Being sent flying with a punch to the jaw was a rather haphazard way of being told to fuck off. This was Bat's predicament as he slammed through several trees ending in being rolled through the earth below. The ruts created with each slam dotted the planet if you were just high enough in the air to see it as he finally used his ki to stop in midair before falling to the ground. Bat laid there for a moment, trying to process what had just happened. Surely he hadn't been interrupted right as he was going for the killing blow, that would be ridiculous.
He struggled up to his feet, focusing his scope in. Bat's eyes widened as he realized that he was sent at least two miles out from his original position. Once his lens focused just a bit more he saw someone he hadn't expected. He was confused, but then he grinned. Oh, this was perfect. He'd make Strife proud yet.
Back where Rat and Zap were was a grand amount of tension. The both of them shook in the presence of the man who dared attack Bat. They knew that either they were going to suffer heavy losses or they'd be killing two people today.
"Who the hell are you?! Why are you getting in our way?!" Zap questioned the being who smirked.
"Names Raze. As for the other question… I'm here to stop you from doing your job." He gave Rat a look that made the guy tense up and then glared back at Zap who gulped, "Leave and take your boss with you. That is the only warning you get." He said gruffly to the two of them.
From the bushes, Lyral watched the display in awe, 'Yes! I got a miracle! Thank goodness!' Lyral was giddy to know that Raze had gotten there in the nick of time.
Raze already had a grasp on things. Having felt out what was happening just before moving to get here. He hoped Kira would stay hidden for a while until he could clean things up as it was. Wind blew through the area and Raze knew that he was probably at a disadvantageous position against assassins. If either one of these guys were clever, they could disappear quickly enough.
He decided to go for the one on the left next. Disappearing as fast as possible, Raze caught Zap completely off guard. He went for a punch to the gut only to find his fist was caught by Bat. The sound of a glove tightened as Bat clenched his hand around Raze's right fist.
"We accounted for potential threats to our plans and then you somehow show up out of nowhere?!" Bat exclaimed as Raze tried to go for a left hook only to be stopped as well. Energy began to build up between the two as forest creatures began to flee the area. Wind whipped the trees back and forth as the two locked in a grapple constantly raising their power. Lightning coursed outward from the center as the earth was dug up.
Raze, seeing no other option, grit his teeth and smashed his head into Bat's. The resulting collision was only met with more resistance by Bat, surprising the saiyan as his hands began to be crushed by Bat.
"AGH!" Raze grunted in pain as he decided to try something else.
Raze tried to raise his knee forward and Bat met him with a titanic clash that finally separated the two with a flash of light. The impact blew small chunks of rock into the air making a crater where they had previously stood. Sliding backward across the ground, Raze felt his body tingling with the residual energy of the clash. He grunted in frustration.
"Okay, fair enough… This isn't going to be easy." Raze said, immediately noticing that both Zap and Rat were gone, 'Dammit! What am I going to do?!' He thought as he heard a raspy bit of laughter.
Bat was grinning, "Come on now… With both of you, I'll be making quite the payday. So, just go ahead and give in." He finished, stepping toward the saiyan who backed up slightly.
A bead of sweat dripped off Raze's brow as he summoned the energy from deep within and his hair shot up, glowing a deep golden, "HAGH!" He yelled as his eyes changed to teal. Raze focused on Bat knowing he couldn't let this guy go. He hoped that perhaps his distraction from earlier had given Lyral a chance to escape.
Not too far away, Kira wandered through the area and completely disregarded Raze's orders. She could feel the energy going wild and she was tempted to go find a better place to hide. Though, she also felt another familiar presence close by Raze. She let out a sigh of relief. Knowing that he had gotten there in time. She also lamented that her own tears had nearly cost them. She clenched her eyes shut as she tried to make a plan to help Raze.
'Think. Gotta think!' Kira urged herself, but she needed time. Then she felt something else familiar. A voice was speaking to her.
'Kira? That's you right? I can feel you from where I am.' The voice said, but Kira recognized this voice.
'Auntie Lyral! You alive!' Kira communicated back and she was rewarded with a great warmth.
'Of course I am! Well, I almost wasn't… But that's not important! I'm close to Raze.' She said as Kira nodded.
'I know!' Kira replied.
'Then I've got a way for you to help me. I will also be able to help Raze if it works.' Lyral said to the little half saiyan.
"Okay!" She yelled out loud to nobody nearby. Looking around, Kira decided to just go ahead and get to Auntie Lyral as fast as possible.
Raze was keeping up his offensive, but Bat was still moving just that much faster. Every single dodge from Bat served to put Raze off his edge and his enemy knew it. Bat moved at high speed, finally grabbing Raze's leg midair and dragged him to Thaumaturge below. Swinging Raze downward faster than he was flying currently, Bat decided to taunt him.
"Are you having trouble, Monkey?! Because you're not even making me sweat!" Bat yelled, rushing Raze with a knee to the gut. Raze gasped as the air was knocked from his lungs, but the attack continued until they both hit the ground below with an earth shattering crash.
Bat leapt back, flying high into the air, "Bastard Bombers!" He shouted, unleashing a torrent of ki blasts from his palms into the ground where Raze was. Purple energy built up, discharging as trees were torn from the very planet below. Raze felt intense searing agony as the blasts continued to multiply.
"Come on! Give me your best!" Bat yelled over the sounds of destruction.
In the city, the flow of energy was disrupting electricity and causing havoc all over. What seemed like earthquakes dismantled signs and buildings seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. Panic and terror spread throughout. All hell was opening up to the city's people as they ran for cover.
Time-Turner watched from his home as the forest was torn to shreds by Raze and Bat's ferocious attacks, 'Damn… Come on, Raze… End it.' He hoped that things would proceed smoothly, but it was looking like the planet might take unnecessary damage if it continued for much longer.
Kira was trying to make her way closer to where her mind perceived that Lyral currently was, but it was dangerously close to the battlefield for her. She was really scared because those attacks were getting worse and worse. Bat finally stopped his powerful attack, trying to gauge with his scope what was happening below. He saw something that made him smirk.
"He's more resilient than I thought…" Bat whispered to himself.
Kira could feel something completely different happening, energy building from the smokey area, "Uh! What dat?!" She questioned as the smoke cleared from the area.
Sparks of lightning were coming from the middle of the impact area. As the land began to show once more, in the middle of the crater was one spot still covered in smoke. As it dispersed from there, Raze was revealed. His hair stood straighter and his aura was more intense.
Bat smiled, "Good, now I'll show you mine." His aura burst outward, showering the skies in sparks of purple light.
Raze could tell that their energy was just about equal now, he frowned, 'Okay… So, he was hiding power too… Super Saiyan 2 might not be enough… So, I guess… I'll just have to hold him off till I can figure something out.' He didn't want to cause too much needless destruction. Of course, he didn't have any choice currently.
Bat pointed at Raze with his index finger, before flipping his hand over and curling his finger toward himself. Raze got the message, lifting off the ground explosively. Golden aura cutting through the blue skies above. As the two began to float closer together, sparks of electricity crackled between them.
"I hope you're ready, I'm not holding back anymore!" Raze yelled, swinging his left leg out.
Bat flipped over the side of it, clearing the distance and delivering a crushing fist to Raze's jaw, "NGH!" Raze grunted through gritted teeth before sending back his own harsh left hook only to be stopped by Bat's slamming his gut with his other fist. Unclenching his hand due to the heavy blow, Raze was sent flying up, but Bat wasn't done. Grabbing him by his leg, he pulled the saiyan down and utterly decimated Raze's skull with his own.
The shock of the blow made Raze black out for a moment, but his ki sparked and revitalized his body. Raze flipped, shunting out ki in midair to stop his momentum, but Bat launched a devastating flurry of blows that connected multiple times hitting Raze's vital points. Bat's determination to make every single hit count and keep Raze from making a single counter offensive would hopefully pay off.
'I'll just keep blitzing him! If I can knock him out for good, it'll be over!' Bat thought, continuing to beat Raze into a pulp.
Raze was getting a feel for his opponent's moves, but he feared that he was going to fail before he could truly retaliate at this point. Bat was coming in for another earth shattering blow, but Raze opened his eyes, seeing the move and actually dodging it himself much to Bat's surprise, 'WHA- AGH!' His thoughts voiced his actual pain as Raze finally got his first attack in. The kick arched around to make contact with Bat's side as Raze found his footing, unleashing a barrage of fists that Bat was able to disappear through with an afterimage.
Raze gasped in surprise as he was clotheslined across the neck, kneed in the back and kicked in the face. Spitting up blood, Raze extended his aura and felt the next incoming blow, completely stopping Bat in his tracks, "Gotcha!" Raze pulled him in, snapping back with a right hook straight to Bat's jaw. The force of the blow had destroyed every cloud within a short distance and would have sent Bat flying, but Raze was still gripping him tightly.
"Urgh! Let go!" Bat said, desperately trying to break the hold as Raze grinned.
"Time for some payback!" Raze pulled him in, bashing Bat's skull in with his own. The shocking blow made Bat see stars, but the second was more pronounced. An audible crack was heard as blood began to leak from a portion of Bat's head.
"NGH! YOU BITCH!" Bat roared, throwing a punch of his own that Raze caught once again. With both arms trapped, Raze grinned.
Just like the start, they were in the same grappling position and this time, Raze was in control, "Just admit it! I've got you!" Bat's gloved hands were being crushed back, but the man only smirked.
"Maybe I misjudged you! This might be why Strife wants you so badly!" Raze's eyes widened and his grip faltered. Bat seized the opportunity to break his hold. Snapping his arms aside and slamming Raze in the chest with a strong kick. Before launching him to the planet below. The resulting impact was not as astonishing as the previous, but it made Bat feel better.
Unlike last time, Raze got up immediately though. He was still shocked and bewildered by that name, 'There's just no way…' He wanted to get back to the fight and maybe even call that guy a liar. But now he wanted to know. He had to figure this out right now.
Lyral had been watching this entire interaction and hadn't heard the name drop herself. Yet, seeing Raze just stop like this wasn't a good sign, 'You've gotta stop him! Get back up there!' She thought anxiously.
Just as he readied himself, Bat landed before him, "Before we continue this fight, Saiyan… I haven't really introduced myself as of yet… And that's rude when you meet someone of your caliber." Bat said, making Raze arch his left eye out of curiosity.
His purple aura sparked as he continued, "My name is Bat…" He trailed off as Raze smiled.
Raze had a lot of questions, maybe not the ones that Bat expected, "Really? That's your name? So, what about that other name you mentioned?" Raze asked the question with an intense seriousness that surprised Bat.
"You mean, Strife? He's my boss. A high class assassin turned bounty hunter." He said to Raze who needed more info.
"Maybe I was too vague… Okay Bat, let's try this. Does this Strife happen to be of the demonic species and have the Time Skip ability?" Raze questioned Bat who widened his eyes in surprise.
'No way, this fucker knows him? It would explain so many things about Strife's behaviors… But keep it calm and collected… It's an easy answer.' Bat thought trying to piece together this puzzle and what may come of this interaction.
Bat decided to be truthful, "Actually yes… That describes him to a T. But h-" He was interrupted by Raze's sudden jovial outburst.
"Wait… WHAT?! He's alive?! Oh man! You've really made me feel great today! Where is he?!" Raze asked, his aura dissipating in an instant.
Bat frowned, "Okay… Are you kidding?" He asked as Raze shook his head.
"No… I really wanna see the guy! I had no idea that he was still living…" Raze trailed off turning to the side before continuing, "Can we call off this whole thing? If I got to speak with him. We could clear up this whole deal!" Now Bat was confused.
"Look, I don't know if you've got brain damage, but Strife wants your head. He also wants me to kill Lyral, not caring about whether her bounty goes up or down." Bat said as Raze adopted a more shocked look.
"Why would he want me dead?! That doesn't make any sense! Something's wrong here… I just can't believe that." Raze said as Bat shook his head.
"Believe it… If you wanna see him, give up here and I'll take you right to him. He'll be the last person you ever see." Bat said as he looked directly into Raze's eyes.
Having heard that, Raze was sure that he had another solution to this issue, "So, if I do that… Will you take your guys and let Lyral go?" Raze asked Bat who frowned.
'Not good, he may not like that idea… It's in his best interest not to. After all, this is pretty dishonest of me.' Raze thought, remembering the exact wording Time- Turner had used for describing the time travel as being temporary. If Raze played his cards right, he'd be able to save her and get them to leave with nothing.
'That's weird… He's offering himself for her? There's gotta be something to it…' Bat was considering the option because Strife wants Raze far more than Lyral. Tracking her down had been tough at the same time. Weighing the options. He knew it would be better to take Raze in. Though, this was still incredibly strange, 'This is too good of an opportunity to pass up. Judging by the power he outputs… This would have been a stalemate.'
Nodding, Bat let out a disgruntled sigh, "Alright… Sure. This is a good deal. Drop to your base form and I'll comply." Raze lowered his energy and his hair turned to black.
"There… Just come up on your end." Raze said as Bat clicked his headset.
"Zap and Rat! We've got a better prize. Come back here immediately! This is an order!" Bat yelled as mere milliseconds passed and there they were. Zap and Rat looked at Bat incredulously.
Zap spoke up, "We were close to locating Lyral! Why did you stop us?" He asked as Bat glared at him.
"Listen, I will say it again only once. We've got the better prize and I know you worthless scraps ran off! Other than that, Strife will be pleased. Lyral's bounty might be higher than his. I'm not prioritizing that fact though." Bat made his way over to Raze and then punched him in the gut, "I have pent up aggression from earlier, so… Take that." Raze fell forward and hit the ground with a loud thud, knocked out as Bat continued, "As for you two…" He turned to Zap and Rat, "We'll be finding a suitable punishment for your sudden disappearance. Now come on!" He then bent down to put Raze over his shoulder, having Zap and Rat tail him to their ships.
Just to the side, Kira watched with a horrified expression, but she didn't dare make a sound. Kira was then accosted by none other than Lyral who hugged her close. This was not part of Lyral's plan in any way. She was not sure what the hell was going on, but it seemed like Raze made a trade.
'That idiot…' She thought to herself, frustration pouring off her in waves.
"Auntie Lyral! What we do?!" Kira asked as Lyral teared up a bit.
"The only thing I can think of right now…" Lyral closed her eyes, wincing as the thought finally cam to fruition, "We should go find Time-Turner." Kira nodded as Lyral took her hand in her own and started on a path to his house which was still close by.
Even from a distance, Time-Turner was able to feel something had skipped. The tremors had stopped as suddenly as they had started. This perplexed Time-Turner who just scratched his beard, 'Something has changed… The flow of time has settled.' He could feel that perhaps the future had been distorted, which was good for the most part.
He looked toward the old shed in the back, 'You've done it again old girl… Maybe it's time to step back. For both of us.' He thought his many lifetimes were finally catching up to him. It just took a while. He tapped his cane on the rocky path, playing with it for the sake of it. How much time was left anyway? He didn't know, but he wanted the knowledge so badly.
Time-Turner waited patiently in his dilapidated backyard, reading himself for the meeting, 'Here she comes…' He thought, smiling warmly.
The bushes rustled, being pushed aside by Lyral and Kira who walked into the backyard of his home, "Welcome to my humble abode. I take it that everything worked out?" Time-Turner asked them as Lyral frowned.
She gritted her teeth before speaking up, "It's not fine, Raze has been taken!" Lyral shouted at the old man who merely chuckled.
He even teared up, "Haha! That man does come up with some strange ways to solve problems!" He finished as Lyral walked up and smacked him in the face.
This didn't phase him in the least bit as he wiped away his tears, he sighed, "Be happy, I expected the fight to last five minutes, or three chapters. Whichever one made more sense." Time-Turner said while Lyral shook her head in indignation.
"Just because we both live on the time spectral plane of existence doesn't mean you can joke like that. This is serious!" Lyral stated, but Time-Turner nodded.
Kira, having watched this exchange, was confused, "Auntie Lyral? Uncle Timey? We save him?" Lyral walked back over to her to try and comfort the little girl.
"Yeah, we will… Just not right a-." Suddenly, a loud sound was heard in the distance as three ships lifted off into the sky. Clearing the atmosphere with no trouble and were bright like shooting stars, all this happening within a minute. All three onlookers were struck by surprise upon witnessing it. Raze was far beyond their reach already, "I guess we're not saving him…" She whispered, a faint whimper behind those words.
Time-Turner smiled, "A rude awakening awaits. Seems like someone made one too many decisions too soon." With that, he chuckled which made Lyral groan.
"What are you talking about? Do you know something we don't?" She asked forcefully to which the old man played with his cane.
Time-Turner looked at her with an air of surprise, "And you don't? Come on… I might be a different being with abilities most would find odd, but this situation doesn't strike you oddly either?" Lyral thought for a moment and then gasped, but Time-Turner persisted, "And the fact that Raze is here now despite the fact that he shouldn't be here would tell you more than you need… He's time traveling. That much is certain." Time-Turner said, pointing his cane at her.
Lyral looked into the sky, "But that would mean…" Kira was still looking between the two with an incredible amount of confusion laden on her face.
"Autie Lyral? Uncle Timey?" She questioned the two who had partially ignored that she was here. When it became clear to Kira that perhaps she should stay out the way, she did just that.
Time-Turner couldn't see the future currently for some reason or another, "My visions have been more foggy over the last forty minutes or so… I cannot recall exactly what is going on and for clarification… I mean my future sight." He said bitterly.
Walking over toward his home, the old man groaned in frustration, "In fact, I'm beginning to lose all of my comparative functions." Lyral wanted to reach out to the man, but found herself hesitating, Kira had been essentially twiddling her thumbs which she decided was a waste of her attention and chose to focus said attention on the current situation as Time-Turner spoke again, "I suppose I should have expected that things would drastically change. Me being the past self and my future self making peace with his decision was an essential role to play…" He shook his head, wondering what his journey had become.
Lyral had an idea about what this was going toward, but she wanted to derail this thought process, "Look, we don't have time to talk about this. Things are happening at such a fast pace that I'm not even sure what might come up next. Your implications aren't helping either!" She said, desperate to get the man to think of happier thoughts. Yet, she could see through that glassy stare of his and she froze up.
"This is my last quest… I could see it coming even without my abilities. Raze and Kira are about to return to their time. Then whatever happens next will… Well. You know." Time-Turner ended it off with raspy inflection.
Lyral turned away, trying to find comfort elsewhere, but the only person there to hold her was Kira who had gripped her hand. Eyes widening as her facade broke and tears began to bud out the corner of her eyes. The woman let it out, small gasps and as her unwounded arm reached up try and clear the tears away. Her vision was blurry, knowing her old friend was going to die and that she could do nothing to stop it.
Kira gripped her hand all the tighter as things began to finally come into place. The little girl had started to glow a light blue color. Lyral looked down at Kira, "I- I'll m- m- make sure t- to f- find you…" She trailed off, hoping Kira would understand and then smiling when Kira nodded.
"I find you too, Auntie Lyral." Kira reiterated, knowing that things would be fine even as she turned to Uncle Timey, "I love you both." She said as her body became translucent and faded away.
Time-Turner looked high into the sky, wishing he could see the looks on the assassin's faces right about now.
~Location: Southeastern Quadrant of West Galaxy/Destination: Guerdon~
Stars rushed by Bat's face in a sequential pattern as he approached light speed. With the cargo aboard and his two backups, he looked quite confident in himself. He even wanted to laugh at what he'd accomplished. Everything had gone his way regardless of how it began with just looking for Lyral. He'd managed to do this all in just about an hour or less.
Bat chuckled to himself, wondering why he'd ever worried about trying to please Strife in the first place, 'Hah, too easy. I just can't believe it… Hehe…' Yeah, now he was just waiting on Strife to answer his message.
That's when two other annoyances patched in, "Hey boss?" Zap asked as Bat grunted in acknowledgement.
"Have you gotten a hold of Strife yet?" Bat heard through his communicator.
"Not quite yet, but we'll make it to Guerdon in the next bit. So, we'll see him soon." The next bit would probably be about two hours or so for their travel time. Especially since the ships they rode in were much smaller than a larger vessel.
The next question came through a bit quicker than he'd have liked, "Is Raze enjoying his holding cell?" Rat asked him as Bat grit his teeth, clicking a few buttons to bring up his bird's eye view of the small containment. Though, what he saw made him pause. He even took off his scope and rubbed his eyes. Looking again to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
"No fucking way… There's no way in hell!" He hadn't registered his craft being slightly lighter.
"What's wrong boss?!" Rat yelled, but Bat disregarded that. He chose to rush to the back of his ship and found that his camera's hadn't lied. Raze wasn't using a trick, he just wasn't there. Then he moved backward and a rush of images hit his mind all at once.
A body bag lying in the corner of the same cell was the next thing he checked only to find that Lyral's corpse wasn't there. Time relative had caught up to him and he had replaced his ghost of the future with the new version that had been through the act of killing Lyral. He'd even captured Raze, but now he didn't have either one of them.
Bat's anger was rising, but knowing he was in space and about to head to Guerdon was an eye opener, "No… No… No! NO! He said until the final one was a screech of anger that his immediate underlings had never heard before from their leader.
"YOU BASTARD! I SHOULD'VE KNOWN BETTER! DAMMIT ALL!" He shook and clenched his head as rage seeped through, but he still had to keep calm. Even through all this sudden unrelenting hatred.
It didn't take a moment for Bat to jump back into his captain's chair, "Change of plans! We're heading back! I'll beat the shit out of him!" But not all things can go so well. The screen lit up in front of him and that's when Strife's face popped up on it.
"Oh… Oh-no…" Bat let out a disparaging sigh, that sigh being so powerful that it took all that rage and balled it up into a sudden despair.
"Your messages made me cancel my plans for the day. So, a status report?" Strife questioned Bat who turned a bit pale, but tried to maintain himself regardless.
Making sure to cut communication with Zap and Rat. Bat was completely alone for this call and being alone to speak with Strife was like hell itself. Especially when you knew something that Strife didn't.
"Er… Yes sir. I have sent you quite a few messages." Bat said, noticeably shaken.
"Indeed you have… Can you show me the cargo?" Strife asked impatiently.
Bat gulped, sweat manifesting on his forehead, "I'm… Not?" He turned his head, knowing he didn't want to meet Strife's piercing gaze, "I don't… d- don't… Urgh…" Bat stuttered, jerking his collar.
Strife cleared his throat, "Am I to assume that you sent me false information?" He asked coldly, his icy gaze intensifying.
Finally, Bat stopped the excuses, "He is gone… I don't know how… But he disappeared…" The sweat on his forehead audibly hit the floor of his craft as he shook uncontrollably. Gripping his own shoulders as he retched only looking up to see the unflinching stare that threatened to kill Bat with little ensemble.
From Strife's end, he looked more focused than ever, a piercing rage that shook the immediate area he was in, "That is unacceptable." He gripped the holophone tighter than he wanted and a bit of static interference could be heard.
"Get to me at once! That is an order! Zap and Rat can do whatever they like because this mission is on you!" He yelled as Bat trembled, "I EXPECTED BET-" An explosion followed with an immediate disconnection over the network. Letting the pieces of the phone drop to the floor, Strife cursed his anger and Bat even more.
Sushig walked up, sitting at another chair opposite of Strife, "How is everything on your end." He'd noted the destroyed holophone and smoking seat. That wasn't a good sign.
Strife shook his head, "About as well as I could have expected. It's the first time Bat's failed me!" He exclaimed, clenching his fang like teeth, "It's damn near bullshit!" He breathed heavily before closing his eyes, seeking a calmer outlook.
Sushig also noted that, "You should take a minute and let it all out." Sushig suggested as Strife flitted his tail in annoyance.
"Don't patronize me… I'm not getting what I want today." He slammed his fist on the table, making a metallic clanging sound mixed with the wooden table clattering around. Sure, it didn't prove much and he was holding back, but it still felt good.
Sushig sighed, "Well, at least you're controlling yourself. What will you do with Bat?" He asked his former mentor.
Strife rolled his eyes, "I'm not sure yet. I wouldn't mind killing him, but that would deprive me of a resource. A resource that up until now had never failed me… I'm going to think a good long while about it." He said simply as Sushig looked uninterested in that answer.
~End of Chapter~