12Age 765
Planet Brench
Caesa did not know the name Hochmut nor how she discovered his position – yet, he could immediately tell what she was. A bounty hunter, who was here after him, and the money that Cooler had promised for anyone who brought his head to the alien emperor. Unlike Articho, Caesa did not have the luxury of being assumed dead by the entire Galaxy – and, as it seems, his strategy of waiting it out in the wilderness of his home planet only worked for so long.
Yet, faced with the declaration of the stone-faced woman's intent, Caesa remained his cool. Immediately, he folded his hands behind his back, as if assuming a more stout, dignified stance. Attached to the belt on the back was a small remote – his finger pressed onto one of the buttons before retreating away.
"Ah, so I have been found out," the scientist answered, with a confident tone and a brief bow. "Pray tell me, I am curious... why does Cooler want me dead?"
He knew why, but the question was not intended for himself.
Briefly surprised by the unexpected question, Hochmut stopped, then made another step forward and shrugged.
"Why you asking me? I'm just doing the job, ask him yourself while he tortures you to death if you're so curious."
"So, you don't even know..."
"I don't know what your deal is, old man," the bounty hunter continued, then pulled out her flask once more and popped it open, taking another swig. "-but don't try to make this costlier than it's already been. I'm already barely breaking even, and if you're gonna make this more difficult by fighting back, then I'mma really choose dead rather than alive."
"He's not paying you enough?"
Hochmut stopped in the middle of the facetious remark, then lowered her swig, attaching it back to the belt of her armour suit. "Shut up."
"I'm asking because, well... if there's an issue with money you're having, then we can come to an arrangement – one that'll be much less costly and far more profitable for you."
Ah, so that's where he was leading at. Hearing Caesa's proposal, Hochmut scoffed. "Really? You're cowering already? Why am I supposed to believe that you have any money to give, anyway? I found you bumming around the streets all alone, surely someone as rich as you imply would have at least gotten someone to protect them while they're on the run."
It was even a little disappointing. If all she's found here was some refugee who couldn't fight and had to hide behind empty promises of paying more than Cooler's empire, not even anything to kick, then this would feel like... just a waste of time.
Yet, Hochmut's declaration did not break Caesa's confidence, though he made yet another step backwards. If anything, the bounty hunter's claim that he was defenceless only got his smirk to widen, slightly.
"You say so...?"
Waiting for his comrade to return from the town and allow them to depart from this planet, Articho laid down on the hilltop, brushing aside some of the short grasses to give himself some room, and turned his eyes to the sky. The two suns were both up, but neither were particularly bright, giving the sky a fairly dim glow. Everything was still difficult to comprehend, and the Saiyan's mind still hadn't coped with what he had just experienced. From his perspective, it was less than an hour ago that he was fighting a life or death match against a galactic emperor, then, in a single clip, one and a half years passed, leaving him behind and throwing into a galaxy where... everything had changed.
From underneath his head, Articho pulled out his mechanical arm, inspecting it in the glare of the suns. Then, suddenly, it loudly beeped.
"-Huh?"
As the appendage wouldn't stop beeping, and a light below where his wrist would be started flashing red, the Saiyan pulled himself off the ground, getting to a sitting position. It certainly wasn't anything done by him, right?
...Caesa.
Even if this wasn't an alarm of sorts, he would be the only person who'd explain anything about what is happening to his arm regardless. The fact that his arm only began beeping when he separated from the scientist and settled here was alarming in of itself, too...
"Alright, alright, calm down, I'm getting there," he yelled, to nobody in particular – or was it to his beeping arm? – and took off to the sky, surrounded by a trail of light blue aura. Yet again, he was consumed by the monotonous landscape – thankfully, it did not take long before the roofs of the village began to poke out of the horizon.
And just in time, as a powerful blow suddenly shook the entire settlement, the unexpected rush of dust and ash catching the Saiyan's attention from the sky and getting him to change his direction.
Having raised a shield of psionic energy at the last moment and crossed his arms, Caesa endured the sudden kick from Hochmut, yet at a price – not only was he smashed out of the building and crashed across the main square of the village, but the attack knocked the wind out of him and embedded him in the ground. Startled by yet another battle between ki users taking place in their town, the Brenchians hurried away to the sides, beginning to evacuate the premises and fleeing to the wide grasslands surrounding the settlement.
"I'm surprised you didn't snap like a twig from that kick, little man," Hochmut declared, lowering her leg and then stepping out of the building through the hole that her strike left in the wall. Instead of replying, Caesa merely groaned under his breath and weakly pulled himself into a sitting position. For what was worth, he had to agree with the bounty hunter – the difference between them was so vast that his psychic powers would never be able to make up for the difference. Not to mention that they worked far better as support than as the main firepower of a fight...
This was the situation that Articho saw, flying above, and, without hesitation, he quickly swept down. Hochmut stopped in her approach, her ears hearing the charge of a ki-based flier, and barely managed to mutter:
"What the-"
before a punch struck her in the face, sending her flying. She crashed through dozens of now-abandoned stalls and tents, leaving a trail of destruction that stretched through much of the town. Right as he withdrew his fist and placed his feet on the ground, Articho turned his eyes to Caesa and yelled:
"I'm guessing this crap is why my arm keeps beeping, right?"
In fact, it still was, annoyingly so.
"Ah, yes, that's the warning system, I installed it to send you alarms over interstellar distances," after shaking off the remaining dizziness from the strike and pulling himself onto his feet, Caesa began to explain and pressed the button on the remote again, turning the alarm off. "There's a few other things your arm can do, but there's no time, just kill her quickly."
"What's her problem with you?"
"Not much, she's just paid to kill us both. Bit of a rift over that, I guess. I'd rather live."
Well, I should have figured we'll have a target on our backs.
"Got it." It didn't seem like Caesa knew much about this person besides getting kicked by her, so there was no point in asking for any strategies – he'll have to figure those out himself. Articho shifted into a basic fighting stance. Caesa stepped away, still keeping his eyes on the Saiyan, then continued:
"I'll pick up the particle accelerator and install it in the ship. That should give you enough time to finish her off."
I don't even know who I'm dealing with, you shouldn't be so confident...
The pile of fabric and metal that Hochmut had been left under suddenly shook and then scattered apart, blown off by a powerful burst of invisible ki. "Gods, damn it, that was my target, I'm not going to appreciate my kill stolen..." There was a bit of a distance between her and where she had stood a moment ago, but she could clearly see a new man stand in her place, staring her down and covering for the fleeing Caesa. So, he must be the scientist's bodyguard, not just another bounty hunter...
That explained why he was acting so confident even when cornered. It wasn't going to dissuade her, though.
"Get lost, idiot!" she screamed and then ran forward, picking up momentum with each step – the yell got Articho to draw his foot back, shifting to a defensive stance. To his surprise, the bounty hunter folded her arms as she launched herself off the surface, instead aiming her leg as she flew at the Saiyan. It clashed with Articho's upper arm, sending forth a powerful shockwave that trembled the entire village.
"You..." Hochmut gushed out, frustrated. Their eyes locked, and the bounty hunter, shocked, immediately leapt back. "...Y-you?!"
Articho didn't answer – immediately after he and his opponent broke contact, the Saiyan raised his hand forward and unleashed a burst of invisible ki, pushing Hochmut back and rolling across the main square. Her heels dug into the earth and she stopped to a halt, and then yelled:
"You're alive?!"
This time, she got Articho's attention. After lowering his hand, he paused, briefly narrowing his eyes. If they were familiar, his memory of this person was completely dulled.
"Do I... know you?"
Instead of answering, Hochmut appeared above Articho, reaching him at speeds faster than the eye could track, and sent her leg down – the Saiyan responded at haste and blocked the blow with his elbow, the impact releasing another shockwave outward. Now that they were up close, and locked foot to fist, he noticed something... unexpected. The medallion, hanging from her neck. He had seen it before.
"Yes, that's you... Tximino."
Hochmut leaped off, spinning in the air and then landing on her feet a few meters in front of Articho. The Saiyan lowered his guard. How did I not notice it before? She's Furnitian. The stone-like appearance... it was just like the race he had thought to be extinct for over a decade by now. Yet, after the initial surprise, he merely shot the woman a glare and answered:
"Nobody calls me by that name anymore."
"So, that makes two of us..."
Hochmut's arms were still folded – she wasn't even trying to use them in battle. Suddenly, she lunged forward for another attack, a barrage of fast kicks that forced Articho back and sent him sliding across the ground.
"Of course, you don't remember me, Star Child – but I remember you," she announced after another leap back, this time continuing to walk around the defending Saiyan in a circle, staring him down like prey. "When we last met, I was but a girl ripped out of my home for service to a foreign conqueror that fell out of the sky, forced to dance and jump for him, until the undoing he deserved finally came for him... you must not have even caught her name, or remembered her face. The whole planet was just toys to you that you could discard away...!"
That story, and that voice, reawakened old, faded memories in Articho's mind. "Star Child, do you know who they are? Can you confront them and stop them?"
I don't know if I can...
"How did you survive?" the Saiyan suddenly asked, the tone in his voice confrontational, as his eyes tracked after Hochmut in her walk around him. It got the bounty hunter to stop with a loud stomp, and, after a second of silence, answer:
"The same way as you, I imagine. They did not murder everyone once the green-skinned invader knocked you out and kidnapped you – a handful, deemed worthy to serve as slave soldiers for their despicable army, were taken with them."
Her voice turned slightly shakier, so Hochmut pulled out her flask and took another swig of her drink. It wasn't helping, but it couldn't hurt to try.
"So, I exchanged one slavery for another, at least until Frieza croaked and I escaped. Now that I have no home anymore, though... all I can do is hunt for people like you. You've forgotten your old name, haven't you? What do you call yourself now?"
"Articho. Your name was..."
"I've forgotten it just like you have, don't bother. Hochmut was the name of my commander. I adopted that name after killing her." The bounty hunter attached her flask back to her belt and suddenly braced for a charge forward, with a faint smirk on her face. "Don't worry, I won't give your name that fate after killing you."
The clash began anew. Hochmut lunged forward once more, opening up with a powerful flying kick that Articho had to block by crossing both arms. The force of the blow pushed him back several meters, while the bounty hunter, landing back on her feet after the strike, moved forward yet again, this time appearing behind the Saiyan by moving faster than the eye could track. Another kick, a painful hit to the back that forced Articho onto his fours. In response, he turned back at her and was about to fire off a ki blast, when-
Wait-
Guided by his instinct, he aimed his right hand – the robotic appendage couldn't release even a whiff of ki. It was a mistake that costed precious seconds – Hochmut's knee clocked him in the face, forcing him back and sending him crashing into a shopping stand.
"Not just some helpless dancer now, don't you think?!" the woman yelled and continued her attack. Articho barely had the time to recover from the last strike before she descended with a kick upon him from above. With the side of his arm, he blocked it, yet Hochmut weaved out of the way of the punch he threw as a response.
I could tell that from the beginning, you bitch...
The bounty hunter continued attacking – spinning in the air with cartwheels and front flips, only occasionally putting one foot or another on the ground to spring back into action, she kept sending one kick after another – not unlike a dance, ironically or not, just a lot deadlier to whoever was on the opposing side. All Articho could do was make slow steps back and defend – he was searching for an opportunity to strike.
Here we go!
Against a spin kick, Articho ducked to the side and then grabbed Hochmut's leg with both of his hands. She let out a loud yelp as, suddenly, he threw her in the air with a powerful swing. That wasn't all, either – an aura burst to life around the Saiyan's body and he went for a chase, catching up to the flying bounty hunter and grabbing her face with his right hand. They both went straight to the ground – where Hochmut was slammed down into the dirt with a tremendous shockwave. Buildings around them crumbled like cards, and grasses well over a kilometre away were blown off the earth and sent swirling in the air currents.
Articho removed his cybernetic hand and briefly gave it a glance, the impact having surprised even him. That was... a stronger blow than I expected.
A kick suddenly reached him from inside the crater, but he deflected it in time and slid back. With a spin in the air, Hochmut leapt out of the crater and landed on the ground, speaking:
"You're rather stronger than I expected, too..." Briefly, she flashed a grin. "With this level of power, you'd wipe the floor with that green pompous asshole who slaughtered my race."
"Oh, if he were still alive, I'd have had him vaporised long ago," Articho answered, his tone calm, yet betraying contempt towards Frieza's former right-hand man. That got Hochmut to let out a hearty laugh – yet, the Saiyan wasn't done. "We don't have to fight, you know."
"Huh?"
"It was Frieza's race which destroyed our kind, and brought you to where you are now. Alone, shaken by your memories of the past... Now that both of our home is destroyed, there's no reason for us to fight for past grievances. I..." Articho paused, uncertain if he should commit, but continued anyway. "...am planning to challenge Cooler, one day. He's the one you should fight. If anything, we deserve to fight together, not slaughter each other today."
He knew he was lying. I'd die if I ever tried to challenge Cooler. She would, too. But if this gets her off our tail... it doesn't hurt to make that bluff.
For a second, Hochmut merely stared at Articho, surprised by the offer. She released a giggle, then, she broke into a full laugh.
"Our race? You were never a member of my race. You were an alien monster, injected into our world to prepare it for its destruction – and you fulfilled that duty perfectly," she called out, suddenly furious. "Don't try to call kinship with me, you bastard. You abused our race, and if it weren't for you, neither Zarbon nor anyone else would have ever touched down on our surface. We would have lived as we had for generations prior."
Articho could not deny having been a monster on Furnit – and, in a way, he hardly changed since then. The last accusation, though... "How is that my fault?!"
A vicious smirk formed on Hochmut's face. "If you had fallen out your space pod on the day of your landing and cracked your neck, Zarbon would have had no reason to come to Furnit. He was there for you. My people were just collateral damage."
"I-"
Articho let out a sigh. With that attitude, he found no reason to continue arguing, so he merely shifted into a defensive stance again. Hochmut's demeanour, on the other hand, was different. Caesa was merely a job she had to take to perpetuate her meaningless existence – but this battle... it almost made her feel alive. That she was actually fighting for something, rather than just because that was her life now.
The Saiyan's aloof attitude thus left her more annoyed than she wanted to be.
"Where's your enthusiasm?" she yelled, lunging forward with arms folded yet again. Articho braced for impact. By now, he was starting to get a hang of the bounty hunter's leg-focused fighting style, and while it was annoying to fight her when he relied on punches and grapples, it was not insurmountable. At the very last moment, his arm suddenly beeped again.
Huh?
Articho's wrists endured Hochmut's powerful descending kick. Behind her, right above the horizon, a faint light hovered over the ground, rapidly approaching. Caesa did exactly as he promised, and the Saiyan already anticipated what his tactic was.
"For my father! For my mother! For my city, that you razed! And for-" the bounty hunter yelled with each subsequent kick. On the last strike, however, she swung against nothing but air. "Huh?" That's when she saw Articho flying above, and a spaceship flying past the town at supersonic speeds. He and the vessel met in mid-air, where Caesa caught his hand, peeking out from the bottom hatch.
"Got you!"
Hochmut fired forth an energy blast, but by then, Articho had already crawled into the ship, the hatch closed, and it sped off into orbit faster than light. The blast dissipated in the upper atmosphere, and the bounty hunter was left standing in the centre of the battered, abandoned village all alone.
"Articho!"