~Raze's Journey;Director's Cut Chapter 7~
Roarin: Good to see people are interested in this tale. I hope to be introducing more new characters soon enough. Please take the time to check out this new chapter! Enjoy.
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Several drones were moving on the outside of the building and even attaching themselves to it discreetly. Raze, Xeno, and the other children inside the building remained unknowing about this situation that was occurring as the conflict heated up between Raze and Xeno. At least to the children, a fight looked like it was about to break out. Yet, nobody moved so much as an inch until Xeno decided to make his move.
Xeno scoffed and floated to the side, "I know that I can't really hope to beat you or even change your mind, but it bothers me that you won't do what's right." Raze was dumbfounded, he'd expected Xeno to put up more of a fight or for it to get a lot more dramatic, yet here they were.
He let down his guard a bit, "Uh… Okay." He said as the other children who were seemingly frustrated with their spiky haired hero decided to also turn their back on him. Raze could feel the mood of the room eating at him as he finally took a moment to process his thoughts. His eyes glowered in his own frustration, hearing Athena struggle in her bindings.
"You can stop with the struggling. Accept that you've lost already. It's pathetic." Raze said to the enraged scientist who began to scream in anger at her current predicament. This sound was something that the kids directly opposite of Raze had heard many times which caused them to whimper a bit and even shake slightly.
Raze frowned and walked out of the room into the hall to find Athena's twitching body. She looked upon Raze in anger, "I'll kill you if I get out of here! RAZE!" She half hissed and half yelled at the top of her lungs.
Raze just crossed his arms, "Your threats are grave for sure, but even you know that you don't have the power to back that up." He turned his back on Athena just to mock her which was very effective.
Gritting her teeth in abject frustration, Athena huffed and continued from before, "Maybe… You're correct about the power needed." Raze didn't even give her a response, but Athena wasn't done as a smirk graced her lips, "But I've killed so many people in the past nine years, you won't be that much harder to deal with even for lack of power. I wonder how many lives my master has touched since he left…" She trailed off in wistful nostalgia.
Raze's body language was calm, but his mind was in shambles. Raze too wondered just how many people he'd let die by not finishing the job effectively all those years ago. Athena looked up at the warrior from where she lay currently. She couldn't tell that her words had done anything to the saiyan because his back was all she could see.
It irked her more than she'd ever like to admit, 'Everything came crashing down in less than a day or two. All to hell.' Athena kept seeing Sebastian's face in her mind and how disappointed he must be with her failure. She struggled a bit before finally turning over again and covering her own face. This was just an awful situation all round. Tears began rolling down her cheeks once again as she cried silently.
Raze could hear the ship in the distance coming from the hole in the building. He breathed a small sigh of relief at that, 'Maybe I can convince Xeno to leave this place and get everyone home. Hopefully.' He thought to himself.
~On top of the building~
The landing gear for the capsule corp ship shifted out and it landed with a bit of hydraulic compression, lowering and then raising it slightly before settling down. The door opened while some sand poured out of various gaps on the ship. Brass walked out into the darkening night as the sun sank below the depths of the dunes, almost appearing to be swallowed by them.
He appreciated the night a bit more than the days due to his skin being too reflective at noon, 'But it is useful against my enemies.' Brass thought to himself as finally stepped off the bay door.
He was about to yell for Raze, but the saiyan already prostrated himself before the namekian with Athena in his grip, "She's got a special place aboard, right?" He asked his friend who nodded.
"You even had to ask?" Brass asked with a grin as Athena grunted in exasperation when Raze readjusted her over his shoulder, "Athena must still be in agony. You wanna show her what she's won?" Raze nodded with a grin of his own while he walked past the glowing namekian. Brass watched Raze as he went inside the ship only to feel a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Xeno floating before him.
"Are you sure you'll have enough space on that ship for those kids?" He asked the alabaster namekian who confirmed he would with a nod.
In fact, he waved his left hand to the side nonchalantly, "Shouldn't be an issue. They'll be able to sleep comfortably. The real question is about food or the rationing of it anyway." Brass crossed his arms, "This could be more than a three day trip depending on where Ken and Kira came from." He finished while Xeno floated there stewing in his own thoughts.
Brass heard a bit of rumbling as a lot of steps rang noise up the stairway of the building. Sure enough, those kids popped out from the door leading down into the building. All of them turned to see Brass standing there next to the floating Xeno. The others looked a bit at odds with the namekian, but the one who had first reached out to Raze walked out of the group.
Brass's iris turned to acknowledge the kid, "What's your name, kid?" He asked as that same child gulped nervously, but steeled himself just enough to respond.
"It's Cloud, Sir." He said while saluting for some strange reason.
"What's with all the professionalism? You sure she never experimented on you?" Brass asked while Cloud was taken aback by that response.
He was trying to say something to Brass, but was coming up short. Brass kind of rolled his eyes in vexation because this kid had approached Raze with less issues, "Come on, spit it out kid." He wouldn't address someone fully by their name unless he had a bit of respect for them. This kid wasn't so special.
Cloud pouted a bit, "Stop calling me a kid!" He shouted indignantly, but Brass merely brushed off the response with little care.
"Nevermind that, Kid. Are you and your friends ready to head out?" Brass pointed to them as they nodded. They were more than ready to leave this horrible place. So, they ran past Brass and Cloud to avoid an unnecessary conflict that they had no interest in.
Cloud was floored by that and completely alone with Brass who smirked, "Guess that's settled. Now, if you're going. Get on." Cloud wanted to reply with his own retort, but despite his attitude… He figured that maybe his friends were more correct at this point.
'Where was all the anger when that other guy wanted to keep Athena alive?!' Cloud thought to himself while believing his friends to be traitors for leaving him alone against this alabaster demon. He bit his tongue and began to walk past the warrior. When Cloud had indeed gotten past the bay doors and disappeared into the cover of shadows within the ship. Brass found himself turning back to Xeno.
"What about you?" He asked the floating man who looked a bit preoccupied with his own thoughts.
"I'm not sure. It seems so surreal that I'd have my own ability to think. It still feels like I'm making a mistake in not fighting to make sure that Athena is killed." He said while turning back to Brass with a serious glance upon his face, "I'm still unsure if I should trust you two to make sure she suffers."
Brass nodded in understanding, "I understand your anger. That's why I'm offering you to come with us. Since you feel the way you do." He finished as Xeno looked down like he was considering the option while Brass conveniently left out, 'A member that doesn't have to be fed like me will make this much easier at least if it means we spend a bit less...' Always thinking of the future.
Xeno felt a familiar presence once again, 'You should go.' He heard in response as he tried to turn to meet that voice, but his body wouldn't respond. He did have a few words to say regardless.
'Ruchel… I-' But Ruchel cut him off while he tried to instead push him forward, but he met stiff resistance from Xeno.
Ruchel stopped trying as Xeno continued, 'I founded this place. It took so long to make our living on this planet.' He turned around in his mind to finally confront the projection of Ruchel, 'I won't leave because I don't deserve to for my failure.' He felt that perhaps a good end would be for him to be in a better mind state to wait. However long it may be.
"I couldn't help but overhear!" Raze exclaimed while jumping out of the ship down to where Xeno and Brass were standing. After a quick landing Raze smirked, "You're not thinking of actually staying here, are you?" Xeno was a bit conflicted in this conjecture. This man had been the one to bring him to his senses after all.
Xeno looked at both the people responsible for bringing down this evil ruse. Then Xeno turned once more back to Ruchel's image to find that he wasn't there anymore. The answers to his thoughts were still obvious. So, with a slight bit of reluctance. Xeno decided to do exactly what he intended to do earlier.
"Sorry, but yeah. I don't think there is a future for me outside this planet." Xeno looked over the horizon to where his village had been located, "It's just how it has to be."
Raze nodded in understanding, "It's a shame. We'd have definitely loved to have you along for the adventure." He scratched his head, "At least… Wherever it'll lead us. This is definitely not what I expected when we got here." That much was true. So much had happened in just two days.
Xeno actually got a bit of a perplexed look on his face, "I did mean to ask. Why did you both end up coming to this specific planet in the first place?" Raze and Brass turned to each other, then back to Xeno.
Brass spoke up, "Lucky coincidence. We would have to land to actually fill the tank on the ship regardless, but I guess you should be feeling lucky that all this played out the way it did." Xeno couldn't argue with that. It was a very succinct explanation and the outcome was overall very good for them in the long run.
Raze nodded and then gave a thumbs up, "Yeah! I'm glad we could help!" He watched as Brass made to leave for the ship.
"I'll get the auto pilot started. You do you." He said to Raze who smirked.
Raze thanked him and shifted back to Xeno, "I guess this is it. Live your best life if possible. We'll be sending word to an outpost anonymously. Maybe they can look into this mess further." He said as Xeno nodded.
"I'll do my best to greet them." Xeno said to the saiyan as he gave a smile, "See you around." Raze reached out a hand and Xeno gripped before they shook on it.
"You know it." Raze said as he let go of the man's hand.
Xeno watched as Raze turned to leave. His admiration for this hero in his eyes would only be slightly tarnished by the idea of Athena being alive still. This one thought made him speak up once again.
"Hey!" Xeno yelled as the ship began to liven up and prepare for take off. Raze was still only about to step inside as he turned back once again to look at Xeno who had smoke and wind blowing around his clothing. His hair billowing in the wind, Xeno continued, "Make sure she suffers! Promise me!"
Raze narrowed his eyes, "Sure! She'll definitely be the one losing at the end of this! I promise!" Raze shouted as the ship lifted up into the sky and the door began to shut. Raze stepped back away from it as the door finally sealed shut. As the moon showed high in the sky, Xeno stood on his one good leg.
The ship began to blast into the atmosphere as he watched. It was shrouded in fire for a brief moment and then it became a star as light beamed off of it from the full moon. Xeno continued to watch even at that moment as it became a shooting star of its own.
'Goodbye my new friends… I'll be watching over this place. My brethren will stay with me.' Xeno thought to himself as the ship faded out into the black of the night. Xeno floated up and then flew around the building before disappearing deep inside the inky blackness of the darkened place.
~In space~
Raze couldn't even see the planet from the window anymore. He sighed, hoping that everything would turn out for the best. As he left the window, Raze found himself being assailed by the children they had rescued. Their stomachs growled and Raze could swear he heard a frustrated huff from the captain's chair.
"Let's go see what we have in the fridge for you guys." He said with a nervous laugh as he led them to the ladder that would go to the kitchen and several other places. Come to think of it. They could have done a little looting… Athena may have needed to eat and feed these kids to maintain her operation for so long. Oh yeah, he'd have to feed her too. That's going to be a pain.
Raze did what he could. He told each of the kids that it would be limited in how much they could consume and proceeded to make enough food to have little portions handed out to each of them. He then picked up the last portion and while the kids ate, Raze left to bring the food to Athena's prisoner cell.
He opened the door and walked inside, "I've got you some food. It's not a lot, but I hope you'll be able to make it last a bit." Raze said to the woman currently strapped to the chair she sat upon. Her arms were just free enough to be able to eat of her own accord. That was all the leeway he was willing to give Athena.
Even though he was speaking to her, she didn't respond. Merely opting to look at the table in front of her with a distant gaze, 'That's strange. It's like she's become so despondent that Athena has lost her nerve.' Raze thought as he set the food upon the miniature table.
As he turned to leave Raze heard her speak up, "If you think it's over… This is only the beginning." Raze stopped himself from taking another step out.
"If this is the beginning, then you'd better try harder in round two. We'll be ready." Raze retorted, which didn't get another reply from the woman. He left and shut the door behind him.
When she was sure that he left. She reluctantly looked at the food and forced herself to finally eat, 'I'll get them! I'll make them rue this day…' Surprisingly, the food was quite good which made her eat a bit more voraciously.
Raze could just barely hear as his food was scarfed down. He may not say much about this, but he took pride in being able to cook. Even if she was a horrible person, he always enjoyed it when someone took a liking to the food he made. Raze smirked in his bit of vanity here.
As he was walking away. He heard an announcement over the intercom, "Raze, Kira has awoken. Will you check on her in the med bay?" Brass's voice rang loud and clear as Raze nodded.
Heading toward the ladder, Raze made his way up to the med bay after passing the kitchen. He had seen quite the mess in there and wasn't too keen on getting back into that room. As he stepped onto the magenta tile on the fourth floor. Raze walked over to the machine and started the process by which the medical fluid would be dumped into space once used where it would completely break down of its own accord.
As the pod began to drain, Raze looked up to see Kira looking dazed and confused. She looked at Raze while shakily holding herself up inside the tank. Her hands immediately went to grip the mask on her face. Which freaked out Raze quickly enough.
"Hold on!" He said as he clicked another button causing the pod to open. Raze reached for the mask and removed it from her face.
Kira sighed in contentment now that she could properly breathe again, "Thanks Mr Spiky Haired Guy." She said to Raze
Raze was a bit put off by her presence, Kira seemed to be fine despite what she had been through. Kira looked up into Raze's eyes and he swore that something else was present within her. A sparkling force hidden behind the veil of her dark eyes. Raze was shocked to feel a flicker of unease about Kira.
'That's definitely strange…' Raze would have assumed that most children would have some form of post traumatic disorder if such events happened to them. His own experiences as a child couldn't have been much better which is why this was just so different.
She merely got bored of the "Spiky Haired Guy" and left to go toward the energy she felt the most kin ship with. Finding that her brother was in the other pod. She looked up at Ken as he floated in the tank near Kiryu. Their injuries were still very visible, but appeared to be healing slowly. She sat down in front of the tank and just stayed there until they were freed up.
Raze suddenly felt a weight lifted off his shoulders which made him breathe easier, 'That was something…' He thought to himself.
Raze noticed that she was continuing to sit, so he spoke up, "If you feel hungry, just let me know. Okay?" Kira didn't even act as if she'd heard him so he left.
Now his decisions would be a bit easier as Brass was the only other person that could possibly need some company before he would be heading off to sleep. So, he headed straight there hoping to find out if his namekian friend felt what he had. As Raze climbed off the ladder, he walked over to Bras to find that the namekian was intently focused on steering them on the correct course even though they had autopilot.
"What's up, Brass?" Raze asked as Brass twitched an ear.
"I felt that." Brass said while proceeding to cut on said autopilot, "Was that Kira?" He asked the saiyan who nodded.
"Yeah. I've never felt anything like it. Do you have an idea what that could mean?" Raze asked him back as Brass cupped his chin.
"Knowing where I've come from… Namekians have two clans, the Dragon Clan and the Warrior Clan." Brass stated as Raze furrowed his brow.
"Yeah? That's ancient history, but what does that have to do with what we just felt?" Raze asked as he quickly added, "Or saw in my case!"
Brass looked at the stars as they shot past, even a Meteor Herd went by, "Well, me being in the warrior class wouldn't know much about the other half of it. Though I have felt something familiar. That had to be a form of magic." He finished as Raze's eyes widened in surprise.
Now that Raze thought about it. Back in the Great War of the Ages, there had been wizards that were used for their magical ability to heal or make others incredibly strong at the cost of some faculty of their potential. He had even heard that some soldiers had been made specifically by them to be able to fight back against ki users before the ki bullet had just shown up out of the blue. He even remembered killing a few of them on that battlefield.
After that conflict, many of those people had disappeared. Probably either hiding away or having been lost since the war time, "There were quite a few mage-like people that I had met a long while back. I did save a few of them. Some didn't look like they belonged on the battlefield." He said while the lights intermingled outside the ship, they were even passing what looked to be a sun.
Brass arched an eye, "You've met wizards? I had read about a conflict that happened only ten years ago. During that conflict, a massive rebel alliance came together to kill the King of Asolutia." He closed his eyes as Raze tilted his head away.
"Yeah. A lot of those people were from many different factions. That conflict was the legacy of the Dark King. His great disciple was Sebastian." Raze said as Brass arched an eye.
"Sebastian? Is that the same one that Athena mentioned?" Brass asked while Raze gave him a lazy thumbs up.
"The one and the same. I thought he died last time we fought…" Raze trailed off in thought.
"So, you did participate in all the fun?" Brass questioned the saiyan who seemed to quiet up a bit, but Brass wasn't letting this conversation slip away, "Come on. You don't want to speak about the Great War of Ages?"
Raze knew this conversation was going to come up at some point, but he wasn't exactly keen to relive this event, "It's something I've left behind." He clenched his right fist tightly, "I killed so many people. We didn't give much thought to who and much less if they were innocent… A Lot of this conflict was misrepresented in the media. They presented heroes and I don't feel like one…" He trailed off while Brass merely looked away from Raze.
Brass thought up his response, "So, you wish to be a hero? I thought you were a warrior." Brass looked back up again, "True warriors strive for peace. Sometimes a few innocent lives have to be lost to achieve something akin to that. Your feelings should come last." Brass watched a star blaze by, "You would be a hero to the people for actions they'll never know you did." He finished.
Raze had heard what he said. He knew it was true. Even if he felt like shit. It just wouldn't matter. He was one man at the end of the day. This one man had done a lot in the last two days. Raze's eyes began to droop a bit as he leaned back in the chair. Brass was waiting for a response calmly, but the response wasn't coming. The saiyans eyes closed and he made a low rumbling snore that caught Brass's attention.
'Damn… He'll sleep anywhere.' Brass rolled his eyes and produced some earplugs to drown out Raze's racket.
From the ladder, Cloud had heard most of this conversation, 'I can't believe it! He was a part of that thing my dad used to tell me about! So cool…' He thought while looking at the two.
'But if he's a hero… Why didn't my dad think he was?' Cloud thought with a bit of confusion laden on his mind.
"What're you up to?" Shocked out of his thoughts, Cloud found Brass standing directly in front of him.
He was too surprised to say anything and what came out was murmurs instead of a full word, "UH! Uhhhhrrrrhhuuuuu…" He trailed off to the frowning shiny namekian.
"You shouldn't be skulking around. Get out of here, Kid!" Brass hadn't hit him, but when the namekians foot had moved. Cloud found himself terrified that he was about to feel pain causing him to slip and fall down the ladder. A resounding thud was heard as Brass made his way down with a smirk plastered on his face.
Raze shifted slightly after hearing what had transpired, but still remained asleep. Thus everything was going well. Brass looked through the door leading to the healing pods to find that Kira was sitting in front of her brother's and Kiryu's healing pod. Brass didn't give too much thought to that and continued back on his path toward the established jailing room to find the target of his curiosity.
As he pressed the buttons located on the outside, he stopped just short of opening the door. Realizing that Cloud was still on the floor having fallen all the way down. Brass turned to the child.
"Why didn't you stop yourself from falling?" He asked the small saiyan.
Cloud was still a bit shaky as he got up. He looked up at the namekian and then turned away, "Can't fly…" He muttered.
Brass shook his head, 'Hmmph… But perhaps.' He felt pity for this little one.
Feeling compelled to respond, Brass cleared his throat, "How about this then…" He trailed off as Cloud looked back up, "Over the course of this trip, I can teach you." Cloud's eyes widened at the prospect.
"R- Really?!" He nearly exclaimed in stammering excitement. Brass kept his stern face throughout that response which slightly unnerved the youngest saiyan.
"Yeah. I don't mind, but you'd better be ready when I wake you up and not complain." Brass eyed him up and down looking for even the slightest hint of Cloud being ready to clear out, but he was surprised to find that he was more energized at this moment.
"You bet! I'll be ready whenever!" Brass would have chuckled a bit at the excitement if he weren't so stoic most of the time.
With that, Cloud left him alone by climbing up the ladder at a blazing speed that Brass hadn't seen from him before. He'd never understand where saiyans kept all that energy, but that's not where his thoughts would stay as Brass's main objective returned to the forefront of his mind.
Turning back to the small cell block. He proceeded to press the button which opened the door with a hiss. Athena sat there in her chair with widened eyes at his sudden appearance.
His face was more menacing than when he'd met her before. Brass stepped forward, making her shrink backwards into the chair just a slight bit.
"We're going to have a chat." He said as she grimaced.
~End of Chapter~
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To Unlocked6464: I'll keep on trying. Hope you enjoyed this one.