Author: Nadz
Email: vegitto02 at yahoo dot com

Disclaimer:
The title "DragonTek" is owned by the author.
Any characters owned by the producers of Tekkaman, Dragonball Z, Dragonball GT, or Rurouni Kenshin are, of course, the property of those respective individuals or companies. Any original characters are strictly owned by the author of this fan fiction.
The story line of the entire DragonTek series is also owned strictly by me.
This story may not be distributed to anybody without the author's permission. However, the author does encourage you to welcome your friends to read DragonTek on FanFiction dot net. Much thanks...

DragonTek (Part IV: The Justice Saga)

Chapter 48 - Consolation

'My God,' Dodge thought as he witnessed the enormous mushroom cloud form on his screen. The smoke rose for miles into the air, and the fireball from the nuclear blast extended past the city's borders.

'None of those plants could have lived through an explosion like that,' he thought. Everything within a 20-mile radius had been completely vaporized, including the hundreds of developing Tekkamen that were in the vicinity. Dodge collapsed into his chair, wondering if he had done the best possible move.

There were mixed reactions from the commanding room. Some men seemed to be in good spirits, happy that nothing had gone wrong with the firing of the nuclear missile. Most of the other men, however, remained very somber. They had just nuked a city, causing tens of thousands of innocent people's deaths.

'It is a severe price to pay,' Dodge thought. 'I wonder if I will regret it for the rest of my life.'

"Why did you fire a nuclear missile at San Francisco?" Noal yelled at General Dodge, whose face showed on the view screen in the Mission Room. "What were you thinking!"

"It is not your position to question my actions," Dodge said. "Beside, you're not even in charge of the Space Knights. You have no authority to question my actions like you are doing right now."

"How can you be so stupid?" Takaya asked gravely as his eyes glared at the screen. "Do you realize how many innocent people you must have killed that were in hiding? Do you have any idea?"

"I am fully aware of the consequences of our actions," Dodge replied. "But you will thank me, for the soon-to-be Tekkamen developing there have all been destroyed. We'll have to face that many fewer…"

"Your nuking San Francisco is only a cover-up for your screw-up!" Noal barked. "Had you heeded Milly's pleas, this could have been avoided altogether. You didn't take her seriously back then!"

"I do not need to confess my motivations for my actions, especially to you," Dodge said sharply, narrowing his eyes. "Now we have important planning to do. You have wasted enough of my time."

Without saying any more, Dodge cut the connection.

"That rotten bastard," Noal growled as he slammed his fist against the table.

Kenshin stood weakly in the air as the last remnants of the explosion faded away. Nothing remained where Masamune had stood; he had been thoroughly vaporized. The boy looked down at his blade, and the last of its aura disappeared. Kenshin sheathed his sword and lowered himself to the ground in front of Miyuki, who still had her mouth covered with her hand. Both stood silent for several seconds.

"Miyuki…" he whispered, but the girl took him in her arms and supported him as he stood weakly. "I killed him Miyuki… I didn't want to… but I killed him…"

"There is nothing else you could have done, Kenshin," she said softly as he slowly pulled away. "This is exactly what he wanted, and you made him happy."

"I know he wanted that, but I didn't want to be the one to do it," he said in a low voice.

"But you did your duty by giving him the wish he desired. You ended his pain," she replied gently. "He believed in the justice Dende talked about. You should do the same."

"Justice…" Kenshin whispered, and several silent minutes passed.

"Miyuki," the boy suddenly sparked. "If he was part of the Argos crew, how come you didn't recognize him right off the bat? I mean, why didn't you say anything?"

"I would if I did clearly remember him," the girl responded. "He did look familiar, but if he was on the ship, he kept mostly to himself, I guess. I thought I knew most of the crew."

Kenshin nodded at her answer, only to be absorbed again in his thoughts.

"Miyuki," Kenshin spoke up, breaking the stillness. "I want to thank you for coming and saving me while I fought with Alena. You shouldn't have, though, she could have killed you."

"I couldn't bear watching my friend die like that," she responded shyly.

'Friend?' Kenshin wondered in his mind. 'That's it?'

"Uh… wait… you aren't in love with me?" Kenshin asked. 'Wait, what the hell did I just say?'

"Ken-kun," Miyuki blushed. "I… I never said I loved you…"

'Eh?' Kenshin asked in his mind, dumbfounded. "B-but didn't you say…"

"No, Alena cut me off before I could finish," Miyuki replied. "I was going to say – 'knowing that I let her kill the person that I… that I… that… I really like.' I stammered because I realized how stupid the sentence sounded with the words 'really like' rather than 'love.' Sorry… Kenshin."

"Oro-o-o-o-o-o," the boy wailed as he crashed headfirst into the ground. He soon stood back up.

'Damn!' Kenshin scratched his head nervously. Suddenly their relationship had gotten a little complicated, and now he certainly was unclear about their status.

"It's a little too early for love," she replied, still blushing. "I mean, we're just friends, right?"

"Yeah… um, right," he coughed, trying to keep the embarrassment from reaching his face.

Several more awkward seconds passed as the two nervously looked at the ground.

"Your brother must be worried about you," Kenshin mumbled. "Say we go back to base?"

"Before that, I want to tour this city near us," Miyuki replied softly, reaching out and touching his hand. "I want to see the destruction for myself."

Several Hours Later…

She sat weakly on her bed in her small cell. Hours had passed. As she stayed lonely, she couldn't keep herself from thinking about what had transpired several hours ago. It had been the first time in her life that she had been so humiliated and insulted. Aki cried to herself, remembering the shame and anguish she felt by the experience. Yet, she was able to bear that – the only thing that truly broke her tenacity was seeing the betrayed expression on Takaya's face. It kept haunting her mind, almost making her go mad.

"Miss Kisaragi," the guard said over the speaker. "There is somebody here to see you."

"I don't want to see anybody right now," she replied with a thick tone. "I want to be alone."

The intercom went silent, but another voice spoke up seconds later.

"I want to see you, Aki."

"Takaya…" she immediately recognized the voice, and she lifted her head. "I don't know…"

"Please," his voice began to quiver. "Please let me talk to you…"

Takaya sat down gently next to her, noticing that her crying face was almost buried in her knees. Her back was resting against the wall with her knees crouched up, and her arms were wrapped around her knees. She stayed silent, feeling a wave of emotions – anger, hurt, and betrayal. She winced when she felt his hand touch her shoulder, but she refused to face him.

"Aki, please look at me," he said gently. "Please don't turn yourself away."

"Aren't you angry?" she blurted. "Aren't you angry after hearing what I did?"

"Yes, I'm angry," Takaya said, and Aki closed her eyes tightly. "But only at Balzac."

"What?" she asked softly, opening her eyes and turning to face him.

"Yes, you heard me correctly," Takaya said softly. "I know that you're completely innocent."

"But how? Balzac had proof…" she started, but he gently put his finger over her mouth.

"I don't care. And you don't have to show me anything to prove you had nothing to do with him."

"Takaya…"

"Because I trust you. I know you would never hurt Milly or me like that. There is no deal, right?"

"No… there wasn't," she whispered, feeling the knot in her throat.

"I don't know how Balzac got that recording," Takaya said. "He may have fabricated the entire conversation using a voice sample of yours, or he may have gotten somebody who sounds like you to do it. Regardless, that voice on the recording was not you, because you would never do that to us… and to me."

Aki released her shell and broke down in front of Takaya. Falling into his arms, she wept.

"Thank you, Takaya," she said softly, resting her chin on his shoulder as he comforted her.

"I don't know how many of the others consider you innocent, but I'll make sure they do," Takaya whispered. "I'll get you out of here, and you'll resume your position, Co-Commander Kisaragi."

Aki smiled through her tears, hugging him harder.

One hour later…

"We just have to convince Levin and Space Knight Security that Aki is completely innocent. Levin still has doubts, and proving it to security will be harder," Noal said to Takaya as they conversed in the secondary facility Mission Room. Milly was still in the infirmary, and Aki still remained locked up. Takaya had wanted to stay, but she insisted that he go back to look out for his sister in case she returned. Upon returning upstairs, he had seen Noal sulking about the Mission Room, where he had previously argued with General Dodge. A noise interrupted the two men, and they turned towards the entrance.

"Miyuki… Kenshin…?" Takaya said as the two walked in.

"We're back," Miyuki said, her face paled by the devastation she had seen when touring the city.

"Where were you?" Takaya said, annoyed. "We were worried sick! You didn't even tell Milly!"

"Sorry, oniisan," Miyuki responded sheepishly.

"What were you two doing?" Takaya asked Kenshin, who stood attention and explained it all.

"I see, so Masamune is really finished," Takaya sighed. "Kajitani Eizan, huh? I remember talking to him on the Argos. An honorable guy, I suppose. So he could have killed me last time, but he didn't…"

"It was sad… I felt terrible," Kenshin replied. "What had you all been doing all of this time?"

"We went to rescue Shinjo," Noal cut in. "Along the way, Saki and Takaya fought Tekkaman Scimitar, but Takaya destroyed him. But we learned something very shocking… and you'd think it too."

"Oh?" Kenshin and Miyuki asked simultaneously. Takaya and Noal noticed them blush a bit.

"Aki is Shinjo's long lost sister," Takaya replied suddenly.

"Oro?" Kenshin asked as his face contorted in pure surprise. He had not expected that at all.

"And that's not all," Noal continued. "It turns out that you are cousins with Shinjo and Aki."

This time, Kenshin crashed violently to the ground. Miyuki grimaced, and Kenshin stood back up.

"How can that be?" Kenshin puffed his cheeks.

"He says that his late grandmother's name is Briefs Bra. He also said that technically, that would make them your aunt and uncle, but age-wise, they would rather consider you as cousins," explained Blade.

"Briefs Bra," Kenshin whispered. "My grandfather told me that she had suddenly run away from her family, never to be found again. Her parents had no clue as to her whereabouts, and everybody thought that she had been kidnapped. They feared that the worst had happened."

"Shinjo will be able to tell you what probably happened," Takaya nodded.

"Yes," Kenshin replied, trying to ingest this knowledge. "So my family tree is now complete."

"But your cousin Aki has been falsely accused," Takaya said, relating the events to the youth.

"I see," Kenshin replied. "This man Balzac was already screwed, so he decided to bring her down with him. So he fabricated this whole story as a distraction so we'd ignore what he was really after."

"He very well could have," Noal said. "But what makes you say that for sure?"

"This does," Kenshin said as he pulled a strange device out of his pocket. "It looked strange, and it was lying on the floor in the hallway. So I picked it up, thinking that someone accidentally dropped it."

"Yes, this does contain a slot for a data disk," Noal said, examining the object. "I wonder if the disk Milly was carrying could fit into here. Then that would make sense – so Balzac was trying to steal the data after all. But does this device contain a local drive? A drive on which all the disk's data is copied?"

"Maybe," Kenshin started. "But then why would he abandon the device like that?"

"He could have dropped it when he realized that he was going to get caught," Takaya thought.

"I don't think so, because the guards that caught him would have seen him leaving it on the ground," Noal refuted, pondering. "He must have left it there intentionally as a precaution – so that they wouldn't find it on his person even if he got caught… So if Balzac used that device, that can only mean…"

"… That the device is a transmitter," Takaya finishing, punching the palm of his left hand with his other fist. "That's it! He transmitted the data wirelessly, abandoned the device, and tried to run. He made up that whole recording to throw us into confusion in case he got caught."

"Interesting," Noal said, his voice picking up excitement. "I think we're putting the pieces together. Now we'll have to prove that the recording is a fabrication."

"I think the best way to do that," Kenshin said, his left eye narrowing as he gripped the hilt of Akoutari, "is to make the bastard talk."