The Prison

[Celena]

The two robots that had been sent to the second floor of the garage lifted the deadweight’s off the ground where they had been left to rot. They travelled through a portal which led them into a large medical room that was occupied with nurses, a doctor and a couple of scientists. “I wonder what happened to them?” asked the doctor, observing their battered and bloody bodies. “They look like they’ve been to hell and back.”

The scientist to his right shrugged. “I have no idea, but by the looks of them I’d say they’re lucky to be alive.”

The robots stopped by the doctor. “Place them into the super rejuvenation tanks.”

Once the hired muscle had done what they were told, the nurses took over, two of them attending to each girl after they had been placed into separate tanks.

“So what is the difference between a rejuvenation tank and a super rejuvenation tank?” asked the only doctor in the room, Doctor Seinfeld, to no scientist in particular, watching as the nurses placed rebreather’s over their mouths.

“Glad you asked,” said the scientist to his left, folding his arms. He was a veteran scientist handpicked by Gamer to be part of his staff team due to being extremely talented. He was known as Doctor Dopaloski. “The super rejuvenation tank provides super advanced healing, so rapid that it can heal a person in ten minutes.”

Doctor Seinfeld gasped as he watched his underlings attach them to the white healing pads that were connected to wires that extended from various areas of the tanks interior. The super rejuvenation tank was too good to be true. “What’s the catch?”

“The liquid substance used in the tanks to speed up the healing process contains chemicals used for sedative drugs; therefore the user is left in a semi-conscious state once they are fully healed.”

Xenia’s fingers twitched and her right eyelid which was covered in blood, moved. Remarkably, she was picking up bits of their conversation in her subconscious state.

“Ah,” the black haired doctor with receding hair at the front nodded. “And how long will they take to regain full consciousness?”

“Approximately twenty minutes.”

“Reasonable.”

The two scientists and the doc watched as green liquid rose from the bottom of the tanks and quickly enveloped the siblings.

The finger on Xenia’s hand twitched.

Xenia should have been worried about Sage’s cries as their mother physically abused the blue haired girl but she had bigger problems, the six foot fighter opposite her with a permanent smirk on his chiselled good looks. He was so confident in his abilities that he had the time to look over his shoulder and see how Xenia’s sister was coping, poorly by the look of it. “Tut-tut-tut,” he said shaking his head. “It’s ironic; when you were kids Sage was the ballsy one, the tough one; so tell me, has the tables turned?”

Xenia was not prepared to lie to him even if he was a stranger and not her father. “Yeah,” she answered.

“I thought so...but how on earth did that happen?”

Xenia was not about to tell the imposter about the tragic event that transpired on planet Vegeta that eventually turned Sage into the timid person she was today, and at the same time, she could not think of a convincing lie to feed him within a short amount of time. “It’s a long story.”

Kirano signalled for her to come to him with a hand gesture but Xenia geared into a fighting stance. Meanwhile the young man continued to use his mindreading ability to dig up the secret she was hiding concerning her sister’s past, but her mind was cloudy. Inside it, there were so many pieces missing to the puzzle that it was a lost cause. He suspected that she was intentionally keeping her mind closed in order to shut him out. If she knew her father too well like he assumed, then it was not surprising that she had predicted his attempt to read her mind. He would just try again later.

“Trust me; you don’t want me to come at you,” he said.

“He who hesitates is lost,” she replied, leaping forward and then sticking her right foot out, driving it into his right ankle, throwing him off balance. She leaned to her left hand side and used her left hand to touch the concrete floor while she swung her right foot towards his face. He cocked his head backwards, feeling the wind from the thrust of her attempted kick and then casually hopped backward. “My dad taught me that saying,” she said, returning to a standing position.

“That’s good,” he replied. “You’re very smart. It’s a shame you never had a passion for fighting while you were younger though because there’s no telling how strong you could have become.”

Xenia disappeared and then reappeared behind him and then thrust the side of her right hand towards the back of his neck, but it sliced through air as he leapt forward and then spun around to face her with a smile as he gazed at particles of black from her teleportation ability dissolve. “You’ve mastered the Dark Orbing technique; I’m impressed; just when I was beginning to think you were hopeless.”

Xenia frowned. “I committed myself to becoming a scientist to the point that nothing else mattered. If I had chosen to become a warrior like you and mom, I’d be at your level but I’m working my way towards it.”

“That’s good but just my measuring your ki I’ve got to tell you, you’ve got a loooong way to go. It’s a pity I’ve got to beat you senseless, but then again it’ll be worth it in the long run since a saiyan’s power increases dramatically after getting the shit kicked out of them.”

“Why is the blonde so tense?” asked Doctor Blow, the other scientist, as he observed her uneasiness, eyelids squeezed together so tight.

“She’s trapped in deep thoughts, very likely to do with the event that led to her injuries. It’s perfectly natural,” replied Doctor Dopaloski.

“This is it?” asked Kirano, gazing down at Xenia who was face first on the ground, lying motionless. “This is all you have?”

Xenia grasped the concrete ground with her right hand. What looked like a sign that she was going to get up was merely just false hope as it stopped moving.

“You want to know why I had your mum and I wear these outfits instead of our combat outfits?”

There was silence.

“Well I’ll tell you; it’s the same reason I’m taking it easy on you. We wanted to give you kids as many advantages as possible to make our fights interesting, but this is complete bullocks because you’re not making use of them.” Kirano shook his head in disappointment. “You should be grateful I’m toying with you.”

“It’s a safe bet that her pride was injured the most,” said Doctor Dopalski, watching nervously as Xenia clawed her hands.

“There are only a few S-class fighters in this universe, me and you mum happen to be two of them; several A-class fighters and hundreds of B-class fighters. According to my ki sense, you and your sis are C-class fighters, and the power gap between C and B class fighters is the most distant so what would happen if you were to come across an B-class fighter who just felt like picking on you? Because let’s face it, bullies only pick on people they know are weaker than them.”

Xenia released a moan of agony as she tried to move her right arm.

“You’d have to rely on your intellect alone to outwit them and hope for a miracle.”

Xenia coughed out blood mixed with saliva. [i]No, she thought. It can’t end like this.

She could not before, but she could somehow feel it now, her dad’s presence, and her mom’s too. She had been wrong. They were not replica’s, they were really her parents. Had her mother forgiven her about Grimshaw then, or was it Kirano’s duty to punish her?

“Yeah, it’s really us, no gimmicks.”

Xenia’s mouth which was covered in blood quivered as it slowly opened but no words could come out.

“Your mum and I volunteered to help Gamer out.”

It made sense now. There was only one reason why he became a part of Gamer’s game show ... tough love.

“Physically, you’re weak. Don’t for one moment ever think differently.”

What was the point in Xenia getting up even if she wanted to? He was right as much as she did not want to digest it; she was a weak fighter. Her father had put it plainly and painfully for her to understand; what good was being a C-class fighter when there were fighters strong enough to effortlessly remove her from the mortal plane?

“Don’t get up, stay put for all I care but you can’t run or hide from the truth.” Kirano watched her helplessly. He wanted to end her life right now just to prove his point but it was not in his nature to give up. That was what made him such a great warrior; that was why he was admired throughout the universe. “You’re a saiyan princess for Goddamn sake!! You’re an heiress!! You were born better, destined for greatness!” His tone decreased as he calmed down. “It was preordained.”

“Dad,” Xenia whispered, slowly climbing to all fours even though her body felt like it could breakdown at any moment.

“All of that was given to you, the rest...you have to take.”

As Xenia pressed her head against the ground she could hear the drips of blood leaking from her body, fall to the ground.

“Only a lowlife with no honour would want it to be handed to them. Warriors earn power by striving. Xenia, you’ve got to train ten times harder than you are now if you want to continue being a warrior. It’s like an old saying of mine.”

“Never...” Xenia’s body swerved to left to right as she climbed to her feet. “Give up,” she finished for him. Her body trembled. She was not supposed to be standing but she had done so under his influence.

Kirano made his way towards her.

“It’s over,” were the last words she heard him say. [/i]

Xenia’s clawed hands formed a fist.

“She conscious,” said Doctor Blow.

“Amazing,” muttered the senior scientist to himself. “She’s acting on instinct.” Xenia’s hands unclenched and then dangled loosely one again. “Make sure to take extra care when taking the blonde one to the desert,” he said to the robots that were standing idly by.

“Affirmative!” they answered together.

“Wait, what?” Doctor Seinfeld turned to the senior scientist. “That’s what the deserts for?”

“They’ll be dumped in a prison in the midst of the desert.”

“What...kind of barbaric? ...”

“Idea is that? It’s Gamer’s idea.”

“Gamer never told me this! If he...”

“If he had you’d never have agreed to work for him, hence the reason why you were the only one he hid the truth from.”

Doctor Seinfeld was not the stereotypical doctor; he worked out. He could have taken out Doctor Dapaloski and his underling, but the two robots would prove to be the difference maker. He gazed at them to discover they were watching him like a hawk.

Gamer actually built intelligent models , he realised. He had everything worked out.

He gazed at his underlings that were all dressed in blue nurse outfits with disgust. “Nick,” he pointed out. “Berta,” he turned to next. “You all work for me. I know all of you Goddamn it! You’ve known Gamer for five minutes...five fucking minutes!” Some of them went as blue as their uniforms, too ashamed to look him in the face. “Betrayed...for zeni,” he uttered in a dejected tone.

Gamer, you bastard.

“Betrayed for zeni!! He frowned, face as red as a tomato. “You all make me sick,” he said inspecting every member of Gamer’s staff in the room. The people he thought were his friends had shown their true colours. There was nothing left for him in the room therefore he turned towards the entrance door. “I want no part of this.” As he walked towards it he turned back. “Aren’t any of you going to stop me? Lock me up?”

“No, you’re free to go, but before you go ask yourself this; what will I do next?”

“You think I’m afraid of that rich, spoilt little brat?” The slider doors opened, but he gasped as two huge robots blocked the entrance.

“All of that he may be, but you left out the part about him being a genius.” Doctor Dapaloski looked up towards a corner of the room and then pointed at CCTV camera.

Doctor Seinfeld tried to run back towards the room but one of the robots grabbed him. “Dump the doc in the middle of the desert, anywhere, I don’t care, just don’t put him in a prison like the others.” The next part he said quietly to himself. “Doctor Seinfeld, you won’t get the luxury of a prison you treacherous bastard.”

====

“Control your emotions,” she envisioned her grandfather say to her, and with that, Xenia released her hold on Julia. She had to keep a cool head despite the hell Gamer has inflicted on her so far.

“I apologize for the way I handled you,” replied Xenia. “It was very uncharacteristic of me.” It was unusual for her to raise her hands to anyone without being physically provoked.

Sage went agape. What was uncharacteristic was Xenia apologizing for her actions. She knew there was something different about her other than her haircut. She remembered the way Xenia had embraced her, it was something her sister had never done before. Had she transformed into a nicer person or had she just missed Sage that much? She was not sure she liked this version of Xena. It made her wonder what had happened to her sister to have transformed her into a...

Young lady... Sage tried to take in. Xenia actually reminded her of a princess now. Something dire, big, must have happened to the spiky haired blonde while the two were apart in order to have changed her, something she did not seem like sharing. Little did Sage know that the answer was as simple as she could ever have imagined, Xenia had matured with age; she had grown up.

“Like I said, I can understand your frustration,” said Julia.

“What I don’t understand is the relationship you have with your brother, and I use the word brother loosely,” replied Xenia.

“That’s...part of the complication.”

“Look at you, your own flesh and blood has turned you into a prisoner.”

Yuffith dipped her head dejectedly.

“He has even denied you the freedom of being called by your own name.”

Sage’s face looked like a depressed dog. She felt pity for Yuffith. As much as Xenia antagonized her, there was a line between them, she would never treat Julia the way her brother was.

“Why don’t you share with us why your brother is degrading you? Or has he even robbed you of your freedom of speech?”