~Raze's Journey;Director's Cut Chapter 2~
Somebody will read this eventually, right? Let's see.
~Continue?~
Brass was frustrated to say the least. Raze had not only destroyed another one of his battle suits, but he'd nearly had a hand in killing the person he was trying to save. To top it all off, that person was another saiyan!
'Less food and more mouths to feed. Just what we needed…' He was just for the moment thinking that perhaps it was good that the bounty they might make could cover the cost. Brass could also at least take solace in the fact that he only drank water. That would put his own mind at ease. Maybe… As he walked into the medical room, he found Raze to be asleep on the bench seat. The kid was in a healing tank, appearing to drift in and out of sleep.
He looked over the screen nearby. It listed out all the injuries that had been scanned. Broken ribs, broken ankle, lacerations, and a concussion to boot. Brass looked over the tank with a bit of consideration. The only thing this wouldn't heal was emotional trauma.
'To have survived that, this kid must've had a strong willpower.' He thought while turning back to Raze, 'Look at him sleeping the day away. He should go ahead and get up.'' He walked over and smacked the helmet causing sandy grit to fall out which immediately woke Raze up. His arm outstretched instinctively and in less than a millisecond had gripped Brass's arm.
"What was the point of that?" He asked the albino namekian who scoffed at the saiyan.
"Don't ask me that. It's been at least five hours since you brought this kid on the ship! He's fully healed by now, so we should probably wake him up." Brass was impatient and looked at the tank, "Though, there's no-" He stopped upon getting a better look at the tank.
Indeed the kid's eyes were fully opened in shock. He looked at the two people before him and the tank started to bubble up intensely. Raze jumped and shook his head while waving his arms.
"Woah! Hold up! Don't go crazy, I saved you, you know!" He said frantically, but thanks to the helmet. His voice was much deeper. This seemed to freak the kid out a bit more.
Brass had already stretched his arms to the machine during this exchange in order to force it to open prematurely. As the healing mixture flowed out of the tank and spread across the floor. Ken tore the oxygen mask off and he yelled in surprise, but Brass' hand covered his mouth quickly.
Ken looked at Brass with great fear, but even that fear didn't make Brass loosen up at all. Instead, He leaned down a bit closer to Ken, "I'm going to let go of your mouth." Ken nodded slowly, "And you better be quiet when I do." Ken didn't move his head for just a moment, but then Brass glared hard at him and he decided to nod anyway.
As the hand was removed, Ken finally caught up to the current situation. He realized that his body was completely healed. Despite his trepidation, he flexed his hands and arms. Then he tapped his foot against the ground. Finally he looked to the albino namekian and tall dark figure who still had his hands out.
"W- Where are we?!" He blurted out to either one of them.
"Uhh… My ship." Raze said lamely while lowering his arms.
Ken gritted his teeth, "What's with t- that weird armor?!" He pointed at it which caused Brass to smirk slightly.
Raze's shoulders slumped and he turned toward Brass while pointing at him, "You must've put him up to this!" He shouted indignantly.
Brass shrugged and turned away, "Told you it was a lame choice." He adopted a serious look and pointed at Raze, "Don't blame me for your poor choice of fashion! And don't even get me started on the Yardrat obsession…" Swinging that same arm back to his chest and crossing his arms, he smirked.
If smoke could come out of someone's ears, Raze might've passed for a kettle if anyone could see under the helmet. That's when he felt a gritty texture inside his helmet. Groaning in frustration, he finally took it off which allowed his gigantic black flowing hair to puff out. Ken was surprised to see another saiyan standing before him. He was of a lucky few on his own planet.
Raze groaned, "I hate sand." He said while shaking his helmet roughly, "It's coarse, rough, and irritating." He looked up from his inspection of the helmet with a frown, "It also gets everywhere." He finished with a grin that seemed like he'd performed a bit.
Ken, having been through that for the past few days, could sympathize with him there. Raze gave him a serious look. Walking over after setting down the helmet, "Well, you seem to be ok at this very moment." He knelt down before him on a single knee, "We do need answers to some questions about who attacked you and where they might be heading." Ken stepped backward, his mind abuzz with thoughts from earlier returning to the forefront.
"Right…" He trailed off and Raze smiled.
Raze returned with a,"Right-o!" However, he still wanted to hear it, "Before that, what's your name? Can't very well be pressing you for info without knowing that much." Raze said, but Ken shook his head.
He wasn't ready to let them know seeing as he hardly knew them. Raze sighed, "Okay. Then I'll share first. Names Raze. I'm just a bounty hunter who is currently looking for individuals who just so happen to probably be on this planet." Raze pointed with his thumb over the shoulder to Brass.
"That's Brass, he's too impatient for his own good. He is pretty strong though, so it's cool." Raze said nonchalantly while Ken nodded and Brass snorted.
"As if you're not impatient…" Brass trailed off as Raze shook his head and that got Ken to laugh a little.
"Who's counting the moments I was impatient?" Raze asked as Brass merely raised his own hand in a mock response, "So anyway…" Raze trailed off as he stared back at Ken, "I can only guess what you've had to go through. Can I at least know your name?" Raze asked the child yet again.
Ken was weighing his options. These two had healed him. That was a point he couldn't ignore. Not only that, this Raze fellow had rescued him. He did owe them his life at this point. Then his sister… He couldn't allow this opportunity to pass.
"M- My name is…" He looked up to Raze, "I- It's Ken." Ken didn't expect Brass to walk up with something in his hand.
"Could you tell us what this is?" Brass asked the child.
"Oh! That's the tracker!" Raze raised an eyebrow at that.
"Tracker for what?" He asked as Ken decided to give them the benefit of the doubt.
"I- It's the tracker I placed on one of the guys who a- attacked me." The pain he had suffered flashed through his mind and he outwardly winced, 'No!' He thought.
He looked determined, 'I didn't survive that for nothing. I gotta get my sister back!' Now looking at his saviors, "Please help me save my sister!" He looked toward the open hangar door and started walking toward it, but he was stopped.
"Where do you think you're going?" Raze asked Ken who was at a loss for words at that moment.
"I- I uh…" He was confused as Raze walked over.
"I can't let you go out there again." Raze turned to Brass, "Do you want to go or should I go alone?"
Brass sighed in annoyance, "You always get all the action."
Raze crossed his arms, "That's not fair. I did ask if you wanted to go."
Brass grinned, "You don't mean that. I know you must be angry deep down. Surely you want to fix this issue yourself." He then arched his eyes as if to say, "Unless?"
"I know you're playing me because you hate the desert." Raze smirked and his eyes narrowed, "But you're right." Turning to walk toward the door just a bit he turned back to Ken.
He held his fist out, "I promise to bring your sister back. So, don't worry!" He watched as Ken hesitantly bumped his fist to Raze's own, "That's what I like to see!"
Turning once again to Brass, "Can you send me the coordinates to that helmet? Most of the suit still works, but it's just a bit damaged in other places."
Brass nodded and tossed the helmet to him, "Thanks. And if I do happen to be in trouble. I'll send you guys an emergency notice." Raze put it back on his head still grimacing at the little bits of grit still in there.
Raze waved and then launched himself out of the hatch with the greatest of ease. Ken was left with Brass who was already walking to the main computer and attached the tracker to the main hub. As he sent the signal to Raze, he simultaneously detached it and handed it to Ken, "I can't really stop you from leaving." Brass said as Ken looked at the device and then to Brass again.
"B- But he said…" Ken looked at it in his hand.
Brass had gone and got a small device, "You were probably a bit more unlucky the last time you were on this planet." Ken still looked more unsure than ever.
Ken looked up at Brass once more, "Are you sure?" He asked the namek.
Brass nodded, "I was going to go regardless to make sure he was alright. I don't usually follow his instructions to the letter anyway or at all." He turned to the side with a smirk on his face, "Besides… He's the one who likes making things turn out for the better. He was going to take it all on his shoulders to make you feel better." He looked at Ken while holding the device in his outstretched palm.
"But you didn't want exactly that, did you? You probably want to help rescue her yourself." Brass said as Ken hesitantly took the offered device from him.
"What's this?" Ken asked as Brass revealed a second one.
Slapping the device onto his chest and clicking it caused a light to pop on. "These are specifically built to be resistant to the desert atmosphere. Should be useful and they have the location put in already." Suddenly the bright skin of the namekian was covered in a mesh just like Raze's armor without a cape. A helmet materialized from the light on his chest.
Brass looked at Ken, nodding to the device laying the kid's own hand. Ken looked at it and nodded with determination, slapping it on his chest. But he doubled over in pain from the pressure of doing so.
Brass facepalmed, "You don't have to smack it against your chest like that! I only did so because…" Ken's eyes looked a bit teary as he got up, "Uhh… It was kinda cool… You alright, kid?" He ended up saying to make Ken feel better.
"Y- Yeah. We should get going!" He said quickly while walking toward the hatch.
Brass nodded approvingly, "You've got guts, I'll give you that, Kid."
Brass put his helmet on and checked on Raze, 'Guess he's already there…' His thoughts trailed off while following Ken.
~Raze's Perspective~
Raze was in the air above the soot the signal was coming from, but he was just befuddled, 'The signal is here, but I'm not seeing the source. Maybe I should contact Brass…' He thought as he tapped on his helmet.
"Yo, Brass! I'm at the place, but there's no sign that anything is here." Raze asked as Brass' voice came through from the other side.
"That's strange. The enemy could have set up a cloaking device. At least, that would be my first guess. Try checking around the area." Brass relayed back to Raze who nodded.
"By the way, what's with all the interference? It's almost like you're flying!" Raze said while he heard a cough over the comms.
"Urgh, just the wind blowing from the hangar door. Don't worry about it. Over." Brass finished quickly.
"Alright. Over!" Raze clicked the side of his helmet, "Can't ever read that guy." Raze said to himself while floating down to the desert sand below. He landed and then proceeded to start waving his hand around. He felt some kind of static interference at one point when his hand sparked.
'Very clever…' He thought to himself as he punched the newly found barrier. It rippled under the force of his impact. That shock spread out over the entirety of it much to the shock of the people inside.
~Just a few moments earlier~
"What?! It's him again! Damn!" She yelled while looking at Raze on the monitor.
Thoughts were ringing around Athena's mind, 'How could they find this place so quickly?!' She picked up a mic and called for Sushig over the comms link they had.
He picked up on his end, "Athena? I read you. What's going on?" His voice sounded over the radio as she quickly responded.
"Have you found that prisoner yet?!" She asked him while looking over her current prey and the screens showing the Saiyan flying overhead.
"No, she's surprisingly well hidden out here. Though she may have slipped up a bit. A few of the guards heard different noises all around the trash and old weaponry sitting out here." Sushig said while kicking away an old piece of technology.
"Then that means she's heading for the research and development department. Wonderful! She won't get much further." Athena smirked and added, "I even found her main coconspirator. So, I'd say we'll be fine in the next bit." She kept looking at the screen with disdain.
"That's where I'll look then. Does she have any features that you ever noticed?" He asked Athena who nodded.
"She was wearing some kind of bright green gi. It was torn up a bit, but that's all I ever bothered to notice." She stated to Sushig.
"That'll definitely narrow it down. Also, I'm hearing some loud noise coming from the barrier. Is something happening?" Sushi asked her to which she replied.
"I don't know why, but it seems like a lot of saiyans are showing up here lately. In fact, there's one right outside our front door. I won't bore you with more details. I'll fix this." Athena said as she cut off the comm link.
She then turned her attention to the third screen. It showed a tank with a person inside. She grinned with malice, 'XD-001 is my ultimate weapon. Surely it will handle this new problem for me.'
She looked at the screen with a pleased expression. It read back to her that the warrior was about eighty five percent awakened. Athena simply needed to wait and see if one of her greatest experiments would be a success against the one flying outside her base. In her thoughts she couldn't help herself, 'Sebastian, I will make your dreams true. I will unleash terror on this galaxy.' She couldn't believe that fate had delivered her a great test subject for her viewing pleasure.
~Raze's Perspective~
Raze had barely put any force into his last strike on the barrier in order to calculate just how much mass the thing had. He smirked in satisfaction when he realized just how much strength he'd have to use to destroy it, 'Of course, that's just me overthinking it. If I apply myself… It should be even simpler.' He thought to himself while preparing himself for the strike.
Clenching his fists tightly, Raze gathered ki within them both. Sparks of light flew off around them and he smirked before letting loose. Once more, the area began to shake. Despite the gathering of dust and sand around himself. Raze kept hammering away without much thought being put into the blows.
Each strike surged up the barrier and began to make it wave to and fro. Raze saw a hole beginning to form. Taking advantage of the opening he put his whole right arm inside and began emitting ki all the way up said arm to his very shoulder. Crackling with pure energy he swung his arm up connecting with the barrier and sending his ki all the way to the other side.
Despite it being not that long a wait due to the transfer speed of energy being extremely fast. Raze felt as though his power had traveled extremely far, 'This place must be extremely large. Perhaps even a massive facility. How am I supposed to find his sister anyway?' He questioned himself.
Of course he wouldn't get an answer. That would be crazy. Raze decided to just power through, "HAAAAAAAAAA!" He roared as the barrier split in two.
~On the highest tower~
"Dude, are you seeing this shit?" One of the guards asked.
"What do you mean? It's just an ordinary- OH MY GOODNESS!" He saw the barrier breaking down from the middle and turned to call the third person on said tower, "Squidbard!" He was front and center in only a moment, but the damage was done. He saw the desert skies above and immediately knew what was going on.
Squidbard sighed, "Just kill-." He said, but was interrupted by his superior.
"Nah, I ain't doing that. We're getting the hell outta here. I'm quitting this job, the money isn't worth the trouble." With that, the three abandoned their post like any bad soldier with the idea of not dying might do.
~Athena's PoV~
Having made it past the middle building, Athena was walking toward the third at brisk pace. She tried hiding her power level, but anyone with a vantage point could more than likely see her heading toward the launch base. Athena was looking at her watch to see the progress of her best creation's reawakening. Reading at ninety-five percent completion, she hoped that her creation would be able to handle the threat well enough.
'But now that I think about it… What if this entire thing was a setup?' She would make an attempt to figure it out soon enough. Once she was at the launch base portion of the compound that is.
As she moved toward the launch base from the second bridge with a weakened Kiryu in her grip, she found herself losing balance and falling to the side. The ground was shaking rapidly and Athena found herself staring into the burning sky. Kiryu fell to the side during the quake.
"T- The Barrier?!" She half questioned and half shouted realizing that the saiyan warrior must've just broken it down. She also looked over at Kiryu and cursed under her breath, 'Damn! I've gotta get moving!' She thought quickly while pulling herself up and trying to get Kiryu back in her grip.
~Sushig's PoV~
"There's nowhere to hide! Just come out!" Sushig shouted to his prey.
Kira was hiding behind a bit of shrapnel she'd found in the building. But she couldn't quite do what her brother did when he hid his presence. She felt the sweat running down her neck and she shivered as Kira heard Sushig move closer to her location.
'I'm sorry, Kiryu. I lost!' She thought as the shrapnel was sent flying away from above her and crashed into the adjacent wall.
"About damn time! Now stand up." He pulled out the collar he'd been given earlier.
"W- Why are y- you d- doing this?" Stuttered out the young saiyan girl to Sushig.
He quickly fastened a collar to her while trying to stay quiet. She for the most part was complacent in the current situation. She didn't have much energy due to the starvation she had gone through, not to mention the beatings.
Sushig was merely following his orders. He had all his life. To him, this was normal. A business he had grown used to. What were the lives of children to him anyway. He had to have the money, right?
She tried again, "Why are y- you doing t- this?" To her, he'd been staring off into space.
But Sushig spoke back this time, turning slowly to face her, "Honestly, I am just doing as I was told. You can think ill of me, but that means nothing." He finished as he slipped a chip onto the collar.
"Don't try to run. We'll know. Athena will decide your fate. We're heading to the ships ahead. Don't be slow." He said to her while pushing her forward.
Kira was more or less hoping something would happen. Anything would be fine. Just give her enough time for someone to get in the way. She began to try and flare her energy up, but the collar sparked sending a horrible pain into her very being. Falling to her knees, Kira cried out in agony.
Sushig clenched his fists, "You idiot! I told you not to do anything. That collar actively suppresses ki."
~Ken's Perspective~
His eyes widened, "There! I felt Kira! I'm coming to save you!" He knew her energy signal better than anyone else's even if it was abrupt.
Reaching up to his helmet, Ken took it off and threw it to Brass. He caught it, but Ken immediately flew toward the area he felt it emanate from. Brass was caught off guard from this sudden outburst.
"Hold up! You don't even know if there is anything else down there!" Despite his yell, Ken was already having tunnel vision on his target. He closed in quickly and saw his sister on her knees, crying out in distress. His glare intensified as he saw only the person standing next to her. Anger clouded his mind and judgment. He knew who that guy was.
"Get away from her!" He yelled as he charged Sushig who leapt out of the way to avoid the incoming blow.
Ken landed beside Kira with a skid, but immediately turned to Sushig with a menacing look etched on his face. Sushig sighed, 'Great. Another problem.' But he found that Ken wasn't alone. Another warrior landed behind Sushig. Turning quickly, Sushig only saw this new arrival was covered in a black silhouette of what appeared to be a suit.
"Guess we found her." Brass said as he heard a large amount of footsteps coming up behind him, but they seemed to cease in seconds when Brass turned to face them.
"Who is this guy?" Or "What is this thing?" They asked, but no answers were available to them. As Brass looked back to Ken.
"You can probably take that guy, right Ken?" Ken nodded and Brass smirked, "Then I'll take on all these goons." He said with confidence.
Brass took a stance and invited them to fight him, "Bring it on." He said to them, while using his pointer and middle finger to goad them toward him.
Ken meanwhile, was already taking steps toward Sushig. Sushig himself did indeed notice that the boy had indeed grown stronger. Perhaps even his equal in strength. This wouldn't be too easy if he had to guess. Sushig took a defensive stance as Ken continued marching toward him. This wasn't an ideal situation to be in.
~Raze's PoV~
He felt Brass and Ken were close by, 'What?! They're both here?! That could really end up complicating things.' But as Raze scanned the area for battle powers, he found one separated from the rest, but just barely a signal of energy.
'Or it could single out a person by themselves. That certainly helps.' He thought to himself while flying in quickly. The battle power he was feeling wasn't very high, maybe trying to hide their strength. Just enough to differentiate itself. He found the person in question to be a teal colored alien woman who seemed to be expecting him. He looked to her side, noticing that she held a Saiyan child by his tail.
She backed up for a moment, "W- Who are you?!" She got no answer and tried again, "Dammit! Answer me!"
He frowned, but she couldn't tell why, "How about we start with your identity first and let that child go!" He finished as she sighed.
"Oh, really? You want me to indulge you despite me asking the question first?" She asked him to which he nodded, she then smirked while looking over at the weakened saiyan in her grip, "And you want me to drop the child? Do you care for this insignificant thing?" She waved him back and forth like a yo-yo and Raze narrowed his eyes in anger.
She gave him a wild expression, "How about this? Your identity or I'll kill this kid." She was adamant if nothing else as she dropped Kiryu to the floor and held him to the floor with her foot placed on his back. She leveled her finger at his prone body and began to charge energy.
Raze couldn't take it anymore, 'Gotta stop her now!' He moved so quickly that she lost sight of him, but that's when a barrier erupted from her being. The electric shocks bounded up Raze's form and sent him flying back. Athena however didn't seem to feel too victorious about it. Athena fell backward hitting the floor, her clothes were heavily singed, but Kiryu was free at least.
"AGH! You damned fucker!" She screeched as the shocks began to finally subside.
Raze on the other hand could hear his helmet make a horrible screeching racket. Even though nobody could see his face, a heavy grimace was etched upon it. Quickly grabbing the helmet, he took it off and threw it to the wayside. His appearance was a bit off and his hair was a bit frizzy, but as Athena looked up.
She recognized him instantly.
"You… You bastard! You're that man who ruined our operation!" She shouted in anger at him.
Raze shrugged, "And? You're stealing children from their homes." He pointed at her, "You don't think this kinda thing can last forever, right?!" He shouted back, but she only seemed to be frustrated more.
"Not this one you dumbass! The entire rebel forces!" She yelled again as Raze's eyes widened.
"You were a part of that?" He questioned slowly as she got an evil little smirk on her face.
Kiryu felt his strength returning slowly but surely. He looked up to find that he was finally free of Athena's clutches. She noticed and her eyes widened, 'Dammit!' But she couldn't do much about that at this moment.
She shook her head and closed her eyes, "So, what if I was?" she questioned before opening her eyes, "Your father and his lineage have been nothing but a thorn in our side. You evil people should have been killed by now." She shifted her eyes to look at the watch on her wrist, she saw it was one-hundred percent and now all she needed to do was stall.
"You and your father will both suffer my revenge! My justice… No, our Justice!" She shouted while pointing at Raze and laughing at the Saiyan before her.
Raze shook off her insane ramblings and instead turned to Kiryu, "You should get out of here, kid! Okay?!" Kiryu only took a moment to nod in shock and run off toward the building behind where Athena lay currently.
He disappeared quickly through the double doors and left Raze to deal with the monster sitting before him, "Have you got anything else to say?!"
Her horrid laugh came to an end, but tears began to shine down her cheeks, "Though… I'm not the one who deserves to kill you. I want you to live and suffer. Sebastian has the only right to your head." She turned to the side, "Once I've had my way, you'll be tortured everyday of your life, Raze. So, thanks for showing up on my doorstep like a gift."
Raze had lowered his head, shadows covering his eyes. An unreadable expression that seemed to morph into a blazing anger. He then disappeared much to Athena's shock. She backed up, but found that Raze blocked her path. Her eyes widened without being able to turn around.
'I could only use that field once! What is he-?!' Even her thoughts had been cut off once Raze spoke up.
"You monsters killed innocent people and misled those that fell under your ranks to a pointless death." Raze lifted his left arm while Athena was still too shocked to move, "Sebastian and you should've just stayed in the shadows where you both belong. This is a mercy compared to the atrocities that you both committed." He then brought his arm down, but it had been stopped.
Raze's eyes widened with realization as he felt the hand fully encompass his wrist, "I won't allow you to hurt my Mistress." Raze could hear the words, but felt no energy associated with them. He turned just as he felt a heavy blow to the gut. Coughing up blood, Raze grasped his stomach and fell yet he didn't make it all the way down before being sent flying by another kick into a far off building.
Athena smirked, "Yes! My ultimate creation! XD-001!"
~End of Chapter 2~