Having entered the battlefield for the first time, the machine's armor gleamed in the sunlight. It had bright golden irises, chestnut brown hair and silver armor shining in the blazing sunlight. It looked over at Raze with a harrowing glare. Then it turned back to Athena with a softer look.

Lowering the leg, XD-001 addressed Athena, "Are you alright?" It asked her in a robotic tone.

Athena was still a bit shell shocked, but as she took in the moment. She calmed herself, "What took you so long, XD-001?!" Athena shouted indignantly at her servant.

XD-001 replied, "Windows 20 Updates. They are intrusive and forced on the consumer, but I am prepared now with the latest editions of several different softwares including Microsoft Word and which functions properly now." The machine said.

Athena balked and then did a pratfall before jumping back up, "Why didn't you refuse?!"

XD-001 turned away, "It seems that option has long been gone. I did purchase Winrar though." Athena was frustrated at that, but she had more pressing matters to attend to, "Look at me." She told XD-001.

He turned to face her as requested, "I'm heading to the port! Hold off that miserable saiyan while I prepare everything else." She commanded as XD-001 nodded in response. With that, she turned to head off to her ship port now that her plans had to be accelerated thanks to this change of events.

Raze was just now getting up to look in XD-001's direction, 'What a surprise… No energy signature.' He looked over to find that Athena was walking away, 'Not good, can't let her go.' Raze powered up and sent the rubble flying that currently surrounded his body. He lifted off from the building and immediately set course for Athena, rippling through the air until his form had disappeared entirely. XD-001 wasn't surprised by this and began to examine the area. Raze closed in on Athena and was sure that she wouldn't have the possibility to escape. At least until he met interference.

XD-001 moved straight at where Raze would appear, immediately catching the saiyan off guard. XD-001 knocked Athena out of the way, but also smashed Raze in the face with his metallic skull causing him to spurt blood from a newly opened cut on his mouth, "Oww!" He yelled while the quick footed machine unleashed a flurry of punches on the stunned Raze.

Raze blocked a few, but a few cracked through his iron defenses. One pistoned punch to the face and a leg sent him flying backwards. Raze recovered, flipping backwards to land on his boots that scraped the floor with a resounding screech. Finally reaching a stop, he smirked while leaning forward.

"Okay! Guess I should have seen that coming." Raze removed a bit of blood from his lip with his thumb and gave the machine his full attention, "You're pretty good!" He continued as the thing gave him a frown back.

"Don't think I will let you do as you please. Mistress is to be left out of this fight." It said robotically to the saiyan while moving into a fighting stance.

Raze sighed, "You know that you're not the first tool in their arsenal, right?" The mechanical being only gave him a blank stare back, so he tried once more, "We don't have to do this. We can all walk away. So, please don't make me have to break you!" He yelled while the machine intensified its already well put together stance.

As Athena picked herself up, "Break him?! Like you'll ever be able to do that. XD-001, beat this worthless monkey into dust and join me when it's done." She flicked her hair from her forehead with a maniacal grin on her face.

Raze looked at the deranged woman with disdain and then to XD-001, "If it has to be this way…" With a grunt, he powered up his aura. XD-001 was feeling the threat intensify and could no longer ignore this.

XD-001 launched forward, but Raze was ready for him as he fell backwards. The machine was surprised to see Raze let himself fall while it just about passed over him. Raze caught himself with his hands and sent both his boots into the mechanical menace's torso with gusto sending it flying high into the sky.

Raze then pushed off the ground with his hands and landed on his feet before running at Athena. However, XD-001 was already upon him, slamming the saiyan in the side and sending him sprawling into the side of the bridge. It had held despite the brute force of the attack, but Raze couldn't catch his breath. A large ki attack swallowed him whole and created a massive explosion that made him crash through the bridge. His body slammed through five towers before crashing into the desert. XD-001 still had smoke rising from its palm as the mechanical monster looked at Athena.

"Go now. I will handle him." Athena nodded silently and then left for the port once again.

~Ken's PoV~

Ken couldn't believe it, he'd already found his sister. He thought achieving that would have been difficult, but Ken was surprised at how easily it was done. She looked hurt and scared out of her mind, Ken flicked his eyes in Sushig's direction on the other side. He seemed mildly calm considering the situation. Turning to Brass, he just saw the namekian crossing his arms and giving him a serious gaze.

Ken couldn't look him in the eyes and switched back to Sushig, "What did you do to my sister?!" He yelled at the man before turning back to her and noticing the collar around her neck which angered him further, "What's that around her neck?!" He shouted once more.

Sushig sighed, he'd have to pick his words. He knew without looking at the onlooker standing precariously behind him that trying to escape with the girl would be nearly impossible. He also noticed the anger on the child's face. Perhaps he could gain an advantage because of that.

"Don't worry about it. As long as she doesn't try anything… It shouldn't be a factor." Sushig answered the boy. Ken growled menacingly while clenching his fists, stepping toward the alien before him. Sushig assumed a fighting stance and seemed to welcome Ken.

Brass shook his head, 'A defensive stance. Usually good for turning the opponent's momentum against themselves.' He turned to Ken, 'He'll have to be careful. His opponent is somewhat skilled.'

Ken leapt forward like a wild animal, but Sushig was quicker. Completely avoiding Ken and slipping the boy up before his momentum sent him careening toward the floor. Ken wasn't done yet because as his hands touched the floor he caught it, turning with his palms and launching himself with his legs back at his opponent.

Leaning forward Ken seemed to be sailing over Sushig, but Ken felt it immediately. An intense pain in his gut, he realized that Sushig had countered already by using his head to send Ken flying straight into the air. Ken crashed into the ceiling and it immediately crumbled which sent him on a crash course for the floor. Just because Brass had his sadistic tendencies didn't mean that he would watch this carry on longer. Brass stepped up, but he saw Ken slowly picking himself up while shaking his head.

"Brass… Stop… I can do this." Ken said while fully standing up.

"Let's say I believe that… You seem to be floundering around and wasting time." Brass said while Ken shook his head.

"No! I'm going to beat him even though…" He trailed off while looking at Sushig.

Sushig merely invited him back over, but Ken felt a bit off his game. While he was angry, Ken realized that this man wasn't the one who had attacked him before. It felt like it wasn't right.

Ken looked Sushig directly into his eye, "You're not the one from before!" Ken exclaimed.

Sushig arched an eye at that, 'You mean Tisho? He's been dead for quite a while.' He looked up for a moment, 'Tisho… You just keep complicating things.' Ken wasn't sure what was going on. He looked at Brass who didn't offer a word of advice.

~Sushig's Flashback~

In a back alley, a small alien man walked through. Strapped to his back was a long black bag. As he continued down his path the crescent moon above him showed down upon him. He stepped into the path of the arc of light showing off said moon. Revealing his features for the first time as a dark green skinned creature straight out of a child's nightmare. This alien man was covered in blood and had a gaunt look upon his face.

He walked up to the door within that back alley. Tapping on the door in a very particular way and then stepping back. He waited patiently with the cargo. A slide panel opened up and a pair of eyes were looking upon him callously.

"Who goes the- Hey. It's you…" He looked back and forth before opening the door to allow him inside.

"Hurry it up, Su. Can't have you carrying the package out here." Su walked past him as the door slammed shut abruptly.

Quicker than he had before, Su's pace had increased. As he walked past a grinning lion looking man gave him a once over.

"Eh Sushig? How's the haul?" The lion man asked him.

But Sushig didn't answer. Continuing to walk on by the now frowning man. However, he didn't dare to impede Sushig in any further way. He'd finally made it to his destination and turned the handle on the door quickly.

"Welcome Son…" A voice called him to step forward.

Sushig dropped the bag at the feet of the one sitting at the back of the room. It landed with a sickening crunch and he bowed before the man sitting in front of him. The man nodded at him and then tapped the bag with his foot.

"You may rise, Son." Sushig stood back up with a blank stare.

"You've done very well… The payment will be half the price of his head. This man will definitely be a great help to our guild." He passed the wanted poster to Sushig.

He was twelve million at least, Sushig finally broke the emotionless gaze for just a moment. He usually wasn't privy to just how much money the heads of his victims were. Just that he'd do the job to get it done.

"Is that fair?" The man asked Sushig.

Sushig already knew there was only one answer. After all, the demon before him was so incredibly powerful that he wouldn't take no for an answer. Respect is all he demanded, but sometimes he would make awful deals for the newer hired killer. Luckily, Sushig wasn't a new assassin.

"Yes, of course." He said without hesitation as he was waved off.

"Then take that with you to the usual place." The demonic man said as Sushig took his leave.

Sushig shut the door dutifully, turning to head toward the usual place only for Tisho to be standing at the other end of the hall.

"Hey! Sushig! I've got an offer for you!" An eagerly grinning Tisho exclaimed to the off put Sushig.

"Ehhh? Can't you tell that I'm busy?" Sushig asked the lion man who scoffed.

"Yeah, you had business with Strife. We all have business with him. A great man such as him allowed us to live well." Tisho said as Sushig shook his head.

"You know we aren't to speak his name. He threw that name away…" He trailed off while continuing on his path.

Tisho sighed, "Aye… He did. Yet, being a great hero shouldn't be something to forget." Sushig's eyes widened and he turned quickly to grab Tisho by his collar.

"Be silent!" Sushig half yelled and half whispered.

He looked back at the door, but found it to be unmoving as ever. Tisho pushed Sushig back and then proceeded to punch him, but found that Sushig was no longer there.

Sushig delivered heavy blows and took a breath of air. Despite the difference in power, Sushig's many blows to Tisho's zero strikes were too much. Tisho coughed up blood, feeling each attack hit him in succession right as Sushig took his first breath.

Sushig stepped away as Tisho finally realized what happened, "You used that t- technique?!" Tisho stuttered as he fell to his knees.

"You may have a power of fifty thousand, but that means nothing in the face of raw skill." Sushig said to his opponent.

~From within the room~

As Strife unzipped the body bag, he looked upon the corpse with his thoughts on Sushig. He appreciated that man. One of his top earners despite his low power.

'Despite the difference in our special abilities. His power is special in his race.' He poked the face with his finger a little and it fell to the side, 'The ability to completely stop time by holding your breath… It's useful.'

Strife looked at his hand, stained with blood, 'Yet mine skips time…' He heard the start of a fight and the ending of one.

Strife rolled his eyes, 'Children…'

He got up and approached the door. Throwing it open, he saw Tisho lying on the floor while Sushig had left him there.

Strife grinned, 'Good work…' He left them to it with a flick of his devil's tail.

One click later and the door was shut again.

Tisho awoke in the next few minutes or so. With a shock, he bolted up. Looking around, he saw Sushig sitting at the bar. Despite his misgivings, Tisho approached.

"You're done that quick?" Tisho asked him as Sushig merely nodded.

"We're coworkers, no need to kill you over a misunderstanding. Besides, someone else has to keep this guild running." He finished while raising his glass to the barkeep.

Tisho sighed and ordered a drink of his own, "You know… The only reason it's in business right now is because we do all the work." He was handed a mug of ale which he took and began putting a dent into it.

He gulped down the thirst quenching quickly and efficiently before slamming the mug on the counter. Tisho then turned to Sushig as some of the beverage spilled out of the mug.

"We should go into business for ourselves!" Tisho declared to the downtrodden man sitting next to him.

Sushig scoffed at him, "There you go again… Why make trouble for no reason?" He grabbed his mug and took a long swIg before moving it from his lips with a heavy gasp, "Just accept what you have. It's not that bad."

Tisho shook his head, "This place won't last forever. We have to think about the future." He turned to Sushig, "I know your capabilities. Despite my power, you can completely stop me."

He looked upwards, "We don't make enough money here as it is." Tisho shifted away from Sushig who followed him as Tisho pointed to the wanted posters currently on it, "Besides; our boss no matter how great he is… has lost sight of the future." A poster in the middle was what Tisho pointed at.

The poster was none other than the infamous "Raze Vestal" who had avoided capture for the last seven years. The poster clearly stated that it wanted him "Alive" much to the chagrin of most bounty hunters. It had probably allowed him to escape many times from people far stronger than him. His worth was only a mere five million.

"That man has been obsessed over by our boss for too long." He took a swig of his drink before turning back to Sushig, "I still don't know why he's so interested in that guy."

Sushig wasn't completely sure himself, "He might have a grudge with him." He looked at the poster with disdain, 'He's the reason that this rut has been growing deeper… He isn't even worth that much.'

Tisho sighed, "If you won't listen to me now… Just keep it in mind." He took a swig of his drink while Sushig stewed on this idea.

~End of Flashback~

'That had been two years ago… This business deal got Tisho killed.' Sushig opened his eyes to take in the scene. Looking at Brass, he felt calm. He turned his head to look at the other side of the room. Sushig moved to intercept Ken again, but despite being so close. He merely floated before him. Suspended in air, Sushig's lungs barely felt the effort as he moved past the boy.

'I should have used this earlier on, but I guess the shock of seeing Tisho be killed… Well, it definitely affected me.' He thought while he made his way to Kira.

Even as he got closer, Sushig stopped before her. He held his arm out, palm raised at Ken. A ball of ki shot out as he took a breath of fresh air. Ken was shocked to not see Sushig, but then he was hit by the ki attack from behind. An explosion occurred sending the poor child into the wall directly in front of him.

Brass was surprised for the first time, 'I didn't see him move at all!'

Ken struggled to get back on his feet, the wreckage of metal made him stumble. He looked like he'd been cut on his arms and face quite a bit. Gritting his teeth, Ken finally got up.

Brass had started to move just as Ken did, but time had stopped again. He immediately locked eyes with Sushig, "What the hell was that?!"

Sushig looked at him, trying to remain indifferent, "Nothing to worry about…" Standing in front of Kira, he saw tears budding on her face as she tried to run to her brother. Sushig quickly delivered a chop to her neck which made her hit the floor knocking Kira out completely. A fire lit in Ken's eyes as he launched forward to hopefully deliver damage upon Sushig.

"NO!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, but Ken couldn't move. The difference was that he was aware this time. Only him.

Sushig smirked, 'Kid, there isn't a way for you to beat me.' Ken was confused.

Ken couldn't see his lips moving, "How are you saying that?!" He saw him closing on Kira.

"Stop!" He yelled to the diminutive green alien man.

Seemingly ignored, Ken can't stop his tears from flowing, "W- Why?!" He wailed at Sushig who stopped just in front of Ken's sister.

Sushig merely ignored him.

Looking to the side, Ken could only see that Brass was also unmoving. Sushig watched as Ken slowly started turning his head back back toward himself. Ken had seen that slightly past them, people were moving about. Seemingly to escape.

Realization struck Ken in that moment, 'It's a limited area!' He could vaguely feel Raze's energy from where they were. He also felt another energy slowly getting further and further away. There was also another one currently heading up to their position.

'Gotta get Brass free. He could take this guy down.' His goals were now quite a bit more different.

'You must be planning something child…' Sushig picked up Kira much to Ken's horror.

Sushig held his palm to Ken once more, "This time, I won't hold back." A light emanated from his palm.

Ken shut his eyes, anticipating the attack. That attack never came as a massive blast destroyed the top of the tower which caused Sushig to trip and fall. Kira landed to the side as Sushig was left with little to no choice, but to breathe.

Kira took the opportunity to get up and run to her brother as metal debris began to rain down upon them. The tower seemed to collapse inward and separated Ken alongside Kira from Sushig completely. Sushig's anger caught the better of him as he prepared another blast to fire upon the twins, but before he could, Brass gave him a chop to the neck.

Falling forward, Sushig was knocked completely unconscious. Brass shook his head while applying a capture ring to his victim. Setting Sushig to the side, he started moving toward the rubble.

Despite Brass feeling two energy signatures, one being Raze and another getting further away. He couldn't truly abandon these kids. Even if the bounty was on the move, he decided to help them out first. Then he'd worry about that later and so Brass went to pull apart the rubble.

~Just moments before~

XD-001 landed just in front of Raze's impact crater. Its body crackled with sparks of lightning. The mechanical body it had been given ached for this moment. A chance to prove itself, but the mind was in chaos.

The wind changed direction as sand blasted into the sky and Raze revealed himself among the torrent of pebbles. He looked completely disheveled, armor and clothing torn up.

Getting a feel for his opponent wasn't working out nearly as well as he'd hoped, 'This is getting a bit tougher than I had thought.' XD-001 began to move toward him with an unreadable expression, 'No time to even think!' The mechanical being was upon him, but Raze dodged its fist.

Leaping into the air, Raze prepared a ball of ki to fire upon the machine. But just as quickly as XD-001 had been seen, it was gone. Raze looked around quickly only to find that his arm had been pushed upward and a fist had impacted his gut. With a gasp and a cough, blood left his mouth.

The ki blast erupted from his palm in a completely different direction. Flying high into the air and then angling toward a particular tower. Raze recognized it immediately, "NO! Brass and Ken are there!" He yelled while flying away from XD-001 to try and intercept the attack himself.

The machine was quick on the uptake and had made its decision to halt Raze's current trajectory. Just as XD-001 had managed to catch him by his leg, Raze was putting two fingers to his forehead. Raze stopped in a moment that completely caught him off guard as lightning was forced through his body. Pain receptors inside him were all crying out in agony as he was pulled down.

XD-001 slammed its knee into Raze's jaw and proceeded to grip his leg, XD-001 put his thrusters to max and began to drag him with intense force. While Raze could only watch as the top of the tower exploded in a bright flash. Despite the new injuries, Raze could only feel one emotion and pain wasn't the first thing to come to mind.

As he looked down at the android, he felt raw emotion and power coming to the forefront, "DAMMIT!" He roared while XD-001 was squarely focused on its own goal.

A golden light showered off Raze. His eyes turned a very light teal and his body had bulked up considerably. XD-001 had stopped in midair, despite its thrusters going off at max. For the first time since the fight had begun, he showed a look of surprise. But before he had much more time to realize what was happening Raze slammed him in the stomach full stop.

XD-001 went from a full stop to an immediate crashing into the desert floor. Sand that had been kicked up didn't bother Raze as he blasted straight through. XD-001 tried to back off into the dust to try and blend in, but Raze had found it before that action could take place.

"YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" Raze began unloading his anger with his fist that cracked open the visor like eyes of XD-001.

XD-001 was sent flying backward, but Raze immediately flashed behind it to catch XD-001 with a leg crashing into its back. XD-001 coughed and exhaust flew out its mouth. Raze reeled the machine back by its clothing before it could fly off and then slammed XD-001 in the face with his ki enhanced fist. Still, Raze wasn't letting it fly even as the clothing began to tear, this time on the reel in, Raze let the cloth go and full on grabbed his face.

XD-001 seemingly had no answers to this barbaric beat down as Raze slammed him into the sand below and began to wail on him with intense anger. The sand was still being blown away by these ferocious attacks and had somehow started to lessen over time. Raze didn't take much notice of that considering that his main focus was on trying to make an unfeeling machine suffer. Underneath the sand, a shining plate was being uncovered and it was taking all the force of Raze's continual blows. That plate began to weaken under the force of Raze's barrage as Raze prepared to deal a final blow.

"I'LL END IT!" Raze roared as power began to flow into his fist and with unquestionable force he sent it crashing into the being just below him.

The entire plate ripped open as XD-001 tore through and slammed into a secret underground bunker below. Smoke and metal blasted outward into the air as the machine was covered by the dust that ensued. Raze floated above the area still covered in rippling golden light. He was perplexed about the area they were currently inside.

Raze tried feeling for Ken's energy, but it was coming up short. Brass was still fine, but that was to be expected. Turning back to where he had left his enemy, Raze's eyes burned with incredible anger, 'If they're dead… You won't make it out of here.'

~End of Chapter 3~