The stars stretched endlessly around Razor's ship as it tore through the black void of space. His eyes, sharp and unreadable, stayed fixed on the navigation display — the blinking signal of his lost ship. The closer he got, the dimmer that light seemed to grow, until the blinking faded into static.
Then he saw it.
The planet below was half-alive and half-dead. One side glowed with faint green forests, but the other was an expanse of ash and desolation, a blackened wound spreading across the surface. The sight made Razor's brow furrow.
"This isn't right…" he muttered, adjusting the ship's course. "That kind of decay — it's unnatural."
His hands tightened around the controls as he guided the ship through the upper atmosphere. Flames licked against the hull as he broke through the clouds. The once-blue skies of the planet were now choked with gray smoke. Lightning cracked in the distance.
Razor's jaw clenched. He couldn't sense her energy, but he didn't need to — he felt something pulling him down there.
The ship landed with a metallic hiss in a scorched valley surrounded by fallen trees. Razor stepped out, the ground crunching beneath his boots, his aura flaring faintly around him. The air reeked of death.
He looked around, then closed his eyes to focus. Among the faint flickers of life, one stood out — twisted, erratic, moving.
"Got you."
In a flash, he vanished.
Moments later, a pirate — one of Tirax's scouts — was patrolling the area when the air behind him distorted. Razor appeared, grabbing him by the throat and slamming him against a wall hard enough to crack the stone.
The pirate choked, kicking frantically as Razor's golden eyes glared into his. "Where is she?" Razor's voice was cold and low, every syllable like a blade.
"W–Who—?" the pirate gasped, trembling.
Razor's grip tightened. "Blond woman. Blue eyes. You people took her probably. Tell me where."
The pirate's eyes widened. He recognized the description immediately. "Y–Yes! The prisoner! She's in the main ship — the commander's ship — north part! The one near the ruins!"
Razor's expression darkened. "Good."
The pirate's relief was short-lived. Razor's hand glowed faintly energy gathering in his palm, *boom* he tossed the man aside — his body hitting the ground lifelessly.
Razor turned toward the north and shot into the sky like a golden comet.
The pirate's base came into view within minutes — a sprawling structure of some unknown metal alloy, surrounded by wrecked spaceships and armed guards. From above, it looked like a scar on the planet's already dying surface.
Razor hovered in the air for a moment, his gaze cold and calculating. "No point sneaking in."
With a burst of power, he dropped into the middle of the base. The impact shattered the ground. Pirates flew in every direction as energy shockwaves tore through the area. Before the first scream could echo, Razor was already moving — his form blurring as he struck down one after another.
Every blow was precise, controlled, and lethal. He didn't need to transform — his base form was enough.
By the time the dust settled, the base was silent except for the distant hum of machinery. Razor walked down the corridor, his boots echoing against the metallic floor, blood and smoke in the air. His eyes locked onto the reinforced door at the far end.
He raised a hand and fired a small ki blast. The door exploded inward.
Inside, the cell's dim light flickered over a familiar figure — Android 18, seated against the wall, her hands restrained, a shock collar still faintly humming at her neck. Her eyes widened as she saw him standing there, framed in the broken doorway.
For a moment, neither spoke. The silence stretched between them — heavy, charged, and strangely comforting.
Finally, 18 broke it with her trademark smirk, though her voice carried a tremor of disbelief. "Didn't think I'd see you here. What's the mighty Razor doing in a dump like this?"
Razor crossed his arms, expression unreadable. "If I wasn't here, you'd be dead or worse by now."
She arched an eyebrow. "So you were worried?"
He scoffed, clicking his tongue. "Don't flatter yourself. I just… didn't feel right leaving it unfinished."
"Unfinished?" she echoed, tilting her head. "That's a weird way of saying you missed me."
He looked away, lips twitching in irritation. "You talk too much." But even as he said it, a faint smile ghosted across his face — a rare, unguarded moment that 18 didn't miss.
"Still grumpy, huh?" she said softly. "Guess some things don't change."
Razor stepped forward and broke the restraints with a flick of his wrist. The collar sparked, electrocuted him but didn't have any effect as it fell to the ground, destroyed.
She rubbed her neck, glancing up at him. "You didn't answer me, Razor. Why are you really here?"
He paused, staring at her for a long moment before finally replying. "…I don't know." His voice was quieter this time, lacking its usual edge. "I came because I couldn't stop thinking about why I cared that you were gone."
That surprised her — truly. Her expression softened, but she masked it quickly with a teasing smile. "Didn't take you for the self-contemplating type."
"Don't push it," he grunted, though the faint smirk returned.
The air between them felt lighter — just for a second.
18 exhaled and met his gaze. "You want to know why I left?"
He nodded once. "Yeah."
Her eyes lowered, her tone growing serious. "Because I was scared. Scared that to you, I was just… something you owned. Something that followed you until you got bored and threw it away. The planet we left in ruins reminded me of what you are — of what Saiyans are." She looked up again, meeting his eyes. "And I didn't want to be another thing you destroyed."
Razor didn't reply right away. His gaze was steady, but his expression had lost its usual hardness. "When I was a kid," he said finally, "strength was everything. The weak died — that's how it was. I fought, I killed, I survived. It's all I knew."
18 listened quietly.
He continued, his tone low but steady. "But I don't… want to destroy everything I touch. I just don't know how to be anything else. I have been fighting for strength all my life and had no one. It was the hunt or be hunted life and soon it became my only life."
Her lips curved into a faint, sad smile. "Then maybe it's time you learn. There are people out there who doesn't care about being strong or weak and just want to live normally, Razor. Not everyone deserves destruction."
He didn't answer, but his eyes flickered with something — not quite agreement, but a glimmer of thought.
The silence between them was heavy yet peaceful, their unspoken words hanging in the air.
Then —
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The sound echoed through the corridor.
Razor turned sharply, his eyes narrowing as a figure emerged from the shadows at the entrance.
Tirax.
The pirate lord looked immaculate despite the chaos outside — his coat crisp, his smile charming and polished. He moved with the air of a nobleman rather than a conqueror, his gloved hands clasping together as he gave an almost theatrical bow.
"Well," Tirax said smoothly, his tone dripping with mock sincerity. "What a touching reunion. I could almost shed a tear."
Razor's aura flared instantly, the ground beneath him cracking. 18 stood beside him, eyes narrowing in defiance.
Tirax's smile didn't waver. "Two stubborn hearts, bound by pride and defiance and a little misunderstanding. How beautiful… and how utterly futile."
His crimson eyes gleamed with malicious amusement as the room's temperature seemed to drop.
And in that instant, the fragile calm between Razor and 18 shattered — replaced once again by the storm that always followed them.