Shockwaves erupted from the mountain that the Blades call home as my father and head of the clan, Ryu Blade fought against one of his greatest rivals, the father of my best friend Draco Bloodgrave and my romantic acquaintance, Nisha Bloodgrave, the head of the Bloodgrave family and former dragon king, Ebon Bloodgrave. The fathers battled fiercely, masterfully countering each other's moves, before connecting right hooks, creating another powerful shockwave, pushing them back about 5 feet. Ryu wiped some sweat from his brow and chuckled, looking back at his rival. "Impressive, Ebon. It's not often I find someone I can compete with like this. But you're a fool if you believe we're anywhere CLOSE to finishing!" He called out.
Ebon gave his joyous laughter. "Agreed, my friend. This combat is most thrilling and it'll be a shame to end very underwhelmed." He said.
I watched from the sidelines in awe along with my mother Shizune, older sister Katana and older brothers Nightshade and Kinshiro. Draco and Nisha were also there, equally in awe, alongside their own mother, Luna and their younger sister, Emberlynn. "Man, this is getting intense, huh, Nisha?" I asked, somewhat worriedly, not even aware I was clinging to her for dear life.
"It is quite vigorous, my love. Watching our fathers locked in glorious combat, it drives me to train even harder in order to protect you and our future children!" She said with proud determination.
"My hero..." I said, looking at her dreamily. I then turned to the 4th wall. "What? She's taller than me and older by two years. I'm okay letting her protect me." I said.
Unlike their children however, Luna and Shizune merely sighed at the actions of their husbands. "I don't think I'll ever understand those two. Always wanting to show off and knock each other silly." Shizune said wistfully.
"That's our dear husbands in a nutshell. But we love them anyways." Luna said, with a warm smile on her face.
"Indeed we do." Shizune agrees.
"Now, then. I think it's time we kick things up a notch." Ryu said, removing his shirt and letting his energy pour out, his muscles growing and expanding as energy surrounds his hands and forearms.
Shizune is shocked at this. "Ryu! Ebon! No! You can't! Your energies could tear the very fabric of reality asunder!" She says.
"What?!" Luna said, shocked at the revelation. "We got to stop them!" She said to the Blade matriarch.
"We're gonna di-hi-hie!" I shout in horror, clinging to Nisha tighter, burying my head between her breasts.
"Oh, c'mon! Really, Sai!?" Draco said.
"I actually don't mind this." Nisha said, with a light blush on her face.
"Heaven or Hell... Let's rock!" Ryu shouted as he rushed in.
"And the wheel of fate is turning." Ebon said, as he rushed in as well.
"Even though I'm scared shitless, it's nice to hear video games references made from our dads." Draco said.
"I'm a little too terrified to comprehend those references right now, honestly." I said.
"Ryu, STOP!" Shizune shouted, rushing in, surrounding herself with energy to ensure she'd survive stopping the attacks.
"Enough, Ebon!" Luna said, doing the same thing as Shizune to intervene as well.
But unfortunately, our mothers weren't fast enough and our father's fists collided once more, creating one more shockwave that created what looked like a black hole in between them, sucking us all in. "It's too late! Who knows what could happen now!" Shizune said.
"That's what makes this so entertaining! Anything could happen! I can't imagine more of a thrill!" Ryu said.
"That's the spirit, Ryu!" Ebon agreed.
"Everyone brace yourselves!" I said, anchoring myself as best as I could and holding onto Nisha.
"Trying to resist a black hole? This should be fun." Nightshade said as he braced himself.
"The only fun thing right now would be not dying." Katana said, freezing her feet to the ground.
"I was so NOT ready for today!" Emberlynn said, using her black flames to form a barrier around her.
"I believe NONE of us were, Ember." Draco said to his younger, as he made blood spikes from his feet to stick into the ground.
However, all of our efforts were ultimately in vain and the hole began to suck us all in. First our fathers, then our mothers, followed by Katana, Nightshade and Kinshiro, Emberlynn and Draco shortly after. Now it was just down to Nisha and I. "Don't worry, Nisha! I won't let go!" I told her, but the force suddenly ripped her from my arms. "No!" I shouted, reaching out for her again. I caught her by the ankle, but unfortunately, her extra weight tipped the scale for the already massive force pulling me in, so I was finally pulled off my feet and both of us were sucked into the portal.
I groaned as I started waking up, looking around and observing my surroundings. It appeared I was on a dirt road with a forest on either side. "Where are we?" I wondered, before hearing a groan next to me, seeing... "Draco!" I said, hurrying over to him and getting him in a sitting position. "There you go. Easy does it, buddy. You alright?" I asked him.
"Yeah. Thanks, ma-" He started, before I noticed a figure laying behind him.
"Nisha!" I said, pushing Draco over and hurrying to her side, helping her up. "It's alright. I got you. You okay?" I asked her. Out of my peripherals, I could see the rest of both mine and Draco's siblings stirring, plus Draco's mother, while my own mom was also awake, watching over the group, but it appeared our fathers were gone.
"I'm alright, Sai." She said, with a smile. "Thank you."
"Any time, my love." I said, winking at her.
Emberlynn got up on her feet and started to look around. "Does anyone knows where we are? This doesn't look like Kansas to me." She asked.
Nightshade rolled his eyes. "We weren't in Kansas to begin with." He said.
"Either way, we should work on figuring out where we are." Katana said as she helped Draco to his feet.
"Your father and Ebon went off to find the nearest town and gather some information. They'll be back soon." Shizune explained.
"Well, they wasted their time. A wagon's coming right now. We could ask them. Wait, a wagon?!" Kinshiro said as indeed a wagon being pulled by a horse approached.
"Hey, get out of the road!" One of the men on the wagon said.
"Or, maybe they'll just be rude bastards that need their asses kicked!" Nightshade snapped.
"To be fair, we are in the middle of the road." Katana said, moving to the side.
Suddenly a large beast emerged out of the ground in front of them. "I-It's an Earth Dragon!" One of the men screamed.
"Huh. Doesn't look like any dragon I've ever seen. Oh well, I got this." I said, readying a fireball.
But then, Nisha flew past us, armed with a blood sword and cut off the right arm of the now named Earth Dragon. "I'll be your opponent." She said, with the creature turning it's attention towards her and gave out a roar before it's attempt to harm her. Nisha then disappeared via afterimage, then appeared above it, chucking both blood spears in its eyes, making the monster roar out in pain. "And now, to end you!" She said, now armed with both swords, as began hacking up the creature piece by piece to the point where it's blood is all over her.
I was in awe at this, gazing at the carnage with stars in my eyes. "That was beautiful." I said breathlessly.
"Impressive indeed." Katana agreed.
"That was incredible, kid!" One of the men said as they ran up.
"You took down a Class 1 danger beast all by yourself!" The other one said.
"Aww, man! I was gonna do that!" Some brown haired kid said with a pout, slouching in disappointment. (Tatsumi, obviously)
"It's not much of a complication. That thing hardly put up a fight." Nisha said, as she blood of creature disappeared into her by the effect of her blood powers. "But I am humbled by your praises." She said, as bowed and looked over at me. "Glad you enjoyed the show, Sai." Then she winked at me.
"Be still, my beating heart..." I whispered quietly with a hand over my heart.
"Good work, Nisha." Luna said, then she looked over at Emberlynn. "Emberlynn, be a dear and dispose of it's corpse."
"Yes, mother." She complied, as she engulfed the chunks of the beast's corpse with her black fire.
"The thing never stood a chance. If anything, it should be jobber class!" Draco said.
"Hell yeah!" I said, before turning to the guys with the cart and the boy with the sword. "So, where you guys headed?" I asked.
"Well, I'm heading to the Capital to join the imperial guard. The name's Tatsumi! Remember it, because soon, I'll be famous at the capital!" The kid said.
"For some reason, I have the unrelenting urge to AVOID the capital." Nightshade said, likely because he wanted to avoid the idiot kid.
"Nothing ever good comes from anything with the word 'imperial in it." Katana said suspiciously.
"Look, kid; the imperial capital isn't some perfect dreamland. Sure it's the big city, but it's overrun by monsters even more vicious than the Earth Dragon that was killed just minutes ago" One of the men said.
"I don't get it. How can the city be full of Danger Beasts?" Tatsumi asked.
"What up with the name, 'Danger Beast'? Is 'Caution Creature' taken?" Draco jokingly asked.
I chuckled at this. "That's a good one." I said.
"Not those monsters. They're humans, but with the hearts of monsters! Damn place is crawling with 'em!" The other man said.
"Sounds like a city filled with corruption." Shizune said.
"That's exactly what it is ma'am. Even powerful as you all appear, I suggest you steer clear." The wagon driver said.
"So that means we totally gotta go." I groaned, knowing we'd surely have to root out this corruption.
Tatsumi simply smirked at this. "Thanks for the warning, guys, but there's no way I'm gonna turn around and go back now. You see, me and my friends, we have a mission. To make a fortune and save our village..." He said dramatically, looking to the heavens.
"No one cares, kid. Go home. You're gonna get yourself killed in a place like this." Nightshade said as the Blades and Bloodgraves headed down the road to the city.
"I wonder how our dads are doing?" Draco said.
They're probably at the capital waiting for us. Probably so we can discuss how we're gonna take out the corruption before we go back home." I said, annoyed.
"It's our duty, little brother. If we find some-one-or-thing making humans suffer, we destroy it." Katana said dutifully.
"Yes. Such evil must be eradicated." Nisha added.
"I mean, I'm all for eradicating evil, but I usually like to know where I am first." I said. as we continued on.
After a short time, we finally reached the city. "Alright, then. We're here." I said.
"Excellent. I assume the trip wasn't too difficult?" My father asked, walking up to us along with Ebon.
"No problem. There was this strange monster the locals called a "Danger Beast", but it was no danger to US." Nightshade said.
"You made it sounds like you took it out." I said, annoyed.
"'Danger Beast'? I suppose 'Caution Creature' had been lay hold of?" Ebon quipped.
"I know, right, pops?! That's what I asked!" Draco laughed.
"So, what have you two figured out in the time you were here?" Shizune asked.
"Oh, but first, we already know this place is a den of corruption, so you can skip that part." I added.
"Good. It would appear that this corruption stems from the Prime Minister. There is an Emperor of this city, but he is a mere child. So the Prime Minister manipulates and controls the boy, making him believe that doing what the Minister says will make the people happy. So we need not destroy the Emperor, but merely the Prime Minister." My father explained.
"Sounds easy enough." Katana said.
"Anything else?" Luna asked.
"We've been hearing the name 'Night Raid.'" Ebon said.
"Night Raid?" Emberlynn asked.
"From what we've heard, they're a team of assassins who help the Revolutionary Army's efforts to overthrow the corrupt prime minister." Ebon explained.
"A team of assassins? Sounds like our kind of team, eh, Sai?" Draco asked, looking over at me.
"Yeah, sounds like people we could get along with. I wonder if they have any female assassins on their team?" I ask slyly.
"I get first dibs on one of them if they were." He said, grinning perversely beneath his mask.
"Fine by me." I say.
"They only strike at night, so I say we find ourselves a place to lie low, then we introduce ourselves to this Night Raid team." My father said.
"Right!" The rest of the Blades agreed. The Bloodgraves simply nodded.
So, we simply waited in the woods just outside of the city until the last traces of sunlight fade. "It's time. Split ups into groups of 2... except one group will need to take on 3. Perhaps Emberlynn should go with her parents. If you find them, call the others. Do not try to start a fight with them, but if they attack first, feel free to defend yourself." My father said.
"Yes, sir." Emberlynn said.
"Alright. Let's go!" I said as we split into the 5 teams: Emberlynn, Ebon and Luna, Ryu and Shizune, Nightshade and Kinshiro, Katana and Nisha, then finally, Draco and I. We jumped across several rooftops throughout the city, before finally spotting something. "Hold up!" I said, bringing Draco to a stop, the two of us looking at a few buildings ahead, noticing a tall, blonde girl. "That's one of them. From the posters we saw, I'm guessing that's the Leone woman." I said.
"Yeah~" Draco said, ogling over her. "I think I'm gonna get along with her juuust fine."
"Like what you see?" A voice behind us said. I spun around and drew Ouroboros, locking blades with a girl with long black hair and lovely red eyes, blocking an attack from her menacing sword that would've otherwise cut Draco's head clean off.
"Well, I'm certainly liking what I see." I said with a slight purr, pushing her back. "I've seen your poster, too. Akame, was it?" I asked. "You know, that poster doesn't do you justice. You're much more beautiful in person." I said. (BTW, Akame will be 20 in this story rather than in her teens.)
"Well, guess I'll just leave you two well acquainted. I'll go ahead and get to know baby girl over there." Draco said, pointing at Leone before leaving.
"No need. I'll come to you." Leone says flirtatiously, appearing behind Draco.
"Ohohoh. This is gonna be a beginning of a beautiful relationship." Said Draco, smoothly as he turns towards the blonde. "Names Draco, babe. And my friend here and I are looking forward working alongside with you fine ladies." He said, winking at her.
"Oh... You wanna join up with Night Raid, huh? Well, you got guts, then. But you got any skills to back it up?" Leone asks, taking a fighting stance.
"Uhh... Is this really necessary? We're here to team up, we don't want to fight." I said.
"We appreciate the offer, but if you can't fight, you're no used to us. Fight or die. The choice is yours." Akame said, taking up her stance.
"I guess we don't have a choice this time, buddy." I said, taking my own stance.
"I know. But I do love a woman who can kick my ass." Draco said, assuming his fight stance.
Background Music: "Fight Back" by Neffex
We jumped down to the streets below, before Akame rushed in and we repeatedly locked blades. I was stronger, but her strength was nothing to sneeze at. And she was fast. She blocked or dodged most of my attacks with little effort and found plenty of openings to strike back, but fortunately I was just as fast and blocked or countered her strikes just as well as she did mine. She came in for a stab, but I blocked it and turned my sword and body sideways to deflect her attack, causing her to harmlessly pass by me, so she was now behind me and went for a slash to my back, but I brought my sword behind my back to block the attack and kick her in the stomach, sending her sliding back about 10 feet. "Not bad." She said.
"Oh, I'm just getting started." I said.
"So am I!" She said, rushing in, the two of us trading blows once again, before she managed to break through my attacks and tried to stab me, only for the blade to stop at my trench coat. "What?! That's impossible!" She demanded, although I simply smirked and didn't answer. "Fine. Then my next strike will take off your head!" She snapped, rushing in.
"Here I come!" Leone shouted, charging in to throw a punch at Draco, but he blocked it and attempted a judo throw, but she landed on a fours. She rushes at the blood demon once more with a flurry of punches and kicks, but each strikes were blocked and parried by him until Draco knocked her back flying towards the wall of a building with a hard kick. "Gotta admit, you can hit hard." She complimented.
"Trust me, hun; that ain't the only thing HARD right now." Draco said, chuckles perversely.
"Okay, now I gotta hurt you for that!" She said, rushing in, ready to attack. Although had a goofy grin on her face, so she obviously thought it was funny.
Draco held out his right hand and fired his blood bolts at the charging blonde, but then she activated some sort of belt-like object that gave her cat-like features and her hair grew longer and she was able to avoid the barrage of blood bolts. "I see kitty got claws. Meow." Draco said, ending with a cat-like motion.
"You like it? It's my Imperial Arms, Lionelle." She said. "Grants me enhanced speed, reflexes, strength, and regeneration."
"That's cool." Draco said, smirking. "This is getting interesting." He said, charging in with blood knives in between each fingers on both hands and chucked them at blonde, but she effortlessly dodged them with her increased reflexes before she went airborne went to punch Draco, who backflipped out the way into a blood portal and that punch she made created a small crater. She then noticed Draco wasn't in front of her. She tried sniffing him out, but Draco appeared behind her, wrapping his arm around and lifted her over, trying to suplex the blonde, but his attempt got denied when she landed on both feet. Draco went for the back fist, but got staggered by Leone's punch to the jaw. Leone went to take advantage of the staggered demon, but the latter stunned her with a headbutt and sent her flying with a uppercut shouting "Shoryuken!" and used his blood teleportation, appearing in front of the airborne blonde with his arms wrapped around her neck and forced her face first onto the ground, knocking her out. "For those who don't follow pro wrestling, this move I did to Leone is called a jumping cutter, or the RKO. Just type in RKO on YouTube. It's easier that way." He said, to the fourth wall.
Back with Akame and I, we traded blows once again, before I ducked and spun under her next strike, sweeping her legs out from under her and delivering an elbow to her before she hit the ground, knocking her back a ways. She got up with a determined glare, rushing in and striking at all different levels in an attempt to trip me up, before landing a solid knee to my chest, staggering me back and forcing me to bend forward slightly, holding my chest in pain, allowing her to rush in and deliver a kick to my face, sending me back into a wall. "You're finished!" She said as she attempted to decapitate me with the sword again.
But before she could behead me, I vanished and reappeared behind her, striking at her, but like I had done before, she put her sword behind her back and blocked the attack, spinning around and trying to strike at me again. We traded a few more blows and she even landed round kick to my head, forcing my back to her, but this set me up for a rear kick to her stomach, knocking her off her feet and onto her back. She reached for her sword ad attempted to get up once more, but I was already at her neck with my own sword. "Stop. It's over." I told her.
End Music
Akame looked up at me as I stood over her, before I offered her a helping hand up. "Here." I said, getting her back to her feet.
"Thank you." She said.
"Well it looks like we passed our audition, huh?" Draco asked, getting Leone back to her feet.
"Yup. No doubt you guys can hold your own in a fight." The blonde answered, deactivating her Imperial Arms.
"Alright, then. So now, I suggest we regroup with the rest of the team before heading back to base." Akame said.
"We'll also need to gather the rest of our families." I added.
"That won't be necessary, son." My dad said from behind us, the 4 of us turning around to see the rest of the Blades, Bloodgraves and Night Raid standing behind us.
"I see you all got well acquainted." Ebon said.
"Yup. You can say that again, pops." Draco said.
"And while you all were fighting, we managed to find and take out the targets. Mission complete." Mine said.
"Well, that ties that up quickly and easily." I said with a satisfied nod.
"Alright, then. It's time to head back to our base, then. I need a good rest after that fight. And we'll have to prepare for tomorrow's attack." Akame said.
"Sounds good. After the crazy day we've had, we could use a good night's sleep ourselves." I said.
"Can't argue with that." Draco said as he shook his head.
"Alright, then. Let's go." Akame said, Night Raid leading us back to their base. So, we returned with them to their base for a good night sleep and to plan the next course of action.
The next night, in a large mansion, a woman smiled as she walked down the hallway with a journal in hand. "Well, well. Now I can add another entry to my diary!" She giggled to herself. "What an addicting little hobby this is." She said happily, before she was suddenly sliced in half by a long spear, wielded by a woman with long purple hair in a dress, Sheele, who swung the spear to rid it of the blood, looking at the body in front of her.
"I'm sorry." She said with a bow.
"Don't apologize to a monster like her. You had every right to kill scum like her." Shizune said, walking up behind her.
Meanwhile, in a room not far away, Tatsumi woke up as he heard a disturbance. "What was that?! Trouble..." He said, jumping out of bed to investigate, thinking of the wanted posters he saw in town earlier today. "There's no way..." He said to himself, before stopping at a window, seeing Night Raid in front of the window, suspended in the air by a series of wires. "It's them..." He said, before noticing the people with them. "And the Blades and Bloodgraves! Why are they with criminals like them!?" He wondered. "What are they doing here?! I can only assume they targeted this family because they're rich." He said, noticing the guards deploying. "What should I do? Help the guards fight? Or protect the family?" He wondered.
Outside with us, we looked down at the guards. "Hey, Akame, those 3 guards are targets, too." Lubbock said.
"I'll deal with the small fries. You can have fun with the main prize." I said, dropping from the wires and in front of the soldiers, along with Bulat.
"Who's that guy!? I've never seen him before. He must be a new recruit." One of the guards said.
"New to Night Raid, but definitely not new to taking a life." I said with a smirk.
"Who cares! He's here to kill Lady Aria and her family and we won't let him!" The leader of the guards shouted, rushing in and swinging at me, but I easily caught the wrist of his sword arm with my left hand, stopping his attack, holding my right hand open and out in front of him, a small fireball forming, giving him just enough time to scream before a jet of blue fire (the hottest and most oxygen rich) erupted forward and instantly cremated him, leaving only his arm and sword left in my hand. Meanwhile, Bulat roared and flung his spear forward, impaling the next guard.
"Who the hell are these monsters?! No!" The last guard screamed in terror, running away, only to be shot in the head by Mine.
"Not much of a bodyguard if he's just gonna run away." She said.
"Yeah, I think anyone would probably run from that." Lubbock said beside her.
Back at the window, Tatsumi backed away in fear. "They were wiped out... In seconds." He said, running down the hall. "I have to find Miss Aria!" He said determinedly.
In another hall, we see Draco and Leone, the latter holding Aria's father by the throat. "Please, spare me! Please! I have a little girl!" He pleaded.
"It's okay. You won't for much longer." Leone said.
"She's right, ya know." Draco said, leaning against the window with his arms folded.
"No! Please, don't kill her! I beg you, have mercy on us!" He pleaded.
"For scumbags such as you and family? I don't think she can ." Draco said.
"Mercy? I'm not sure I'm familiar with the word!" Leone said, snapping his neck.
"Hah. That bastard got what's coming to him." Draco said, as he gets out of the leaning position.
Meanwhile, in the forest, one of the last remaining guards ran with Aria to a large shed. "Hurry, milady! This way!" He told her.
"What's happening!?" She asked.
"Just get to the shed for now. You'll be safe there." He told her.
"There you are!" Tatsumi said, the two of them turning to see him panting with his hands on his knees from chasing after them.
"Tatsumi?" Aria asked.
"Okay, great, you made it. I'll hide the young lady and wait for the guards. See what you can do to stall the enemy until then." The guard instructed.
Tatsumi flinched at this. "You really expect me to take on-!" He started, before flinching again as Akame and I landed behind him. "Well, looks like it's too late to complain!" He said, drawing his sword.
Look, kid, you don't want to do this..." I told him as Akame rushed at him.
"You're not a target!" She said, catching him off-guard, allowing her to jump on his head and leap behind him, looking at Aria and the guard. "You are!" She said.
"Dammit!" The guard snapped, firing a machine gun at her, but she easily dodged and closed in on him.
"You're done." She said, dodging a few bullets point blank and slicing him in half.
"Oh... I'm in love for the... 10th time." I said with hearts in my eyes.
Aria fell back on her ass as Akame approached her, preparing to take her out. "You deserve this." She told the girl.
"Hold it right there!" Tatsumi shouted, swinging his sword at Akame, but I appeared in between them, catching the blade of his sword with my hand and delivering a leopard punch to his stomach, knocking him face first to the ground.
"I already told you, kid. You don't want this fight. You back off, we kill her and everyone who's still alive goes on their merry way." I said.
"Exactly. I told you, you're not a target. You don't have to die." Akame said.
"Yeah, well, I can't just let you murder a helpless little girl!" He said.
"Mm-hmm." Akame and I said simply together at the same time with rather deadpanned expressions.
"Well, I'm not just gonna back down now!" He said, preparing himself.
I rolled my eyes at this. "Why don't you take care of the girl, Akame? I'll deal with him." I said, stepping towards Tatsumi.
"Very well." She agreed, going after Aria, who backed herself up to the shed, trying to sneak insider.
"Leave her alone!" Tatsumi snapped, trying to run past me, but I hit him with a round kick, sending him back into a tree. He grunted in pain as he struggled to stay on his feet and stood back upright. "Why are you doing this?! You were gonna save those guys before from danger beasts before your girlfriend beat you to it, now you're helping assassins kill some poor, innocent family!?" He demanded.
"Not everything in this world is black and white, kid. There's a grey area. And in that grey area is a lot of darkness. You can't take anything at face value. This girl was nice and offered you a home, but that doesn't make up for the horrible things she's done already and will probably do to you." I said.
"Yeah, right! Look at her! She wouldn't hurt a fly!" Tatsumi snapped, rushing in at me, swinging his sword, but I simply leaned back and caught him in the stomach with a front snap kick, dropping him to his knees. "If I can't save one little girl, I'll never save my whole village!" He snapped, trying to swing at me again.
"Enough." I said, drawing and stabbing him with Ouroboros, but it felt like I hit something, so I pulled back.
He smirked at this, pulling out some shrine-looking thing. "I guess the Elders were looking out for me." He said.
"Lucky. But luck always runs out." I said, preparing to strike again.
"Yo, Sai, hold up!" Draco said, Akame also stopping just before her blade hit Aria's neck.
"Huh? What is it?" I asked.
"Draco! You're here, too?! Why are you doing this?!" He demanded.
"Oh, hey, it's Tatsumaki! What's up, man?" He asked.
"Tatsumaki?! It's Tatsumi, you jerk! If you're here to kill innocent people, at least get their names right!" He snapped.
"I would... If they were innocent." Draco said, dramatically.
"So, what'd you stop me for?" I asked.
"We've got some time left and I owe this guy a favor. I'm pretty sure he'd like to cash it in now." Leone said with a wink.
Tatsumi was surprised by this, before that surprise turned to fury as he recognized her. "Hey, you're the girl with the boobs!" He snapped.
"Yep! That's what they call me!" Leone said with a giggle.
"And they're MY boobs, so don't get any ideas, buddy!" Draco said, earning him a fist slamming down on his head from Leone, but she still smiled and giggled a bit.
"Look, earlier, you were concerned we were here to innocent people. I think you'll see things differently when you find out what's behind that door." Leone said, busting the doors off their hinges, walking into the shed, Tatsumi and the rest of us following. "Here it is. Welcome to the capital, kid." She said.
Tatsumi was shocked as he saw dozens of people hanged or brutally tortured and countless horribly sick-looking people in cages throughout the large shed. "What is all this?" He asked.
"We learned that they fancied picking up out of town newcomers from the countryside and then tortured them to death for their own sick, twisted entertainment. That's the reality of this poor, innocent, happy little family." Leone said angrily at the end.
"Oh, my gods. We're DEMONS and we don't do stuff this messed up." I said to Draco.
"That's for damn sure. We have a better moral compass than these sick fucks of a family." Draco said.
Meanwhile, Tatsumi noticed the dead girl in the very front and center of the room, bruised and beaten all to hell, hanging from the ceiling by her shackled arms. "Sayo... No way... That's Sayo..." He said, horrified.
"Did you know that girl?" Leone asked as Aria started to sneak away.
"Oh, man, THAT'S... FUCKED UP." Draco said.
"I mean, our parents can PROBABLY fix all this, but that doesn't make it any less horrible." I said, looking away from the carnage. "I mean seriously, I burn people to death and it's never as bad as this..." I said with a shiver.
Aria got a few feet away, before Leone grabbed her. "Oopsie! You didn't really think we were through with you yet, did you, sweetie pie?" Leone asked.
"These people... They really did all this?" Tatsumi asked.
"Afraid so." Draco said in a serious tone.
"That's right and they're guards are just as guilty for keeping it hidden." Leone said.
"She's lying! I had no idea any of this was going on! Who would you believe!? These murderers, or the one who saved you?!" Aria demanded.
"Tat...su...mi... Is that... Is it you? It's me..." A weak, raspy voice said from the left.
Tatsumi turned in horror to see his other best friend. "I-Ieyasu!" Tatsumi said in horror.
"She invited us to stay at her house. She gave us something to eat and then everything went black. Then we woke up here. And then that girl... That girl tortured Sayo to death!" Ieyasu said, dropping to his knees.
Draco turns to Aria, giving her a cold glare. "Anymore lies you want to spew out?" He asked.
"Fine! Fine, so I did it, okay?!" Aria said, snapping and pulling away from Leone. Suddenly, the girl's true colors were revealed as she shouted out her heinous beliefs. "These trash are just worthless filth! They're nothing but- but- LIVESTOCK for me to use as I see fit! Garbage like her doesn't have the right to such beautiful hair! Mine is always giving me trouble, so I treated her EXTRA SPECIAL! She should be honored I gave her so much attention! UNGRATEFUL PIIIIIG!" She screamed.
"Sayo... No..." Tatsumi said, falling to knees and forearms at what he just heard, the fate of his friend and the massive mindrape he just experienced, a girl he thought was so innocent and took him off the streets was a merciless torturer and killer who mutilated one of his best friends and was still torturing the other..
"Okay, honey. We don't want to interrupt your little tantrum here, but you are kind of disturbing." Leone said.
"I'll kill her." Akame said.
"No... Someone this despicable deserves something just as horrible as what they've done. And I'm just the guy for that." I said, walking up to Aria, grabbing her by the neck and lifting her off the ground. "The fires of Hell await you, but I think you deserve a sample before you get to the main course." I said, red firing coming from my hand and engulfing her. Much like how blue fire burns the hottest, the redder the flame, the lower the temperature, so Aria was slow-cooking in my grasp, screaming as the flames completely covered her, at which point I let go, the girl frantically running around and struggling to put out the fire on her, before succumbing to the burns and dropping to the ground, dead.
"TOASTY!" Draco said. "But all seriousness, good riddance to that bitch. Glad she got what she deserves." He added.
Ieyasu laughed weakly as Tatsumi freed him from his cell and laid him on the ground as my parents walked up. "Thank you. I needed to see that." He said.
"Ieyasu! No..." Tatsumi said as he looked over his wounds.
"It's the Lubora virus. The mother enjoyed poisoning people with different medicines. She even kept a diary detailing different people's reactions. It's too late for him." Akame explained.
"It would be... Unless of course a demon who could manipulate blood removed the impurities." I said, looking at Draco.
"Alright. Time to fulfill my role as a white mage." He joked, as he walked over to Ieyasu before he gets down on one knee. "Let's see what I can do." He said, as he placed his hand above his mouth. "You may want to look away." He said to Tatsumi, as he manipulated the infected blood out of his mouth.
"You certain this would work?" Asked Akame, while Tatsumi nearly puking.
"Positive. My mother actually taught me this technique." Draco said, as he finished. "And now, we wait for a few."
At first, nothing seemed to happen, but with a huge gasp of air, Ieyasu was suddenly revived. "Thank you..." A now fully recovered Ieyasu said, to which Draco nodded. Him and Tatsumi then looked up at Sayo. "You should know, Tatsumi, that Sayo never did break. She was incredible." He said.
"I know... She was amazing." Tatsumi agreed.
"And she will be again." My mother said, creating a pair of skeletal hands that opened Sayo's restraints and laid her on the ground in front of my mom as she knelt down, placing a hand on Sayo's stomach and forehead. "Spirits from beyond the grave, hear and obey me, return the soul of this young girl, lost too soon, so she may be given a second chance at life anew." She chanted, a spirit rising from the ground and spiraling around the two, before entering Sayo's body, which glowed a brilliant white, before fading, all of her injuries vanishing.
Sayo groaned a bit, before sitting up. "What..? What happened?" She asked.
"Sayo!" Tatsumi and Ieyasu said together, tackling the girl, hugging her and laughing.
"Whoa, guys! What the hell?!" She demanded.
"Bringing people back from the dead. We really hit the jackpot recruiting you guys." Leone said.
"Back from the dead!? I was dead?!" Sayo asked, looking at herself, before screaming as she realized. "I'M NAKED! Get off me, you pervs!" She said, pushing her friends away and covering herself.
"Yeah, I got this one. CLOTHES BEAM!" I announced, firing a beam at her, putting her in a black dress with matching boots. "That is EASILY my most metro attack." I said.
My father smiled at this, before handing each of the three a large sack of gold coins. "Here, this should be more than enough to save your village. Go back home where it's safe." He said.
"Thank you... So much... I don't know how we'll ever repay you." Tatsumi said.
"Repay us by living your life. That's all." I said.
"The mission is now complete. We're heading back." Akame said.
"Right." They all agreed.
"See you, Satsumi!" Draco said, before we all did that Naruto jump and vanish thing.
"It's Tatsumi!" He shouted after us, but still smiled as he looked into the distance we left in, wondering and hoping that he'd see us again someday.
We regrouped with the rest of Night Raid, the Bloodgraves and the Blades and I put an arm around both Akame's and Nisha's shoulders. "Well, we may be stuck here for a bit, but we've certainly got good company and plenty of work ahead of us to pass the time. It's a shame we don't have Dante's sword with us, though... Because it's time for some rebellion, baby!" I said.
All people must one day turn to ash, so too, must nations fall to ruin. Despite the capital's wealth and prosperity, it has become mired in corruption. The pompous and the vile run rampant throughout the city. These demons are beyond salvation and are therefor silenced in the darkness by an Elite group of assassin!
(Now doesn't that make SO much more sense at the END of the episode, after we've SEEN the evil and corruption, not the beginning when we're just figuring out what's going on? Anyway, hope you liked it. Thanks to Draco for working with me on this and we'll get the next chapter out as soon as possible!)
