A Promise Kept

[Deleted]

Many hours passed. The sun rose, fell and rose once more before Sohko showed any improvement. His breathing had started off shallow and haggard but had slowly become deep and steady. Eventually moans escaped his semi conscious lips. Struggling, the beaten saiyan sat up with the pod, whose run down state now matched the state of its inhabitant.

With great effort he opens his left eye, but finds himself unable to do the same with his right. His vision is terribly blurred at first but bit by bit it returns to him.

"Computer..."

He grumbles through bruised lips with great effort.

"Yes sir?"

Not even the monotonous voice of his only trusty companion gave him comfort; he simply hurt too much.

"What... Happened?"

His memory was just a blur, a very painful blur. He obviously knew he had taken a thrashing, but he couldn't bring himself to believe what little he did remember: it seemed far from the realm of possibility. It also didn't help that he was suffering from a debilitating headache, which he couldn't decide if it was a result of the fight or the bountiful drinking.

"I believe it would be best if I just showed you, sir."

With that the door to the near broken old pod fell, revealing a smooth skin creature with a deep red complexion, and an awkward appendage dangling from the back of his head, sitting a few yards away with his legs crossed staring intently at the pod and its owner.

"Holy shnike!"

Sohko exclaimed before jumping up and banging his head hard on the top of the pod, only further aiding his crippling migraine.

[Deleted]

Kazama sat on the slope of the crater of the wastelands of Vegeta. He had fallen asleep late during the night after returning with the drunk slung over his shoulder. Kazama had figured that the beat to hell space pod was a good enough place to throw the saiyan while he recovered. It was better than it sitting empty for the night.

Unfortunately for Kazama though he dreamt of home back at the moons. He saw all of his trainers and his friends that had been there smiling. It was quickly replaced sadly with the images of his friends and former training partners fighting against him with futility. Each one was killed, each and everyone that he cared about was killed because the Mezos betrayed him. Kazama dreamt of the last position he left their bodies in, the blood slowly crawling out of their bodies, their limbs contorted in the various positions that he broke them and the looks on their faces. That was what he could not rid from his mind, the looks on their faces as the life left their eyes as they looked at him. The looks on their faces were what haunted Kazama in his sleep.

The sun rose and with it the heat returned to the wastelands. Kazama was awake well before that though, he had only been able to steal a couple hours of sleep before the visions of his friends became too much to bear. But to Kazama's chagrin the Saiyan did not stir. From what he sensed he was not dead, on death's doorstep but he was not dead. So Kazama sat and waited. He meditated in the wasteland while waiting for the man he had beaten to fulfill his promise. The sun fell and Kazama tried to sleep once again but the memories returned and his friends called out to him, asking why he had done such a thing. This time Kazama was only able to sleep for three hours. The star filled sky was a strange comfort from the visions that swam in his head. Soon the sun rose for a second time and Kazama returned to his meditation. Though to his surprise the space pod came to life with a hum, shortly after he had started, and the door slowly opened.

The battered now sober Saiyan could be seen sitting inside of the pod. The right side of his face swollen and black and blue. The look in his one good eye was one of confusion, blood from his mouth had dried creating mats in his scraggly goatee and from what Kazama sensed his power level had already begun to climb back to where it was before. When the Saiyan realized that the deep red majin was staring him in the face he jumped nearly through the roof of the pod.

"Holy shnike!"

His head bounced violently off the top of the pod and sank back into the seat. As the Saiyan fell back into his seat Kazama burst out laughing. He began laughing so hard that he ended up falling over holding his ribs. Kazama began to kick the ground from his laughter. His laughter subsided long enough for

"You don't realize how much I needed that." Kazama stated as he tried to catch his breath.

The majin shot a wide smile while chuckling to himself to the now awaken Saiyan.

[Deleted]

Sohko breathed a sigh of relief when he realized the creature was no longer hostile. Instead, he actually seemed happy. Either way, the saiyan, even with an injured pride, was still grateful that the being had not taken the opportunity to do away with him while he was down for the count. It certainly wasn't helpful that most of the night had been a blur.

"You don't realize how much I need... A drink!"

The last two words lit up a revelation in his mind. Not only would a little bit, well a generous portion, of some fine Saiyan Comfort jog his memory but it would also help stay the beast that is his migraine. Without another word he patted down his pockets in a hurry before pulling lose his katchin reinforced flask. Meanwhile the smooth skinned man tilted his head and watched curiously.

"Sweet delicious mercy, did you miss me?"

Holding the flask to his lips he takes many gulps before letting out a very satisfied sigh. Not a minute later, the memories rush back. The young warrior he beat down, the two close minded women who weren't up for experimenting, LOTS of alcohol, and finally the thing that stands before him now; and the ass whipping it gave him.

"Now that hits the spot. I have to admit, you are the toughest stick of Juicy Fruit I have ever had the pleasure to receive an ass whopping from."

Then a small, seemingly insignificant, detail comes to him. A deal made between two warriors. A promise that was to be kept, for Sohko, although a rowdy drunken deviant, was still a man of his word.

"I remember now, I owe you a conversation."

Painstakingly, the saiyan stood from the pod, gripping its doorway to pull himself free, before leaning against the pod and taking another sip of his miracle elixir.

"I guess I should start. My name is Sohko and I am a saiyan. This is my... Home I suppose you'd say. If you don't mind me asking, what in Kai's name are you?"

[Deleted]

As the Saiyan painstakingly stood from the pod Kazama was able to see that his body had not fully recovered from the beat down that he had inflicted. He did however conclusively get an answer on what a Saiyan was.

"Well, Sohko, it is nice to meet you. My name is Kazama." He replied to the Sohko's question.

He rubbed his bald red head with his right hand. The feeling that he felt ripple throughout his gut felt good. He was finally getting the conversation he so longed for over the last several months. Sohko had a look on his face that stated he wanted more information.

"What in the kai are you?!" The Saiyan asked with a decent amount of aggressiveness in his voice.

Kazama was a bit taken a back but then looked himself up and down. He had never really thought about what he was because no one had questioned it before. He could see that the Saiyan had never seen anything like him though and wanted answers.

"For one, I am not a radioactive piece of bubblegum like you insisted earlier. To be honest I don't exactly know. I never really questioned it when I was back on the moons because no one asked. However, I do remember being called a Majin, I think, at one point. I don't know what that is but apparently I am one." Kazama said with a meek smile while he tried to suppress the memories that flowed with it.

After replying he carefully checked Sohko up and down real quick look over. And that was when he noticed the fairly furry tail that was peaking out form behind him. Kazama's eyes widened a little bit.

"You have a tail?" Kazama asked curiously.

[Deleted]

The tail in question, apparently the only part of Sohko that is taken care off due to its relative cleanliness in relation to the rest of him, having been pointed out bashfully retreats behind its owner. Sohko himself lets out a small laugh before responding.

"Why yes, all pure blood saiyans are born with them. Come on out little buddy, don't be afraid of Big Red."

Coyly the tail, acting as if it had a mind of its own, pokes out from the side of Sohko.

"His name is Harold and he is a very helpful tail, aren't you little buddy?"

The tail wags out of excitement, before Kazama reaches forward curiously and grabs it with a firm, but not hostile, grip. All at once Sohko's body tightens from head to toe, his teeth clench and his eyes pop. Then, without the ability to consciously support himself against the pod, he falls face forward into the dirt where he twitches. Kazama immediately lets go of the tail and hops back a step.

"Are you ok?"

His body slowly loosens back to its appropriate stiffness and as soon as his teeth unclench he responds from the dirt.

"Don't ever grab a saiyan's tail unless he is an enemy. Grabbing our tails weakens us to the point of helplessness, unless we were able to train the weakness out of them."

As Sohko takes his time sitting back up, Kazama's curiosity gets the better of him.

"Why haven't you trained your tail in such a way."

Sitting up and once again leaning against the pod, the saiyan looks off to the side and mumbles.

"Just been busy is all... Between drinking and... Well, drinking I've been very busy."

Kazama nods slowly.

"So if it is only a major weakness, why keep it?"

Sohko gasps and Harold the tail jumps into his arms at the mere thought of removing his pride and joy.

"That is a great disrespect among Saiyans! A saiyan without his tail is only half a man in our society! In fact its a punishment we place upon those who have committed crimes! Not to mention its also our secret weapon!"

Sohko pets his tail reassuringly as he whispers reassuring thoughts to it. Meanwhile the "Majin" looks even more curious than before.

"Secret weapon?"

"Yup. In the light of a full moon it allows to attain a very powerful form called Oozaru, which many know as Great Ape. It's pretty freaking cool. Although if we don't know how to control it then we just become giants engines of mass destruction, but I wouldn't worry too much about that."

Sohko says with a sly wink before taking another hearty sip from his flask.

"So tell me, Mr. Majin, what brings you around to my home planet? The lush rolling landscapes and majestic scenery?"

He says as a tumbleweed rolls between them and off into the barren and near uninhabitable tundra of endless sand and unbearable heat.

[Deleted]

"To be honest I didn't choose to come here. I ended up taking one of my friend's space pods and the guidance computer on it was locked on this planet. And despite my petitioning him at the time he never ended up getting the damn thing fixed. So in essence I didn't have a choice in coming here," Kazama said as he thought about his friend Peso.

Sohko though this time did not catch the far off look in Kazama's eyes instead he was busy taking a drink from his flask. Kazama caught this out of the corner of his eye and snorted. Sohko stopped and shot Kazama a dirty look.

"What is that look for?" The saiyan asked.

"Why do you drink so much? You said that you would have trained your tail so that it wouldn't be a weakness now if you weren't drinking all the time. I can sense you power level, I can see your potential and yet you will never be able to achieve it if you continue to act the way you are now. You claim to have a secret weapon in this great ape form but I bet you anything that the most powerful on your planet can not only control the form but go beyond it. Yet you drown yourself away with that pitiful liquid weakening yourself." Kazama stated in a fiery tone.

That was when Kazama could feel eight power levels approaching fast from the south. They would not be much of a problem but what he wondered were they coming for the Majin or were they coming for the Saiyan. He figured he was going to find out soon enough when they arrived.

"Five minutes max..." Kazama said under his breath.

He watched the Saiyan open his flask again and take another long drink before sending a death glare with dagger eyes to Kazama. The Majin crossed his arms in front of him waiting for the response that would be coming.

[Deleted]

Letting out a long sigh, Sohko lets the death glare slip from his eyes. Lowering his head to stare at his flask he thinks about the events that made him the way he was today. He had never told another person of his past and the things he's done.

"I used to be a soldier for the World Trade Organization. They took me in when my parent's ship was destroyed by a freak accident. They trained me, allowed me to mature into what I was born to be, a powerful warrior capable, and fully willing, of committing mass genocides."

He takes another sip of his flask, quickly washing down the unconscious guilt that arises whenever he thinks of his past. A guilt that was his curse, and which he believed to be his greatest weakness.

"Saiyan warriors do not have consciences. It is not in our nature, it is not who were are deep down. We fight, we kill, we destroy. It's the fundamental piece of our nature and I was absolutely okay with it, I wanted to kill and kill, to become stronger and stronger. I wanted to become the strongest and I wanted power. I killed entire civilizations, wiped the slate clean for entire solar systems. I was a monster in every sense of the word."

The old woman, the old mystic, her smiling face sits in the back of his mind. He rubs the burn mark her hand had left on that fateful day.

"But then I was cursed by a powerful mystic. Cursed to relive every memory, every emotion, the person had ever felt over their entire life. Then she fell herself upon my blade..."

Sohko gently rubs the empty scabbard which hangs behind him from his waist.

"I saw everything she ever loved. Everything. I saw all her greatest days and saddest moments. It destroyed me. I couldn't... I can't kill again for fear of reliving another's memories... The old woman's memories and feelings make me feel guilt and regret beyond measure for my past... So I drink, I drink to dull the pain, to blur the memories, for a moment's respite..."

The pain begins to weigh on his mind once more, so he quickly raises the flask to his lips once more and drinks... And drinks...

[Deleted]

Kazama could feel for the Saiyan. Although he did not use alcohol to cover the pain he felt he still had the memories of his friends staring at him as they died. Perhaps the Saiyan had an idea on how to deal with these problems.

"I am pretty much a weapon as well. In fact I was created to be a weapon used to put down rebellions and keep slaves in line. We are not that different." Kazama stated trying to keep his mind focused.

He could feel the power levels closing in. He figured it would only be a matter of moments before they arrived. He had to get the answers to his questions before the two of them got interrupted.

"I have a few questions I need you to answer quickly while I still have your attention."

Sohko looked up quickly with a confused look on his face.

"Who is the ruler here? How long have the Saiyans been here? Is there a way to get off this planet? Who created the massive power residue in this wasteland?" Kazama shot off quickly.

He knew it was only a mattered of moments until the power levels arrived.

[Deleted]

He felt a little blindsided with all the questions, but did not doubt his reasons. He felt a certain kinship with the Majin, as he had called himself. It is said blood is thicker than water, and the both of them had enough blood on their hands to fill the wastelands. Their mutual guilt over their respective crimes made him trust the creature; at least more than he trusted anyone else.

"Oh well alrighty then. Boliko is the emperor. Saiyans have ruled Vegeta since we exterminated those slave drivers, the Tuffles, centuries ago. To leave the planet you'd need a pod or ship, in which case Sari City, the capital, is your destination. Plenty of dealers there that would sell there soul to sell you a ship. As for the wasteland..."

Sohko opens his mouth to speak but stops, before scratching his beard, and looking around the surroundings.

"To be honest, I don't remember that one heh! My memory isn't quite what it used to be."

He lets out a slight laugh before taking another sip of Saiyan Comfort. Mid sip he stops as he feels the presence of eight power signatures only a few seconds away. Now Kazama's barrage of questions makes sense, he felt his well earned conversation coming to an abrupt end. Quickly cursing himself for not paying more attention, Sohko hopped to his feet and turned just in time to see three familiar faces, as well as five new ones, appear within sight.

[Deleted]

Eight men landed with a relatively high amount of speed. Each was unique in build, height, hair and other subtle traits but they all wore large battle armor which covered most of their bodies. One man in particular had a brace on one of his arms. Kazama deemed that if things escalated it would only be a matter of seconds before they were incapacitated.

"Well well well. A drunk is back at his space pod no doubt sleeping off his hangover. And the monster that beat the living hell out of him and destroyed half of the bar. What would people think?" The one with the brace said with a cocky smile.

Kazama rolled his eyes which was noticed by the man with the brace. The Majin was quickly figuring out that this one was the leader.

"What?! You think this is funny? You are a marked...ma...creature..." The man stammered while trying to sound intimidating.

"You are a ballsy one, I will give you that," Kazama said with a chuckle before turning to Sohko. "Are all Saiyans this arrogant and reckless with their lives?"

[Deleted]

"Well, I wouldn't say arrogant... Actually on second thought, arrogant about sums it up. Yeah, we are all pretty much that way. As for being reckless with our lives, I'd prefer to say we are prideful to the point of foolish ignorance."

The leader of the group, the youth who insulted him at the bar the afternoon before, eyes him, his eye twitching with anger. Then he smiles as he eyes the flask in Sohko's hand.

"Nice shiner, still a washed up drunk I see."

Sohko smiles as he stashes the katchin enforced flask in his pocket and in return pulls out a pair of shades which he then places over his eyes; to help prevent any headaches the bright sun might incur upon him.

"Nice arm, still an overcompensating cowardly bitch I see."

He makes a point of tipping his head at the saiyans "reinforcements" when he says "cowardly bitch." The youth's smile instantly drops to a scowl and fire shoots through his eyes.

"That's it!"

He then points at the four new faces.

"You four, take that red thing! We'll take care of this washed up hack."

The youth and his two friends, all of whom were present at the bar for the lopsided fight, advance upon Sohko as the others begin to move towards Kazama.

"You know what they say, one's a loner, two's a team, but three's a party!"

With that Sohko brings his hands together and focuses his power level into three, then throws his hands at his sides, casting off two identical fractions of himself. All three of them smile carnivorously. Immediately, the three saiyans leap forward, trying to take advantage of Sohko while he was in the midst of his technique, but to no avail, as all three Sohkos sidestep all three attacks.

"Whoops, our bad, didn't mean to dodge your attack such a pathetic amount of ease. Please feel free to try again."

All three of their faces become red as they leap once more for Sohko. They begin rapidly throwing strikes while each respective Sohko blocks each with his own strike, holding back so as to not hurt them and end the fight too prematurely.

"Man, this must be embarrassing for you guys. I bet your parents wish they sent you all away in pods when you were babies."

They redouble their efforts as a result of the insult, but truly there is little result to come of it. Instead, Sohko hardens his strikes, which slowly whittles away the strength of his adversaries as well as softens them up for what is to come. He also thinks given how easily he's handling his three, he can only imagine how much fun Kazama must be having with his four.

"That's about enough of that, several minutes of foreplay is good for me, time to get screwed!"

All three Sohko's, in mid dodge, side steps their opponents and each lands a hard elbow to the back of their necks. They fall near one another and grumble to slowly stand. Their leader stands first, just in time to notice the three Sohko's taking up a triangular position around them. In unison all three Sohko's speak.

"You want to see a magic trick?"

All at once, they pool energy into their outstretched fingers, clenching them together as they do so, before splitting them apart in a quick motion, each creating four red orbs of energy between their fingers. With a devious smile, all three then chuck the orbs with amazing speed at the three saiyans, who all disappear in the explosion.

"Well that was fun!"

All three say as the recombine into one again. However their joy turns to surprise when the smoke clears and they see the youth with an injured arm holding his two, now unconscious, friends up as shields, thus mostly protecting him from the previous attack. Sohko breathes a momentary sigh of relief for having held back enough energy so that they weren't dead. He was absolutely sure he did not want any their memories floating around his already diluted mind.

"Dude... Cold... I mean absolute genius, but still... So cold..."

[Deleted]

The four saiyans separated from the group and began to walk over towards Kazama. The Majin shot them a skeptical look as all four approached with happy grins on their faces. Soon all four launched forward swinging wildly as Kazama slowly moved backwards as his upper body dodged most of the attacks and blocking the few that he was not able to dodge. This went on for about thirty seconds before Kazama bounced backwards out of the crater.

One of the saiyans charged forward beyond the others and swung with a heavy right hand that grazed past Kazama's head. Kazama grabbed his wrist and ripped down having his elbow land on his shoulder while he pushed up. His arm bent the wrong way with a sick sounding snap. He instantly let out a scream as Kazama side stepped and kicked in the side of his knee. He let out another scream evener louder than the first but was quickly silenced with a sudden chop to the neck. The saiyan's body went limp and collapsed at the feet of Kazama.

The other three saiyans looked on in horror at how quickly their comrade had been taken out. Two of them eventually worked up enough courage to attack Kazama who dodged their attacks by taking to the sky. Once there instead of dodging the attacks he chose to block the attacks. The two saiyans tried frantically somehow to get past the near impregnable guard of Kazama. After one of the attacks Kazama kicked one of the saiyans away. The other levitated in the air as he watched his friend flew backwards. That was when Kazama charged forward and began to let loose a barrage punches to the stomach. The saiyan's eyes went white as he was unable to breathe as his armor, ribs and internal organs broke under the attacks. When Kazama stopped the man dropped out of the air with a thud. The Majin watched as the man dropped before ducking a wild hook from the other man before countering with a spinning heel kick. The saiyan flew into the ground with a dust cloud following him. As he slid to a stop Kazama slammed his knee into his chest. He coughed up blood before falling motionless.

Kazama turned back to the fourth saiyan who was standing off in the distance shaking. He motioned with both hands to bring it on. But instead of attacking the saiyan took off flying in the opposite direction. Kazama sighed before forming a ball of ki in his hand. He wound back and threw it with ease. The ball of ki arched through the air before colliding into the man with an explosion leaving nothing of him behind.

Kazama walked over to the edge of the crater in time to see the leader of the Saiyans come out from behind the unconscious bodies of his comrades. He could not believe that a leader would do such a thing. The leader noticed that the two meat shields were still breathing.

"Pathetic! You are a Saiyan who does not kill! You might as well not have a tail!" The man stated with a nasty smile on his face.

"He won't kill. But I will." Kazama stated as he slid down the edge of the crater.

The leader scrambled to his feet in time to have his right knee kicked backwards with sick crack. Before he was able to let out a scream Kazama kicked his other knee backwards as well. This time let out a scream as he fell awkwardly to the ground. Sohko grimaced at the sound and sight. Kazama picked up the leader, tossed him in the air and then kicked him off away from the pod. His body zoomed through the air before skidding to a stop. Both men climbed to the edge and looked out as the man tried to get up but was only able to get as far off the ground as his arms would allow him.

"You just bitch slapped slug humper!" Sohko called out with a laugh. Kazama turned to the saiyan.

"Bitch slapped?" He questioned.

"It is when you slap someone across the face. It is usually meant to be incredibly disrespectful." Sohko answered with a large smile on his face. That was when Kazama noticed that despite the sun glasses the swelling to his face was still quite noticeable.

"Oh you mean like this." Kazama said as he stepped forward. He reeled back and the spun launching his arm out beyond what the Saiyan had ever seen. It snapped through the air before his hand slammed the side of the face of the leader. His head snapped violently spinning his body off the ground for a brief second. Kazama's arm rapidly retracted to its proper length. He turned to Sohko who simply took a sip from his flask before turning around to walk towards his pod. Kazama turned to him with a pained look on his face.

"Hey...I am going to be heading to the capital of this planet in an effort to find a space pod. And I could really use some company. Why don't you come along with me? Your bar is destroyed and you have absolutely nothing better to do." Kazama asked with a hint of desperation in his voice.

Sohko turned to the Majin, took a deep drink from his flask and then shrugged.

"I really shouldn't do this. But why the hell not. I have nothing else going on as you kindly pointed out. I just have to grab one thing first." Sohko said as he walked over to the space pod and opened up one of the back panels. He reached in and with a tug pulled something out of the back. "Jeevesy, without this thing as he put it 'I will surely perish'." Sohko said with a smile.

Kazama smiled and could not help but let out a joyful laugh. It had been so long since he had had someone to travel with. At last one of his true desires over the last month was fulfilled. He had someone to talk to again.

Fin.

(I know the limb extension was pushing it but I didn't realize how far off the guy would be until after the fact.)

[Deleted]

Zeni for the both of us please.

[Jorlaxl]

Sohko 1500 Zeni awarded!
Kazama: 1600 Zeni awarded!
Good job, guys! I love the casual attitude your characters exude together.