#1 – Ludenburg (1)

[January 19th, 2008 – Yasuhiro Household – 10 years before the Tragedy]

"Where is that stupid little shit!" The voice of an angry, loud, foul-mouthed man shouted as a little, nine-year-old child with jet black hair, wearing a white dress with two messy twin drills styled in their hair, hid underneath a table, away from the belligerent man. Shaking and quivering, fearful of what that horrid monster might do, the little girl prayed that he'd go away.

"Sanchi! You're drunk. Go somewhere else, don't touch my daughter!" Another voice boomed, a voice belonging to a woman, a kinder woman, the little girl's mother.

"THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME, WOMAN!"

A loud, audible smack reverberated throughout the house, the girl trying to make herself invisible from the world. This was what it was like every other evening. Hiding from her abusive father, usually getting caught by him in the process, then trying to ignore the pain while she was sent to her room after being brutally beaten by the man.

She needed to escape.

She needed to hide.

She needed to create a new identity.

But most importantly…

She needed to abandon this family.

Later that night, when she was found, beaten, and sent to her room, Takeo Yasuhiro took it upon herself to leave the family behind and take up a new mantel, a new name, and a new face.

When she disappeared from the house the next day, the police were called in order to search the premises, but no one was found, not even a body. A week later, Takeo Yasuhiro was pronounced dead, a funeral was held, though there was nothing to lower into the ground, only an empty casket.

There were only four attendees, the father, the mother, and an elderly woman. The final attendee was hiding, lurking behind a tree right where the funeral was being held, this person being Takeo herself.

With her past finally dead and buried, she could go on and live out a better life, under a new name, a new identity, and a new persona.

And that was all Takeo wanted—to be forgotten by that old name. After all, she didn't need it anymore.

But now, what was she going to do? How was she going to survive in a world where children were looked down upon? It wasn't like she would be able to get a job, so what was a simple, easy way to make money?

As the little girl left the funeral, still wearing the same plain white dress that she had worn on the day she left, though with some muddy stains on the corners and top of the dress, an idea quickly came to her mind.

Gambling.

And with that in mind, the little girl left the small town in Osaka and made her way to Tokyo, travelling all by herself, going through hardships, difficulties, and even the occasional mugger.

But that was fine. This was what it was like to start over, to turn over a new leaf. Takeo may be dead, but the new her, the new persona, while unnamed, was a completely different person, one that would benefit from the rough upbringing on the streets.

And just like that, seven years would pass in the blink of an eye, the girl's life-changing drastically in that time, truly Takeo Yasuhiro was gone, and in her place was…

[September 20th, 2015]

"Ludenburg. Ludenburg…" an accented voice spoke, tasting the foreign name on the tip of their tongue as their red, devil-like eyes stared straight ahead.

A skinny, almost doll-like in appearance girl sat in front of a mirror. The room around her was painted a deep shade of ebony black—a job she had done herself, and a good one might she add—all themed around a gothic-esque interior with gambling-related objects like decks of cards and a small roulette table in the corner of the otherwise lifeless and plain bedroom.

The girl's face was pale, though it was natural, not indicating that she had been sick. She wore a rather elegant black, Lolita-esque dress, a pair of black stockings and red high-heels to match. To top things off, the girl had two twin drills for her hairstyle, also the same jet-black as her dress, stockings, and even nails, though one was covered with metal, like a weapon of sorts, though in reality, it was a glorified card separator.

Currently, the situation the teen found herself in was a rather precarious one. Trapped within the walls of the prestigious Hopes Peak Academy, under the title of Ultimate Gambler, the teen was forced to play a game known only as The Killing Game.

The rules to this game, while barbaric, were simple: Kill someone, stand trial for it, then depending on whether or not you're able to fool the rest of the contestants, you get to leave. It sounded simple in hindsight, but in the context of the other people, it wasn't so simple.

When it was announced, she loathed it, and even still, she completely loathed it. She wanted out. She wanted to fulfill her desires—riches, butlers, servants, a mansion all to herself—but she knew that would not be happening any time soon.

"Celestia Ludenburg…" the name rolled off the girl's tongue, a coy smile taking up her visage as she twirled a finger in one of her stylized hair drills. "I'd have to say that's a good name."

Celestia Ludenburg was a name that made some gamblers shiver and others rise to a challenge. She was known as one of the best Gamblers in the business, going so far as to take over 10 million Yen from the infamous Kuzuruyu Clan in a healthy game of Poker—the boss of whom was not a sore loser and paid up the exact amount, and even bet to go another round.

That day, the Kuzuruyu Clan lost around 30 million yen, and Celestia earned that much, though having to give a majority of it to another Yakuza whom she owed a dangerous amount to, leaving her with only 1 million yen in the bank.

She still had a debt to pay, still 100 million yen in debt, but that would be for another time.

Celestia continued to stare into the mirror, fixated on her face, a scowl taking over the coy smirk from before. Despite all that she had done to change herself, despite all that she went through to give herself a new life, she still saw that pathetic, worthless Takeo in her eyes.

She hated that part of herself and her past equally as much.

Deciding that she had enough staring at herself and reflecting on past things that had no consequence anymore, she stood up from her mirror, locked her doors, turned off the lights, took off the rather large dress, and crawled into her bed for a good night's rest.

Closing her eyes, she drifted off into a deep slumber.

But deep within the halls of the forsaken school, a figure stood, covered in shadow, holding what appeared to be an arrow in one hand and some sort of electronical pad in the other. The only features seen on the creature were crimson red eyes, a black, robotic body, and two shoulder pads.

The figure approached the door belonging to Celestia Ludenburg. The figure reached their hand out, a spark of some sort leaving their palm as the sound of the door unlocking echoed in the hallway. Twisting the doorknob and pushing open the door, the figure entered the room, walking over to the sleeping Celeste.

The figure reached the girl, raising the hand with the arrow in it up, and with a swift movement, the arrow plunged into the sleeping girl's neck. The gambler's eyes shot open for a split second, a gasp escaping their lips before their eyes fluttered, life draining from their body as her eyes closed again.

The figure stood still, waiting for something to happen. A few more seconds went by, and then, a faint, light blue glow surrounded the girl for a split second. After that happened, the figure ripped the arrow out of the maiden neck, blood spurting from the wound as it healed rapidly. The figure's job was done, and with that, it left the room, leaving the gambler all to their lonesome.

Tomorrow would begin a rather bizarre set of occurrences within the halls of this bizarre school.

To Be Continued

First of all, before I begin this author's note, I would like to thank Pebbledragon78 for allowing me to do a remaster of their acclaimed "Stands and Gambles." I've changed a lot about the base story just by this prologue alone, as I have been allowed to do so by the original author. This will be—mostly—Celestia ludenburg centric, though there will be parts where it focuses on other characters' POVs.

Unlike the original, I will be taking this down a much darker tone (if that is even possible) and go from there. The violence will worsen, and the Stands will be different from the original and under different names. Crazy Diamond will not show up in this, unlike the original, and the Diavolo Sub-plot in the original will be focused more towards the end.

With all those preludes done, I want to state what I will be keeping:

Hamon will still be kept in the storyline

The deaths will remain the same.

Makoto will still get Hamon

Chihiro and Sayaka will still "fuse" using the Rokakaka (Though it will be done differently).

Here are the things I won't be keeping:

The excessive amounts of Stands (Seriously there were far too many)

The original Stands and their abilities/designs (Those will be overhauled)

Structure of the chapters (These will be longer, and also far more detailed)

If all of this unnerves you, or you just don't like it, then that is solely up to you to decide. But until next time, I'll see you all in the next chapter.