This is the beginning of the story of Keijiro Mishima, a seventeen year old Yakuza "prince". Unknown to him, is that the entire world will shift from his criminal position, into that of a being that wanders the dark realm in search of the truth. But at this moment, he stands in a crouched position pressing upwards to deliver a bone shattering blow into the ribs of an unfortunate participant of a Mishima deal gone awry. For the stunned dealer who was attempting to turn down an offer for a load of weaponry, he knew that it would be his final days.
Perfectly organized and calm, the Megiddo police force barged in through the doors of the warehouse. They had all targets sighted on the two individuals, and they also knew that they were dealing with Mishima business which meant they'd be in a heavy gun fight soon. Clad in bullet-proof armor designed by the Testament Corp., they spread out blocking the front section of the building. Keith, an American, was the unfortunate participant of a ruined deal and a victim to one of Keijiro's attacks. He felt his breath leaving his lungs and the splintering of multiple ribs as the fist connected with his lungs.
"Don't fuck with Mishima..." Keijiro growled into his ear as he fell to the floor in pain. It was one thing to turn down Mishima business, that would've ended the situation with a few shattered bones for Keith. But he had made the mistake of having the police arrive, which would end in the silencing of all potential leaks. Which meant, he was going to die...
Keijiro was a physically exceptional person, most learned this fact by being dealt shattering blows with little chance to survive. His stance in the Yakuza forced him to be ruthless, merciless, and perfect in their eyes as he held a high position at such a young age. So when it would be written in the reports that the Mishima representative dashed forward, leapt off of an empty metal object, and athletically vaulted over the rail with only momentum as his support, avoiding all thirty-plus shots fired by a force of seven officers , there would be no argument.
But it was in that short time it took for him to reach the second catwalk and crash through the window of a small office room within the warehouse, that he was able to draw a Beretta 92FS which is standard U.S. military equipment. He ducked downwards for a quick moment to avoid all shots that were continued to be fired. It was a Mishima rule to silence all leaks, which meant the injured Keith on the ground had to go. The black metallic handgun was loaded and waiting for the last bullet to fly through the wood table and lodge itself in the cement walls.
"Stop firing, save the..." A senior officer shouted out as he knew how the Mishima worked. But his entire statement was cut short by a well placed bullet into the American separating his spinal chord and skull. Keith's life ended in surprise as the police barged in on the deal and attempted to capture one of the two criminals but failing to do both. A small pool of blood began to spread from the front of his throat for the bullet went through him and stuck inside of the floor. "Get him!" The Senior switched commands quickly as a leader should in times of need.
This is Keijiro Mishima, the Yakuza prince. A raven haired, ruby eyed, tanned skin, high school student that spends most of his afternoon with the gang. He plays something of a Super-Hero role in reverse, keeping his identity secret before he goes out into the night and commits crimes. Covered by a large leather trench coat which held a second gun and a short saber, his face is hidden by a large hood. The black clothing accompanied by red gloves and lined with golden string was a signature of his own, something few noticed.
With an unseen sinister smile upon his face as he jumped backwards, he crashed through the window and left the sight of the police force. The sudden chill of the cold wind flushed over him as he descended downwards looking into the night sky. It was something of a interpersonal moment for him as the world slowed in his eyes and the noises of lowed into a weak background tone. His mind wandered like every other human being and he began to see the more philosophical take on his world.
'I wonder what it would be like if this was my last moment, like, if there wasn't a truck under me with a leather cushion in the back for me to land on. What if I had actually leaped to death, would this be all I saw before I die. A full moon.' He started to rant in his own mind as he looked directly into the massive rock in the sky. An awkward feeling of comfort and displeasure fused together came over him. 'Nah, fuck that philosophy crap.' he said to his self ending the unusual conversation with no one.
At this point, the Megiddo police force scrambled to capture the Mishima and secure the corpse in a hurry. Two officers lifted Keith's corpse and carried him towards an emergency ambulance which recently arrived after the gunfire, he was dead, they just had to follow procedure with the autopsy and all. The five other officers quickly left and piled into four other vehicles. It was Japanese police code to resort to firearms as a last resort, but in this case. Firearms were considered more or less self-defense as Mishima were known to carry around weapons ranging from handguns to military grade assault rifles in large-scale events which usually involved a rival foreign faction moving in on their territory.
"Don't fire carelessly, there are civvies on the road." The senior shouted from experience of having accidentally injuring a civilian while chasing Mishima. As he slammed close the door of his car, the passenger door slowly opened and the smell of cigarettes suddenly filled the air. The senior knew who had recently arrived instantly and had no questions, he was the best chance of at least stopping the Mishima. "Where were you Matsuda?"
"Let's go..." The second officer said before taking a breath of smoke and releasing it into the air outside the window. His nonchalant tone and bored voice made it seemed like he didn't care whether the Mishima were apprehended or not, he's just doing his job. But this second officer named Matsuda, a scraggly unshaven man with a dreaded look of boredom in his eyes, his story is for another time. All that is needed to be known about him is that like Keijiro, they will both soon become 'Corrupted'. "I'm getting tired of chasing the same guy every week."
The car shot off from its position going from zero to a sudden eighty in a few seconds. It didn't take long for the pursuit to begin down a bridge as soon as they found the three speeding down the empty bridge. Keijiro raised his wristwatch and checked the time, they could be on the run for hours if things didn't go well. He leaned back and stretched out relaxing in the leather comfort which he had put in directly before the meeting with the American. This was usually the worst part of the job, the boring chases which some saw as 'exciting highway chases' which never made much of a difference to him. Personally, every chance he had to take shots at the pursuers, the better.
He closed his eyes ignoring all the mayhem around him and tried to doze off. But a burning sensation in his mind kept him awake, it was like something that refused to die, it didn't want to sleep. The sounds around him died away and left him trapped behind his own eyes. It was a dream, or at least, he thinks it is. He hoped it is.
These kind of things were normal, the chases across the roads at high speeds. If things got to heated, Keijiro usually whipped out a random rapid-fire weapon that was handed back to him and put holes in everything. But at this moment, everything was going according to a very easy schedule, which was in all sense of the word, boring. So Keijiro drifted away into a light sleep, and something appeared before him. For some reason, he felt this thing before him was like looking into a mirror. It gave off his own presence and held his own attitude.
This thing that stood in front of him resembled a humanoid-raptor with extended arms. It's red eyes resembled his own with an ominous glow that pierced into his ruby pupils. It was a giant in height, and its metallic claws reflected the non-existent light in the darkness. The monster had a tall and thin body with neon red lines, but everything besides that was enshrouded in darkness. He could see the outline of its raptor and human hybrid of a skull, like its claws, metallic teeth glistened with an unnatural shine.
"Show them...Pain." It growled. The sheer volume of its voice shook Keijiro's insides as he felt his self speak the words. It was confusing, hearing your own words through the voice of a being before you. He couldn't move, something inside him didn't want to move either. Its claws scratched against each other and its gaping jaw snapped shut exposing a sinister grin. "They will fear your...Wrath."
His body was moving on its own as it did in most tight situations which rarely occurred. His senses were cut off from his mind but he could feel the pressure of something hitting his forearm and the impact of something against his knuckles. He could clearly see everything that was going, but his mind hasn't come back from the suspended state it was in as he slept. He couldn't comprehend what was happening at the moment even though he was responding accordingly.
To bring you up to speed, the events which lead up to this very moment went along in this exact order. The driver of the truck in which Keijiro rode in had noticed that the police were closing the gap between them. But he also saw one specific car that was gaining on them exceedingly. He also noticed Matsuda, crouched over on the hood ready to pounce into the back of the truck. Without having enough time to reach under his chair and grab the prototype Testament gun that they packed with them to exchange at the deal. The passenger Mishima mobster awoke Keijiro moments before Matsuda leapt from the hood of the police car into the back of the Mishima truck. Keijiro jumped up from his sleeping position and they instantly engaged in a spectacle of martial arts within the back of a moving vehicle. As unusual and disturbing these chain of events sound, it has happened multiple times between these two individuals even though they have never spent the time to look each other in the eye or even recognize the others facial features.
It took a second for everything to come into focus and for Keijiro to be able to realize exactly what was going on. He shifted his body to the left avoiding a punch by Matsuda and used the momentum of moving back into his original place to drive a left hook into Matsuda's ribs. But the police officer pulled his own arm back and blocked the blow using his elbow before extending it out to place the back of his hand directly in Keijiro temple. The Mishima ducked down lower avoiding the punch and used his right hand to land a fist into Matsuda's chest, but once again the officer blocked and countered, also to be avoided and have an attack back at him.
As the two fought onboard of a truck, the senior officer kept close behind the truck in case anything happened in the Mishima's favor. he continuously repeated the phrase 'what the fuck, what the fuck' to his self as he watched Matsuda and Keijiro fight. So the two vehicles eventually passed over the bridge and was now speeding through the Rich district. By coincidence, they drove past two individuals walking together on the sidewalk going in the same direction. Two other 'Corrupted' that have yet to realize their destinies and carried on with their lives.
The two on the sidewalk were foreigners to Japan but in Megiddo, another part of societies normal population. The male of the two was the seventeen year old, high school student from Italy named Andrea Salvatore Alighieri the VII, a blonde haired boy with an expensive outfit made from leather, the heir to a very successful business. The female was the daughter of a European scientist and an American mother named Rosalina Munroe, a red-head that wore an equally red dress. At this moment, they were walking together because of Andrea's urge to explore Megiddo which he recently arrived in, and Rosalina deciding that she may be able to get something out of being friends with this new person.
"If that type of behavior is common here, I'd rather not stay too long." Andrea said in Japanese because of it being the only common language both him and Rosalina understood together. His disapproving tone was heavily accented along with his disgust of the behavior of the two people on the truck that he believed were acting out a scene from a Hong-Kong martial arts movie. Rosalina saw the strange way the two were behaving and moving along with the serious faces of the two drivers and the passenger of the truck. Yet she still agreed with Andrea.
"This never happened before, but I haven't been among the other districts often. I used to think this section had decency until now." She said mimicking Andrea's tone to perfection and causing him to believe that she completely agreed. She looked over at him and saw his twisted expression that simply glowed with a sickened disapproval. Andrea seemed like the type of person that leads his friends to gold just so they look at him with praise, and Rosalina didn't see a problem. She crossed her arms over her rather large chest and played along perfectly. "But once again, it might just be the people from the lower-class districts."
"True, the less fortunate tend to be uncultured." Andrea said with a cold tone of honesty that hurt Rosalina even though she wasn't included. Andrea had an air of superiority that surrounded him, his presence was like standing next to a soon-to-be crowned king. Rosalina herself had something close to the same presence, even though she specifically seemed to pull upon others emotions. The pair walked down the sidewalk on a one-way trail to meet fate, but there was still more to come.
In the distance behind them was a strange individual, known to most by multiple names. Some call him things such as thief, bastard, petty criminal, and such. While others refer to him as a nice young man, swell lad, and a gentleman. Although out of all those names and the ones not mentioned, he prefers to be referred to as the Selfish/Urban Robin Hood, or Knives. His real name has been unmentioned to all except his closest relatives, and even they mostly call him Knives. But his name isn't what's important, it is the Selfish/Urban Robin Hood part that is.
For you see, it wasn't strange to see a very fortunate person walking down the night streets alone. They are usually returning home from a random swingers party around the block or doing a late-night jog. Knives always wondered why they continued to venture out in the dark even when there have been recent reports of a thief/Robin Hood doing business in the dark, but he never complained. He never considered himself a criminal, it was simply taking from the greedy and giving to the needy, specifically, his self.
He was dressed in a black coat, blue jeans, and a hoodie with a skull on the front. Simple and basic clothing, nothing expensive even though most of it was bought with money from the people that can afford such expensive attire. But the details isn't what he was planning on working out, it was staying a good distance behind the two he was trailing. He recently finished... exploring the home of another fortunate-to-be-rich-yet-unfortunate-to-be-robbed group of people. It was ironic, actually.
The house Knives had robbed was owned by a Mr. and Ms. Oboro, who recently put their daughter, Hikari, on punishment. The stubborn and spoiled Hikari decided that she should be allowed to stay up late anyways and snuck out of her room to watch TV... That was until she noticed Knives stealing things from her house and escaping through the window. She decides to take up two rather large butcher knives, clad in a black hooded sweater with black sweat pants and follow Robin Hood home so she can steal back her belongings and more and possibly do away with said Robin Hood. But the ironic factor of this all isn't that a thief is being followed by a victim, it's that the thief and victim are both, also two other "Corrupted". Another pair that will be dragged into a chain of events.
While all these things happen, the one person who doesn't witness any of the original instances, is enduring their own. This is the sad piece of the story that involves Kaname Iwatari, a girl whose life has been ruined since the beginning. She runs through the streets at this moment with her eyes leaking tears and not going in any specific direction to any one location. How long she's been running and exactly how far is unknown, but she has made her way from her home in the Poor District to the Rich District, a few miles away. Amazing, isn't it. Today should've been a joyous day, actually, seeing as how it's her father and late-mothers anniversary.
Sadly, she returned home to find a drunken father with another woman engaging fairly promiscuous acts. She always knew her father was now seeing multiple other women, trying to find another to replace her mother. But his recent habits of binge drinking, smoking, drug-abuse, depression, gambling, and over-bearing rules for his daughter has caused him to meet the worst type of women. This wasn't the first time this happened, but on this specific night. She couldn't handle the stress as normal and left silently without anyone knowing she ever returned home, still in her school outfit.
As strange, sad, and awkward of a story of that was. The one thing running through her mind wasn't blaming her father for forgetting, or it wasn't questioning why her mother had to die. But the only words that went through her head was two simple words that most children learn before the age of seven, "Why me". She completely missed all of the other events that the six other "Corrupted" were going through and ignored all the other things around her. She ran in a blind... confusion if you wish to say it as such. Barely avoiding traffic and almost being hit by cars in multiple incidents.
But as all the "Corrupted" carry on with their business. One small detail that none of them have realized is that they all recently had a dream similar to the one that Keijiro had. Each one saw a different being before, and the being spoke to them. It's destined that the "Corrupted" learn the meaning behind these dreams and they all put it to use. But first, they all find themselves meeting within an abandoned mansion owned by a deranged immortal. They will all discover the secret of the Crimson Estate, at exactly 12:00.
It's currently 11:47, thirteen minutes until they see Paradise.