The start of something new [open/nasu]

The man was floating in mid-air, his gaze set below his figure as he looked over the shocking view of the Outpost-- or rather what there was left. It had been like twenty years or so, but old age had not hit Cornatto yet, and he was entirely sure that the time they left the planet, the Outpost was still in good conditions. So to say, he knew that after so long the place wouldn’t have looked as good as it did back in the days, but what he could see was nothing but just a bunch of ruins compared to what he remembered. There were none of the facilities he remembered but rather just a bunch of huts.

“W-what the…” - he mumbled under his breath as he continued staring at the ruins. What had happened? It had been already some time since he had come back on Earth, but he didn’t honestly think of taking a look over the Outpost. He thought that it was nothing more than an empty place with a bunch of memories that started from the end of the Saiyan invasion and finished with the Kami’s request for the Saiyans to grab their stuff and leave. But it was apparent that something had erupted; maybe a conflict? He doubted that the Guardian of Earth had anything to do with that.

Maybe the Saiyans weren’t in good terms with her back then but that aside she didn’t look like the type that would do this stuff. So, he could only guess that it had been more than just the wrath of an angered woman that caused that damage to the former base of the Saiyan Alliance. Cornatto sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as he floated to the ground. “Well, this sucks… I was kind of hoping some of the facilities would still be here, or well, maybe even some Saiyan. But that wouldn’t make much sense considering the Alliance has been on planet Natto for about twenty years.” - he thought to himself, as he obviously had no idea of what had happened recently.

He looked around and barely recognized anything-- there was only so much that he could remember of the old outpost, but there was nearly nothing that he could recognize other than a few things such as some old junk and other stuff here and there. Then again, it had been quite a while so his memory could be pulling jokes on him but he seriously felt like the Outpost as a whole different place.

Cornatto was about to take off and leave, but before he did that, he felt two massive power levels-- one stronger than the other! He didn’t immediately recognize the first one of them. However, it was close, and a few moments later he spotted him flying towards the landing spot of the outpost. The other signature was approaching the planet, and whoever it was, he was pretty powerful! He’d dare say that this person was almost about as tough as Natto back in the days, not only that but it felt somewhat familiar! He couldn’t exactly pinpoint who possessed such huge amount of ki, but he was going to find out!

The man took off himself and slowly approached the landing zone, by the time he was there, he didn’t only spot once more the young red-haired Saiyan but also the one that had just walked out of their ship.

“Yo! What are y’all doing out here?”

The Earthling Saiyan butted in the discussion between the two, with his usual careless and friendly tone. The moment he looked at Negi, he immediately recognized that the young Saiyan wasn’t a pure-blood, but the red-haired boy was likely a hybrid-- which Cornatto guessed just from looking at his attire and tail; it was evident he had Saiyan blood in his veins. He didn’t know who he was, but the man guessed that he was probably part of the Alliance. As of the other Saiyan, he couldn’t help but keep staring; there was something that tingled his senses, it was like he knew him, but at the same time he couldn’t add up all the similarities that the guy shared with one of his parents. Hilariously enough, one of the two brothers looked just like the father while the other was more similar to the mother.

So, it wasn’t long until realization hit him and that just shocked Cornatto even more than the view of the destroyed ruins; his eyes were wide open as he just glanced at Komatsu with a surprised look on his face. “Is… is that you, Komatsu?!” - he exclaimed in evident amazement. Cornatto barely remembered much of the days he spent on Natto aside from a few things such as the Soy School teachings, but he did remember that Komatsu was quite the opposite compared to his big brother Nasu-- and not only in regards to their personality but also in power level. Nasu was like, about six times stronger than his little brother and yet it seemed that the kid had managed to do quite some work in those twenty years and had ascended to quite the impressive level! His surprise expression couldn’t help but quickly turn into a smile.

“Damn, haha! It’s sure been a while.” - said the man, letting out a faint laugh. Natto would have sure been proud of him if he were still there. It also made him wonder how strong Nasu had got himself-- he had never been a slacker, so he was sure that the two brothers were probably about as strong as the other.

He had to say, though, that the other Saiyan was quite powerful himself! He wasn't much if one were to compare him to Komatsu, but damn, it seemed that many were way above Cornatto’s battle power-- but he wasn’t obviously going to do nothing about it; he was working hard to get stronger. It was something he did regret not doing earlier, but like they say, better late than never!

Cornatto couldn’t still believe that the boy there with that enormous power was truly Komatsu, people changed a lot for sure! He wasn’t even that sure how he had managed to recognize him; the Earthling Saiyan remembered him just a little, but he could still remember that hairstyle, even if it had got longer and his face looked somewhat familiar, too!

But he had changed quite a lot, and it was difficult to accurately match the boy's current self with the memories of that far away past, but ki helped him a little bit. A person’s soul hardly changed at all, the only thing that made it difficult for him to recognize Komatsu for a second was that his power had drastically increased.

He seriously wondered what kind of training he had undergone through, but there’d probably be time for that kind of questions and stuff like that-- the boy didn’t look to be in the best shape, but Corn had decided not to inquire about that for the moment. He had just shown up after twenty years or more, and he didn’t want to butt in others’ business that quickly-- even if the man was seriously wondering what the hell had happened to the outpost.

It seemed that the Earthling Saiyan had hit the jackpot; it was indeed Komatsu! But, there was one issue-- it appeared that the younger Saiyan was hesitating to answer, while Cornatto hadn’t changed physically that much as he still retained his youthful looks. He hadn’t taken into consideration that Komatsu was still a kid back in the days and it was only natural for people not to remember everything in those youthful years. Not to mention that he had not been around for a while, so he hardly expected anyone to recognize him, honestly. Not like Cornatto had any expectation of identifying anyone himself, maybe aside from people like Nasu-- whom the man guessed that looked just like Natto considering the two looked just alike back then, and maybe some other Saiyan who was just as old-- or older than him. He couldn’t exactly think of many names aside from other fellow veterans of the war such as Karota, and perhaps Natto’s brother, too.

After a good few moments or so, Komatsu finally spoke up, inquiring on the Saiyan’s identity. Cornatto chuckled, feeling somewhat awkward for a moment as he had not expected that-- even if he should have. Then again, it wasn’t like Cornatto could blame the kid-- how many times did they meet? That, he didn’t even remember himself! But he could remember him having a little bout with his big brother once, of course, he remembered because it was the first day of his training with Natto which included the basics of the Soy Arts-- he couldn’t certainly afford himself to forget that!

“Haha… I guess it has been a long time,” - he said, and when he was about to resume his speech, Negi gave his input on the matter and introduced Cornatto with his former rank in the Alliance’s military. He also mentioned his most ‘valuable’ military experience during his time in the Saiyan Alliance; the Empire-Alliance war.

Again, it was something that had happened a long time ago, and he highly doubted that anyone would have remembered all of that, but apparently, his picture and a bunch of information were still available in the army quarters. It impressed Corn a little; he had expected them to remove his stuff once they’d have made sure that he hadn’t been on Natto for about two decades.

Then again, he guessed it had something to do with the Alliance’s records rather than keeping up with the members of the Saiyan Army; which was kind of fair considering Cornatto was one of the first Saiyans to join Natto and his goals that would then flourish into the Alliance.

“Hehe, yeah. That’s me!” - he replied, cracking a smirk as he nodded in Negi’s direction. “I guess I haven’t changed that much if you remember me from a picture.” - he added, letting out a faint chuckle before he glanced at Komatsu.

“You were still kinda little back then, so I guess you don’t remember me but your father used to train me. Unless my memory’s gone nuts, I remember seeing you in the dojo once with Nasu.”

He didn’t exactly remember what the kids were up to that day; it probably had something to do with sparring each other but regardless of how much time had passed. At the time he was too focused on keeping up with Natto-- so he wasn’t exactly sure as to what the others in the dojo were up to-- he guessed they were training themselves, though.

Before either Negi or Corn could say anything else, another Saiyan made her appearance and rushed her way to Komatsu, which made Cornatto tilt his head slightly as he watched the two curiously until he realized that the two were probably close-- or at least that was what he could see by their exchange. He smiled a little, and let them have their moment of privacy just like Negi did.

It felt funny how much had changed! Last time he had seen Komatsu, he was still a kid, and while Cornatto was unsure as to how old Komatsu was, he had grown up quite a bit and not only that but also found himself some good friends apparently.

Some time after that, something changed in the air-- or well, rather with Negi. He couldn’t tell well what it was, but the young Saiyan’s look had changed, and while it was quite evident for anyone to notice, Corn didn’t think much of it at first. That was until he spoke up, and his request to talk to Koma kind of earned a bit of the man’s curiosity. “Hm? Is something the matter?” - he asked. He didn’t know whether Negi had implied a private audience with Komatsu or not, but he was somewhat curious to know what was going on as well.

Negi tried to smile to Cornatto but it wasn’t easy right now and it was quite obvious his smile was a forced one. ”You didn’t change at all. You look exactly the same.” he said, before Cornatto went on to speak with Komatsu once again. Negi had a very important matter to discuss and he didn’t want to waste any more time, because he had to leave and he was already running late; if he stalled any further he would probably lose the opportunity to have his so desired revenge and he couldn’t accept that at all.

To his surprise, Cornatto also seemed interested in knowing what was the issue Negi wanted to talk about, but that didn’t appraise the hybrid. If anything, just made it sounds even more troublesome and he sighed deeply. ”Koma… I need to ask you something and I beg of you to answer me as honestly as you can.” he said, pausing for a short moment in order to take a very deep breath. ”Do you intend on attacking the Planet Trade Organization at all? I mean, even if they never attack us again? I really need you to answer this question.” and Negi had a very serious tone, and his expression was that of concern and a tad bit of anger, perhaps even some remorse. The hybrid’s heart was in a turmoil of emotions right now, so it would be a little hard for anyone to correctly read him.

Cornatto only grew more curious as he took note as to how Komatsu initially seemed to be struggling to find the words to answer his question-- and admittedly as the moments passed, Corn was feeling concerned as to what had happened. It was sure strange that not only Saiyans would be coming back to the Outpost out of nowhere, but also that Komatsu's earlier question when the boy asked whether Cornatto had apparently escaped the planet for some reason. It was evident that something had happened, but what intrigued the Saiyan were the details; what could have ever happened? Was there some conflict or something like that? He doubted that a race such as the Saiyans would have run away from their planet just because of a little fight. Despite the fact that the Saiyans from the Alliance were much different from the cold ones, most of them maintained their love for battling, so Cornatto thought that such option was unlikely, or rather impossible.

Shortly after, his concerns were confirmed as Komatsu told him as to how Planet Natto had been destroyed by a certain Jarvis, the leader of the Cerulean Empire. Such news hit Cornatto as the man widened his eyes in shock. “W-what?!” - he exclaimed, leaving his jaw slightly open as he attempted to process the information the fellow Saiyan had given him. It was obviously devastating news for the man, despite the fact that he had been for so long away from the Alliance’s home, it was a place that the Earthling Saiyan still cared for-- it was only natural. The world that had been welcoming all of the Saiyans that were tired of the Empire’s ways but at the same time it wasn’t just a revolutionary force against the Empire, but it quickly turned out into a place where the door was always open for every single member of the warrior race.

Cornatto himself had contributed to the creation of such dream, so it was only natural that he had mixed feelings about this-- however, among them all, there was not only a hint of anger in his eyes, but he also felt sadness deep inside his heart. His hand slowly clenched, a few veins clearly popping up on his arm as he was evidently angered more than anything. His features hardened, followed by a quiet, primal growl vibrating within his body. It was true that getting to see such a sight would have perhaps hurt him more but at least he would have been there for the planet that despite his attachment to Earth, he had considered being his new home long ago.

The man had no idea as to who this Jarvis was either, but he guessed that he wasn’t in good terms with the Alliance because of his actions, Corn did hear something about the Cerulean Empire, though, he didn’t know much other than its existence. So, he was pretty much clueless.

The Earthling Saiyan’s gaze slowly shifted around, as he took another look at the Outpost that was nothing more but a bunch of ruins and slowly brought it back on Komatsu. “This Jarvis guy… did he also do this?” - he asked. It was pretty much the only explanation he could come up with in response to what had happened to the Outpost-- it could have seriously been anything but what Komatsu had just told him couldn’t have made him think otherwise.

In the meanwhile, Negi slowly opened up to his kinsman-- even if it seemed that Cornatto had touched a button with his earlier statement. Cornatto listened silently, still somewhat shocked by the news that Planet Natto was gone but he could still see what Negi’s point was-- it didn’t mean he agreed with it, though.

“...I’m sorry about your parents, but I don’t think it’d be a good choice for you guys to attack them especially now that Planet Natto is no more.” - he said, evidently trying to kick some sense in the hybrid’s head; the Saiyans were probably hurt inside, and he could only wonder how many losses there were-- after all, it wasn’t like there were many other survivors in the whereabouts by what he could sense. He thought that the Alliance’s priority was probably to rebuild at the time.

But, he could somewhat sympathize with the boy; Corn’s parents were killed by the Empire back then, although he had never personally taken revenge for them-- not even during the Alliance-Empire war. At first he had gradually turned his feelings towards the Saiyan race into hate, but funnily enough, it was thanks to Natto that his idea of Saiyans completely changed. He doubted Natto’s intentions the day they met, but Corn quickly realized that Natto was a trustworthy fellow and quickly became friends with him.

Speaking of Natto-- Negi shortly after hinted at what Nasu was up to-- and Cornatto admittedly arched an eyebrow. It had been quite a while since he had last seen the kid and to be honest; he somewhat expected him to look just like his father. After all, his features were similar to Natto’s even when he was just a kid and Saiyans didn’t change that much when it came to their appearances. They’d usually look different, yes, but just older compared as to how some humans’ features drastically changed at times. Nor did their hairstyles change at all.

However, even if Nasu might have looked just like his father, he was nothing like Natto. Cornatto sighed to himself when Negi mentioned the fact that Nasu was not only attacking the Planet Trade Organization but that the hybrid also considered him a selfish idiot. He guessed that his attitude as a child wasn’t just a matter of being excited about fighting like Natto once said, but at least Komatsu had seemingly turned out different from his brother-- from what he had seen that far, of course. Still, it somewhat made him happy to hear a familiar name such as the one of Karota; he was glad to hear that an old friend of his was still alive, she was also the one who had assisted him in learning what was left for him to apprehend of the Soy Arts.

However, this time he decided to stay silent and see what Komatsu would say-- Cornatto wasn’t really up to date with most of the stuff that had happened. So, the man doubted that he could have given that much of input. Corn admittedly felt somewhat powerless and regret deep down; the world he had put so faith in the past and something that he could consider to be part of his effort too, was destroyed without him even knowing.