Post by Disgraced Prince Nasu Hattori on Apr 9, 2014 22:31:20 GMT -5
He woke up in a crater. That was the first sign something was wrong. All around him pieces of metal were on fire. Sign, number two, that totally wasn’t normal right? Putting a hand to his head he felt blood all along the side of his face. His clothing was nearly destroyed, his jeans ripped past the point of repair his shirt torn as well, the only thing that seemed to be in one piece was the extremely heavy undershirt he was wearing. He stood up slowly looking around only to see tiny figures at the top of the crater staring down. Flying up to get a better look he see’s everyone staring. Landing a short distance apart in case they’re hostile, he watched as about half a dozen tiny yellow creatures, approached him. The grass was about knee high on him but for the tiny yellow men it was up to their chests.
Before he could say anything the yellow man put his hand over his chest and bowed at the waist almost getting lost in the sea of grass that perfectly matched the tone of the creature’s skin. Slowly but one by one all the other creatures mirrored the gesture, it seemed they were more reluctant however. The first creature turned his face up back towards him and for the first time he noticed the things bright red eyes, it distracted him from the look of exaltation the tiny yellow creature was giving him.
“My lord,” he said in a deep quiet voice that didn’t seem to match the man’s body size. “As all of our legends have predicted you have come. Falling from the sky to us in a ball of fire, then rising from the ashes and flying up to meet us. All of our legends said this day would come but the people were skeptical. I always believed it though, I always knew one day you would come to punish the unbelievers, the unworthy.” This time he didn’t miss the look of religious fervor that played over the alien face. “Please my lord, please tell us the name of the sky god come to our home to rule over us.” Finally pausing from his speech he noticed the whole crowd of maybe a dozen or so turned their faces towards him expectantly. All of them had deep blue eyes a stark contrast from the red eyed man who seemed to lead them. Feeling his blood soaked head again he looked around the small group.
“I’m sorry but I don’t remember.”
***
One Day Earlier
Nasu flipped through the paper laughing at the headline about his friend Zeke, “Angel of Death Blows Up Giant Chicken Terrorizing City”. He couldn’t help it he burst out laughing again. This had been the fifth time he’d read the headline and he hadn’t managed to make it all the way through the article once without falling into a laughing fit. It wasn’t that it was so insanely ridiculous it was just picturing his normally more serious friend battling a giant chicken...he lost it. Putting his face in his hands he laughed for what had to be a solid minute straight.
Eventually he heard a knock on the door, instead of standing up however he just shouted “Door’s open come in.” a second later Yakuin walked in and looks around.
“The hell is so funny in here? I swear I heard you cackling through the door.” he said looking around clearly expecting a clown or a comedian or something. Instead Nasu just tosses him the paper and points to the headline. Yakuin gives him a skeptical look.
“Oh come on, you should know better than that. You can’t believe everything you read.”
“No no, I talked to the guy I bought the paper from apparently this was a legit thing. Somehow a giant chicken got loose from a farm and started terrorizing New Vegeta and then exploded.”
“It exploded?” he said said skepticism still showing. “What was it a B horror movie villain?”
“I don’t know but you’ve seen the damage to the city too. Clearly something attacked it.”
“Ya, but a giant chicken? Dude you live on a planet where half the population is strong enough to tear down a building with their bare hands. Odds are two drunks got in a fight and wrecked the place before the guards caught up and stopped them.”
“Fine whatever don’t believe it I don’t care.” he said standing up and grabbing the paper back out of his hands and tossing it on his bed. “What are you here for anyways? We haven’t exactly spoken since…” he left out the rest of the sentence. They hadn’t spoken since Yakuin inadvertently found out about his true parentage. He’d taken the news hard, believing that Nasu had hidden the fact that he was Tsuyo’s son and that he was technically royalty for selfish reasons. He thought he was just another spoilt noble playing at being a mercenary until he got bored.
He just didn’t understand that Tsuyo had disowned him, he never wanted Nasu as a child, he hadn’t hidden his parentage because he didn’t want anyone to know, he hid it because after everything that happened if he came out publicly as the son of Tsuyo the king might decide to kill him instead.
Yakuin paused only for a quick second before answering but Nasu noticed it and it hurt. They had been friends for a while. Yakuin was his first real friend as a member of the Red Flag the organization for which he’d spent the last year working for, and now his friend avoided him whenever possible. When they he was forced to interact with Nasu he tried to play it off like there was no difference but little pauses like this showed how much had truly changed and it hurt.
“Come on man, I’ve been busy. Tejun’s had me running all over putting out fires. Speaking of, he sent me here to find you and tell you to go to his office, apparently he needs to talk to you.”
He took a deep breath, his friend hadn’t come here just to talk or relax, he’d been ordered to find him, that explains it. He started walking to the door choosing to just go about his business instead of responding, he didn’t want to acknowledge how much had changed or that it stung.
The door opened but before he could leave he heard Yakuin say softly behind him.
“Have you told Tejun yet?” he stood there for a moment unable to answer. He didn’t want to share his most personal secret with everyone, he wasn’t ready for it to come out just yet. What right did Tejun have to know! But then it was a matter of trust, Yakuin, Tejun, everyone in the Red Flag depended on him, trusted him, and he was keeping something from them. But it didn’t put them at risk did it?
“Not yet, I will...I just haven’t gotten the chance yet.” He left without saying another word and heard the door slide shut behind him. He could sense Yakuin still in the room he hadn’t moved to follow him. He wasn’t going to force the issue but the message was clear, until he talked to Tejun the two of them couldn’t be friends.
Walking into Tejun’s office he looked for some sign that Yakuin had told him, that maybe he knew Nasu’s secret already but the man gave nothing away. Instead he was as always sitting at his desk behind a pile of paperwork and greeted Nasu with a wave.
“Just the man I was looking for come in, take a seat.” sitting in front of the desk he held his breath not sure where this was going.
“You can probably guess what this is about.” Tejun said only serving to make Nasu more nervous. “We have a job off planet I’m sending you on.” with that he let out an explosive sigh of relief which made Tejun look at him funny. “The hell was that?”
“Oh nothing sir, Yakuin...I wasn’t sure if I was in trouble for something.”
“No, it’s jus-wait why would you be in trouble?” Tejun said turning his head slightly to the side questioning. “Oh gods boy, what have you done now?”
The wave of relief still flooding over him Nasu smiled. “Nothing sir, Yakuin just said you needed to see me immediately.”
Frowning Tejun looked at Nasu closely still probably thinking the boy had done something worth getting yelled at. Normally he’d be right “Well yes I did need to see you, because you have to actually do your job. You know your being hired here sometimes requires you to actually do more than sit in your room. Now,” he said sliding some papers in front of Nasu, “here are the details of the mission, you should be gone for about a week. Send a relay when you land and again when the job is completed. It should be pretty simple and straightforward protection work but still check in if you need us to send back up or if there is a major problem. We’re trusting you.” the last part dug like a dagger into Nasu, he convinced himself he wasn’t abusing Tejun’s trust by not telling the leader of the Red Flag about his father. But hearing Tejun say he was trusting him…
“Tejun...we, we should talk.”
Tejun looked up from the paperwork he had already begun to go back to.
“Oh, you’re quitting?” he asked defeat already in his voice.
“No, of course not!” Nasu protested immediately. “It’s just-”
“Then it can wait till you get back now you have your orders I’ll see you in a week.” with that Tejun relieved from the sound of it but not looking up from his paperwork. Befor Nasu could respond Tejun waved him out of the office.
Maybe it was a sign, he wasn’t meant to tell Tejun, that was it for sure. There was no need for him to know and this was the Kia’s way of showing him that it was ok to keep his secret. Maybe no one needed to know who he was.
***
“All Hail Masutā! All Hail Masutā!” the crowd chanted the name they had given him as he stood up. Actually the crowd chanted anytime he did anything. Always led by their red eyed leader Shisai, the man didn’t seem well liked by anyone but anytime someone began to question him he would next to Masutā and point ominously.
Actually if sometimes annoying chanting, being led around by Shisai, and being pampered and revered by a whole race were all there was to godhood Masutā found he was pretty happy with his role. The small creatures that now worshipped him originally didn’t have any place large enough for him to live. Still the weather was warm even at night and the breeze blowing over miles of grassland created a wave like effect that calmed the young god. The villagers pampered him feeding him fruits and cheeses while they built his house. It only took them a week before his home was up, it wasn’t anything huge but it more than met his needs since Masutā spent most of his days outside anyways. Most of all though Masutā found he was at peace, it was he felt his muscles relax as if they’d been tense, held at the ready, never relaxing for too long.
During the week a few other villages had challenged his godhood, they came in the day when Masutā was wandering surrounding him in the grass. They were so small and blended so well he didn’t notice them until they were only a few yards away. They too were led by a man with red eyes, they charged him with rocks and sticks, the blows fell on him with almost no effect. Masutā just stood there taking the abuse for a moment. Still after a few seconds he felt they had done enough and it was time for them to calm down. When he tried to express this to them the red eyed man only swore at him and intensified his attack.
Masutā felt this had gone too far now and his anger was starting to rise. He had let the men have their say, he had been fair and reasonable, he’d even let them attack him for a time working out whatever misplaced anger they had towards him. But now he had said that was enough, they were ruining his peaceful day. Still the uninstigated attack continued until eventually Masutā’s rage boiled over and he took to the skies above the creatures. Letting out a primal yell of anger a bright red aura flared around him. Instantly the men attacking him stopped and stared, the man with red eyes who had previously been leading the charge fell on his ass jaw hanging open. Within seconds they had fled, back to the small town he saw in the distance. Masutā was content to let it go at that. But when he got back home Shisai noticed his clothing was torn and when he asked what happened Masutā didn’t want to lie. Lying didn’t seem like a very godlike thing to do.
The priest’s red eyes narrowed in hatred and his normally smug face contorted with rage. “How dare they deny your divinity!” he shouted which Masutā thought was going too far, granted he had been angry earlier as well, but they eventually left him alone, what did it matter if they accepted him as their god or not?
Still Shisai wouldn’t hear of his tolerance after ranting for what felt like an eternity he agreed to lead them to the village so the priest could confront them himself just to shut him up. The next morning the pair walked to the village, Shisai wanted to fly and have Masutā carry him, he wanted to make a big entrance and prove his divinity the moment they arrived. But Masutā wanted to walk and in the end he reminded the priest that he was the only one that could fly and he would be walking and with that he took off leaving Shisai to either follow or get left behind.
Unfortunately the tiny man followed, he had half hoped the thought of walking all that distance would deter the man and he could get out of this ordeal entirely. The walk itself took about an hour Masutā found it calming but Shisai only seemed to get more agitated the longer it took snapping at him frequently about how much quicker this would be if they had flown as he suggested. For the most part his complaining was ignored as Masutā lost himself watching the wind blow through the fields for miles in every direction.
They finally arrived at the village and he could see the people gathered in the town square with the red eyed man and his family at the center of the crowd. As the pair approached the crowd parted creating a path up to the man who had his head bowed together with his family. Before he could say a word Shisai rushed up and slapped him across the face. His own face was contorted with a look of glee and eagerness.
The little man slashed his hand down in the open air and a small tear opened up next to him, Masutā looked on curiously but the rest of the crowd gasped in horror. Reaching his hand into the tear he pulled out what was a body length black sword for him, quickly turning he handed it to Masutā instead. With confusion he reached out his hand and took the blade from him.
“This fell to the ground with you when you descended from the heavens. I have kept it safe for you till you had need.” the man said in a tone that made Masutā feel grimy and dirty just listening to it.
The other man with red eyes stared up at Shisai in disgust. “You know as well as anyone that technique is forbidden.”
“What is forbidden to me anymore? I discovered our god!” Shisai shrieked back foam forming around the edges of his lips.
Masutā would have been highly disturbed by this had he noticed it even a little. He was too engrossed in the blade that was handed to him to notice anything else however. The blade seemed to vibrate slightly in his hand as if it were alive and sensing him. The hilt fit his hand perfectly as if it were made for him. He couldn’t stop staring at the blade flipping it over again and again in his hand. “Zeke…” he said quietly to himself more than anyone around him. He didn’t know why that name sounded so familiar but the sword brought the name into sharp memory like there was something there on the tip of his tongue that he just couldn’t place. Turning to Shisai he finally noticed the man was now shouting down the other red eyed man who was cowering next to his family.
“Shisai, was there anything else you found with me?” he said eager to see his belongings again hoping they might retrieve some memories from before he came here.
“Yes, yes.” the tiny man replied never taking his eyes off of his rival. “There was just this pin that was on your jacket when you first landed.” once again the priest reached into the tear in the air and this time pulled out a tiny red flag pin. Masutā took it and as he stared dozens of far less pleasant memories flooded into his mind bringing him to his knees, the image of dozens of bloody deaths, a homeless child on the streets, pain and suffering no one should have to go through.
Quickly he tore his eyes away from the pin pocketing it for the moment. He didn’t want to remember any of that. He should throw the pin away, he should cast it out and never think about it again. Still he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away; he shoved it in his pocket and tried to put the images out of his head. Looking back at Shisai he saw the man was anxiously waiting on something from him.
“I’m sorry, my mind was somewhere else, what’s going on?” he asked, the man’s answering grin was vicious.
“My lord, they are awaiting you to pass your judgment on the nonbeliever. Bring down your sword and end the dissention!”
“What?!” Masutā was shocked, clearly he should have been paying more attention to the conversation at hand. “No! I’m not going to kill him because he doesn’t believe in me. What do I care if he doesn’t believe in me?”
“My lord you have to pass judgment it’s-”
“Good, then in my judgement he is innocent and can return to his home with his family.” Masutā cut the priest off. There was an audible gasp from the collective community that was still surrounding the group. The red eyed man looked up sharply as if suspecting this to be some trick. “Thank you for your mercy my lord.” he said quietly. Still staring at Masutā’s sword he took his family and slowly backed away. The crowd opened for the family as it had for him earlier this time closing immediately behind them protecting them from sight as they continued their retreat.
“My lord this is most irregular.” Shisai continued protesting. “He raised his hand against you. An eye for an eye!!”
“You said it was my judgement Shisai, I judged him, it’s done. Let’s go home.” once again he started walking now more than ever hoping to leave the little prick behind but once again the man realizing he wouldn’t win his argument chose to follow and nag instead. The crowd parted one last time in utter silence as the pair left the town Masutā never even turning to look back thoughts fading again to all the death he remembered with the now heavy flag in his pocket.
***
Nasu was startled awake by his ship started shaking rapidly, lurching from side to side violently and sending him crashing into the control panel in front. All in all there were much better ways to wake up.
Staring at the control panel his head just created an indent in he see’s there are red emergency lights flashing everywhere. Of course the distress beacon was the piece of the panel his head had broken. Looking down as the ship continues to fly like it’s been drinking tequila he begins to panic. Determined to at least see what caused all of this to start he opens the front window only to see hundreds of asteroids flying by his previously new undamaged expensive as hell spaceship.
“Awesome.” he said desperately pushing buttons in an attempt to escape what looks like certain death. The ships life detectors started flashing alerting Nasu to the fact that there is a planet near by that supported life. Punching it toward the planet he can see it coming up in the distance when an asteroid the size of a small pebble flies through the window crashing into the back of the ship. Staring in horror at the hole that’s almost sure to mean he’s going to burn up on re-entry. Slamming his hand down on the console Nasu looks at the emergency parachute. If he pulls it too soon the drag back will rip the back of the ship off, but if he doesn’t pull it the speed which he enters the atmosphere is going to burn him alive.
Taking one last look at the planet he’s on a collision course for he pulls the shoot. The force sends him flying into the front of the ship slamming his head once again on the control panel. Everything goes bright, bright white for a second before his world fades to black, as totally not on fire ship begins to plummet towards the strange planet.
[OOC: I know this probably wouldn’t work in real life because physics is a thing but I needed some way for him to crash land hitting his head and getting knocked out at the same time]
***
Masutā wandered around the grasslands staring at the blade of the sword again. It had now been a week since he’d received the blade and it still felt as if it was vibrating in his hands anytime he held it, which was almost constantly now. He couldn’t help but think there was something he should remember about it. The memory played at the back of his mind but everytime he tried to think too hard the back of his head, which he must have hit when he first landed, would begin to throb and he would spend the next fifteen minutes nursing his head and hoping no one noticed their god in horrible pain.
After days of walking around trying to puzzle out the meaning his anger was getting the better of him. It was a puzzle he just couldn’t crack, and because of the damned headaches he felt like the puzzle was fighting back instead. Today was the day he lost his cool though. Far enough from the town that no one would be around to see him lose his composure, Masutā absolutely lost it. Screaming in anger his red aura flashed around him. However the sword seemed to react to the energy, for the first time the vibrating seemed to stop and instead he looked around and noticed dozens rips in the air similar to the one Shisia had created with his hand. Unable to resist temptation Masutā put his own hand into one of the tears only to see it pass right through and the tear disappear. Moving over to another tear he tries to slide his hand along the edge but his fingers are too wide and like the last this tear disappears as well.
Finally Masutā figures out what should have been his first solution, racing over to a third tear this one parallel to the ground he slides his sword through the tear from one end to the other, instantly a massive amount his energy leaves him in a rush. Falling to his knees, he looks to see what has to be a massive gust of wind knock the grass in front of him completely flat. If he weren’t exhausted he probably would have noticed the fact that there was no wind behind him, or the fact that only the grass in front of his sword was flattened instead of all the grass in the area as if it had been an actual gust. As it was Masutā noticed none of these things, he just noticed that he slashed his sword through one of those damn tears and now he could barely get back to his feet. Making his way back to the camp he noticed the sword no longer seemed to be vibrating. He hoped that it got whatever it was out of it’s system and it could go back to being a mildly irritating puzzle instead of a potentially hazardous weapon.
Days passed in relative peace. Masutā noticed that people with red eyes from other villages all over were coming to visit him and ask questions, he answered the best he could. Some left seemingly satisfied, some left disappointed, but most left happy but not believing Masutā to be a god as Shisai claimed. This fact more than any other seemed to infuriate Shisai, every time a man would question Masutā’s godhood he would laugh and say it was up to them, but every time Shisai tried to convince him to kill the nonbeliever, to teach them a lesson in humility to bring all the nonbelievers over to his flock, as if it made any difference to him whether men worshipped him or not? He couldn’t bring himself to get rid of the sword or the flag however, even though the pin still brought him horrible memory flashes, and the sword had almost incapacitated him every day he found himself dedicating at least some of his free time to both. Practicing swordplay and finding the solution to the tears was easy, he found that only when he sent his energy through the sword did it start to vibrate and he was able to practice his sword work safely. He tried once more to cut through the rip created by sending energy through his sword thinking maybe he had done it wrong the first time and that’s why it left him drained of energy. He slashed down vertically through a tear again causing all the grass in front of his swing to go flat. This time he managed to stay on his feet though only barely while he marvelled at the effect. It clearly wasn’t the wind as there was no breeze behind him and also air didn’t blow straight down like that. Instead he examined the ground around where he had flattened the grass. Looking closely he saw a number of acorns and seeds crushed as if by some enormous weight. He couldn’t make heads or tails of it himself but he knew if he put enough work into it eventually he’d understand.
It was on the thirteenth day since he arrived on the planet his world changed again. He was sitting outside on a short tree while making small talk with some of the women near him when a glowing orb began falling out of the sky. At first he had thought it was a comet or an asteroid as those commonly fell to the planet, however it continued to get bigger and bigger as it approached until it was large enough to fit a man Masutā’s size and then some inside it.
The glowing red orb landed softly it’s decent halted feet above the earth then coming down gently before it split and a portal opened inside it. A man that looked hauntingly familiar stepped out and looked around.
As they with Masutā two week’s earlier the townsfolk walked to see who the newcomer was. This time though Shisai didn’t have exaltation his on his face but rage. Masutā went out to join the townsfolk and take part in greeting whoever it was that had come to their world.
The man only had eyes for Masutā. As soon as he saw him, his face cycled through emotions, the first being surprise, followed quickly by joy, then anger, it was a strange combination to see and it all happened so quickly he wondered if he hadn’t imagined the surprise and joy.
It wasn’t until the strange man started walking towards him that Masutā noticed the small red flag pinned to the front of his collared shirt. He couldn’t take his eyes off the pin. Once again flashes of memory came back to him in waves. This time he didn’t have too long to focus on it however as a fist connecting with his face forced his eyes off the pin moments later.
“You son of a bitch.” the man said as he continued to walk forward. Shisai to his credit tried to stand up in front of the man and stop him. “You bastard I will not allow you to speak to our God that way let alone lay another finger on him!” he shouted but it was like a pebble trying to stop the tide. The man didn’t even slow his stride as he approached. “We all thought you were dead. Tejun is back on New Vegeta planning a funeral for you. And here you are relaxing, not a scratch on you! And what? You couldn’t be a king on New Vegeta so now you’re going to trick these locals into thinking you’re a god here?” he picked Masutā up by the front of his shirt and punched him in the stomach without letting go of him, then he turned and tossed him hard sending him skidding across the ground.
That was it. Masutā had had enough, it was one thing for the man who clearly knew him to yell or swear at him but unlike the other locals this man’s punches actually hurt when they connected. Staggering to his feet he powered up to his maximum. The only remaining clothing he had from his descent to this planet was in the form of the heavy weighted shirt he took to always wearing as a reminder where he came from, now however he wished he hadn’t worn it as it was holding him back from his true potential.
Admittedly he had a lot of questions for the stranger but he could ask them after he had kicked his ass. Charging forward Masutā aimed a kick at the man’s head, however his foot went right through the man as the after image faded away. Instead he felt a sharp pain in his back as the man lands his own kick once again sending him sprawling to the ground.
“Nasu Nun. No, Nasu Hattori, that’s who you really are just another Hattori coward, another fucking noble who can’t stand the fact the universe doesn’t revolve around them. You had a chance to come clean and instead the first chance you get you run away and hide!” he punctuated each sentence with a kick that would send, Nasu sliding along the ground again.
After the last kick Nasu uses the momentum from his slide and a free hand to spring to his feet determined not to be beaten so easily. As soon as he heard the name he knew the man was right. His true name was Nasu, but not Hattori as he insisted, he was Nasu Nun, something about it just felt right. He didn’t understand why this man hated him so much but he was determined to beat the answer out of him. His saiyan blood demanded an answer...that’s right he was a saiyan.
The two went back and forth for a few seconds the battle bringing back memories more clearly than weeks of contemplation ever had. Years of pain and suffering flooded back into him as Yakuin beat the hell out of him filling him with more pain and suffering.
“You don’t even have the decency to quit. You just take off the pin and expect everyone who knew you would forget you ever existed! Amy cried when Tejun told her you went missing you know! People cared about you Nasu! And just like I said you would you abandoned them. I should have trusted my gut and killed you when I had the chance.”
“Yakuin, I please wait I can explain!” he said in between having his feet blasted out from under him and getting a kick in the ribs that sent him flying to the side and bouncing off the ground.
Yakuin was in no mood to listen however, the officer had listened to Nasu once, and he had seemingly betrayed his friend’s trust. If only he had known the truth that until a few minutes and a few sure to be broken bones ago Nasu had no idea he was supposed to be a member of the Red Flag, that he had a job, friends, family which he had abandoned, he had honestly believed he was a god come down to walk amongst his people.
He had to find a way to explain it to the man but the only way he could think to do that was by beating him and so far Yakuin had whipped his ass. He could tell his former friend was genuinely pissed and in all likelihood planned to kill him. Which brought something to mind.
Back peddling and trying to avoid getting hit long enough to get words out he asked. “Yakuin, if everyone thinks I’m dead, why are you here?”
He saw his former friend pause if only for a moment, and for that moment every instinct in Nasu’s body told him to pounce to take advantage of the opening he’d created and turn the momentum of the fight more in his favor. But that would only be proving Yakuin right, that he was just trying to trick him into trust. He couldn’t win him over just by fighting he had to convince him they were still friends somehow.
Yakuin aimed a kick at his head but it lacked the viciousness of his earlier attack. He could tell his words had hit home, and more than that the fact he didn’t follow up with an attack in his friends moment of weakness. Still as saiyans they communicated as much with their fists as their words.
“I didn’t believe you were dead.” he said aiming a ki blast at his stomach. Nasu threw it off to the side racing forward and landing two quick blows to Yakuin’s chest before he was forced back by a counter kick.
“I believed if I followed your last transmission I would find...I don’t know find something. Find you in a hospital clinging to life. Find you injured in a coma unable to reach out to anyone else. At least find a damned body to bring back. Instead you’re here healthy as can be playing god. Do you know what that’s like, to be betrayed by someone you trusted like that!”
“Yes!” Nasu couldn’t help but shout in reply. “I know exactly what that’s like! My father betrayed me after everything I did to try and earn his respect. You know what happened!”
Yakuin charged throwing punch after punch, kick after kick, forcing Nasu to defend himself as best he could but he couldn’t hold back the onslaught not in his weights. Eventually punch after punch began to find it’s way home landing on his face and body driving him backwards.
“Yet here you are!” Yakuin practically screamed in between punches. “You say you know what it’s like to be betrayed but here you are! The fact that you can stand here is evidence enough!” he punctuated his last statement with a kick that was meant to send Nasu flying to the ground instead he caught Yakuin’s leg, spun and threw him away following up with dozens of energy blasts to drive him back further.
“My ship crashed here damn it! I didn’t mean to get stranded here. I didn’t mean to play god. I didn’t mean any of this. If I could be home in my bed at the Red Flag right now don’t you think I would be? Sixty two stitches! That’s what it took to sew my head back together after I crashed here! I’ll have scars for the rest of my life after that landing.” he said continuing to fire energy blasts, he just needed to keep him back far enough that he could explain his actions. “My ship was gone, I had no idea where the hell I was, who the hell I was, all I knew was that these people looked up to me, called me a god! I didn’t try and take advantage of them, you know me better than that!”
“I thought I did.” Yakuin said charging again. He seemed slower as if uncertain once again the saiyan’s fists spoke more loudly than his words. Finally Nasu drew out his sword Folgen, it’s very name meant consequences and it was time he took accepted some of his.
Yakuin paused for a second when he saw the sword but then drew his own blade a moment later his face showing no emotion. Nasu powered up fully now letting his energy flow through the sword as well and instantly the tears appeared in the air at all different angles surrounding both fighters. Yakuin looks around for a moment and Nasu realized for the first time other people can see them as well.
Nasu flew backwards fast using his sword Folgen to fend off as many blows as he could but he was no expert swordsman. He was improving but even with his training there was simply no way he could keep up with Yakuin. Still he was determined not to give up so easily.
Parrying a number of blows Nasu saw the tell tale tears in the air. Trying for a counter Nasu slashes Folgen through one of the tears with all his strength. Halfway through the tear Yakuin’s sword comes up and meets his stopping Folgen in it’s tracks. The tear disappears leaving Nasu drained.
He jumps back as fast as possible almost dodging Yakuin’s quick counter. But the lack of energy had left him too drained, to slow. The slash catches him right under his eye drawing a line of blood.
Yakuin pauses for a moment looking at him confused he looks around and can see the tears as well but most importantly he knew Nasu, he knew he normally should have been able to dodge that attack. If this were a real fight, if Yakuin had followed up with all his power Nasu would probably be dead instead of just cut up. Still it was clear Yakuin had expected him to block cut. Hell if Nasu hadn’t lost all that energy for nothing he would have blocked and countered easily. But as it was Nasu could barely stand.
Still he wouldn’t give anything away just yet. Standing tall Nasu reaches into his inner-strength. Given a short but enormous boost in power more and more lines appear in the air. Nasu realizes anything close to Yakuin’s body will be blocked before he can finish it making the attack useless. Instead Nasu chooses a tear further away. Slashing diagonally downward through it Nasu feels the energy he gained leave him in a flood.
However that is nothing compared to Yakuin’s reaction. Yakuin who was dominating the fight till a moment before is suddenly thrown from the air and sent crashing into the ground hard by an unseen force. Nasu was still far away could not possibly be responsible for the blast. Unless…
“What the hell was that boy? he shouts after regaining his composure.
“It was a new technique I picked up while on this planet. Now stay there and listen for a second or I’ll put you down again.” he didn’t mention that the tears had disappeared because he had run out of the energy to sustain them and that there was almost no way in hell he could actually pull that off again.
Instead he bluffed, and though Yakuin stood, he sheathed his sword and made no new moves to attack.
“My ship hit an asteroid field, it crashed here almost two weeks ago. When I landed the locals saw me fall like a comet out of the sky, they saw me fly up to meet them and they thought I was a god come to their rescue. Since then I had no memory of who I was, how I got here, nothing until this fight. But I didn’t take advantage of them, I didn’t lord over them ask any of them. I’m not a god, I’m not a noble, I’m not Nasu Hattori. My name is Nasu Nun.” he said as much to the people who had previously revered him as Yakuin. “And I am a member of the Red Flag, was a member of the Red Flag, until all this happened. But I would never betray that, and you’re my friend, you should know that.”
“LIAR! BETRAYER! BLASPHEMER!” a voice shouted. Nasu looked around confused until he noticed it was Shisai who was now cussing him out. “You lied to us, we believed you were a god. And now here you stand saying everything was a lie!”
“Dude, I never said I was a god. Actually my first words to you where I have no idea who I am.”
“He’s right,” another voice chimed in. Nasu looked around again it the other red eyed priest. The one who Shisai had tried to have killed. “My town never believed he was a god. We attacked him to prove he could bleed like any other man, but even after attacking him, even after giving up, he never took vengeance, he never lorded over us, he spared my life when he didn’t have to. Thank you Nasu Nun.”
Shisai continued to rant off to the side but before long other members of the town pulled him away while even more came to his defense. For his part Yakuin just stood there silently listening to everything. A long moment passed after everyone had finished talking where he stood there staring at Nasu. Finally his shoulders slumped slightly and a small smile played over his face.
“When I first saw you standing here, without a scratch, I was so angry. When I heard them call you a god I, well I was ready to kill you. I actually tried to kill you for a minute or two. If you really didn’t know better I believe you. Well not so much you as the people you ‘ruled’ over for the past two weeks. They seem to believe you as well.” he walked up to Nasu placing a hand on his shoulder. “If you still want to, it’s time to go home brother.” he called him brother the traditional phrase for other members of the Red Flag, could Yakuin really trust him again?
“I do want to go home, and you’re right. It was selfish of me to keep this from you, from Tejun from everyone but at the same time you have to understand I’ve kept this secret all my life. I haven’t even told my actual family I’m related to them yet. As far as I know Tsuyo is the only other person alive who knew who I really was. I still don’t know how I’m going to tell anyone, but you’re right it’s time for me to come clean to people.”
Yakuin smiled genuinely towards him for the first time in weeks and it was refreshing to see.
“But that being said, Tejun is not the first one I need to tell.” the smile quickly faded to one of confusion as Nasu continued. “I need to tell my family. I may not be a real Hattori but they’re still blood, and I’ve gotten the chance to know them all in one way or another. They deserve to know as well.”
“I understand,” Yakuin said and a wave of relief flooded over him. “Just always remember we’re still your family too.” was all he said as he started walking back to the ship leaving Nasu to say his goodbyes.
With that he turned towards the little people who had taken him in for the past two weeks and who he’d genuinely come to care for since then.
“Guys, I’m really sorry I’m not your god.” he said trying for humor but coming out more flat than he anticipated. “I...thank you all. You took me in, you treated me as family. Thank you.” One by one or in groups they all came up and wished him well on his journey home. Everyone except Shisai, Nasu went over to say goodbye to the man who walked him through godhood for the last two weeks but the man only walked away from him into his house and shut the door. He was saddened but he knew life wasn’t always full of happy endings. Turning his back he waved goodbye one last time and walked over to Yakuin.
Yakuin looked at him, “You ready to go home man?”
“Yea I’m...DAMN IT ALL!”
“What? What’s wrong?” he asked looking around for what had so bothered Nasu.
“Now I’m gonna need to buy a new ship…”
****
Nasu would pour energy into his sword creating lines that look like little rips in the air. If he slashes his sword through one of those tears gravity would multiply in the direction of the slash. So if Nasu slashes through a sideways tear gravity would redirect sending his foe flying sideways. If Nasu slashes down gravity would multiply downward hopefully stunning an opponent who was not expecting the increase. The move takes a large amount of energy from Nasu and only works if he cuts all the way through the tear. If Nasu were to begin to slash through a line but couldn’t make it all the way through the energy would still be drained depending on how far into the tear he slashed but gravity would not be changed at all leaving him weaker.
If this move is used successfully there is a two post cooldown period.
***
Graderr: Really sorry this is so long, it was supposed to be like 4k words and just got away from me.
Before he could say anything the yellow man put his hand over his chest and bowed at the waist almost getting lost in the sea of grass that perfectly matched the tone of the creature’s skin. Slowly but one by one all the other creatures mirrored the gesture, it seemed they were more reluctant however. The first creature turned his face up back towards him and for the first time he noticed the things bright red eyes, it distracted him from the look of exaltation the tiny yellow creature was giving him.
“My lord,” he said in a deep quiet voice that didn’t seem to match the man’s body size. “As all of our legends have predicted you have come. Falling from the sky to us in a ball of fire, then rising from the ashes and flying up to meet us. All of our legends said this day would come but the people were skeptical. I always believed it though, I always knew one day you would come to punish the unbelievers, the unworthy.” This time he didn’t miss the look of religious fervor that played over the alien face. “Please my lord, please tell us the name of the sky god come to our home to rule over us.” Finally pausing from his speech he noticed the whole crowd of maybe a dozen or so turned their faces towards him expectantly. All of them had deep blue eyes a stark contrast from the red eyed man who seemed to lead them. Feeling his blood soaked head again he looked around the small group.
“I’m sorry but I don’t remember.”
***
One Day Earlier
Nasu flipped through the paper laughing at the headline about his friend Zeke, “Angel of Death Blows Up Giant Chicken Terrorizing City”. He couldn’t help it he burst out laughing again. This had been the fifth time he’d read the headline and he hadn’t managed to make it all the way through the article once without falling into a laughing fit. It wasn’t that it was so insanely ridiculous it was just picturing his normally more serious friend battling a giant chicken...he lost it. Putting his face in his hands he laughed for what had to be a solid minute straight.
Eventually he heard a knock on the door, instead of standing up however he just shouted “Door’s open come in.” a second later Yakuin walked in and looks around.
“The hell is so funny in here? I swear I heard you cackling through the door.” he said looking around clearly expecting a clown or a comedian or something. Instead Nasu just tosses him the paper and points to the headline. Yakuin gives him a skeptical look.
“Oh come on, you should know better than that. You can’t believe everything you read.”
“No no, I talked to the guy I bought the paper from apparently this was a legit thing. Somehow a giant chicken got loose from a farm and started terrorizing New Vegeta and then exploded.”
“It exploded?” he said said skepticism still showing. “What was it a B horror movie villain?”
“I don’t know but you’ve seen the damage to the city too. Clearly something attacked it.”
“Ya, but a giant chicken? Dude you live on a planet where half the population is strong enough to tear down a building with their bare hands. Odds are two drunks got in a fight and wrecked the place before the guards caught up and stopped them.”
“Fine whatever don’t believe it I don’t care.” he said standing up and grabbing the paper back out of his hands and tossing it on his bed. “What are you here for anyways? We haven’t exactly spoken since…” he left out the rest of the sentence. They hadn’t spoken since Yakuin inadvertently found out about his true parentage. He’d taken the news hard, believing that Nasu had hidden the fact that he was Tsuyo’s son and that he was technically royalty for selfish reasons. He thought he was just another spoilt noble playing at being a mercenary until he got bored.
He just didn’t understand that Tsuyo had disowned him, he never wanted Nasu as a child, he hadn’t hidden his parentage because he didn’t want anyone to know, he hid it because after everything that happened if he came out publicly as the son of Tsuyo the king might decide to kill him instead.
Yakuin paused only for a quick second before answering but Nasu noticed it and it hurt. They had been friends for a while. Yakuin was his first real friend as a member of the Red Flag the organization for which he’d spent the last year working for, and now his friend avoided him whenever possible. When they he was forced to interact with Nasu he tried to play it off like there was no difference but little pauses like this showed how much had truly changed and it hurt.
“Come on man, I’ve been busy. Tejun’s had me running all over putting out fires. Speaking of, he sent me here to find you and tell you to go to his office, apparently he needs to talk to you.”
He took a deep breath, his friend hadn’t come here just to talk or relax, he’d been ordered to find him, that explains it. He started walking to the door choosing to just go about his business instead of responding, he didn’t want to acknowledge how much had changed or that it stung.
The door opened but before he could leave he heard Yakuin say softly behind him.
“Have you told Tejun yet?” he stood there for a moment unable to answer. He didn’t want to share his most personal secret with everyone, he wasn’t ready for it to come out just yet. What right did Tejun have to know! But then it was a matter of trust, Yakuin, Tejun, everyone in the Red Flag depended on him, trusted him, and he was keeping something from them. But it didn’t put them at risk did it?
“Not yet, I will...I just haven’t gotten the chance yet.” He left without saying another word and heard the door slide shut behind him. He could sense Yakuin still in the room he hadn’t moved to follow him. He wasn’t going to force the issue but the message was clear, until he talked to Tejun the two of them couldn’t be friends.
Walking into Tejun’s office he looked for some sign that Yakuin had told him, that maybe he knew Nasu’s secret already but the man gave nothing away. Instead he was as always sitting at his desk behind a pile of paperwork and greeted Nasu with a wave.
“Just the man I was looking for come in, take a seat.” sitting in front of the desk he held his breath not sure where this was going.
“You can probably guess what this is about.” Tejun said only serving to make Nasu more nervous. “We have a job off planet I’m sending you on.” with that he let out an explosive sigh of relief which made Tejun look at him funny. “The hell was that?”
“Oh nothing sir, Yakuin...I wasn’t sure if I was in trouble for something.”
“No, it’s jus-wait why would you be in trouble?” Tejun said turning his head slightly to the side questioning. “Oh gods boy, what have you done now?”
The wave of relief still flooding over him Nasu smiled. “Nothing sir, Yakuin just said you needed to see me immediately.”
Frowning Tejun looked at Nasu closely still probably thinking the boy had done something worth getting yelled at. Normally he’d be right “Well yes I did need to see you, because you have to actually do your job. You know your being hired here sometimes requires you to actually do more than sit in your room. Now,” he said sliding some papers in front of Nasu, “here are the details of the mission, you should be gone for about a week. Send a relay when you land and again when the job is completed. It should be pretty simple and straightforward protection work but still check in if you need us to send back up or if there is a major problem. We’re trusting you.” the last part dug like a dagger into Nasu, he convinced himself he wasn’t abusing Tejun’s trust by not telling the leader of the Red Flag about his father. But hearing Tejun say he was trusting him…
“Tejun...we, we should talk.”
Tejun looked up from the paperwork he had already begun to go back to.
“Oh, you’re quitting?” he asked defeat already in his voice.
“No, of course not!” Nasu protested immediately. “It’s just-”
“Then it can wait till you get back now you have your orders I’ll see you in a week.” with that Tejun relieved from the sound of it but not looking up from his paperwork. Befor Nasu could respond Tejun waved him out of the office.
Maybe it was a sign, he wasn’t meant to tell Tejun, that was it for sure. There was no need for him to know and this was the Kia’s way of showing him that it was ok to keep his secret. Maybe no one needed to know who he was.
***
“All Hail Masutā! All Hail Masutā!” the crowd chanted the name they had given him as he stood up. Actually the crowd chanted anytime he did anything. Always led by their red eyed leader Shisai, the man didn’t seem well liked by anyone but anytime someone began to question him he would next to Masutā and point ominously.
Actually if sometimes annoying chanting, being led around by Shisai, and being pampered and revered by a whole race were all there was to godhood Masutā found he was pretty happy with his role. The small creatures that now worshipped him originally didn’t have any place large enough for him to live. Still the weather was warm even at night and the breeze blowing over miles of grassland created a wave like effect that calmed the young god. The villagers pampered him feeding him fruits and cheeses while they built his house. It only took them a week before his home was up, it wasn’t anything huge but it more than met his needs since Masutā spent most of his days outside anyways. Most of all though Masutā found he was at peace, it was he felt his muscles relax as if they’d been tense, held at the ready, never relaxing for too long.
During the week a few other villages had challenged his godhood, they came in the day when Masutā was wandering surrounding him in the grass. They were so small and blended so well he didn’t notice them until they were only a few yards away. They too were led by a man with red eyes, they charged him with rocks and sticks, the blows fell on him with almost no effect. Masutā just stood there taking the abuse for a moment. Still after a few seconds he felt they had done enough and it was time for them to calm down. When he tried to express this to them the red eyed man only swore at him and intensified his attack.
Masutā felt this had gone too far now and his anger was starting to rise. He had let the men have their say, he had been fair and reasonable, he’d even let them attack him for a time working out whatever misplaced anger they had towards him. But now he had said that was enough, they were ruining his peaceful day. Still the uninstigated attack continued until eventually Masutā’s rage boiled over and he took to the skies above the creatures. Letting out a primal yell of anger a bright red aura flared around him. Instantly the men attacking him stopped and stared, the man with red eyes who had previously been leading the charge fell on his ass jaw hanging open. Within seconds they had fled, back to the small town he saw in the distance. Masutā was content to let it go at that. But when he got back home Shisai noticed his clothing was torn and when he asked what happened Masutā didn’t want to lie. Lying didn’t seem like a very godlike thing to do.
The priest’s red eyes narrowed in hatred and his normally smug face contorted with rage. “How dare they deny your divinity!” he shouted which Masutā thought was going too far, granted he had been angry earlier as well, but they eventually left him alone, what did it matter if they accepted him as their god or not?
Still Shisai wouldn’t hear of his tolerance after ranting for what felt like an eternity he agreed to lead them to the village so the priest could confront them himself just to shut him up. The next morning the pair walked to the village, Shisai wanted to fly and have Masutā carry him, he wanted to make a big entrance and prove his divinity the moment they arrived. But Masutā wanted to walk and in the end he reminded the priest that he was the only one that could fly and he would be walking and with that he took off leaving Shisai to either follow or get left behind.
Unfortunately the tiny man followed, he had half hoped the thought of walking all that distance would deter the man and he could get out of this ordeal entirely. The walk itself took about an hour Masutā found it calming but Shisai only seemed to get more agitated the longer it took snapping at him frequently about how much quicker this would be if they had flown as he suggested. For the most part his complaining was ignored as Masutā lost himself watching the wind blow through the fields for miles in every direction.
They finally arrived at the village and he could see the people gathered in the town square with the red eyed man and his family at the center of the crowd. As the pair approached the crowd parted creating a path up to the man who had his head bowed together with his family. Before he could say a word Shisai rushed up and slapped him across the face. His own face was contorted with a look of glee and eagerness.
The little man slashed his hand down in the open air and a small tear opened up next to him, Masutā looked on curiously but the rest of the crowd gasped in horror. Reaching his hand into the tear he pulled out what was a body length black sword for him, quickly turning he handed it to Masutā instead. With confusion he reached out his hand and took the blade from him.
“This fell to the ground with you when you descended from the heavens. I have kept it safe for you till you had need.” the man said in a tone that made Masutā feel grimy and dirty just listening to it.
The other man with red eyes stared up at Shisai in disgust. “You know as well as anyone that technique is forbidden.”
“What is forbidden to me anymore? I discovered our god!” Shisai shrieked back foam forming around the edges of his lips.
Masutā would have been highly disturbed by this had he noticed it even a little. He was too engrossed in the blade that was handed to him to notice anything else however. The blade seemed to vibrate slightly in his hand as if it were alive and sensing him. The hilt fit his hand perfectly as if it were made for him. He couldn’t stop staring at the blade flipping it over again and again in his hand. “Zeke…” he said quietly to himself more than anyone around him. He didn’t know why that name sounded so familiar but the sword brought the name into sharp memory like there was something there on the tip of his tongue that he just couldn’t place. Turning to Shisai he finally noticed the man was now shouting down the other red eyed man who was cowering next to his family.
“Shisai, was there anything else you found with me?” he said eager to see his belongings again hoping they might retrieve some memories from before he came here.
“Yes, yes.” the tiny man replied never taking his eyes off of his rival. “There was just this pin that was on your jacket when you first landed.” once again the priest reached into the tear in the air and this time pulled out a tiny red flag pin. Masutā took it and as he stared dozens of far less pleasant memories flooded into his mind bringing him to his knees, the image of dozens of bloody deaths, a homeless child on the streets, pain and suffering no one should have to go through.
Quickly he tore his eyes away from the pin pocketing it for the moment. He didn’t want to remember any of that. He should throw the pin away, he should cast it out and never think about it again. Still he couldn’t bring himself to throw it away; he shoved it in his pocket and tried to put the images out of his head. Looking back at Shisai he saw the man was anxiously waiting on something from him.
“I’m sorry, my mind was somewhere else, what’s going on?” he asked, the man’s answering grin was vicious.
“My lord, they are awaiting you to pass your judgment on the nonbeliever. Bring down your sword and end the dissention!”
“What?!” Masutā was shocked, clearly he should have been paying more attention to the conversation at hand. “No! I’m not going to kill him because he doesn’t believe in me. What do I care if he doesn’t believe in me?”
“My lord you have to pass judgment it’s-”
“Good, then in my judgement he is innocent and can return to his home with his family.” Masutā cut the priest off. There was an audible gasp from the collective community that was still surrounding the group. The red eyed man looked up sharply as if suspecting this to be some trick. “Thank you for your mercy my lord.” he said quietly. Still staring at Masutā’s sword he took his family and slowly backed away. The crowd opened for the family as it had for him earlier this time closing immediately behind them protecting them from sight as they continued their retreat.
“My lord this is most irregular.” Shisai continued protesting. “He raised his hand against you. An eye for an eye!!”
“You said it was my judgement Shisai, I judged him, it’s done. Let’s go home.” once again he started walking now more than ever hoping to leave the little prick behind but once again the man realizing he wouldn’t win his argument chose to follow and nag instead. The crowd parted one last time in utter silence as the pair left the town Masutā never even turning to look back thoughts fading again to all the death he remembered with the now heavy flag in his pocket.
***
Nasu was startled awake by his ship started shaking rapidly, lurching from side to side violently and sending him crashing into the control panel in front. All in all there were much better ways to wake up.
Staring at the control panel his head just created an indent in he see’s there are red emergency lights flashing everywhere. Of course the distress beacon was the piece of the panel his head had broken. Looking down as the ship continues to fly like it’s been drinking tequila he begins to panic. Determined to at least see what caused all of this to start he opens the front window only to see hundreds of asteroids flying by his previously new undamaged expensive as hell spaceship.
“Awesome.” he said desperately pushing buttons in an attempt to escape what looks like certain death. The ships life detectors started flashing alerting Nasu to the fact that there is a planet near by that supported life. Punching it toward the planet he can see it coming up in the distance when an asteroid the size of a small pebble flies through the window crashing into the back of the ship. Staring in horror at the hole that’s almost sure to mean he’s going to burn up on re-entry. Slamming his hand down on the console Nasu looks at the emergency parachute. If he pulls it too soon the drag back will rip the back of the ship off, but if he doesn’t pull it the speed which he enters the atmosphere is going to burn him alive.
Taking one last look at the planet he’s on a collision course for he pulls the shoot. The force sends him flying into the front of the ship slamming his head once again on the control panel. Everything goes bright, bright white for a second before his world fades to black, as totally not on fire ship begins to plummet towards the strange planet.
[OOC: I know this probably wouldn’t work in real life because physics is a thing but I needed some way for him to crash land hitting his head and getting knocked out at the same time]
***
Masutā wandered around the grasslands staring at the blade of the sword again. It had now been a week since he’d received the blade and it still felt as if it was vibrating in his hands anytime he held it, which was almost constantly now. He couldn’t help but think there was something he should remember about it. The memory played at the back of his mind but everytime he tried to think too hard the back of his head, which he must have hit when he first landed, would begin to throb and he would spend the next fifteen minutes nursing his head and hoping no one noticed their god in horrible pain.
After days of walking around trying to puzzle out the meaning his anger was getting the better of him. It was a puzzle he just couldn’t crack, and because of the damned headaches he felt like the puzzle was fighting back instead. Today was the day he lost his cool though. Far enough from the town that no one would be around to see him lose his composure, Masutā absolutely lost it. Screaming in anger his red aura flashed around him. However the sword seemed to react to the energy, for the first time the vibrating seemed to stop and instead he looked around and noticed dozens rips in the air similar to the one Shisia had created with his hand. Unable to resist temptation Masutā put his own hand into one of the tears only to see it pass right through and the tear disappear. Moving over to another tear he tries to slide his hand along the edge but his fingers are too wide and like the last this tear disappears as well.
Finally Masutā figures out what should have been his first solution, racing over to a third tear this one parallel to the ground he slides his sword through the tear from one end to the other, instantly a massive amount his energy leaves him in a rush. Falling to his knees, he looks to see what has to be a massive gust of wind knock the grass in front of him completely flat. If he weren’t exhausted he probably would have noticed the fact that there was no wind behind him, or the fact that only the grass in front of his sword was flattened instead of all the grass in the area as if it had been an actual gust. As it was Masutā noticed none of these things, he just noticed that he slashed his sword through one of those damn tears and now he could barely get back to his feet. Making his way back to the camp he noticed the sword no longer seemed to be vibrating. He hoped that it got whatever it was out of it’s system and it could go back to being a mildly irritating puzzle instead of a potentially hazardous weapon.
Days passed in relative peace. Masutā noticed that people with red eyes from other villages all over were coming to visit him and ask questions, he answered the best he could. Some left seemingly satisfied, some left disappointed, but most left happy but not believing Masutā to be a god as Shisai claimed. This fact more than any other seemed to infuriate Shisai, every time a man would question Masutā’s godhood he would laugh and say it was up to them, but every time Shisai tried to convince him to kill the nonbeliever, to teach them a lesson in humility to bring all the nonbelievers over to his flock, as if it made any difference to him whether men worshipped him or not? He couldn’t bring himself to get rid of the sword or the flag however, even though the pin still brought him horrible memory flashes, and the sword had almost incapacitated him every day he found himself dedicating at least some of his free time to both. Practicing swordplay and finding the solution to the tears was easy, he found that only when he sent his energy through the sword did it start to vibrate and he was able to practice his sword work safely. He tried once more to cut through the rip created by sending energy through his sword thinking maybe he had done it wrong the first time and that’s why it left him drained of energy. He slashed down vertically through a tear again causing all the grass in front of his swing to go flat. This time he managed to stay on his feet though only barely while he marvelled at the effect. It clearly wasn’t the wind as there was no breeze behind him and also air didn’t blow straight down like that. Instead he examined the ground around where he had flattened the grass. Looking closely he saw a number of acorns and seeds crushed as if by some enormous weight. He couldn’t make heads or tails of it himself but he knew if he put enough work into it eventually he’d understand.
It was on the thirteenth day since he arrived on the planet his world changed again. He was sitting outside on a short tree while making small talk with some of the women near him when a glowing orb began falling out of the sky. At first he had thought it was a comet or an asteroid as those commonly fell to the planet, however it continued to get bigger and bigger as it approached until it was large enough to fit a man Masutā’s size and then some inside it.
The glowing red orb landed softly it’s decent halted feet above the earth then coming down gently before it split and a portal opened inside it. A man that looked hauntingly familiar stepped out and looked around.
As they with Masutā two week’s earlier the townsfolk walked to see who the newcomer was. This time though Shisai didn’t have exaltation his on his face but rage. Masutā went out to join the townsfolk and take part in greeting whoever it was that had come to their world.
The man only had eyes for Masutā. As soon as he saw him, his face cycled through emotions, the first being surprise, followed quickly by joy, then anger, it was a strange combination to see and it all happened so quickly he wondered if he hadn’t imagined the surprise and joy.
It wasn’t until the strange man started walking towards him that Masutā noticed the small red flag pinned to the front of his collared shirt. He couldn’t take his eyes off the pin. Once again flashes of memory came back to him in waves. This time he didn’t have too long to focus on it however as a fist connecting with his face forced his eyes off the pin moments later.
“You son of a bitch.” the man said as he continued to walk forward. Shisai to his credit tried to stand up in front of the man and stop him. “You bastard I will not allow you to speak to our God that way let alone lay another finger on him!” he shouted but it was like a pebble trying to stop the tide. The man didn’t even slow his stride as he approached. “We all thought you were dead. Tejun is back on New Vegeta planning a funeral for you. And here you are relaxing, not a scratch on you! And what? You couldn’t be a king on New Vegeta so now you’re going to trick these locals into thinking you’re a god here?” he picked Masutā up by the front of his shirt and punched him in the stomach without letting go of him, then he turned and tossed him hard sending him skidding across the ground.
That was it. Masutā had had enough, it was one thing for the man who clearly knew him to yell or swear at him but unlike the other locals this man’s punches actually hurt when they connected. Staggering to his feet he powered up to his maximum. The only remaining clothing he had from his descent to this planet was in the form of the heavy weighted shirt he took to always wearing as a reminder where he came from, now however he wished he hadn’t worn it as it was holding him back from his true potential.
Admittedly he had a lot of questions for the stranger but he could ask them after he had kicked his ass. Charging forward Masutā aimed a kick at the man’s head, however his foot went right through the man as the after image faded away. Instead he felt a sharp pain in his back as the man lands his own kick once again sending him sprawling to the ground.
“Nasu Nun. No, Nasu Hattori, that’s who you really are just another Hattori coward, another fucking noble who can’t stand the fact the universe doesn’t revolve around them. You had a chance to come clean and instead the first chance you get you run away and hide!” he punctuated each sentence with a kick that would send, Nasu sliding along the ground again.
After the last kick Nasu uses the momentum from his slide and a free hand to spring to his feet determined not to be beaten so easily. As soon as he heard the name he knew the man was right. His true name was Nasu, but not Hattori as he insisted, he was Nasu Nun, something about it just felt right. He didn’t understand why this man hated him so much but he was determined to beat the answer out of him. His saiyan blood demanded an answer...that’s right he was a saiyan.
The two went back and forth for a few seconds the battle bringing back memories more clearly than weeks of contemplation ever had. Years of pain and suffering flooded back into him as Yakuin beat the hell out of him filling him with more pain and suffering.
“You don’t even have the decency to quit. You just take off the pin and expect everyone who knew you would forget you ever existed! Amy cried when Tejun told her you went missing you know! People cared about you Nasu! And just like I said you would you abandoned them. I should have trusted my gut and killed you when I had the chance.”
“Yakuin, I please wait I can explain!” he said in between having his feet blasted out from under him and getting a kick in the ribs that sent him flying to the side and bouncing off the ground.
Yakuin was in no mood to listen however, the officer had listened to Nasu once, and he had seemingly betrayed his friend’s trust. If only he had known the truth that until a few minutes and a few sure to be broken bones ago Nasu had no idea he was supposed to be a member of the Red Flag, that he had a job, friends, family which he had abandoned, he had honestly believed he was a god come down to walk amongst his people.
He had to find a way to explain it to the man but the only way he could think to do that was by beating him and so far Yakuin had whipped his ass. He could tell his former friend was genuinely pissed and in all likelihood planned to kill him. Which brought something to mind.
Back peddling and trying to avoid getting hit long enough to get words out he asked. “Yakuin, if everyone thinks I’m dead, why are you here?”
He saw his former friend pause if only for a moment, and for that moment every instinct in Nasu’s body told him to pounce to take advantage of the opening he’d created and turn the momentum of the fight more in his favor. But that would only be proving Yakuin right, that he was just trying to trick him into trust. He couldn’t win him over just by fighting he had to convince him they were still friends somehow.
Yakuin aimed a kick at his head but it lacked the viciousness of his earlier attack. He could tell his words had hit home, and more than that the fact he didn’t follow up with an attack in his friends moment of weakness. Still as saiyans they communicated as much with their fists as their words.
“I didn’t believe you were dead.” he said aiming a ki blast at his stomach. Nasu threw it off to the side racing forward and landing two quick blows to Yakuin’s chest before he was forced back by a counter kick.
“I believed if I followed your last transmission I would find...I don’t know find something. Find you in a hospital clinging to life. Find you injured in a coma unable to reach out to anyone else. At least find a damned body to bring back. Instead you’re here healthy as can be playing god. Do you know what that’s like, to be betrayed by someone you trusted like that!”
“Yes!” Nasu couldn’t help but shout in reply. “I know exactly what that’s like! My father betrayed me after everything I did to try and earn his respect. You know what happened!”
Yakuin charged throwing punch after punch, kick after kick, forcing Nasu to defend himself as best he could but he couldn’t hold back the onslaught not in his weights. Eventually punch after punch began to find it’s way home landing on his face and body driving him backwards.
“Yet here you are!” Yakuin practically screamed in between punches. “You say you know what it’s like to be betrayed but here you are! The fact that you can stand here is evidence enough!” he punctuated his last statement with a kick that was meant to send Nasu flying to the ground instead he caught Yakuin’s leg, spun and threw him away following up with dozens of energy blasts to drive him back further.
“My ship crashed here damn it! I didn’t mean to get stranded here. I didn’t mean to play god. I didn’t mean any of this. If I could be home in my bed at the Red Flag right now don’t you think I would be? Sixty two stitches! That’s what it took to sew my head back together after I crashed here! I’ll have scars for the rest of my life after that landing.” he said continuing to fire energy blasts, he just needed to keep him back far enough that he could explain his actions. “My ship was gone, I had no idea where the hell I was, who the hell I was, all I knew was that these people looked up to me, called me a god! I didn’t try and take advantage of them, you know me better than that!”
“I thought I did.” Yakuin said charging again. He seemed slower as if uncertain once again the saiyan’s fists spoke more loudly than his words. Finally Nasu drew out his sword Folgen, it’s very name meant consequences and it was time he took accepted some of his.
Yakuin paused for a second when he saw the sword but then drew his own blade a moment later his face showing no emotion. Nasu powered up fully now letting his energy flow through the sword as well and instantly the tears appeared in the air at all different angles surrounding both fighters. Yakuin looks around for a moment and Nasu realized for the first time other people can see them as well.
Nasu flew backwards fast using his sword Folgen to fend off as many blows as he could but he was no expert swordsman. He was improving but even with his training there was simply no way he could keep up with Yakuin. Still he was determined not to give up so easily.
Parrying a number of blows Nasu saw the tell tale tears in the air. Trying for a counter Nasu slashes Folgen through one of the tears with all his strength. Halfway through the tear Yakuin’s sword comes up and meets his stopping Folgen in it’s tracks. The tear disappears leaving Nasu drained.
He jumps back as fast as possible almost dodging Yakuin’s quick counter. But the lack of energy had left him too drained, to slow. The slash catches him right under his eye drawing a line of blood.
Yakuin pauses for a moment looking at him confused he looks around and can see the tears as well but most importantly he knew Nasu, he knew he normally should have been able to dodge that attack. If this were a real fight, if Yakuin had followed up with all his power Nasu would probably be dead instead of just cut up. Still it was clear Yakuin had expected him to block cut. Hell if Nasu hadn’t lost all that energy for nothing he would have blocked and countered easily. But as it was Nasu could barely stand.
Still he wouldn’t give anything away just yet. Standing tall Nasu reaches into his inner-strength. Given a short but enormous boost in power more and more lines appear in the air. Nasu realizes anything close to Yakuin’s body will be blocked before he can finish it making the attack useless. Instead Nasu chooses a tear further away. Slashing diagonally downward through it Nasu feels the energy he gained leave him in a flood.
However that is nothing compared to Yakuin’s reaction. Yakuin who was dominating the fight till a moment before is suddenly thrown from the air and sent crashing into the ground hard by an unseen force. Nasu was still far away could not possibly be responsible for the blast. Unless…
“What the hell was that boy? he shouts after regaining his composure.
“It was a new technique I picked up while on this planet. Now stay there and listen for a second or I’ll put you down again.” he didn’t mention that the tears had disappeared because he had run out of the energy to sustain them and that there was almost no way in hell he could actually pull that off again.
Instead he bluffed, and though Yakuin stood, he sheathed his sword and made no new moves to attack.
“My ship hit an asteroid field, it crashed here almost two weeks ago. When I landed the locals saw me fall like a comet out of the sky, they saw me fly up to meet them and they thought I was a god come to their rescue. Since then I had no memory of who I was, how I got here, nothing until this fight. But I didn’t take advantage of them, I didn’t lord over them ask any of them. I’m not a god, I’m not a noble, I’m not Nasu Hattori. My name is Nasu Nun.” he said as much to the people who had previously revered him as Yakuin. “And I am a member of the Red Flag, was a member of the Red Flag, until all this happened. But I would never betray that, and you’re my friend, you should know that.”
“LIAR! BETRAYER! BLASPHEMER!” a voice shouted. Nasu looked around confused until he noticed it was Shisai who was now cussing him out. “You lied to us, we believed you were a god. And now here you stand saying everything was a lie!”
“Dude, I never said I was a god. Actually my first words to you where I have no idea who I am.”
“He’s right,” another voice chimed in. Nasu looked around again it the other red eyed priest. The one who Shisai had tried to have killed. “My town never believed he was a god. We attacked him to prove he could bleed like any other man, but even after attacking him, even after giving up, he never took vengeance, he never lorded over us, he spared my life when he didn’t have to. Thank you Nasu Nun.”
Shisai continued to rant off to the side but before long other members of the town pulled him away while even more came to his defense. For his part Yakuin just stood there silently listening to everything. A long moment passed after everyone had finished talking where he stood there staring at Nasu. Finally his shoulders slumped slightly and a small smile played over his face.
“When I first saw you standing here, without a scratch, I was so angry. When I heard them call you a god I, well I was ready to kill you. I actually tried to kill you for a minute or two. If you really didn’t know better I believe you. Well not so much you as the people you ‘ruled’ over for the past two weeks. They seem to believe you as well.” he walked up to Nasu placing a hand on his shoulder. “If you still want to, it’s time to go home brother.” he called him brother the traditional phrase for other members of the Red Flag, could Yakuin really trust him again?
“I do want to go home, and you’re right. It was selfish of me to keep this from you, from Tejun from everyone but at the same time you have to understand I’ve kept this secret all my life. I haven’t even told my actual family I’m related to them yet. As far as I know Tsuyo is the only other person alive who knew who I really was. I still don’t know how I’m going to tell anyone, but you’re right it’s time for me to come clean to people.”
Yakuin smiled genuinely towards him for the first time in weeks and it was refreshing to see.
“But that being said, Tejun is not the first one I need to tell.” the smile quickly faded to one of confusion as Nasu continued. “I need to tell my family. I may not be a real Hattori but they’re still blood, and I’ve gotten the chance to know them all in one way or another. They deserve to know as well.”
“I understand,” Yakuin said and a wave of relief flooded over him. “Just always remember we’re still your family too.” was all he said as he started walking back to the ship leaving Nasu to say his goodbyes.
With that he turned towards the little people who had taken him in for the past two weeks and who he’d genuinely come to care for since then.
“Guys, I’m really sorry I’m not your god.” he said trying for humor but coming out more flat than he anticipated. “I...thank you all. You took me in, you treated me as family. Thank you.” One by one or in groups they all came up and wished him well on his journey home. Everyone except Shisai, Nasu went over to say goodbye to the man who walked him through godhood for the last two weeks but the man only walked away from him into his house and shut the door. He was saddened but he knew life wasn’t always full of happy endings. Turning his back he waved goodbye one last time and walked over to Yakuin.
Yakuin looked at him, “You ready to go home man?”
“Yea I’m...DAMN IT ALL!”
“What? What’s wrong?” he asked looking around for what had so bothered Nasu.
“Now I’m gonna need to buy a new ship…”
****
Nasu would pour energy into his sword creating lines that look like little rips in the air. If he slashes his sword through one of those tears gravity would multiply in the direction of the slash. So if Nasu slashes through a sideways tear gravity would redirect sending his foe flying sideways. If Nasu slashes down gravity would multiply downward hopefully stunning an opponent who was not expecting the increase. The move takes a large amount of energy from Nasu and only works if he cuts all the way through the tear. If Nasu were to begin to slash through a line but couldn’t make it all the way through the energy would still be drained depending on how far into the tear he slashed but gravity would not be changed at all leaving him weaker.
If this move is used successfully there is a two post cooldown period.
***
Graderr: Really sorry this is so long, it was supposed to be like 4k words and just got away from me.
