"You are a disgrace to the Red Dragon Syndicate!" shouted the
headmasters at Vicious. Vicious stared, emotionless. It was like he didn't
give a crap for what they said. Vicious treats everyone badly. "You! Shin!
Why haven't you been on task lately?" the headmasters asked me. "I...i'm
sorry, sir. See, my brother died recently. I'm sure you are aware of that.
It's been kind of hard on me. I know I can't expect myself to be half as
good as my brother, Jin, but...have faith in me, sir." I explained. "At the
Red Dragon Syndicate, we don't care for deaths of our members. You're
brother foolishly gave his life for Vicious, even after Vicious said no."
They said to me. I was speechless, had nothing to say. My brother, he was
foolish...but...I will try to replace him. Spike...I'm waiting for you to
come back and take over the syndicate.
"The Real Folk Blues: Another Story"
"Shin, I have an assignment for you." Vicious said. "Yes?" I asked. Vicious stopped for a second. "We're getting close. Scan the area for any signs of Spike." Explained Vicious. I gulped. "Yes, sir." I acknowledged him. I took only my 9mm and some spare ammunition. I slipped on my syndicate coat, and chained it up in the front. I started to walk out. "Don't fail me now, Shin." Said Vicious. "Yes, sir." I acknowledged again. I exited.
"Okay, i'm assigning group one to scan in the west of the city. Group 2, the east. Group 3, the north. Group 4, take south. I'll take group 5 and we'll search in the middle." I explained to them. "Remember, be ready at all times. If you find a sign of Spike or any other danger, immediatley contact the other 4 groups." They all saluted me, and went on their duties. I walked along the sidewalk. "Sir, I guess we'll go search down here." Said one of the men. I nodded. I stuck my hands in my pockets. I thought about things, about Vicious's bad additude, about the syndicate. The main thing on my mind had been about Spike leaving the syndicate and becoming a bounty hunter. Spike was a good man, a good member of the syndicate. He should come back, take down Vicious, and claim the syndicate. I looked up ahead, as a door to a shop opened. A blonde woman wearing sunglasses, black trenchoat, stepped out. I stopped, and looked. "Julia!" I shouted at a low tone. Julia looked over and saw me. She gasped, and ran over to me. "Shin, what are you doing here?" she asked me. "Scanning the area. Direct orders from Vicious. You need to be careful, the syndicate is all over the city. They are after you, you know." I explained. She thought. "Any word from Spike?" asked Julia. I shook my head no. We stood there for a second. "Listen, you need to get out of here before something happens." I said. She stepped backwards. "Till we meet again." Said Julia as she stepped into her car. She drove off. Just then, my communicator beeped. I took it out, answered. "Spike! We found Spike!" they yelled. I stopped. I looked towards Julia, driving off. "JULIA! SPIKE IS HERE! SPIKE IS IN MARS!" I yelled. She couldn't hear. I sighed, then ran.
I got there and lots of the syndicate was already inside. "Go in, Shin!" said one of the members. I ran in, and drew my gun, aiming. There, hiding behind the bar, gun drawn, was Spike. He heard the door open, span around fastly and aimed his gun at me. "Shin!" he said. I ran in and ducked behind the bar with him. Bullets were shooting all around, towards the bar. I popped up for a second and shot a few of them, and ducked back down. "Listen, the syndicate is all over the place. You need to get out of here." I explained. Spike cursed. I sat there, as Spike got up to shoot a few. He ducked back down. "Julia was here." I said. He turned to me. "Julia?" asked Spike. "Yeah...right before I came, I saw her." I said. Spike looked down. I peeked up. No one seemed to be inside. "I think most have evacuated. I need to go, and so do you. Please, Spike." I said. I got up, and jumped over the bar. I ran through puddles of alchoholic beverages. I ran past Jet, his leg all shot up. I ran out.
I took off my trenchcoat and walked into the main lobby of the syndicate. I entered the elevator, and rode up to the floor my office was.
I sat in my office, looking at the things on my desk. A stack of reports to do, my computer. My phone, my gun. I shifted my eyes to a photo. It was of me, my brother Jin, and Spike. I often wondered, why Jin wanted to die for Vicious. Vicious is cruel. Jin, used to be friends with Spike, but tried to kill him. Maybe he was hiding the fact that he didn't want to kill spike. He shot him only with a tranquilizer. Spike would of killed Vicious back then, if it weren't for Jin. Jin looked up to Vicious, I guess. I also wondered why Vicious and Spike became enemies. They were partners in the syndicate, good friends. Vicious had his back, Spike had his. Then Spike started losing trust in the syndicate. He fell in love with Julia. Vicious, probably liked Julia, too. Vicious took up sword fighting. One night, Spike came to Julia's apartment. He gave her a note. The note read:
Meet me in the park,
Tonight.
We'll escape from the syndicate together.
Spike
We'll escape, he said. He'd be crazy to do so, but Spike isn't the ordinary person you think he is. Spike is sly and can get out of things. Julia sat in her apartment, reading the letter. At the same time, Spike was in a violent fight. He faked his death, a fake suicide. Spike escaped to the park. Spike waited in the park that night. He waited all night. Julia never came. She sat there in her apartment. The door was knocked upon, and she quickly took the note, tore it in pieces, and threw them out the window. She watched as they floated down, slowly, through the rain. Vicious busted down the door. Julia sat at the table, back turned to Vicious. "Vicious." Julia said. Vicious walked up behind her, and aimed his gun at her head. "Where's Spike?" asked Vicious. "I don't know." Said Julia. "You know...he died tonight." Said Vicious. Julia gasped, as if she didn't know, but she knew how Spike worked. "You know where he is. I can see through your lies." Said Vicious, placing his gun on her table. "Either you go kill Spike, or I kill Spike...and you." Said Vicious. Julia looked up to him. He had his evil grin on his face. "You have till midnight." Said Vicious, right hand in pocket, as he exited. Julia sat there.
There were poundings on the door. A member came in. "Shin." Said the member, shaking me. I had slept in my chair in my office last night. "Yeah?" I asked, bearly lifting one eyelid. "Julia has been spotted. We need to track her down. We already have a few members after her right now." Explained the member. I jumped out of my chair. I ran to the mirror and smoothed out my hair. I slipped on my syndicate trenchcoat. I took my gun from my desk, flipped down the picture of My brother, Spike, and me. I ran out. I rode down the elevator to the bottom. I ran out, and got into the car waiting for me. I started the car up and drove off.
I got there, and lots of members of syndicate were there. I looked around, and didn't see Vicious. There was a crashed, upside down car in flames. It looked like one of the syndicate's. There were bullet shells all over the street. I asked one of the members, "Where's Vicious?" "He's in trouble with the syndicate. He got chained up in some chamber the syndicate holds. We're planning to get him out of there." He explained. I thought. "How?" I asked. "By force, probably." Said the member.
I drove to the syndicate. I had alot on my mind. Spike could be dead, Julia could be dead. If not, they could die sometime soon. I got there, where lots of the syndicate were outside. I ran into the syndicate. I ran to the chamber. I entered. Vicious's beloved crow, dead on the floor, blood splattered across the floor from his stomach. The old headmasters, all dead. They were shot up, fresh blood still dripping from one of thier mouths. The head headmaster, throat slit, face flat on floor, blood surrounding him. Lots of the syndicate were standing around, talking. Blood was splattered everywhere, on the walls, on the floor. I heard footsteps from behind me. I turned quickly and Vicious was approaching me. I got kind of scared. "What about him?" asked Vicious. I tried to think of an excuse. "He got away. All our men were defeated, we ran out of weapons...and lost all means to..." I started. Vicious interrupted me, "Why did you come back? Where is Julia?" he asked. "I don't know." I said, looking down in shame. I was sweating. A member ran up behind him, and told him something that I could not hear. He ran off. I stood there looking. Vicious turned away, and started to walk off. I watched. "Shin." Said Vicious. I shrieked. "Don't follow in your brother, Jin's footsteps." He said to me. I stood there, thinking about how cruel he was. He walked off.
I heard news that Vicious had killed all the elders. He planned a mission for some members, excluding me for my past behavior. They were going to try to take down Annie, an old friend of Mao Yenrai and Spike. Then they were going to stay around to see if Spike had a reaction and came. One of the members promised to keep me informed by communicating me if something important happened. He had already informed me that they had shot Annie, but spared her. I waited for a while, nervous. This could be Spike's death. My communicator beeped. I slowly raised it to my mouth. "Yeah?" I asked. "Spike has come. He has Julia with him." Informed the member. I gasped. "We are planning an assault on both of them. Right now I am just assigned as a spy to inform them. Spike is getting weapons to escape." Explained the member. I heard in the background, "If you are going, i'm going too. Until the very end, I'll be with you." It was Julia's voice. I cursed. "Here we go." Said the member. I heard a mass load of gunshots, then the transmission was cut off. I layed my head down on my desk, almost started to cry. Then, my communicator beeped again. I answered. "Julia and Spike have taken down all our members so far. I have a perfect shot at Julia. I'm going for it." Told the member. "No!" I yelled into the communicator. I heard two gunshots at once, and then a bunch of racket. It sounded as if he had dropped his communicator. "Go, Spike!" I thought. I wondered why there was two gunshots. I heard a thump from the communicator. Sounds of rain hitting the ground was pretty much all I could hear. Then, louder than anything, I heard a yell. "Julia!" I heard. It was...Spike's voice. Julia...had been killed.
I had sobbed in my office for a while. I leaned back. I started to close my eyes. Then, I heard a small explosion and the building shook. I jumped up. I ran out. I looked around. Everyone was swarming into the elevators. I stopped one. "What happened?" I asked. "Intruder." He said, then ran off. I heard a lot of gunshots. I stepped onto an empty elevator. I heard another explosion, just as I entered. The building shook. On the way down, I heard the gunshots get louder and louder. There was another explosion. My heart was pounding fast. I was frightened. I didn't want two bad things to happen in one day. There was a short silence, but then more gunshots, as if they were on the floor I was about to get off on. I drew my gun as I reached the floor. The elevator doors opened and I aimed my gun, only to have another gun aimed in my face. It was Spike. "Shin." Said Spike. I jumped in front of him and shot someone trying to shoot him. I kept my gun still. "Where's Vicious?" asked Spike. "On the top floor. This way." I told Spike. I ran off down the hall, Spike following me. Spike set a detonator on the wall. People were shooting at us from behind. Spike triggered the explosion.
I ran to an elevator and pressed the up button. Spike came around the corner. "Shin!" he hollered. He dodged down to the floor, shooting at a member. The member shot me. He shot me again. He shot me once more. I fell back onto the floor. I could feel the blood pouring from my bullet holes. It was painful. I layed there, helplessly. I couldn't move. The gunshots had paralyzed me. "Shin!" I heard again, seeing Spike run over to me and squatting down. "Please...defeat...Vicious." I said to Spike. Spike nodded. "I...was waiting for you to come back...and take over the syndicate..." I smiled...saying my last words. My vision went away. I died.
You're Gonna Carry That Weight.
"The Real Folk Blues: Another Story"
"Shin, I have an assignment for you." Vicious said. "Yes?" I asked. Vicious stopped for a second. "We're getting close. Scan the area for any signs of Spike." Explained Vicious. I gulped. "Yes, sir." I acknowledged him. I took only my 9mm and some spare ammunition. I slipped on my syndicate coat, and chained it up in the front. I started to walk out. "Don't fail me now, Shin." Said Vicious. "Yes, sir." I acknowledged again. I exited.
"Okay, i'm assigning group one to scan in the west of the city. Group 2, the east. Group 3, the north. Group 4, take south. I'll take group 5 and we'll search in the middle." I explained to them. "Remember, be ready at all times. If you find a sign of Spike or any other danger, immediatley contact the other 4 groups." They all saluted me, and went on their duties. I walked along the sidewalk. "Sir, I guess we'll go search down here." Said one of the men. I nodded. I stuck my hands in my pockets. I thought about things, about Vicious's bad additude, about the syndicate. The main thing on my mind had been about Spike leaving the syndicate and becoming a bounty hunter. Spike was a good man, a good member of the syndicate. He should come back, take down Vicious, and claim the syndicate. I looked up ahead, as a door to a shop opened. A blonde woman wearing sunglasses, black trenchoat, stepped out. I stopped, and looked. "Julia!" I shouted at a low tone. Julia looked over and saw me. She gasped, and ran over to me. "Shin, what are you doing here?" she asked me. "Scanning the area. Direct orders from Vicious. You need to be careful, the syndicate is all over the city. They are after you, you know." I explained. She thought. "Any word from Spike?" asked Julia. I shook my head no. We stood there for a second. "Listen, you need to get out of here before something happens." I said. She stepped backwards. "Till we meet again." Said Julia as she stepped into her car. She drove off. Just then, my communicator beeped. I took it out, answered. "Spike! We found Spike!" they yelled. I stopped. I looked towards Julia, driving off. "JULIA! SPIKE IS HERE! SPIKE IS IN MARS!" I yelled. She couldn't hear. I sighed, then ran.
I got there and lots of the syndicate was already inside. "Go in, Shin!" said one of the members. I ran in, and drew my gun, aiming. There, hiding behind the bar, gun drawn, was Spike. He heard the door open, span around fastly and aimed his gun at me. "Shin!" he said. I ran in and ducked behind the bar with him. Bullets were shooting all around, towards the bar. I popped up for a second and shot a few of them, and ducked back down. "Listen, the syndicate is all over the place. You need to get out of here." I explained. Spike cursed. I sat there, as Spike got up to shoot a few. He ducked back down. "Julia was here." I said. He turned to me. "Julia?" asked Spike. "Yeah...right before I came, I saw her." I said. Spike looked down. I peeked up. No one seemed to be inside. "I think most have evacuated. I need to go, and so do you. Please, Spike." I said. I got up, and jumped over the bar. I ran through puddles of alchoholic beverages. I ran past Jet, his leg all shot up. I ran out.
I took off my trenchcoat and walked into the main lobby of the syndicate. I entered the elevator, and rode up to the floor my office was.
I sat in my office, looking at the things on my desk. A stack of reports to do, my computer. My phone, my gun. I shifted my eyes to a photo. It was of me, my brother Jin, and Spike. I often wondered, why Jin wanted to die for Vicious. Vicious is cruel. Jin, used to be friends with Spike, but tried to kill him. Maybe he was hiding the fact that he didn't want to kill spike. He shot him only with a tranquilizer. Spike would of killed Vicious back then, if it weren't for Jin. Jin looked up to Vicious, I guess. I also wondered why Vicious and Spike became enemies. They were partners in the syndicate, good friends. Vicious had his back, Spike had his. Then Spike started losing trust in the syndicate. He fell in love with Julia. Vicious, probably liked Julia, too. Vicious took up sword fighting. One night, Spike came to Julia's apartment. He gave her a note. The note read:
Meet me in the park,
Tonight.
We'll escape from the syndicate together.
Spike
We'll escape, he said. He'd be crazy to do so, but Spike isn't the ordinary person you think he is. Spike is sly and can get out of things. Julia sat in her apartment, reading the letter. At the same time, Spike was in a violent fight. He faked his death, a fake suicide. Spike escaped to the park. Spike waited in the park that night. He waited all night. Julia never came. She sat there in her apartment. The door was knocked upon, and she quickly took the note, tore it in pieces, and threw them out the window. She watched as they floated down, slowly, through the rain. Vicious busted down the door. Julia sat at the table, back turned to Vicious. "Vicious." Julia said. Vicious walked up behind her, and aimed his gun at her head. "Where's Spike?" asked Vicious. "I don't know." Said Julia. "You know...he died tonight." Said Vicious. Julia gasped, as if she didn't know, but she knew how Spike worked. "You know where he is. I can see through your lies." Said Vicious, placing his gun on her table. "Either you go kill Spike, or I kill Spike...and you." Said Vicious. Julia looked up to him. He had his evil grin on his face. "You have till midnight." Said Vicious, right hand in pocket, as he exited. Julia sat there.
There were poundings on the door. A member came in. "Shin." Said the member, shaking me. I had slept in my chair in my office last night. "Yeah?" I asked, bearly lifting one eyelid. "Julia has been spotted. We need to track her down. We already have a few members after her right now." Explained the member. I jumped out of my chair. I ran to the mirror and smoothed out my hair. I slipped on my syndicate trenchcoat. I took my gun from my desk, flipped down the picture of My brother, Spike, and me. I ran out. I rode down the elevator to the bottom. I ran out, and got into the car waiting for me. I started the car up and drove off.
I got there, and lots of members of syndicate were there. I looked around, and didn't see Vicious. There was a crashed, upside down car in flames. It looked like one of the syndicate's. There were bullet shells all over the street. I asked one of the members, "Where's Vicious?" "He's in trouble with the syndicate. He got chained up in some chamber the syndicate holds. We're planning to get him out of there." He explained. I thought. "How?" I asked. "By force, probably." Said the member.
I drove to the syndicate. I had alot on my mind. Spike could be dead, Julia could be dead. If not, they could die sometime soon. I got there, where lots of the syndicate were outside. I ran into the syndicate. I ran to the chamber. I entered. Vicious's beloved crow, dead on the floor, blood splattered across the floor from his stomach. The old headmasters, all dead. They were shot up, fresh blood still dripping from one of thier mouths. The head headmaster, throat slit, face flat on floor, blood surrounding him. Lots of the syndicate were standing around, talking. Blood was splattered everywhere, on the walls, on the floor. I heard footsteps from behind me. I turned quickly and Vicious was approaching me. I got kind of scared. "What about him?" asked Vicious. I tried to think of an excuse. "He got away. All our men were defeated, we ran out of weapons...and lost all means to..." I started. Vicious interrupted me, "Why did you come back? Where is Julia?" he asked. "I don't know." I said, looking down in shame. I was sweating. A member ran up behind him, and told him something that I could not hear. He ran off. I stood there looking. Vicious turned away, and started to walk off. I watched. "Shin." Said Vicious. I shrieked. "Don't follow in your brother, Jin's footsteps." He said to me. I stood there, thinking about how cruel he was. He walked off.
I heard news that Vicious had killed all the elders. He planned a mission for some members, excluding me for my past behavior. They were going to try to take down Annie, an old friend of Mao Yenrai and Spike. Then they were going to stay around to see if Spike had a reaction and came. One of the members promised to keep me informed by communicating me if something important happened. He had already informed me that they had shot Annie, but spared her. I waited for a while, nervous. This could be Spike's death. My communicator beeped. I slowly raised it to my mouth. "Yeah?" I asked. "Spike has come. He has Julia with him." Informed the member. I gasped. "We are planning an assault on both of them. Right now I am just assigned as a spy to inform them. Spike is getting weapons to escape." Explained the member. I heard in the background, "If you are going, i'm going too. Until the very end, I'll be with you." It was Julia's voice. I cursed. "Here we go." Said the member. I heard a mass load of gunshots, then the transmission was cut off. I layed my head down on my desk, almost started to cry. Then, my communicator beeped again. I answered. "Julia and Spike have taken down all our members so far. I have a perfect shot at Julia. I'm going for it." Told the member. "No!" I yelled into the communicator. I heard two gunshots at once, and then a bunch of racket. It sounded as if he had dropped his communicator. "Go, Spike!" I thought. I wondered why there was two gunshots. I heard a thump from the communicator. Sounds of rain hitting the ground was pretty much all I could hear. Then, louder than anything, I heard a yell. "Julia!" I heard. It was...Spike's voice. Julia...had been killed.
I had sobbed in my office for a while. I leaned back. I started to close my eyes. Then, I heard a small explosion and the building shook. I jumped up. I ran out. I looked around. Everyone was swarming into the elevators. I stopped one. "What happened?" I asked. "Intruder." He said, then ran off. I heard a lot of gunshots. I stepped onto an empty elevator. I heard another explosion, just as I entered. The building shook. On the way down, I heard the gunshots get louder and louder. There was another explosion. My heart was pounding fast. I was frightened. I didn't want two bad things to happen in one day. There was a short silence, but then more gunshots, as if they were on the floor I was about to get off on. I drew my gun as I reached the floor. The elevator doors opened and I aimed my gun, only to have another gun aimed in my face. It was Spike. "Shin." Said Spike. I jumped in front of him and shot someone trying to shoot him. I kept my gun still. "Where's Vicious?" asked Spike. "On the top floor. This way." I told Spike. I ran off down the hall, Spike following me. Spike set a detonator on the wall. People were shooting at us from behind. Spike triggered the explosion.
I ran to an elevator and pressed the up button. Spike came around the corner. "Shin!" he hollered. He dodged down to the floor, shooting at a member. The member shot me. He shot me again. He shot me once more. I fell back onto the floor. I could feel the blood pouring from my bullet holes. It was painful. I layed there, helplessly. I couldn't move. The gunshots had paralyzed me. "Shin!" I heard again, seeing Spike run over to me and squatting down. "Please...defeat...Vicious." I said to Spike. Spike nodded. "I...was waiting for you to come back...and take over the syndicate..." I smiled...saying my last words. My vision went away. I died.
You're Gonna Carry That Weight.