Zane


Zane was called on by the so-called 'pencil-necked' Senator Albert Smitt for the umpteenth time. Zane, who found this hearing a waste of time, was playing a mobile game called Duel Links so as to ignore the nonsense coming out of the senator's mouth. Senator Smitt could not take the boy's defiance any longer and smashed his gavel to get Zane to put the game down and pay attention.

"Mr. Truesdale do I have your full attention?" he asked.

Zane sighed and put the phone away. He narrowed his eyes in disgust just looking into saucer-like eyes of the man he and his father hated the most in all Domino. Zane jerked his head left and right and waved his hand over his face. "Do you ever blink?" he asked. "You're so creepy."

"Mr. Truesdale you will act appropriately while in the presence of the committee!" Senator Smitt said, trying to remain calm. He was getting terribly sweaty. The greasy oils which he used to keep his hair up started to melt, causing a few strands of hair to dangle over his eyebrows.

Zane shrugged and tucked his phone into his blazer. "Sure, whatever. What was the question again?"

Senator Smitt looked at his colleagues, who were beside themselves as to what to do to handle Zane's arrogance. Kicking him out of the Indigo Palace wasn't going to help them any. And clearly his antics were making them look impatient and weak, thereby losing whatever support they had to settle their case in forcing Zane to surrender his Cyber Dragon technology to the Royal Eredian Military.

"Very well, Mr. Truesdale. I will ask you again. Do you or do you not possess a weapon of mass destruction?"

"What?" Zane almost shouted. "Mass destruction? Are you out of your minds?"

"Just answer the question, Mr. Truesdale."

"Blink and maybe I will."

"Mr. Truesdale..."

"No!" Zane answered at once. "Weapon of mass destruction is way too dramatic a description to my devices."

Senator Smitt chuckled. "Devices. You make it sound like you are carrying a cell phone or something. Mr. Truesdale, device is too weak a term to describe your so-called," he flipped through some pages. "Cyber Dragons. We here at the Committee would like to describe your Cyber Dragons as what they are. Weapons. They are weapons, Mr. Truesdale. Very powerful weapons with the destructive capabilities to incapacitate someone using what has been described as a Gem of Horakhty. I have here a report from Princess Alexis Rhodes, who owes you and your dragons many thanks for rescuing her. Of that this city is grateful. However, per her report, it says that your Cyber Dragons fused together to form a far more powerful beast. This...uh..." He flipped through the pages of the report. "Cyber Twin Dragon was able to disintegrate the arms of the Aeon gang leader, Aldric Netherheart, while he was using this gem."

The journalists attending the hearing gasped in shock.

"Ladies and gentlemen, let me rephrase that. Aldric Netherheart was fighting with increased capabilities thanks to his possession of a Gem of Horakhty. These gems are reported to hold the very power of the Goddesses. And for you, Mr. Truesdale, to wield weapons that can challenge that power is a matter of great distress. You claim to care about the citizens of this city. Then prove it. Hand the Cyber Dragon weapon over to the military and the Eredian people."

"No. Forget it. Those dragons are not just mere weapons, Senator. These creatures have life. They can think. They can feel. They can even show love."

"How sentimental," said the senator.

Zane narrowed his eyes. Typical response from a military bureaucrat. "They're not yours to take, Senator. Period!"

"That is not up to you. Fellow members of the Committee, I would like to call forth an esteemed expert on weapons of war. Mr. Veran Jayce the CEO of Jayce Tech and his Royal Majesty's most prestigious weapons manufacturer."

"Prince Michael would like to disagree on that notion," said Zane.

The arrogant, young, arms dealer laughed as he sucked on a cherry lollipop. He was so calm and confident about acquiring Zane's dragons that he had his feet comfortably placed on the table. One of his exotic secretaries was giving him a backrub. When it was time for him to take the stage, he shooed the gorgeous blonde off and promised to meet her later at his penthouse. He took off his red iridium lensed sunglasses and hung them from the vest underneath his blazer.

"I'll bet your buddy, the Prince, would like to disagree on that notion," said Jayce. "After all, I did put him out of the business."

"He is the maker of the finest swords in the East," said Zane. "A skill he's learned from his father who learned it from his father and his father before him. So show some respect."

"He's an amateur," Jayce continued. "And this is Ererdas, Zane. Nobody here uses swords anymore. Maybe those old-fashioned folk in the West do, but we don't. We're the more civilized half of this continent, baby. But I don't care what you or Prince Michael think of me."

Zane slammed his fist on the table. "Get to the point, asshole!"

Senator Smitt slammed the gavel three times. "Mr. Truesdale will refrain from making any more outbursts."

Jayce cleared his throat. "As I was saying. This isn't about me. This isn't even about you, Zane. This is about the people of Eredas. This is about their safety, which you are jeopardizing, my old friend. Look, what you've created is a marvel of technology. Why I'll admit it even outshines anything I make by more than a decade. For months, you have taken to the streets as the 'great hero' The Cyber Knight. Don't get me wrong, Zane, we are all thankful. Thanks to you, crime in Domino City has dwindled by more than 30%. Bad guys are afraid to come out at night because they know you'll be on their asses..." He snapped his fingers. "BAM! Like that. For the first time since forever, girls walk with their friends in places deemed unsafe before the Cyber Knight came to save the day. I saw kids playing at sundown in the industrial district. A place where Aeons and other criminal thugs used to prowl the streets."

He paced back in forth in front of a screen, showing security camera footage of the Cyber Dragons aiding Zane in wiping out crime in the streets of Domino. "But, ladies and gentlemen, as benign as Zane's intentions are, he has created a weapon with fantastical features and unlimited possibilities. Observe."

He pointed at a screen that holographically appeared above him. "Look here. He combined his dragons to form into an even more powerful beast. Lately, he has created something that far and away exceeds the power of the Cyber Twin Dragon that defeated the user of the Gem of Horakhty. Ladies and gentlemen. These are indeed weapons of mass destruction."

The crowd oohed and ahhed.

"It is thanks to these creatures that the gangs living in the Hills of Venback outside the walls of the city, were wiped out in seconds. A gang of all-powerful mages who could turn this city to ash in seconds, just gone. One hundred lives just gone in the blink of an eye. Zane, I believe in you, I really do. We all do. But these weapons are a great responsibility. One that is far too great for any one man to carry. Zane. Do the right thing, buddy. Give them to the people you wish to protect. Long live the King. Goddesses Praise Eredas. And Goddesses Bless Zane."

The chamber erupted in applause. Jayce turned and bowed pretentiously.

"You're going to make me sick," said Zane. "And not for nothing but you just proved my point. My Cyber Dragons are efficient! They're working! Had it not been for them, Princess Alexis would be a sex slave right now. Had it not been for them, Aldric would have overthrown King Eldon and put us in open war with Lorin. Had it not been for my dragons, crime would not have decreased by 30%. Oh, no wait. That's false information. Statistics show that crime has decreased by 64%. You ass clowns just played yourselves, hiring this imbecile to testify against me. Come on, you can do better than that."

Jayce sunk into his seat. He could not believe what he had just done. His theatrics and presentation just proved Zane's point that his Cyber Dragons were a great benefit to the security and stability of Domino City.

The Senator started to lose his cool as the audience clapped and cheered in Zane's favor. He smashed his gavel, calling for order. "If there's a point you're trying to make Mr. Truesdale, please..."

"My point is this. The Cyber Dragons are mine. You can cry and cry all you want but can't have my property. And you never will, asshole! You want my property? Too bad. Make your own. Oh, that's right, you can't. And I'm late for a brunch with my brilliant and beautiful engineer, Kara. Now if you'll excuse me."

"Mr. Truesdale sit down!" shouted Senator Smitt. "Mr. Truesdale you are not excused."

"Senator, enough," said one of his colleagues. "Don't make this even worse than it already is."

Zane turned around, flicked him off, and walked away. He burst through the doors to an adoring crowd. Kara ran to him and hugged him tightly.

"That was so great!" she shouted.

"It was nothing," said Zane, leading her out of the building. "Man, I feel so pumped. Wanna go somewhere?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we're going on vacation. Come on. Let's go somewhere sunny. I'm getting tired of chocolates and snow."

"Zane. What about Project Nova? I mean, Prince Marcel is about to send us what we need for it." She swallowed. "Well, more than enough of what we need. He's being way too generous."

"Well, we just kicked the Naralians out of his country, so of course, he'll be generous with their precious ore. This is working out even better than I ever imagined. And this is just the start, my friend. Amazing things are going to happen soon. And Project Nova. It's just the start."

"I look forward to it, boss," Kara said, clinging to his arm. "You know, you're right. A vacation sounds good right about now."

Zane chuckled. "Get your stuff ready then, kiddo. We're leaving in an hour."