CHAPTER 1
It was a quiet day in town as the tumbleweed was blown by the wind off into the sunset. The hands of the clock tick to announce a new hour and doors lock, shutters go down, and store signs change from open to closed. It's a common sight at 6:00 PM in Hollow. The lively western town is ruled by the cheerfulness spread by the townspeople talking, singing, and dancing. In a small town like this, everyone knows each other, and safety is ensured by the authority of the sheriff. However, things change after the clock strikes 6. The joyful, hospitable town turns into a hollow ghost town. And even the authority of the sheriff is reduced to dust, and the cowboys stay inside the bars in fear of what comes next.
A shadowy figure appears to be walking from the sunset. As he enters the town everyone watches from cracks in the shutter as he walks forward slowly. The feather on his hat waves it's white color in the wind, and his face covered by the shadow his hat makes. His coat is tattered, bits look torn, ripped, cut, and holes all over. But that doesn't matter at all to the townspeople, they look down by his waist, to see what he carries on his belt. The glare blinds some as they try to see. Is it a gun? Or a sword?
Because in this town, the night is ruled by two factions, the marksmen and the swordsmen. The marksmen are the gunslingers who have been the strongest in Hollow for years. Carrying rifles, knives, and magnums, their firepower is one never to mess with. They collect "taxes" every week in exchange for safety of the town. However, the swordsmen have been rumored to make their way through the west liberating towns from such groups with their quick skills and agility. Wielding their throwing daggers and katanas, this faction of cowboys and the sharpness of their blades rival the firepower of the marksmen.
This is common knowledge in Hollow, it is impossible to survive in Hollow without knowing about either faction. However people who doubt this knowledge have their doubts removed when they see the sword's hilt attached to the belt the swordsman wears. Bang. The first shot is fired and the swordsman disappears into the shadows. The fight has started. There's a loud clang and the gaze of people are on the roof where the swordsman reappears pinning down the marksman who fired he first shot. The shooter has blocked the attack with his knife, but he's not safe yet. The marksman pushed the sword away and attempts to take a stab at the swordsman. Another loud clang and the knife goes flying, and parents shield their children's eyes as the swordsman takes the final slash.
That is just the start though. A clash of their strongest warrior to see who is stronger with normal weapons, because at this time, fights are decided not by skill, but by strength of the fighters weapon. However one of the swordsmen think differently. Joel Fukushima, the one usually sent for the initial battle, standing out from the rest of the group with his white feather, is a 17 year old fighting genius.
Joel, unlike his comrades, doesn't own a beam katana or sonic daggers. Which is quite unusual for common weapons for the marksmen include pulse pistols, beam rifles, and plasma knives, which a steel katana cannot beat in a fight. Even if Joel has been told this multiple times, he wields the same set of throwing daggers and steel katana for every fight. His quick skills have been enough to deal serious damage to the marksmen in the past months. He also carries a pair of plasma pistols in his pockets just in case, which has gained him the nickname "Gunsword" for wielding the weapons of both factions. He reminds himself that he is of neither group and is just trying to help just as he sees 4 his comrades dash into action unsheathing their beam katanas. Marksmen start to appear from alleyways and fire their beam rifles pinning the attacking swordsmen and putting a stop to their advancing as they dodge into alleyways and block of fired rounds. Joel jumps down from the roof and dashes over to one of the attacking marksmen who pulls out his plasma daggers and throws it at him. Joel counters by throwing his own dagger which disappears because of it's speed only to be seen when it clashes with the marksman's beam dagger. Seeing as how the marksman has been been confused by the fact that a steel dagger has deflected his beam dagger, Joel rushes him and slashes at his chest.
Three marksmen turn around to see what has happened and the other swordsmen, no longer pinned down, dash and assist Joel, hitting one of the three right in the chest with a thrown dagger. The other two run back into the alleys to gain reinforcements. Joel and his 4 comrades follow them, Joel taking the rooftops and the other swordsmen following on ground. The 4 find themselves surrounded by 12 marksmen guns ready and pointed and the two that survived Joel's ambush laugh in the background, "You're dead now you cursed slashers!"
Suddenly, those 2 fall dead. 3 more fall dead and one of the marksmen starts firing at something and dies trying, his last words being, "The roof tops!" The 9 remaining marksmen turn to see Joel unsheathing his katana.
"Fire now at the steel demon!" shouts out one of the marksmen and the sound of beam weaponry fills the air as the fight rages on. Joel dodges a few shots, but the shots leave holes in his coat, and he disappears only to reappear behind one of his opponents and stabs him, having his sword pierce right in between his chest. He takes the sword out and the man falls over dead, and turns around to see one of his comrades fall over from a fatal shot to the heart. He turns around in time and blocks an incoming knife attack with his katana in one hand, and with a flick of his other wrist, he throws 3 daggers into his opponent.
"7 more to go" he whispers under his breath.
"Make that 4, Joel!" shouts out his friend, one of his comrades, Ace Lancer. "Take out the guys on my right, and watch out, one of them has the new automated rapid fire beam rifle! You gotta be fast to dodge its shots!"
Joel nods, "Don't worry I'll be careful, take care of yourself so I don't have to save you this time ok?"
Ace grins as he blocks some enemy fire with his sword, "That was one time! And I'll pay you back eventually alright?"
"Keep your focus on the fight you idiot!" scolds Joel as he jumps towards a building and jumps off the wall throwing knives to kill a marksman. "Whoa!" he exclaims as a huge beam barely misses him, "I thought you said automated rapid fire! This is a heavy particle cannon this guy is carrying Ace!"
"Heavy particle cannon, rapid fire, same thing Joel," Ace replies as he downs an enemy with throwing daggers, "By the way, our other 3 comrades are dead."
"That's fine. But I'm sure there's a difference between a cannon and a rifle Ace!" Joel explains as he slashes his opponent in half. "You done there?" he says while sheathing his sword.
"Yep!" Ace says while kicking his dead opponents body, "Let's head back."