Hello everyone, a few things you need to know about this fanfic
1) Plot changes: There are several differences here from the original series. All of night raid, including Sheele and Bulat, are alive. However, every major antagonist (and a bunch of minor ones) are also alive. This episode takes place after Tatsumi escaped from Esdeath (the first time), however on capturing information critical to the success of the rebellion he was captured by the empire (this is not star wars!)
2) References: This series pulls on aspects from both the anime and the manga. This was quite important in this chapter yet may not be noticeable
3) License: I do not own Akame ga Kill or it's characters.
Where fresh blood dripped, stood 9 of the strongest assassins, all of them equipped with a deadly and legendary Imperial Arm.
Among the Motley crew of cold killers, there was no emotion. It did not matter that one of them was not a human but a teigu, or that another was a descendant of the tribal nations. It did not matter that the largest man clad in impenetrable armor was a homosexual, while the young boy next to him was unspeakably perverted. And it did not matter that one was a klutz, while the other was a neat freak. In battle, they were a perfectly coordinated group of killers. They were known as night raid, yet here they stood as rebels in the capital's square, in broad daylight, as heathens challenging a god born from the machine.
Behind the warriors were another group of backup teigu warriors, followed by a legion of revolutionary soldiers. Among them was a hooded figure clad in white, carrying an olive branch and a thin, featureless staff.
Facing Night raid were an equally deadly caste of combatants, however these teigu wielders had one key difference. They were soldiers, trained to fight on a level playing field with superior numbers and brute ferocity.
The leader of which, had spent decades preparing for a fight such as this. Down below her were the full squad of jaegers, the three beasts, the raksasha demons, Wild hunt, elite seven, and the imperial army. Above the gray mass of polished steel the sky darkened as hundreds of domesticated danger beasts carried warriors from the tribes to herald the defeat of the old empire.
And in the middle of all of this, a young man with brown hair hung chained to an iron cross, slanted to the sky so that the eye of heaven may look upon him. Between his arms, a thousand hells raged as his body spasmed in pain. Upon his lips, a sacred curse could be put into words to open the door to the ultimate weapon, the imperial guardian of the great city. Upon this young man hinged the power to sway the battle.
At once both sides charged, the soldiers staying clear of the middle to allow the teigu users to fight. Tatsumi felt a powerful blast of energy passing him by, identifying the buzzing energy of the beam as a salvo from Pumpkin.
The burst had temporarily exhausted Mine, but it had enabled Night raid to reach Tatsumi first. Tatsumi could sense the chains slashed away, feel the pain dissipate as he fell from the cross and landed in the arms of a beautiful black haired girl with a Katana.
At once he was on his feet with a sword in his hands. Tatsumi felt his vision coming into focus, and found himself face to face with Akame.
"Tatsumi!" She said, a mix of relief and joy. Then her expression hardened and Tatsumi found himself staring at a completely different person. "Do you have the code?"
Tatsumi nodded, and they charged into battle.
Night raid had all gathered, yet they were still hideously outnumbered. At the first clash with the enemy, Suusanno had knocked a blue haired boy into the air, sending him flying into the distance. Leone grappled with a Raksasha demon with large muscles and chest hair. Bulat swung his spear, determined to even out the fight.
It was clear however, that the enemies of night raid lacked teamwork. A man in a gas mask fired his flamethrower while another summoned a torrent of water forth, cancelling eachother out. With pinpoint accuracy, Sheele swung Extase in a circle latterally, bisecting both of them.
Next came Daidara of the three beasts, wielding an axe teigu. Akame swung to block, twisting to catch under the blade. Daidara swung down with force, while Akame completed her feint by twisting her blade and wrenching it from the lock of the axe blade. Daidara still had a smile as she slashed upward.
Bulat donned incursio and struck a lethal blow against Enshin. A large man in a clown suit threw several orbs, one of which Tatsumi struck with his sword. Suusanno raised the Mirror af Yata, reflecting the rest at the clown and temporarily putting him out of action.
By far the most deadly assassin was none other than Chelsea. So far, she had taken out Dr Stylish, Cosmina, Liver, and Suzuka without anyone noticing. Yet she had not seen her target Until the explosion had caused a fat clown to retreat, revealing a muscular dark skinned man. She crept up behind him, using the fallen cross as cover. Yet just as she pulled her needle out to stab him, he abruptly teleported away.
"Ohohoho! what do we have here?" screamed a crazed female voice. Chelsea turned to face an old woman in a young girl's dress. "Looks like a little rat got separated from the pack."
Chelsea transformed into the closest person nearby, a young girl with orange hair and green robes with a little dog and ran for her life.
The old woman was unbelievably fast and strong however. She lept into the sky and injected herself with blood, absorbing it's strength and landing on the orange haired girl, smashing her skull with bare fists.
The alchemist rose to her feet with blood smacked lips. She raised her eyes to the sky and felt insane pleasure.
This ended quickly as a large needle plunged into the back of her neck, and with her final breath the alchemist realized she had killed the genuine Coro wielder. Her last act before she died was to swallow her own blood, however it had long since lost any taste but of bitter regret...
Tatsumi and Akame charged through the battle with intent to reach the imperial palace. A large man with a sword, (he recognized him as Izou) blocked the path. Akame's attention was focused entirely on something else, and Tatsumi recognized a short haired girl who looked similar to his comrade.
"Akame!" He screamed. The girl drew her blade and charged at Tatsumi's rescuer.
He screamed a second time. Akame just stood there, hair flapping in the wind. Tatsumi could feel Izou lunge forward.
Tatsumi reached for her hand. She turned her head to face him, and finally understood.
The Jaeger and wild hunt member were taken aback as each of their respective targets changed places and charged. Akame slashed Izou across the ribcage while Tatsumi swung his hand down on Kurome's shoulder, knocking her unconsious. Feeling concerned for Akame's sister, Tatsumi stood there not knowing what to do. A blonde haired man however caught her in his wings before she hit the ground. For a split second their eyes met; they both knew Tatsumi could have killed Kurome, yet spared her.
The moment passed, and Tatsumi and Akame pressed on…
Lubbock Was perhaps the only one able to asess the entire battle while engaged in combat against Nyau. The member of the three beasts possesed enormous strength in this form, possibly as much as Leone or Bulat. Lubbock knew if he was to beat him he would have to have the string penetrate inside.
His opponent clearly knew what they were against and had prepared for this however. He wore Steel Goggles and a cap that covered his ears, mouth, and nose. Nyau Charged forward and scored an uppercut on Lubbock, barely breaking his stride as he intended to finish Lubbock off.
Fortunately, years of beatings from Leone had taught Lubbock how to protect himself. He flew backwards and strung a net off the half destroyed walls of the courtyard. Like a slingshot, he catapulted back towards Nyau, striking the muscular mass in the shins and like a lever, turned the three beast's strength against him. Nyau hit the ground with a loud thud, and Lubbock stabbed cross tail's threads with all his might into his foes back. Only two threads found their mark and penetrated the reinforced skin, but it was more than enough…
"Hey pervert, are you done there yet?" a harsh voice stabbed at his ears. And Mine raised her gun to the sky as she turned to him. "We have problems."
Lubbock flipped the hair out of his face and followed Mine's gaze. Standing upon the walls were two of the capital's strongest; Supreme commander Budou and General Esdeath.
Mine's perfect eyesight, amplified by her scope, could pick up things Lubbock could not however, or maybe it was just that noone was looking at the same crack in the wall as her. She was a genius sniper after all. with one blast she blasted a hole through the castle ramparts.
The good news: She had caught them off guard. The bad news: Now they had fallen off of the walls, they had a damn good reason to attack. Mine scoured the battlefield for her allies.
To her relief, noone from night raid appeared to have fallen. Leone had just struck a fatal blow to Ibara, while Suusanno and Najenda battled several elite seven members. Bulat and Sheele both carried multiple minor cuts over their body, yet appeared as stoic as ever. Lubbock was so engrossed in Najenda's fight that he didn't notice Chelsea resting her arm on him, blood dripping from her fingernails.
Revolutionary army troops marched forward, splitting up and spreading out to ensure minimum casualties while staying close enough to support each other. Supreme Commander Budou raised his hand as the sky began to darken, while Esdeath Merely hung back, as if waiting for something…
Akame and Tatsumi had reached the lower levels of the Imperial palace. pillars spanned from the roof to the floor, hundreds of meters tall and dozens across.
There were no guards here, and no boobie traps to stop them. While the occasional danger beast proweld they paid the two assassins no heed.
At the end of the massive hallway was a dark pit, with a massive automaton. Cold eyes reflected what little light lay in the air.
Akame snatched Tatsumi and dived into a corner just as two hideous creatures walked by. They muttered in a garbled tongue
" Divay snivash pa-tei gu-lart:" Tatsumi doubled over next to Akame. "Whats wrong!" She kneeled over them.
Within Tatsumi's head it was no longer any pain that bother him, the ministers poison had robbed him of that, there was something in the way they had talked that had just… unsettled him. He swore he heard the word teigu in their speech, though he could not be sure.
The moment passed. When the two were sure the beings were gone, Tatsumi and Akame rushed to the monolithic imperial arm.
Tatsumi knew what to do. He stretched his arm skyward as he adressed the dark towering entity.
"Let it be said that the empire is in it's most desperate hour. Let the bells of victory ring once more. On this day I summon thee, I bind thee, and I sanctify thee."
Lights began to dance around the automaton. A daias raised and Tatsumi stepped onto it. Vents opened up and flared, sending gale force winds through the halls.
"The day of reckoning is upon us! Arise, Shikoutazer!"
far above the dungeons of the imperial palace, the battle was a full on war. Mine knelt on the back of air manta while firing pumpkin at Budou while Lubbock used his string to discharge as much lighting as possible into the ground. Leone landed direct hits on Syura before he teleported behind her to put the Lioness into a chokehold. Suusano, Bulat, and the entire revolutionary army battled Esdeath.
The assault on the capital's strongest had taken into account all of Esdeath's powers. Each soldier carried full winter gear, a heavy lance, and riot shield. Sheele had managed to clip the ice lady's rapier- a strike that had nearly gotten her killed if not for Extase's near indestructability. All of the rebel's fire artillery had been exhausted.
The hot blood that ran within Bulat could not be tamed, a trait that had saved his life early on in the battle when Nyau -who now lay dead- had tried to put him to sleep with her flute. Now as he battled the toughest opponent in his life, Bulat could feel he was truly put to the test.
Next to him was Suusanoo, a new face within night raid, an organic teigu. Upon hearing of Tatsumi's capture within the capital, he had been rushed in along with some kinky redhead. Bulat took note of how while Esdeath's attacks had no pattern, Suusano always found a way to prepare for her strikes.
Long experience had taught Bulat that anyone - man or teigu - this good in combat must be seriously fucked in the head. The only exception to this was perhaps Najenda, and even then he wasn't sure. And Tatsumi of course, but he forced himself to concentrate on the fight.
Najenda had grabbed Esdeath's neck. The ice woman raised her heels and kicked her off. Sheele slashed her leg. Esdeath froze her hair and swung at the purple haired woman, knocking her across the chest. Suusano protected the two from a volley of icicles and swung his weapon… down it went, and…
Esdeath vannished. Suusanoo cried out in pain and fell to the ground. Bulat felt someone tackle him to the ground, it was grand chariot. Above he saw air manta get struck by lightning and go down.
Then abruptly the ground rumbled and split, and a towering figure rose out of the ground.
In the hallways of the imperial family tomb, Shikoutazer had only been visible from the head. Now as it drew to it's full height, it dwarfed even the imperial palace.
For a second the ultimate weapon just stood there, it's massive cloak hanging at the sides and hiding the arms. Then let out a massive roar.
A gigantic metal fist came down on Budou, sending him through concrete that had lasted for a thousand years. Castle soldiers fired arrows and activated trebuchets, which bounced harmlessly of the Teigu's side. The controller of Shikoutazer fired dual lasers, reducing all foes to ash.
Syura was clipped by debris, knocking Shamballa out of his hand. Leone seized her chance, and tackled him to the ground, finishing him with a bite to the back of the neck. Esdeath sheathed her sword.
"Tatsumi is in there." She whispered to herself. Using all of her power, she sent the sky crashing down in a great spear, stabbing clean through Shikoutazer.
The great figure went down but Esdeath had been drained of her strength.
Static crackled through the automaton as Tatsumi fought to retain control. The layout was an arrangement of levers and pulleys, each connected to an unknown device.
Tatsumi pulled what he though would straighten out the upper back. A rain of spears shot out from holes in Shikoutazer's body.
It was no use, he decided. This automaton, the supposed strongest Teigu, had been rendered inactive in one hit. Yet that wouldn't stop Tatsumi. With all his might he pushed on the leg operaters, propelling Shikoutazer forward to crush the remainder of elite seven with it's knees.
Tatsumi had mere seconds to figure out how to open the suit. When every lever failed he resorted to every pulley. When at last he found the correct rope and the face blasted away in a solid piece, Shikoutazer was careening towards the ground. Tatsumi leapt out and drew his sword. Esdeath pulled her clipped rapier, and surged forward.
They met in the middle. Swords locked and Tatsumi could feel himself getting overwhelmed. Esdeath withdrew and then attempted to stab tatsumi, who rolled out of the way and spun around, noting a dark figure leaping through the sky.
It was now or never. Tatsumi charged forward, raising his sword high and letting out a scream. Esdeath stuck him fast in the chest, but tatsumi grabbed the blade and pulled him in close, fully impaling him.
With one swing he cut off both of her hands. Esdeath gasped as she staggered backwards, feeling fear for the first time. Then she laughed.
"Tatsumi!" She yelled. "I should have known you would have been so deadly. We were truly meant for each other." She looked up at the black figure falling towards her. "I have no regrets."
Muramasa, the demonic katana, carried a deadly poison. Akame had always said that Esdeath's one weakness was that she was human, and would be killed by Muramasa's poison. That said, the blades poison didn't kill Esdeath. What did kill her was getting sliced in two. Her body fell towards the ground.
It never hit however. Akame screamed in rage as she continued to shred Esdeath's corpse into smaller pieces. Finally she fell to her knees and began to weep over Tatsumi.
"Akame . . . it's all right, I'm going to be okay."
"Tatsumi, you promised!" She bawled as she hugged him without touching the blade. "You said you wouldn't die!"
Tatsumi put his hands to his stomach, where he barely held in the blood he needed to survive. Akame had his blood on her too. As he rested his head on her shoulder, Tatsumi could see a white figure approaching as the sun set. Was it an angel? Or perhaps a hallucination caused by blood loss...
Yet Tatsumi had not had enough of life. There were still many things he wanted to experience, tasks left unfinished. "And I will keep that promise." He said, and passed out.
The white hooded figure set down his olive branch and removed his hood, revealing the young leader of the path of peace. He knelt and begun to heal the young man.
Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter in the series. I will post more asap.