Enemy of the King
Author: Spirit of Entropy
(Author's note: This is a short chapter made to introduce the four main characters. Each successive chapter will be much longer (hopefully not too long)
Actually here is the word count so far for each chapter written:
Prologue: 889 posted 7/15/2010
Ch 1: 2762 posted 7/17/2010
Ch 2: 2854 will post on 7/19/2010
Ch 3: 6101! will post on 7/21/2010
Just a reminder, I highly suggest reading this story in "1/2" format. So please select the "1/2" option out of the "full 3/4 1/2" selection. Other than that, please enjoy the latest installment.
Oh and I've also included some Omakes.)
First Arc: The Will of Four
Date Posted: 7/17/2010
Font key:
Text
"Speaking"
Thought
Attacks/extreme emotion/scene break
Last Time:
And without wasting another moment, the murderer stepped through the white void that abruptly closed behind him.
Ichigo was alone. He lay in the mud next to the lifeless body that was once his warm and caring mother. The rain continued to pour. Ichigo continued to cry. The world continued to go on as time left behind another caught by death's cold embrace.
Those words continue to echo in the little boy's mind.
God wills it.
Chapter 1: Enter, The Protectors
Six years later.
The school bell rings. Ichigo's mind snaps back to focus. The setting quickly takes view as we see a typical Japanese medium sized classroom. Seated in the middle, we see a much older and mature young man. He is now 15 years old and a high school student. The memory of that rainy night long ago taunts his subconscious.
"Ichigo" she calls to him.
He turns to see a beautiful young woman with long bright hair and cheerful eyes. "Ah, Orihime."
"Ready to head home?" she asks him.
"Mm." His mind exhausted from the inner turmoil, he follows his childhood friend in tow. The conversations between students he passes by become nothing more than background noise. It's peaceful and gives the young man a sense of normalcy.
Orihime knew what he was thinking about. She doesn't need to voice her concern. She knows better than anyone else the emotions running through his being. For she lost someone close to her as well.
Scene changes to a view of the outside. They trek through the schoolyard and ahead Ichigo sees two more of his closest friends.
Ishida Uryu. The bespectacled, raven-haired teen who stands at number one in their class. And Yasutora Sado. The tall and muscular young man with wavy hair that hangs over his eyes.
"Chad, Uryuu." Ichigo greets with a nod.
"For the last time Kurosaki. Call me Ishida." Uryuu says as he pushes up his glasses.
"We've known each other for five years U-ry-u" he enunciates in an exaggerated tone.
"He just likes to hear you call him that." Sado deadpanned, attempting to hide his smirk.
"What are you insinuating?" Ishida points at him dramatically.
"Nothing. I mean, why would I insinuate anything about the male President of the Sewing Club?" Sado continues with a false serious expression, poking fun at the rather feminine hobby Uryu has had for a while. Sado's deadpan humor is something he's carried with him since meeting Ichigo several years ago.
"I liked you better when you were quiet!" Uryu shouted as he punched the much taller young man in the chest. Only to shake his hand in irritation and pain. Sado's eyes sparkled in mischief behind his long wavy bangs.
Ichigo started to laugh. A sound so full of happiness and yet so innocent that most people take it for granted. Soon his friends joined him in his mirth.
The negative emotions he had were forgotten for now. As long as he had friends like these, the bonds they share would carry them through anything.
Scene Break-Setting Change to Karakura Business District
Scene opens with a view of the busy streets of Karakura business district. With tall buildings casting shadows and large crowds of people making their way home after a long work day. Traffic floods the streets. A rather normal afternoon.
View switches over to the inside of a public bus where a man stands in the middle of the overcrowded vehicle, just wishing to get home to meet his wife. The bus stops at a red light at the center of the busiest part of Karakura. The man looks to the left out the window where he sees a homeless man dressed in rags sitting up against a concrete wall. The homeless man held a cardboard sign in his hands that read 'The End is Near.' The businessman just brushed it off as a normal sight and looked ahead as the bus began to move again.
Suddenly tremors shook the ground. The bus driver immediately halted as the bus began to shake side to side. The businessman fell to the floor just as the others who were standing did too. Then just as soon as it started, the tremors stopped. The man's heart racing, he looks around outside the bus to see pedestrians shocked but nobody appearing to be injured.
"That was unusually short." Someone in the back of the bus comments.
"At least it wasn't a big one." Another passenger adds.
"Raaaaaaawwwwrr!" a loud monstrous roar shouted from somewhere. The passengers look around trying to figure out where the source came from.
"Raaawwrr!" the shout came again.
The man looked out the window to see pedestrians fleeing away from something. Moving to the front of the bus he commands the driver. "Hey are you alright? We should get moving." The bus driver is unresponsive, his face frozen in shock. "What's wrong?" the businessman inquires. The bus driver remains silent and just points ahead.
What the pedestrians saw, the bus driver saw, and finally what the businessman saw made everyone's jaws drop. "You've got to be kidding me!"
In the middle of the intersection, a large black void had suddenly appeared. It was as tall as a skyscraper. Out of the portal, a hugs scaled claw reached out. The citizens of Karakura looked on in horror as the rest of the beast emerged.
"Raaaaaaawwwwrrr!" it shouted as it came into view.
Out of the portal, appeared a giant mutant dinosaur, the size of a tall building with rough charcoal scales, a powerful tail, and jagged bone-colored dorsal fins.
"I know this is Japan, but SERIOUSLY? MOTHERF**KING GODZILLA?" - Businessman
You see what they didn't know was that this creature was actually a Large Hollow, a fusion of several corrupted dead spirits that when put together can take the form of anything. This one just happened to resemble Godzilla…Yea.
Switch back to focus. The crowd screams in panic as everyone attempts to flee from the abomination. The passengers quickly exited the bus and joined in the chaotic retreat. The businessman pauses to look up at the Godzilla-like monster.
It reared its head back as energy coursed through its dorsal fins extending up its spine. With a mighty roar the Large Hollow released a powerful blast of energy at the nearest building, blowing a large hole through it. Glass and other debris fell from above as people dispersed.
"What the hell was that?" the businessman shouted.
"That was his Atomic Breath Ray." The homeless man from before, explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. The businessman looked down at the rag-clothed man, seriously not expecting an answer.
"Hey look up there!" A woman yelled, pointing to the top of one of the buildings. People looked up to see a bright haired young man standing precariously near the edge. He was dressed in unusual black clothing and looked to be carrying something big on his back wrapped in a white cloth.
"It's a kid!"
"What's he doing up there?"
"He's gonna fall." And other comments were heard.
View changes to top of the building where we see the person in question is actually Kurosaki Ichigo.
"You're a big guy aren't you?" Ichigo says tauntingly.
The teen reaches up to grab the handle to the weapon on his back. With confidence and practice, Ichigo removes the blade. The onlookers watch as the white cloth unwraps itself to reveal the sword, which was an oversized elegant cleaver.
"Raaaaawrrrrr" the Godzilla Hollow roared as it brought a claw down upon Ichigo. The citizens watched in horror as the young man takes the full force of the crash that tears through several floors of the building.
The dust settles to shockingly reveal an unharmed, uninjured, and smirking Ichigo with his sword held above his head-the only thing resisting the gargantuan sized claw that should have demolished him.
"Good. I was hoping to blow off some steam today!" Ichigo chuckled as he threw off the beast's arm with one swipe.
Confused and angry, the Hollow thrashed its tail around in fury. With each swing that contacted with the ground, shockwaves echoed in all directions and craters were formed. The mutant lizard charged up another Atomic Ray and this time fired it into the crowded civilian streets. Screams were heard as many thought their lives were finished.
However, at the last second a young woman jumped between the blast and the people.
"Santen Kesshun, I reject!" she declares.
A large glowing golden triangle shield suddenly appears and blocks the Atomic Ray. The attack shakes the ground and the temperature in the air rises several degrees. The huge shield covered a large area from one side of the street to the other and stood several stories high. The defensive spell held its ground as the attack died down.
"Oy! Your fights with me!" Ichigo shouted as he jumped from the building and swung his sword.
Impact was made against the tough hide. The strike was powerful, so strong that it knocked the monster back into another building. More debris fell from above, but this time the young woman, who we know as Orihime just extended her shield to block it from injuring anyone.
"Damn this skin is tough!" Ichigo complained.
A shining blue arrow wizzed by his ear from behind him and implanted itself into one of the Hollow's eyes. The beast cried out in pain as blood seeped from the wound. The onlookers now see another young man enter the fray.
"Damn it Uryu! You could have hit me!" Ichigo shouted at the newcomer.
Uryu was dressed in a white uniform with a rough cape that extended down his back. There was a large blue cross and pentacle decorating his clothing and the people also saw he had a longbow in hand.
"Sorry my finger slipped. It was an accident" He told Ichigo with a smirk as he pushed up his glasses.
"Like hell it was!" - Ichigo
"Hey boys! Get back to work!" Orihime shouted from street level. The crowd sweat drops as they watch the unusual scene.
"Raaaaawwrr!" the Hollow screamed as it blindly swiped the air. Ichigo and Uryu jump back out of the way as the monster flails about.
"This guy's hide is stronger than steel." Ichigo told Uryu who without another word fired a second arrow into the monster's other eye.
"RROOOOOOAAAAARWWRRRRR!" Godzilla screamed in pain, anger, and frustration.
"Good job stupid. Now he's even angrier!" Ichigo shouted as the two watch the collateral damage becoming more extensive due to the now blind Hollow.
Then out of nowhere, another young man—
"Shouldn't these kids be at home or at the movies, or just hanging out? Not fighting monsters." – Random person. Piece of debris hits him from nowhere knocking him out.
-another young man jumps into the fight bringing two glowing fists down upon the top jaw of the lizard monster. With a forceful blunt attack, the monster crashed to the ground.
"Chad, that's not going to work. We tried attacking him but it seems the only part that's vulnerable is his eyes. Which someone took care of already!" - Ichigo
Sado ignored him and proceeded to throw punch after punch at the downed monster. The crowd looked on, almost feeling sorry for the Hollow. The tall muscular high school student now had a transformed right arm. It was black with a large magenta stripe running down the middle. Two wing like protrusions and an extension at shoulder level. Overall, the arm looked like a piece of demonic armor.
The Hollow's head crashed into the asphalt street, as well as some parked cars. Feeling humiliated and irritated, it fires another Atomic Ray straight up into the air.
This Hollow is annoying. But there has to be some kind of weakness. Ichigo thought to himself.
"…I've got an idea!" Ichigo announced. "Chad! Make him do that again!"
Sado shrugged his shoulders but continued to pummel the crap out of the Hollow who, just as predicted, fired another blast into the air.
Ichigo saw this as his chance.
"Getsuga Tensho!" he shouted as he slices the air. At the instant of the slash a large crescent shaped wave of spiritual energy fires from the tip. The wave collides with the slash. Ichigo's attack becomes dominant and continues its course straight into the gaping mouth of the Godzilla Hollow. Blood explodes out of its mouth as the sword slash tears up its insides.
Weakened, defeated, and mortally wounded, the Hollow begins to dissipate into the air. The corrupted spirits cleansed and sent to the afterlife.
Ichigo, Uryu, and Sado landed next to Orihime who retracted her shield spell. The people of Karakura stared, jaws dropped.
"Just who are you kids?"
Orihime smiled and with brimming confidence, struck a pose and announced
"We are the Protectors."
End Chapter 1
(Author's note: Character personalities are slightly different, which can be explained in later chapters. Also some abilities and other missing characters (such as Kon and Urahara) will be dealt with later. Hope you enjoyed some of the humor in this. I just made this chapter a little short to ease into the story.
The next few chapters will be flashback chapters detailing the AU background of the four Protectors. The coming up chapters may have little bits of humor, but I'm gonna focus more on character development. Omakes will still have humor. See ya in the next installment.)
Omake 1
"We are the Protectors." - Orihime
"…laaaaaaaaaame superhero team name" - Random person from before. Large piece of debris falls and crushes him.
Omake 2
(Godzilla uses Atomic Ray)
"What the hell was that?" - Businessman
"That was his Atomic Breath Ray." - Homeless man
"Hey look up there!" - Woman
(Ichigo appears)
"What is that boy doing?" - Businessman
"His name is Kurosaki Ichigo and he is a shinigami. He dedicates his life to fighting and purifying Hollows which, by the way, are corrupted dead spirits." - Homeless man
(Later Orihime appears)
"She is Inoue Orihime. A human with extraordinary spiritual powers. She has a shield spell, a healing spell, and an attacking spell." - Homeless man
"Can she heal my concussion?" - Random person from before that keeps getting hit by debris. Another concrete slab falls on top of him rendering him silent.
(Later Ishida Uryu enters fight)
"That is Ishida Uryu, a quincy, which are a near extinct race of spiritual bow users who also go around purifying Hollows." - Homeless man
(Later Yasutora Sado enters fight)
"And he is Yasutora Sado. Another human with spiritual powers. He attacks with brute force. He is usually silent but sometimes throws in a deadpan joke or two." - Homeless man
"How can you possibly know that?" - Same random person. Same person is ignored and crushed again.
"And together the four of them are the Protectors." - Homeless man
"Do you know everything or something?" - Businessman
"Yes." - Homeless man
"If a tree falls in the forest, but nobody is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" - Businessman
"Yes it does." - Homeless man
"Why don't they make airplanes out of the stuff they use to make those indestructible black boxes?" - Businessman
"Because the airplane would be too heavy to fly." - Homeless man
"What is the answer to life, the universe, and everything?" - Businessman
"42. That one was easy." - Homeless man
"Why do I keep getting crushed by debris?" - Random person.
"Because you're annoying" the homeless man answers as he picks up a rock and throws it at the Random person's face, knocking him out.
Spirit of Entropy's Encyclopedia:
The Protectors – consisting of four members. Kurosaki Ichigo, Shinigami. Inoue Orihime, Healer. Ishida Uryuu, Quincy. Yasutora Sado, Juggernaut. Together they dedicate their lives to defending the citizens of Karakura, both living and dead.
Next Time:
Chapter 2: Ichigo's Story