-Aftermath-

Chapter Three - "Promises"

"Damn it, Snyde. You went off and did it again..."

A rather short man, only being 5'2", wearing a very tidy looking business suit, was slowly shaking his head as he looked down, his bald head reflecting the light off of it. Looking back up, he stared at Snyde, who in turn looked off into another direction. He gave out a small sigh before continuing, "You can't just go and destroy whatever gets in your way, do y'hear?"

"Phh," Snyde didn't need to hear the same speech again. "Just what the heck was I supposed to do, Tog? Just let them go and ransack the place, and possibly kill everyone? Knowing you, that probably would be a great idea..."

He saw his 'friend' narrow his small, black beady eyes on him. "Look, I've told you once, and I'll say it again if I must." Getting an audible sigh, he almost cracked a smile, but continued to bear a grim look. "Every time you go off and kill a Reploid, blow up a building, or even just knock down a street sign, you end up--"

"Costing the insurance agency money," Snyde cut him off, noting Tog that he did in fact listen to him.

"Well... yes. Exactly," Tog cleared his throat, a little caught off guard. He decided that it was time to show how serious he was, however, as Snyde obviously just didn't care. "But that doesn't mean its a go sign for you to do such things, damn it!"

Snyde was a little surprised at Tog's sudden burst of anger. He had been known to be a rather friendly, understanding fellow at most times. What was more surprising was him pounding his fist on a small table, causing the vase next to it to rock back and forth, almost daring to fall and break. It didn't go unnoticed, however, as it gently stopped by the same hand that moved it. Giving yet another sigh, Tog looked at Snyde wearily.

"Look Snyde, all I'm asking is for you to stay out of trouble for just once. Is that so much to ask?"

It was then Tog received the usual silence that was bestowed upon everyone. He knew that if he didn't nip his tendencies in the bud, though, that it would just continue. Snyde just looked off down the hall, as a young woman stepped off an elevator and walked down the hall. His moment of peace was broken when he heard Tog yell "Snyde, look at me. Look at me!" He quickly snapped back into reality as he faced the short Reploid again. He just didn't know what to make of this guy.

Tog walked back and forth, his arms behind his back. "Day in, day out. You destroy, we pay. Do you know what that means? It means we're wasting MONEY. At this rate, we're going to have to find a new source of currency! Do you honestly want to do this? Just what is the point of such nonsense!"

"The point," Snyde said coldly, "is that if I don't do anything, you'd end up having to pay for damages anyway. So why not."

"Grr, just promise me this, Snyde," Tog pointed a finger at the shady Reploid. "Stay out of trouble; a while at least. You'd do us all a favor. You'd do ME a favor. Okay?"

He didn't get an answer, as Snyde got up and made his way toward the elevator. Taking a few steps toward him, he called out, "Snyde!"

"...I'll think about it," and with that, he slipped away, the doors shutting themselves between the two.

There was a long silence from Tog, as he just stared at the cold, metal doors, lifeless. Out of everyone in this world, he probably knew Snyde more than anyone else, yet even he knew that there was more to him that just some guy who always seemed to get into trouble. He couldn't quite put his finger on it... but he had a feeling that eventually, one day, he'd do something important that would be beneficial. All that he could do was hope that it involved him listening to his latest piece of advise and do something else for once. Tog then let out a big yawn, and got into the elevator himself as he pressed down to the first floor. He had a long day ahead of him, with filling out papers and forms and whatnot... And he had Snyde to thank for it.

Outside, the sun still shining and beating upon Snyde's well-polished sword and armor. He had thrown away his cloak, since it was considered 'uncool,' when he reached Tagechi, the neighboring city of Vurious. Just like Vurious, it was large and bustling, but it was much, much busier. Cars flew over head as he traveled along the ground, something that few humans and Reploids ever did nowadays. It was then he noticed a large group of people standing before a glass window. Curiosity getting the better of him, he stepped up to them to see what they were watching. He realized that it was a couple of 'video monitors,' or how he liked to call them, television sets. These were sleek in design, however, as they were round, and as flat as a pancake. The only possible way to actually hold one up was by either attaching a stand to the back of one, lean it up against something, or hang it on a wall. Currently, the monitors were playing the news, something that never caught his interest, that is, until the broadcaster said something that immediately caught his attention.

"Last night," she began, "A police car was destroyed in the city of Vurious. Apparently the Reploid suspect took two of his own partners and destroyed them up, creating an explosion which allowed for him to escape. All residents in both Vurious and residing cities are to take extreme caution among anyone who resembles this..."

A picture of Jackle O'Riely lit up on the monitor, his twisted smile apparent. Snyde clenched his fist as he saw him, angry that he got away. He knew that someone like him would try and get some sort of revenge, and now definitely wasn't a good time, with the insurance agency on his case and all. Fortunately, he didn't know of his current location, so if he just continued to move away, he would eventually lose him, and would then make it his best interest to forget all about him. In any case, it wasn't the time to be worrying, as he snuck away from the crowd, and back into the shadows.

He had reasons to be in Tagechi, other than to just get yelled at Tog, today. While he was in Vurious he had overheard about some man, who was capable refining weapons, in this city. Before bumping into Tog, he had managed to gain enough information that his name was Sasuke Aihara, and that he lived in the lower regions to keep to himself. If he could somehow improve his blade, then he would be an even greater force to be reckoned with. He had heard, however, that the man wasn't very friendly, and would more than likely brush him off without even a thought. Also, it was suggested not to try and force him into doing it, since he'd just end up screwing the weapons up instead of refining them.

In a matter of minutes, he had found a steel door, covered in rust, grim, and anything else that was particularly nasty, and he tried to open it to no avail. Getting frustrated, he kicked the door, which ironically caused it to swing off it hinges and crash to the floor. Looking past it, he saw a couple of wooden steps, which he carefully went down, for instances of his weight and for rotting. Meeting a concrete floor after about fourteen steps, Snyde looked around, finding a dull light to the east of the empty room. Making his way toward it, he stepped in something... rather icky. He wasn't even sure what it was. Continuing his way toward the light, he was embraced by it, and there he saw a man--a human--laying in bed, snoring. There were beer cans littered about everywhere, making Snyde realize that what he stepped in was a tipped over can of the stuff. Looming over the man, he watched as he snorted himself awake, and stare at him with one eye open.

"Huh...? Wha?" The man blinked, confused. "Who the Hell are you?"

"People have been asking that lately," Snyde noted. "The name's Snyde. I'm guessing you're Sasuke Aihara."

Sasuke lifted himself up, just so he could slouch over. Rubbing his eyes, he replied, "Yeah, so what if I am? I've never heard any Snyde, so you might as well just get out of my face."

"I heard you can refine weapons," Snyde, pulling his sword out, continued. "I want to know if you can do the same to mine."

"Eh..." Sasuke mumbled, running a hand through his messy brown hair. He then flopped back down and closed his eyes. "Nope, nothing I can do. Thanks, have a nice day. Bye-bye. Get out."

It was then Snyde felt a flashback coming. He was in the pub at Vurious, right when he had entered. Walking up to the counter, he sat down and ordered for a glass of sake. Holding the cup by both hands he heard a couple of guys next to him talk discuss about their next plan of action...

"So, we can all go to Tagechi, and visit that Sasuke Aihara guy," a small, jester-like Reploid suggested. "He could improve our weapons I heard."

"Bah, I heard that Aihara guy is so detached from the rest of the world the chances of him doing such a thing or slim to none," another piped, a gorilla Reploid.

"We could still check it out," a woman spoke, "If he refuses, we'll just force him. Simple as that."

"D'you know why he's like that?" the bartender asked, not having anything better to do. He immediately caught their attention as they looked at him. "His mother died when a couple of years ago... It was a little over two years after the Elf Wars, now that I think of it. Anyways, she died in a bombing attack from a gang that lives over their, a ruthless bunch that wouldn't mind killin' their own mommas for some quick cash. It was then he just decided that doing what he did wasn't worth it, 'cause he got it into his head that all weapons would just be used for killin'. If you were to ask him for some assistance, and he declines y'all, don't bother tryin' to force him to do it... he might just make your weapons worse in anger."

All Snyde did was get up with a bottle of sake and walk off into the corner, to ponder. Losing a loved one was a hard thing to live with, but for him, it only meant the one must move on to become stronger emotionally. It did no one any good to just to sit down and mope. Of course, he had been declined of an opportunity to get his weapon upgraded, and then young man just stared at him. Snyde felt disgusted suddenly, that he couldn't stand to see this sad man before him.

"I see," was all he could say, finally putting his sword back. "Well if you decide to ever get up and do something with your life, feel free to tell me."

He heard a "Meh," and that was all. Turning to walk away, he took one last look as the human dozed off, snoring loudly once again. To say the least, he was very much disappointed, but it wasn't like it was the first time he had been treated to the point where he just wanted to rip someones face off, and shove it back down their own throat. He wasn't even certain it was possible to refine a blade at such a level as his, and so it wasn't really too big a of deal for him. Perhaps if he felt like it, he would try again later, but first, he needed to find a pub...

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

In another region, on the outskirts of town, a Reploid was staring at Tagechi through a pair of binoculars. Viewing multiple points, such as banks, malls, and any other places of high value, he marked them all on a hand-made map, and put the binoculars away. Running behind a large boulder, he hopped into a small, green Ride Chaser, with another man sitting in the passenger seat, wearing a pair of shades.

"Well?" he asked, "Anything worth mentioning?"

"It's all right here on this sheet, bro," the younger of the two scratched his head with a pen. The two looked exactly alike, from the trench coats, spiked hair, and sunglasses. They even had a small tattoo on the left side of their necks, depicting a scorpion. Only thing that set them off was that the younger one had brown hair, while the older one had blue hair. "Fifty-four banks, seventeen shopping malls, and thirty-five different jewelry stores, among others."

"Hee hee, excellent!" he jumped up in seat and pointed, "We're off! Let's go get us some loot!"

"But, Chan... there are only two of us," the brother stated.

There was brief moment of silence as the wind blew, picking up Chan's trench coat and letting it flow freely. Sitting back down, he frowned and said, "Idiot! Don't you know that quality beats quantity? And believe me--we've GOT quality. Just follow my lead and everything will be all right, Chen. We don't need the others for this, 'cause we're better than them. Got it?"

He didn't say anything as he started the Ride Chaser, causing it to lift up off the ground, and they took off and blinding speed into the city. Their first stop was a bank, as they went in and shot up the whole place, and ran out with bag fulls of zenny. They repeated this strange process with four more times, and by the fifth time they expected the police to show up, which they did. Chan prepared, grabbing a bomb and throwing it at the police, setting off a blinding ray of light, effecting everyone except the two shaded brothers. They then ran in and stole as much as they could, and threw it into their already-getting-stuffed trunk. Needing a place to hide the money, they flew down and entered an open door, throwing money down some unlighted stairs.

"Once we get everything we need," Chan said while they were throwing the bags down, "We'll come back and get these babies. No need to go back and forth to our place."

"Hey, what the heck do you guys think you're doing!"

"Huh?" the two brothers said together, looking down the stairs. Sasuke had walked back up, a bag of zenny in his hands. Chan nearly freaked as he snatched the bag up and hugged onto it tightly. "W-who do you think you are, taking my money!"

Sasuke only scratched his head. "What're you talking about? I live here, dumb ass."

That set off Chan real quick, as he dropped the bag and pulled out a pistol, pointing it at Sasuke's head. Being like any other normal person, Sasuke's eyes widened in fear, not wanting to die. He was shoved face first up against a wall, feeling the tip of cold metal on his scalp. "Chen! Hurry up and throw those bags down there! I don't want this guy trying anything funny!"

"But Chan..." he was cut off as Chan fired a round in the air, scaring both him and Sasuke. He quickly started throwing more bags as he cried out, "Yessir!"

"Listen pal, you don't want to do this."

"Shut up!" Chan yelled angrily, firing another plasma bullet. "The next bullet I fire will be at your head, got it!"

"He didn't say anything. I did."

Chan turned around abruptly as he realized the voice was behind him. Snyde was there, his arms crossed, towering over him. In a panic, he tried to fire at him, but his face suddenly met his boot, and Chan went flying into the Ride Chaser, putting a huge dent in it. Chen could only look as he dropped the two bags he currently had, his mouth wide open. Getting back up, Chan pointed accusingly at his attacker, shards of his glasses now littering the ground.

"How DARE you attack me!" he screamed, "I'll make you pay for this with your life! Chen, get him!"

Chen only blinked as he turned to look at his brother. "You're kidding, right?"

"OF COURSE I'M NOT!" Chan's face turned bright red while he continued screaming. "I am not in any condition to fight! So you, as my brother, must avenge my defeat!"

"Chan. Bro. Buddy," Chen tried to understand him. "You're starting to scare me. Calm down. Let's just take him out together!"

That idea was ill-fated, however, as Snyde grabbed them both and bashed their head together, knocking them out. Wiping his hands, he turned to face Sasuke, he just stood there, speechless. Walking over to him he pulled out his sword yet again to let him have a look. Carefully, he let him have the handle, although due to the weight it ended landing on the floor, just inches away from his feet. Inspecting the blade, he put his hand on his chin and thought, getting lost in deep concentration.

"And...?" Snyde asked.

"Those two guys..." He eyed them, solemnly. "Those marks on their necks... they were a part of the gang that plagues this city..." he said, managed to blurt out, not knowing what to do. He sighed a bit. "I suppose I could tweak it as thanks, for not only my life, but..." He trailed off, and attempted to lift the blade himself, but found that he couldn't due to its heaviness. "You'll have to help me get it down stairs, unless you've decided that you don't want my help?"

Accepting quite willingly, Snyde let Sasuke take the sword for customization after setting it on a small, steel table downstairs. Unfortunately, he was not allowed to watch--Sasuke didn't want his 'legendary skills and secrets' to be revealed. Not having anything else to do, he made his way back up stairs and saw that the two brothers were still unconscious. Since they still posed a rather small threat, Snyde just signaled for someone to go get the police. When they finally came, however, he had already left, leaving both of the brothers to wake up to quite the surprise.

The next day, Snyde made his way back to where Sasuke lived. The first thing he noticed was how Sasuke was standing outside, actually managing to weild his blade with no sweat.

"Ah, just in time," Sasuke almost laughed, "I am rather proud of my work on this baby. I was actually capable of making it twice as light as it originally was, not to mention I gave it a special coating which will allow to not absorb plasma, but to reflect it instead."

"Hm, thanks," was all Snyde could say as he pulled it away from him, and swung it around himself. It was indeed lighter... much lighter than he had ever imagined it.

"No problem," Sasuke said, waving the compliment off. "Hey, Snyde. Tell me. Just what are you going to use that sword for? Is there something that's going on that I--no, everyone--should know about? You can tell me, man. After all, when people see that sword at work, their going to be asking you who helped you with that, eh, eh?"

Giving his trademark silencers, Snyde only shrugged as he stared to look at the morning light. "...I guess I keep it in case for emergencies. That's all..." Getting a slow nod from Sasuke, he knew that it was enough to satisfy his questioning, as he looked to see the sun, and shielded his eyes. Taking it as his que to leave, Snyde made his way out of the alley. He hoped that he made Tog happy--if he felt like it, he could have killed those two morons. Since his work was done here, however, he had new goals in mind, though what they were not even he was quite certain yet... he only knew that he'd figure it out when the time was right.

"Ciao, Snyde," Sasuke muttered under his breath, and with a stretch and a long yawn, he went back inside to get himself a beer, and then go to sleep. "Yeah, ciao... and good luck."

To be continued...

Author's Notes: Woo, this one was fun. >>; This is probably the only chapter out of the bunch so far which hasn't hada real fight, instead it was a bit more comical (or whatever you people like to think of it). So yeah, another chapter wasted, forcing all who reads to wonder when exactly the point of this story shall actually surface. Well, it may not seem like it, but it is reaching the point. Verrrrrry slooooowly...