Notes: Chappy 2! Woo! Thank you SO MUCH to the two people who reviewed… hopefully there'll be more. Meh. Anywho, enjoy!
Blade didn't know how long she's been in the Ryuten labs. It seemed like a lifetime, but she didn't think it had been more than a year or so. She'd been keeping count by the cycles of the moon, but soon she even stopped being able to sense that. Days blended into one another, marked only by the clockwork rhythm of the tests. She fell into a deep despondency that, oddly enough, was broken only by the appearance of her tormenter. She found herself looking forward to seeing his face, even though he only brought pain.
Keno nursed her back to health. She sacrificed her own comfort for her sister's sake, giving up meals until Blade's ribs no longer showed through her skin. Since the younger Nekojin wasn't being tested on as heavily anymore, she could maintain her own health while bringing Blade's strength up. However, Keno didn't get any stronger from it, so when Blade finally returned to a semi-healthy state, she began caring for her sister in turn. The fact that Keno had saved her life struck Blade deeply, and she vowed to protect her sister forever.
Both Nekojins began to feel as if they'd lived their whole lives in their tiny stone cell. Keno scraped lines into the walls with her claws, playing simple games with her sister until the walls became too cluttered with marks. Thus when they were moved to a different cell – with two complete strangers residing there already – they were unnerved to say the least.
Blade sized up their two new cellmates with an almost predatory eye, gauging their strength and power. How could she kill them if the time came? What sort of competition for survival would they be? Though she didn't realize it, some of her Nekojin training was returning to her.
"I'm Keno," Keno said, offering the first token of friendship. Blade's tail swished nervously, and she wished her sister hadn't spoken. "This is my older sister, Blade."
"I'm Magenta," said one of the strangers, a human-looking female with ebony eyes, wild magenta hair, and a Saiyan's tail. "This is Celeb no Oujo."
Blade eyed the other young woman warily. A princess? She didn't look it. Her onyx mane of hair was uncombed, and her silver eyes were dull. Despite herself, Blade allowed a slight sneer to cross her face. "Oh. A… princess."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Celeb demanded.
Blade's ears flattened to her skull at the hostility in Celeb's voice. "You've been pampered," she replied, flexing her clawed fingers.
Celeb's argent eyes flashed dangerously. "Watch your mouth, if you know what's good for you. I've been through hell… I was kidnapped, and nobody even came to look for me. My planet was destroyed, my brother enslaved… and I was too weak to do anything about it."
Blade's eyes narrowed briefly and she was about to respond nastily when she recalled something from her own youth. She, too, had been a child of nobles, if not a princess… so in a way, she could understand Celeb. She flicked her tail slightly, then lowered her eyes. "Oh… I didn't know." Her pride prevented her from saying anything else, but she was sorry. Celeb knew that, too.
~-~-~-
The tests continued as usual. The days still melted into one, but somehow the torment was made easier through the company of Celeb and Magenta. Keno took to them naturally, chattering up a storm whenever she was awake enough to speak. Blade kept to herself, but slowly formed a grudging respect and admiration for the silver-eyed Saiyan princess Celeb. Slowly, very slowly, an alliance formed – nobody could call it a friendship, for Celeb had no friends – and Blade's fierce independence turned into a lion-like protectiveness for those around her. The thought that her sister, and possibly these two new allies, depended on her gave her the strength to survive.
One particularly black day, that will was severely tested. Blade was pulled from the cell roughly by a pair of flunkies and brought into a bright lab room. She sighed and prepared her mind for the pain. Alec entered the lab with a tray of instruments, and Blade eyed him warily.
"What are those for?" she demanded.
"Dr. Flare has… uh… decided that you're no longer needed," Alec replied, averting his eyes from her. "I was assigned to… to inspect you for the final results of the tests…"
Blade's eyes widened. "No! You're… you can't kill me! Get away from me!" She hissed fiercely, claws extended.
Alec looked at her, pity and despair in his eyes, then stepped backwards. "You're right… I can't do it. I won't. I'm sorry… sorry for all this. I know you probably hate me, and I don't blame you…" he shrugged, his vast wings rising and falling with his shoulders. "I just want you to know that I'm sorry… and I don't want to hurt you anymore, ever. Kill me if you will – you have the strength, ad I won't stop you." He shut his eyes and hung his head, wings folded around him, waiting for the savage claws to rip through him.
The only thing she did, though, was speak. Her voice was quiet, broken, hopeless. "Why are we here? Why all this pain?"
Alec's heart broke more at this terrible supplication than anything else he'd ever heard. Here was a creature stronger than anyone he knew, reduced to a broken spirit in a weakened body… here was a creature he admired, and knew would never feel for him what he felt for her. Yet, she hadn't hurt him… "I don't know," he said softly. "I'm not here by choice. I want to help you…"
Suddenly determination flashed through Blade's eyes. "Well… perhaps you can…"
~-~-~-
"We need to leave. Now."
Blade's emerald eyes flicked open and focused, settling on Celeb. The princess had been taken out of the cell earlier, but exactly how long ago Blade had no idea of knowing. The Nekojin had been napping, reserving her strength, for she sensed something big coming; and now, with Celeb's return, it looked like that time had come.
"What?" She picked herself p and brushed herself off. "Whoa… what happened to you?"
Celeb's face remained expressionless. Her eyes were red-rimmed, and her clothes were tattered. Blade was reminded of a beaten creature, but a fierce fire still burned in Celeb's dull silver eyes.
"We have to go," she repeated.
~-~-~-
"No… please… father… No!"
Alec's blue eyes flashed open and he sat bolt upright, cold sweat beading on his forehead. For a moment he panicked in the darkness, but that was before his wings flared up and warm light filled the room. He looked around and put on his glasses, panting slightly in the aftereffects of his panicked nightmare. What happened? The dream was fading fast, but he could remember his father's cold laughter and a woman's piercing scream…
The captives.
Blade.
He leaped up out of bed, pulled a tattered shirt over his head, and put on his lab coat. He had to get to them. They were in pain… he belted on a pair of gun holsters and a few full ammunition canisters, picked a semiautomatic rifle up from his closet shelf, and fixed a light scabbard to his back. Incongruous as the combination of weapons were, Alec knew how to use them all, and sometimes his sword was more deadly than any gun. Within three minutes after waking up, Alec Flare was out the door.
Moments later he was at the cell and unlocking a different door. Celeb – who looked terrible – whirled around, a look of fear in her eyes. Alec was about to reassure her that he was here to help when a huge furry something hit his chest, claws digging into his skin.
"What did you do to her?" Blade snarled furiously. Alec could see every individual fang in her jaw, glittering savagely in the sterile hallway lights.
"Nothing!" he choked, trying to push her furry bulk away. "I came to help!"
"It's all right, Blade," Celeb said quietly. "It's not him."
Blade looked down at Alec, muttered and apology, and stepped off of him. Alec sat up dazedly and plucked at the red spots on his shirt, wincing as blood oozed slowly out of the puncture wounds Blade had inflicted.
"We need to escape… can you get us a ship?" Magenta asked. She was supporting Celeb, who looked half-dead.
Alec nodded. "Yeah… come on." He stood up and started down the corridor, gun held across his chest in readiness. The sounds of two sets of pawsteps reached him and he shuddered in instinctive fear, knowing the two Nekojins were close behind. Magenta and Celeb ran between Alec and the Nekojins as quickly as they could. The Blood Phoenix was the fastest ship in the fleet - Alec had built it himself – but what good would it do them if the guards got to them first?
Blade stalked along behind Celeb and Magenta, her giant feline strides outpacing those of her human companions. She felt her own smooth muscles rippling beneath amber fur, shifting the ebony stripes of her shoulders like reeds in the wind. Her eyes, like twin emeralds set in dark sockets, were amazingly sharp, and her keep hearing and sense of smell allowed her to pinpoint the movement of everything around her. She'd forgotten what a joy it was to take this form, forgotten the thrill of flexing her trashcan-lid-sized paws and extending her knife-like claws, forgotten the deadly grace and accuracy of her leaps, the raw power in her limbs… and she had Celeb to thank for her newfound strength. Seeing her friend in danger had sparked Blade's inborn instincts and allowed her to change again…
"Prisoners! Escape! Kill!"
Two score guards barreled around the corner, guns firing. Alec ducked the first spray of bullets and had his own weapons firing before anyone else could see what was going on. Keno whirled about and turned her fangs on the guards behind them while Blade leapt to the front, tearing out with savage claws. Magenta stood beside Celeb, her super-saiyan power apparent as she blasted away at the enemy, but Celeb… Celeb stood still, unmoving, as if stunned. Blade hissed and clawed the back of a guard who was going for her, but she was only one creature, and though the multitude of guards was no match for her strength, one bullet slipped through her defenses. Celeb cried out and fell, knocked flat. Blade snarled in outrage and pounced on the guard, dispatching him with one mighty blow. Keno came to stand over Celeb's prone form, defending the saiyan with her own body.
Once the five had finished off the guards, Blade padded over to Magenta and halped her lift Celeb up. Alec turned swiftly to check that everyone was all right, then holstered his guns and continued down the halls.
Finally they reached the hanger. Alec watched the doorway while the other four quickly entered the vast space. The young man locked the door once they were through, then leaped into the cockpit of his sleek, red-and-silver ship. He opened the passenger port and helped the others in, then flicked the engines on. Power rumbled under the steel floorboards and Alec allowed himself a brief grin. They were out! The Blood Phoenix was unstoppable.
"Everybody in?" he asked as the ship began to rise.
"They're ok," Blade replied as she squeezed into the copilot's seat. She looked back to check again, and to her surprise, saw tears trickling down Celeb's cheeks. A pang of worry and compassion shot through the normally callous Nekojin. What had happened?
~-~-~-
Later, once the ship had safely left Ryuten, Blade managed to relax. She looked back towards Celeb's finally sleeping form, then whispered, "Alec, do you know what happened to her?"
Alec shook his head. "No… but whatever it was… it must have been terrible."
Magenta turned from Celeb and looked up at Alec. "Is she going to be ok?"
The young man heaved a sigh. "It's up to her. If she wants to… she'll pull through."
"And if she doesn't?" Blade's voice shook slightly.
Alec ruffled his wings uncomfortably. "Let's not think about that."
"You're right," Blade said, squeezing his shoulder. "Let's not think about that." She quietly bent over and kissed his cheek. Alec blushed a bright red and looked over to her, but she had already curled against the far bulkhead, asleep. Alec sighed again and allowed himself a smile.
"Sweet dreams," he murmured, tucking his lab coat around her shoulders.