The Chronicles of Riddick: Blood Rage

Before we could launch off-world, new trouble somehow rises and I find myself without any companion. Or at least of the friendly contact. How come shit like this always happens to me..? Aw well, I’ll get away. The only trouble is that it’ll be hard to find my company again, especially when I somehow get out of this prison hell-hole.

Then this boy I found here... he can’t be any older than twelve. What kind of shit sends a twelve-year-old to a double-max prison like Ursa Luna? Damn, and I can’t help myself but keep the youngling out of danger, away from the psycho-fucked people that are meant to be here.

Well, I may be stuck. But maybe the gods out there saw that it was for a purpose... Hell, who knows - I certainly don’t.

I’m just along for the ride.

Disclaimer

I don’t own anything of Riddick, obviously, and I will gain nothing of this story other than (hopefully) reviews from you awesome readers. XD K’thnx’bye!

The sun risen over the horizon, and the four crew people checked out of the cheap motel to head off-world. Rosalia wondered how Ramza survived Kiley’s company, though maybe the two had more in-common than they may have guessed. Whatever the reason, she probably could guess that Ramza wondered how she could stand Riddick’s company as well. At least he was quiet after awhile - Ramza probably would have chattered Rosalia’s head off all night.

“Get everything you need, ‘cause we’re not making pit-stops,” Riddick advised the three of them as they walked through the small but growing crowd.

“That will be fine with me,” Rosalia murmured as Ramza shrugged. She looked like she hadn’t had sleep, and that was exactly what happened. To her, she was trying to get back into the habit of sleeping little and staying alert more-often. Riddick caught himself a few hours of very light sleep, so he probably hadn’t noticed.

“I got something to do before we go,” Kiley injected into the conversation, smiling brightly.

“Then go.” Kiley bowed a little before heading off in a direction that none of them knew where it led. “We’ll meet up within two hours. That should be plenty of time for all of you to do your business.” Riddick looked back to Rosalia, then Ramza. “If any of you are late, I’m leaving you.” It sounded legitimate, like a promise. Rosalia lightly smirked as she walked past both men.

“Gee, then I better not run into Victor,” she said in a joking matter, walking for a shop. While she had two hours to prepare, she might as well get her own supplies.

Ramza shrugged and merely continued to the ship. “I have nothing to get, I’m good,” he said over his shoulder. Riddick wasn’t thrilled, but he didn’t show it as he boarded the ship when he got to it. Ramza happily sat down on the ramp, not very keen to go onboard with only himself and the famous killer.

Was probably the best move he could make.

Meanwhile for Rosalia, she entered the first promising shop she could find. Since the settlement knew of her, she hadn’t bothered to place the collar back on her neck. The shop owner recognized her from the streets, helping people along the way. With a smile as he calculated how much money she was willing to spend, he greeted her with enthusiasm. After telling the owner what she wanted, he disappeared to the back along with his assistant, leaving her to look around. The weapons available were poorly up to standards, and besides, she needed to break in her new blade before she should even consider to get a new weapon.

“Alright then, here’s a few boxes of ration bars - veggie kind, as you requested -, and two boxes of that gum stuff you wanted, lady. By estimation of cost, that’ll cost ya ‘bout two hundred and twelve dollars.”

‘Hmph, greedy weasel...’ “Done deal,” Rosalia replied with a fake half-smile. She pulled out the requested amount of money and traded it for the supplies. She might as well have more gum, since she was starting to dwindle on what she had.

As she started out for the door after supplying the stuff into her bag, someone entering the shop bumped into her, making her ram into one of the display cases. On that incident, a valuable crystal was knocked to the floor and it shattered on impact.

“‘Ey, you need to watch it,” the other person growled. But it was the shop owner that was the loudest.

“That’s me best drive-crystal for a battle cruiser!” he yelled, looking with a horrified look at the shattered gem before glaring accusingly at Rosalia.

“Do not blame me for placing the object where it would get knocked off,” Rosalia growled as she looked at both of the men. Then she noticed something; they both had a glint to their eyes. This couldn’t go well.

“You’ll have ta pay for it, my dear,” the other man said with a smirk, lifting a side of his vest and showing a small badge attached to the inside of that vest. It was one of those that stated that the man had authority. “I’ll guess that the crystal was about, oh, say, over three thousand?”

“Three thousand, over a crappy-ass crystal that is so fragile??”

A few other men and women filed into the shop, watching the exchange with amusement. It just then dawned on her that this was a scam that must have worked for many other victims that entered this shop. Place a fragile crystal on a display, claim it was an important piece for a battle cruiser meant for deep space, and wrestle out a good-amount of money for it. Well, not only did she not have the money, she wasn’t going to stand for it.

“You break it, you bought it.” He grinned as he gestured to the man behind the counter. “After all, he has to make an honest living.”

“Honest living, my tail.” She watched as the other men and women pulled out daggers, others with high-powered pistols. These had to be the biggest scum of the settlement.

“C’mon darling, it’s only money.”

“I will not stand for this scheme you must have cooked up for many half-brained victims.” With that, she slid her newest blade into hand. Might as well give it a test drive.

“Then maybe you should sit down for it.” The man in front of her lunged at her, making her react by spinning in past his outstretched arm and slamming her elbow into the back of his head. But as he fell, she felt something slam into her own neck, but not of a large mass. Staggering past the man, she reached up and pulled out what got her. It was a needle with a heavy dosage of narcotic.

The man was just a distraction.

“Fuck...” she muttered as she resisted the quick effect of the drug, but it was effecting her nervous system. She went down with a heavy thud.

“I knew that it was enough,” she heard the shooter say, the haze of the drug beginning to affect her hearing and sight.

“The amount you just used could have killed her,” another growled.

“Nah, I know what I’m doin’. Ursa Luna told me about how the local amount wouldn’t have fazed her. She could take five before she could feel it starting to work.”

“Can’t take our chances against someone like her, can we?”

The rest of the talk slowly faded to bare whispers before the darkness took Rosalia entirely. She didn’t even feel someone dragging her up and over a shoulder as she was taken to a nearby Merc ship. She was heading right back to her old prison, and she couldn’t remember for the rest of the trip how that went.

- - -

“She’s taking too long,” Ramza muttered as he kept glancing up in the direction he knew Rosalia would come. It was nearly an hour since she went to shop for last-minute items.

Riddick agreed silently as he stepped off his ship. He better go see what happened; he was positive that she was in a spot of trouble.

“Wait up.” Ramza tagged along, since he may as well be of some help.

Knowing Rosalia’s taste, Riddick tracked down the store that she would have visited first. The sleazy owner behind the counter was counting his money, looking very pleased with himself. Looking around with precise examination, he spotted the bin first. It was filled with broken glass, the shit that couldn’t even handle getting knocked a little by a bump. All one had to do was flick it with your fingers, and it’d break on contact.

“Welcome, welcome!” the owner said as he pocketed his cash, grinning ear-to-ear. The smile fell slightly as Riddick turned his head to look at the man through his goggles. “Well, er, what can I do for you two gentlemen?”

“Did a girl come in here, looking to buy?” Riddick asked bluntly as he continued to walk slow, still examining the shop.

“So many customers came in, so I couldn’t tell you which girl you’re talking about,” the man behind the counter said with another grin, though it was filled with suspicion. “Do you have any specific characteristics about her?”

“Couldn’t miss her - she was the only one with wings.” It scored a falter in his answer.

“Hadn’t seen someone like that, nope.” He waved one arm toward his displays. “Anyway, gentlemen, I’m sure you’ll find something to your liking.”

“Not interested in what you call weapons.”

“You’re lying right through your teeth,” Ramza said with a hard look, still standing over at the doorway.

“Why, sir, I speak nothing but me heart! If I had seen someone like what you described, why I’d bet her horn that I’d tell you in a heartbeat!”

Ramza was right in front of the counter, his hands placed on top and pressing down on the glass. He gave a horrible grin. “We didn’t say anything about her having a horn.”

The shop owner was starting to have doubts about being about to lie his way out of this, but he tried anyway. “N-now now, like I said, I hadn’t seen someone like that in my shop, but who said I didn’t see her in the streets??”

Something caught Riddick’s attention, glittering just under the display near the doorway. Bending down, he reached out and grabbed the black blade. It hadn’t been used, not yet by Rosalia.

Ramza noticed a hard look settling on Riddick’s face, and he took a few steps away from the man. In just a few blinks, Riddick was behind the counter and pressing the same blade against the man’s throat.

“You better tell me right now where she’s been taken,” Riddick said in a dangerous tone.

“I-I don’t-“

“Don’t tell me you don’t know!” Riddick ripped his goggles off, making the man gasp in instant realization who he just pissed off. “This blade’s hers. So before you answer, I suggest you think real hard. Your answer may be your one-way ticket to dying right here.”

The man just about pissed himself as he gulped, shifting his eyes to look between Riddick and Ramza, who had a murderous look to his face as well.

“The men took her off-world after drugging her stupid,” he squeaked, sweat starting to bead on his forehead. “A few guards from Ursa Luna, the rest Mercs paid by the same people. Personal job, since she killed the head-honcho’s son along with the other guards she took out. That’s it, that’s all I know!”

Shoving the man away from him, Riddick rotated the blade to hold it backwards, sheathing it in his belt. He didn’t bother saying another word as he turned and headed out the door.

“You won’t be able to catch them! They have the fastest ship-model there is!” the owner yelled out to the retreating figures. The closest display was knocked down by Ramza, nearly crushing the man under it.

“Get the Elemental; we’re leaving right now.” There was no room for argument, even though Riddick said it in a casual tone.

“You got it,” Ramza answered.

- - -

“Wakey wakey,” a voice said as Rosalia tried to move away, her headache the size of a few worlds put-together. Though the restraints on her prevent from moving nothing more than her head. This was when her mind realized that she needed to pull herself out of the darkness. Opening her eyes, they silvered as she stared at the small box of steel she was in. “Nice, huh? This is the new, recommended way to transport convicts.”

Not only was she in the small box, she was on her knees and held upright by her elbows. The rest of her arm was hanging down the sides of the bar. The locks on her knees and elbows were cuffs, not chains, so she didn’t have much hope of getting out of that. She could move her head and the rest of her arms, but that was it. She also figured out that they bounded her wings together, though separately from the rest of the locks.

“I can tell you with confidence that this is not very comfortable...” she finally replied with a light tone, suppressing the urge to growl. She could see the man’s eyes through the only slot of the box.

“Yeah, well, only another few minutes of this, then you’ll be released into the courtyard of our lovely prison. Dun worry, the boss is away, so you’ll get to enjoy your wings before he starts ripping out feathers.” Patting the side of the box, he stood up and walked off.

‘It had to happen while I was getting supplies. Of course. When I get out of this mess, I am going to hold a gun to that man’s face.’ She mentally sighed as she felt the descendant of the ship, landing minutes later. Footsteps echoed into the room, and she felt herself getting lifted onto some pulley, then wheeled off the ship.

“So who’s gonna be the victim to release her?” one of the men muttered as they left the ship and stopped onto an open elevator.

“Fuck that, I ain’t gonna get skewered by the likes of her,” another said in a louder tone. He was almost drowned out by the noise of the machine, lowering them down.

“Oh, I would not say skewered. I would bet on getting an arm ripped off and then beaten by it, though,” Rosalia said with a chuckle. Someone kicked the box, but she kept laughing.

“Somethin’ tells me she would,” the first man said in an undertone.

Rosalia couldn’t hear the rest of the conversation due to the noise of the contraption they were on, but she figured that they reached an answer. They wheeled her out, then yelled at someone nearby.

“You’ll do! C’mon here and release the convict,” the second speaker said with a gleeful tone.

‘A convict releasing another convict. So typical,’ she thought to herself as the person they yelled to stuttered before the sound of rattling keys were heard. The elevator was making noise again, meaning that the men had retreated and was heading up as the convict shakily started to undo the top of the box. Whoever they got doing the job was obviously nervous.

Pushing the lid up and over, the boy that was handed the job stared at Rosalia with wide, childish eyes. Very childish eyes, as a matter of fact...

‘The fuck??’ Rosalia stared at the young boy for a brief few seconds before adverting her eyes elsewhere. The boy was nervous as it was, she didn’t need to scare the hell out of him before he could finish the job.

Without a word, he undid the locks with shaking hands. As soon as he released the last one on her elbows, Rosalia was out of the box. He nearly fell backwards from shock, though Rosalia stopped his falling with a hand, steadying him before moving away a little to look around. It was all she remembered, though the convicts seemed to have changed on her. Especially the convicts. She glanced at the boy; dirty face, ragged clothing, long untidy black hair, and old blood. What crime could he had possibly committed to be thrown in a double-max prison??

“Thank you,” she finally said, though her words seemed to have frightened him. He jumped a little before starting to back away. But he didn’t run away.

Even though her wings were bounded, she was thanking whatever gods out there that they hadn’t bothered taking her bag off, or looking through it. Luckily for her, the straps could snap apart, so she didn’t have to worry about how to get it off her back. Her weapons were also where they’re supposed to be. Well, except for her black blade - it must have fell out of her hand as she was knocked out by that dart.

“U-um...” The boy seemed to have gained courage, as he had slowly approached her until he was right next to her, looking up. “Y-y-you’re w-welcome,” he said quietly.

Rosalia tried to smile softly, but all she managed was a grim look. At least the boy didn’t seem to be expecting miracles at the moment. “Why are you here?” she asked, confusion showing on her face.

He flinched slightly as he looked down. “I-I didn’t s-s-start that f-fire! B-but I w-was t-the only one a-around w-when the g-g-g-government b-building w-was l-lite...”

‘The bastards blamed a kid for arson? They did not even bother to check out the evidence, I will bet...’ “Of course you did not do it,” Rosalia said gently as she kneeled down after a quick glance around to see if anyone was about to jump her. Convicts had a code, but the inmates - the most absolute scum that gave convicts a bad rep - were the ones that you had to worry about. They did the guards’ work, not to mention that they usually cause riots and even go as far as attempt to rape and/or murder unsuspecting victims. “I am not here to disprove your story, for I believe you. You do not have to worry about me.”

“S-s-so w-what are y-you here f-for?” he asked, his hands nervously moving until he took one hand into the other, stopping their movements. He was afraid of the answer.

“I have escaped from here before, and they have decided to pursue me in petty revenge,” she replied, not getting into the gory details. She killed guards along the way, after all. “A few people had been wrongfully sent here, like yourself. It was for a wrong reason for me.” Then she managed a real small smile. “That is not important right now.” She turned her head to the people that were beginning to gather along the outlines of the prison yard. “Let us find a less-open place, if you do not mind.”

“S-s-sure.”

Retreating from the prison yard, the boy led her through the twisty tunnels that held many cells. With the boss away, the prison guards usually don’t bother to lock the prisoners away into their assigned cells. With the overwhelming number of convicts in this prison, one would think they’d be overrun by them. But the creatures they had, they controlled the masses, just like for most prison systems. And unfortunately, the narrow tunnels were the perfect places for the creatures to stalk through, to kill anyone that were caught in the tunnels and not in the safety of their cells.

Coming to a cell where it seemed less-likely for any being, creature or man, to travel through, the boy led her into it with a wave of a hand. She followed him in, and he closed the cell door, though it didn’t lock. The good part about the door was that it swung out instead of in; less likely for the creatures she remembered to open the door.

Looking around the cell, Rosalia examined her current surroundings as the boy sat on a ledge. He kept watching her with wide eyes, or more at the wings, her horn as well as the tail. She could see the wonder on his face.

“So what is your name?” she asked, changing his thought process.

“A-Astor (note: Ah-star)...” he mumbled as he pulled his knees up to wrap his arms around them. It seemed like he wasn’t used to people being nice.

“I am Rosalia. Thank you again for unlocking my bindings,” she said with another small smile. It fell as her eyes narrowed in her own silent distress. She was not going to be happy whenever the ‘boss’ returned from wherever he had gone. Not to mention how she was getting out; she doubted that she’ll be rescued by her companions. They probably had gone on, Kiley whining about where she went, Ramza grumbling about her not being there... Riddick probably was happy to be rid of one companion, but she wasn’t sure of that. Maybe he was wishing that it was Ramza that had disappeared instead of her.

“N-no problem,” Astor said, not seeing how her eyes silvered in a momentary distress. “I-I guess if I h-hadn’t, t-they w-w-would have h-hit me.” No wonder he would rather deal with the convict in the box than the guards. “I-is s-something the m-matter?” he suddenly asked as he looked up to see her eyes narrowed, her composed face etched with worry.

“I am fine,” she answered as she forced herself to think of the present, plan for the future escape. “For all it was worth, I am glad someone like you had opened the box instead of those guards.” Though if she was someone else with no morals, it might have been his last box. And she knew a part of her was just like that. She was glad that she had the control.

Hours dragged by after Astor had fallen asleep, having talked himself tired. Must have been forever since he had a companion to talk to, about anything. He tried to undo the clasped bindings on her wings, though because they were of a design meant for a signal rather than a key, he couldn’t do anything other than move them slightly. At least they were more ‘comfortable’ than where they originally were at. She made sure to praise him on that accomplishment, brightening his mood up when he looked like he was about to cry.

‘This certainly is not a place for someone like Astor,’ she thought to herself as she watched out the door, Astor somehow snuggled against her wings at one side. He had no instinct for survival, at least none yet. He doesn’t know how to pick a lock, nor how to hold a knife in a right way. She mentally sighed; she wouldn’t be able to walk away from someone as helpless as Astor, not without all of her instincts screaming at her. At least he knew how to hide well, since he admitted that it was the best way to survive in this place. She was the first person that he was willing to be around without having to fear for his throat.

Well, for all that it was worth, having an angelic look because of her wings seemed to be what led people to think that she was safe to be with. It also led people to believe her harmless; her biggest advantage.

Crossing her arms, she continued to keep watch as she thoughts of the possibilities of escaping, with Astor. She probably had to wait until another ship came in, one where Mercs were bringing their captives and collecting their reward. Though she had no idea of when that would happen until the elevator gave the indication of new arrivals.

She could only wait and see.

- - -

“So let me get this straight,” Kiley started as they orbited around the moon of Ursa Luna, “we’re to go in as Mercs, with Riddick as our prisoner?” They had arrived a week later after Rosalia, but the time between was entirely on how to get their companion back. They kept bouncing ideas around.

“I dun know if we should let someone as you playing as a merc, but the signature locators would give away that there are three people onboard. So you have to pretend to be cool.” Riddick slid the tip of one of his blades under a fingernail, his face fairly grim. He’d rather have Kiley stay onboard than possibly ruining their only chance of getting in without getting caught themselves. Besides, Elementals were hard to disguise. Not to mention that they are known to be neutral; an Elemental as a bounty hunter was most unlikely. Though maybe...

“Just imagine Victor, and you should do fine,” Ramza inputted to Kiley, and she instantly fell into role; her face carefully composed of hidden anger, her bright eyes glittering with anticipation. “That works well.” Ramza had a hard time not flinching from that cold look.

“Indeed.” Even Riddick had to be impressed at the composure. But he certainly doesn’t feel threatened like Ramza was. “Good thing we have the necessary equipment to make it look like you two bounded me up.”

“Great, I guess,” Kiley said. “We’ll also need to look like we went through hell; someone as good as Riddick isn’t very easy to capture.”

“We’ll say we lost a few companions in the struggle, but the scars and scratches from the fight with Victor will be good enough,” Ramza said thoughtfully.

It seemed everything was put together, and with the last preparations, Ramza took the seat of piloting the ship. They didn’t have a lot of time left before that boss of Ursa Luna returned to settle a personal matter with Rosalia. It was time to act.

Ta-da! I finished two chapters before getting online, lol. XD I had fun with this one! Give me good reviews for both new chapters, and I’ll see ya at the next one! Ciao until then!