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[Retane]

From Tangled Greens

"What was that? Where am I? What’s going on? Is this death? Is this what peace actually feels like? Is this actually peace?" Many thoughts began to run through his head as he struggled to grasp this new darkness. He attempted to let out a growl, but there was nothing aside from bubbles escaping around his face.
 
Bubbles?
 
"Relax, sir." As the strange, yet familiar voice spoke, a low light slowly flickered as it began to hum. "You've been asleep for quite a while. What you've been living was a dream, of sorts. Brought on by a strong spell of a Goblin Shaman."
 
"A dream? Goblin Shaman? Spell? Who are you?" The Namekian slowly tried to wrap his head around the information he was being given, but the 'dream' was a bit too lifelike to be a dream.
 
"I am Jade, the Artificial Intelligence assigned to Jade Reckoning, Headquarters of The Horsemen. A part of your genetics have been integrated into my code, if you remember. You are In Jade Reckoning, under the vault, encased in a fluid that was created to sustain you till you finally awoke. You should open your eyes, and slowly allow the light in, so that they are not damaged once you emerge into the sunlight."
 
As she spoke, the Green Warrior began to recall, and understand. He remembered, who she was, and where he should be. "Goblin Shaman..."
 
"Yes. A horde of goblins had camped out in front of one of our entrances. You went alone and interrupted one of their rituals. The Shaman, he cursed you as he used most of his clan in a blood sacrifice. You were found, and after catching one of the goblin survivors, we were able to extract enough information to cipher some of the spell. We learned that there wasn't a current cure, and that we would have to let the effects wear off. Not that the others didn't try."
 
The Emerald Warrior nodded slowly, as he squinted, noting that the low light was getting brighter, even if it was a slow process. "How long have I been asleep, and how do you know it was a dream?"
 
"It's been two years. For the first year, many of The Horsemen and allies hunted for a cure, but after Triumpht, Dante, and Jack held a meeting, they decided that you would want them to go on and make a name for themselves and make you proud of The Horsemen once you came to. Some of them were still hunting for a cure on their off time. As for the dream, I've monitored your sleep patterns since they put you in the liquid. I didn't inform anyone of your dream, and no one asked. I felt that you wanted to keep it private. As well, nothing seemed to have any relevance to your situation. I am sorry you had to go through that though. You seemed sad and angry through most of it."
 
The Namek let out a low sigh and shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to speak about it. "Thanks." The water had slowly started to empty and the warrior reached up, noting a breathing apparatus was on his face. "Shouldn't I be feeling atrophy?"
 
"It's the fluid. I was able to send pulses through it to keep your muscles in pristine shape, so you should be in the same shape as when you went under. Since you are awake, and the decompression process is nearly done, would you like to inform everyone?"
 
The Emerald Fiend thought for a second and shook his head, sloshing water as he did and removed the mask as the water receded below his nose and mouth. "No. I'd like a bit of time to myself. Who all is in Reckoning at the moment?"
 
"Only Sasha and Grix. But they are in their quarters at the moment. Resting. I've dimmed the lights throughout the base so once the decompression is finished, you can move about while your eyes adjust."


"Thank you." The Namekian let out a long sigh, "Can I have a few moments to myself?"
 
"Certainly. If you need me, just call my name. I will wait for you in the Command Center."
 
Retane took in a deep breath as the ceiling above him opened up and the chamber he was in rose up into his Vault. He looked around for a moment gripping at his head trying to make sense of everything. Shaman. Dream. Dream. Was it really a dream? It felt so real. Maybe this was his punishment for it all. Maybe it was a premonition. She had mentioned Shaman, which was another word for Witch Doctor. Curse? Blood Spell?
 
The Emerald Warrior shook his head of the questions. What was important at the moment was that he was here, dead or not, and dream or not, he had to go on. Retane looked around and noticed that all his treasures were covers up by some protective iron and he frowned, wondering if they were all still there. Perhaps his other Horsemen had made good use of them?
 
As he stood, the Vault door opened, and the chamber he was in descended and vanished underneath the floor. The Namek's flesh was cold, so he quickly materialized a vest, pants and some boot for himself as he walked down the hall. His instincts and memory were slowly kicking in so he remembered where to go. He quickly found himself in the room he needed and looked around. Things had changed, and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.
 
"Welcome back, sir." Jade's head, that of a female Namekian, appeared on a huge screen in front of him and she nodded for him to sit in a chair.
 
Normally the Leader of The Horsemen would stand, but he was still trying to take everything in, and the lights and colors still made him a bit uneasy, "Please, don't call me sir. My name is Retane. Use it."
 
"I'm sorry, Retane." Jade offered a smile on the screen, you never specified before, and I was unsure, so I chose the best submissive option appropriate.
 
"Yeah... So, can you give me an update? Where are my kids? Where are the Horsemen? What's been happening? “The Emerald Warrior tensed, afraid to hear bad news.
 
"All of your children are out and about", Jade reported. Naturae is strong and well, helping others when she can. Probitas remains the Ambassador with the Ninja Village. Jack Frost tends to stay there as well, with Krosst and Airyonna. Triumpht and Dante are off on Missions. Dante convinced Reatus to go with him on his latest, so he's there as well."
 
"So everyone is alive and well?" Retane started to let out a weak smile.
 
There was a hesitation before she spoke, " No. Torn is dead."
 
Retane's face went straight to a stern look as he remembered the hardcore elder. "He was a friend of Jak, right?  Helped with our intelligence?"
 
Jade nodded as she brought up the images of Jak, Daxter and Torn. "He died in Coruscant, by the Storyteller."
 
The Leader of The Horsemen let out a low growl, "That place." After a pause he shook his head, "How is Jak doing?"
 
"He seems to be well. From the records, he recently registered for this season's Dante's Abyss."
 
The Namekian's eyes went wide as she spoke and brought up the information Dante's Abyss 2018. "What!?!?!?!?"
 
"There have been two events sense you passed. It has been two years after all."
 
The Namekian gripped the arms of the chair he was sitting in, but quickly calmed himself, "You said everyone is ok, aside from Torn?"
 
"Yes, from my intel, everyone is fine. But, there is something I think you should know..." Jade hesitated.
 
"Yeah? Go ahead and tell me. Out with it." Retane could only guess what could be next.
 
"Well, the silver haired girl in your dreams, your son's partner. She's here. Tamsin Suzaku. She was in Dante's Abyss 2017." As She spoke she pulled up a profile of Tamsin and showed footage of her inside the Abyss.
 
The Emerald Fiend's vision was blurred as he looked down at the floor. It was too much for him to take in at once and he struggled with it all. He had missed two years of his children's lives. He had lost a member of his team. His own son's partner had come to Omniverse, and he hadn't been there for her, and everyone still kept trying to make him proud. He hadn't been there for them. But they still kept going.
 
"Tell me Jade", he whispered. "What should I do?"
 
Jade's voice lowered, "It's a tough question going through your mind, I understand that. Your options are to call all The Horsemen from their jobs, and attempt justice on a fallen comrade, when you haven't been out and about in two years. Or, go join Dante's Abyss, like you really want to. Vengeance can be gotten at any time. Plus, if Jak is there, what’s the point unless he's with you?"
 
The Namekian nodded, "But Tamsin..."
 
"Maybe she will wind up there this year? Maybe you can wind up as her teammate? Or Jak's even."
 
Retane rubbed the back of his head debating it all.
 
"Your children were spawned mostly because of the memories of the last Abyss you joined. You've always joined every Abyss you could. You are Retane, and that's not supposed to change now!" Jade's voice rose slightly as did her head, but she quickly quieted down and let out a weak, “Sorry."
 
Enroshia nodded as he stood up, "But, she scares me."
 
"Why? She cared about your son."
 
"I wasn't the best father... Still suck at it, I guess." The Emerald Fiend mumbled his head as he glanced at the rules.
 
"Could be worst. But opinions are opinions."
 
"Yeah. So, it's a Random Team Tournament?" Retane noted from the rules. "It's still the Abyss. Sadly, it's calling me. I guess I'll be going." Retane let out a chuckle, perhaps this will be a good way to let everyone know I'm back."
 
 
------
 
 
Minutes later, Retane was cloaked in dark green and standing atop a tree. He pattered a pocket of his and took off into the air.
 
"Retane, I've sent everything you need to Syntech, so they should have your info once you reach the gate. They want you to cut a promo though, a new one."
 
The Namekian gave a grunt, "A promo? Can't they use my old one?"
 
"No, they are strict on this, no killing employees either. Have to save it all for the arenas. It's ok though. i believe in you."
 
Retane tried to remember if Jade had ever shown this much emotion before but couldn't recollect, still he didn't mind the confident boost. She had his genes, and he had birthed Naturae. He was a Member of the Dragon Clan and the Creator of the Wolf Clan. Perhaps it all had something to do with it.
 
As The Horsemen approached the Gate, he saw a line, and let out a sigh as he dropped to the back of the line. "Don't kill people till event", he muttered to himself. As he spoke, he looked to his right, and Arith and Inirtias appeared.
 
"Hold my dick! We are going in!" Arith shouted as he started pushing past everyone. Inirtias just shrugged his shoulders and let Retane follow in Arith's wake as he covered the Rear.
 
"This is fucking Retane! Top Eight of Dante's Abyss 2015! He gets front seats." The Golden Masked Warrior used his twin sabers to mover everyone out of his way till Retane was first in line.
 
The Syntech warrior looked up only once and nodded, "Retane, Leader of The Horsemen." She paused as she looked up and pointed almost as if to be a fan girl. "You were Jack Frost's teammate! He is so hot!  I mean COOL! Is he joining!"
 
Retane let out a sigh and shrugged, "You aren’t his type."
 
The fangirl rolled her eyes, "Well you have to cut a new promo, sense you are SO OLD, so go on."
 
Retane looked at her and opened his hand for a moment, thinking hard about summoning energy. Instead, he whispered "Bitch, you realize that after DA is over, I could still hunt you the fuck down and make you wish that I had killed you now?"
 
She shivered as he left her, towards the area to make the promo.
 
----
 
A black screen breaks with shattering glass to show Retane in black attire with an orange screen in the background appearing the song, "Back in Black" starting to play lowly.
 
The Emerald Fiend squints his eyes for a moment, as the music dies down, and the Namek speaks, "I am Retane, Leader of The Horsemen. I am here because this is Dante's Abyss. Any Horsemen that show up, pray you aren’t against me. If you do wind up that situation. TCH. Only one can survive. Everyone else is fucked."
 
 The Namekian is filmed walking towards the teletube.