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He knew he saw a space pirate down here someplace but... where did they go?

Bazzite was trailing them for quite some time. He'd been pretty good about collecting his energy quota every week and delivering it to Miss Painite (also known as LadyLady for whatever reason). He'd done well enough with that! Enough pats on the head made the spastic Negaboy brave enough to try and steal a starseed. Starseeds, or so he was told, were like the holy grails of energy collecting - they were super bright, powerful and like giant batteries to the Ninjaverse, and the electricity usage wasn't going down anytime soon. Any starseeds that could be retrieved were rewarded greatly!

The boy had it in his head that once a starseed was taken from a space pirate, they fell asleep to grow a new one. So why didn't the Negaverse just catch a bunch of them, throw 'em in hamster balls and call it a done deal? Bazzite figured that the higher-ups knew what they were doing. Either way, he was hot on the trail of some white-booted pirate right then! Or was he? Turning a corner into a dark alley, Bazzite came face to face with a wall.

"...well poop." he mumbled and sat down, pondering what to do next. "Space pirates can't just... poof? Can they? I thought that was my job? And Beni's job!"

Bazzite nearly jumped out of his skin and if he were a cat, his hair would have been standing on end. The boy was crouched over like a crab for a bit before he straightened up. "BENI! Don't do that." he admonished, a perturbed look on his face. "See, we're the ones that're supposed to be poofing and then I saw this space pirate and I was like, I'm gonna get me a starseed! cuz those're important, see?"

The explanation started with several gestures of his hands and body, followed by his tone of voice undulating when appropriate. "'n so I was chasin' them, like a good ninja, and then I get here and they're gone! I don't see what the big deal is, Beni." The blue haired boy crossed his arms and pouted. Clearly someone higher up in the chain of command didn't see his brilliant illustrations on senshi and hamster balls yet, but that would change! Soon! "But I'll get a starseed! I just... well I don't know how to get one when I get a senshi but... Hey Beni, do you know how to get a starseed?"

The boy looked like a puppy awaiting his master to take him out on a walk.

The blue-haired boy waved his superior officer's apology away. He thought highly of everyone in the Negaverse and knew they wouldn't scare him on purpose unless it was for a joke or something, in which case Bazzite wholeheartedly approved. "Well, starseeds sound really important according to everyone else. I mean, I don't get why we can't just catch a few pirates n stick 'em in hamster balls like that drawing I posted in Nega...townspacething? On the pillar? I even wrote my name on it and everything! See what we could do is farm 'em while they're in the hamster balls and then when they grow a new seed---"

Bazzite was on his rather lengthy tangents (something he was known for) when Benitoite tried to explain things to him. Properly. The boy froze once the captain explained that taking a starseed kills someone. "NAWWWW no it doesn't! See, they just fall asleep and a couple'a days later, poof! New seed! I mean, trees grow lots of seeds and if you take one, then there's bunches more left over. Fruits n stuff do that too. Where'd you get that silly idea, Beni?"

A cheerful grin greeted the captain. Obviously Bazzite didn't get it.

"We have starseeds too? That's kinda... that's kinda weird, Beni. I thought only the pirates had starseeds and that's why we needed to take 'em. So how come we have starseeds but we're not pirates? I don't wanna be a pirate, Beni. Pirates are bad people who blow up stuff and destroy people's cars n houses n things!" Bazzite's arms flew up in exasperated emphasis. He was clearly not aware that Negaverse agents carried starseeds themselves, and this news was more than a little unnerving.

The blue haired lieutenant gingerly touched his chest. "If we have starseeds then... why do we need a senshi's starseed? Why don't we just give 'em up to whoever needs 'em?" He didn't know who needed them or why, or even what they did. All he knew was that he was supposed to drain hobos and homeless people to give their energy to the Negaverse so they could save the earth and all that. It wasn't any more complicated than that, was it? It couldn't be.

"What happens when you take a starseed, Beni?" Perhaps now he was able to listen and actually comprehend.

"....what?"

Never had it occurred to the lieutenant that taking a starseed would effectively kill someone. Death was terrifying - permanent, finite. It was the end of all ends. It meant funerals and crying and lost family members and friends and all those memories just flushed down the cosmic drain. A sharp dagger of ice stabbed right through Bazzite's heart and it could be clearly seen in his face - horror and realization flashing across his blue eyes like lightning. He'd never known before. Now... now how could he sleep?

He stuttered the beginnings of a sentence a few times before anything intelligible came through. "But... b-b-but Beni, we can't... we can't kill people! We can't! We just can't, we... they have families too, right? I mean, they're space pirates and they blow stuff up but that doesn't mean they don't have brothers n sisters and moms and dads and friends and grandparents and pets and everything! If we kill them, then we... then we..."

Bazzite's voice cracked at the end, choking up into a sob. The lieutenant bit his lip to keep from crying outright. "I don't wanna be a murderer, Beni..." came a defeated whisper. If anyone else told him this information, Bazzite would never have believed it. But Beni? Beni's been around. Beni knows things. Beni... didn't lie.

Bazzite listened to his commanding officer's explanation through hiccups and muffled sobs. He clung to the shorter man and his shoulders shook with the force of his grief. He didn't want to have to end the life of someone else, space pirate senshithing or not. He didn't want to have blood on his hands and that stain on his soul and then have to go home and face his family. Bazzite didn't think he could sleep after that, not with knowing he ended someone just hours before.

"I...I couldn't... c-c-couldn't do it... Beniiii..." he whined into the Captain's coat, clinging to him gratefully like a child would a parent. There was nothing else he could do but stand there and hope that horrific vision of death and finality would never come to be. Not by his hands. It was a dizzying, nauseating thought he couldn't bear to bring into his mind again. Instead, the boy focused on the sorrow he suddenly felt for the rest of the Negaverse. Was that how people moved up in the ranks? They killed in order to do it?

Was that even right?

Sniffling, Bazzite opened his watery blue eyes, but couldn't bring himself to turn and face Benitoite. "Do the others... do they have to kill to get to general? I've seen... some of them... down in Negaspace. Did they have to kill, Beni? How can they sleep at night?" He started to hiccup again and put his head back down in the recesses of the Captain's coat.

A couple of hiccups and sniffles later, Bazzite let go of his Captain's shoulders and took to wiping his eyes with the heels of his palms. A few tears leaked out and coursed down his cheeks, but he took no notice. "I dunno... if... if I wanna be promoted if I hafta kill somebody. Cuz... cuz then the family hasta go to the funeral and cry all the time and miss the person because they're not there anymore, senshi or not." His brows nearly touched in thoughtful sorrow, something Bazzite had never really experienced before. Everything before was light and happy and ninja and jumping around like a maniac because it was fun! Chasing senshi was fun too! Reporting for duty and hitching rides with Captains down to Negaspace, there was nothing quite like it!

But this? This was heavy, almost too heavy for his fragile shoulders. "Beni... you got to Captain and all that so... but you said you couldn't sleep and... Beni, have you killed somebody?" Blue eyes gazed at him in horror and anticipation. Beni would have had a really good reason and if anyone would be okay and be able to do it, he could! But was killing really worth it? Was it really do or die, literally? What would happen if Bazzite couldn't bring himself to kill anyone? What would happen to his family? Would they miss him?

"What... I dunno, I can't..." The words wouldn't form and Bazzite simply started to chew on his lip to the point where a little string of red leaked out.

Bazzite mulled this over for a moment or two before speaking again. "You had good reasons, Beni." he said quietly. Bazzite couldn't hate anyone even if he tried, least of all someone like Benitoite. Even though the blue haired boy annoyed his superior like nobody's business and ruined things more often than not, there wasn't anything the Captain could do to make his lieutenant hate him. A few tears streaked across his face and were wiped away. He was calming down. "Cuz... cuz you're Beni and you know what you're doing."

There was a sense of unfettered faith in his Captain that pervaded the boy's spirit. If anyone had any good reason, it would be Beni. And if you didn't have to kill to be promoted, well... that was always a relief. Bazzite decided then to be a general that hadn't had to kill anyone to get to where he was. Maybe he could even take a few pirates onto the ninja side and even things out. Glass half full and all that.

"If anybody knows what they're doing, then it's you, Beni. So umm... just try not to take out too many more pirates, okay?" A cautious smile spread across the boy's lips. Bazzite wasn't certain he could sleep tonight, but he was certainly exhausted enough to pass out right then and there.