Chapter Eleven: Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust
As Tatsumi tried to bring his sword off of his back and felt it clang against the ceiling of the tiny basement he was in, he sighed as he realized his sword was too big for the tiny basement. Settling for ejecting his wrist blades with a loud WHUMP, Tatsumi's metal helmet briefly moved left and right before his mechanical voice echoed out of the armor.
"No need to throw your lives away here, you know. Since I came down to the shopping district to buy something for someone I care about, I'm in a good mood…..so if you all just leave now, I'll let it go."
As no one made a move to leave, Tatsumi sighed inside of Jupiter as Lubbock pounded his hand on the ceiling door to the outside, his voice angry as he spoke suddenly.
"You arrogant bastard! Have you forgotten in the past five seconds, or are you just stupid?! You're trapped in here with us!"
As the other assassins nodded in agreement with Lubbock's statement, Tatsumi briefly ran his wrist blades along each other and produced a shower of sparks that lit up the dim basement, a deep, menacing laugh coming from his armor as he went motionless.
"Oh…? Is that so? No, I do believe you're wrong about that…"
Suddenly taking a colossal step forward faster than any of the Night Raid assassins had expected a multiple-ton armored man to move, Tatsumi suddenly had his massive armored hand around Lubbock's head as he spoke from within his armor, his voice low and intimidating as Lubbock's feet kicked and lashed out, to no avail.
"No…..you're trapped in here with me!"
Before Tatsumi could close his armored fist around Lubbock's head, thus killing the boy, Susanoo roared and leapt forward with the force of a locomotive and slammed his staff into Jupiter's arm, distracting Tatsumi long enough for Lubbock to slip from his grasp! Turning slowly as all of the assassins around him leapt in close and began to attack him, Tatsumi chuckled as he watched all of their attacks bounce off his heavy armor plating and away from him harmlessly.
"You cannot hurt me….give up. Do you still refuse to recognize how different our strengths are?"
Tuning out the sound of Night Raid's constant attacks on his armor, Tatsumi briefly turned his attention to Jupiter as he addressed it inside of his helmet.
"Jupiter, is there any danger of them getting through the armor?"
There was barely a second before Jupiter chirped back.
"Negative. Their attacks are harmless to the overall integrity of the armor."
Frowning, Tatsumi was about to settle for bursting his way out through the door to the outside when he felt the belt he had latched around his armor before he had left HQ fall off of him! Instantly focusing his senses back on the fight before him, Tatsumi whirled around only to see the pink haired girl sifting through the pockets of his belt like they were his own, a smug grin on her face as she dug out the golden bracelets and necklace he had made for Kurome! Holding them up and trying them on, she smirked as she looked at him and spoke.
"Nice. Were these the gifts you were talking about, hmm?"
Feeling anger welling up within him, Tatsumi barely managed to suppress it as he took a lumbering step forward and spoke with a voice that could have blasted through steel.
"Give me that. NOW."
Another grin crossed her face as she nimbly ducked under a swing from his wrist blades, She darted behind her other friends as they encircled him, protecting her as she spoke once more, holding the bracelets in her hand.
"I'll admit, they are certainly pretty…Leone, take a look at these, wouldja?"
As everything seemed to go into slow motion as Tatsumi watched the pink haired girl toss them at Leone from across the room, Tatsumi desperately shot forward in an attempt to save them, his mind racing at a million miles an hour.
Not those…not those…..please, not those! Those were for her…!
But sadly, Tatsumi was a millisecond too late as he watched his armored hand pass through empty air, the bracelets falling into Leone's beast-like paw and vanishing as she closed her hand around them. Upon hearing a loud CRUNCH noise followed by little bits of gold metal falling from her, Tatsumi's vision went blood red as the pink Haired girl spoke from behind him.
"Awww…..too bad. I think I'll keep the necklace, though….."
His vision getting redder and redder by the second as pure, unbridled fury shot spread throughout his body like a toxin, Tatsumi spoke a second later, his voice fragmented and choppy as if he had gotten so pissed he had forgotten how to speak.
"You…..the bracelets…..broke….them!"
Cupping her hand to her ear now that she saw she had rattled him, the pink haired girl only continued her taunting.
"Oh? Hmm? What was tha-URK!"
Grunting as Tatsumi's massive armored hand suddenly closed around her chest, she angrily beat her bare hands on his armored gauntlets as Tatsumi brought her face a mere millimeter from his helmet and spoke, his voice deadly quiet.
"Simple. You broke those bracelets…..I'll break you. As in, I'll fucking rip you in half."
Hearing what was happening to their comrade, Night Raid finally leapt into action, but it was too little too late as Tatsumi chuckled creepily and grabbed the pink haired girls legs in one hand, and her head in the other and bent her behind his helmet and over his shoulders horizontally as the girl cried out in pain. Blood coming from the girl's body as her bones began to snap like chalk, Night Raid's attacks on his armor only ramped up as they desperately tried to save their comrade from the clutches of certain death, their attacks falling flat as Tatsumi roared in anger.
"PAY FOR THOSE DAMNED BRACELETS WITH YOUR BLOOD!"
As a loud tearing sound was heard as the woman cried out in pain one more time, everyone near Jupiter was forced to close their eyes as drops of blood spattered in their eyes and faces, their comrades cries suddenly falling silent as Tatsumi's voice was heard once more.
"Damn it all…of all the things I wanted to do today…..this wasn't one of them."
As everyone finally opened their eyes only to see Tatsumi holding the two severed halves of their pink haired comrade's body in each of Tatsumi's hands, they were frozen as he unceremoniously tossed both halves of her body towards them and headed for the door, disgust in his voice as he lumbered away.
"Disgusting…..blood and guts all over my armor….."
Watching the blood-soaked Jupiter walk towards the exit, intestines hanging from its shoulder plates, they all froze once more as Tatsumi froze near the door and turned back to speak once more.
"Next time, stay out of my fucking way. You'll live longer. I'm not like the other Jaegars, you know…..just don't fuck with me, and unless you piss me off or hurt my friends, I'll leave you alone. That kind of stuff takes effort, so….well, you get the picture."
Blasting a massive hole in the ceiling with his fist as leapt up into the streets once more, Tatsumi sighed and glanced around the streets as he heard Night Raid's anguished cries from the basement behind him.
"Idiots. Couldn't leave well enough alone, huh? It's not like I wanted to rip someone in half today…..does anyone think of my feelings? No, of course not. They just figure the big metal guy can't have feelings….Just look at Bioshock 2, those big daddies had feelings."
Coughing inside of his armor, Tatsumi sighed and spoke once more as he looked at the remains of the golden bracelets in his hands, along with the blood-stained golden necklace he had recovered from the woman when he had broken her in half.
"Whoops. Wrong universe. Anyway…..I managed to save the necklace at least…..I guess that's something."
Letting out another exasperated sigh, Tatsumi turned and began to trudge towards HQ, ignoring the terrified looks of the people he passed as they stared at the blood and gore on his armor. Stopping as he saw a soldier running towards him, Tatsumi paused and took a moment to pluck an intestine that had gotten lodged on his shoulder pauldron, tossing it to the ground beside him as the soldier came to a running stop in front of him and took a moment to catch his breath before speaking.
"Haaa…..Hooo…are you…..Tatsumi?"
Looking down at the man as he slipped the necklace and bracelet remnants back into the belt at his waist, Tatsumi nodded as he replied from within Jupiter.
"Yeah. Do you need me?"
Pausing for another second to catch his breath one more, the soldier nodded slowly as he replied and extended his hand to Tatsumi, a folded piece of official looking paper in it.
"Haa…..yeah. Here, official…summons to the palace. Minister's orders. Oh, and my orders were to take you there immediately, and without telling anyone. Please….come with me."
Clearly seeing the terrified look in the young man's eyes as he was undoubtedly praying Tatsumi wouldn't say no, Tatsumi chuckled inside of his armor as he thought about what to do.
No reason to ignore that, I guess…as much as I hate that fat, corrupt asshole…..he's clever. He's not going to go through all this trouble just to try to kill me…If anything, he has some sort of offer for me.
Nodding slowly, Tatsumi spoke to put the young soldier at ease.
"Quit Shaking, I'll follow you. Do you think I'm going to rip you in half or something for daring to talk to me? It's not like I'm a monste-"
Pausing as he realized blood and gore was dripping from his armor, Tatsumi coughed awkwardly as he continued.
"Ah, well…this is different. Anyway, just lead me to the palace."
Ignoring the man's quivering words of reply and instead wordlessly following him as the soldier headed for the palace, Tatsumi once again fell deep into thought as he walked.
Sometimes….I hate this shit. Sure, Night Raid isn't the nicest bunch of people and I'm not going to apologize for what I did back there…but can I really say the Jaegers and I are so much better? From what I've seen, the Jaegers come from completely different tiers of society in the empire than what it seems like Night raid came from. Bols has a wife, wave was a navy man and lived in what sounds like not that bad of a place, Run's a teacher, Kurome was…okay, she had it rough. Not sure about stylish, but…I think the only difference between Night Raid and the Jaegers is their difference in Philosophy…..Night Raid wants to destroy the minister and anyone he has ever touched and wipe the slate clean, while the Jaegers want to defend the empire that gave them their lives and families, among other reasons I guess. I think the two groups merging into one if we could take out the minster wouldn't be a stretch, honestly. Oh, we're here.
Shaken from his thoughts as the soldier came to a halt just inside the palace entry hall, Tatsumi looked at the man as he turned to Tatsumi and saluted.
"This is where I take my leave…..just head forward and into the meeting room, and the minister is waiting there for you. Good day."
Watching as the soldier hurriedly made his way out of the capital and out of sight, Tatsumi briefly glanced down at his armor and frowned in his helmet as he saw blood and gore all over it.
Hardly a state appropriate for a meeting…oh well, not like the minster will care at all.
Trudging down the hallway at a decent pace and coming to a stop just before the gilded, golden door to the meeting room, Tatsumi took a second to compose himself before walking in. Taking a deep breath, Tatsumi swung open the door and stepped into the medium-sized meeting room, glancing around and seeing no one but Honest in it with him, a slab of meat in his hand! Upon Seeing Tatsumi, Honest smiled amicably and spoke in between bites of meat.
"Oh, Tatsumi, was it?"
Nodding, Tatsumi replied.
"Y-Yeah. Uh, sir."
Waving his hand, Honest frowned as he took another massive bite of his meat and spoke.
"Bah, enough of that. I didn't call you here today for such foolish pleasantries, you know."
Not making any moves, Tatsumi replied emotionlessly.
"So what did you call me here for today?"
Suddenly turning to him with a serious look on his face, Honest grinned sadistically as he spoke.
"That woman is lying to you, boy."
His almost-dead body somehow going cold for a split second, Tatsumi's mind suddenly raced along at a million miles per hour until he managed to squeak out a reply a second or so later.
"E-Excuse…me?"
Grinning as he took another bite of meat, Honest repeated himself.
"I told you…..that woman is lying to you. You know, General Esdeath."
His heart feeling lighter when he heard he hadn't meant Kurome, Tatsumi was still confused as he replied.
"Yeah, I'm sure she is about something. She's not really nice like that."
Honest merely waved his hand dismissively as he spoke.
"No no, more than normal, I mean. Boy…She's lying to you about your village."
His vision suddenly going white from shock, Tatsumi fell silent for almost two minutes as he composed himself, his vision slowly returning as he steadied himself on the wall, his mind racing.
What? What does he mean? What was she lying about?
Slamming his armored fist down on the table so hard it split in half, Tatsumi angrily spoke to Honest.
"What do you mean, she's lying?!"
Looking slightly annoyed as he held his meat in his hands, Honest took another bite before glancing up at Tatsumi, cunning in his eyes as he spoke.
"She told you she would recall the spies around you village, didn't she? Tell me boy, do you really think the woman who slaughtered almost a million people in her conquest of the north would so easily let your village go, just because you swore allegiance to her? Trust me boy, that woman is just as cunning as I am when she wants to be….if anything, she probably deemed them expen-"
Slamming his fist into the wall before Honest could finish, Tatsusmi's shaken voice was heard coming from his armor as he replied, his voice hesitant.
"No….no! You're lying! Since when have you ever told the truth, much less for no reason like this?! Besides, how could you even know she had been lying to me in the first place?"
Smiling amusedly, Honest took another bite of his meat, finishing it off as he licked his fingers and turned to Tatsumi as he spoke.
"Hrmm, I suppose you're right. I'm not really know for my honesty, hmm..? As to how I know this, let's just say I had some agents of my own I had instructed to follow that woman's activities, and they reported to me her soldiers had just burned a village to the ground. Needless to say, when I found out that it was your village, well…..let's just say I think we can come to a deal of sorts."
His eyes narrowing under his helmet, Tatsumi paused once more before replying.
"Okay, let's pretend for now you aren't lying through your teeth…..what do you want in return for this information? Because I know you're not the type of person to do something like this if it didn't benefit you in some way."
Smiling with all the cunning of a fox, the minister nodded slowly as he replied and begun to rise from his chair.
"Smart boy. I suppose I can understand if you are reluctant to believe my information, so I'll tell you what….hear out what I want in return for giving for this information, and if you go look for yourself and see your village still standing, you can just go on about your day, none the wiser. But if you find your village in shambles like I'm claiming, you automatically agree to what I want. Deal…?"
Pausing for a moment, Tatsumi thought it through for a while before replying.
"Perhaps. Let me hear what you want."
Stroking his fat chin thoughtfully, Honest sighed quietly before speaking once more.
"Yes, well….as of late, things do not seem to be going quite my way, you see. First, Budo decides to side with that brat emperor and take him away to god knows where, the revolutionary army is about to go on the warpath while the emperor is gone, and Night Raid is being as much of a nuisance as ever. Honestly, the only one I have left who is capable of ensuring my safety is General Esdeath. But you see, I need someone who's a little more reliable than that woman is…"
Clearing his throat, Honest paused for a second and continued.
"…..You see, want I want is quite simple. I merely want a favor that I will be able to call in from you at any point. Simple enough, hmm?"
Tatsumi fell silent for a minute before replying.
"Fine. So long as you don't command me to kill a certain person, I'll do it."
Clasping his hands behind his back, Honest fell silent for a minute before waving his hand dismissively as he spoke.
"Excellent…now a word of advice, boy…..waste no time in going to confirm what I've told you today. No doubt that woman will be working to cover it up to make it seem the village perished of natural causes…"
Before Tatsumi could speak, another man walked into the room and glanced at Honest, then at Tatsumi as he spoke.
"Hey, Pops. Who's the big guy?"
Sighing, Honest turned to Tatsumi and spoke.
"One of Esdeath's Jaegers. Syura my boy, could you send this boy to that village I told you about earlier?"
Narrowing his eyes as he glanced between Honest and Tatsumi, Syura seemed to shrug as he pulled out a small, circular device and spoke.
"Eh, I guess…"
As a purple light appeared beneath him, Tatsumi was surprised and glanced to Honest and spoke.
"What's this? What's going on?"
Replying with a wave of his hand, Honest began to head for the exit.
"My son here will provide a shortcut of sorts….he'll get you to the village quickly, so please confirm my information is accurate. I'll be looking forward to calling in that favor! Hohohohohohoho…"
Laughing coldly as he left the room, Honest's laughter trailed off as Syura spoke, his voice betraying his boredom.
"Yeah, well….here you go. I'm only doing this since pops asked me to, so count yourself lucky. Have fun walking back."
And with that, Tatsumi felt himself hurtling through space, off to his village…
Sometime later
His vision once again returning to him as he felt himself coming to a stop, Tatsumi soon found himself staring at the snowy drifts that he recognized as being from just outside his village! Feeling his heart race a bit, Tatsumi's excited attitude was quickly shattered to pieces as he saw a massive plume of smoke curling up from just over the horizon! Feeling all the breath leave his body as he froze up, Tatsumi felt his mind began to race.
No…no….it can't be true….it can't be!
Pounding down the snow drift and headed for his village that lay just beyond the meager forest before him, Tatsumi trudged through huge snow drifts like a giant, mechanized battering ram as he desperately denied what he knew deep down in his heart to be true.
No…..there's no way…
Finally entering the forest, Tatsumi didn't even stop his thunderous charge, instead charging headfirst through trees and shattering them into oblivion as he ran. Finally coming to a stop just outside of the exit to his village, Tatsumi decided to take a moment to survey his surroundings in the event that some of Esdeath's troops were still hanging around. Staring intently at the surrounding forest, Tatsumi spoke to Jupiter from within the armor.
"Jupiter, is there anyone around?"
Jupiter took a moment to respond as it searched the surroundings.
"Searching…..Searching…..Search Complete. Ten Life forms detected in clearing ahead, one detected in surrounding forest."
Clenching his armored fist and drawing his massive sword, Tatsumi turned his head slightly to the right and saw the man Jupiter had described sitting in a tree, a pair of binoculars in his hands as he seemed to be watching the clearing intently. Slowly circling around to the man so as to alert him to his presence, Tatsumi finally arrived just behind the tree the man was in about twenty minutes later, his massive sword his hand as he smiled under his helmet. Bringing the steel splitter to bear, Tatsumi swung it with all his might at the trunk of the tree Esdeath's agent was sitting in, a resounding CRACK echoing throughout the forest as the trunk of the tree shattered into a billion wooden splinters as the tree began to topple over! Sheathing the steel splitter just in time to grab the agent as he fell out of the tree, Tatsumi's massive armored hand engulfed the man's whole head as he kicked and struggled, his movements useless as Tatsumi held him close to his helmet and spoke.
"Tell me who sent you, and what you were doing. NOW."
Visibly paling at the sight of this armored giant who could clearly crush his head like a pop can, the man paused a moment to swallow nervously before replying.
"E-Esdeath! We were told to watch this village a week or ago and wait for more orders!"
Falling silent for a minute, Tatsumi clutched the man's head tighter and ignored his pained screams as he spoke.
"Oh..? Is that so? Then what are those men doing in the clearing ahead, huh? WATCHING?!"
The man again swallowed and looked away as he fell silent, refusing to speak more until Tatsumi squeezed his head harder and spoke, his voice quiet and deadly.
"Don't fuck with me….Unless you want your friends to be scraping you off this tree and my armor, I suggest you start talking."
Finally realizing the situation he was in, the man sighed and began to speak.
"I guess I'm dead either way, then…Fine. We just got a new order by way of carrier pigeon about a day or so ago, and in it were orders to enact Order 66….the Vesuvius protocol."
Shaking the man violently, Tatsumi's mechanized voice only seemed to get angrier.
"The hell is that?! TELL ME!"
Pausing for a moment as if expecting his head to get crushed, the man looked straight into Tatsumi's metal helmet as he spoke in a dead serious voice.
"Burn them all. Burn it all to the ground, salt the earth and destroy the corpses….leave nothing left, not even a single scrap of flesh. THAT'S the Vesuvius protocol."
Feeling the blood that no longer ran through his veins somehow turn ice-cold, Tatsumi felt an unfamiliar feeling building up inside of him as he processed the man's words.
Pure fear.
Feeling a cold lump building up in his stomach, Tatsumi's mechanized voice was heard once more, quieter than before.
"No….NO! Not them….if….if she ordered this….I'll….I'll…..I'LL FUCKING KILL HER!"
Closing his fist around the man's head and not even flinching as a shower of gore erupted from his closed metal fist and decorated his already-gore encrusted armor and the nearby trees, Tatsumi merely strode out into the clearing as his thoughts turned murderous.
I'll kill her….I'll kill her…..I'll kill her…..why the hell did I believe her when she told me she'd return her spies?! Damn it!
Falling to his knees as he entered the remnants of his village and saw the charred remains of houses and people scattered all over the ground, the wooden foundations of the houses still smoldering as he put his armored helmet in his hands.
"All gone…damn it….what the hell…..am I supposed to do now? My village…"
Suddenly remembering Sayo and Ieyasu, Tatsumi's mind cleared up a bit as he spoke to himself as he stood up.
"Sayo….Ieyasu….are you still alive? I doubt you were here when this happened, so…they might be alive…!"
His thoughts suddenly interrupted by the sounds of ten or so people walking out of the remains of a burned out house, Tatsumi wordlessly drew his sword as he listened to the troops laugh and talk to each other.
"Man, did you see the look on that bitch's face?! Fuckin' priceless! First we get this awesome job to burn this village down and kill everyone in it, then Esdeath says we can do whatever we want with that girl we brought along!"
As the other soldiers laughed and agreed, Tatsumi's mind latched onto something the man said as he stepped forward and spoke, the soldiers turning wide-eyed toward him as he did so, his sword leaving a bloody trail in the snow as he dragged it behind him.
"Girl….you brought a girl….along? It's probably not her, but…"
Finally returning to his senses, the captain of the soldiers drew his sword and commanded his men to the same as he spoke.
"Fuck! Who the hell…what the hell are you?! And why didn't Jack alert us someone was coming?!"
Grinning under his helmet, Tatsumi rested the steel splitter on his shoulder as he spoke.
"Oh, the scout in the forest? I used him to paint the trees red. As to what I am….."
Taking one more step forward, Tatsumi spoke, a tinge of twisted happiness in his voice as he spoke.
"I'm just a pissed off guy who's standing in the middle of his burned down village, looking at ten soldiers who killed everyone he cared about…Get the picture?"
As a few of the soldiers looked frantic and about to bolt at any second, the captain of the group calmed them down as he spoke.
"You talk a big game, maggot! We're Esdeath's elite, so let's see how you compete with us, dammit!"
Grinning under his helmet as he saw the ten soldiers in front of him ready their weapons, Tatsumi spoke as he readied his huge sword.
"Good, Good…..this'll make it all the more satisfying to kill you all…..maybe I'll keep a souvenir or two to mount on armor…."
Bringing his blade high into the air as the ten men all slowly began to advance towards him in a loose semi-circle, Tatsumi briefly glanced around before he made any moves. His thoughts briefly drifting to Sayo and Ieyasu, Tatsumi felt tears brimming up behind his eyes before he shook his head and thought to himself.
No…now's not the time, Tatsumi….worry about them after you deal with these jokers.
Swinging his sword sideways and catching the first five soldier's right in their sides, cutting straight through the swords they had tried to block with and cutting them in half as the other five moved in closer to him, inside of the minimum range he could bring his sword to bear. Returning his sword to its place on his back, Tatsumi ejected his wrist blades just in time to send them through the captain's head, killing him instantly as he turned to face the other four soldiers, who were now turning to flee without their captain. Managing to catch two from behind with his wrist blades, Tatsumi retracted them and thundered forward in an attempt to catch up to the remaining two, his efforts paying off as he managed to grasp the last two soldiers' heads in each of his hands, grinning as he held them in the air.
"Too bad for you. Try to pick a better occupation in the next life, if you believe in that sort of thing."
Closing his hands around the two soldiers' heads and showering his gauntlets and armor with more blood and gore, Tatsumi glanced around briefly to make sure no one else was going to make the mistake of attacking him, then turned to the house the ten men had come out of and headed for it, praying they weren't talking about who he thought they were.
Not her, please don't be her….it can't be her….
Stepping into the burned out remains of the house, Tatsumi saw a single charred, burned body on the ground in front of him, it's long, once beautiful black hair now burned and destroyed, the skin burned beyond all recognition and the face marred by relatively fresh gash marks. Kneeling down and picking up the body in his massive armored hands, Tatsumi examined the body to see if he could determine who it was, but after a while he sighed in frustration.
"Damn it…this body is bad…..there's not any recognizable features. Oh hey, what's this..?"
Gently brushing the body's burnt black hair aside, Tatsumi felt his breath freeze in his lungs as he saw what he knew belonged to his childhood friend, Sayo: A pretty white flower accessory was clipped to the body's hair, slightly burnt, but it was clearly still a white flower underneath. Feeling tears coming from his eyes, Tatsumi brought the body closer as he spoke.
"Not you, Sayo….please, don't do this to me….don't go! I've already lost too much…!"
Pausing as he felt a hand brush his helmet, Tatsumi opened his eyes as he saw Sayo's burned body shift gently, her lips opening as he struggled to speak.
"Tat….sumi? Is….that you?"
Feeling warmth return to his body once more, Tatsumi nodded and spoke.
"Yea…..Sayo, who did this to you? How did you get here? Is Ieyasu still alive?"
Coughing softly, her dried throat cracked and worn, Sayo desperately tried to continue.
"Calm...down….Tatsumi. Me and Ieyasu….got arrested…in the capital. Woman with blue hair….took us to her dungeon….tortured us to get location of the village, but…only let those soldiers….take one of us. I think….Ieyasu…still back in her dungeons."
Coughing violently again, blood shooting from her lips, Tatsumi gently rested his armored hand on her chest as he spoke, his voice cracked with a mixture of anguish and pure rage.
"It's okay, Sayo…don't talk anymore, ok? I know…who did this to you. Just take a quick nap, okay?"
Closing her eyes, Sayo sighed happily as she spoke once more, her voice cracking.
"Glad…..I got…to see you again….Tatsumi. Please…save…Ieyasu…."
Carrying her now-still body out into the village and resting it in a hole he quickly made, Tatsumi gently lowered her body into the makeshift grave and knelt down beside it, silent as death itself as he methodically filled it in. Once the grave had been filled, Tatsumi slammed one of the soldier's swords into the grave as a sort of marker as he suddenly rose up and slammed the side of the burnt out house so hard the wall exploded into splinters.
"She's fucking dead. I'll kill her! No, even better, I'll let Ieyasu have some fun with her before I do….GOD DAMN IT!"
Tears streaming down the inside of his helmet as he stood there, unmoving, Tatsumi felt his mind drifting back into all the memories him, Sayo and Ieyasu had made together before they had left for the village, and all the fun times they had shared together as friends….
Some time ago
As Sayo, Ieyasu and Tatsumi stood on the outskirts of the village just after the village elder had given Tatsumi the idol that he claimed would protect him, the three friends stood around and spoke to each other.
"Well, we're finally setting off for the capital, guys."
Nodding, Ieyasu rubbed his hands together and grinned.
"Oh yeah, I bet there's gonna be so many babes there!"
As Ieyasu and Tatsumi high-fived triumphantly, they quickly yelped in pain as Sayo whacked them both upside the head and sighed.
"You idiots never change. Can't you take anything seriously?"
Looking at each other, Tatsumi and Ieyasu looked to her as Tatsumi spoke.
"I take plenty of things seriously, you know. Like fighting, for example."
Rolling her eyes, Sayo nodded sarcastically.
"Oh sure you do…"
Grinning wildly, Tatsumi laughed as the three all shared a chuckle and listened as Ieyasu spoke and held out his hand, palm down.
"Here's to making it big in the capital, guys!"
As all three of them put their hands together, they all nodded and grinned as Tatsumi spoke.
"Yeah, here's to saving our village!"
Grinning as she put her hand on top of Ieyasu's and Tatsumi's, Sayo seemed to give up and smile as she spoke.
"And here's to keeping you two idiots out of trouble, I guess….since no one else will!"
As the three laughed and began to make their way down the road to the capital, Tatsumi felt himself returning to reality…
Present day
Blinking and realizing night had already fallen, Tatsumi looked around and sighed as he laid down in the snow beside the grave he had made for Sayo.
"Might as well stay here for the night….don't feel like walking…"
Knowing full well he was incapable of sleeping, Tatsumi stared up into the night sky and let the tears roll down his face as he mumbled to himself.
"Sayo…everybody….I'll make sure you guys didn't die for nothing, I swear. Even if I have to bring the empire to its knees doing it, I swear I'll make Esdeath feel the pain she inflicted on you guys a hundred fold…and then, I'll let Ieyasu watch as I skin her alive."
XXXXX
Back at Jaegar HQ
Frowning as she sat down in her chair, Esdeath crossed her arms and sighed angrily as she thought about what the minister had said when he had visited a few hours ago.
"I think young Tatsumi left to go check on his village, General…you may want to find a place to hide. Hohohohohoho…"
Slamming her fist into the arm of her chair, Esdeath gritted her teeth as she rose and made her way to the Jaegar meeting room, where she had told everyone to meet her right about now.
"That bastard minister…no doubt he told Tatsumi to go inspect his village. At this pace, I suppose he's going to find out I lied about his village…he might even find that girl I sent with my soldiers, in which case…he'll know I have his other friend in my dungeons. What a pain. I guess I'll need to put him down, then…."
Falling silent as she made her way into the meeting room where all of the Jaegers had gathered, Esdeath put her hands on the table and took a deep breath as she prepared to speak, her thoughts swirling.
As much as I hate to say it, I'm not sure I can beat that boy alone, not with Jupiter on his side. But with my Jaegers backing me up….
Clearing her throat, Esdeath spoke.
"Jaegers….Tatsumi's gone rogue, and is headed this way as we speak to enact some sort of plot on all of us. You all are going to help me put that boy down….any questions?"
From the back of the room, the newly healed Bro frowned as he thought to himself and glanced at Kurome's shocked face.
Yeah right….No way he'd betray anything with that girl here. She's lying. And knowing her….Tatsumi's heading here to kill her, probably.
The next morning, near the remains of Tatsumi's village
After a night of staring up at the sky, unable to get any sort of sleep whatsoever, once the first signs of daybreak began to appear, morning light cresting the horizon and hitting Jupiter's helmet, Tatsumi blinked once as he stood up slowly.
"Time to get to work."
Taking one last painful look at the sword that he had rammed into the ground the night before to serve as a marker for where Sayo was buried, Tatsumi opened his armored hand and stared at the one thing he had taken from Sayo's body before he had buried her…..her white hairpiece, and smiled sadly inside his helmet as he found a spot on his helmet to clip it to so It wouldn't fall off as he began to walk towards the capital. Leaving the corpses of the soldiers behind where they had fallen, Tatsumi began to make the long, slow journey back to the capital as he continued to plot different ways to exact his revenge upon Esdeath.
Maybe I'll rip her skin off and feed it to….I'm sure she's done worse to others.
As his thoughts got darker and darker as he continued to think about a plethora of different torture methods that he figured would be fun to put into practice, Tatsumi was shaken from his thoughts as he caught a glimmer of something metallic out of the corner of his eye. Focusing his vision just in time to see something that looked vaguely human-shaped vanish into a small forest that stood in his way! Narrowing his eyes inside of his armor, Tatsumi continued to trudge forward and into the forest in an attempt to find whatever had been watching him, but after a few minutes of searching, about to give it up, Tatsumi heard an ever-so-slight rustling of the bushes to his right and turned just in time to wrap his massive hands around a scrawny, lightly armored man about 20 or so, his legs kicking and flailing as Tatsumi spoke menacingly.
"Who are you, and why were you watching me? I'm not really in the mood to fuck around right now, so please….don't lie."
Visibly swallowing, the man seemed to weigh his options for a few seconds before shrugging sheepishly and speaking, his voice timid.
"I'm a scout…just a scout! I was just ordred to scout ahead and check for threats!"
His mind focusing upon hearing the word scout, Tatsumi frowned as he thought to himself for a second.
Where there's scouts…..there's an army.
Finally gathering his thoughts, Tatsumi spoke.
"Scouting for who?!"
Again visibly debating his options, the man clearly favored living over any sort of loyalty to the people who had hired him, or trained him.
"If I tell you, uh…..will I live?"
Chuckling to himself, Tatsumi nodded as he replied.
"I'm not a monster. Just tell me the truth and you can go free…"
Seeming to be satisfied with this answer, the man took a deep breath to help clear his mind before he replied.
"I'm a scout….for the revolutionary army. The orders came down from the guys at the top a few days ago…..we're going to marching on the capital in two days' time, and the scouting battalions got sent out to reconnoiter the path we would take to see what kind of difficulties we would face getting there."
His nearly dead body once again going cold as he realized what the man was implying, Tatsumi dropped the man as he spoke out loud.
"Not good…the capital isn't in any position to hold off an attack from the revolutionary army…with General Budo and the emperor gone…."
Turning back to the man, Tatsumi spoke once more.
"Head on back, scout. Tell you superiors something to get them to delay the attack."
Clearly confused, the man stared at Tatsumi as he replied.
"Uh, but…..from what you just said, now's the best time to attack…right?"
Rubbing his helmet with his armored hand, Tatsumi shook his head as he spoke.
"Perhaps, yes…but with Esdeath still in the capital, you're bound to have a hard time. And not to mention, there's someone even stronger than her that you should be afraid of…"
Clearly terrified at hearing this, the man hesitantly replied.
"Wha-?! Who would that be?"
Pausing for a moment, Tatsumi pounded his armored chest as he spoke and lifted the man up into the air with his other hand, his hand around the scouts' head.
"That would be me. If it comes down to it, I'll face your entire army by myself before I let the likes of you take over this empire. I may not be a huge fan of the empire right now and I can even say I fucking hate it, but the emperor is still the descendant of the first emperor, who made this empire great with his own sweat and blood. If I can help it, I'll see that kid on the throne until the day I die…..but the minister DOES need to go, I'll give you guys that."
Whimpering as Tatsumi lightly tossed him back into the forest, the man scurried off as Tatsumi's mechanical voice echoed after him.
"Run away, scout! Tell your superiors that no army is a match for Jupiter!"
As the scout vanished into the trees, Tatsumi sighed as he turned back and began to make his way to the capital once more.
"Damn…I need to see if Bro is up and around when I get back…Budo and the Emperor need to be made aware of this."
As he continued to walk, Tatsumi once again got lost in his own thoughts…
Not far away
Wincing as she walked alongside the rest of Night Raid, Mine grumbled as she continued to walk.
"I'm glad I'm not dead, but…this hurts like a bitch."
Chuckling beside her, Leone spoke happily as she walked beside Najenda, Susanoo, Akame, and Lubbock as they made their way back to Night Raid HQ.
"Cheer up! Thanks to the medical support HQ sent, we managed to repair you pretty well, right?"
Grumbling under her breath even more, Mine walked on in relative silence until on a whim, she brought pumpkin up to her shoulder and scoped into a random tree on the horizon, just to make sure she still had it in her to fire her beloved Teigu, Pumpkin. But to her surprise, she saw a massive metal behemoth walking along the path that had just exited the nearby forest! Bringing her hand up to signal the group to stop, Mine spoke as she sighted the metal monstrosity.
"Wait up guys…..I think I see that metal monster that was there when I got hurt…..maybe it's the same one who you guys said killed Chelsea?"
Quickly handing pumpkin to Leone, Leone visibly tensed up as she nodded and handed pumpkin back to Mine, her teeth clenched as she spoke.
"Yea…..that's the bastard, all right. But how the hell did he get so far away from the capital in less than 24 hours…?"
Just when Najenda was about to order Night Raid to attack him, Mine spoke up once more as she sighted the metal man.
"What the hell….? Is that…? It is! Guys, it looks the Jaegars are surrounding him!"
As the others glanced down into the clearing before them, they all noticed what Mine said was correct!
Down in the clearing
Glancing around as the people he had come to know over the past few weeks swarmed out of the forest and made a circle around him, Tatsumi gritted his teeth as Esdeath made her way out of the forest, followed by Bro a few seconds later as she gave orders to the Jaegers.
"Give him no quarter! He betrayed us, so kill him like the traitor he is!"
Stunned into silence as he realized Esdeath was using lies to turn the Jaegers against him, Tatsumi slowly drew his mammoth sword from his back as he spoke, his mechanical voice booming around the clearing as he did so.
"You filthy liar! Tell them the truth, you coward!"
Doing her best to look ignorant, Esdeath waved her dismissively as she spoke.
"Don't listen to him, my Jaegers….he's trying to mislead you!"
Growing increasingly annoyed with her words, Tatsumi planted his sword into the ground as he angrily replied.
"You guys think I would betray you like this? Especially you, Kurome! Why would you ever think I would betray you, huh? Aren't any of you at least curious if she's lying?! Or are all of you just sheep who can't think for themselves?"
Pausing for a moment, Run flapped Mastema's wings once as he spoke aloud.
"He speaks sense…I for one, would care to hear more of his claims before killing him. As a former teacher, I'm a good listener, after all."
As Bols, Kurome and Wave nodded agreement, Seiryuu angrily frowned and was about to order Koro to attack when she heard a whimper come from Koro! Glancing down to see Koro looking up at her with pleading eyes as if to say 'Please listen to him', Seiryuu grunted in annoyance as she spoke.
"Fine…..let's hear it."
Smiling finally under his helmet, Tatsumi nodded and began to speak.
"Thank you. Well I'll spare you the various details of how I found out for the sake of brevity, so I'll skip right to the point…"
Pausing for dramatic effect, Tatsumi continued.
"Esdeath and her fucking minions burned down my village! Not a single person left alive, they killed them all, burned the houses to the ground, and salted the damn earth so nothing will be able to ever grow their for a long time! NOW YOU TELL ME IF I'M NOT ENTITLED TO A LITTLE REVENGE!"
As everyone but Seiryuu showed visible surprise, Run rubbed his chin and spoke softly.
"I see…that makes sense. However…"
But before he could finish, Tatsumi felt his weak heart skip a beat as Kurome silently walked over beside him, speaking softly as she stood beside him with her sword drawn.
"I believe you, Tatsumi."
Smiling like an idiot inside of Jupiter, Tatsumi gently patted Kurome's head with his massive hand and dug into his belt and retrieved the necklace, then gently slipped it over her neck as he spoke.
"Thanks, Kurome…oh, I made this for you…."
Her eyes widening as she examined the golden necklace with a little golden Katana on the end of it, She smiled and slipped it into her shirt as she patted Tatsumi's chest armor.
"Thanks…I like it."
Feeling happier than he had in a while, Tatsumi's happiness was shattered as chuckled and spoke as she drew her sword.
"You'd side with that traitor, Kurome? How pathetic…"
Drawing Yatsufusa, Kurome put her snacks away as she spoke without emotion, her sword glowing purple.
"Wrong. It's just that…..someone needs to stand up for this idiot."
Before Esdeath could attack, however, Tatsumi retrieved a gleaming steel spear he had taken from one of the soldiers back in his village and called out to Bro as he tossed it over the Jaegers to him, which he caught easily.
"Bro, take this! I got a present for you!"
Catching the spear and smiling happily as he gave it a few powerful test swings, Bulat put his hair comb away as he called back to Tatsumi.
"Hey, thanks Tatsumi! Say, let me hel-"
Before Bro could off his help, however, Tatsumi shook his helmet and interrupted him.
"Bro, I need you to make your way back to Budo and the Emperor! Tell them the Revolutionary army is going to march in two days' time, and to get their asses back here!"
As everyone but Bro was stunned into immobility at this news, Bulat nodded and sheathed his spear as he turned to leave.
"Gotcha, Tatsumi! Count on me to return before long!"
Leaving the clearing with a few powerful strides, his black leather coat and green light armor underneath billowing in the wind, Bulat was gone before any of the Jaegars could even try to stop him! Finally coming to their senses, the Jaegars looked around hesitantly as Esdeath spoke.
"Is that true, Tatsumi?"
Not budging an inch, Tatsumi spoke coldly.
"Wouldn't you like to know."
Sighing, Esdeath pointed her sword at Tatsumi as he spoke once more this time to the Jaegers.
"Get out of my way, guys…..I don't want to hurt you, but….if you insist on getting in my way…"
Pausing as he took a booming step forward, Tatsumi continued.
"I'll kill you just like I will her. She's crossed the line this time, and I intend on making her suffer for hurting my village and friends like she has!"
Sadly, Bols shook his head as he spoke and hefted his Teigu, Rubicante.
"I'm so sorry, Tatsumi-kun….but I have a wife and kids to look after, so I can't just go doing that kind of stuff."
As no one else made a move to help him, Tatsumi gritted his teeth as he spoke.
"So be it…..your lives are all forfeit! I've had enough of this sort of shit, my friends dying or almost dying, or getting tortured and wrung for information…I won't stand this damn empire anymore! So I'm going to make sure I kill that bastard minister and get the emperor back on the throne, even if that throne is built on a mountain of corpses! "
Getting into a fighting stance, Kurome nodded as she summoned a girl with dual pistols and a man with a spear.
"And I'll be there, right beside him…..waiting for the chance to finally kill my sister."
Briefly pausing as he heard Kurome's wishes once more, Tatsumi sighed but decided to bring it up later as Bols pulled the trigger on Rubicante, his voice sad as he did so.
"Sorry, Tatsumi-kun…"
Managing to step in front of Kurome as a blazing inferno sprang to life from the barrel of Rubicante and enveloped him in hellfire, all of the Jaegers, Kurome included, watched with anticipation as the burning flames rolled over Jupiter for the better part of a minute until a booming laugh could be heard as the flames went out.
"That made me sweat a bit!"
Turning around, his armor charred but otherwise fine, Tatsumi addressed Kurome, who was standing directly behind him.
"You okay?"
Nodding slowly as she stepped out into the clearing once more, Kurome avoided another blast from Rubicante and deflected a thrust from Wave and Grand chariot as she gritted her teeth.
The fight had begun.
Not far away
Watching the fight with incredulous expressions on their faces, Night Raid watched as the Metal Behemoth and the girl with the Katana engaged the other Jaegars. Finally snapping out of her Stupor, Mine turned to Najenda and spoke.
"What do we do, boss? It looks like they're having some sort of in-fighting…."
Scratching her chin, Najenda turned to Susanoo and spoke.
"Susanoo…would be advantageous to us to fight?"
Remaining silent as he stared at the carnage unfolding below as flames rolled over the forest and set it alight, Susanoo spoke after a long period of silence.
"Perhaps….if we struck fast enough, the shock value would certainly let us perhaps take out a Jaegar or two. However, we must keep in mind we were ordered to return to HQ to prepare for the upcoming invasion of the capital, so It may not be within our best interests to attract attention to ourselves so soon to the final battle."
Nodding, Najenda thought to herself.
I hadn't thought of that…..he's right. Perhaps a simple ranged attack as we continue on our way might be better…
Turning to Mine, Najenda spoke.
"Mine, Pick the best Target and fire for effect! But get ready to leave right after, because Susanoo's right…..we need to get going, as much as I'd love to stay and fight."
Nodding as she laid down on the ground with a bit of effort and sighted Pumpkin, Mine spoke as she took aim.
"Roger that, boss! Hrmm….who to pick, who to pick….oh, maybe the girl standing beside that dog. She looks like the less durable of the bunch."
Exhaling slowly, Mine readied herself to shoot.
Down in the clearing
As He engaged Koro, Bols, and Run in battle simultaneously, Tatsumi grunted as he felt another blast of hellfire from Rubicante swirl over his armor as Koro once more attempted to pick him up in its mouth, only to feel its teeth breath against his metal armor. Beginning to sweat as his armor began to glow a dull red, Tatsumi was about to as Jupiter how much heat his armor could stand when he heard a distant noise from the nearby clifftop followed by a large beam slashing through the air straight towards Seiryuu! Turning to Koro as he felt time slow down, Tatsumi spoke to the Teigu as he saw the beam begin to flash towards them!
"Koro, PROTECT SEIRYUU!"
Luckily, the dog-Teigu seemed to understand and immediately turned around in an attempt to intercept the beam, but it was too late as the beam sliced through the very tip of Koro's head and entered Seiryuu's body from her upper right shoulder and exited through her left hip, her body collapsing into a heap as Koro seemed to shut down! As everyone instantly stopped fighting, Esdeath barked orders.
"Night Raid, we have uninvited Guests! FIND THEM, THE TRAITORS CAN WAIT!"
As everyone but Kurome and Tatsumi bolted into the trees towards the clifftop, Tatsumi gritted his teeth and spoke to Esdeath as she walked past him.
"You think I'll let you go that easily?!"
Sighing, Esdeath paused and turned to Tatsumi as she spoke.
"If you feel so inclined as to fight me, let us do it at a later time, hmm? Perhaps a time where we aren't under attack by whom I assume to be Night Raid? By all means, if you think fighting me now is what you want, then go ahead…but I know you're not as dumb as that attitude might suggest."
Clenching his fists, Tatsumi knew she was right.
Now isn't the time to get revenge on her…..I'm still going to fucking kill her, but….I want to make sure I can savor it. I'll wait for now…..I know Sayo wouldn't want to act like a headstrong moron right now, either…But I WILL get Ieyasu back when I get back to the capital.
Watching as Esdeath followed the Jaegers into the forest, Tatsumi turned to Kurome as she walked over to him.
"Thanks for siding with me, Kurome."
Sheathing her sword and munching on her snacks, Kurome turned to face the forest and spoke.
"No problem. I know you'd do the same for me."
As the Jaegers returned a few minutes later looking dejected, Run lowered himself onto the ground and spoke sadly.
"We lost them. It looks like the never planned to stick around…."
As the Jaegers gathered around, Run addressed Tatsumi.
"But Tatsumi, were you serious when you said the Revolutionary Army is going to invade the capital in two days?"
Nodding, Tatsumi replied.
"I'm afraid so, Run…..We need to get back to the capital."
As the rest of the Jaegers seemed to nod in agreement, Bols knelt down beside Seiryuu's corpse and spoke sadly, looking at the immobile Koro who was now back to tiny size.
"Poor Girl….she didn't even know what hit her."
Clenching his fist as he stared down at his teammates body, Tatsumi looked up at the sky and spoke softly, almost to himself but loud enough for the rest of the Jaegers to hear him.
"A storm is coming…and the capital needs to prepare, lest it blown away in the process."
No one seemed to have a reason to dispute Tatsumi's statement.
Hey guys, thanks for reading, as always! This wasn't quite as long as Last weeks chapter, but it contained just as much important stuff, right? Anyway, now that he figured out Esdeath had his village burned and slaughtered, not to mention the fact that Ieyasu is still alive(..?), how long will Tatsumi be able to restrain himself from snapping and attacking Esdeath? And with the brewing storm of the Revolutionary army's invasion of the capital on the horizon, will Budo and the emperor be able to reach the capital in time to help shore up the defenses of the palace? Aaah, who knows? Anyway, I appreciate you guys reading this, and I always appreciate reviews and favorites if you really liked it!
