DBZ: The Shadow of Revan (Act Two Continuation)

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Gen looked at Drake as the man started to get up.

"No Mecha... I don't need to see So- this ain't the bloody Gravel Wars!" Drake said, rubbing his head.

"Welcome back to the world I don't control Drake. Catch." Gen replied, throwing him a medal.

"What's this for?" Drake asked.

"Valor medal. Our work on defending places. Anyway, follow Vegeta, I need to go take care of something personal." Gen said before walking to an exit. Drake got up, pulling his clothes to a more comfortable position, walking to the Saiyan.

"Alright, where are we going?" Drake asked.
 
Brachi crossed her arms.

"Something isn't right here..." She said, her tail wagging to and fro.

"What do you mean?" Future Brachi asked.

"I am not entirely sure, but I'm having a real bad feeling about this. Perhaps it's our battle against that bastard known as Ruthas that has somehow made me more paranoid or agitated... Vegeta and Beerus have a point on this matter and we should investigate." She said.
 
When grabbed, Red Mist didn't even attempt to stop the man. Her face remained as emotionless as ever as Vegetto was moments away from ending her life. When man released her thanks to Gogeta's actions, she landed plop on her feet. She touched her throat and seemed more preoccupied with the wound on her hand. While the two seem to bicker with one another, Red Mist would casually walk past the two and stood by the exit, ultimately waiting for them to finish. Despite the fact that she almost got killed without a second thought, she seemed as robotic as ever, almost as if Vegetto's action didn't even phase her.

Regardless if they finished arguing now or later, her voice boomed out for the two to hear. 

"The decision was yours, Sir Vegetto. Whatever action you had to take I only assume was yours and yours alone. You did this for your people, not to become an enemy." Red Mist removed the shirt from around her neck and took a sharp breath. "I do not blame you for the deaths of these people, nor does your friend, Jaz. Just as how you reacted, your friend was the same way. Jaz is not angry at your action but angry that there was nothing we could have done to help these people at the moment, this is a fact." Red Mist took out the combat knife from earlier and tossed it up and down, catching every time. "However, for you to easily attempt to end the life of a friend who looks up to you..."

Red Mist turned to face the two, placing Jaz's infamous shirt on the floor. The wounded hand from earlier was held above the shirt, small drops of blood landing on the part where Jaz's heart would be. 

"She gave you a second chance after you said you would take away everyone's freedom, including her own." Red Mist stabbed the knife into her bleeding hand, no reaction formed on her face.

"She trusted you after she saw your actions, be they good or bad for your cause." She dug the knife deeper, the blood dripping faster on her shirt.

"She forgave you after you beat the living shit out of her, believing that you were right and she was wrong." She finally pulled out the knife, there was a visible gash that was nearly see-through on her hand. She then picked up the shirt and tossed it to the two.

"And worst of all, she looked at you as a father, both of you. A reminder and a betrayal that Jaz never wanted to relive again." She turned her back to the two once again. "She meant nothing to you if you would easily toss her aside for believing the same words you spat on her. I may not like Jaz but the way she is crying right now... It almost makes me feel like I have emotions."

Red Mist just stayed put, watching the outside world. "And for you to let your wrath cloud judgment... you have truly killed your friend. She fears you, Sir Vegetto. As a matter of fact..." She walked to the two and stood only a couple of feet away from Vegetto. "Why not see for yourself~"

Red Mist's voice suddenly changed into a much more familiar tone, the one of Jaz. Jaz, having seemed dazed and confused but as soon as her eyes locked to Vegetto, it was nothing but absolute fear on her face. She quickly jumped several feet back, her eyes showing signs of tears. Her entire body seemed frantic, like a caged animal stuck in a corner. 

"Get away from me... Don't you dare come near me!" She seemed to choke between words, the fear was eating her alive. "I trusted you! You promised me that you wouldn't hurt me if I followed you! You said that you were gonna help me... You said that you were my friend." Tears rolled down her cheeks. "You lied to me! You would kill me if I ever got between you and your stupid plans! You wouldn't think twice! You wouldn't care! You never did! You never will! I...I can't believe I trusted you! You.. You! " Jaz seemed to back away from the man, hiding her face with her hands, blood and tears running down her face. "I HATE you, Vegetto!"

Her final words seem to echo throughout the area they were in followed by Jaz falling on her butt and sobbing.
 
Goku narrowed his eyes, stepping forward.

"Alright, let's go see what he wants then."

Vegeta soon followed shortly after with Beerus in tow, leading the group of warriors down the corridor towards the elevator.

The elevator soon took the others up to the desired floor, stepping out onto a outer ring spanning across a circular pathway. Various soldiers and citizens alike hustled to and fro across the walkway, indicating that this was the central hub of activity for the Republic in the entire spacedock.

Vegeta kept his arms crossed, leading the others down a flight of stairs towards the cantina, nearly vacant of people.

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Sitting in a chair underneath a tent nearby, Theron pressed onto a button on the circular metal object he clutched in his right hand. A blue holoimage immediately disappeared as the group came up, Vegeta raising an eyebrow.

"Was that the Grand Master?"

Theron nodded his head once.

"Currently acting as an emissary for the Dravos League. No where near Tython."

He scoffed lightly.

"We're not exactly close, as the Jedi don't really care for...family dynamics. But that doesn't mean I can't check up on her though."

====================

Vegetto paused at Jaz's outburst for a moment, dropping his head slightly with a saddened expression. The flare of his aura and her sobbing were the only sounds for a few seconds, Gogeta eyeing Vegetto silently in the confrontation.

The fusion dipped his own head slightly at the sight of Vegetto raising his, the ferocity returning in his expression.

"You attacked me without reason, just after I did what had to be done to end these people's suffering. How else did you think I would react?!"

Gogeta turned his head up slightly, his voice a bit weaker.

"Let's just calm down..."

The fusion stopped immediately at the other's scoff.

"No, it doesn't!"

Gogeta blinked, watching Vegetto's aura flare a bit in sync with his furious expression.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! Thinking you could just get away with whatever you want without consequence?!"
 
"What do you mean?" Brachi asked, confused, "The jedi don't care for 'family dynamics'? Surely they have loved ones worth fighting for, right?!"

Xenest simply crossed his arms, seeing his future counterpart with his wife further up ahead.
 
"I can say the same thing for you, Vegetto! Do you think taking people's freedom won't result in consequences?! Are you that damn blind to not believe people will rebel against you?!" Jaz screamed at him once again, moving up to her feet. She looked a bit shaky but it was hard to tell if it was from fear or anger. 

"Look at you... you've grown mad with power! If Gogeta wasn't here to stop you, I'd be dead! All for what?! All because of a girl who punched you? One that you have proven to beat time and time again?!" Jaz walked a little closer to Vegetto but kept a good distance between them. "You wanna talk about consequences, fine! Let's talk about 'em! Your plan for slavery and your current war with the people against you, was THIS not consequences from YOUR actions?! You kill the people who don't bend to your will, who don't give up their freedom and yet you're surprised that there are people who are against your stupid idea?!"

Jaz's shoulders began to quake and the tears began to form but she tried so hard not to show him her sadness. 

"You said that these other people are the enemy, yet all the killing I've seen were from your hands. Gogeta even has to stop you at some points, make you rethink your actions... and even then, you toss even HIM aside. Gogeta, from the start, didn't even want me or Jr. in this mess! He offered to take us home! Jr. must be worried sick about me, his father, and his uncle!"

Jaz's voice finally started to crack up and the tears finally began to roll down her cheeks. Her hands tried to cast them away, hide the tears from both the saiyans. She stood there, crying before the two men.

"I told y-you from the start... I don't care about this stupid war, I-I just want my friend back!" Her voice got a little lower, almost as if she didn't want them to hear. "Y-You're just like Izack... you use me to get what you want then toss me aside like garbage when you see no use for me..." 

She looked up at Vegetto, blood and tears covered her face. She looked to be in so much emotional and mental pain.

"All I ever wanted to do was just fit in with the people of earth... I  gave myself a chance with you, Vegetto. I honestly felt like I fit in with you and your friends and family." She frowned. "But for you to throw it all away like that... I was living in nothing but a lie that you tricked me into believing... I guess I really don't belong in such a beautiful world." 

Jaz's voice finally mellowed out, returning to that of sobbing.

"I hate you for pulling me into this lie, Vegetto after I believed you, followed you, trusted you, defended you, and looked up to you..." She fell to her knees, almost as if her heart gave up on her. "But... I'm sorry I hurt you." Despite all that she said to Vegetto and how she felt, she still had it in her heart to apologize to him. She felt pathetic. "But apologies are useless on deaf...ears." 

Her voice just continued to get weaker and weaker, the spirit and will that made her who she is was dying off.
 
Brachi on her turn was thinking about the new form she achieved, wondering how it would benefit her as she felt that not only her strength, power and speed all increased, she found herself with increased senses as well, as if her reaction time had been improved to where her actions allowed her to chain techniques in swift combination attacks...
 
Theron scoffed again at Brachi's question.

"The Jedi don't have feelings for anyone, actually. Their teachings forbid those sorts of connections: they see them as a dangerous threat. Of course, no Jedi perfectly follows the path as they should with me-"

The man mockingly gestured to his body with both hands.

"-as a living reminder of the Grand Master's failure, our own bloodline being an example of the greatest Jedi who ever lived: Revan's. But they have more than enough reason to believe those sorts of connections lead to the dark side of things..."

His expression changed from slight annoyance to a frown with remorse in his tone, dipping his head a bit.

"We've lost a lot of good men to the Sith from exploiting those bonds."

Beerus yawned audibly, patting his mouth for a moment with his right hand.

"Your trivial problems with war are fascinating, but we should focus on the main reason why we're here. What is it that you want?"

Theron glanced up, glaring in response to Beerus.

"Trivial? And who are you supposed to be?"

Beerus' expression remained unchanged.

"The god of destruction. And if you don't start with the reason why you're playing this facade, then I might become upset enough to wipe out your fleet in one blast. In fact, if it wasn't for my patience in seeing what your Republic had to offer, the false Emperor would have found your central hub of operations long ago."

Beerus' own eyes narrowed slightly, locking with Theron's perplexed stare.

"I'm sure he'd love to find your ships now, given the recent events that have transpired."

Theron grunted.

"We lost men as much as the Imperials did today, and you know it."

Beerus' glare sharpened slightly.

"No you didn't. There were three attacks in total."

Theron raised an eyebrow.

"Three? What are you talking about?"

Beerus' expression remained unchanged.

"Let's focus on the now. Why did you want to meet us here?"

Theron glanced away, pausing for a moment before letting out a sigh.

"Look, I may not be one of you. I don't have special powers, nor do I have the ability to sense disturbances just from something wrong in the air. But even without the Force, I know when things don't add up..."

He glanced down to his hands.

"These ops, General Darok...something's being buried here. I'm sure of it."

Theron then glanced up, pointing to the glinting metal in Drake's hand.

"But the real question is, are you going to take your shiny medals and go home like Darok's hoping? Or are you ready to start digging?"

===============================================

Vegetto remained silent in response, his expression contorting in his rage. His audible breaths from his nose were able to carry on past the violent aura surging around him, the red energy even bending forward from the force of the wind. He glanced away, his eyes looking down at the ground as his breathing slowed.

He let out a small light sigh, the aura soon disappearing into thin air while he lowered his arms. His hair still illuminated brightly in his transformed state, his expression still stern.

"I'm...I'm sorry too."

Gogeta kept his form as well, moving up to Vegetto's side.

"Well, I'm glad that's all over with now."

The fusion then blinked however, turning his head towards Vegetto's bowed state at the audible question.

"Why have you spent these last few years at my side, Gogeta? Don't you agree with what I'm fighting for?"

Gogeta nodded his head once.

"I do...to an extent. But Jaz has a point too: you do lose control quite a bit in this fight."

Vegetto narrowed eyes lifted with his head, facing towards Gogeta.

"You would too if you dealt with this people."

Gogeta chuckled in response, nodding his head.

"I know, that's why it doesn't bother me when I see you get upset. None of us are perfect, brother, and you'll need more than just yourself to fight the kind of war you want to win. I've got your back in all of this, no matter what way it plays out."

Vegetto glanced away in response, turning back towards Jaz with narrowed eyes.

"I'll take you home, if that's where you want to go. I don't want to fight you anymore...for Junior's sake."
 
"Three attacks?" Busa asked.

"With Empires that span multiple planets and with plenty of manpower, weaponry and bases, battles can be fought on multiple fronts. Remember how we went up in arms against the Metar? That spanned over multiple planets, and although we could partake in only one battle each time, our Martian allies have had multiple bases around and have been making their stand on those locations as best as they could while we fought elsewhere." Xenest said.
 
"Why is it I have a feeling that some corporation would like to argue with you about that." Drake muttered, "You know, I know a lot of people who didn't give two cares about their family, all of them ended up dead. Anyway, so what exactly are you proposing? Implying Darok is, a turned?"

---

Gen stood in an empty corridor, his fingers on the glass vial containing his symbiote.

"You do realize I can smell you two, right?" He asked to the emptiness, a single black tendril falling from the ceiling.
"Yeah, I know you are there, Wanderer, Demon Hunter."
 
Where Mioi was seated, she saw the hair belonging to Goku which she had seen right before they had left the scene she had been tracking earlier.

Those are the ones from before... She thought, her eye shifting over to Theron and attempting to read their lips through the conversation as she was too far away for her ears to catch their voices clearly. They are not dissenters? Are they allies?
 
"I just wanna go home with Jr..." Jaz mumbled to herself. It was obvious that she was broken and that she was going to take a long time to recover from Vegetto's action. She let out a sigh before moving up to her feet. She didn't seem to want to be near Vegetto after his stunt with her.

"I just don't know if I should trust you anymore Vegetto... You're not the same person I once remembered. I don't know what's happened to you." She sighed again. "Maybe I'm just too stupid to see the truth like you. Maybe I just don't understand... Maybe killing me wasn't such a bad idea after all..."

She still tried to clean her face from her tears but she was just so hurt. It was clear that Jaz had the mind of a child and still needed to grow up a little but she felt truly betrayed. She sniffled and stood there, like a lone child lost in the middle of a street. It was hard for Jaz to understand when she grew up in a completely different manner. She barely grew up at all and always had to learn things on her own with no one to help her. 

"I just wanna be with Jr." She whined. "I... I'm scared... I just don't wanna fail you anymore." Jaz gripped her head and whimpered. "I just...don't want to...fail you.. I was made to protect people... I just can't fail you again."
 
Vegetto glanced down at Jaz's words, frowning slightly before glancing away. Gogeta placed his hands on his hips, furrowing his brow.

"Well then, we'll have to find Jr. before we can get you both out of here."

He glanced over his shoulder, Darth Marr slowly making his way up to the fusion's side.

"He is in Republic custody now, they departed together after slaying Darth Soverus in the Council chambers."

The Sith crossed his arms behind his back.

"You two need to report to Lana Beniko at once."

Vegetto narrowed his eyes.

"Was that an order?"

Darth Marr nodded once.

"It is. Not from an authority of power, but one of significant importance. There is something wrong with everything that is happening here, and she has more information. You must see her; the fate of the entire Empire, if not the universe, likely depends on it."

Vegetto kept his stern stare, turning back towards Jaz.

"I'm sorry Jaz, but you can't back out of this now. When we find Junior, I'll take you both home. But for now, you're going to have to see this through."

===========================

Theron shook his head once, frowning in response.

"Perhaps, but there's more to this story from what I've already uncovered."

Vegeta kept his arms crossed, expression blank.

"What have you found?"

The agent crossed his arms.

"From what I can tell, two heavily coordinated and successful strikes on key home worlds for both factions is something that doesn't happen everyday. And by the looks of things, whatever Darok is doing, he managed to successfully hoard valuable Rakata technology from the Korriban vaults."

He shrugged his shoulders.

"The only problem is that the confiscated materials Darok spoke so highly of haven't arrived, and probably won't be in the near future. Along with the SIS intelligence boys informing me that Tython's vaults housed similar artifacts, which disappeared during the Sith occupation."

Beerus made a loud, audible cough. His narrowed eyes remained locked on Theron.

"Now you can mention what I referred to earlier."

Theron glanced up towards Beerus, letting out a light sigh.

"Ok, so maybe I was being a bit coy with what has happened today. But it's mainly because we had no idea about it until recently."

Beerus lifted his eyelid a bit.

"You managed to successfully land a weapon of mass destruction in the middle of the Empire's core worlds, and you didn't even realize it?"

Theron nodded.

"Yes, that's it exactly. Darok had reported to the Chancellor once the missile strike was successful, and I decided to take a look at what he launched and where it landed while you were taking care of business on Tython."

He leaned forward, pulling out a round metal circular object in his hand. A small image of a missile warhead loaded up into a blue holoimage, illegible text floating next to it.

"I had to run level five decryption slicing programs to break through the Republic's archive for this weapon, which has been developed secretly in the past few months with the specific intention of targeting the False Emperor himself. It's a parasitic disease, spreading to the vocal cords of its subjects where the small bugs only respond when the cords vibrate in a certain pattern."

Goku blinked.

"So they attack their victim when they make noise?"

Theron shook his head once.

"It's actually more advanced than that: the creatures are attuned to a certain language. If the infected person speaks a certain amount of words in the language we encode to the parasites, the bugs will eventually spread to the heart and devour the body from within."

Beerus rubbed his chin.

"Fascinating, but what does this have to do with anything?"

Theron nodded down to the image.

"This file was updated within the past fifteen minutes since we've been talking. The project has never come close to being completed, and after talking with some contacts in the higher level staff, the disease itself was only a design with R&D crews. A dream that no one had put to paper. Until this morning, where in some miracle, the weapon was updated to wartime availability."

Beerus remained silent, watching Theron pull up a second cylinder in his right hand. A blue holo-image soon appeared, showing playback footage of a crowd of civilians afflicted with the disease. Their necks glowed orange at the center, children and women alike among the men.

"The target of the strike was the capital city of the planet Ziost, something that is impossible to accomplish with only our level of code when it comes to slicing enemy anti-WMD defenses. It was an instant catastrophe, this footage was recorded only minutes ago."

The image panned out at Theron's direction of buttons, focusing on the large stairway where three lone figures stood. The crowd had turned their attention upwards at this point, staring on as the small visible image of Vegetto lowered into the Kamehameha stance, a bright purple energy beam forming in his palms. The crowd soon erupted into a unanimous salute, without sound as the massive energy beam shot forward, engulfing the lot with the image distorting from the force of the energy. The blue holoimage remained locked on the image of Red Mist attacking Vegetto shortly afterwards, Theron talking.

"Someone gave Darok access to the anti-defense missiles on the other side and managed to complete the Republic's design. Darok wanted to use that missile to land a successful attack on the civilian population of the planet over a military target."

The image soon showed the angry Vegetto lashing out at Red Mist, knocking Gogeta back in his attempt to stop the violence. Theron continued watching, his eyes narrowing slightly at the sudden surge of Vegetto's aura as the camera shook from the force. The fusion's fury was clear in his crazed expression, the scream nearly audible despite the device's lack of sound, before the camera erupted to abruptly stop the image.

"Someone is looking to make the False Emperor mad. And if they succeed, then we might not be able to stop him."
 
Brachi growled at this, her hair waving upwards and her tail wagging in agitation.

"Fighting enemy soldiers is one thing, but involving innocent civilians whom had NOTHING to do with this at all is where I draw the line!" She growled, "I've seen more than enough of destruction where innocents got involved!"
 
"Considering how my blood increases my abilities when I'm angry, and even that's partly to a Saiyan, this does not look good. Anger makes people sloppy. Perhaps sloppy enough to destroy everything they were trying to save." Drake replied.

---

A few echoes bounced off the walls, causing Gen to spin around as his Keyblades flashed into existence, only for the man to be quickly lifted into the air through being dragged by several symbiote tendrils.
 
"Alright.. but I won't be fighting anymore, not after your little show. I'l allowing Red Mist to take a hold of this, she'll aid you better than I ever will..." She sounded almost sad but there was some truth in her voice. "Any and all actions will be done by her."

She stood there for an awkward moment before moving up to Vegetto, giving him a gentle punch on his shoulder, same for Gogeta. She was still cautious with Vegetto and somewhat hesitant but she seems to have forgave him in a way. He almost killed her and she ended up forgiving him. The pain was still on her face and would not lighten up soon. In front of Vegetto, she seemed to give him a fake smile, not to deceive him but to not make him see the distrust and terror in her eyes and on her face. Obviously, his action seemed to have left a deep wound for Jaz. Even so, she toyed with him, reminding him of her familiar character.

"When all this is over, I'mma get new clothes with your money, Veggie. You owe me!" She grumbled playfully. "You're gonna be in debt when we return home!"

Her childish voice was cut off by the emotionless tone of The Red Mist. Red Mist yawned before taking an elegant step back from Vegetto, bowing humbly and respectfully to the man, almost like a princess would. Truly, this personality was rather loyal and very obedient while hiding her motives. She seems to want no connections with Jaz but overall looks after her. She lifted her head to show dead eyes to both saiyans and her voice accompanied her eyes perfectly.

"Red Mist at your service, Lord Vegetto and Gogeta." Her voice seemed to purr slightly. "I will assist you in any matter you must attend to. I am but a weapon for you to use at your leisure."
 
"Involving innocents, and for no reason whatsoever?! That's just unacceptable. I can't condone that at all... Damn bastards.." Haribu balled his hands up into fists and took a deep breath, sighing. "I'm going to leave somewhere for a while... I'll be back soon.. I think." Haribu held his fingers up to his head and disappeared. Oriko wanted to follow Haribu but he decided not to, since he didn't want to cause any ruckus.
 
Theron blinked as Haribu disappeared into thin air, turning towards Vegeta.

"Can all of you do that?"

Vegeta remained still.

"Some of us, but not all."

Beerus continued to rub his chin.

"Even if civilians are killed, it's still an ingenious plan. Darok knows the weakness of the fusion's goals, as Vegetto intentionally avoided wiping out your Republic on the desire of changing your attitude."

Theron shook his head once.

"I know all about those 'peace talks' and attempts the Jedi and the Emperor have conducted with those negotiations, and I won't be drawn into that political squabble again. The focus we need to have right now is on the facts: Darok still had access to Imperial defense networks because there is no possible way he could have sliced into it. Someone is helping him from the other side."

Goku shrugged his shoulders.

"Why does it matter? So a guy from the Empire is looking to help you guys win the war, what's wrong with that?"

Theron sighed.

"Surely you can't be this naive. For starters, no one is just 'willing to help us' in a war against an Empire led by two beings capable of sneezing away planets. But most importantly, it's clear that the attacks on those two worlds were a means to steal technology from both sides."

Vegeta lowered his arms to his sides.

"Meaning there's a third entry coming into this war."

Goku blinked.

"How do you know?"

Vegeta kept his stern stare off Goku.

"It's common strategy, Kakarot. If someone was looking to crush both sides here, they would strike from the shadows and avoid detection for as long as possible. Goading both sides into attacking, while developing their own resources from the fallout. Then when the major players are at a low point, they reveal themselves and finish the job."

Theron glanced back down to his holoimage, having shifted into a normal looking planet.

"However, this third enemy just made a mistake. We've managed to uncover the location of the terminal used to finish the edits made to the WMD. It's located on a remote world known as Rakata Prime."

=====================

Vegetto slightly moved from Jaz's playful punch. His lips nearly lifted up into a half smile, but the fusion maintained an emotionless stare as he watched the Red Mist return, raising two fingers to his forehead.

"Grab onto my shoulder."
 
Brachi sighed.

"So, a third party makes its entrance... reminds me of that bastard named Siber with the Demons pulling the strings behind his operations all along, even though Siber himself resisted them." She said, clearly agitated.
 
Red Mist nodded to Vegetto and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. Despite her rough punch earlier on Vegetto, her touch was as light as a feather. Something wicked was felt within her and the aura she gave off was strong and murderous. It almost seemed like Red Mist was fighting something. She remained silent, listening to Vegetto.
 
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