CHAPTER 2: INCINERATE THE CORRUPTION
The figure was sitting at the edge of a cliff reminiscing on the time he spent with his friends, Karla and Cornyx, (And the times he blew up the training area when he was trying to cast fireball or affinity) "*sigh* I'm gonna miss those training sessions with you two" 'but not the amount of times I blew up' soon after saying that the woman who the figure now knows is Leone attempts to sneak up on him. Only to be met with a dagger to her throat "please don't sneak up on me I have bad experiences with people doing that" he flashes back to when some dark spirits invaded him and as he was about to enter rooms with powerful opponents or light a bonfire he was usually met with a blade through his chest or a two tonne great sword in the back of his skull or spine. She lets out a nervous laugh "Yeah any way have you thought about joining us yet" "no. not yet" the figure needed time to think to weigh the pros and cons of joining them "well I'm gonna introduce you to the guys anyway!" she proceeds to drag him along with little resistance on his end. Up above Akame was watching the two proceed forward.
The figure finds himself in a room with Leone and a woman wearing an eastern style of clothing "oh he hasn't decided to join in spite of all that's happened?" Leone places her hand behind the back of her head "he's a little hesitant. So I was hoping you could give him a few words of encouragement, ok?" the woman places a finger to her chin "well since we showed you our hideout…" she then looks over at the figure with a sinister look. "if we can't convince you to join the team your dead." The figure looks at her 'Good luck with that' "that was more of a threat than a word of encouragement." "Just give it plenty of thought ok?" the figure looks at her and notices the title of the book she was reading 'how to mend your air headed ways… not much of an assassin if she can't concentrate' the figure then hears a loud voice behind them "What the hell!" he looks back to see a girl who seemed to be younger than the others "Leone, why did you bring this loser back to the hideout!" as she was pointing at the figure 'well she seems like a bitch' "he's one of us now" the girl walked forward "and did no one think to ask for my opinion!" she stares at the figure for a few seconds "I won't allow it. It's obvious you're not cut from the same professional cloth as the rest of the group... I mean just look at you" The figure was tired of her berating "your logic escapes me" "oh don't let it get to you. That's just Mine's way of saying hello" 'that doesn't excuse her way of acting'.
They then travel to what seems to be training grounds with the dummies and weapons lying around "this is our practice field where we go to let off some steam, oh and look who's already out here trying to work up a sweat." She gestures to a person in the middle of the field "that's Bulat" the figure takes note of his technique with a polearm and takes special note of the shockwave he created 'I could learn a thing or two from him' Bulat looks back at the figure "oh, aren't you the fella we picked up the other day" "how'd you know about that? Wait you were the figure in the armour weren't you." Bulat takes note of what he said "how do you figure that?" the Figure shrugs "I have an eye for sizing up weapons and armour, so it's easy to tell what belongs to whom." "Well the names Bulat" he extends his hand for the figure to shake it "hi." "And yes he's gay" the figure takes his hand away as soon as he can 'of course everyone's got something wrong with them'
Leone and the figure find themselves in the forest later on. He then hears someone talking to themselves "I'D GIVE ANYTHING FOR A PEAK AT THAT SMOKING HOT BODY!" "In that case, how about you give up two fingers" in less than a second he ends up on the ground "you never learn do you!" he starts screaming "next time I'll break your arm!" she then turns to the figure "this is Lubbock, as you can see he's a bit of an idiot" 'obviously'.
Afterwards Leone takes the figure to a stream during the tour "ok who to see next" "Please tell me there's not to many" she looks at him "hehehe, don't worry the next ones a cutie so try not to stare, she's stuffing her face by the fire over there". The figure notices a giant fire underneath a bird just as big with someone the figure knows well in front of it. It was Akame still with the non-caring face he saw the day before. When the figure remembered, he felt guilty for attacking her, she was trying to help but he didn't realize that. And as such he felt he should do what he can to apologize to her. But he didn't want to bring it up right now. "I see she's a skilled hunter" "yep Akame's our resident wild child." Akame looks back at the two and says "Leone have some." As she throws a piece of the bird to Leone "thanks!" Akame then looks at the figure and the figure feels uncomfortable wondering if she hates him for what he did "have you decided to join yet?" this annoys him as that seems to be on everyone's mind "I'm still on the fence" "then I'm sorry but I won't be sharing my dinner with you." 'That's fine with me. After all food is just a luxury for me'
Leone begins to walk towards the fire "is it just me or is everyone a little jacked up today" "that's because the boss is back today" 'the boss… wonder what they're like' Leone walks around the fire to see someone new presumably the boss "hey boss." The woman raises her hand in greeting "Hey" "did you bring me anything good?" the boss leans back "now why would I do that?" "Huh?" her hand which looks like it's covered in armour starts twitching "about one of your most recent assignments, I was told you completed it three days overdue." Leone starts running away as soon as she heard that, presumably scared of what would happen if the boss caught her, and in less time than the figure expected, she caught. Leone because, to his surprise, her arm shot out grabbing Leone's hair stopping her in her tracks as it started to drag her back "when facing a powerful opponent it's unwise to get caught up in the fun, shouldn't you know better than that by now." "Ok I learned my lesson, please let go of meee."
She lets go and her arm retracted back into its socket. "Anyway tell me about the boy!" Leone stands up "oh right, he's gonna be joining us" she says as she places an arm around the figure "I haven't agreed to joining all of you yet" "does he seem promising?" she says completely disregarding the figure as Leone looks at her "Absolutely" a long pause ensues allowing the figure to take a quick look at Akame to notice that she was listening intently "see all we want is for you to try, 'kay" "that's not what you said earlier" the Boss gets up and put's on a coat that was hanging off of her chair "Akame, go get everyone together, I want to hear about everything, including that boy" '*sigh* I can't catch a break can I.'
A few minutes later everyone was in a hall or meeting place of some kind and was giving the boss their reports from yesterday's events. "Thank you all, I think I understand the situation here, now then you there what is your name?" she says as she gestures to the figure 'my name?' the figure try's to remember his name but the only thing he remembers is what the keeper kept calling him "my name, is Ash" the boss seeming satisfied with the answer asks "well then Ash how would you like to be the newest member of night raid?" as she holds out her hand "You'll kill me if I refuse from what I understand" "we wouldn't kill you. But we wouldn't let you leave either, you'd have to remain here and work in our factory, either way we won't take your life but I do encourage you to join, your choice" there's a pause before Ash replies "I was only in the capital because I'm searching for answers, but it appears I was searching in the wrong place." Akame pipes up "what answers were you searching for?" the figure looks at her before answering "I already found it."
All of them look at Ash confused with his answer with Akame being the only one not showing any emotion but Ash could tell she was just as confused as the others and the first to speak up was the boss "why did you think you would find your answers in the capital?" Ash replies "this was the nearest city that's why. But it's clear that working for them is a bad idea" "so you intended to help them?" Ash replies "I intended to help the good, not the corrupt or evil… I'd rather die than help them" "than I guess Night Raids the perfect fit for you if that's the case" Ash looks at her "sorry but eliminating a few bad eggs here and there doesn't help" "you are correct but it's still the perfect fit for you!" Ash looks at her inquisitively "explain" "there's an anti-empire group called the revolutionary army that has a hideout to the south of the capital" 'a full army or just a small group?' "They started out small, but they've grown into a rather formidable organization they needed a separate unit to specialize in covert operations, such as recon and assassinating targets thus we became Night Raid" she pauses "we're only putting out one fire at a time right now but when the revolutionary army decides to make its move, amidst the chaos we'll head straight for the cause of this mess, the minister!" "So you're going to kill him?"
She looks at Ash "only then will our nation truly see change" 'you mean your nation' "so you think by killing the minister the people will truly be free and happy." She replies "I'm certain" "heh I like that idea it's as if you're fighting on the side of justice" then out of nowhere everyone starts laughing "huh? Why are you all laughing" Leone is the only one to talk "oh Ash no matter what you think, we're still murderers" Sheele pipes in "and there's no justice in the way we do things" Bulat joins as well "at any given moment every one of us could be forced to atone for the blood we've spilled" Mine chips in too "maaan he has no idea, it'll be a thousand years before he can handle it" Mine starts walking off "wait… I'll" Ash still needing a purpose decides to join "Every team member fights for a different reason, but each bears a strong resolve. Are you prepared to risk your life?" Ash can't help but snicker at the question "heh, once I find my purpose it'll be harder to find something I wouldn't risk my life for!" 'Besides there's something I have to do first' Mine looks at Ash "you know there's no glory in this work right?" "Don't worry about it I don't seek glory" the boss starts speaking "works for me. Prepare yourself for a life unlike any other. Welcome to Night Raid, you're dismissed for the night!" she then looks at Akame "Akame you're in charge of training him, if he becomes a nuisance feel free to kill him" "mhm, no problem" 'well that took a one eighty' Leone places her hand on his shoulder "you better do a good job if you wanna live" she says while smirking Ash looks at Akame 'at least I'll be able to learn something from her.'
Ash is making food as he remembers what his friends told him before he died and started to forget "you really should learn how to cook it could help save your life, and besides no one else knows how to" that's about all he could remember of his compatriots (that they were selfish assholes) 'thanks for getting me to learn how to cook you selfish pricks' "I SAID I WANT SECONDS!" "Oh yeah, me too!" Mine and Bulat "I'll take some" "oh yes if you don't mind" as well as Sheele and Lubbock 'they're asking for too much.' A half hour later in the kitchen "I thought I was going to learn how to fight not how to cook" "don't look at me I just put food on the plate m'kay" he realizes why "they didn't let you cook cause you ate the food didn't they" "I don't know what you mean" he sighs "you're a terrible liar" just then Mine and the others walk in to the kitchen "aw your right at home in the kitchen aren't you rookie!" "I'm not sure if I should be angry or annoyed at that remark and also where are all of you going? I can only assume it's a mission" Bulat replies "this one's a special request" "in that case should I come?" Mine as energetic as she is says "YOU stay here in the kitchen, now be a good cook and chop a few cucumbers for meee" 'I reeaally want to slit her throat right now.'
The next day Ash and Akame were walking through a forest, carrying baskets, they were walking for a while. And when they reached the end of the forest, Ash sees a waterfall with a lake underneath, something he hadn't seen for a long time since he began his journey in the cemetery of ash "wow… this is impressive" behind him Akame was removing her tie "today we'll start by catching some fish" and as Ash looks back Akame takes off her shirt forcing Ash to look away when she did so and after she dropped her skirt she asks "what seems to be the problem?" He looks back to see her wearing a swimsuit "nothing just a force of habit" 'oh thank the gods she's wearing a swimsuit' Akame starts heading towards the lake "our target is Koga tuna, see how many you can get" 'I've never heard of any fish that has a name like that, wonder what it tastes like?'
Akame the leaps off of the ledge before doing a front flip and transitioning into a dive. Ash waits a couple of seconds before seeing a few fish fly from the water into Akame's basket, before seeing Akame rise to the surface of the water, before giving an explanation of what to do "first you have to swim all the way down to the bottom, then conceal your aura and make your attack, you have to act very quickly." Before adding "give it a try" he replies "I'll see what I can do" before removing the gambeson and arming doublet he wore on the way and jumped in feet first, Akame just noticed the scars on his chest and arms, when he landed in the water she decided to ask him about it later and before long he threw a fish the size of a small shark as well as a slightly smaller one into his basket on the cliff.
They returned to the base and started cooking up the fish before serving it to the boss and Leone "so in the end Ash managed to catch two bull fish" "and judging from what Akame said you didn't think you'd catch any did you?" Ash nodded "yeah I don't like being cocky or over eager" Akame looks at the head of one of the fish's heads before saying "this will take some time" 'that's something I can agree with' Ash thought.
This the boss spoke up "anyway Leone, what did you find out" Ash looks at the two "here's the deal our targets are, Ogre of the imperial guard and Gamal the oil merchant, and according to the client Ogre has been accepting bribes from Gamal so that whenever he manages to get himself into trouble Ogre finds a way to pin it on someone else, her fiancé fell victim to one of those bribes and was sentenced to death" "what about the payment?" Leone pulls a bag from under the table "here it is, she payed it all up front" Ash chipped in "it's surprising that she managed to get as much as she did" Leone looked slightly more Grim while gripping her arm tightly "she smelled sickly… I think she's been selling her body" 'that's fucked… but considering the world I was in before that's tame' the boss asks "sure she's not lying" Leone replies "my senses have never steered me wrong yet boss, he's guilty"
The boss lights a stick of tobacco before saying "then Night Raid accepts this assignment, the new nation we wish to create has no room for this trash, he needs divine punishment" 'if I'm the one doing that, what she said couldn't be truer.' Leone chips in "we shouldn't have too much trouble with the oil merchant, but I betcha Ogre will be a pain in the ass." This catches Ash's attention "Ogre is a demon. His very skilled with a sword even the hitmen are scared of him and he's always surrounded by a huge crowd of subordinates. He's NEVER seen alone, he's so careful that Gamal delivers all payments to his personal chambers, but on his days off he goes drinking on Main Street, right by the palace." Ash states "it seems we have an opportune moment to strike" "but that place is heavily guarded we can't send Akame they already know what she looks like" the boss says, before Leone pipes up while raising her hand "hellooo, they don't have any wanted posters of me yet" the boss looks at her "can you do it?" as Leone places her hand on her arm she states "targets like these pukes are the ones I live for" Akame steps in "I think we should wait until the others arrive" "but we don't know if they'll be back in time correct?" Ash states as Akame confirms "mhm"
Ash places both hands on the table "then I say we complete it as soon as possible regardless of the consequences" the boss looks at him "so you think you'll be able to kill Ogre yourself?" Ash looks back "provided I have the right counters to his fighting style, yeah" Akame turns and closes her eyes "as you are now you can't do it" Ash looks at Akame "you don't know what I'm capable of" she turns back "what I mean is that you can't kill people" Ash look's down remembering all of the hollows undead and friends that he killed "I've killed more people than you know Akame so don't assume I can't kill people when you haven't even seen what I've done. And besides I don't intend to stand idly by while another innocent person gets executed. I've seen enough of my friends die to know how it feels to lose everything… including your brother." The boss extinguishes the stick before saying "then it's settled. I admire your conviction Ash, take him down"
Leone hits Ash in the back of the head saying "now that's what I-" she is immediately cut off as her hand gets grabbed by Ash as he flips her over him throwing her on to the ground "I said don't sneak up on me" the boss tells Akame and Leone "I'd like you two ladies to focus on the oil merchant." "You got it" Leone says when she gets up out of the grip "understood" Akame says as she gets up from the table "I will kill him Akame" 'that much I can promise' she replies with "I'll withhold judgement on your ability until you complete the mission and report back" he thought he could hear a hint of worry in her voice as she said that, before turning to look at Ash "if you start off with overconfidence and arrogance. You'll die" 'I know… It's happened to me before' she walks out of the room 'I will return alive that much I can promise'
A few hours later Ash and Leone arrive at a street presumably main street, Leone confirms that by saying "this is Main Street" before adding "did you memorize the map like I told you" "yeah I memorized it" 'kind of hard not to, when the place I was in before never allowed me the pleasure of having one' Leone couldn't tell what he was thinking as she couldn't see his face through the mask and hood, but she thought he was thinking of what Akame said to him "Ash, I think I should tell you a few things about Akame's past" this catches his attention "when she was a kid, she and her sister were sold to the empire" he looks down "they were placed in an assassin training camp with other abandoned kids, there she learnt how to survive the harsh surroundings as well as the art of murder" he clenches his fist in anger "she grew up an assassin blindly doing the empires dirty work, and as Akame got older she started to see the darkness the empire was hiding" 'like when me and my brother when we were sold to the order' "one day she was sent to kill… the boss. But it didn't happen, somehow she convinced her to join the revolutionary army, and join the side of the people but by the time she could do it, most of the kids she grew up with were already dead. Do you see what I'm getting at Ash?" "Yes I do your saying there are things I don't understand yet, and as such should hold judgement until I get the full picture" Leone turns with a smirk "well… if you manage to live through today, then you'll learn a little more" 'I doubt there'll be much more to learn after today.'
In a structure similar to a palace a fat man, whose face looked like a frog, was walking down a corridor after going to the toilet "woo, that bathroom will never be the same. Anyway, time to get back to living the dream" then from behind a pair of hands similar to paws come from behind "wait a second!" Leone's hands wrap around his neck "I've got a better idea!" as she says this Akame plunges her sword into his chest, penetrating the heart "killed by two hot babes! You lucky dog." After Leone says this Akame removes her sword as Leone lets go, letting him collapse on to the ground "now then I wonder how the noobs doing with his part of the job." Akame simply stays silent 'I hope Ash doesn't die.'
Back in Main Street, Ash waits for the target planning out how to confront him before settling on one. Soon after, he notices Ogre leaving the bar while saying something to himself, Ash proceeds with his plan by approaching him 'time or the hard part' "excuse me Master Ogre" he turns "uh huh?" 'I really hate acting' "I have a matter of utmost importance to discuss with you." "That so? Let's hear it." Ash looks side to side to help with the act "we need to speak privately" "huh?" after a little while they find themselves in an alleyway after a few seconds Ash notices Ogre move his eye left and right figuring he might be suspicious "alright start talking, I wanna get home" "of course" 'please not let this be for nothing I don't want to live with the embarrassment what I'm doing if I fail' Ash then turns to face Ogre and then clenches his fist and turns before saying "you killed a few people haven't you?" this catches Ogre off guard.
"Yeah, what of it?" Ash places a hand on the hilt of the chaos blade "tell me how many of those people were framed, and how many were guilty" "what's it to you." Ash notices him place a hand on the hilt of his sword as he looks at him, before stating "none of them were guilty were they? I have a feeling that they were innocent, and that it's time you got your PUNISHMENT!" before cutting Ogres abdomen open with the blade causing profuse bleeding "NEVER underestimate your opponent." As Ash turns and walks away, Ogre gets up behind him and strikes but is too slow as Ash notices in time to pull the scabbard up to block the attack blowing him back a couple of meters because of the amount of force behind the attack. And Ogre doesn't give him time to recover launching a flurry of attacks on him all while saying "DID YOU REALLY THINK YOU COULD SLAY THE MIGHTY OGRE, A PATHETIC LITTLE SNOT NOSED BRAT LIKE YOOUU!"
After he finished with the last attack as he finished what he was saying he sent Ash flying into a wall "ok so let me guess you're one of those Night Raid punks that go around killing the people in power right?" Ash proceeds to get up "yeah pretty much" "WELL THE WEAK CAN SQUEEL ALL THEY WANT BUT THE STRONG WILL ALWAYS RULE IN THIS EMPIRE BOY" he then looks at Ash more sinisterly "WHO YOU DEEM WORTHY MEANS NOTHING, I JUDGE THE FATE OF THE PEOPLE" after saying this Ash slices Ogres wrist open before leaping off of Ogres sword as it was going for a horizontal swing at Ash, allowing him to gain momentum as he came back down to the planet only to be blocked, after he rolls forward taking the scabbard off of his belt in time for him to block Ogres next attack while taking note of the amount of blood Ogre spilt
"Tell me on whose order did you come here boy? The fiancée of the little worm I had executed?" Ash remains silent waiting for the right moment to kill him "I guess I was right! I told myself I should've knocked off that wench when I had the chance. Well I still could if I wanted to. First I'll chase that bitch down find everyone she knows and bring 'em up on charges and take my time torturing them to death while she watches BUT NOT UNTIL I KILL YOU FIRST!" he manages to break Ash's guard getting a strike into his left shoulder missing the flesh and hitting the metal plates, denting them. But in doing so was a fatal mistake as Ash cuts off his right arm with the chaos blade before switching to the frayed blade and uses it's weapon art to slice him multiple times allowing there to be more wounds to speed up the bleeding process, forcing Ogre to pass out before saying "you should pay more attention to your wounds buddy. If you did you might not have died." After saying this he pulls out the chaos blade, and proceeds to slit Ogres throat before heading back to base while covering up his shoulder with the cloak he was wearing after sprinkling a golden powder over it. 'I was too cocky back there.'
Back at base Ash reports his success to the boss "so you've defeated a powerful adversary on your own? I'm impressed" "it wasn't really that impressive, after all my armour didn't exactly get off without a scratch" after hearing this Akame springs into action removing Ash's cloak and revealing a dent in the shoulder plates in the left arm in his left shoulder, after seeing this she tells the boss and Leone to keep him still as she removes his leather armour and starts examining his body all over after a while she says "thank goodness!" this surprises Ash as he wasn't expecting her to say that "I've seen people die from infection because they were too proud to report their wounds, but it's good that you weren't, it's hard for most people to survive past their first mission, I'm glad you survived" Ash feels guilty for making her worry 'I guess that's the reason she was so hard on me'
The boss pipes up "cooking helped with communication and the hunting would've taught you basic killing techniques, though the hunting was apparently unnecessary as Akame told us you already seemed to have those basic techniques" 'that explains it' "sorry I got hurt Akame, I got a bit too cocky during the fight" he feels a bit more guilty "just keep coming back alive, Ash" "I'll try to, Akame" Leone snickers in the background "oh my god this is so adorable, and cheesy. And the fact that your-" a small knife fly's by her head into the wall behind her "don't" after saying that Ash looks at her menacingly the boss pipes up "well you'll be working with Mine on your next assignment, so I expect your best" Leone goes over to Ash "yowch out of the frying pan and into the fire" 'oh fuck me.'
END OF CHAPTER 2: INCINERATE THE CORRUPTION