Crane Hermit Part 3 (OPEN/QUEST)

The ground was awash with red, as three bodies lay upon the ground blood flowing freely from various wounds on their bodies. Dark clouds hung overhead, thick and full of droplets simply waiting for the right moment to shed their tears upon the ground, to wash away all traces of the world's pain. A steady wind was roaring through the land, making it seem as if the Earth was crying in pain.

Two men stood across from each other, the bloody of their fallen enemies flowing freely among their boots. One of these men was named Novashen, a tall and proud looking warrior of had a noble look about him, long white hair tied back in a pony tail. He wore a plain set of black training clothes that covered his legs and arms fully, though it was easy to see that underneath his clothing was a finely toned body.

Around the pair was a plain village, all of it's buildings made from the natural resources on hand, trees, mud and foliage. Though it seemed as if some great disaster had hit the village recently, as there were various buildings in the village that seemed ruined and even more that seemed to be in a state of new construction. Though that construction seemed halted, as the village's occupants were had all run to see what was going on, and were standing around the two men and three bodies slack jawed. There was one blonde girl, whose face seemed unmarred yet from the cruelties of life, she was on her knees face in hands as she sobbed uncontrollably.

Novashen glanced off in the direction of the sobbing woman, a curious look coming across his face as he watched her cry.

“Why does she sob so?” Novashen wondered, his blood was still pumping at the excitement of having defeated three foes so easily.

Curious, he wandered over to the pretty blonde kneeling down so that his face would be level with hers. The villagers around them tensed up at his actions, but were so in fear of him that they did not intervene, Novashen though did not notice that at all.

“Hello there maiden, what troubles you so? Surely you should be happy that we have defeated three evil foes such as these?” Novashen said, speaking directly to the blonde in front of him, his face scant inches away.

The maiden who had been so caught up in her tears and sorrow had failed to notice the Prince approach. Startled she looked up, still sobbing to see the kind face of the Prince before her, his brown eyes seemingly friendly and full of warmth.

“Wha... what are you? You are a MONSTER!” she yelled at the Prince, she looked confused at his unexpected show of warmth, having expected him to gloat about his victory. Though she was not fooled! He had just slain three of Roshi's students, he had to be a monster!

When she yelled at Novashen, his face grew shocked. He was not used to being addressed in such an abrupt manner by someone who was obviously not royalty. Lifting his hand up, he carefully struck her across the face, making sure to use just enough strength to tilt her face slightly, lest he accidentally knock her head clear from her shoulders.

“You speak to royalty woman, we just did you a favor these men were cruel maniuplators who were just using you,” Novashen's eyes grew intense as he spoke, his regal face growing scary in the eyes of the woman he had slapped.
Though he did little else, he rose to his feet and turn around leaving the woman kneeling in shock, not only at his words but at his actions as well. The thought going through her head - “Was he right? Were the now dead men before her truly evil?”

“Let's get out of here 17,” Novashen said to his stalwart ally, the Prince's face clearly showed his annoyance at the people of the village.

Choosing not to give the village another thought, he willed his flight systems into life, resulting him him lifting from the ground, moving higher and higher into the sky until he was nothing but a dot moving in the distance, at least in the eyes of the villagers below.

Novashen himself was distracted by the woman's reaction. He had expected some kind of thankfulness from the woman, instead she had shown fear when he had gotten close to her.

“Is she so blind that she could not see them for the evil beings that they were? How naive were those people?” Novashen's thoughts of course many, as he tried to make sense of what happened, though he was having little success.

After flying for a short time he decided that the evil humans had merely been master manipulators, and had the villagers so brain washed that they had no awareness of their evil.

“That would be the only theory that makes sense,” Novashen thought as he made his way back to Master Shen's dojo, though he slowed his pace just enough to give 17 a chance to catch up, he wanted to have a chance to talk to his fellow warrior, to learn more about what drove the man.

Word Count - 885

A cold and eerie silence swept across the now blood ridden village, as many of its inhabitants looked on in horror at what they had just witnessed. Their proverbial saviors had been slain in a matter of mere seconds, some just maimed and others even more less fortunate completely and utterly unrecognizable. The cause of the grim scene were two who stood above the bodies and looked out over their work. Aside from the royally naive killer was the one who seemed to relish in his work. His shoulder length hair as black as his heart if he’d had one blew through the rather fitting gusts.

They were dressed in the same fashion, wearing a mostly black training gi with a symbol embedding into their backs. The Kanji would read “Crane”. This one who called himself Seventeen prodded at one of the downed men with his right foot, jabbing it into the fallen fighter’s side. He poked at one of the wounds which had definitely appeared to be mortal, while laughing under his breath at the missing leg. All in a days work..

Seventeen found it quite entertaining to torture a man while the weak stood aside wishing they could do something to help him, but they had far more intelligence than they did heart. Who could blame them? Who wanted to end up like this guy?

After having his fun, the sadistic android kicked the helpless pupil over onto his back so that his chest was facing up and then Seventeen drove the same foot in his chest. With it planted firmly, Seventeen leaned over the knee and looked down into the man’s eyes. While glaring down into his eyes, he shot his signature smirk of a sadist. Looking up with the life slowly fading from him, the warrior did his best to get out a word. ”Why.. Why don’t you just kill me, you bastard..”

Seventeen leaned in a bit closer, as if trying to make out what the man was trying to say through the gurgling of his blood. “Eh.. ? You mean aside from watching you squirm and suffer your last few minutes of life? Well, here. I’ll tell you. On the off chance that you survive, I want you to be a visual message to your master. The message? Well, I guess your current state would speak for itself, wouldn’t you say?”

In response, the fighter’s eyes widened and then clenched in pure rage. On impulse, he spit up some of his blood with the intent of hitting Seventeen in the face. Shutting his eyes, Seventeen scowled as the blood splattered onto his face. Disgusted, he spit right back despite his urge to put the insect out of his misery. “I’ll give you that one.”

With one more swift stomp, Seventeen then lifted his foot and shifted his attention over toward his partner. He’d noticed that he was attempting to speak to one of the natives, a blonde girl. Rolling his eyes, he began pacing toward them and those in his way quickly scampered from his path.

Listening in, Seventeen heard tidbits of what Novashen was attempting to convey to the girl. Apparently, the prince from another dimension or.. whatever, was convinced that what they were doing was just. Not that Seventeen cared either which way, but this guy sure had to be royally delusional. After not getting the praise he was looking for, Novashen laid hands upon the girl. Lifting an eyebrow, Seventeen folded his arms and ran through various judgements within his head.

“You speak to royalty woman, we just did you a favor these men were cruel manipulators who were just using you,”

Seventeen let out a heavy sigh and began to turn away to head back to their destination after adding in his sarcastic tone, “Give it a rest. Clearly, this lot of people are bunch of ingrates.”


At this point, he’d say anything to get Novashen to get a move on. Surely, their teacher had another assignment already prepared for them and Seventeen had hoped to get it underway immediately. Another perk that came with their state of being cyborgs. Virtually endless reserves of energy, meaning they hardly would need rest in between their missions and their training could go on for however long they desired.

Noticing Novashen take off in a manner relatable to that of a child who did not get their way, Seventeen followed and kept his distance so as not to engage in conversation. However, along they way, it would appear that his fellow pupil had that exact goal in mind as he slowed his pace a bit. To Seventeen’s dismay, he had a hunch that Novashen would take a stab at picking at his brain.

With his eyes remaining forward, he waited for Novashen to inevitably strike up a conversation.

WC: 815

He flew for several miles doing nothing but enjoying the sensation of flying, allowing his body to relax and simply enjoy the sensation. Yet as he flew, he realized that he had been ignoring his partner. He was not the kind of person to be rude and ignore those around him, he had been born to protect and serve his people and that involved interacting with them. Slowing his pace, he allowed 17 to catch up with him.

Several long minutes went by as he waited for 17 to bother to catch up, and after a bit Novashen began to suspect that maybe 17 was trying not to catch up. Curious, he glanced backwards to see if he could make visual contact with his partner. Novashen's eyes landed on 17's, though his cyborg partner seemed to fail to notice the gesture and to his best guess was probably lost in thought. He felt a bit of relief, thankful that his partner wasn't ignoring him.

“After all that would just make things awkward between us,” Novashen thought, the pair would probably be spending some time training under Master Crane together, so it would be important for them to get along and get to know each other.

Slowing his pace further, so that 17 would catch up on his own accord and so that he did not have to interrupt his partners thoughts right away, he flew in silence next to 17 for a short period of time. The Prince was one to enjoy simple sensation, to allow stress and worry to melt away from his body and he took advantage of 17's focus to do just that.

He let time pass away from him, not bothering to track the moments that passed. So that the pair could fly silently along, Novashen focused on relaxing and 17 lost in his own thoughts, and that was fine for a short while. Eventually, Novashen got curious, he had woken up with 17 in a strange underground room and despite their interaction upon awakening he knew little of what had actually occurred to him. 17 on the other hand seemed to be fully aware of everything that happened, though they had not yet had time to discuss it.

“Well 17, I have some questions for you. First of them being, where was that place that we awoke in? And more importantly who was the man that put us there in the first place?” Novashen finally blurted out his question, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Though he had given it little though while he had been training with Master Crane, he was indeed curious as to how he had ended up in that strange room. Depending on what 17 said, it could shed some light on how he had come to be in this strange world. He wasn't quite sure what 17 had to say, but perhaps he would reveal that some powerful wizard had kidnapped them both. Sealing them in the odd capsules he had woken up in.

The sun was beginning to set off in the distance, as they had left later in the day to the village and though their actual mission had not taken much time, their travel time had. Yet, as the light in the world diminished Novashen noticed that his ability to see was not impaired in the slightest. It seemed that whatever had been done to him by that man had also affected his ability to see in the dark, not just his ability to see at a distance.

“I am sure whatever 17 has to say will help me understand these new changes in my body,” Novashen fumed, though he had been relaxed he grew irritated at the thought of his body having been violated while he was unconscious. For now though, he put his thoughts on pause waiting for his dark haired partner to awaken from his thoughts and answer his questions.

WC - 660
TWC - 1545

Seventeen continued flying along with his eyes dead set ahead of them as he waited for the inevitable influx of questions he'd been expecting. He knew the moment would come when Novashen would begin to ask just how he came to be in this world and why it happened to him. The cyborg remembered his own time of questions when he was first abducted and operated upon. However, his programming was completed unlike Novashen's and provide an array the much needed answer. It would seem it would be Seventeen's duty to take the place of said programming if he ever wanted Novashen to be of any actual use to him in the field.

While the unfinished project has proven useful already, he did not want any further speculation down the line and possible defiance when it came down to their objectives or their sole mission. They glided along in silence for a while which was golden, though the tension could be felt as Novashen's urges to speak began to take hold.

“Well 17, I have some questions for you. First of them being, where was that place that we awoke in? And more importantly who was the man that put us there in the first place?"

And there it was.

Shutting his eyes for a moment, he prepared himself to answer the questions to the best of his ability and get the conversation out of the way. It was somewhat like having the 'birds and the bees' talk with a child. Opening his eyes again, he kept them forward while addressing his partner.

"That place was an old lab created and owned by the former head scientist for the long destroyed Red Ribbon Army. It was created with the sole purpose of creating us and many more like us all with the same goal in mind. Revenge on behalf of our creator. Our creator is Dr. Gero."

Seventeen told the tale calmly, though a bit irritated that he was only taken from his own life to perpetuate the grudge of an old, and beaten old man. However, it was now viewed as a gift. There was not much he could not do, anymore. He'd learned to embrace his new found life. Shaking away his own thoughts, he returned himself to answering the questions.

"Dr. Gero is a bitter old man with immense intellect. Bitter because his entire fleet of what he believed to be elite cybernetic warriors were all destroyed by a single child. After not being able accept his loss, he continued his work long after the boy managed to defeat the entire Red Ribbon Army. Up until I took his head off, he'd been trying his hand at creating the perfect being to take down the boy known as Goku. As far as I know, none have had success."

After finishing his explanation the best he could, he turned his head toward Novashen and looked on coldly. "Had your programming gotten the chance to come to completion, you would have known all about that. I guess that would be my bad. Why he chose you? I'm not sure. I'm not sure why he chose me or my sister, either. I do believe we three are the only actual cyborgs, though. The others are pure scrap metal."

As Seventeen went on, he'd hardly noticed that they were closing in on their training grounds. They would have to wrap the conversation up soon, for the mean time. While he was not sure if that would answer all of the apparently very confused Novashen, it was hopefully at least of some help to him. Perhaps, he would follow along and learn to play the cards that fate has dealt him as Seventeen had.

It was interesting trade-off. Complete loss of memory for virtually limitless power. Though, by the look of it, Novashen still retained his memory. The former prince should probably be even more appreciative the Seventeen has managed. "You should consider it a gift, albeit from a deranged, bitter old man."

---
WC: 670

As the duo flew, Novashen listened carefully to his companions words. They could very likely hold the keys to unlocking how he came to this realm, and maybe give him a hint or two on how he could get home. After a short period of time, the Crane Master's training grounds came into sight, not to far below them.

"You should consider it a gift, albeit from a deranged, bitter old man,” the black haired man said to Novashen as they arrived just above the training grounds.

He took a moment to pause then, absorbing all of the information that had been given to him just then. When he thought he had a firm grasp on everything that had been told to him, a process that was aided by the memory implants that Dr. Gero had given him, though Novashen remained ignorant of that fact.

“No, I don't believe he gave me any particular programming. A strange word.... programming,” Novashen's voice was tame, as his thoughts ran deep. “Unfortunately I do not believe anything you told me just now will help me find my way home. I understand I have been modified by Dr. Gero, though what gave the bastard the thought he could defile my royal body is beyond me.”

It was clear the Prince was disturbed by everything that had occurred to him while he was unconscious. Though there was little use in dwelling on it at this time, taking a deep breath he managed to pull his mind out from the deep thoughts he had been thinking.

“Well shall we go talk to the Master?” Novashen asked 17, though he was really just telling the man what he was doing next as he was already descending towards the ground and in a matter of moments he landed lightly on the ground making virtually no noise as he landed on the wooden porch of the Crane Master.

Reaching out Novashen wrapped his hand around the familiar door knob that allowed them entrance into the Crane Dojo, interestingly the door opened without any pressure on his part, it was just one of the many odd things about the place that for whatever reason Novashen seemed to overlook.

“Master we have returned our mission...” Novashen began, his voice full of confidence sure that his Master would want to hear his words, but in an instant he was cut off.

“Quiet, get 17 in here I have another mission for you two. One that will be very enjoyable indeed,” the Master's voice was dark, and a menacing aura surrounded him. Though just as Novashen began to notice something was amiss, the aura disappeared and the Master seemed to take on a more kindly visage to his eyes, a strange cackle of black energy surrounded the Prince's head though, a strange energy that was responsible for Novashen's lack of awareness.

Word - 483
TWC - 2028

Upon touching down, Seventeen gracefully and immediately eased into a pace toward the Crane Dojo with his hands pocketed at his sides. Shrugging, he did not think much of Novashen's plight to get back to where ever it was he was from. Such was not his concern. Making him a useful counterpart was actually one of his concerns. Besides, it was practically vital that they were level ground before working together so often. If there was to be someone watching his back, the extremely cautious cyborg would prefer it be someone who he could at least somewhat trust on a sort of professional level.

Entering the dojo just behind Nova, Seventeen took for the side and leaned up against the wall just beside the doorway. With his hands still pocketed, he looked onward at their teacher and listened intently while looking as though he was listening quite passively. It was probably the blank stare that would give such an impression. Also very useful in combat. Gave opponents a kind of mixed message. Left them wondering whether or not his guard was up.

"I have another mission for you two. One that will be very enjoyable indeed, Seventeen had just came in as the old master was about to begin another briefing. So soon, even. While it was preferred that the missions came back to back, it was still a bit surprising. Perhaps, Shen had caught on that the two would hardly need much rest at all. "Due to your actions taken on your last mission, Roshi's men have taken it upon themselves to seek retribution. They are on their way hear to see that you atone for your doings. Now, typically I would have you simply eviscerate them and be done with it. However, I think it would be more fun if toyed with their morality a bit, don't you?"

Seventeen silently agreed. This one was beginning to sound even more interesting than the last two assignments they had been given. With his attention fully aroused now, he tuned even further in. "I would have you take to the nearest city, cause a ruckus and when the heroic band of Turtle students get wind of it, have a group of hostages ready. What you choose do at that point will be up to you. Pick off the fighters or the hostages one by one, I don't know. Just make it interesting."

Seventeen nodded and showed his signature smirk of confidence before leering his eyes in Novashen's direction. Nodding, he began turning toward the exit. "Understood, Sensei."

--

WC: 432

"I would have you take to the nearest city, cause a ruckus and when the heroic band of Turtle students get wind of it, have a group of hostages ready. What you choose do at that point will be up to you. Pick off the fighters or the hostages one by one, I don't know. Just make it interesting."

Those were the final words that the twisted Crane Master gave 17 and Novashen before sending them out on their mission. The words that came forth from the Crane Master's mouth though altered as they entered the Prince's mind, some sinister force taking their meaning and twisting it so that the Prince would not object to his new mission.

"I would have you take to the nearest city, go and save the city from an evil band of Turtle bandits, round up all the citizens and draw those bandits out! What you choose do at that point will be up to you. At the point do as you will, let the people go, and/or kill the bandits. I am sure it will be interesting,"

He watched as 17 turned towards the exit, his face blank as per usual betraying none of the emotions that were swirling through the man's face. What was the one designated as 17 really thinking?

"I wonder what happened to him to make him this way," Novashen wondered, he was concerned for his friend and wished that he would be more open to him, perhaps he would be able to help him with whatever emotional burdens he faced.

He turned and followed his comrade, willing his flight systems into life as he exited the hut so that he would be carried off the ground and into the air. For this mission they would be required to travel a fair distance and running across the ground would not be the most efficient route, a series of calculations running through his head all of them mostly occurring behind his conscious thought helping him come to that conclusion.

Soon he had risen high into the air, the bottom of clouds leaving tiny droplets of moisture across his back as he skimmed by them. The small droplets felt cool and refreshing, but due to his hardened body structure caused him no discomfort. He could probably fly through the heart of a glacier and feel fine. On his visual he could see a small square far in the distance, next to it were some numbers that were rapidly decreasing, they represented the distance.

His enhanced hearing picked up the sound of 17's form displacing the air around him, reassuring the Prince that his comrade was close at hand in case of any danger.

“It will be hard to say what those bandits are capable of,” Novashen thought to himself, knowing that they were also martial artists, students of the Turtle Master Roshi.

Altering how fast he was going, he brought his speed level up to match 17's so that he would now be flying side by side to the Cyborg enabling him to converse easier.

“So with Gero dead what are your plans? We cannot take revenge on the twisted man, but we can certainly take advantage of the gifts he has given us,” Novashen said, his voice being artificially increased in volume so that it would come across as clear to 17.

The Prince was emotionally conflicted himself, he still felt violated by the mad Dr.Gero who had operated on his body. He wanted to lash out and destroy the man, but he was already dead. His body crushed not only by 17 but also mutilated by the hands of Nyx as well, revenge was going to be impossible. So he was going to have to grin and bear with it for the time being, and wait for a time when he can just unleash all of his anger and anguish upon someone just as evil and twisted as Dr. Gero.

Word Count - 667
TWC - 2695

Whipping through the vastly open skies, Seventeen held his focus on the target that rapidly drew more near by the second. With his hands at his sides, he clenched them tightly into fists in anticipation of further testing out his new found abilities and gauging how much Novashen has progressed, as well. The cyborg thought even of turning the little assignment into a sort of competition of sorts. Perhaps, see who could take out the most opponents in the shortest amount of time. He chuckled under his breath at the thought, having complete confidence that he would no doubt be the victor in the game.

As they pushed on, he could feel the air beside him giving way for his partner. With his eyes still set ahead of them, he listened on. “It will be hard to say what those bandits are capable of,”

Shrugging slightly, Seventeen responded in his usual careless tone. "I would not worry all that much. Judging by their predecessors, they will not be too much of a problem. If anything, they will make for a glorified training dummy. Moving targets. That's all."

While he wasn't positive of what he'd said, he had a strong feeling that they would not be all that challenging. Fighters of the Z Warrior caliber were a rarity. Not very many could hold the sheer dedication and will power to complete Roshi's training and progress even further thereafter. However, he would still remain on his toes and had expected Novashen to do the same.

Not much further, now..

“So with Gero dead what are your plans? We cannot take revenge on the twisted man, but we can certainly take advantage of the gifts he has given us,”

"Plans?" Seventeen had not really given it much thought. While he had the idea of simply doing whatever he wanted after taking out those whom he saw a threat and possibly even gaining even more power in the process, he did not have very many goals in mind. "You mean aside from killing this Goku guy? I never really thought about it. I always figured I could just see where it takes me after that. As far as revenge goes. He's dead. That's enough for me. However, there is more back at that lab, but I will get back to that later. What about you? Did you have some sort of plans?"

If Seventeen remembered correctly, Novashen's plans might have been to somehow make it back to his home. While the cyborg was still a bit confused as to where exactly his counterpart was from, he could somewhat understand his desire to make it back. One could only hope wherever it is that he was from or believes he's from still exists. Hell, he could be in an entirely different time period for all he knew.

Seventeen's internal scouter was beginning to pick up on several tiny power levels gathered in one place, indicating that the city was very close. The distance counter would agree. It would only be a few more minutes until they had arrived. Then, it was game time. Blow something up here, maim someone there. Then, just wait for the would be Earth police force to arrive. Piece of cake.

WC: 532

Novashen's enhanced vision was picking up the small power levels of the citizens of the city a head, his task was to defeat the bandits that were attacking and save said citizens from danger. According to his sensors they would be there shortly, once they touched ground it would be time for action. Still he had a few more moments to exchange words with 17.

“Kill Goku? Hmm something about that name seems familiar. I feel like I should be helping you with that but I'm not sure why,” Novashen said after a moment's hesitation as he pondered what he was feeling. Something in the back of his mind itched, trying to get his attention but he didn't seem able to unlock that memory just yet.

“As for me, I need to find a way home. I know not how I came to this realm but I must find a way home. The ones who sent me here must have plans for my Kingdom and if I can need to get back to stop them,” Novashen spoke, his voice losing some of it's cheer as he spoke as worry for his home took hold, a grim look appearing on his face. “Come let us finish our mission.”

The time for speech had passed, it was time for them to spring into action as the city they had come to rescue came into view, or at least that was what Novashen thought. Far below innocent people were milling about minding their own business, but to Novashen's eyes twisted as they were by some spell of chaos it looked more like they were being assaulted by bandits.

He forced a surge of energy from his core, willing the energy into his muscles causing the tendon and tissue to grow stronger and more durable for the moment. Then he disappeared from beside 17, moving so fast for a brief moment that it seemed like he teleported, he reappeared next to one of the so called 'bandit's' reaching out with a free hand to knock him out in one clean strike to the back of the man's head.

“If you do not fight, I will not be forced to hurt you. Surrender now!” Novashen yelled, his voice amplifier increasing his voice's volume so that it echoed throughout the city for several blocks. His intent was to intimidate the bandits into submission.

Reaching down, he picked up the one band he had knocked out grabbing him by the back of his shirt and tossing onto the roof of a nearby car. He could see that his sudden appearance and assault had taken the bandits by surprise, as they stood there apparently dumbfounded. In reality, the innocent citizens of the city were standing around stunned, not entirely sure why the a strange man would just knock someone out and then demand their surrender.

Word Count - 481
TWC - 3176