Akame Ga Kill: Empire of Madness

by PoyntFury

Drake has lived his entire life on the outskirts of the Empire, and makes his first visit to the Capital to gather provisions for Winter. Little does he know, the time he spends there will bring a plethora of challenges to his very existence. Rated M for Violence, Language, and Implied Sexual Situations

Akame Ga Kill: Empire of Madness Chapter 1

I walked the crowded streets of the Capital, the heavy coin purse I carried jingling loudly at my side. The shops and inns abuzz with people who truly had nothing but gossip and irrelevancy to discuss. It bored me to no end, but I endured the droll, as i needed to purchase provisions for my endless wandering. My nose directed me to a small building on the corner of the street, and I let myself in the open door.

"'Scuse me! This here's a butcher shop, right?" I called. "Yessir, it is... how can I help you?" A voice rang from behind the counter. A head poked itself above the display where various cuts of meat lay. "Well... I'm looking for a good store of meat to last me the winter." I explained. "Ahh... so you're not from the Capital... I see. Well, in that case... you'll need a hardier meat... I think I can get you something that'll be perfect for the coming months." He said.

"I feel there's a "but" coming along." I said. "Uhh yeah, we need a few days to get the stores up, I like to gather the meat right after I get the request. It should only be three or four days... I... hope that's alright." He said. I nodded. "I have money to spend, so a few days in a nice inn won't be too trying." I laughed. I wrote down directions to my home, which was many miles from the Capital, and arranged to have he and his coworkers deliver the meat to a location near it.

With that business concluded, I made my way back into the busy streets, my cloak stirring with each step, pulled by both my motion and the crisp autumn wind. It'll be too cold to hunt soon, I'm glad I decided to buy rations when I did. I flicked my eyes from face to face as I wandered around aimlessly. These are weak people... they live in the comfort of the Capital, having never seen the Danger Beasts... they don't know what it's like to live a life where every day is sacred... ah well, it's not on me to teach them.

I yawned, my leisurely pace not suiting the energy my body currently had, it wanted to move about and do anything other than walk. Too bad... I need to keep myself scarce for right now, don't wanna get tossed out by the guards. As I continued to walk, a familiar smell wafted into my path. It's... beer... man I haven't had a good drink in almost a year...

I weaved through the heavy crowds, eventually finding the tavern where the smell was located. It was a small building, but I could already see that it was filled to the brim with people. I pushed my way inside, then took a seat at the nearest stool. It took a few moments for the bartender to notice me with all the commotion, but she was friendly and polite once she finally did. "What'll ya have?" She asked. I perused the options from the shelves behind her, then shrugged. "Something strong would be nice." I grinned.

She selected a large red bottle from the middle shelf, then tipped the contents into a glass that had seemingly materialized in front of me. I raised the glass to my nose, then downed it. "It's... spiced?" I asked. "Oh yeah! That's Spiced Sweet Wine from Konr. It's a shame really, there's only a few bottles of that stuff left." She said. "That's what I thought... I'm from Konr." I laughed. "What? No way! Do you have a mark?" She asked.

I shifted my cloak, pulling the collar on my shirt down, revealing the small blue bird tattooed on my left shoulder. "Oh my god! You really are from Konr... wouldn't that make you the only survivor?" She asked. "That's right... I was five when the village got razed... I don't remember how I survived... but I've lived for... almost twenty-one years overall... so I'm not too fussed that something like that happened." I admitted.

"What!? Your family was slaughtered and you don't even care? That's cold!" She said, feigning disgust at my comment. "Well... my father died a few months before I was born, and my mother died giving birth to me... the whole village raised me... but that caused them to see me as more of a chore than a child. So... leaving them behind wasn't as difficult as it maybe should have been." I said.

"Ah... I suppose that you may feel grateful to them... but maybe you aren't able to see them as family." She considered. "Yeah, that's basically the gist of it. How much for the whole bottle?" I asked. "Oh uh... well shit... I kinda feel bad chargin ya for it... ya know... it's from your home." She said. I put up my hand in protest. "No no, it's a product you own, and I'm trying to buy it... so sell it to me." I demanded playfully.

"Alright, alright... since you've been such a nice guy... I've got no problem letting it go for twenty gold." She said. "Deal, thanks for being a decent listener." I said. She giggled. "I'm Nasha... be sure to drop by if you ever need a drink again!" She said. "Yeah, you'll be my first stop. Later!" I said. I turned to stand up, then felt a hand push me back down.

"Hey, hey! You just sold this fuck the last bottle of my favorite wine! What the fuck are you gonna do about it, Nasha?!" A gruff, angry voice asked. The voice's owner pulled into view, an enormous, shirtless man covered in scars. His eyes were wild, and he reached forward, wrapping his hands around Nasha's wrist. "Darnett... I thought I told you that you weren't welcome here anymore." She groaned.

"Well... I'm here... and I think you should be thinking of ways to repay me for your thoughtlessness. How about with your body?" He said. I stood up, the force of his off hand on my shoulder increasing, but not enough to keep me down. I gripped his shoulder myself, then slid my fingers into his nerve. He buckled, releasing my new friend's wrist, then dropped to his knee. "Ow ow ow ow ow... hey... what the fuck!" He groaned.

People are weak... they always have been... they wouldn't need Teigu if that wasn't the case. Hey... old man... is it really okay for me to unleash my desires on people... even the innocent ones? I remember you sayin' something like that to me once... but is my desire for violence a good thing or bad? You never made that clear... I wish you would have.

I dug my fingers a bit tighter, and his whine morphed into an angry growl. "I don't know who the fuck you are... but I'm a Captain in the Imperial Army... if you don't let me go right this instant, I'll have your sorry ass executed!" He yelled. "Calm down pal, let's have a drink, eh?" I chuckled. I suppose going a bit wild right here could be fun.

"Nasha... I'm not gonna kill him... well, maybe... can you grab me a liquor that burns going down?" I asked. She nodded wordlessly, then pulled a small blue bottle from the top shelf. I grabbed it, releasing Darnett. He gasped, then struggled to move anything more than his head. "Why... can't I move?" He gasped. "Oh... that? It's my Teigu... I used it to disrupt the natural signals your body sends out to your limbs." I explained.

"I've never heard of any Teigu that does that..." He groaned. "Support-type Teigu: Pretigs Arsts - The Putrid Doctor. It's hereditary... so I'm not really surprised that you know so little about it." I said. "It's actually supposed to be a healing Teigu that keeps me from facing an untimely demise." I grinned. "Then... why can I move?" He growled. "Trump Card – Islaicigs Maina, the Body Stopper. It allows me to deaden your nerves until I decide otherwise." I said.

"What do you want from me?" He asked. "Want? Well I wanted you to be stronger... to put up a good fight... but since your body seems to be unable to fight back, I guess I'll have to look elsewhere for some fun." I shrugged. I uncorked the bottle, then grabbed his chin. Putrid Doctor... hmm... his throat is weak... he must be a smoker.

I forced his mouth open, then slammed the neck of the bottle into it. I felt the lip of the bottle pierce into his throat, and the contents slowly began to empty into him. He tried fruitlessly to scream, the alcohol mixing into his body causing a plethora of pain and numbness. What next... ah, I know. With the bottle firmly entrenched in his throat, I released his face. He clutched at his mouth, but was unable to remove it.

I slammed my hand into the bottle, shattering it into tiny pieces. I watched the shards slide around in his mouth as he panicked. A few swift punches to the sides of his face pierced his cheeks with small slivers. His garbled screams caused most of the crowded onlookers to scatter, either leaving the bar, or simply returning to their seats for fear of being the next victim of my ire.

I looked at him for a moment, then decided that I was bored with him. "Alright... run on home now... and by all means... tell your military friends about what I've done, I'd love to have them try to make me pay." I grinned. I turned to Nasha and gave her a slight bow, to which she replied with a wave. As I turned to leave, something caught my eye, and I spun back to get a look. It was a sheet of paper, nailed to the back wall where it was slightly out of view.

Attention All Travelers of the Capital!

Are you itching to prove yourself to the world in man to man combat?

THREE days prior to the start of the winter season at two hours past noon

The Imperial Army and the Emperor himself will be hosting a Fighting Tournament

At the Capital Coliseum

PRIZE: 50,000 SOLID GOLD COINS

There are but TWO requirements for entry:

Youthful Vigor

A pedigree that is not of the Capital, nor near it.

If this describes you, and you have a burning desire for challenge

Make your way to the Coliseum posthaste!

Well that... sounds fun! I can beat the shit out of people under the guise of a Tournament! Isn't... today the third day before winter? I spun around once more, then once again. "Nasha! Which way is the Coliseum?" I asked, trying my hardest to contain my excitement. "It's... about thirteen or so streets that way." She said. "Are... you going to enter the tournament?" She asked. When I nodded in response, she stood up from the bar. "I wanna watch! I'll close up the tavern... meet ya outside!" She giggled.

Despite my urging that she do otherwise, she shooed the remaining customers from the tavern, then locked the door behind her. The light of noon made her much easier to see as opposed to the dimly lit bar. She had a cute face topped by chestnut brown hair that stopped just short of her waist. Bright, emerald green eyes and a well proportioned body. Her blue dress shook as she hopped from foot to foot excitedly. "Are you ready to go?" She asked.

I nodded, and we made our way towards the coliseum, which I realized quickly was a dominant structure that towered above the buildings in the district. "Has the Imperial Army held events like this before?" I asked. "I can't say I recall them doing so, no... it makes me wonder if they're doing worse against the Revolutionary Army than they let on." She said.

"Revolutionary Army? So there's a rebellion ongoing?" I asked. She looked stunned as she began responding. "You mean you haven't heard? There's been a huge war between factions of the citizenry of our nation. The Imperial Army has always been confident that they could easily crush the Revolution, but that was quite some time ago, and the Revolution has only picked up momentum since then." She explained.

"That's interesting, and no... I've lived a pretty secluded life alone many, many miles from the Capital, and the only news I ever receive is on the Danger Beasts that people ask me to hunt down." I said. "By the way... won't what I did to that guy in your bar be bad for business?" I asked. "Oh no! If anything you've helped me out more than you know! That bastard had a habit of... well... abusing women sexually, and it made some of my former patrons too afraid to even come near the place. It got so bad that I had to ban him from the premises." She said, before taking a breath and smiling.

"Now that you've done that to him, most of the customers I've lost will come back, albeit slowly. I mean, it's not likely that he'll show his face amongst people who saw him get disgraced like that." She laughed. Well that's a relief, I got caught up in my own enjoyment and took it a bit too far. "Do do you think the Imperial Army is using this tournament to try and recruit soldiers?" I asked.

"It's probably something like that. Even the snobbish Generals of the Imperial Army know that they can't run on manpower strictly from the Capital forever." She said. "I suppose that's more than true. Hey, so... who do you support in this little civil war that's going on?" I asked. "Well, to be honest with you, it doesn't really matter to me. The customers I have are a mix of people who really don't care and some of the Imperial soldiers... if the Empire loses, they'll just be replaced by Revolutionary Army forces that occupy the Capital." She proclaimed.

"I suppose that's also true. Hey... we're here." I said. She nodded, then pointed to a large archway entrance. "We go in there, but when we get in, you need to take the stairs leading down... they... should be immediately to the left." She said. "Alright. I hope I made it in time..." I said as we made our way inside. "I'm sure you did, they probably wait to close entries up until right before it starts." She said. "Good luck!" She sang as she I walked down the stairs.

The bottom of the Coliseum was barren, save for a number of baskets, which I assumed were for the contestants belongings, and a desk, behind which a woman was sitting. It seemed that I was indeed late, or more specifically the last to arrive, as all of the other contestants were stood off to the side, talking amongst themselves.

I stepped up to the table, and the woman gave me a smile. "Here for the tournament, young man?" She asked. "That's right." I said. "Alright, I'll need your age and place of birth then." She said. "I'm twenty years old, and... I'm from Konr." I told her. She looked at me skeptically, then pointed to my chest. "Then you should have-" "The emblem." I said, pulling of my cloak and showing her my shoulder.

"I see, well, you're welcome to compete. Thank for your participation. By the way, we must ask that you leave any weapons with us here, as this is a strictly hand to hand combat tournament." She explained. "Well, I'm not carrying. So I don't believe there are any problems." I said. "Please wait over there then, we'll give you your number shortly." She said. "Oh, wait! We name each of our contestants based on his or her professions, so what should we call you?" She asked. "Oh... I suppose you could just call me 'Drake the Wanderer.'" I said, before making my way to the small crowd of people.

I waited quietly with the others for a bit, before having my attention taken by a weapon that a contestant was carrying, he pulled it from his shoulder and placed it softly against the wall near him. "That's... a Teigu, isn't it?" I asked him quietly. He spun around, as if expecting me to attack him then and there. Upon seeing that I meant no harm, he calmed himself. "You can tell just by looking at it?" He asked.

I gave the sword another once over, then nodded. "It's... Demon Armor: Incursio, right?" I asked. "Yeah... it was a friend of mine's, but he gave it to me... how do you know about it?" He asked. "Well... the man who raised me knew all about them for some reason." I said. I knew the real reason the old man's fascination, but it's not like this guy would have believed me anyway.

"I see... well yeah, it's Incursio... but try not to be too loud about it, they aren't really legal outside of the Imperial Army." He said. "Oh? Then I guess I have to be careful, as well." I smiled. He looked at me, obviously trying to locate my Teigu. "You have one too?" He asked. "That's right... but... it's part of my body... so I'd be in for a hell of a lot worse than you if I get found out." I said. "That's rough... I've heard that Teigu that fuse with their users are painful... how was it for you?" He asked.

My mind tried to remember if there was any pain when I first discovered my ability. "Not that I can think of... of course I was born with mine, so... it may just be that the pain hit me at a moment I can't remember." I said. "I see... so...what are you fighting in this tournament for?" He asked. "To be honest... I just want to fight some strong opponents... you?" I countered. "I'm fighting for money, I want to help my people... our village is poor, you see." He explained.

"Well... best of luck to you... if you're anywhere as strong as my Teigu makes you out to be... you'll make it to the finals with no problem." I grinned. He looked a little taken aback, then recovered, offering a handshake. "Thanks, you too. I'm Tatsumi, by the way." He smiled. "Nice to meet you... I'm Drake." I said, shaking his hand. Looking at him, he had a nearly identical physical build as I did. A few moments later, the woman handed me a small card. 32. I guess I was the last entrant. Oh well, that means I have to wait to fight.

They called out two numbers and Tatsumi perked up. "Well, that's me! See you!" He said. I waved him off then gripped my card tightly. Every single one of these fights that the two of us have will be easy... I hope I get to fight him in the finals. If he's strong enough to confidently carry the Demon Armor, a fight with him will be fun.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

A few hours passed, both I and Tatsumi already fighting four battles. My own were so easy that I hardly felt pressured to even pay attention, and Tatsumi, from looking at him after his bouts were over, seemed to exert little effort in dealing with opponents two or even three times his own size. At the time when our numbers were called together, we were the last contestants still fighting.

He turned to me, a grin plastered to his face. "You've had fun right? I don't intend to lose this fight!" He proclaimed. I shook my head calmly. "I'm not takin' it easy on you just because your goal is noble... I'll fight until my bones are dust!" I jeered back. We exited to the arena together, making small talk about the opposition we had faced prior to one another, then shook hands. The crowd roared before being swiftly silenced by the booming voice of the announcer.

"Here they are, everyone! Your finalists! To the east! A man who's brought down opponent after opponent with a dazzling display of strength and skill, at seventeen years of age: Tatsumi, the Blacksmith!" He cheered, the crowds once again riling themselves up for the fight. "To the West! The last minute entry who's made every fighter he's come across, at twenty years of age: Drake, the Wanderer!"

Another bout of cheers from the crowd, but they were cut short. Let's get rid of unnecessary distractions. I don't need to hear... so I'll turn off that part of my brain... I don't need to smell, so that goes as well, along with taste. It may be safer to cut off my sense of touch as well... but I'll keep it on... if I get beaten by him, I'll at least give him the honor of me having to feel it.

Tatsumi readied himself, and instantly sprung forward into a strike. Child's play... he's testing me... but he doesn't know just how fast I am.I lowered myself, attempting to sweep his legs out from under him with a kick. I succeeded, and followed by throwing myself forward, slamming the brunt of my shoulder into his chest. The impact sent him tumbling soundlessly across the arena.

He righted himself in no time at all, launching another assault, jumping into the air and attempting to slam his heel down on my head. I cushioned the blow with my wrists, making an X in the air and intercepting his strike. The power behind his strike was magnificent, and I could feel my heart begin to race. This... this is the fun I was looking for. I pushed upwards, throwing him off of me, and he landed gracefully a few feet from me.

We continued to trade glancing blows for a long while, until one thing was very apparent to both of us: We both had a highly similar style of combat, preferring to down our enemy in one hit, then switching to hit and run tactics of fighting if that fails. It was rather refreshing to finally have an opponent capable of more than simple bluster and brute force. Tatsumi had quite a bit of grace, and it was obvious to me that Tatsumi had seen more than his fair share of fights, if not by his incredible strength, than by the way he fought in general.

With neither of us unwilling to give the other any ground, we both began circling one another, trying to find openings in our respective defenses. I took advantage of a momentary lack of concentration and dashed forward, slamming a palm into the side of his sternum. The damage from that singular attack was almost immediately apparent, he stumbled slightly, then did a similar dash to mine, landing a solid kick to my right shoulder.

I jumped backwards away from him, doing my best not to lose sight of his location. I took a deep breath, centering my mind on my Teigu. We've been fighting nonstop for nearly 45 minutes... and neither of us are at our best. But I can do something he can't... I can force all of my stamina out at once... as a last resort I've trained myself to give it my all in do or die situations. I may not be in danger of death here... but it sure would be fun to down him with this.

I took one final breath, then gave my Teigu the command. "CHARGE!" I demanded. I felt my body well up with my remaining strength, and I made a mad dash towards Tatsumi. The move caught him completely off guard, and I knew at that moment that I had won the fight. I landed three blows on his torso, two in his stomach, and a third in the same spot on his sternum that I had previously wounded.

The force of the blows knocked him off of his feet, but unwilling to stop, I jumped forward, grabbing him by his wrist. It's over. I spun around and flipped him onto his back with a thud that vibrated my body. I saw the landing knock every bit of breath out of him, and I dropped onto my backside, before grinning into the crowd like a mad fool. I could see Nasha waving happily in the stands but I was too tired to wave back. A few minutes later, I regained a bit of energy, and stood on my feet, reactivating my senses.

"IT'S OVER!" The roar of the crowd filled my ears the moment my hearing returned, and I threw my hands over my ears. The announcer made his way quickly over to the arena, where he made a show of shaking my and Tatsumi's hands. I stood up onto my feet, followed by Tatsumi. The announcer turned to me as the crowd quieted down. "Congratulations! Drake, you are hereby declared the winner of this tournament! How does it feel?" He asked.

I looked over to Tatsumi, who smiled weakly, his body obviously not completely ready to stand up just yet. "It was a hell of a lot of fun!" I roared happily. The announcer looked to Tatsumi, who nodded then finally stood to his feet, then back to me. "Well, the 50,000 gold prize is yours, what would you like to do with it?" He asked. I pointed to Tatsumi. "I don't need it, give it to him." I said.

The shock of the crowd was seemingly louder than their cheers. The announcer did a rather elaborate double take. "Are you certain?" He asked. "Well... yeah... I don't have any use for it, I enjoy living the way I do." I said. Tatsumi laughed and walked over to me, where we shook hands once more. "Well... if you're sure, I'll definitely take it with no complaints." He smiled. I felt a presence behind me, then the feeling of leather around my neck. I finally collapsed, exhausted after my fight.

I think it's a collar... am I being taken hostage or something?