A toll of a church bell echoed through the night. It was an especially cold and foggy night in the famous city of London, as a small boy walked the empty streets. Once glance at him and you could tell life had not been kind to him; his clothes were ragged, torn and covered in ashy smudges. His face was gaunt from lack of nutrition, and his sad innocent eyes could melt any cold heart with just a glance.
"I'm so hungry..." sniffled the boy, shuffling down the sidewalk.
"Child".
The boy looked up to see a young woman with a bag of groceries looking over him worriedly.
"Are you lost? Where are your mother and father?"
The boy sniffled "My mum and dad are gone, I'm alone". The boy came close to bursting into tears, "I'm so hungry".
"Poor child" said the woman comfortingly as she kneeled at eyelevel with the boy. "Here" she said, pulling out a piece of bread from her bag.
"Thank you miss" thanked the boy graciously. "You're so nice…and tender".
"I'm sorry child, I didn't hear you".
"You'll do just fine" continued the boy as an insane little smile crept on his face.
"Excuse me?" asked the woman confused.
The once innocent boy began to morph into his true form. His skin seemed to boil underneath as several protrusions began to appear out of his back, shaping into what looked like huge grotesque spider legs made of flesh and bone. As they lifted him off the ground, the boy's teeth seemed to grow into fangs, and his eyes had also become completely black with the addition of two extra smaller eyes next to his original two.
Overcome by fear, the poor woman could barely utter for help as the pre-kishin leapt upon her.
Once the monster had swallowed his victim's soul, he stood over his prey's mangled body.
"I'm still hungry…" murmured the boy turned beast, coated in the still fresh blood of his victim.
"How uncivilized" said a figure from down the street.
The pre-kishin turned to see two silhouettes down the street, it's 'face' filled with 'joy' at the opportunity of another meal.
"That has to be the most screwed up little bastard I've seen yet" said the other figure, this one's voice a little more feminine.
"Miss Alyx! Please don't use such vulgarity" scolded the other.
The one called Alyx wore close fit, gray hoodie with the sleeves rolled up; the emblem of Death on it was spread across the front, and fingerless gloves. Her jeans were faded, especially around the knees. Even her black sneakers looked worn. Her hair was dark brown with red highlights, cut short, and held back by a thick, white headband. Her skin had a light shade of brown with a freckle on her cheek.
"Ed, I told you to stop calling me 'Miss Alyx', I'm not a noblewoman anymore" argued Alyx back, narrowing her dark green eyes in annoyance.
"Please call me Edward, it's proper" replied Ed curtly, straightening his tie for the fourth time.
In contrast to Alyx, Ed dressed like a gentlemen; he was also several years older. Polished shoes, ironed black slacks, a white dress shirt accompanied with a black necktie with the emblem of Death City. Even his brown vest was buttoned up and he made sure it was adjusted properly. His black hair was combed neatly to the side.
"Do you have food" asked the pre-kishin innocently "I'm so hungry…"
Ed began to transform into a bolt-action rifle in Alyx's hands, "Sure kid", she cocked back the handle, "How does lead-flavored candy sound?"
The demon child let off an ear-piercing screech before lunging toward the girl.
Alyx fired a shot, it missed. Taking evasive action, the pre-kishin began to climb and jump from building to building in order to close the distance between it and the gun-miester.
"Be patient, wait for the shot" advised Ed in weapon form
"I know" replied Alyx hastily as she fired two more rounds, each close to hitting her target.
'Hold still' she thought impatiently as the demon scaled the building walls.
Alyx furrowed her brow in concentration trying to line up a shot.
Once the creature felt it was close enough, it ceased being evasive and leapt towards the miester.
'Now!' she screamed inside her head and fired, aiming for the creature's head. The pre-kishin slumped in mid air and evaporated into a kishin soul before even hitting the ground.
Alyx flipped open the cartridge chamber and like a vacuum, the kishin soul was sucked in.
"Ah, yet another small step in our journey completed" commented Ed as he resumed human form.
"Yep" Alyx yawned, "Now for some well deserved down time".
"Will you be turning in Miss Alyx? I shall prepare you evening tea then."
"No need" replied Alyx annoyed.
Jump down, turn the corner, scale the barred wall.
June felt her whole body ache as she navigated the obstacle course with each step. Today's fitness lesson required everyone to resolve the course in pairs and finish first or they'd have to do punishment exercises. The goal was to ring a bell at the end of the course. Whoever hit it first received a free day off. The course had multiple paths to reach the bell; it was up to the pairs to decide the quickest way.
"Come on!" Varro offered a hand over the barred wall.
June clasped it thankfully as he helped her over the wall.
They ran together now, the bell sat atop a wall with ropes dangling down from the top, providing a way up. As the pair began to climb, June looked over her shoulder for a moment.
"Hey, I think we're gonna be first!" she yelled, still out of breath.
"No time to look back! Gotta…finish…first!" Varro struggled to yell back.
As they both grasped and hoisted themselves over the ledge, Varro stood up weakly with June still panting on the ground as he shuffled over to the bell.
"Finally..." Varro whispered exasperatedly, his hand within reach of the bell.
"'SCUSE ME!" a girl shouldered Varro out of the way and rang the bell triumphantly.
"WOO I DID IT!" shouted the girl proudly, a huge grin spread across her face.
"Well done Madame!" congratulated an older boy who had just caught up to the girl, dabbing his brow with a handkerchief he pulled out his pocket.
All June could too was lay on the ground with her mouth agape, too tired to do anything. Varro however, immediately re-gained his vigor.
"WHAT THE HELL? WE WERE FIRST!" Varro shouted, springing back up from the floor.
"Hmm? You were?" asked the girl innocently "Didn't see you there".
"I'm not surprised, you wouldn't be able to see anyone over that fat ass of yours" retorted Varro.
"Whatchu say to me?" asked the girl incredulously.
"You heard me thunder thighs!"
"You know, you're starting to really piss me off!"
"Better to get pissed off than pissed on!"
Varro and the girl were at each other's necks at this point, faces inches away from each other.
"Chill out Varro", June could barely hold him back.
"Miss Alyx, please control yourself!" cautioned the older boy, standing in front of the girl.
"Out of the way Ed, I'm about to ruin this guy's day even more!" shouted Alyx
"Break it up you two!"
The arguing party looked down to see the gym teacher shouting from below.
"Alyx Lestrand! Edward Taneganshima! You may leave and are excused for tomorrow's exercises", the teacher announced.
"As for everyone else!" he added, referring to the rest of the class. "Line up for punishment!"
The class groaned tiredly.
Varro shuffled along with June back to their home; the walk home being a little more strenuous than usual.
"Can't…feel…my...everything" June stated, feebly trying to lift his arms. "Too many push-ups…"
"Can't believe that chick!" muttered Varro loudly, his energy reserve from the punishment exercises not even diminished.
"She stole the goal from us, we were right there!' Varro gestured angrily.
"Dude…we're being watched by ninjas", said June deliriously, obviously not paying attention to her partner's monologue.
Varro gave June a questioning look. "Man you act weird when you're tired"
As they began to reach the door to the apartment, Varro continued with his hate speech.
"I swear, if I ever see her again I'll-", the door flew open and hit Varro squarely in the face, effectively knocking him out.
"Welcome Home you two!" greeted Argo vigorously.
Eyeing his unconscious son on the floor, he realized he had welcomed them a little too vigorously.
"Uh-June! How was school today sweetheart?" He asked smiling, trying to cover up for what he did.
Too tired to care, June gestured drunkenly.
"Oh you know….stuff", she answered with a woozy, exhaustion induced grin.
Argo stared at her curiously, "Ah I see…well then, I'm off to the shop. Come on Varro, I'll need your help".
Varro remained motionless on the ground.
"Shh, he's sleeping" June said, still delirious.
"Oh don't worry", Argo dismissed June's trance-like state with a wave. "He's a strong boy"
"Let's go Varro" Argo said as he hoisted his son over his shoulder and begun to walk away.
June looked at them both walk away with half-lidded eyes before shrugging and proceeding to crash and burn on the couch.
Varro began to stir, eyes squeezing the forced sleep out. For some reason, there was this strange pressure on his stomach. Varro opened his eyes and found himself thrown over his father's shoulder.
"Ahh, you're finally awake"
Varro grimaced a bit, feeling a bruise form on his head.
"Where are we going?" he asked.
"Just walking over to the shop, I needed to speak with you" responded his father.
"Alright then, put me down, I can walk".
As Argo put Varro down, Varro prodded his head injury a bit before walking along side his father.
"I'm sorry about that" Argo's tone had become a little serious. "But I needed a reason to bring you with me".
"Was knocking me out part of the plan?" Varro asked sarcastically
"Ehh, no" Argo replied embarrassed. "But I did need to speak to you about something".
Argo's resumed his serious tone.
"I know you been training hard, and I foresee you becoming a great miester. But you may have noticed that you have been developing strange powers, let me explain. "
Varro rubbed the bruise on his head soothingly. "Owww…" he groaned.
Through the massive mind grain he was going through he could only make out the words "Hereditary power…..Witches….. be wary".
As the two reached Argo's shop, Argo turned to his son.
"Do you understand what I've told you, it's important that you realize this".
Varro 'stared' back at his father, eyes unfocused, and slightly groaning.
Argo sighed, "Perhaps its better I explain another time then. Wait here, I'll be right back" and disappeared into the shop.
Varro shook his head clear of the dizziness.
"Wow, that hurt" he commented, poking the bruise on his head. "That's not going down anytime soon" he said disappointedly.
Shoving his hands in his pockets, Varro waited patiently for his father to come back out. Looking out to the horizon, he noticed the sun doing a horrible job to stave off sleep. Chuckling at the sight, he continued to watch until the day faded into night.
Why did it get so quiet all of a sudden?
Usually there would be the occasional sound of a dog barking or noisy neighbors, but it was eerily silent. Varro narrowed his eyes in caution, sensing a massive killing intent in his area. Before he could react, hands grasped him forcefully in a submission, a kunai placed at his neck.
"Varro Marek..." said the owner of the hands.
Varro's eyes widened at the sound of his name.
"My client has ordered me to kill you."
"What?" Varro managed to choke out.
"It's nothing personal. Please don't be angry with me".
As Varro felt pressure on his neck from the knife, he heard another voice, this one much scarier sounding than the first.
"Step away…assassin"
Varro felt his captor's grip quickly leave his neck and staggered forward a few steps and turned to see what had happened. Argo was holding his captor above the ground by the throat. His captor looked somewhat reminiscent of a ninja. Watching her struggle a bit more, Argo viciously slammed the 'ninja' into the ground, kicking up dust in the process. Once the dust settled, Varro was confused to see the small crater empty of a body.
"A fake..." Argo said observantly as he let loose a chain tied around his forearm and began to swing it expectantly, a resounding clang echoed each time it hit the floor.
"Varro" Argo commanded. "Take shelter inside the shop, I have this" and began to walk to the center of the street.
Taking shelter inside his father's shop, Varro spectated from inside as his father continued to stand battle ready.
Furrowing his brow warily, Argo continued to watch for the assassin.
Seeing no one on one end, he turned to face the other end of the street. It was just as clear as the other end, save for a shuriken that came close to face.
Narrowly dodging the projectile, Argo smiled.
"So predictable…", and spun the chain around in a circular motion to deflect the incoming flurry of shurikens.
Expecting a presence behind him, Argo sidestepped and the female ninja rushed past him, evidently missing her target. Moving quickly, Argo whipped the chain around the ninja's ankle, and pulled hard, sending her flying toward him.
Making a tight fist with his free hand, Argo called out "Soul Force!" and landed a punch right in the assassin's abdomen while she was in mid-air, sending her barreling into the wall of an adjacent building.
Dazed, the assassin stumbled out of the hole in the wall, only to be hoisted up by the neck.
Holding the struggling assassin in his grip, Argo observed her soul, confused by what he was seeing.
"I know you Star clan kill in anything in cold blood, but why don't I sense any evil within your soul? Speak! Who sent you?"
Argo tightened his grip on the ninja neck. She gasped for air before dropping a flash bomb, blinding Argo.
Argo stayed standing where he was, shielding his eyes from the sudden burst of light. When he regained his sight, he searched in all directions; the assassin was gone. Exhaling, Argo surveyed the street he had just vandalized.
Stepping out of the shop, Varro slowly approached his father.
"Pop..."
Argo turned to face his son.
"Who the hell was that?"
Argo could only frown in response.
Somewhere within Death City, Don Al Capone sat at his desk, feet up, enjoying yet another cigar as soft jazz played in the background of his office.
The Don smiled "Have you finished the job?"
The female ninja stood behind his chair, remaining silent for a moment for saying "The price to kill miester Varro Marek and his weapon June Kento has gone up".
The smile on the Don's face faded quickly.
"What?" he asked, visibly aggravated, and turned to face the assassin, only to find no one.
"His father is still just as skilled as he was in his youth. I'm going to need more compensation".
The mobster turned to see the female ninja standing in front of his desk.
His face contorted into a scowl. "I was under the impression that there wouldn't be a problem. If the job is too difficult, maybe I can find someone else to do it"
The ninja narrowed her eyes. "There is no other that is better than the Star clan".
"If that's the case, then he'd be dead already wouldn't he!" retorted the Don, rising from his chair.
Before the Don could even blink, she already had her katana to his throat.
"Watch your mouth" she advised her voice low and full of killing intent.
The Don stayed silent, eyeing the blade.
"The price has gone up" she stated, and disappeared without a trace.
The Don sank into his chair, cigar limp in his mouth, and began to rub his temple in annoyance.
"This is really starting to tick me off. You know?"
Oh look a new chapter :P
sorry for the wait everyone but college has started up again and it's already driving me into the ground T_T
those of you who are planning to go into college, never take night classes...EVER! They're horrible.
Anyways! I'll try my best to whip up chapters as quickly as I can :)
Laterz