Clash of the Guardians III
#3 of Clash of the Guardians
Rai awoke to the soft hum of machinery, clueless as to where he lay. Staring up at the lackluster white ceiling, he tried to recollect all of his recent memories of his journey; the happening across of the armor, a seemingly insurmountable number of foes to fight, the cybernetic upgrades. His head was convoluted with these thoughts for a few minutes when suddenly his battle with Draze flashed across his mind, causing Rai to jolt up and growl out in pain. He made his best effort to stay up, but quickly collapsed back into the bed.
A few moments later a lock was disengaged and a door which he hadn't noticed opened, an unimposing Reploid shuffling briskly through the passageway. She looked around the room for a few moments and stepped next to the bed Rai rested on.
"Rai, I assume?" she asked with an unreadable expression.
The panther turned his head to look at her. One glance at her eyes and he could tell she was a skilled medic. "Yeah." Rai answered back groggily. His vital data was stored in a chip in his arm, so it was no shock that they knew his name. It was one of the requirements of receiving implants.
"Very well. We've treated you for various wounds, and although you came in pretty messed up there was nothing too serious inflicting you."
"That's good, I guess. If I may ask the obvious though, where the hell am I?"
The Reploid stared at him and considered the question. "You're aboard one of the airships of the Guardians."
Rai's eyes shot open at the new information. He leaned up to take a look around the room again and winced at the pain, but he ignored it as he couldn't sense his biometal. He panicked slightly, a sinking feeling welling in his heart. He turned to the medic, a desperate look in his eyes.
"Where's my biometal..?"
"It is in possession of the Guardians now."
"You have no right to what's mine!" Rai hissed, his anger beginning to energize him. The Reploid looked unmoved.
"I think the one you want to ask questions to is me, young one." A tall, battle-scarred wolf with an illustrious white pelt appeared next to the medic, and waved for her to continue her duties elsewhere. The Reploid nodded and locked eyes with Rai for a moment, then turned and walked out of the room. The door sealed shut and the panther could hear the lock re-engage.
"And you are?" Rai spat, loathing being backed into a corner.
"I'm one of the commanders of the Guardians. The name is Nexus, Nex for short." Nexus extended a paw for the sake of civility, but the panther merely glared at him. He laughed for a few moments, his expression lighthearted. "I expected as much. From your reaction, you must know about the Guardians. Among assisting settlements and cities out in the frontier, we are also pushing to reclaim as many pieces of the biometals as we can. We think it is in the best of interests of everyone to secure and use them as needed." Nexus began to pace back and forth in front of the bed.
"So you took my biometal from me. The fragment that I have spent countless fights protecting, that I have shed my blood for.."
"Yes, we did, along with the biometal from the fur you were fighting." Rai's growing rage lessened momentarily.
"Wait, Draze was a fur? But--" the commander cut Rai off.
"Is, though he's more extensively modified than you. At first we thought he was a Reploid until the biometal was extracted, but we were proven wrong."
"You mean he's still alive?! That's impossible!" Rai cried out in disbelief. Nexus nodded his head.
"You cracked the crystal on his head, yes, but his body miraculously survived the explosion. My medic crew has healed him almost completely, but he refuses to speak at all. It's a shame."
Rai sat in bewilderment for a few minutes, Nexus patiently waiting as the panther processed all of this new information. Losing his biometal was the worst part of the situation, but the fact that Draze was still alive...Rai suddenly smirked, glad that they had both survived. It had been a somewhat fun fight, but knowing that neither of them had their biometals anymore ruined the chance of a rematch. Rai sighed heavily at the realization and stared at the floor where Nexus stood.
"What now..." the panther trailed off, despair overcoming his mind as he futilely thought of methods to obtain the biometal back.
"This may sound odd coming from me, but don't lose hope. You never know when an opportunity might arise," the wolf with fur as white as freshly powdered snow said as he smiled. "Now, I apologize for cutting this short but I must be off to handle my work. You'll be transported to a holding cell later today, so it's in your best interests to get a bit more rest. Until next time," the commander swiveled around and approached the door, waiting for the lock to open before disappearing through and leaving Rai alone.
Does my journey really end here?
Rai's body became listless as he fell back into the bed, now feeling the bumpy movements of the airship ever so slightly. He closed his eyes and fell asleep, becoming oblivious to the world around him for a few precious hours.
Once again Rai awoke in an unfamiliar setting, his body in a better condition than before. He scanned the room while sitting upright in the bed; a small couch, a private washroom, and a bland piece of art hanging on the wall were the main attractions of the holding cell. This was no ordinary holding cell, he could tell that much. A transparent energy barrier took up one wall to keep occupants in, but allowing the panther to see the opposing cell across the hall. In the corner sat a melancholy Draze, staring out through one of the few windows. Rai coughed loudly, hoping to get the fur's attention. Draze turned his head slightly and cast an indifferent glance, but focused his emerald eyes on Rai nonetheless. To the panther's surprise, he spoke.
"Hmph. The kitty survived too." Rai nodded slowly. As much as he should have felt angry at Draze, he knew nothing about him. He didn't like to pass judgment on someone too quickly, even if he had tried to steal the biometal.
"I heard they got your biometal, too," Rai said as he got out of his bed and went to sit in front of the barrier. The caverns had been viciously dark, thus giving him his first real look at Draze. A silver furred weasel, he had the look of a true fur now without his armor, though there were various appendages and parts that could easily pass for a Reploid. Not limited to the freeze-inducing stare of his eyes, it appeared that both of his legs had been modified with implants. Draze had short and spiked, somewhat subdued blue hair that sprouted forward from his head at a windswept angle, and Rai figured he was a few inches shorter than himself.
He's...kind of attractive. Rai looked down for a moment at his lightly clothed body, not terribly toned but rather fit looking, though that was to be expected of a fighter of his caliber. The panther's silver eyes rested on the area between the weasel's splayed out legs for a few moments, spurning a curious look from Draze.
"What are you, gay?" Draze smirked at the panther who was staring at his body. Rai flushed with much embarrassment and looked away, not expecting a comment of that nature from the weasel.
"No! I was just...I was merely taking in the image of the fur who almost killed me." Draze seemed unconvinced but decided to say nothing more about it.
"Whatever," he looked back towards the window, seeming to lose interest in staring at Rai. "You called me a Reploid if I remember right. Guess the kitty was wrong?"
"I smelled synthetic fluids after I got a strike in, and all I could really see was your prosthetic eyes, so I assum--" Rai was cut off yet again.
"Assumptions are what get people killed. I'm surprised you've survived this long with that kind of logic. Besides, my eyes are naturally luminous, they aren't prosthetic."
"I was wrong, yes. It's obvious why you were after me, but how did you survive blowing yourself up? Also..." Rai tilted his head slightly, a tuft of hair falling over one eye. "How did you know my name?"
"Telling you all of that would spoil the fun, now wouldn't it? If you must know, though, I set up a disguised bomb at the last moment before I passed out. The logistics are too complex to explain, but at least you know that much. As for your name, I'm not one with the shadows for the sake of it." His lips curled into a content smile, apparently satisfied with his skills. "I'm only telling you this much because you clashed with me at a nearly equal level of skill, though it's apparent that you have a lot to learn about your biometal." Draze trailed off, realizing that they had been taken away. "Had, anyway."
The weasel continued to stare out the window as Rai gazed at his own footpaws, time ever so slowly passing by. It seemed that Draze was in low spirits about losing his fragments, but with or without he gave off the aura of an experienced fighter, even for his relatively youthful appearance. Rai started to assume facts about him and he quickly stopped himself, remembering what Draze had said. He looked back up at the sleek figure, who had since closed his eyes. After a few minutes of looking at the fur, he spoke up.
"So...what sector are you from?" he asked cautiously, unsure if Draze was asleep.
"That's none of your business," he quickly shot back. Rai's ears flattened, a bit disappointed that he was unwilling to talk any further. Regardless of the fact that the weasel had had every intention of stealing his armor from him and most likely killing him in the process, he found Draze to be tolerable and possibly even a tad bit likable. Or perhaps he was just incredibly bored.
"I guess not, but I like to talk. Besides, you don't seem too bad." Draze cackled at the comment, opening his eyes and turning towards the panther.
"Simply because I attacked you makes me a bad person, does it? Assumptions, kitty. I'm on my own search for biometal fragments for my own reasons. I'm reasonably sure if you found another in the possession of a fragment similar to yours you would attempt to take it. The majority of pursuers of the fragments would kill you without a second thought. That's how it works."
"That's...well...that's not how I meant it. I'm sorry," Rai responded slowly, thinking about what he said. "I haven't had a true fight with another user of the biometal aside from you, so I wouldn't know. I'm certainly not afraid to kill though, I've witnessed my share. Honestly," the panther allowed the bare makings of a smile to show on his face, "you seem like a decent fur."
"Thanks, I suppose, not that it really matters." Draze turned away from Rai, focusing on the energy barrier that was his main obstacle to freedom. "Now, if only I could think of an escape..."
As the words escaped the weasel's mouth, the airlock slid open and in stepped Nexus along with two heavily armed human guards. Stopping between the two cells, he first looked at Rai, and then at Draze, finally nodding to the guard on his left. The guard walked over to a control panel and punched a code in, causing the energy barriers to dissipate. Rai and Draze exchanged confused looks.
"Something has come up. I need your help," Nexus said calmly. "If you'll follow me." As if they even had a say in the matter, the guards lifted their weapons and trained their sights on the two furs. "Now." Neither fur moved.
"Why should I, or we for that matter, help you? You stripped us of our rightful possessions and locked us up. Go to hell," Draze's face remained somewhat calm, the agitation of being asked such a favor showing through ever so slightly. Rai could see he didn't care much for authority. Nexus frowned.
"While our procurement procedures might not be the best, the means justify the ends in this modern world. Either we take the biometals by force and keep them safe or the world will soon be on the brink of chaos. While I feel bad for you two, I still refuse to be apologetic about it, but I might be able to make amends." Rai arched an eyebrow, recalling what the commander had recently told him about keeping hope. "As the situation stands, an unusually large maverick raid is under way in Telos."
"And we care why?" Draze asked, somewhat sarcastically, not letting Rai utter a word.
"I'm out of options at this point. Our troops are thinning and the main forces guarding Telos have been crushed. We're also picking up a biometal signature," Nexus sighed audibly but looked straight at Draze. "I'm willing to let you two use the biometals. In fact, we have other fragments to them." Draze stared long and hard at the wolf, attempting to decipher exactly what he was thinking. Suddenly he burst out in laughter.
"You're going to let us use the biometals to serve your purposes? Are you mad?!" Draze exclaimed with incredulity. He couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"If you can protect Telos, I might return them to you under certain conditions. Consider this a chance to prove to the Guardians that you can be trusted with them. I'm not going to mince words with you, I am out of options and am resorting to desperate tactics." Draze stood up and walked over to the commander, standing his ground in front of him as both guards kept their sights locked onto the weasel.
"I could care less of what the Guardians think, but I want my biometal back. Let's go, Rai." Nexus grinned noticeably as the panther stood up and came to stand next to Draze. Rai couldn't help but admire the silver furred weasel to some extent, and didn't seem to mind taking an order from him either. He'd been in stranger situations after all, although this one certainly warranted a spot among the top.
"Excellent. Guards, you may stand down. Follow me, please."
Characters are (c) myself.