Could history really be repeating itself? I look at my crew and I see two
children of people who used to ride this very ship thirty years ago. Now I
see the son of another man being tracked down and killed by the son of a
woman who wanted to kill the other father so many years in the past. But
history is never the same twice, for instance I wasn't related to
Gene.....But maybe I didn't have to be, Gene himself told me that I
reminded him of his younger self. And now I'm also armed with HIS caster
and hand-shotgun. Another similarity is our final destination. The Galactic
Leyline. But our reason was different then The previous crew's. We just
want to find out what is up with the orb and why it reacts to Mel. Now that
I think about....Technically we are going there for the same reason. To
find something out about Melfina. Damn twisted fate, if history really does
repeat itself that much then I'll change this universe all right.....But
for the worse.....
~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~
I steady flow of beeps went off on my console, signaling our arrival on Heiphong V. I sat up straight and stretched, checking my ammo when I was done. I patted the sides of my jacket and quickly found out that there WAS no jacket. I looked down and saw nothing but my gray shirt and baggy black pants. Oh, dammit! Maki had my trench coat!! And with it, all my ammo!! NOOO!!! I beat my head on my left armrest, how was I going to fight someone with no ammo!!
I gasped and remember the caster shells tucked away snugly in my belt. I double checked to make sure they were still there. I sighed in relief, they were still there all right, all four of them, two 5's, a 6, and a 13. I opened my caster to see if there was a shell in there, nope it was empty. I took the 13 and popped it in then put it back into it's holster. I was really hoping 13 wouldn't turn out to be my unlucky number....But knowing my luck, it was going to blow my hand off when I shot it.
One by one everyone made their way back up onto the bridge and sat in their seats. It looked like they still weren't happy with me. I sighed, can't please them all the time. As we approached the large planet a face appeared on the main screen. "Greetings, do you wish to dock?"
"Yep, we do." I answered.
"Very well, you may proceed to dock five." He was about to sign off but looked at me again. "By the way, is your name Strife?"
"Um, yeah. Why?"
"I have a message to you from Jay Lou. Do you want me to send it to you?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
The man hit some buttons then looked back up at me. "Ok, it's sent. Hope you all have a good day. Good bye." After his face disappeared I asked Mel to bring up the message. It was some recording made by Jay. "Hey Strife, it's about time you got here. Anyway, I'll be at the Sparkling Shoe. It's a hotel....And one with a stupid name to boot but hey, the best place to hide it out in the open...I hope. Ok, hurry and get your asses down here, I don't know when Hiro will find me agai-" Jay stopped and seemed to look at something happening to his right. There were sounds of some sort of struggle, but they ended quickly, with sounds of bodies hitting the ground. One man screamed from the back round. "He's on the ship! Get Jay out of here!" The recording shut off shortly after.
I slammed my fist on the armrest to my left. "Dammit! Do you think he's dead already?!"
Jess shook her head. "I'm not sure.....But would that necessarily be a BAD thing?"
I sighed and shook me head. "Maybe if he wasn't offering us weapons, it would be. But he is so we have to keep him alive....If he's not already dead..."
Our ship docked and we soon got off. I walked up to the nearest engineer. "Hey! Do you know if there was some kind of fight or something on a ship around these docks?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it. The Delerago was attacked about two minutes ago."
"Two?! Did you see anyone run out of the ship??"
"Yeah, a kid about your age surrounded by what seemed like an army of body guards."
That must have been Jay. "Did you see anyone else leave the ship?"
The man scratched his chin. "Um, nope. I don't think so."
"Ok, thanks for your help."
I ran back to my crew. "Ok, they saw Jay leave about two minutes ago. If we split up we can cover more ground."
Aisha and Kitty nodded. "Right!" They ran off before I could say a word.
I turned to Mel and Jess. "So do you guys want to come with me?"
They nodded their heads. "Sure, we should go with you so you don't kill Hiro." Jess added.
I sighed. "Yeah, ok whatever. Let's go."
We ran out of the bay and headed into the city. It was pretty lively, people were everywhere. Normally I would love so much excitement but this was different. I had to find a skilled killer in this crowd. Just great.....
We started making our way down the streets asking people where the Sparkling Shoe was. Some people were kind enough to point us in the tight direction so it didn't take us long to find it. I almost broke down the door as I entered the hotel. I ran up to the clerk. "Did anyone by the name of Jay come in here??"
"Let me check." He started going through his records. "Nope, sorry." He said after he was done.
Damn! I smashed my hand onto the clerk's desk. Crap! Now how was I going to find him?!
I heard some screaming outside followed by some gunshots. I ran outside and was almost mowed down by a car going close to a hundred miles an hour. I caught a quick glimpse of Jay in the car as it sped down the road. Turning my attention back to the shooting, I saw three big and armed guys trying to land a decent shot on one guy in a black kimono with a red sash. Something was tied up in the sash but I couldn't tell since the man was jumping around like a frog.
He made one jump behind one of the three men and took the object from his sash, striking the man with it. I now saw what it was, a wooden sword. Bingo! Found the killer!
He moved like lightning towards the other two people, I had to use this to my advantage and attack him from behind. He moved up to one guy, lifting his sword up and striking the man hard in the skull, he went down instantly. I was close enough now to spear my whole body into his and bring him down to the ground.
My plan worked out perfectly. He didn't even see me leap off the ground and tackle him down. Unfortunately he seemed ready for anything. Before we even hit the ground, he twisted around and drove his right elbow into my cheek, leaving me as the only one to hit solid cement. Still on the ground I looked behind me to see where he was but he was no where in sight. I looked up and saw his darkly dressed body coming down at me. I rolled out of the way and stood up, drawing my 9mm just as I remembered it still had five bullets left.
He charged at me so I shot two bullets at him, he moved quickly to my left. I twisted around and shot two more shots. He jumped up and once again came down on me. I pointed my weapon straight up and fired my last shot. He swung his sword around and deflected my shot.....What?! How the HELL do you deflect and metal bullet with a WOODEN sword?!!?
I rolled out of the way before his attack made contact. Now switching Quick Silver for my caster, I once again aimed my weapon at him. The last man standing was also shooting at Hiro, so he forgot about me and went to take out the guy. It took the same amount of time for my gun to charge as it did for him to take out the last guard. He came back at me but I let my shot rip before he got close. I closed my eyes and waited for the beam to come out....But nothing happened! Dammit, a dud?!
Hiro shook his head and jumped over me, now running in the direction of where Jay's car went in. I started to run after him, yelling to Jess to find some ammo for me.
"For which gun?!"
"All of them!!"
As I ran after him I took one of the 5's and put it into my caster. Man this guy was really fast. I held down the trigger of my caster and let the energy charge, when it was done I pointed it right at Hiro and watched as a scratchy yellowish-green line fly right at him. He stopped and turned his head to me, now seeing the beam he jumped to the left and avoided my shot. Damn him!!!
He ran up next to me. "We are you fighting me?!" He yelled.
"Because you're trying to kill Jay!"
He looked at me, almost shocked that I would protect Jay, I was pretty shocked as well to be honest. "You would put your life in favor of scum like him?"
"Hey, everyone's gotta price. Let's just say Jay bought me out."
"Hmph, you are rotted by worldly possessions. You are no better then he is."
I Grinned. "Damn straight, bud."
He clenched his fists. "I will make it may solemn vow to cleanse our universe of disgraceful people, such as yourself."
"Wow, lotta big words you got there. But can you back em up?" I asked, still grinning.
He nodded once and stared at me. I stared back at him and there was a pause was we looked each other over. This guy didn't look like a push-over in the least. And since all I had to protect me were two caster shells I would make a good bet that he could also kick my ass. His bark brown eyes seemed to bore into my head, as he glared at me the only thing I could think of was the one saying. "If looks could kill."
His hair was as black as mine but shorter and better combed. At least he believed in neatness.
I gave a quick laugh. "So are we just going to stand here all day?"
His eyes closed to slits. "Your lack of fear shows that you underestimate my strength. That will be your downfall."
Hr gripped his sword in both hands and charged right at me. I raised my gun to fire at him but something picked me off my feet and out of Hiro's path. When my feet were once again on concrete I looked behind me. "Kitty! What are you doing?!"
"I'm trying to stop you from making a big mistake!" She twacked me in the head then walked up to Hiro, with the sweetest expression on her face. "Hiya, I'm Kitty! You're Hiro, right?"
Half confused, he nodded.
"Cool! That means you're the son of Twilight Suzuka, huh?"
"How do you know my mother?"
She laughed. "Because I'm Kitty Clan Clan, daughter of Aisha Clan Clan. Our moms used to travel together on the Outlaw Star about thirty-someodd years ago."
He smiled. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Kitty. I have heard stories about my mother's adventures. They seemed to have been quite exciting."
She smiled. "Yep they were. But they all retired from crossing the galaxy. Right now the Outlaw Star has a new crew. Hey, would you like to be a part of it?"
I dropped my jaw, what was she doing?!?!
He laughed. "Perhaps. Who does you crew consist of?"
"Well, there's Melfina, Jessica Hawking, me, and him." Kitty pointed over to me.
Hiro's smile faded. "Hmm, I'm sorry but no. I wouldn't be able to be in the same ship as someone like him."
"Aww, C'mon! Strife isn't really a bad guy! He's just trying to kill you because you're after Jay. So if you stop chasing him then he'll stop chasing you. Get it?"
He shook his head. "No, I vowed that Jay's blood would be spilt by my hands, I cannot break a vow."
She sighed. "Not even this once?"
He shook his head again. "No, not ever. Now I must go." With that, he ran down the street!
"No wait! You sure we can't talk this out?!"
He was gone before Kitty's question exited her lips.
"Dammit!" She yelled. "Now how are we going to get him to stop chasing Jay??"
I sat up and started walking down the street, putting the other 5 in my caster. "Well, my way is still open."
"Oh man! This is insane! Why is there no other way out of this except someone dieing?!"
"You answered your own question, Kitty. Someone has to die for this problem to end. And that person isn't going to be Jay." I now picked up my pace into a run.
About two blocks down I saw Jess in a car behind me with Mel in the passenger side. "Strife, get in!"
"Jess, no!"
"What, why?"
"Because I'm better on foot. Where's my gear?"
"Here." She tossed me a duffle bag full of ammo. Fifteen 9mm clips, sixteen shotgun shells and three caster shells. I slung the bag over my arm and continued down the street, hearing Jess yell. "You better not kill him!" Before I disappeared from their view.
As I ran I reloaded all my guns and put them in there holsters, with the exception being Quick Silver as that was firmly in my grasp. I also was able to fit three clips into my two front pockets for future use. My running slowed to a walk then stopped all together. I bent over to catch my breath. This was insane, how was I supposed to find these guys?
I heard a car come at me at a high speed. I also saw Jay driving it with Hiro on the roof. I pointed my gun at Hiro and let off a couple shots, forcing him to jump off the car. Jay came to a halt next to me and I got in with him taking off again.
"Jay, I was looking all over for you!"
"Oh really? I've been doing the same thing. I just saw you running down this road so I came after you. I see you haven't killed Hiro yet!"
"Hey, I'm working on it!!" I stuck my head out the window and looked for Hiro but he was no where to be seen. "You think we lost him?"
Jay shook his head. "You kidding? I'll never loose him."
I sat back on my seat, the car was starting to leave the big city. Soon enough we were on a lonely road cutting between some fields. "Ok, Jay. Tell me why he's after you."
"Uh, you don't want to know."
I sighed. "Tell me or I'll let him kill you."
"Ok, ok! I um.....Kind of.....Maybe...."
"Out with it, damn you!"
"Alright! I slept with his sister!!"
"You WHAT?!" I slammed my foot on brakes, which scared him more then anything. "Why? How.....? You IDIOT!"
"Hey, I didn't know!"
"Ok, how did you get her into you bed...."
"Well um.....Alcohol helps...."
I shook my head. "Ok, out of the car."
"Huh? Why?!"
"Just do it!"
We both stepped out of the car, he was a lot more reluctant then I was.
"Ok, now why did you tell me to get out of the car?!"
I didn't answer him, instead I walked over to him and hit him as hard as I could in the face. He staggered back and fell on his ass, blood coming from his lip.
"H-Hey! What was that for?!"
"You know what it's for you sick freak!" I picked him up and hit him again, this time much harder. "How could you do that?! More importantly, how could you make me protect you?!"
"If I told you would you have agreed?!"
"No!!"
"Well there you go! I have to stay alive somehow!"
"Stay alive? You don't deserve it you pig!" I picked him up again and shoved my fist deep into his stomach, he staggered back again and fell to his knees. I sighed and leaned against the car. "Ok, I think I'm done with you...."
I opened the car door to get in and drive away but a hard hit to my back told me other wise. I fell down and took out my 9, looking around for who attacked me. It was Hiro, but he wasn't on me for very long. Within a second his sword was knocking teeth out of Jay's mouth. I could have shot Hiro right there but I thought Jay needed some more beating before I stepped in.
Hiro jumped up and drove his foot practically through Jay's head, he was knocked out cold before he even hit the ground. It looked like Hiro was going for the finishing blow right then and there so I shot at him. Hey, Jay said to make sure I let him live so I held true to my word, sure he may not be able to walk or eat solid food for a week....But he'll live....
Hiro once again dodged my shot and came after me. I started to run into the field, he was much faster then me though and jumped right in front of my path. I raised my gun and shot him in the left shoulder, best thing was that the bullet actually connected. I heard him scream in pain so I kicked him to the ground. I stood over him and aimed my gun at his head but he bated me away with his sword. I rolled on the ground and quickly shot back to my feet, he wasn't expecting me to be so quick. I picked up my left foot and kicked at his sword, sending it flying a couple feet away. As he watched his sword soar in amazement I took the butt of my gun and slammed in the forehead. He went down with his hands covering his face. I ran for his wooden sword, if I could break it then he'd be at a disadvantage.
As I ran I felt his arms catch me legs and trip me. I fell to the ground and watched as he ran over my body. I did the same thing to him but I took his feet and fully flipped him on his head. He became disorientated so I went right for his weapon, grabbing it and hold the barrel of my gun to it's base.
"No, don't!" He yelled.
"Don't what?"
"Don't break my Bokudi! It was passed down to me by my mother! It holds great value!"
"Oh, so how fare would it be if I listened to you when you said no but you didn't listen to Kitty when she said no?"
"What do you mean?"
"She told you not to kill Jay! You didn't care, though! So that's why I don't care. That's why I'm going to break this weapon."
"No, please don't! There's a difference! Jay deserves to die! My Bokudi doesn't deserve anything!"
"Pfft, that's not how I see it. How I see it is that you'll be devastated when I break this. I'll be devastated when I don't get those weapons from Jay."
He scowled. "Damn you....A man ruled by the ways of the world. Only to care about one's self, not about the honor or integrity of others."
I laughed. "I can't believe you still think like that. The way's you talk about are OVER! It's all about money now."
He looked down to his side. "Indeed it is, but I intend to change that. I intend to bring the universe's life back to it's original luster."
I grinned. "Well what do ya know. Me too."
I scoffed at me. "Evil men do not desire what I do."
"Look, there's no such thing as good or evil in the real world. It's only different people with different beliefs."
"No, you are wrong. Evil people are plaguing this universe. Only the righteous can stop them."
I shook my head. "I love you chivalry, I really do. But what you're saying isn't true. Those 'evil' people are only a majority of people with the same beliefs. Now people with different beliefs, like yourself, think they are evil. How do you think they classify you? Do you think they're saying. "Man I hope those good guys don't come and ruin our plans." No! They're thinking you're just as evil since you're trying to stop them!"
"That's not true! They know what they're doing is wrong!"
"That may be true. But that isn't enough to classify them good or bad. Assume someone sells some drugs to be able to feed his family for one more day. Is he good or evil?"
"If it is to help someone they love then that is right...."
"Well those drugs just got someone killed when they tried to drive at night after taking them. The person along with whoever he hit is dead. Is that dealer still a good guy....?"
"I....I don't know...."
"Exactly. See there is no 'good' or 'evil' only different people with different beliefs. Jay did something to your sister that was inexcusable. But you got him back for that, you don't have to go as far as to kill him."
Hiro sat there in silence. I started to walk past him, throwing the sword to his feet.
"I will still hunt Jay down, you know."
I kept walking, not looking back. "And I will still stop you, Y'know."
I got back to the car and found Jay starting to stir into consciousness. A good kick in the head stopped that from happening. I picked up his body and threw it in the car, driving back to the town.
I got into the town and drove to the bay. Everyone was outside waiting for me. Jess was the first one to come up to me. "You didn't kill him, did you?"
"No....I didn't. But nothing's solved. We'll have to keep Jay with us so Hiro doesn't kill him."
"Actually, there are some people here that are going to take him back to Sentinel III and put him under constant watch."
"Eh, whatever." I got out of the car and pulled Jay form the back seat.
Jess tried to look shocked but grinned instead. "What happened to him?"
"He got his ass kicked."
"By Hiro?"
"By me."
She laughed and helped me bring him to the guards who weren't too happy to see his current predicament. As I handed him to the guards I told them to tell him that I agreed to our deal, he's still alive. They nodded and took him to his ship. I sighed and walked over to the group, noticing Aisha was missing. "Where's Aisha?"
"Right here." I heard a voice from behind me.
I turned around and saw her standing next to another woman that looked about as old as she was. I grinned and pointed at the woman. "Suzuka, right?"
She nodded. "Yes. You didn't do anything to my son, did you?"
I shook my head. "Na, he's still alive."
Another voice came from my left side. "At least I see Jay got what he deserved...." It was a woman who looked about my age. I asked who she was.
"I'm Sakura, Suzuka's daughter. It's a pleasure to meet the man who was hired to kill my brother."
I laughed hesitantly and scratched the back of my head. "Uh, yeah.....Sorry about that."
"No need to apologize," Suzuka said, "I know first hand about being paid to do something you may be against."
I sighed in relief. "Phew, I'm glad..."
She walked up to me and looked very serious. "But if you ever try to assassinate someone close to me again, I will personally see that is the last thing you ever do..."
I eyebrows shot up. "Uh, sure thing! I mean, it won't happen again!"
She smiled lightly. "Good."
Aisha laughed and cut in. "Anyway, I'm going to be staying here with Suzuka and her kids."
Kitty hugged her mom. "Ohhh, I'll miss you, mom!"
"Yeah, I'll miss you too, Kitty. But I'll be in touch. Oh and say hi to your father if you ever run into him."
"Hmph, he's too busy with leading the C'tarl's military to care about me...."
Kitty's dad is the commander of the C'tarl military? Hmmm, I'll remember that....
We all said our goodbyes and walked into the bay heading for our ship. As we reached the Outlaw Star I heard someone call to me from a distance. I turned around and saw Hiro walking toward us.
He bowed to me when he got close enough. "Excuse me for not knowing your name but I do remember you telling me that you intend to change the universe. Do you mind telling me how you are going to accomplish this task?"
I shrugged. "I don't really know, Hiro. One step at a time I guess. Why, do you wish to stop me?"
He shook his head.
I crossed my arms. "Oh really? But why? My main plan is to pretty much destroy both the Ka-Shinta AND Space Force's rule over this whole universe. Don't you know that makes me a rebel for wanting to destroy such a large government on BOTH sides? Don't you know that would make me a 'bad' guy?"
He looked down and shook his head again. "There are no bad or good guys. Just different people with different beliefs...."
I grinned and extended my left hand to him. "Do you believe in mine?"
He took my hand. "Yes."
"Then welcome to the crew of the Outlaw Star, Hiro."
"I am honored."
"Heh, and I am Strife. Now let's get out of here before this gets too sentimental."
He smiled and nodded his head as we made our way to the bridge and flew off to our next destination. Where our next destination no one really knew. All we knew it that we were going there together.....
--------------------*------------------*----------------------*------------- -----*------------------*---
Author's note: Oooook, another fiiiine chapter! First things first. Is a woodened sword called a Bokudi? If it is, did I spell it wrong? ANY help with this is greatly appreciated.
Macky: That is a really good idea to bring Dracon into the story plus it doesn't even conflict with how I was going to actually put him in, I'll just blend them together. Also switching the POV to Dracon's view was also really good. I'll use that a couple times throughout the story. Speaking of switching POVs, that really gave me a good idea to give each main character of mine at least ONE full chapter from their POV. If I do that then you allll will learn a lot about them. Hell, you'll even found out this missing parent's plot hole I have! Wooooooo, man that'll be fun. Anyway, thanks for all that, Macky.
Ok, now since Mei's got her sequel up I can finally talk about it. In a nutshell Meidarkreign has put her sequel thirty years ahead of her first story. Coincidently my story is also 30 years from when Gene and everyone were young so because of this she's basically using the universe I created in her story, which is totally fine with me. Now because of this there will be some chapters in both our stories that kinda intertwine together, using characters from both stories. You already saw this in mine with that chick, Maki and you'll see it in hers in her pilot. So yeah, I encourage anyone who reads this to also check out her story called An Outlaw's Reality. Also if you haven't already, read the first story called The Fourteenth Heiphong Space Race. Oh, and remember we both ask each other for permission before we use the other's characters. So remember as a general rule to ask before using someone else's work...Ok, that's all I have to say about that. Well, that's all I have for today.
This is Blades. "Good reading equals good times." I'm out.
~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~***~~~
I steady flow of beeps went off on my console, signaling our arrival on Heiphong V. I sat up straight and stretched, checking my ammo when I was done. I patted the sides of my jacket and quickly found out that there WAS no jacket. I looked down and saw nothing but my gray shirt and baggy black pants. Oh, dammit! Maki had my trench coat!! And with it, all my ammo!! NOOO!!! I beat my head on my left armrest, how was I going to fight someone with no ammo!!
I gasped and remember the caster shells tucked away snugly in my belt. I double checked to make sure they were still there. I sighed in relief, they were still there all right, all four of them, two 5's, a 6, and a 13. I opened my caster to see if there was a shell in there, nope it was empty. I took the 13 and popped it in then put it back into it's holster. I was really hoping 13 wouldn't turn out to be my unlucky number....But knowing my luck, it was going to blow my hand off when I shot it.
One by one everyone made their way back up onto the bridge and sat in their seats. It looked like they still weren't happy with me. I sighed, can't please them all the time. As we approached the large planet a face appeared on the main screen. "Greetings, do you wish to dock?"
"Yep, we do." I answered.
"Very well, you may proceed to dock five." He was about to sign off but looked at me again. "By the way, is your name Strife?"
"Um, yeah. Why?"
"I have a message to you from Jay Lou. Do you want me to send it to you?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
The man hit some buttons then looked back up at me. "Ok, it's sent. Hope you all have a good day. Good bye." After his face disappeared I asked Mel to bring up the message. It was some recording made by Jay. "Hey Strife, it's about time you got here. Anyway, I'll be at the Sparkling Shoe. It's a hotel....And one with a stupid name to boot but hey, the best place to hide it out in the open...I hope. Ok, hurry and get your asses down here, I don't know when Hiro will find me agai-" Jay stopped and seemed to look at something happening to his right. There were sounds of some sort of struggle, but they ended quickly, with sounds of bodies hitting the ground. One man screamed from the back round. "He's on the ship! Get Jay out of here!" The recording shut off shortly after.
I slammed my fist on the armrest to my left. "Dammit! Do you think he's dead already?!"
Jess shook her head. "I'm not sure.....But would that necessarily be a BAD thing?"
I sighed and shook me head. "Maybe if he wasn't offering us weapons, it would be. But he is so we have to keep him alive....If he's not already dead..."
Our ship docked and we soon got off. I walked up to the nearest engineer. "Hey! Do you know if there was some kind of fight or something on a ship around these docks?"
"Yeah, now that you mention it. The Delerago was attacked about two minutes ago."
"Two?! Did you see anyone run out of the ship??"
"Yeah, a kid about your age surrounded by what seemed like an army of body guards."
That must have been Jay. "Did you see anyone else leave the ship?"
The man scratched his chin. "Um, nope. I don't think so."
"Ok, thanks for your help."
I ran back to my crew. "Ok, they saw Jay leave about two minutes ago. If we split up we can cover more ground."
Aisha and Kitty nodded. "Right!" They ran off before I could say a word.
I turned to Mel and Jess. "So do you guys want to come with me?"
They nodded their heads. "Sure, we should go with you so you don't kill Hiro." Jess added.
I sighed. "Yeah, ok whatever. Let's go."
We ran out of the bay and headed into the city. It was pretty lively, people were everywhere. Normally I would love so much excitement but this was different. I had to find a skilled killer in this crowd. Just great.....
We started making our way down the streets asking people where the Sparkling Shoe was. Some people were kind enough to point us in the tight direction so it didn't take us long to find it. I almost broke down the door as I entered the hotel. I ran up to the clerk. "Did anyone by the name of Jay come in here??"
"Let me check." He started going through his records. "Nope, sorry." He said after he was done.
Damn! I smashed my hand onto the clerk's desk. Crap! Now how was I going to find him?!
I heard some screaming outside followed by some gunshots. I ran outside and was almost mowed down by a car going close to a hundred miles an hour. I caught a quick glimpse of Jay in the car as it sped down the road. Turning my attention back to the shooting, I saw three big and armed guys trying to land a decent shot on one guy in a black kimono with a red sash. Something was tied up in the sash but I couldn't tell since the man was jumping around like a frog.
He made one jump behind one of the three men and took the object from his sash, striking the man with it. I now saw what it was, a wooden sword. Bingo! Found the killer!
He moved like lightning towards the other two people, I had to use this to my advantage and attack him from behind. He moved up to one guy, lifting his sword up and striking the man hard in the skull, he went down instantly. I was close enough now to spear my whole body into his and bring him down to the ground.
My plan worked out perfectly. He didn't even see me leap off the ground and tackle him down. Unfortunately he seemed ready for anything. Before we even hit the ground, he twisted around and drove his right elbow into my cheek, leaving me as the only one to hit solid cement. Still on the ground I looked behind me to see where he was but he was no where in sight. I looked up and saw his darkly dressed body coming down at me. I rolled out of the way and stood up, drawing my 9mm just as I remembered it still had five bullets left.
He charged at me so I shot two bullets at him, he moved quickly to my left. I twisted around and shot two more shots. He jumped up and once again came down on me. I pointed my weapon straight up and fired my last shot. He swung his sword around and deflected my shot.....What?! How the HELL do you deflect and metal bullet with a WOODEN sword?!!?
I rolled out of the way before his attack made contact. Now switching Quick Silver for my caster, I once again aimed my weapon at him. The last man standing was also shooting at Hiro, so he forgot about me and went to take out the guy. It took the same amount of time for my gun to charge as it did for him to take out the last guard. He came back at me but I let my shot rip before he got close. I closed my eyes and waited for the beam to come out....But nothing happened! Dammit, a dud?!
Hiro shook his head and jumped over me, now running in the direction of where Jay's car went in. I started to run after him, yelling to Jess to find some ammo for me.
"For which gun?!"
"All of them!!"
As I ran after him I took one of the 5's and put it into my caster. Man this guy was really fast. I held down the trigger of my caster and let the energy charge, when it was done I pointed it right at Hiro and watched as a scratchy yellowish-green line fly right at him. He stopped and turned his head to me, now seeing the beam he jumped to the left and avoided my shot. Damn him!!!
He ran up next to me. "We are you fighting me?!" He yelled.
"Because you're trying to kill Jay!"
He looked at me, almost shocked that I would protect Jay, I was pretty shocked as well to be honest. "You would put your life in favor of scum like him?"
"Hey, everyone's gotta price. Let's just say Jay bought me out."
"Hmph, you are rotted by worldly possessions. You are no better then he is."
I Grinned. "Damn straight, bud."
He clenched his fists. "I will make it may solemn vow to cleanse our universe of disgraceful people, such as yourself."
"Wow, lotta big words you got there. But can you back em up?" I asked, still grinning.
He nodded once and stared at me. I stared back at him and there was a pause was we looked each other over. This guy didn't look like a push-over in the least. And since all I had to protect me were two caster shells I would make a good bet that he could also kick my ass. His bark brown eyes seemed to bore into my head, as he glared at me the only thing I could think of was the one saying. "If looks could kill."
His hair was as black as mine but shorter and better combed. At least he believed in neatness.
I gave a quick laugh. "So are we just going to stand here all day?"
His eyes closed to slits. "Your lack of fear shows that you underestimate my strength. That will be your downfall."
Hr gripped his sword in both hands and charged right at me. I raised my gun to fire at him but something picked me off my feet and out of Hiro's path. When my feet were once again on concrete I looked behind me. "Kitty! What are you doing?!"
"I'm trying to stop you from making a big mistake!" She twacked me in the head then walked up to Hiro, with the sweetest expression on her face. "Hiya, I'm Kitty! You're Hiro, right?"
Half confused, he nodded.
"Cool! That means you're the son of Twilight Suzuka, huh?"
"How do you know my mother?"
She laughed. "Because I'm Kitty Clan Clan, daughter of Aisha Clan Clan. Our moms used to travel together on the Outlaw Star about thirty-someodd years ago."
He smiled. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you, Kitty. I have heard stories about my mother's adventures. They seemed to have been quite exciting."
She smiled. "Yep they were. But they all retired from crossing the galaxy. Right now the Outlaw Star has a new crew. Hey, would you like to be a part of it?"
I dropped my jaw, what was she doing?!?!
He laughed. "Perhaps. Who does you crew consist of?"
"Well, there's Melfina, Jessica Hawking, me, and him." Kitty pointed over to me.
Hiro's smile faded. "Hmm, I'm sorry but no. I wouldn't be able to be in the same ship as someone like him."
"Aww, C'mon! Strife isn't really a bad guy! He's just trying to kill you because you're after Jay. So if you stop chasing him then he'll stop chasing you. Get it?"
He shook his head. "No, I vowed that Jay's blood would be spilt by my hands, I cannot break a vow."
She sighed. "Not even this once?"
He shook his head again. "No, not ever. Now I must go." With that, he ran down the street!
"No wait! You sure we can't talk this out?!"
He was gone before Kitty's question exited her lips.
"Dammit!" She yelled. "Now how are we going to get him to stop chasing Jay??"
I sat up and started walking down the street, putting the other 5 in my caster. "Well, my way is still open."
"Oh man! This is insane! Why is there no other way out of this except someone dieing?!"
"You answered your own question, Kitty. Someone has to die for this problem to end. And that person isn't going to be Jay." I now picked up my pace into a run.
About two blocks down I saw Jess in a car behind me with Mel in the passenger side. "Strife, get in!"
"Jess, no!"
"What, why?"
"Because I'm better on foot. Where's my gear?"
"Here." She tossed me a duffle bag full of ammo. Fifteen 9mm clips, sixteen shotgun shells and three caster shells. I slung the bag over my arm and continued down the street, hearing Jess yell. "You better not kill him!" Before I disappeared from their view.
As I ran I reloaded all my guns and put them in there holsters, with the exception being Quick Silver as that was firmly in my grasp. I also was able to fit three clips into my two front pockets for future use. My running slowed to a walk then stopped all together. I bent over to catch my breath. This was insane, how was I supposed to find these guys?
I heard a car come at me at a high speed. I also saw Jay driving it with Hiro on the roof. I pointed my gun at Hiro and let off a couple shots, forcing him to jump off the car. Jay came to a halt next to me and I got in with him taking off again.
"Jay, I was looking all over for you!"
"Oh really? I've been doing the same thing. I just saw you running down this road so I came after you. I see you haven't killed Hiro yet!"
"Hey, I'm working on it!!" I stuck my head out the window and looked for Hiro but he was no where to be seen. "You think we lost him?"
Jay shook his head. "You kidding? I'll never loose him."
I sat back on my seat, the car was starting to leave the big city. Soon enough we were on a lonely road cutting between some fields. "Ok, Jay. Tell me why he's after you."
"Uh, you don't want to know."
I sighed. "Tell me or I'll let him kill you."
"Ok, ok! I um.....Kind of.....Maybe...."
"Out with it, damn you!"
"Alright! I slept with his sister!!"
"You WHAT?!" I slammed my foot on brakes, which scared him more then anything. "Why? How.....? You IDIOT!"
"Hey, I didn't know!"
"Ok, how did you get her into you bed...."
"Well um.....Alcohol helps...."
I shook my head. "Ok, out of the car."
"Huh? Why?!"
"Just do it!"
We both stepped out of the car, he was a lot more reluctant then I was.
"Ok, now why did you tell me to get out of the car?!"
I didn't answer him, instead I walked over to him and hit him as hard as I could in the face. He staggered back and fell on his ass, blood coming from his lip.
"H-Hey! What was that for?!"
"You know what it's for you sick freak!" I picked him up and hit him again, this time much harder. "How could you do that?! More importantly, how could you make me protect you?!"
"If I told you would you have agreed?!"
"No!!"
"Well there you go! I have to stay alive somehow!"
"Stay alive? You don't deserve it you pig!" I picked him up again and shoved my fist deep into his stomach, he staggered back again and fell to his knees. I sighed and leaned against the car. "Ok, I think I'm done with you...."
I opened the car door to get in and drive away but a hard hit to my back told me other wise. I fell down and took out my 9, looking around for who attacked me. It was Hiro, but he wasn't on me for very long. Within a second his sword was knocking teeth out of Jay's mouth. I could have shot Hiro right there but I thought Jay needed some more beating before I stepped in.
Hiro jumped up and drove his foot practically through Jay's head, he was knocked out cold before he even hit the ground. It looked like Hiro was going for the finishing blow right then and there so I shot at him. Hey, Jay said to make sure I let him live so I held true to my word, sure he may not be able to walk or eat solid food for a week....But he'll live....
Hiro once again dodged my shot and came after me. I started to run into the field, he was much faster then me though and jumped right in front of my path. I raised my gun and shot him in the left shoulder, best thing was that the bullet actually connected. I heard him scream in pain so I kicked him to the ground. I stood over him and aimed my gun at his head but he bated me away with his sword. I rolled on the ground and quickly shot back to my feet, he wasn't expecting me to be so quick. I picked up my left foot and kicked at his sword, sending it flying a couple feet away. As he watched his sword soar in amazement I took the butt of my gun and slammed in the forehead. He went down with his hands covering his face. I ran for his wooden sword, if I could break it then he'd be at a disadvantage.
As I ran I felt his arms catch me legs and trip me. I fell to the ground and watched as he ran over my body. I did the same thing to him but I took his feet and fully flipped him on his head. He became disorientated so I went right for his weapon, grabbing it and hold the barrel of my gun to it's base.
"No, don't!" He yelled.
"Don't what?"
"Don't break my Bokudi! It was passed down to me by my mother! It holds great value!"
"Oh, so how fare would it be if I listened to you when you said no but you didn't listen to Kitty when she said no?"
"What do you mean?"
"She told you not to kill Jay! You didn't care, though! So that's why I don't care. That's why I'm going to break this weapon."
"No, please don't! There's a difference! Jay deserves to die! My Bokudi doesn't deserve anything!"
"Pfft, that's not how I see it. How I see it is that you'll be devastated when I break this. I'll be devastated when I don't get those weapons from Jay."
He scowled. "Damn you....A man ruled by the ways of the world. Only to care about one's self, not about the honor or integrity of others."
I laughed. "I can't believe you still think like that. The way's you talk about are OVER! It's all about money now."
He looked down to his side. "Indeed it is, but I intend to change that. I intend to bring the universe's life back to it's original luster."
I grinned. "Well what do ya know. Me too."
I scoffed at me. "Evil men do not desire what I do."
"Look, there's no such thing as good or evil in the real world. It's only different people with different beliefs."
"No, you are wrong. Evil people are plaguing this universe. Only the righteous can stop them."
I shook my head. "I love you chivalry, I really do. But what you're saying isn't true. Those 'evil' people are only a majority of people with the same beliefs. Now people with different beliefs, like yourself, think they are evil. How do you think they classify you? Do you think they're saying. "Man I hope those good guys don't come and ruin our plans." No! They're thinking you're just as evil since you're trying to stop them!"
"That's not true! They know what they're doing is wrong!"
"That may be true. But that isn't enough to classify them good or bad. Assume someone sells some drugs to be able to feed his family for one more day. Is he good or evil?"
"If it is to help someone they love then that is right...."
"Well those drugs just got someone killed when they tried to drive at night after taking them. The person along with whoever he hit is dead. Is that dealer still a good guy....?"
"I....I don't know...."
"Exactly. See there is no 'good' or 'evil' only different people with different beliefs. Jay did something to your sister that was inexcusable. But you got him back for that, you don't have to go as far as to kill him."
Hiro sat there in silence. I started to walk past him, throwing the sword to his feet.
"I will still hunt Jay down, you know."
I kept walking, not looking back. "And I will still stop you, Y'know."
I got back to the car and found Jay starting to stir into consciousness. A good kick in the head stopped that from happening. I picked up his body and threw it in the car, driving back to the town.
I got into the town and drove to the bay. Everyone was outside waiting for me. Jess was the first one to come up to me. "You didn't kill him, did you?"
"No....I didn't. But nothing's solved. We'll have to keep Jay with us so Hiro doesn't kill him."
"Actually, there are some people here that are going to take him back to Sentinel III and put him under constant watch."
"Eh, whatever." I got out of the car and pulled Jay form the back seat.
Jess tried to look shocked but grinned instead. "What happened to him?"
"He got his ass kicked."
"By Hiro?"
"By me."
She laughed and helped me bring him to the guards who weren't too happy to see his current predicament. As I handed him to the guards I told them to tell him that I agreed to our deal, he's still alive. They nodded and took him to his ship. I sighed and walked over to the group, noticing Aisha was missing. "Where's Aisha?"
"Right here." I heard a voice from behind me.
I turned around and saw her standing next to another woman that looked about as old as she was. I grinned and pointed at the woman. "Suzuka, right?"
She nodded. "Yes. You didn't do anything to my son, did you?"
I shook my head. "Na, he's still alive."
Another voice came from my left side. "At least I see Jay got what he deserved...." It was a woman who looked about my age. I asked who she was.
"I'm Sakura, Suzuka's daughter. It's a pleasure to meet the man who was hired to kill my brother."
I laughed hesitantly and scratched the back of my head. "Uh, yeah.....Sorry about that."
"No need to apologize," Suzuka said, "I know first hand about being paid to do something you may be against."
I sighed in relief. "Phew, I'm glad..."
She walked up to me and looked very serious. "But if you ever try to assassinate someone close to me again, I will personally see that is the last thing you ever do..."
I eyebrows shot up. "Uh, sure thing! I mean, it won't happen again!"
She smiled lightly. "Good."
Aisha laughed and cut in. "Anyway, I'm going to be staying here with Suzuka and her kids."
Kitty hugged her mom. "Ohhh, I'll miss you, mom!"
"Yeah, I'll miss you too, Kitty. But I'll be in touch. Oh and say hi to your father if you ever run into him."
"Hmph, he's too busy with leading the C'tarl's military to care about me...."
Kitty's dad is the commander of the C'tarl military? Hmmm, I'll remember that....
We all said our goodbyes and walked into the bay heading for our ship. As we reached the Outlaw Star I heard someone call to me from a distance. I turned around and saw Hiro walking toward us.
He bowed to me when he got close enough. "Excuse me for not knowing your name but I do remember you telling me that you intend to change the universe. Do you mind telling me how you are going to accomplish this task?"
I shrugged. "I don't really know, Hiro. One step at a time I guess. Why, do you wish to stop me?"
He shook his head.
I crossed my arms. "Oh really? But why? My main plan is to pretty much destroy both the Ka-Shinta AND Space Force's rule over this whole universe. Don't you know that makes me a rebel for wanting to destroy such a large government on BOTH sides? Don't you know that would make me a 'bad' guy?"
He looked down and shook his head again. "There are no bad or good guys. Just different people with different beliefs...."
I grinned and extended my left hand to him. "Do you believe in mine?"
He took my hand. "Yes."
"Then welcome to the crew of the Outlaw Star, Hiro."
"I am honored."
"Heh, and I am Strife. Now let's get out of here before this gets too sentimental."
He smiled and nodded his head as we made our way to the bridge and flew off to our next destination. Where our next destination no one really knew. All we knew it that we were going there together.....
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Author's note: Oooook, another fiiiine chapter! First things first. Is a woodened sword called a Bokudi? If it is, did I spell it wrong? ANY help with this is greatly appreciated.
Macky: That is a really good idea to bring Dracon into the story plus it doesn't even conflict with how I was going to actually put him in, I'll just blend them together. Also switching the POV to Dracon's view was also really good. I'll use that a couple times throughout the story. Speaking of switching POVs, that really gave me a good idea to give each main character of mine at least ONE full chapter from their POV. If I do that then you allll will learn a lot about them. Hell, you'll even found out this missing parent's plot hole I have! Wooooooo, man that'll be fun. Anyway, thanks for all that, Macky.
Ok, now since Mei's got her sequel up I can finally talk about it. In a nutshell Meidarkreign has put her sequel thirty years ahead of her first story. Coincidently my story is also 30 years from when Gene and everyone were young so because of this she's basically using the universe I created in her story, which is totally fine with me. Now because of this there will be some chapters in both our stories that kinda intertwine together, using characters from both stories. You already saw this in mine with that chick, Maki and you'll see it in hers in her pilot. So yeah, I encourage anyone who reads this to also check out her story called An Outlaw's Reality. Also if you haven't already, read the first story called The Fourteenth Heiphong Space Race. Oh, and remember we both ask each other for permission before we use the other's characters. So remember as a general rule to ask before using someone else's work...Ok, that's all I have to say about that. Well, that's all I have for today.
This is Blades. "Good reading equals good times." I'm out.