Chapter
II
"Corrections"
Kaito Nakamura and Ando Masahashi
Yamagato Industries Headquarters. Present Day
Two Months After Kirby Plaza
"Come in," the deep, commanding voice of Kaito Nakamura announced. Steeling himself, Ando pushed the door open and stepped into the CEO's office. The large space, with its antique furniture and floor to ceiling windows on the far wall, was the seat of one of Japan's most powerful men, and a man who had always intimidated Ando as much as he had his own son. He'd heard that Kaito and Hiro had developed a bond shortly before the latter's disappearance, but that was their right as father and son. None of that extended to Ando, which was why he was so puzzled as to have been summoned into Kaito's office.
"Ah, Ando, please, have a seat," Mr. Nakamura instructed.
"Of course, sir," Ando responded respectfully as he settled into one of the office's armchairs. "May I ask what brings me here, sir?"
"You accompanied Hiro on his journey to America. You were with him every step of the way as my son grew into a hero greater than I could've ever hoped for him to be."
"But I was not there with him in the end," Ando interrupted. The flash of frustration in the eyes of a man who did not often have to suffer through such displays of insubordination frightened him, but there was nothing to be lost at this point by finishing what he was trying to say. "I don't know where he has been since he teleported back to New York to fulfill his destiny."
"Nevertheless, you are his closest friend. His confidant. And if I am not to be around for Hiro's return, then you must continue to be there for him."
"Sir?" Ando's confusion was etched across his face.
"I am going to give you this." Kaito pulled an envelope out of his desk and passed it over to Ando. "Place it somewhere safe, and guard it with your life. My son will return, but if I do not live long enough to see it, you must make sure that this envelope reaches him. Now, please, return to your desk." Ando's eyes all but popped out of his head at that statement.
"Sir, Mr. Nakamura, why do you think you will not live to see Hiro's return?"
"That will be all, Ando," Kaito replied curtly.
"With all do respect, sir, it isn't. If Hiro were here he wouldn't accept that, and I wouldn't be respecting him as much as you seem to believe I do if I didn't as well." Kaito glared at Ando for a moment before letting out a sigh of frustration.
"Ando Masahashi, you have just become a part of this world, and have not truly experienced it yet. Eventually, you will learn, as I did, that it is a dangerous one. There are threats all around, not just from your enemies, but from those you call friends as well." Kaito stood up and walked towards the windows. "I was born with an ability. I could calculate probabilities in my head. I could see something beginning to occur and determine its most likely outcome almost instantly. It is with this power that I have managed to raise Yamagato Industries up to the prestigious level it is at today. However, it also made me seek out others, men and women with power. At first, I worked with them to do as much good as we could, but in time I learned that just because were gifted with great power, we were not all worthy to wield that power. Some of us were just too dangerous. And one of us reached such levels of evil that he was just far too dangerous. And so our last act, all of us together, was to make sure that he was dealt with, that he was locked away in such a manner that he could never harm anyone again." Kaito turned back around, and the grave look on his face scared Ando. "The measures we put into place have now failed. That man is loose, and the whole world is now in danger."
"Who is this man? Why is he so dangerous?"
"Those questions, Ando, are best left unanswered. The less you know, the less reason he'll have to hunt you once he is done with me."
"He's coming after you, sir?"
"I told you, Ando, I am a master of probability. This man has been loose for two months. In that time, I have been monitoring his movements as best I can. And I can tell you, Ando, that at this point the odds that he is not on his way to kill me right this very moment are practically non-existent. That he has waited this long is miracle enough."
"That's no reason to just let yourself die," Ando cried. "This building has some of the best security…"
"Which won't even slow him down," Kaito cut him off. "He is too powerful. Now, Ando, please, leave now and stay as far away from me as possible from now on. I am trusting you to survive long enough to deliver that information to Hiro. He may be our best hope at stopping this monster." Ando opened his mouth to protest some more, but Kaito raised his hand. "Ando, you show me today that you have a greater heart than most men, and are worthy of the trust I am placing in you. But the truth simply is that neither of us is strong enough to defeat this foe. If you wish to do good, then please, leave here at once and make yourself ready for my son's return."
Reluctantly, Ando got up from his seat and walked towards the door. Before he left, however, he turned back and asked one final question, "Sir, how are you so sure that Hiro is coming back?" Kaito smiled.
"As I told you, Ando, I know a bit more about what's going on in this world than you do. Hiro is in a… difficult situation. But he will prevail, and he will return to us. I am certain of it."
Hiro Nakamura
Otsu, Japan. 1671
The armor was a bit too tight, but Hiro squeezed into it nonetheless. Pulling on the mask to complete the effort, he picked up his sword and began the long walk to the city of Otsu. In ancient times, Otsu was one of Japan's mightiest cities, protected by its oldest and wisest warrior, Irmo Sumio, the mentor to Takezo Kensei. Sumio guarded the people while Kensei rode out to fight the great battles of his time against the dark warlord Myou Jin. He would also see through Hiro's disguise in a second. After all, Sumio would know that Hiro Nakamura could not possibly be Takezo Kensei.
It was one of the most heartbreaking moments of his life, when he watched his hero, Kensei, being pierced by one arrow after another in that field. He'd tried to teleport him away in time, but it was too late. The wounds were fatal, and Hiro watched as a legend died in his arms. Without Kensei, history would chance, Myou Jin would be unchecked in his quest to dominate Japan, and his home would enter into a dark age that would break Hiro's heart as much as the arrows had broken Kensei's.
And he couldn't just travel back and fix this. He'd tried, several times. The end result was a cluster of confused, screaming Hiro Nakamuras that proved just as distracting to Kensei as one of them had been, and he'd been killed anyway. That left Hiro with just one option, and that was why he now rode into town, Kensei's armor on his body and his sword strapped to his back.
"He has returned!" The cry began to ring out from the townspeople as Hiro entered the city. Murmurs grew all around him as he walked towards the gate to the inner citadel, and every man and woman he passed stopped what they were doing to stare at him in wonder.
At the citadel's gate, a guard stepped forward and clapped a firm, strong hand onto his shoulder. "I knew that it could not be true," he cried out loud enough that the entire crowd heard him. "It would take more than a few archers to kill our Takezo!" The townspeople started cheering at this, chanting "Kensei" over and over again. It all made Hiro so unbelievably uncomfortable, but he took it all with a stoic demeanor, like a great warrior would. He bowed to the crowd in salute before allowing the guard to usher him inside.
Once within the gate, Hiro felt a whole new wave of anxiety wash over him. Yes, he'd managed to make it through the city impersonating Kensei, but that had required only a few gestures and no time spent actually conversing with the citizens. Sumio, though, would be a different story entirely.
Walking up the steps as quickly as he could, he reached for the handle to the door to the citadel, but before he could grasp it, it was swung open and a hand reached out and pulled him inside.
The door shut instantly, and the room was plunged into near darkness. It was a miracle at all that Hiro spotted the blade that was sweeping towards his head. Quickly, he dropped to the floor, dodging the strike as he pulled forth his own sword. His eyes were adjusting quickly, and he saw the handful of torches around the walls of this large chamber, providing a very limited amount of illumination. It was in this dim light that he saw a lithe figure spinning towards him, a blade in hand. Hiro raised his weapon to parry the blow an instant before the attack would've gutted him. Shifting his stance the way his father had taught him, he steeled himself for a moment before lunging completely into the fray.
He'd known the moment he'd donned the armor that fulfilling Takezo Kensei's destiny would be difficult, and would require going through many duels that he had nowhere near enough training for. But he always expected that he would have time to use his powers, and that would give him an advantage. But this opponent, he moved too fast. It took all of Hiro's concentration to keep himself alive right now; he had none to spare to stop time.
And so he dueled. Block, parry, strike, staying light on his feet the whole time; his father would've been proud. Then, a loose stone in the floor, invisible in the dark room, appeared under his foot at the wrong angle, and the next thing Hiro knew he was on the floor. Stunned for a moment, he looked around, but by the time he saw his opponent it was too late.
Determined to make one last desperate attempt to stop time before he died, Hiro squeezed his eyes shut. Before he could do anything, however, a voice called out, "Enough!" The killing stroke never came, and Hiro opened his eyes to a blinding light. The windows had been unblocked, and the room was now completely illuminated.
"Who are you?" the voice demanded. Hiro wanted to look around for the source, but the blade which was now pressed against his throat prevented him from doing so. He could see his assailant, however, and he was slightly embarrassed that the man who had fought him so well, who had actually defeated him, was in fact a woman. And a beautiful one at that.
The voice repeated its question, so Hiro decided he might as well try. "I am Takezo Kensei," he declared with as much confidence as he could muster. The moment the words were out of his mouth, the blade began to press against him harder.
"Kensei was a drunken fool that couldn't possibly have fought me so well," the woman spat at him.
"Nor should he have been fighting at all," the voice declared as Hiro still struggled to wrap his mind around the first statement. "I have very good sources in Myou Jin's camp, and they seem to be under the impression that Takezo Kensei currently carries the shafts of a dozen arrows inside of him. Now, my daughter does not take kindly to lies, so please, do not tempt her wrath with another one."
Hiro stared up at the woman who was pressing cold steel against his neck. If this is the daughter, then she must be Yaeko, he thought. And that means the man speaking is…
"My apologies for the deception, great Master Sumio," Hiro said with as much dignity as he could muster. "My name is Hiro Nakamura. I am responsible for Kensei's death. I distracted him with my presence in the midst of battle, allowing the archers a chance to slay him. Kensei is this country's only hope in the battle against Myou Jin, and I couldn't possibly permit our people to lose hope in this most desperate time."
"So you decided to take his place and fight his battles," Sumio stated, stepping into view for the first time. He was a big man, with long hair and a braided beard. "A brave act, or the act of an idiot. Yaeko." The beautiful woman standing over him removed her sword from Hiro's neck and helped him to his feat, although she did rip his mask off violently in the process. "So young," Sumio commented, "yet you fight well. Who trained you?"
"My father," Hiro responded. "Kaito Nakamura, a great warrior."
"I have never heard of this man, but he has indeed taught you well. As my daughter mentioned, Kensei was not the hero he pretended to be. He was a drunk who offended far too many of this country's warlords than is good for a man's health. I offered him a way out of a slow and painful death if he would be the warrior we needed, a symbol for the people that hope was not yet lost. I set him up in battles that I arranged through my sources, easy fights that would produce easier victories. But despite my best efforts to teach him, he remained a mediocre sword fighter at best. But you, Hiro, you have some skill already. With more training, this ruse of yours might be the salvation this country is looking for." Sumio's hand shot out and grabbed the breastplate of Hiro's armor, pulling the younger man closer. "Do you have the strength and resolve to fight forces that even some of our the greatest Samurai in all of Japan are afraid to confront? Do you have the endurance to fight with every ounce of strength you have in one battle after another? And is your resolve strong enough that you will be at our side as long as it takes to achieve victory?"
"Yes," Hiro repeated three times, once for each of Sumio's questions. The older man smiled.
"We shall see," he announced, releasing Hiro's armor. "Pick up your sword, and let's get started."
Kaito Nakamura
Yamagato Headquarters, Present Day
Kaito stared out the window at the Tokyo skyline before him, the lights of the buildings lighting up the night. He'd grown up in this great city, the descendent of Samurai, of Takezo Kensei himself, as twisted as he'd learned that decent to be years later. He'd devoted the strength of his heritage, and of the gift fate had provided to him, to help this city, to make it grow and prosper. Yamagato was now one of Japan's largest employers, and under his reign layoffs had been occurring at a rate sixty percent less than under his predecessors. It was his effort to give back to the country that had given him so much, and he liked to think that he'd done something to repay it.
And fate, it seemed, thought that as well. For years he'd been hard on a son he felt he shouldn't have gotten, a son that seemed too weak for the challenges he knew he would face in the future. But just two months ago, he finally saw that Hiro was all that he had been promised all those years ago. He would be a great warrior, strong enough to save Japan, to save the world.
A rustling behind him caught Kaito's attention. Despite having known this was coming, he still felt his heart race as fear and adrenaline raced through him.
"I was wondering when you'd finally get here," Kaito said calmly without turning around. "It's time, isn't it?" The only answer was a few soft footsteps, followed by a blinding pain that tore through his body. Moments later, Kaito Nakamura's lifeless body fell to the ground, and a man stepped out of the shadows and into the moonlight. He was a tall man, with a face so scarred and discolored as to barely appear human. He reached down with a hand as battered as his face and scooped up a handful of the oddly shaped chunks and let them fall through his fingers back to the floor.
"Yes, Kaito," he responded in a raspy voice. "I told you, I keep my promises."
End of Chapter II
A/N: Ok, a few things. First of all, I decided to change the title. Originally I felt that calling the chapter after Genesis "Exodus" was appropriate because of the biblical references, but I couldn't really get a justification for the name into the storyline. So I decided that Entropy was a more appropriate name. If you want to know why, just look up the word in a dictionary, and you'll get an idea of where this story is headed.
Secondly, this chapter should give people still wondering what the hell I have in mind for this story an idea about what I'm doing. There will still be a lot of cannon story elements because I feel that Heroes in its later seasons did come up with some good ideas, but they'll all be extremely revamped because I believe that in the end the show wasted some good opportunities. Also, there will be cannon characters like Yaeko who will be introduced as this story goes on, but many of them will have their role in the story changed drastically. For example, Yaeko was not as badass as I've made her on the show. In the end, this story will take a radically different direction from the show, one that I hope will be enjoyable for all my readers.
Thirdly, I just want to restate that I love reviews, so please leave them! I know people are reading this story from the hit counter, but I still want to hear what you all think.
