Chapter 4: Rebirth
I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING I REFER TO! ALL RIGHTS GO TO REPECTIVE OWNERS
Kai wakes up in the alleyway, where he had saved Kat. He looks around and notices it's daytime. "What happened? Am I really dead?" He asks himself standing up. He walks out of the alleyway and walks to his house. When he tries to open the door, his hand passes through the doorknob. "Huh?" Kai mumbles as he tries to walk through the door. He walks inside and calls for Kat. "Kat! Are you here?" he shouts walking around his home looking for her. He checks the bedroom and hears the front door open. Kai rushes to the living room to see Kat walk in. "Kat!" Kai shouts as he runs towards her. She doesn't seem to notice Kai as he passes right through her. Kat's phone starts to ring, she picks it up, and after a few minutes, she hangs up and starts crying. Kai walks over to her and tries to hug her but he passes through her again. "I guess I really am dead…" Kai sighs as he walks out the door. "So you've finally figured it out." A voice calls out from across the yard. Kai turns around and faces Dice. "Yeah, I was killed last night protecting Kat, there nothing else to it." He shouts. "Now I can't even try to help her!" "Well if she saw you then she wouldn't need help, which is why you're not able to be seen." Dice responds. "The only reason you could see me two years ago is because I made myself visible." "Well how do I do that?" Kai asks, lowering his voice. "You have to earn it, now come with me before the Phantoms realize your dead." Dice says walking off. "What do you mean? What do the Phantoms have anything to do with the fact that I'm dead?!" Kai yells angrily. "Let me put it to you this way, when you die you soul gets released into the world. Now it would be a piece of cake for the Phantoms to take your soul because you have nothing to protect it. Your body was the only thing you had. If the Phantoms take your soul then you become one of them and let's face it, I don't think either one of us wants that. Right now I'm bringing you to your judgment, where your good deeds and sins will be weighed, if you committed more good deeds then sins you pass onto the afterlife, but if you have more sins then you are sent directly to hell." Dice motions Kai to come along. "So…if I pass this test then I come with you?" Kai asks walking towards Dice. "Yes, you become part of the afterlife, but only angels are allowed to come back to Earth unless you have permission from Lord Death." Dice explains as he taps on a device on his wrist. "Wait…who's Lord Death?" Kai asks. "Lord Death makes sure that all souls get where they need to be, he also founded the Phantom Reapers to fend off against the Phantoms." Dice says as a hover board appears out of thin air. He jumps on it and motions Kai to follow. Kai hops on the board and it speeds through the buildings, literally through the buildings. "So this Lord Death guy, who is he?" Kai asks trying to keep his balance on the board. "Well for starters, he's the one who makes sure the Demon King stays satisfied." Dice responds. "How does he do that?" Kai asks looking down at the ground as the two rushes through people and buildings alike. "Dunno, but whatever he's doing, he needs to keep it that way. Now hold on tight." Dice says as he taps the tip of the board twice with his boot. In seconds, the board picks up speed and shoots straight up into the clouds. We pass through a cargo plane and arrive in front of a giant building. "What's this place?" Kai asks as he steps off the board. "This is judgment hall, where you will be tested." He responds pressing a button on the board and it folds up. He picks it up and motions for Kai to go inside. As soon as they walk inside, the room is instantly filled with the chatter of thousands of people waiting to be judged. "Wait, I gotta wait for all of these people to get judged first?" Kai asks astonished at the numerous amounts of people in the room. "Relax, these actually go by pretty fast, there are special rooms you go in to receive your judgment, the rooms suppress time, one minute in here is an hour in those rooms. The longest judgment we have ever had was eight minutes out here." Dice pulls out a device and begins typing on it. "There, your judgment is in ten minutes." He says, putting the device away. As the minutes pass, the amounts of people start to go down, finally its Kai's turn. When they head into the room, the air starts to feel heavier then outside the room. Kai looks around and it appears to be a normal courtroom, go figure. The only people in the room are Dice, Kai and the Judge, "Step forward if you will." The judge's voice booms across the room. "This is your judgment; your actions during your lifetime will determine where you stay for eternity. Now what is your name?" The judge says with his booming voice. "Doesn't, he already know my name?" Kai whispers to Dice. "It's to test your honesty." He replies. "My name is Kai-" he starts before being cut off. "I asked for your name, not a silly nickname!" the Judge yells. Kai hasn't used his full name in almost 13 years; he's always gone by nicknames given by other people. "My name…is Kaitou Kirazaki." Kai says. "Cause of death?" the judge asks. "Um…" Kai looks over to Dice. "Shot with a .44 Magnum through the chest, bled to death on March 29 2022 around 10:39," Dice responds looking at the device in his hands. Kai looks back to the judge as the man looks through papers. "Hmm…strange, there's nothing about your parents in these files." The judge looks through his paperwork as Dice frantically scrolls on his device, searching for files about Kai's parents. I've never met my father or mother, but I had an older brother, Jason but he died a long time ago. "Hmmm…nothing in the files says anything about a brother." The judge looks around confused. "The only thing I knew is that we had different mothers, his mother left for a business trip when we were kids, but she never came back, so Jason had to take care of me until I was about 12 when he died." Kai finally says, making both Dice and the judge stop. "The reason you can't find Jason or his mother is because he took her last name, not our fathers, I was the only one to take his last name." Kai looks around. "Now, are we done yet? This is starting to get boring…"
After Judgment
POV: Kai
After about 2 hours or so, the judgment is finally, over; and I have clearance to pass into the afterlife. I get on an elevator with at least 10 other people and it begins to ascend, when he notices a hooded person in the corner. "Hey are you okay?" I ask the person. "Y-Yes…I'm fine, I'm just still shocked" she replies, looking at the ground "So what're your plans for the afterlife?" She asks me, still not looking up, "I was planning on taking the Angel Test and becoming a part of the Phantom Reapers." I respond to her. "Hmm…strange, it seems everybody wants to take this test, is it important?" she asks confused. "Well if you want to stop little demons from taking the souls from innocent civilians…err, yeah to some people." I reply. "I never did catch your name." I say to her "It's Lucina, although some people refer to me as Lucy" she responds shyly. "My names Kai, you should take the test too, I'm sure that you'll pass." I say trying to cheer her up. "You're right, I should try…," she says pulling her hood down, revealing her dark blue hair and purple eyes. The elevator stops and the doors open up into a room that looks somewhat like a training room. The people around me seem to be amazed at the room, it is no big deal really, and it's just an average training room. There are two doors, one marked with "Terragrigia", and one marked with "Arena". Why would there be an arena? A man wearing a similar uniform to what Dice was wearing steps up, "Okay everyone may I have your attention?" he yells making sure to make everyone listen. "I am Commander Sheppard, now before you pass onto the afterlife; you now have to partake in the Angel Test. Now before, it was not mandatory that you take it, but seeing as how the Phantoms are growing stronger, we are going to need all the help we can get. If you fail the test, you are to go directly to Terragrigia, if you pass; you are to go to the Arena for further instructions." The rest of the group starts to whisper to one another. "Now first up, Lucina Mason." Sheppard yells as Lucina steps forward. "Your first test will be of your choosing, blades or guns?" he asks. Without hesitation, she replies "Guns, Dual Samurai Edges if you will." Sheppard taps on a device attached to his uniform and two pistols appear in the air, Lucina grabs them and checks for ammo. "Don't worry, we don't use bullets, the guns Angels use shoot plasma." He says with a smirk as a hologram projects image of Phantoms. I shudder at the thought of those beasts. "Now these aren't your normal holograms, you will be able to make contact with them and they can too." She nods runs towards the hologram and roundhouse stomps it to the ground. She then shoots the hologram until it fades away, causing another to form behind her. She backflips behind it and pistol-whips it as it fades. Another appears above her; she holds both of the pistols in its mouth and repeatedly fires at it. Three more holograms appear a few yards away from her. Lucina smirks and twirls the pistols, holding them backhand now. The holograms and guns disappear. "Okay, we've seen enough Miss Mason, report to the arena." Sheppard says writing down notes on a sheet of paper. After Lucina, only four others pass the test, "Okay, last but certainly not least, Kaitou Kirazaki step forward. Now, what will it be? Swords or Guns?" he asks. "Any type of sword, it doesn't matter to me." I respond getting ready. Sheppard seems surprised as he taps on the device and a broadsword appears above me, I grasp the hilt of the sword and feel how heavy it is. I am not used to it but I will manage. As soon as the hologram appears, I run up to it and decapitate it. Another one appears behind me; I twirl the blade backhand and stab it, followed by a spinning slash at its head causing it to disappear. Another appears a few yards away, I take aim and throw the sword at it; the sword sails through the air and hits it square in the face, taking its head off. "Alright, alright that's enough." Sheppard says as the sword and holograms disappear, "Report to the arena to receive further instructions." He says before taking the elevator. I open up the doors and see the other five who passed the test. Out of the other five that passed, only two used blades, not counting me. One used a Katana, he was quick, and the test was over quickly. The other is a knife expert; he used push knives for close combat and throwing knives for distance. One of the gunners used a Rifle and the other used a revolver. "Alright everyone, you guys think you're gonna be able to pass the rest of the test?" a man steps out of the shadows. "Now if you think that you're all gonna pass, you're wrong. Only the Elite few who come on top in this tournament will become Angels and apart of the Phantom Reapers." The man says. "Now based on your weapons choice, you've all been paired against an opposite weapon. It's a battle between Blades and Guns." Projection of the board pairs up each of us with an opposite weapon type, Lucina and I are on other sides of the board, so I will not be facing her anytime soon. "You have ten minutes to prepare, before each match, you will chose you're weapon from the type you chose. Each of you will be fitted with a life pack, each with three bars. When you lose your three bars, you lose. I wish you all the best of luck." He says before walking off. "Not much for conversation now is he…" I say looking at the board. I'm up against the Rifleman, this oughta be a fun fight, but if I'm gonna win I need a way to counter the plasma balls/bullets/whatever it shoots. Just then, Lucina walks over to me, "Looks like we're going to have to face each other." She says with a smile. "What do you mean?" I ask her confused. "Well take a look at the competition, the rifleman barely passed; he missed most of his shots so it should be an easy fight for you. My opponent is the knife guy; he shouldn't be too difficult to beat. I'm sure the Magnum and Katana guy will end in a tie." She responds analyzing the others. "How do you know all this?" I ask, still confused. "Just a hunch." She says with a smile as the doors open up into an equipment room. There are weapons of all types in this room, broadswords, longswords, katanas, knives, rifles, pistols you name it and it's here! I walk over to the swords and I examine the swords. I go for a broadsword to get used to it when Lucina appears next to me. "I wouldn't pick that one; it'll slow you down, pick a lighter sword. Like this one!" she says enthusiastically pointing to a Black and Red Longsword. The entire blade is black with a red outline and the handle is black with a red cloth wrapped around it. The hand guard of the sword is a simple arch. "This one would work…" I mumble as I sheath the sword. Lucina smiles and walks over to the guns side, picks up her Samurai Edges and examines them. A bell sounds off and vests appear on our bodies, each with three glowing green lights. We walk back to the arena and my match starts. I unsheathe the sword and my opponent points his rifle at me. From the looks of it, it has a long barrel attachment and a laser sight. The laser point's right at my chest and a countdown begins. 3….2….1….Showtime!
