July 8th, 2486 - Planet Sanctuary, Sanctuary City - Koltura District - The Ruins of the Teqaku Family Mansion

‘Hey, Cosmopoh! Get up! Our whole damn house is falling down while you’re having a nap!’

Colado shook his friend’s enormous frame roughly, and Cosmopoh replied by groaning sleepily.

The bedroom shuddered, the nightlight by Cosmopoh’s king sized bed flickered on and off.

‘Has the house fallen down yet?’ Amarat asked, walking into the room in a red dressing gown.

The house shuddered again. Colado turned to look at her, his right eye puffy and swollen.

‘You look terrible’, Amarat said with a smirk.

‘Thank you, darling …’ Colado began softly, his voice beginning to rise by an octave with each passing syllable. ‘… now that your injuries seem to have healed I was wondering if you could please help me get this big lug out of bed!’

Amarat stood in silence for a moment, and closed her eyes. The house shuddered violently.

‘What are you doing, Amarat?’ Colado asked, his patience running thin.

‘Oh nothing’, Amarat replied, her voice melancholic. ‘Just taking in the sounds of the end. You know, I’ve always wanted to start up a food truck.’

‘What, in this economy?’ Cosmopoh mumbled in his sleep.

Colado and Amarat broke out into fits of hysterical laughter. The house shuddered.

*

They moved like lightning, and clashed like thunder. The ground shook with each blow struck, the old house starting to come apart at its seams. Yared dodged and weaved like a boxer, bouncing on his feet, occasionally stumbling on his prosthetic leg but catching himself before any harm could be done. Angora’s prosthetic arm had gone completely limp. He executed complicated cartwheels and summersaults, routinely launching himself from the environment; bouncing from wall to wall, he turned the crater into a kill zone, with Yared at its centre. Lightning crackled, thunder rolled; the storm they created whipped up clouds of dust and grit, and the fighters ignored it all, focused solely on each other. Abiona watched pensively. She was no longer sure of what her brother was truly capable of, and the revelation made her feel ill. Ichiro seemed to have gone into shock, the sheer speed and ferocity of the fight overwhelming him.

‘I can’t shoot’, Ichiro said. ‘If I miss, I could kill your brother … and if Angora gets in the way of a shot by accident … they’re just too fast!’

Over the din of combat, sirens blared in the distance. Abiona and Ichiro exchanged a worried glance.

‘If those are the cops … I can’t imagine we’ll explain our way out of this one’, Abiona warned. ‘Angora needs to end this soon—or we’re all screwed.’

Rubble dislodged behind them, and they spun around, Ichiro raising the gun quickly. The Boss of the Teqaku Family stumbled forward, stopping to raise her uninjured arm as a sign of peace.

‘You kids wanna’ get out of here?’ she asked.

*

‘Grandad!’ where were you, I was so worried! You look terrible! Did something happen?!’

Chara ran to greet her grandfather, who wobbled into the cavern on unstable feet. He had bags under his eyes, and slouched, looking generally deflated.

‘I don’t have as much stamina as I used to, I’m afraid’, Pazzik offered with a meek smile. ‘… but I’ve lived through worst …’

His eyes slowly surveyed the cavern. There was a dusty, black spaceship, an enormous metal door hewn into the rock and several branching passageways.

‘… much, much worse’. Pazzik mumbled.

‘You’ve been here before, haven’t you Grandad’, Chara said, her tone serious. She wanted answers. ‘I’ve never pushed the subject before … but we need to talk soon. I think … I think there’s a lot you need to tell me.’

‘I might not be the one you should have this talk with, Chara’, Pazzik replied, the smile never faltering.

‘Woah, look at this place!’

Abiona entered the cavern first, the Boss bringing up the rear.

‘Chara, Pazzik, you guys are okay!’ Abiona called, excitedly.

Chara regarded her with sceptical eyes, a contemplative mood settling over her. Ichiro and Angora had been successful. It was finally sinking in. She remembered the homeless woman, and Abiona’s generosity. If there was such a thing as karma, then perhaps Abiona was reaping the benefits of many good deeds. Chara could not help but feel a degree of fascination with the woman, who strode confidently in her white blazer, her chestnut curls bouncing as she walked.

‘I suppose we have ‘the Boss’ to thank for that’, Chara said with a sigh.

‘Will the other two be joining us?’ Pazzik asked.

‘Ichiro stayed behind to … keep an eye on things. They’ll both be fine, I’m sure they will!’ Abiona said. Her eyes lit up when she caught sight of the spaceship, and she turned to the Boss excitedly. ‘Does it still fly?’ Abiona asked.

‘As far as I’m aware … we keep her fuelled and ready to go, in case of emergency. I—I want you to take her.’

Abiona spun around, her eyes widening in shock. The lashes lowered, and she gave the boss an inquisitive look.

‘Why are you doing this?’ she asked.

The Boss scoffed, and turned her head away slightly.

‘That ship is the last vestige of my dream, Abiona Var Oostabar Gan Kuji’, she told Abiona. ‘I want you to understand what that means. I saw the kind of man your brother is … I know that if I had to choose between the two of you, well … look Abiona, if I pay you this small kindness I hope that you’ll live to regret it. I hope they work you like a dog when you become Empress.’

Abiona smiled. It was genuine, earnest and warm.

‘I won’t forget this … Boss’, Abiona promised with a wink.

‘You’d better not’, the Boss replied.

*

They came to a stop. Yared was panting hard; as was Angora. They stood on either side of the crater and stared each other down, neither making a move, until … Yared suddenly burst out laughing.

‘My leg! He said, shaking his right leg energetically. ‘You know it’s a prosthetic, don’t you?’

Angora grimaced, and replied, ‘I do.’

‘You saw a weakness and failed to exploit it. Why?’

‘It seemed … unfair somehow.’

Yared’s face suddenly dropped, growing serious.

‘When the Empire burned the last city on your home-world to ash from orbit, was that fair?’ he asked. ‘When we built a city on top of it, and segregated your people, was that fair?’

Angora grimaced, his scared top lip curling nastily, his eyes narrowing. Yared’s maniacal grin returned, his eyes flashing devilishly.

‘Your people have lived and died as second class citizens for over fifty years … and when I ascend the throne, I won’t change a damn thing. Does that seem fair to you?’

‘Shut up’, Angora growled through gritted teeth.

‘I know who you are … Angora’, Yared sneered. ‘I know what you did!’