Post by Sinthe on Jan 26, 2017 15:48:52 GMT -5
‘What, you think you’re tough or somethin’ powder-puff?’ Questions, questions, oh so many questions.
’I don’t like to fly in the face of popular opinion,’ Sinthe said smiling. He guessed the man, well the gangster, was referring to what he figured was an ironic dusty pink hoodie he happened to be wearing which urged passersby to ask him about his feminist agenda. Apparently it had belonged to one of Shinko’s old boyfriends. ’By the way, which arm is it you favour?’
‘You—what’re you on fuzzball!?’
The immaculately dressed man lunged for him, hurling the table out of the way as he did so and consigning Sinthe’s latte to soak into the pavement. Well he certainly couldn’t let that pass. Seizing hold of the man’s fist mid swing Sinthe stopped his momentum dead and this seemed to give the street tough pause for thought. ’I only ask because I was wondering how best I might disarm you.’
‘But I don’t have a—ARGH!’
It’s probably better that this next part goes unrecorded. In the meantime though there are those quite pressing questions that need answering. Like how does an entity whose been wearing the same style of clothing for probably longer than most fashions have existed on Earth end up sitting in an East City coffee shop wearing sweatpants and an ironic pink hoodie? Easy, for the sake of faith. He did have pretentions to being a God after all. Probably better we start at the beginning though.
’Watch where you’re going you stupid—oh?’ Sinthe relented in his anger, looking down on the poor mortal creature who had run into him and noticing what was cradled in her arms. Feeling guilty for lambasting this Earthling mother in the first place he stooped to pull her up and then began helping her pick up whatever she’d dropped. His arms were still full of her scattered possessions when the gaggle of suited and bespeckled thugs caught up. As if instinctually the woman darted behind him, all but shielding herself from their sight.
’Uhuh, starting to see why you were in such a hurry. And what can I do for you four fine gentlemen?’ The lot of them stared out from under their tinted glasses with a contempt that was fully apparent to him. Two of them he could see were obviously not from Earth, one was an Apel (how the hell were THEY not extinct yet, he added a note to his mental checklist) while the other he was unable to place.
‘It’s one of those Zoan freaks!’
’Now that’s not nice… also inaccurate.’
‘What’s it to you Puss in Boots?’
’Oh right, I get it… cause I’m… yeah…’
Apparently having taken this discourse as far as they were willing to each of them withdrew a hand from their pocket, sporting some kind of technological gauntlet thing which looked only passingly familiar to the Anubian. If he didn’t suspected what they were already it would have become more than clear when the thugs leveled their barrels (they looked more like mouths, like you get on filtration feeders he thought) towards him. ’Okay and that is just all kinds of stupid.’
This part went about as well as you can imagine.
‘Now you see,’ Sinthe began to explain, ‘this is why you don’t wear a necktie to a fight. Because if you lose then some sick sonuvabitch, namely myself, is gonna use it to choke the life out of you until you answer his questions.’ He watched with probably more satisfaction than was strictly healthy as the Apel’s eyes bulged out of its skull (more than usual that is) before he let up.
‘What!? What questions!?’ As if in answer Sinthe took hold of his head and slammed it into the sidewalk forcefully enough that it cracked open. The sidewalk that is, although.
’I’m the one asking here lizard features and if you answer quickly… well it won’t hurt your chances of living. Understand?’
‘Agh, yes!’
’Good, now. Who sent you?’
‘K-Kariya, his name’s Kariya! He’s our boss!’
’There’s a good lad, now what does this Kariya want with a mother and baby exactly?’ The prone gangster did not at first answer, leading Sinthe to pull up again on his tie, cutting off his airway before giving him another chance.
‘I dunno! I dunno why he wants the kid!’
’Uhm… excuse me sir, but I think I might be able to answer that.’ Sinthe had honestly thought that the woman would have bolted about halfway through the short lived but brutal fight that had seen them arrive at this juncture. Yet here she was still clutching the kid to her chest as though she were afraid that someone were going to come and sweep him away at any—oh. ’You see, uhm, Kariya is this boy’s…’ Sinthe focused his senses on the child, he was half Earthling sure, but his energy felt different, for starters it already felt BIGGER than what it ought have been but he even smelt different. Best guess this Kariya wasn’t from around here either.
’Ah, well then that explains it. Fat lot of good you were.’ To punctuate the point he rapped his knuckles against the alien’s skull, inciting a small yelp of pain from the unfortunate creature as he continued to sit atop him. ’Not really one to involve myself in domestic disputes, but it doesn’t appear your husband…’ The girl didn’t respond but from the look on her face that was a statement that needed modifying. ’Boyfriend… well, your baby-daddy doesn’t seem to be playing at all fair. Alright, up with you now.’ Heaving the Apel up to his feet Sinthe shoved him away before raising a hand ready to finish him off.
‘W-wait! You said if I talked you’d let me live’
’No, I said if you talked it wouldn’t hurt your chances. I never said that those chances were any good.’ Engulfing the now screaming thug with a burst of ki, it didn’t take Sinthe long to render him down to nothing more than a pile of ash and a few smoking fragments of what used to be a pretty nice suit. ’I hate when people don’t listen,’ he sighed as he turned back towards the unfortunate mother. Strange. Even after seeing all of that she didn’t so much as shy away from him. Maybe she was in shock. ’I’m Sinthe by the way, most people call me Lord Sinthe or else Sinthe the Deswtroyer… or some other more colorful titles. What about you?’
‘Oh, uhm, I’m Shinko and this,’ she shifted her body to better allow the Anubian to see the child in her arms. Nothing really jumped out at him other than the healthy shock of bright orange hair. Just looking at him would hardly betray the truth that he was anything but human, though it was quite strange even considering that was the case that he’d slept through all that ruckus. Only now did he start to stir in his agitated mother’s arms and open his deep green eyes to the cat-like creature before him. ‘This is Keisuke.’
Initially confused the babe cocked his head at Sinthe, he could sense that the child was instinctually trying to feel him out, assessing him in a broad sense, not in the way a veteran fighter would. Still, it was impressive that he had that kind of sense at all. The Anubian smiled, eliciting a contented giggle from the boy before he closed his eyes again and turned back to nuzzle into his mother’s warmth. ’Cute kid,’ he summarized.
‘Well, he has his father’s eyes.’
’I think he looks more like you than this, Kariya, was it?’
‘Yes. Oh and thank you. Thank you for your help but I- I’m afraid I don’t have any money.’
Sinthe chuckled. ’Heh, as if I’d do a single mother out of her hard earned, no, I was happy to help.’ He began to turn away, meaning for that to be the end of things, just another pit stop on his path to… to wherever he was going, but Shinko gave him pause.
‘I can sew though. Forgive me, but your clothes...’
Sinthe looked down at himself. A few tears and a bit of trail dust weren’t really all that much of a problem, but he guessed that whatever mix of blood and baby formula was now on his mantle wouldn’t be quite so easy to shift. That and he’d always been terrible at sewing. I need to get a guy for that.
A few hours later and the softly twinkling stars found the wannabe God of Destruction in that same ironic hoodie sitting on the fire escape just outside of Shinko’s window. She had already put the boy down for the night and Sinthe could hear his soft but steady breathing clearly from the other side of the room. Shinko sat beside him on the window ledge, having scrubbed the dirt blood and assorted other fluids from his garments (you’d be surprised what came out of the skull of a sentient being) she now busied herself sewing up the various small tears they had sustained these past few weeks. Sinthe still wore the under-harness to which his training weights were attached, the heft of them feeling strangely reassuring in these odd garments. The belt didn’t quite go, but he wore it anyway for just the same reason.
’So your parents named you “faith,” there a story behind that?’
‘Not like you’re thinking.’ The bluntness of her initial tone made Sinthe think he’d probably better not pull on that thread, an unusual thought for a cat person to have, but Shinko seemed like she was about ready to open up anyway. Nerves probably. Rough day. ‘My mother and father were childhood sweethearts, of a kind anyway. When she told father that she was with child he… all of a sudden he decided that he absolutely HAD to dedicate himself to the monastic life. I used to send him letters, but I’ve never actually met him.’
’Wait so then your mother named you out of spite?’
‘Not exactly. The name Shinko was meant to admonish him. Since he had dedicated his life to the pursuit of faith. Although when you say it like that it does sound a tad spiteful.’ The silence which followed was only broken when Sinthe turned the conversation to something else. The elephant in the room as it were, slumbering just across the room.
’So uh, Keisuke. And Kariya.’ Wow, don’t make it awkward or anything.
‘Ah yes, you must have been wondering for a while now. I suppose I was foolish at first, but I mean when a man drops out of the sky what’s a young girl to think? But he was different then, kinder, gentle. It was only after we moved to the city he started to change. He was always saying those things he did… that those awful things were for the both of us, so we could be safe and happy and together. I had my reservations even then, but when Keisuke was born… I saw the look in his eyes and I couldn’t see any of MY Kariya anymore. Hah, boy drops out of the heavens, should’ve known, it’s never that easy.’
Oh Sinthe knew that tone a little too well. Shinko wanted to make out that she was alright, that she didn’t mind or just didn’t care, but deflecting the issue with humour wouldn’t do any good. ’I—sorry I asked.’ Wuss. The conversation petered out after that, Shinko offered him the coach for the night but he explained that he didn’t sleep. Not like they did anyway. He had neither the time nor the inclination for a fifty years power nap just now. Hell, he wondered if he’d ever want to sleep again after that mess. So instead he sat out the night on the fire escape, watching anyone who passed by with ruthless scrutiny.
Come morning his garments weren’t quite repaired and so Shinko offered to take him for breakfast.
And that was how he ended up here. Sweatpants, ironic pink hoodie, significantly more garish looking jewelry now that he was out of his regular gear come to think of it. He didn’t really care about that one. ’Now,’ he said, clutching the severed hand as though shaking it whilst balancing the remainder of the arm over one shoulder, ’unless you would LIKE me to beat you to death with the wet end, I would suggest you scurry along back to your boss and—WILL YOU STOP SCREAMING!’ The man lying at his feet fell suddenly, deathly silent as he fellows made to drag him back to their car. ’Thank you, where was I? Oh yeah, I suggest you scurry along back to your boss and—‘ Sinthe was cut off again as another black estate car swept into view down the street. That wasn’t what stopped him though, more the realization that he could feel what was in it. Waiting for it to pull up he tossed the errant limb aside, not feeling as though he could fool around quite so much anymore. ’Ugh, people all day today. And you must be Kariya. Guessing you’re not here to take this to mediation huh?’
The figure which stepped out of the car was broad enough that he could only slip out sideways, as a matter of fact it’d probably be a fair assessment that he was twice as broad as Sinthe himself and he was all solid muscle. Solid greenish muscle. A Heran, but wearing an Earth tailored suit. Explained the name as well, apparently this Kariya had gone full native. ’I prefer significantly more direct methods.’ Master of understatement.
’Uhuh. How’s that be going for you?’ Neither of them really needed an answer to that one. The evidence was blisteringly apparent. And gross.
Kariya began to disrobe for battle, first passing off his jacket to a subordinate and then beginning to fiddle with his cufflinks. Jackass. Not wanting to wait Sinthe burst forwards, striking out with his claws like a lance aimed at the Heran’s gut. To his astonishment he struck home, was allowed to strike home rather and dig into his opponent’s abdomen. And the funny thing was that he didn’t seem so bothered about it. In fact it seemed like the wound had been a lot more shallow than Sinthe had—aw damnit all.
The Heran’s massive fist came rocketing into the side of Sinthe’s skull like a hammer to an anvil. Before he knew quite what had happened he was flying down the street like he’d just been shot from a gun barrel, then he was smashing in to a building, then he was under what used to be a building. Ow. Kariya menwhile was reveling in the congratulations of his men and closing in upon his runaway fiancé. As you might expect from someone surrounded by enemies and clutching a babe in arm she didn’t take all that much convincing and by the time Sinthe had worked his way back in to the daylight everyone else had already gone. This here planet kept on surprising him. Screw this planet.
-
’Don’t you get it yet Shinko? I did this for you, for both of you. So we could have the life together that we all deserve.’
Shinko was many things, daughter, mother, seamstress to the demi-gods. She was not however someone who could look upon this scene of pronounced sentient suffering and in any way pretend that it was a good thing. The elaborately decorated manor house above them, the prison which she had sprang herself from along with her baby boy, to think that she’d never know it was built atop this. Her eyes widened as she looked out across rows and rows of cells stacked like shipping containers, each barred front providing a teasing glimpse of the creature within. That was the worst part. Looking at the hands stretching, clawing, grasping for something, looking to reach out to anything in this pit of despair. But there was nothing now, not even for her.
When she had been here before she had prayed, actually prayed for the first time in her entire life for something to come save her, to take her away, to make it so she didn’t have to be here anymore. Eventually when her son was born she’d decided to become her own savior and just made a run for it, but now with Sinthe gone she had no choice but to return, to stay, to be imprisoned in the cage just above this one. Or so she thought. ’Kariya, this—this is awful.’
’Awful? AWFUL!? This is business! With this level of turnover we can have anything we want, go anywhere we want! And not just us! This is all for our son and his sons, and their sons after that! A whole dynasty which will reign in glory on this world forever!’ Still nestled snugly in Shinko’s arms Keisuke stirred and began to wail, shrill and sad in this place that had seen it all before. His cries bounced off the uncaring walls, reaching no one and nothing which could help. Except one thing. 'Oh, look, he wants his daddy. Give him here Shinko, let me see him.’
‘No..’ The word first came as a whisper, then a shout as she withdrew from his merest touch. ‘NO!’
’Shinko, I don’t want to have to take him from you.’ Lucky for her, probably lucky for both of them in the long run really that he wouldn’t get that chance. Because just then the whole room began to vibrate, vibrate wasn’t quite the right word, shake was more like it and this shaking would only abate when through the ceiling crashed none other than Sinthe the Destroyer spinning like a big purple and pink drill bit before he came to land gently behind Kariya.
‘SINTHE!’ Shinko cried out in a mix of astonishment and relief. Been a long time since someone said his name like that.
’The one and only! By all means, point a gun at me if it helps you relax!’ Not theatrical at all, definitely not showing off now. Still the assembled goons were more than happy to oblige until their boss waved them off.
’You!? You’re dead! You died! I KILLED YOU!’
’Nah, but if it’s any consolation that building that you dropped on me really stung for about a half hour.’ Sinthe rolled his shoulder to illustrate. ’Actually I’m still a little bit stiff. Could you do my back this time?’
Kariya growled, tearing free of his upper garments, not about to let Sinthe get the better of him this time. The Anubian smiled, dipping in to a ready stance as the Heran charged at him. As his massive fist closed the distance Kariya must have felt that he had struck home once again, he was less than a foot away, less than six inches, less than a single inch. But then his target was gone. ’Slow,’ was the only thing Sinthe had to say. Appearing behind his opponent he ducked low, sweeping his leg back to take the Heran’s feet from under him, standing back to his full height as the opponent’s body came horizontal to him. With one mighty punch he slammed Kariya into the ground, splintering the building’s foundation with a spiderweb of cracks and very nearly folding the man himself in half. ’Not too bright either.’
Turning towards the thugs now holding Shinko, Sinthe narrowed his eyes, they immediately let go and began to back away as he advanced. But, did one of them just smile? ’Oh right,’ he said, remembering his first encounter with Kariya now more clearly. ’That massive bulk of yours acts like a natural suit of armor doesn’t it? All that probably only felt like a love tap didn’t it?’
’Exactly,’ Kariya growled from behind him, towering over Sinthe like some great looming shadow, raising his hands to the sky in order to smash down on him. You can guess how that went. Crouching now astride the behemoth’s shoulders Sinthe drew up his hand, pointing his claws down towards the back of Kariya’s neck like a dagger.
’So if I struck somewhere like here that has none, what do you think would happen?’ The faint light of the sub-basement glinted gently on the tip of his natural weapons as though they were forged steel. He didn’t drop them though, instead he hopped down back in front of the big hulk, figuring he might as well give him one last chance. One last chance that he squandered completely by choosing to lunge at him again. Seriously. Herans. Not missing a beat Sinthe simply raised up a single finger, shooting a compressed beam of ki through the aggressor’s chest before smashing him back down to the ground with a lariat as he passed. ’Or, you know, that.’
Waltzing over he pulled Kariya up into a sitting posture by the roots of his hair and held him there. ’Agh, damnit… just go ahead and finish me off already.’
’Oho-ho, I don’t think so. That’s your way of doing things and I’m nowhere near that merciful. See those boys of yours over there? The one’s stood behind Shinko, the one’s shitting themselves at the mere notion I might take one more step towards them? Yeah, them. I want you to tell them to retreat—no, why don’t you tell ‘em to run away? Those exact words.’
The Heran growled and quaked in his grasp, he knew that he had been beaten soundly but it was not in his people’s nature to ever withdraw from combat. Sometimes they were more Saiyan than Saiyans were in that respect, but Kariya here was quite out of options. ’You! You guys!’ Sinthe tensed as the Heran hailed his assorted minions, he tightened his grip just in case the big lug felt like doing something stupid. ’Run away…
’Say again? I don’t think they heard you?’
’RUN AWAY!’
The mooks didn’t need telling twice, up and scattered like leaves in the wind just leaving the three of them. Well it was four of them if you counted Keisuke. ’Atta boy,’ Sinthe commended his making the smart decision as he released Kariya, letting him slump back down to the floor. ’Now do yourself a big favour. Get off my planet. The sudden silence of the sub-basement seemed filled by the echo of Sinthe’s low tones, even Keisuke seemed to know to stay quiet now. ’Sorry,’ he chuckled, his tone changing immediately as he turned his attention again to Shinko and Keisuke while keeping one eye on the fleeing thugs, ’I think that I ruined these clothes you lent me.’
The Earthling woman didn’t reply at first, merely leapt at him, clasping one shuddering arm around his neck as she placed her tear streaked face to his chest. ‘I thought—I—that we…’
’Well this is… uh, this doesn’t usually—I’m not… shush now. It’s over.’ Between the two of them, now apparently much more content, Keisuke giggled. Yeah, right back at you kid.
Sinthe had told one rather obvious lie and that was that the whole thing was over. It wasn’t. After the small fry had all fled and after Kariya had literally dragged his sorry ass away and after Shinko had finally calmed down somewhere there was still the problem of hundreds of assorted aliens imprisoned beneath an elegant townhouse on the outskirts of East City. A problem easily solved by finding the killswitch for all the secure doors… it only took about two hours. When they did find it though, well it was peculiar.
Instead of being angry at their captors, instead of being anxious to be in the sun again, they were all grateful. To Sinthe. Which for reasons that ought to be obvious was weird. They crowded round just to be near him, just to lay their hands on him, to say thank you or merely just to look into the eyes of their savior. Sinthe the Savior? Couldn’t see that one catching on. Up above and a great deal of time later it was just him and Shinko again. And Keisuke of course. The three who’d kicked this whole mess off. ’Yeah? You liked that huh, Keisuke? You liked seeing Sinthe work over the silly man, hm?’
The youngster gave a confused babble which he took to be an affirmative as he held the boy gently, ever so gently in his arms and looked up at the darkening sky. ’He likes you.’
’Hah. He doesn’t know me yet.’
’No but I do. You could have walked away right when we first met, or when they came for me again, or when Kariya—I can’t believe I’m saying it—when Kariya dropped a building on you. Yet here you are. Why did you stay?’ Now THERE was a question worthy of asking a God.
’Deadbeat dads,’ Sinthe answered as he handed the baby back to his mother, ’never had any patience for them.’ Turning his head Sinthe noticed the glare of red lights on the horizon and the telltale wail of sirens approaching. Really didn’t want to have to deal with provincial planetary authorities. Lifting off he had only a few parting words for his two impromptu companions. ’And it might just be that sometimes faith is rewarded.’ Corny as all hell, but you had to be in on the joke to really get it. No point being a demi-god if you couldn’t occasionally be preachy. ’Oh and hey, if little Keisuke ever starts to get fighty himself, send him my way. Sure I’ll be able to find something a little more constructive than this mess.’
See, it was only right at the end that he realized…
WC: 4,314
Heavy Weights {75%}: On
Thread PL: 35,632
’I don’t like to fly in the face of popular opinion,’ Sinthe said smiling. He guessed the man, well the gangster, was referring to what he figured was an ironic dusty pink hoodie he happened to be wearing which urged passersby to ask him about his feminist agenda. Apparently it had belonged to one of Shinko’s old boyfriends. ’By the way, which arm is it you favour?’
‘You—what’re you on fuzzball!?’
The immaculately dressed man lunged for him, hurling the table out of the way as he did so and consigning Sinthe’s latte to soak into the pavement. Well he certainly couldn’t let that pass. Seizing hold of the man’s fist mid swing Sinthe stopped his momentum dead and this seemed to give the street tough pause for thought. ’I only ask because I was wondering how best I might disarm you.’
‘But I don’t have a—ARGH!’
It’s probably better that this next part goes unrecorded. In the meantime though there are those quite pressing questions that need answering. Like how does an entity whose been wearing the same style of clothing for probably longer than most fashions have existed on Earth end up sitting in an East City coffee shop wearing sweatpants and an ironic pink hoodie? Easy, for the sake of faith. He did have pretentions to being a God after all. Probably better we start at the beginning though.
’Watch where you’re going you stupid—oh?’ Sinthe relented in his anger, looking down on the poor mortal creature who had run into him and noticing what was cradled in her arms. Feeling guilty for lambasting this Earthling mother in the first place he stooped to pull her up and then began helping her pick up whatever she’d dropped. His arms were still full of her scattered possessions when the gaggle of suited and bespeckled thugs caught up. As if instinctually the woman darted behind him, all but shielding herself from their sight.
’Uhuh, starting to see why you were in such a hurry. And what can I do for you four fine gentlemen?’ The lot of them stared out from under their tinted glasses with a contempt that was fully apparent to him. Two of them he could see were obviously not from Earth, one was an Apel (how the hell were THEY not extinct yet, he added a note to his mental checklist) while the other he was unable to place.
‘It’s one of those Zoan freaks!’
’Now that’s not nice… also inaccurate.’
‘What’s it to you Puss in Boots?’
’Oh right, I get it… cause I’m… yeah…’
Apparently having taken this discourse as far as they were willing to each of them withdrew a hand from their pocket, sporting some kind of technological gauntlet thing which looked only passingly familiar to the Anubian. If he didn’t suspected what they were already it would have become more than clear when the thugs leveled their barrels (they looked more like mouths, like you get on filtration feeders he thought) towards him. ’Okay and that is just all kinds of stupid.’
This part went about as well as you can imagine.
‘Now you see,’ Sinthe began to explain, ‘this is why you don’t wear a necktie to a fight. Because if you lose then some sick sonuvabitch, namely myself, is gonna use it to choke the life out of you until you answer his questions.’ He watched with probably more satisfaction than was strictly healthy as the Apel’s eyes bulged out of its skull (more than usual that is) before he let up.
‘What!? What questions!?’ As if in answer Sinthe took hold of his head and slammed it into the sidewalk forcefully enough that it cracked open. The sidewalk that is, although.
’I’m the one asking here lizard features and if you answer quickly… well it won’t hurt your chances of living. Understand?’
‘Agh, yes!’
’Good, now. Who sent you?’
‘K-Kariya, his name’s Kariya! He’s our boss!’
’There’s a good lad, now what does this Kariya want with a mother and baby exactly?’ The prone gangster did not at first answer, leading Sinthe to pull up again on his tie, cutting off his airway before giving him another chance.
‘I dunno! I dunno why he wants the kid!’
’Uhm… excuse me sir, but I think I might be able to answer that.’ Sinthe had honestly thought that the woman would have bolted about halfway through the short lived but brutal fight that had seen them arrive at this juncture. Yet here she was still clutching the kid to her chest as though she were afraid that someone were going to come and sweep him away at any—oh. ’You see, uhm, Kariya is this boy’s…’ Sinthe focused his senses on the child, he was half Earthling sure, but his energy felt different, for starters it already felt BIGGER than what it ought have been but he even smelt different. Best guess this Kariya wasn’t from around here either.
’Ah, well then that explains it. Fat lot of good you were.’ To punctuate the point he rapped his knuckles against the alien’s skull, inciting a small yelp of pain from the unfortunate creature as he continued to sit atop him. ’Not really one to involve myself in domestic disputes, but it doesn’t appear your husband…’ The girl didn’t respond but from the look on her face that was a statement that needed modifying. ’Boyfriend… well, your baby-daddy doesn’t seem to be playing at all fair. Alright, up with you now.’ Heaving the Apel up to his feet Sinthe shoved him away before raising a hand ready to finish him off.
‘W-wait! You said if I talked you’d let me live’
’No, I said if you talked it wouldn’t hurt your chances. I never said that those chances were any good.’ Engulfing the now screaming thug with a burst of ki, it didn’t take Sinthe long to render him down to nothing more than a pile of ash and a few smoking fragments of what used to be a pretty nice suit. ’I hate when people don’t listen,’ he sighed as he turned back towards the unfortunate mother. Strange. Even after seeing all of that she didn’t so much as shy away from him. Maybe she was in shock. ’I’m Sinthe by the way, most people call me Lord Sinthe or else Sinthe the Deswtroyer… or some other more colorful titles. What about you?’
‘Oh, uhm, I’m Shinko and this,’ she shifted her body to better allow the Anubian to see the child in her arms. Nothing really jumped out at him other than the healthy shock of bright orange hair. Just looking at him would hardly betray the truth that he was anything but human, though it was quite strange even considering that was the case that he’d slept through all that ruckus. Only now did he start to stir in his agitated mother’s arms and open his deep green eyes to the cat-like creature before him. ‘This is Keisuke.’
Initially confused the babe cocked his head at Sinthe, he could sense that the child was instinctually trying to feel him out, assessing him in a broad sense, not in the way a veteran fighter would. Still, it was impressive that he had that kind of sense at all. The Anubian smiled, eliciting a contented giggle from the boy before he closed his eyes again and turned back to nuzzle into his mother’s warmth. ’Cute kid,’ he summarized.
‘Well, he has his father’s eyes.’
’I think he looks more like you than this, Kariya, was it?’
‘Yes. Oh and thank you. Thank you for your help but I- I’m afraid I don’t have any money.’
Sinthe chuckled. ’Heh, as if I’d do a single mother out of her hard earned, no, I was happy to help.’ He began to turn away, meaning for that to be the end of things, just another pit stop on his path to… to wherever he was going, but Shinko gave him pause.
‘I can sew though. Forgive me, but your clothes...’
Sinthe looked down at himself. A few tears and a bit of trail dust weren’t really all that much of a problem, but he guessed that whatever mix of blood and baby formula was now on his mantle wouldn’t be quite so easy to shift. That and he’d always been terrible at sewing. I need to get a guy for that.
A few hours later and the softly twinkling stars found the wannabe God of Destruction in that same ironic hoodie sitting on the fire escape just outside of Shinko’s window. She had already put the boy down for the night and Sinthe could hear his soft but steady breathing clearly from the other side of the room. Shinko sat beside him on the window ledge, having scrubbed the dirt blood and assorted other fluids from his garments (you’d be surprised what came out of the skull of a sentient being) she now busied herself sewing up the various small tears they had sustained these past few weeks. Sinthe still wore the under-harness to which his training weights were attached, the heft of them feeling strangely reassuring in these odd garments. The belt didn’t quite go, but he wore it anyway for just the same reason.
’So your parents named you “faith,” there a story behind that?’
‘Not like you’re thinking.’ The bluntness of her initial tone made Sinthe think he’d probably better not pull on that thread, an unusual thought for a cat person to have, but Shinko seemed like she was about ready to open up anyway. Nerves probably. Rough day. ‘My mother and father were childhood sweethearts, of a kind anyway. When she told father that she was with child he… all of a sudden he decided that he absolutely HAD to dedicate himself to the monastic life. I used to send him letters, but I’ve never actually met him.’
’Wait so then your mother named you out of spite?’
‘Not exactly. The name Shinko was meant to admonish him. Since he had dedicated his life to the pursuit of faith. Although when you say it like that it does sound a tad spiteful.’ The silence which followed was only broken when Sinthe turned the conversation to something else. The elephant in the room as it were, slumbering just across the room.
’So uh, Keisuke. And Kariya.’ Wow, don’t make it awkward or anything.
‘Ah yes, you must have been wondering for a while now. I suppose I was foolish at first, but I mean when a man drops out of the sky what’s a young girl to think? But he was different then, kinder, gentle. It was only after we moved to the city he started to change. He was always saying those things he did… that those awful things were for the both of us, so we could be safe and happy and together. I had my reservations even then, but when Keisuke was born… I saw the look in his eyes and I couldn’t see any of MY Kariya anymore. Hah, boy drops out of the heavens, should’ve known, it’s never that easy.’
Oh Sinthe knew that tone a little too well. Shinko wanted to make out that she was alright, that she didn’t mind or just didn’t care, but deflecting the issue with humour wouldn’t do any good. ’I—sorry I asked.’ Wuss. The conversation petered out after that, Shinko offered him the coach for the night but he explained that he didn’t sleep. Not like they did anyway. He had neither the time nor the inclination for a fifty years power nap just now. Hell, he wondered if he’d ever want to sleep again after that mess. So instead he sat out the night on the fire escape, watching anyone who passed by with ruthless scrutiny.
Come morning his garments weren’t quite repaired and so Shinko offered to take him for breakfast.
And that was how he ended up here. Sweatpants, ironic pink hoodie, significantly more garish looking jewelry now that he was out of his regular gear come to think of it. He didn’t really care about that one. ’Now,’ he said, clutching the severed hand as though shaking it whilst balancing the remainder of the arm over one shoulder, ’unless you would LIKE me to beat you to death with the wet end, I would suggest you scurry along back to your boss and—WILL YOU STOP SCREAMING!’ The man lying at his feet fell suddenly, deathly silent as he fellows made to drag him back to their car. ’Thank you, where was I? Oh yeah, I suggest you scurry along back to your boss and—‘ Sinthe was cut off again as another black estate car swept into view down the street. That wasn’t what stopped him though, more the realization that he could feel what was in it. Waiting for it to pull up he tossed the errant limb aside, not feeling as though he could fool around quite so much anymore. ’Ugh, people all day today. And you must be Kariya. Guessing you’re not here to take this to mediation huh?’
The figure which stepped out of the car was broad enough that he could only slip out sideways, as a matter of fact it’d probably be a fair assessment that he was twice as broad as Sinthe himself and he was all solid muscle. Solid greenish muscle. A Heran, but wearing an Earth tailored suit. Explained the name as well, apparently this Kariya had gone full native. ’I prefer significantly more direct methods.’ Master of understatement.
’Uhuh. How’s that be going for you?’ Neither of them really needed an answer to that one. The evidence was blisteringly apparent. And gross.
Kariya began to disrobe for battle, first passing off his jacket to a subordinate and then beginning to fiddle with his cufflinks. Jackass. Not wanting to wait Sinthe burst forwards, striking out with his claws like a lance aimed at the Heran’s gut. To his astonishment he struck home, was allowed to strike home rather and dig into his opponent’s abdomen. And the funny thing was that he didn’t seem so bothered about it. In fact it seemed like the wound had been a lot more shallow than Sinthe had—aw damnit all.
The Heran’s massive fist came rocketing into the side of Sinthe’s skull like a hammer to an anvil. Before he knew quite what had happened he was flying down the street like he’d just been shot from a gun barrel, then he was smashing in to a building, then he was under what used to be a building. Ow. Kariya menwhile was reveling in the congratulations of his men and closing in upon his runaway fiancé. As you might expect from someone surrounded by enemies and clutching a babe in arm she didn’t take all that much convincing and by the time Sinthe had worked his way back in to the daylight everyone else had already gone. This here planet kept on surprising him. Screw this planet.
-
’Don’t you get it yet Shinko? I did this for you, for both of you. So we could have the life together that we all deserve.’
Shinko was many things, daughter, mother, seamstress to the demi-gods. She was not however someone who could look upon this scene of pronounced sentient suffering and in any way pretend that it was a good thing. The elaborately decorated manor house above them, the prison which she had sprang herself from along with her baby boy, to think that she’d never know it was built atop this. Her eyes widened as she looked out across rows and rows of cells stacked like shipping containers, each barred front providing a teasing glimpse of the creature within. That was the worst part. Looking at the hands stretching, clawing, grasping for something, looking to reach out to anything in this pit of despair. But there was nothing now, not even for her.
When she had been here before she had prayed, actually prayed for the first time in her entire life for something to come save her, to take her away, to make it so she didn’t have to be here anymore. Eventually when her son was born she’d decided to become her own savior and just made a run for it, but now with Sinthe gone she had no choice but to return, to stay, to be imprisoned in the cage just above this one. Or so she thought. ’Kariya, this—this is awful.’
’Awful? AWFUL!? This is business! With this level of turnover we can have anything we want, go anywhere we want! And not just us! This is all for our son and his sons, and their sons after that! A whole dynasty which will reign in glory on this world forever!’ Still nestled snugly in Shinko’s arms Keisuke stirred and began to wail, shrill and sad in this place that had seen it all before. His cries bounced off the uncaring walls, reaching no one and nothing which could help. Except one thing. 'Oh, look, he wants his daddy. Give him here Shinko, let me see him.’
‘No..’ The word first came as a whisper, then a shout as she withdrew from his merest touch. ‘NO!’
’Shinko, I don’t want to have to take him from you.’ Lucky for her, probably lucky for both of them in the long run really that he wouldn’t get that chance. Because just then the whole room began to vibrate, vibrate wasn’t quite the right word, shake was more like it and this shaking would only abate when through the ceiling crashed none other than Sinthe the Destroyer spinning like a big purple and pink drill bit before he came to land gently behind Kariya.
‘SINTHE!’ Shinko cried out in a mix of astonishment and relief. Been a long time since someone said his name like that.
’The one and only! By all means, point a gun at me if it helps you relax!’ Not theatrical at all, definitely not showing off now. Still the assembled goons were more than happy to oblige until their boss waved them off.
’You!? You’re dead! You died! I KILLED YOU!’
’Nah, but if it’s any consolation that building that you dropped on me really stung for about a half hour.’ Sinthe rolled his shoulder to illustrate. ’Actually I’m still a little bit stiff. Could you do my back this time?’
Kariya growled, tearing free of his upper garments, not about to let Sinthe get the better of him this time. The Anubian smiled, dipping in to a ready stance as the Heran charged at him. As his massive fist closed the distance Kariya must have felt that he had struck home once again, he was less than a foot away, less than six inches, less than a single inch. But then his target was gone. ’Slow,’ was the only thing Sinthe had to say. Appearing behind his opponent he ducked low, sweeping his leg back to take the Heran’s feet from under him, standing back to his full height as the opponent’s body came horizontal to him. With one mighty punch he slammed Kariya into the ground, splintering the building’s foundation with a spiderweb of cracks and very nearly folding the man himself in half. ’Not too bright either.’
Turning towards the thugs now holding Shinko, Sinthe narrowed his eyes, they immediately let go and began to back away as he advanced. But, did one of them just smile? ’Oh right,’ he said, remembering his first encounter with Kariya now more clearly. ’That massive bulk of yours acts like a natural suit of armor doesn’t it? All that probably only felt like a love tap didn’t it?’
’Exactly,’ Kariya growled from behind him, towering over Sinthe like some great looming shadow, raising his hands to the sky in order to smash down on him. You can guess how that went. Crouching now astride the behemoth’s shoulders Sinthe drew up his hand, pointing his claws down towards the back of Kariya’s neck like a dagger.
’So if I struck somewhere like here that has none, what do you think would happen?’ The faint light of the sub-basement glinted gently on the tip of his natural weapons as though they were forged steel. He didn’t drop them though, instead he hopped down back in front of the big hulk, figuring he might as well give him one last chance. One last chance that he squandered completely by choosing to lunge at him again. Seriously. Herans. Not missing a beat Sinthe simply raised up a single finger, shooting a compressed beam of ki through the aggressor’s chest before smashing him back down to the ground with a lariat as he passed. ’Or, you know, that.’
Waltzing over he pulled Kariya up into a sitting posture by the roots of his hair and held him there. ’Agh, damnit… just go ahead and finish me off already.’
’Oho-ho, I don’t think so. That’s your way of doing things and I’m nowhere near that merciful. See those boys of yours over there? The one’s stood behind Shinko, the one’s shitting themselves at the mere notion I might take one more step towards them? Yeah, them. I want you to tell them to retreat—no, why don’t you tell ‘em to run away? Those exact words.’
The Heran growled and quaked in his grasp, he knew that he had been beaten soundly but it was not in his people’s nature to ever withdraw from combat. Sometimes they were more Saiyan than Saiyans were in that respect, but Kariya here was quite out of options. ’You! You guys!’ Sinthe tensed as the Heran hailed his assorted minions, he tightened his grip just in case the big lug felt like doing something stupid. ’Run away…
’Say again? I don’t think they heard you?’
’RUN AWAY!’
The mooks didn’t need telling twice, up and scattered like leaves in the wind just leaving the three of them. Well it was four of them if you counted Keisuke. ’Atta boy,’ Sinthe commended his making the smart decision as he released Kariya, letting him slump back down to the floor. ’Now do yourself a big favour. Get off my planet. The sudden silence of the sub-basement seemed filled by the echo of Sinthe’s low tones, even Keisuke seemed to know to stay quiet now. ’Sorry,’ he chuckled, his tone changing immediately as he turned his attention again to Shinko and Keisuke while keeping one eye on the fleeing thugs, ’I think that I ruined these clothes you lent me.’
The Earthling woman didn’t reply at first, merely leapt at him, clasping one shuddering arm around his neck as she placed her tear streaked face to his chest. ‘I thought—I—that we…’
’Well this is… uh, this doesn’t usually—I’m not… shush now. It’s over.’ Between the two of them, now apparently much more content, Keisuke giggled. Yeah, right back at you kid.
Sinthe had told one rather obvious lie and that was that the whole thing was over. It wasn’t. After the small fry had all fled and after Kariya had literally dragged his sorry ass away and after Shinko had finally calmed down somewhere there was still the problem of hundreds of assorted aliens imprisoned beneath an elegant townhouse on the outskirts of East City. A problem easily solved by finding the killswitch for all the secure doors… it only took about two hours. When they did find it though, well it was peculiar.
Instead of being angry at their captors, instead of being anxious to be in the sun again, they were all grateful. To Sinthe. Which for reasons that ought to be obvious was weird. They crowded round just to be near him, just to lay their hands on him, to say thank you or merely just to look into the eyes of their savior. Sinthe the Savior? Couldn’t see that one catching on. Up above and a great deal of time later it was just him and Shinko again. And Keisuke of course. The three who’d kicked this whole mess off. ’Yeah? You liked that huh, Keisuke? You liked seeing Sinthe work over the silly man, hm?’
The youngster gave a confused babble which he took to be an affirmative as he held the boy gently, ever so gently in his arms and looked up at the darkening sky. ’He likes you.’
’Hah. He doesn’t know me yet.’
’No but I do. You could have walked away right when we first met, or when they came for me again, or when Kariya—I can’t believe I’m saying it—when Kariya dropped a building on you. Yet here you are. Why did you stay?’ Now THERE was a question worthy of asking a God.
’Deadbeat dads,’ Sinthe answered as he handed the baby back to his mother, ’never had any patience for them.’ Turning his head Sinthe noticed the glare of red lights on the horizon and the telltale wail of sirens approaching. Really didn’t want to have to deal with provincial planetary authorities. Lifting off he had only a few parting words for his two impromptu companions. ’And it might just be that sometimes faith is rewarded.’ Corny as all hell, but you had to be in on the joke to really get it. No point being a demi-god if you couldn’t occasionally be preachy. ’Oh and hey, if little Keisuke ever starts to get fighty himself, send him my way. Sure I’ll be able to find something a little more constructive than this mess.’
See, it was only right at the end that he realized…
WC: 4,314
Heavy Weights {75%}: On
Thread PL: 35,632