laughing just in time to see Jeir's fist smash into the chest of one of his lesser lieutenants, leaving him on the ground, gasping for air. Jeir spun around, quick as lightning, and brought the heel of his booted foot into the face of another Unit member, breaking his nose and his neck simultaneously.
"Power level…100…150…200. Impossible! There is no way!" cried another solider as he caught a solid elbow in the throat. He died before he even hit the ground. Keegan stepped back, calling the reserve troops in to battle with this new foe.
"Destroy him at all costs!" he cried out, the new recruits stepping out of the retrieval van, armed with energy rifles. In a flash one weapon fired, the red beam of energy flying towards Jeir. He sidestepped the shot as if it were casually being thrown at him.
Wide-eyed in disbelief, the rest of the Unit opened fire on the lone renegade, their energy blasts destroying the ruins around them. Jeir ducked and weaved around the blasts, growing ever faster as the adrenaline pumped through the veins of the green warriors.
"I have you now, monkey-boy!" one shouted as his rifle locked on to the power reading of the dexterous Jeir. He pulled the trigger and laughed as the energy bolt discharged and lodged itself into Jeir's shoulder. The metal bullet dug inside of him, causing the immobilized warrior to drop to one knee and cry out in pain.
"Destroy him! Avenge your fallen brothers!" Keegan cried out, arming his rifle, just in case something strange happened. Not wanting to invoke the wrath of their commander, all of the soldiers locked onto the immobilized Jeir and waited for the telltale beeping of the lock-on signal as well as the order from Keegan.
"Death to you and your freakish kind, Saiya-jin!" Keegan shouted, laughing out loud in glee as he brought his hand down for the order to fire. The soldiers all laughed as they pulled their triggers, all anxious to strike down the helpless freak before them. But their blasts never hit home.
A golden aura surrounded a young woman before them, her hair standing on end as if her locks were energy itself. Her eyes were a shimmering emerald, now shaped in unison with her lips to form an unnatural grimace. She waved her blade before her, absorbing the energy blasts coming toward Jeir. Every blast was sucked inside of her sword, the silver of the blade glowing bright red with every shot. Jeir, as well as the Unit members, stood watching her in amazement. The only one with the sense to react was the battle veteran Keegan who ducked for cover under the van.
"Good night." she said to them softly, as she brought her blade over her head, releasing the stored energy in a volley onto the unsuspecting crowd. None had a chance to even blink before the heightened energy completely obliterated all traces that they existed. Only Keegan remained.
Now that the so-called "indestructible" armor he wore was now shattered around him, Keegan was reduced to a quivering little man. The young woman approached him, her blade still faintly glowing with the remaining blasts. The point was held at his throat.
"Give me one reason why I should not destroy you where you lie, scum." She said to him simply, digging the point into his neck only to draw a drop of blood. His reply was the release of bodily fluids.
"Pitiful. Like your entire kind." She said as her golden hair fell down around her waist, now a deep rich brown. Her emerald eyes turned a cool gray and her scowl morphed into an amused smile.
"You are pathetic now…but I know you will return with better armor and bigger guns. When you do, I will be waiting for you…ready to destroy you and whatever fools you bring along. Understand?" she asked sternly, her eyes blazing like hellfire. Keegan merely nodded. She smiled and crouched before him, her blade still raised.
"To remember me by:" she purred as her blade cut into the sides of his face, dragging along and leaving long trails which would surely turn to scars. The blood ran free down his thick cheeks yet with the adrenaline running through his veins and the fear constricting him, he didn't notice until she was long gone.
"And now, for you…" she said while walking towards Jeir though he didn't reply for he had long since passed into unconsciousness. She merely groaned as she crouched down and checked if he was still living. Sighing in relief she said,
"You're going to take a lot of work kid…" and lifted his eyelids, looking into his eyes. She smiled as he began to groan and come to, steadily regaining consciousness.
"Lets just hope that you're worth it…"
*****
Earth – The late future
***I***
He paced nervously through the slums of Metro City, fully knowing the extent of his punishment for leaving, yet not caring. His eyes wandered before and behind him, each echoed step putting him further over the edge of uneasiness. Ruined buildings surrounded him, silent and still. Whatever life that lived within was now non-existent. The shiver ran down his spine making him zip up his black leather jacket and merely watch as his painful sigh turned visible from the bitter cold.
"We now return to our coverage of the Metro City Renegade," Announced a television reporter through the hundreds of thousands of television sets across the city. The young man merely looked up from the stone beneath his feet and looked to the screen behind the glass of an electronics store.
"This news station received reports of one missing resident, Jeir Burke, from Living Block X-21 earlier this morning. The Special Forces Unit member guarding his living quarters was found nearby…deceased. There was a struggle, local authorities reported, the guard being slain with the energy bonds binding the resident. The key to the energy links was not found on the guard so citizens be wary…this man is strong, powerful, and unbound. God only knows what monstrosities this freak is capable of." The anxious reporter said as a picture of a young man, his face covered in dirt and thin with starvation, was pasted everywhere.
Jeir pulled the hood of his sweater down before his eyes as he saw his picture and every personal fact about his "life" resting upon the screen. He shook his head as a single tear fell down his cheek, cleansing one strip of his darkened face.
"It's over." He said to himself, knowing that his escape and his running were futile. He and his entire race were damned to enslavement and imprisonment in their "new life". These humans and their stereotypes…their ignorance…their hatred, he thought as he fell to his knees, the tears now flowing freely.
"It's over!" cried out a larger man behind him, his deafening voice needlessly amplified with a mega-phone. Jeir turned to face the soldier, stubbornly wiping away tears so he would not enjoy his "capture" too much.
The man was short and round, his ego massively inflated from the suit of indestructible armor on his torso and the enormous firearm resting in his hands. A wicked sneer was forever placed upon him, his fat cheeks and dark beady eyes now distorted from his contemptuous glare.
"Power level…75. Not bad, though I've dealt with stronger." He said as he checked the scouter implanted to his helmet, the pale green visor showing all vital statistics about his foe.
"Power level???" Jeir asked before a rifle was shoved into the center of his back.
"Hands in the air!" Keegan shouted, saliva and food parts spraying into the air when he spoke. Jeir merely closed his eyes as he raised his arms skyward. He felt as the other members of the Special Forces Unit rebound his hands, the energy links burning his skin more than he could ever recall. They merely laughed at his torment, tightening the bonds just to see him wince in pain. Their superior did nothing in resistance to their cruel punishment, but rather, added fuel to the fire.
"Freak…get ready for a whole world of pain! You'll be begging to die before we get done with you."
Intense laughter ensued after this remark. Jeir simply kept silent and took his punishment proudly and honorably, as a true man of his ancient race would. They caught me fairly, he thought, let them do what they will.
"Hey Keegan! Get a hold of this! This Freak thinks he's human! Look what this one is hiding!" said a guard behind Jeir as he pulled the back end of his pants waist line away from his body. The entire crew laughed as Jeir's fur covered brown tail rose from around his waist and up into the air. Tears of mirth rolled down their cheeks as the days events proved too much to bear for them. Some rolled on the floor, laughing so hard that their sides began to ache. Even the head Unit member, Keegan, began to laugh, his massive gut jolting with every chuckle.
Jeir clenched his fists, trying to hold in his anger. Rage was his race's blessing and curse. When the Saiya-jin were angered, their strength was unrivaled by all but the mightiest of warriors. Legendary names passed from father to son, tales of Golden Haired warriors who rose up and fought against evil. He heard tales of the valorous Goku as well as the cold Vegeta. He heard of Gohan, a half-breed that rose to become one of the strongest warriors in the Universe. All young boys played Z-Warriors in the Living Blocks, yet all young boys knew that Saiya-jins were slaves now, freaks even, and Goku, Vegeta, and Gohan, were merely fairy tales.
Jeir was now beyond angry. His body shook with rage, the veins in his neck and arms now bulging. The Unit members were practically dying from suffocation now, their laughter growing too strong for them to hold. They saw this weak young man trying to stand up to the force of the highly trained Metro City Special Forces Unit, and saw he had no chance. These "highly-trained" warriors were not raised on fairy tales and told of impossible odds and successes. Jeir merely smiled as an image of the fabled Goku passed through his mind.
Keegan stopped laughing just in time to see Jeir's fist smash into the chest of one of his lesser lieutenants, leaving him on the ground, gasping for air. Jeir spun around, quick as lightning, and brought the heel of his booted foot into the face of another Unit member, breaking his nose and his neck simultaneously.
"Power level…100…150…200. Impossible! There is no way!" cried another solider as he caught a solid elbow in the throat. He died before he even hit the ground. Keegan stepped back, calling the reserve troops in to battle with this new foe.
"Destroy him at all costs!" he cried out, the new recruits stepping out of the retrieval van, armed with energy rifles. In a flash one weapon fired, the red beam of energy flying towards Jeir. He sidestepped the shot as if it were casually being thrown at him.
Wide-eyed in disbelief, the rest of the Unit opened fire on the lone renegade, their energy blasts destroying the ruins around them. Jeir ducked and weaved around the blasts, growing ever faster as the adrenaline pumped through the veins of the green warriors.
"I have you now, monkey-boy!" one shouted as his rifle locked on to the power reading of the dexterous Jeir. He pulled the trigger and laughed as the energy bolt discharged and lodged itself into Jeir's shoulder. The metal bullet dug inside of him, causing the immobilized warrior to drop to one knee and cry out in pain.
"Destroy him! Avenge your fallen brothers!" Keegan cried out, arming his rifle, just in case something strange happened. Not wanting to invoke the wrath of their commander, all of the soldiers locked onto the immobilized Jeir and waited for the telltale beeping of the lock-on signal as well as the order from Keegan.
"Death to you and your freakish kind, Saiya-jin!" Keegan shouted, laughing out loud in glee as he brought his hand down for the order to fire. The soldiers all laughed as they pulled their triggers, all anxious to strike down the helpless freak before them. But their blasts never hit home.
A golden aura surrounded a young woman before them, her hair standing on end as if her locks were energy itself. Her eyes were a shimmering emerald, now shaped in unison with her lips to form an unnatural grimace. She waved her blade before her, absorbing the energy blasts coming toward Jeir. Every blast was sucked inside of her sword, the silver of the blade glowing bright red with every shot. Jeir, as well as the Unit members, stood watching her in amazement. The only one with the sense to react was the battle veteran Keegan who ducked for cover under the van.
"Good night." she said to them softly, as she brought her blade over her head, releasing the stored energy in a volley onto the unsuspecting crowd. None had a chance to even blink before the heightened energy completely obliterated all traces that they existed. Only Keegan remained.
Now that the so-called "indestructible" armor he wore was now shattered around him, Keegan was reduced to a quivering little man. The young woman approached him, her blade still faintly glowing with the remaining blasts. The point was held at his throat.
"Give me one reason why I should not destroy you where you lie, scum." She said to him simply, digging the point into his neck only to draw a drop of blood. His reply was the release of bodily fluids.
"Pitiful. Like your entire kind." She said as her golden hair fell down around her waist, now a deep rich brown. Her emerald eyes turned a cool gray and her scowl morphed into an amused smile.
"You are pathetic now…but I know you will return with better armor and bigger guns. When you do, I will be waiting for you…ready to destroy you and whatever fools you bring along. Understand?" she asked sternly, her eyes blazing like hellfire. Keegan merely nodded. She smiled and crouched before him, her blade still raised.
"To remember me by:" she purred as her blade cut into the sides of his face, dragging along and leaving long trails which would surely turn to scars. The blood ran free down his thick cheeks yet with the adrenaline running through his veins and the fear constricting him, he didn't notice until she was long gone.
"And now, for you…" she said while walking towards Jeir though he didn't reply for he had long since passed into unconsciousness. She merely groaned as she crouched down and checked if he was still living. Sighing in relief she said,
"You're going to take a lot of work kid…" and lifted his eyelids, looking into his eyes. She smiled as he began to groan and come to, steadily regaining consciousness.
"Lets just hope that you're worth it…"
*****