Ascension

"Sound"
"Speech"

"Everything I'm about to do…I learned from you.", he said as he raised his twin 9mm pistols and pointed them at the giant of a man across the ruins of the church…Brandon Heat…Beyond the Grave. The cowboy didn't reply, instead he silently un-slung the heavy, sinister coffin from his back and sat it gently to the floor. He pulled out his huge, twin handguns, red and silver gleaming in the pale moonlight that shone through the windows and cracks of the roof. He pointed them at his would be assassin, the man in the brown coat and dark aviators. His face was emotionless, the face of a killer. His one apathetic eye staring at his apprentice from long ago...Bunji Kugashira. Bunji smiled, a small, almost unnoticeable smile from beneath the cigarette that jutted from his mouth.

"Here goes."

Suddenly the church was alive with gunfire. Bunji was the first to shoot, walking calmly forward towards Brandon, pulling the triggers of his guns as fast as he possibly could. Bullets tore through the dead man, most slamming into the wall behind him, but he barely moved. He slowly aimed his right handgun straight at his student's chest, and pulled the trigger. A monstrous boom overpowered the noise from Bunji's guns. The noise slowly faded though, giving way to silence.

The men were unmoving, Grave's still smoking gun pointed at Kugashira. Bunji's arms were to his side, his eyes looking down at the giant hole in his chest through his dark shades. He lifted one of his arms and prodded at the wound with the barrel of his gun, and retracted it, the barrel of the gun coated in a strange, bluish substance. He looked back up at Brandon and laughed...the hole in his chest closing up. The giant cowboy lowered his gun a bit, and a slight twinge of confusion crossed his dead face.

"Had some work done while you were gone...we all did. The other three, Bear, Bob, and Lee, you already saw what they did to themselves. Me? I didn't get this done till I heard you came back, bro. I only wanted to even the odds."

"…"

Grave lifted his other gun and aimed it at Bunji, and fired a hail of bullets at him as fast as he could...but he was gone. Grave looked around the ruins, stepping carefully away from the door, never lowering his guns, sweeping back and forth with them searching for his elusive foe.

"CLANK"

Grave spun around at the noise, but he wasn't fast enough. Bunji was right in front of him, ducked underneath his guns, and with out even giving Brandon time to react, rose up with a kick, the heel of his boot connecting with Graves chin. The force from the blow was superhuman, hitting him with the force of a freight train, sending him soaring straight up into the ceiling and plastering him to it. He slowly began to fall from its place, but Bunji didn't waste time. He pointed his gun's upward and unloaded. Shot after shot, bullet after bullet chewing through the falling man, the night was alive with the sound of gunfire. Bunji stood his ground, shooting directly above him.

"BOOM"

Another monstrous explosion rocked through out the church, as the bullet riddled grave landed face first back into the ground, creating a huge crater in the floor. His hat was gone, lost in the fall, His cowboy jacket was Swiss cheese, barely even held together anymore, dozen's of holes were in his body, blood oozing out from everyone of them, his giant handguns clutched in a death grip, he laid face down in the rubble, unmoving. Bunji, who stepped to the side right before the fall, was standing over him, one gun pointed at the dead man's skull.

"Harry wanted to send me after you with handful of his best men, a fuckin' small army. But I told him no. You know why? I had to prove it to you...had to show you how good I've gotten since you died. Had to show you that I surpassed the teacher...what better way to show you by killing you? Goodbye, brother."

Bunji cocked the hammer back on his gun, but before he could even squeeze off a shot, Grave lifted his arm and fired first...his arm the only thing that moved, the rest of him buried face down in the rubble. The bullet hit Bunji in the throat, blue goo splattering out. He recoiled backwards, rubbing at the already closing hole with the back of his hand. He could heal...but that didn't mean it still didn't hurt. The wound had closed, as Bunji wiped the excess blue liquid away from his neck with his coat sleeve. He turned back around to face Grave, but found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Grave pulled the trigger, a bullet ripping through his forehead, more blue blood squirting out from the front and the back as the bullet passed through. He pressed his other gun into Bunji's chest and fired, the force of it making Kugashira stumble backwards clumsily.

His disorienting stumble stopped when his back connected to what was once an old pillar. He leaned against it heavily, his back and hands planted firmly to it, afraid if he let go he would fall. He was staring down at his boot's, panting hard as the blue blood poured down his face, and had somehow managed to get into his shaggy black hair. The holes had started to heal, another few second's and he'd be as good as ne-

"CLICK"

Bunji's slowly looked up… A crack of gunfire… a sharp pain exploded in the assassin's stomach. He clutched it, warm liquid flowing through the spaces between his fingers.

"BLAM"

His shoulder recoiled into the stone pillar, the force bouncing him off it. Blue flowed down the ragged hole in his jacket.

"BLAM"

The left side of his stomach turned blue, much like the rest of his wounds. Why won't it heal? Why does it hurt so bad? These thoughts ran through Bunji's mind as he slowly began to slump down the pillar, leaving a streak of blue neon behind him.

"BLAM"

His guns fell from his hands, clattering to the floor. His breath ran ragged…a giant hole in his chest were his heart should be. His sunglasses hid all the pain and sorrow in his eyes. The pain from the bullets…the pain of dying…the pain of betraying your best friend…the pain of being killed by that very same person…the pain.

His body stopped it's downward fall, barely standing now. His knees were buckled, and almost touching his chest, his back pressed firmly to the wall, the only thing keeping him up. His head laying wearily on his chest. He waited…waited for another bullet, another explosion of pain…but it never came. He listened…big heavy footsteps walking away…the creak of metal…and then the foot steps walking back towards him. He took in a deep breath, inhaling the smoke from his still burning cigarette…and forced himself to look up once more.

Grave stood there, his twin guns holstered. His jacket was still coming apart, pieces of fabric falling with the slightest movement. He was holding the giant coffin in both arms down next to his hip, the top of it pointed at Bunji. A hole on the top opened up, and a long barrel emerged from it, a tiny aiming sight popped up to. Grave's finger touched the trigger, but he didn't squeeze it…he froze. That's when Bunji saw his face…it had changed, no longer emotionless…it looked pained…it hurt him, hurt him to see his friend like this, to have to do this. Even though the man tried to kill him, he still considered him a friend.

"Brandon…do it. I'm alrea…already dead. The w-wounds ain't closing…o-overloaded m-my regeneration powers, I…I gu-guess."

"…Bunji…"

"I…I'm sorry bro. For everything we did to you…fo…for what Harry did…I-I was so convinced that…that you fucked us over, th-that you betrayed us. That's what he told us… and we believed him…"

"…"

"When y-you cam…came back, I wan-wanted to kill you…I-I had to sh-show you…show you that I…was better…show you…show you th-that I didn't need you…"

Bunji's stopped…and took another drag on his dying cigarette and then looked right into Brandon's eye.

"An-and I man…managed to screw that up…I-I'm gla-glad though. Glad to see you one last time. Bro…do it."

Bunji closed his eyes, and looked up at the ceiling. The heavenly glow from the moon shone down through the cathedral window, and bathed him in the white light. He listened as the giant gun clicked as Grave shifted his footing.

"Bunji…goodbye…brother."

Bunji smiled, that was the first time he had ever called him that back. The only person he had ever considered a friend, the person he thought of as a brother, had finally shown that he felt the same way.

"C-cya, bro…"

The glow from Bunji's cigarette faded as the fire died and burned out. Grave pulled the trigger. A roar of machine gun fire erupted from the long barrel. The whole church lit up from the muzzle flash, bathing it an unholy, sinister light. Bunji's body danced and bounced off of the pillar as hundreds of bullets tore through him like he was paper. His entire Jacket was painted in blue…more pouring out from the freshly made holes that kept appearing. His body continued to rattle in rhythm with the rat-a-tat of the machine gun, bouncing around like a rag doll, pushing him deeper into the pillar. Grave gritted his teeth as he watched his student being torn apart. And as suddenly as it started it stopped…Grave released the trigger, the only light in the church once again coming from the moon, the cathedral was silent.

The barrel retracted into the metal coffin as Brandon slung it back over his shoulders. Bunji was still…hundreds of holes in his torso, his white work shirt, and brown jacket stained permanently blue. He slowly slid down the pillar the rest of the way, the force of the bullets keeping him pinned against it during the assault. He slid down into a sitting position, his pale face showing no emotions. Grave couldn't turn away from him, he felt a deep sadness for Bunji. The man was one of his best friends, and now…now he was just another dead thug that got in his way. Was this how it was going to be when he got to Harry? Will he hesitate? Will he feel sorry like he did for Bunji? No point in wasting time thinking about it. Grave turned and walked away, towards the heavy doors leading to the secret passage into Harry's tower.

He stopped right as he stepped inside the door, and took one last glance over at the body of his student. He watched as it slid down the side of the wall and toppled to its side, Bunji's dark, undamaged shades falling from his face and skidding across the floor. His eyes were wide open and full of emotion that his face lacked, but it wasn't fear, or agony…no. It was a look of appreciation. Brandon understood. Bunji Kugashira was a tortured soul…when Brandon was still alive that was the happiest he had been in a long time. He had finally found a place where he belonged. But when he died…Bunji was back where he started. Yeah…Brandon understood…he had finally given Bunji the peace he could never find in life. Grave slammed the door shut behind him.

THE END