Broken Pieces-Chp72

[At the med bay, everyone (Wander, Hater, Awesome, Sylvia and Peepers) was gathered ard Brad, who is still sleeping the drugs off]

Sylvia: U sure abt this, boss? Its not gonna hurt him, is he?

Hater: The seller assured us it wouldn't. It would be like putting on VR goggles or something, then hooked to this monitor so we can see wat happened

Peepers: We're probably not gonna see anyt good stuff, sir.

Wander: (fumbling with hands, having a feeling of what they might be seeing)

Hater: I knw, but we still hv to if we wanna figure out wat happened to him n solve the collar problem. If we wait for him to talk, his pride won't let him, n it'll be a red galaxy day before he's gonna share anything

Sylvia: Ur the boss. Let's hook him up then [helps to connect the brain scan machine to the monitor]

Awesome: See if it works...

Wander: (still feeling unnerved)...

[Once everything is plugged in, Sylvia puts the brain scan machine onto Brad n Hater flipped the switch on. The monitor showed static for a moment, then slowly images began to appear, tho the quality looked a little cloudy at best]

Peepers: (watching closely)

Wander: ... (buries his face into Hater's side, still worried what images would be brought up)

Hater: [held Wander close, his eyes focused on the screen]

Sylvia: [watched curiously]

[The monitor soon showed Brad n a very beautiful blonde haired princess in a royal chamber, n he was holding her hand]

Brad: Come, Demurra. Let's go, before everyone wakes up

Demurra: No, Brad. I'm not going with u

Brad: Wat?

Demurra: I'm staying. I'm going thru with the wedding. I'm marrying Draykor

Brad: Wat?? But ur engaged to me! We're supposed to be together, living happily ever after, hv lots of beautiful babies together! Its supposed to be us!

Demurra: How many times do I hv to tell u, I am NOT engaged to u! We just had a tiny childhood crush for each other, that's all! I'm over u already! I love Draykor now, n I WANT to marry him!

Brad: N-No... No, that's not true...

Peepers: :O...

Awesome: Dude...

Brad: Draykor is making u say this, isnt he? He's forcing u into this wedding n now he's making u say things u don't mean...

Demurra: He's NOT making me say anything! I was not forced into this marriage! I willingly agreed to this, bcoz I love him!

Brad: But... But I love u...

Demurra: No, u don't love me. U just love the IDEA of me! U only love urself n the idea of having me to fit into ur own perfect little world! THAT is why I dont love u anymore! Draykor is kind, generous n would do anything for me, he loves me for ME! In fact I HATE U!

Brad: H-How... How could u hate me...? Aftr all I've been thru to get here...

Demurra: Well sorry for u to hv wasted ur time, bt evr since u used me as a human shield during an avalanche wen we were on our family camping trip, I've been seeing so many flaws on u tht I no longer love u. 

Brad: Th-Tht's not true! [flustered] I-I didnt mean tht, it was the slip of the hand! [mumbled] N I just had my clothes dry cleaned...

Demurra: U were willing to risk my life to save ur skin! U dont care abt me! Not at all! U dont love me at all, n I dont love u anymore! Now get outta here! Before I call the guards on u

Brad: B...Bt Demurra... I... I'm sorry...

Demurra: GO!!

Brad: [in his sleep] Demurra... I'm... sorry...

Sylvia: Tht's harsh, man...

Hater: I'll say

Peepers: (feels very concerned at this point)

Wander: (glancing but still looking away)

[the scene soon changed into Brad crashing the wedding scene wen Demurra n Draykor were abt to take their wedding vows, a huge fight broke out n he severely injured Draykor, n wen he was abt to give the final blow, Demurra stepped in n blocked Draykor, taking the hit n was killed instantly]

Brad: D-Demurra!! No... No... No, no, no, no...!! DEMURRA!! [cried as he hugged Demurra's lifeless body]

Hater: Oh boy...

Peepers: O_O

Awesome: Whoa. o.o

Wander: (trembling, not looking but hearing the whole thing)

[The scene again switched to Brad in cuffs, his clothes tattered n torn n he was filthy, clearly having spent time in the dungeons, n he was facing Draykor who is heavily bandaged]

Draykor: Ur action during my wedding is punishable by death. I should kill u myself

Brad: ...Well why don't u? [looked at him bitterly]

Draykor: Bcoz I swore an oath to my dear Demurra that I will never kill a person, no matter how much they deserve it. My bloodlust days are over, n I plan to keep my promise to Demurra. Brad Starlight, for ur crimes of treason n murder, I hereby banish u frm this planet. Get outta my sight

Sylvia: Well I guess that answers why he's banished

Peepers: But how did he...get into what he was...?

[As if answering his question, the scene soon morphed to Brad struggling to walk in a desert, his clothes worn out even more n he looked sunbaked n dehydrated. He staggered abt for a few moments before collapsing, then a dark shadow loomed over him, picked him up n dumps him into some kind of cargo bay amongst a whole bunch of other tired n dehydrated-looking ppl. Moments later, the scene changed to him being dumped out of the cargo bay along with the others n was being surveyed by an alien dressed in Arabic clothing]

Alien: Hmm... This one not good... That one too scrawny... Eeww, is this one dead? Take him away! [stops at Brad] Yes, this one will do nicely. Put him along with the good pile

Hater: That must be the slave trader. I heard they tend to find their marks in desolate plc coz the ppl there r usually desperate enough to do anything to get out of their own situation

Awesome: Seriously...?

Wander: (trembling still, holding onto Hater while his back was rubbed to ease his nerves)

Hater: [comforts him] If u don't want to watch, its OK for u to leave. I won't force u...

Wander: (looks up)....Ok...Let me know when he wakes up...(quickly exits room)

Peepers: (looks worriedly at Brad, moving in his sleep)

Hater: [watches him leave] Hope he's OK

Sylvia: He'll be fine. He's been thru a lot with Ryder, he doesn't want to see anymore violence. He's pretty sensitive abt that. Brad's situation is indirectly reflecting his own

[The scene soon changed to Brad n the rest of the ppl frm "the good pile" herded towards a room where they face a dark, smoky looking creature with blood red fangs n green flames for hair. He swirled ard the group, chanting something foreign as he waved his hands ard them, n soon the collar materialized ard all their necks out of thin air, black like the night sky]

Alien: Is it complete?

Sorcerer: Yes, my liege. The obedience collar is in effect. Anyone u sell them to will bind them with their master. Only with the master's death will it disappear

Peepers: (feels an urge of anger for some reason)...

Awesome: Not cool, bro...not cool...

Sylvia: At least we knw who created this collar. Maybe we should hunt this guy dwn, make him tell us how to remove the collar without involving death

Hater: Don't worry, this monitor is set on record. We can review the footage again n study this sorcerer

[The scene soon changed again to Brad being sold off to his first master, n needless to say Brad was pretty resistant, n a lot of times his smartass blabbermouth got him into tons of trouble, involving physical punishment like whipping or being taken into a public lounge to be someone's punching bag. The worst of his offense led him to being gangraped by his master n his drinking buddies]

Brad: [in his sleep] No... No, master... Stop... Pls I promise I'll behave... Stop... Ur hurting me...

Hater: [was glad Wander wasn't here to see or hear this]

Peepers: (is feeling sick, but tries to shake off the feeling)

Awesome: (is appalled by this as well) Ugh...(pauses a moment) Should one of us check on Wander, just in case?

Sylvia: I'll go. U guys lemme knw if u see anything more useful [goes outside]

[The rest of the scenes were pretty much the same, getting sold, getting tortured, getting punished, getting raped, then getting sold again, until finally it showed a scene of him resisting being sold again before being slapped ard n getting pumped full of drugs to make him docile, then the familiar scene of Peepers bidding for him, before it stopped to the scene where Peepers comfort him in a close up shot, then the monitor went fuzzy showing the end of flashback]

Peepers:...That's when I helped get him out of there...before anyone else could take him...(glancing worriedly at Brad)

(Meanwhile in Hater's room, Wander is hugging his hat tightly, his face buried in it still trembling till he heard the zbornak enter the room)

Sylvia: [knocked a bit before peeking in] Hey buddy. U OK? Can I come in?

Wander: ...(mumbles an 'mhm' letting her know she can enter)

Sylvia: [enters slowly, shutting the door behind her, then sat next to him] U OK, buddy? Wanna talk abt it?

Wander: ...(looks up) It showed...THAT, didn't it?...

Sylvia: [knew wat he meant] Yeah, frm his very first master. Let his mouth run him over n got him into trouble

Wander: ...No one should deserve going through such things...(lets Sylvia hug him)

Sylvia: I knw, he maybe a smartmouth but he doesn't deserve this [hugs him] His love for that girl maybe skewed, but at least he did it out of love. He's been punished enough for that

Wander: (nods, holding onto Sylvia)...Have you found out who did this to him?

Sylvia: Not anyone we knw, but he looks like some kind of sorcerer. We need to study the slave trader's get up to find out where or wat planet he comes frm, then take it frm there

Wander: And prevent him from doing this with anyone else...

Sylvia: True that. So... U gonna be OK, buddy? I need to chk on my kids, seeing they need feeding or changing

Wander: Just a little shaken having to know what will come up...but other then that, okay, I guess. Is Brad still asleep?

Sylvia: He was the last time I left him. Not sure abt now. Kinda curious tho as to why Peepers wanted to buy Brad all of a sudden. He usually just minds his own business

Wander: Something in him just clicked perhaps?

Sylvia: Well whatever it is, he better knw wats he getting into

Wander: Who knows, Syl...