Post by Articho Reville on Feb 14, 2016 6:26:58 GMT
The sound of shouting and metal banging against metal woke Articho from his slumber. His eyes slowly opened and he blinked a few times to clear his vision. The shouting grew louder and more demanding, which the hybrid was choosing to ignore for the moment. He pushed himself up off of the ground, wincing in pain. He was sore all over, he had a splitting headache, and his mouth tasted like burning rubber. He rubbed one hand on his head, trying to soothe the pain he felt.
What...what happened? Articho thought as he looked around. He was in a small, empty room with dirty black walls and a rusted drain in the center. He rose to his feet unsteadily, his expression reflecting his confusion. "Where am I...?" he said quietly, taking a few steps towards a wall and rubbing it with his fingers. It felt slick and greasy and the smell of bodily fluids reeked off of it. He didn't want to think about the things that happened in here.
"If ya listened to me instead of fuckin' around, maybe you'd learn a thing or two," a harsh voice said behind him. Articho turned around quickly to see another wall with a heavy metal door in the center. The door had a small, barred window in it with a human like face filling it. The face had a squashed nose, thick, heavy eyebrows, and small, scrunched up eyes. A gray scouter adorned the face over its right eye. Articho's confused look changed to an annoyed glare.
"And why should I?" he snapped back. "You don't feel to strong and this shrimpy door couldn't keep me contained even if I wanted it to. Now, how about you let me out of here and I won't make your nose look more like a squashed tomato than it already does."
"'Cause if you decide to try anything funny, management makes the little ki bomb in yer neck go 'boom,'" the face said with a snicker. Articho's glare fell into a mix of worry and confusion as he reached up and touched the back of his neck. He could feel a lump covered by a thick scar and stitches. He grimaced and lowered his hand back to his side. The face snickered again. "Feelin' a little more compliant now, shithead?" Articho nodded slowly, though his body stayed tensed. The situation was growing worse and worse by the minute and the idea that someone could kill him with the press of a button didn't make him feel very comfortable. "Excellent. Now, I'm here ta welcome ya ta Space Prison Knutts, where the scum an' enemies of the Saiyan Solar Empire come fer an extended stay. When I read yer file, it said you were Public Enemy #12 fer the attempted murder of Prince Luffa."
"Attempted-?" Articho said in disbelief. He stomped up to the door with scowl and stared the man directly in his eyes. "He attacked Earth! He tried to nuke a city full of innocent people! He's the attempted murderer!"
"Earth propaganda," the man said dismissively. Articho growled and a golden aura slowly began appearing around him. The man gave him a mocking smirk and tapped the back of his neck. The bomb. The aura disappeared, though the hybrid kept glaring at the man, who continued his briefing, "You are currently in the Polestar an' will be released from this cell shortly ta make yer life around here. Yer free ta do as ya please, but take too many steps outta line an' you'll find yerself ten pounds lighter. Any questions?"
"What's the grub like around here?" Articho asked.
"Absolute shit, but there are ways ta get better food," the guard replied. He pressed a button on the door and it slowly opened with a hiss. Articho stepped out and stared at the guard for a moment. The guard still had a cheeky grin on his face and continued. "It's a dog eat dog world out there an' the only way ta get the things ya want is ta take 'em by force. Good luck, kid. You'll need it."
The guard began laughing manically as he walked away, leaving Articho to glare at his back. After a moment, he looked out at the prison. Large, open, and mostly empty with some scattered groups of people and cells along the walls. He scowled again as the gravity of his situation weighed on him. His accidental stop at Vegeta had gotten him landed in prison. Wonderful. The hybrid took off into the air and floated away from the cell he had woken up in. The greasy feeling of the walls and scent of bodily fluids made sense now if it acted as the orientation room for new prisoners. He wondered how many cleaned up heads he had been lying on only moments before. Speaking of heads…
Articho touched the back of his neck again. The lump and scar were all too real of a reminder for how fragile his life was at the moment. The only time he had felt this threatened for his life was when he was on the ground, bleeding out and dying, after Kaula had shot him in the chest. He needed to get rid of the bomb before he tried anything else. He didn’t need his head exploding when he was trying to escape. He flew up to an empty cell on the top level. Lucky for him that everything was first come, first serve so he could at least have some privacy. Now all he needed was a way to get the damn bomb turned off.
“Maybe…” he mused out loud, ideas running around his head. One seemed to make some sort of sense: a strong electrical charge could short circuit the bomb and shut it down. It was the best doable idea he had, though he couldn’t imagine the pain it would cause in its wake. The hybrid raised his right hand to being even with his chest. Sparks began flying off of it as he started using Thundershock Surprise. “Here goes nothing…” he muttered before placing his hand on the back of his neck and let the shock go full strength.
Pain exploded around the base of his neck, though it didn’t feel like his head going pop. It was the same pain as the cattle prod weapon the Saiyan had used on him on Vegeta that lead to his capture, but it was so much worse. Articho sunk to his knees, but kept his hand firmly planted on the back of his neck. His voice had caught in his throat again, preventing him from screaming and, by extension, alerting anyone to his scheme. Sparks connected between his teeth and electricity arced over his body. His vision was flashing in and out and he worried that he would pass out before he could finish deactivating the bomb. The fingers of his free hand dug into the stone of the ground beneath him, cracking and breaking it. He grit his teeth together when he felt a smaller pop in his neck, followed by a small fizzle he felt over the shock of his own attack. He stopped the electrical charge to his neck and dropped his now free hand to the ground. Sweat poured down his face and he was gasping for air. He’d never felt pain like that before for such a long time. He touched the lump in his neck again. The area was sensitive and stung at the slightest touch.
“Impressive,” a voice to his right said. Articho looked up, moving into a fighting stance as he did, and spotted a person at the entrance of his new home. The man had light blue skin with blond hair. A Brenchian. He was raising his hands defensively and smile sheepishly. “Hey, hey! No need for such hostilities. I mean you know harm.”
“And how do I know that? Look where we are,” Articho countered. The Brenchian shrugged.
“Which is why you need me,” he said. “I know how this place works and where to get everything. You’ll have to trust me if you want to survive.”
Articho hesitated, but slowly released the tension in his body. He stared at the Brenchian for a moment before walking up to him and extending a hand towards him. The Brenchian grinned and clapped his palm into the hybrid’s own.
“Glad to have you on board!” he said. “The name’s Purettsu, but most people around here call me ‘Freeze.’”
“’Freeze,’ huh? Where’d you get a nickname like that?” Articho asked, lowering his hand back to his side. Freeze paused for a moment, then shrugged with a goofy smile on his face.
“Maybe it’s because I’m Arcosian,” he said with a snicker. “So… guess we’re partners now, so I should probably let you know what my business is.”
“That would be preferred,” Articho agreed. Freeze nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m a smuggler,” he said proudly. “More specifically, I’m a middle man. I know just about everyone in this prison and there’s nothing I ask for that I can’t get.”
“Anything?” the hybrid asked curiously.
“Anything,” came the reply. “Drugs, food, little supplies that a lot of guards don’t think twice about, you name it. All I need is the right pay.”
Articho moved past Freeze and looked around, checking for any prying ears. The coast was clear and he turned back to the Brenchian. “How does your freedom sound?” he asked.
“If you can get it, it’ll pay for everything you’ll need here and anything you may want on the outside,” Freeze readily responded.
“Good. We’re going to need allies and places to work.”
Freeze raised an eyebrow. “Pay people off? It’s strongest takes all here. Why not just fight for what you want?”
“We’ll need to work quietly. Too much take on our part too soon will draw suspicion and paying people off will keep them quiet. What do people like most here?”
Freeze shrugged. “Depends, honestly. Saiyans usually enjoy a good piece of meat, Arcosians like an aged bottle of wine. Varies honestly.”
“Then we’ll play it by ear. First thing we need is a schematic of the prison and some simple building materials. We need to find the area closest to the hanger here and if there isn’t a cell, we’ll make ourselves a shack to live in. Pay off the strongest people we can get to act as guards while we work.”
“It’s almost like you do this sort of thing a lot,” Freeze commented.
“I usually make it up as I go along,” Articho admitted.
“Make what up?”
“Everything.”
“Oh.”
Freeze paused a moment, then nodded. “Besides that, I can get that stuff for you pretty easily. In the meantime, we’ve got one more thing to settle.” The Brenchian pointed to the back of his neck with a worried look on his face.
Articho grinned at Freeze. “You can do all that crazy shit and you didn’t figure out a way to deactivate the bomb?”
“Didn’t want to risk my head blowing up,” he admitted. Articho’s right hand began sparking as he signaled for Freeze to turn around.
“Try not to scream. Wouldn’t want to alert the guards too early,” Articho warned. Freeze nodded and turned around, kneeling with his back towards Articho. The hybrid raised his hand and set it on Freeze’s neck. He felt the Brenchian instantly freeze up as the electricity coursed through him. Articho grabbed Freeze’s shoulder with his free hand to keep him steady and upright.
“Just hang on. It’ll be over before you know it,” he reassured him. Freeze gripped onto Articho’s forearm, squeezing as hard as he could. The grip steadily tightened until Articho felt a small pop in under his hand and let the electricity flow stop. Freeze fell forward and caught himself on his hands, coughing and hacking.
“Did it have to hurt that much?” he asked in an annoyed voice.
“’Fraid so,” Articho said as he picked the Brenchian back up to his feet. “So, now that neither of our lives are hanging by a thread, what’s say we get to work, partner?”
“Thought you’d never ask, partner,” Freeze said. The two clapped their forearms together before leaving the cell and beginning their escape plan.
What...what happened? Articho thought as he looked around. He was in a small, empty room with dirty black walls and a rusted drain in the center. He rose to his feet unsteadily, his expression reflecting his confusion. "Where am I...?" he said quietly, taking a few steps towards a wall and rubbing it with his fingers. It felt slick and greasy and the smell of bodily fluids reeked off of it. He didn't want to think about the things that happened in here.
"If ya listened to me instead of fuckin' around, maybe you'd learn a thing or two," a harsh voice said behind him. Articho turned around quickly to see another wall with a heavy metal door in the center. The door had a small, barred window in it with a human like face filling it. The face had a squashed nose, thick, heavy eyebrows, and small, scrunched up eyes. A gray scouter adorned the face over its right eye. Articho's confused look changed to an annoyed glare.
"And why should I?" he snapped back. "You don't feel to strong and this shrimpy door couldn't keep me contained even if I wanted it to. Now, how about you let me out of here and I won't make your nose look more like a squashed tomato than it already does."
"'Cause if you decide to try anything funny, management makes the little ki bomb in yer neck go 'boom,'" the face said with a snicker. Articho's glare fell into a mix of worry and confusion as he reached up and touched the back of his neck. He could feel a lump covered by a thick scar and stitches. He grimaced and lowered his hand back to his side. The face snickered again. "Feelin' a little more compliant now, shithead?" Articho nodded slowly, though his body stayed tensed. The situation was growing worse and worse by the minute and the idea that someone could kill him with the press of a button didn't make him feel very comfortable. "Excellent. Now, I'm here ta welcome ya ta Space Prison Knutts, where the scum an' enemies of the Saiyan Solar Empire come fer an extended stay. When I read yer file, it said you were Public Enemy #12 fer the attempted murder of Prince Luffa."
"Attempted-?" Articho said in disbelief. He stomped up to the door with scowl and stared the man directly in his eyes. "He attacked Earth! He tried to nuke a city full of innocent people! He's the attempted murderer!"
"Earth propaganda," the man said dismissively. Articho growled and a golden aura slowly began appearing around him. The man gave him a mocking smirk and tapped the back of his neck. The bomb. The aura disappeared, though the hybrid kept glaring at the man, who continued his briefing, "You are currently in the Polestar an' will be released from this cell shortly ta make yer life around here. Yer free ta do as ya please, but take too many steps outta line an' you'll find yerself ten pounds lighter. Any questions?"
"What's the grub like around here?" Articho asked.
"Absolute shit, but there are ways ta get better food," the guard replied. He pressed a button on the door and it slowly opened with a hiss. Articho stepped out and stared at the guard for a moment. The guard still had a cheeky grin on his face and continued. "It's a dog eat dog world out there an' the only way ta get the things ya want is ta take 'em by force. Good luck, kid. You'll need it."
The guard began laughing manically as he walked away, leaving Articho to glare at his back. After a moment, he looked out at the prison. Large, open, and mostly empty with some scattered groups of people and cells along the walls. He scowled again as the gravity of his situation weighed on him. His accidental stop at Vegeta had gotten him landed in prison. Wonderful. The hybrid took off into the air and floated away from the cell he had woken up in. The greasy feeling of the walls and scent of bodily fluids made sense now if it acted as the orientation room for new prisoners. He wondered how many cleaned up heads he had been lying on only moments before. Speaking of heads…
Articho touched the back of his neck again. The lump and scar were all too real of a reminder for how fragile his life was at the moment. The only time he had felt this threatened for his life was when he was on the ground, bleeding out and dying, after Kaula had shot him in the chest. He needed to get rid of the bomb before he tried anything else. He didn’t need his head exploding when he was trying to escape. He flew up to an empty cell on the top level. Lucky for him that everything was first come, first serve so he could at least have some privacy. Now all he needed was a way to get the damn bomb turned off.
“Maybe…” he mused out loud, ideas running around his head. One seemed to make some sort of sense: a strong electrical charge could short circuit the bomb and shut it down. It was the best doable idea he had, though he couldn’t imagine the pain it would cause in its wake. The hybrid raised his right hand to being even with his chest. Sparks began flying off of it as he started using Thundershock Surprise. “Here goes nothing…” he muttered before placing his hand on the back of his neck and let the shock go full strength.
Pain exploded around the base of his neck, though it didn’t feel like his head going pop. It was the same pain as the cattle prod weapon the Saiyan had used on him on Vegeta that lead to his capture, but it was so much worse. Articho sunk to his knees, but kept his hand firmly planted on the back of his neck. His voice had caught in his throat again, preventing him from screaming and, by extension, alerting anyone to his scheme. Sparks connected between his teeth and electricity arced over his body. His vision was flashing in and out and he worried that he would pass out before he could finish deactivating the bomb. The fingers of his free hand dug into the stone of the ground beneath him, cracking and breaking it. He grit his teeth together when he felt a smaller pop in his neck, followed by a small fizzle he felt over the shock of his own attack. He stopped the electrical charge to his neck and dropped his now free hand to the ground. Sweat poured down his face and he was gasping for air. He’d never felt pain like that before for such a long time. He touched the lump in his neck again. The area was sensitive and stung at the slightest touch.
“Impressive,” a voice to his right said. Articho looked up, moving into a fighting stance as he did, and spotted a person at the entrance of his new home. The man had light blue skin with blond hair. A Brenchian. He was raising his hands defensively and smile sheepishly. “Hey, hey! No need for such hostilities. I mean you know harm.”
“And how do I know that? Look where we are,” Articho countered. The Brenchian shrugged.
“Which is why you need me,” he said. “I know how this place works and where to get everything. You’ll have to trust me if you want to survive.”
Articho hesitated, but slowly released the tension in his body. He stared at the Brenchian for a moment before walking up to him and extending a hand towards him. The Brenchian grinned and clapped his palm into the hybrid’s own.
“Glad to have you on board!” he said. “The name’s Purettsu, but most people around here call me ‘Freeze.’”
“’Freeze,’ huh? Where’d you get a nickname like that?” Articho asked, lowering his hand back to his side. Freeze paused for a moment, then shrugged with a goofy smile on his face.
“Maybe it’s because I’m Arcosian,” he said with a snicker. “So… guess we’re partners now, so I should probably let you know what my business is.”
“That would be preferred,” Articho agreed. Freeze nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.
“I’m a smuggler,” he said proudly. “More specifically, I’m a middle man. I know just about everyone in this prison and there’s nothing I ask for that I can’t get.”
“Anything?” the hybrid asked curiously.
“Anything,” came the reply. “Drugs, food, little supplies that a lot of guards don’t think twice about, you name it. All I need is the right pay.”
Articho moved past Freeze and looked around, checking for any prying ears. The coast was clear and he turned back to the Brenchian. “How does your freedom sound?” he asked.
“If you can get it, it’ll pay for everything you’ll need here and anything you may want on the outside,” Freeze readily responded.
“Good. We’re going to need allies and places to work.”
Freeze raised an eyebrow. “Pay people off? It’s strongest takes all here. Why not just fight for what you want?”
“We’ll need to work quietly. Too much take on our part too soon will draw suspicion and paying people off will keep them quiet. What do people like most here?”
Freeze shrugged. “Depends, honestly. Saiyans usually enjoy a good piece of meat, Arcosians like an aged bottle of wine. Varies honestly.”
“Then we’ll play it by ear. First thing we need is a schematic of the prison and some simple building materials. We need to find the area closest to the hanger here and if there isn’t a cell, we’ll make ourselves a shack to live in. Pay off the strongest people we can get to act as guards while we work.”
“It’s almost like you do this sort of thing a lot,” Freeze commented.
“I usually make it up as I go along,” Articho admitted.
“Make what up?”
“Everything.”
“Oh.”
Freeze paused a moment, then nodded. “Besides that, I can get that stuff for you pretty easily. In the meantime, we’ve got one more thing to settle.” The Brenchian pointed to the back of his neck with a worried look on his face.
Articho grinned at Freeze. “You can do all that crazy shit and you didn’t figure out a way to deactivate the bomb?”
“Didn’t want to risk my head blowing up,” he admitted. Articho’s right hand began sparking as he signaled for Freeze to turn around.
“Try not to scream. Wouldn’t want to alert the guards too early,” Articho warned. Freeze nodded and turned around, kneeling with his back towards Articho. The hybrid raised his hand and set it on Freeze’s neck. He felt the Brenchian instantly freeze up as the electricity coursed through him. Articho grabbed Freeze’s shoulder with his free hand to keep him steady and upright.
“Just hang on. It’ll be over before you know it,” he reassured him. Freeze gripped onto Articho’s forearm, squeezing as hard as he could. The grip steadily tightened until Articho felt a small pop in under his hand and let the electricity flow stop. Freeze fell forward and caught himself on his hands, coughing and hacking.
“Did it have to hurt that much?” he asked in an annoyed voice.
“’Fraid so,” Articho said as he picked the Brenchian back up to his feet. “So, now that neither of our lives are hanging by a thread, what’s say we get to work, partner?”
“Thought you’d never ask, partner,” Freeze said. The two clapped their forearms together before leaving the cell and beginning their escape plan.
