In the Hands of Young Chôjin

By Son Rhandi

Chapter 09: "Red Rain"

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1945 ends the second World War,

Price of it heavy like the weight on your heart.

Death you promote with the skull on your cap.

Alemán, you're gonna suffer like nothing else…

Jade had already entered the city of Berlin. He stood outside the city gate, hunching over and breathing heavily, his clothes drenched from the torrent up above. He made it… He finally made it… Suddenly, the clock in the town square began to chime. A new hour tolled, but which? He didn't have time to check. Jade made a beeline through town, stampeding down the old cobblestone streets to reach his Herr Blocken. Despite what Bloody Arms might have thought, this was no game. This was life and death. A minute lost could mean a life lost. He couldn't die. Blocken wouldn't die, not that old man whom he'd come to respect as his trainer and love as if he were his father. No one would take that away from him.

He turned the door handle. It's open… Jade's felt a chill run down his spine. Blocken ran a tight ship. The doors and windows were locked at all times. For the front door to be unlocked, and at night… "Master Blocken!!"

The house was black and silent. Dare he say dead silent… Jade entered, keeping his wits about him. They could be anywhere in the house, if they were indeed there, those atrocious Bloody Arms men. He made it to the stairs in one piece, and scaled up them, checking his coach's bedroom. It hadn't been touched since it had been made that morning. None of the lights were on upstairs… Had he left for the night? If so, it could have been viewed as either a good thing or a bad thing. Sighing, the young man felt about for the light switch, and flipped it on.

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Of all the days it could have rained…

And of all the times Jade could have decided to run off…

They'd overslept, Gazelle, Mantaro, and Checkmate. Mantaro was the first to be up and the first to notice that they were short one person. The other two were up and they were off. Gazelle figured he probably had a good hour on them, at most, so they ran the whole way through, past the morning, past noon, past the evening and into the night, running in time with the pounding of their hearts.

"Ease up..! I see it..!" Gazelle said between breaths. "Come on..! Just… a bit farther..!"

Once they arrived, it occurred to them that not a one of them knew where Blocken lived..! Damn, why did Jade have to take off? "Come on!" Gazelle Man began knocking door to door in hopes of getting some info. He had learned some simple German speak, probably during his schooling days. "Hallo? Hallo?" He called, trying to recall his lessons. The men banged on door after door, hoping that just one person would answer them, hoping one good fellow would help them out. Finally, after much trying, someone finally opened a door for them. "Ja..? Aah! Ist es Gazelle Man! Und Checkmate und Mantaro, auch! Willkommen!"

"Speaken… Er… Sprechen Sie Englisch?"

"Ja… A little.."

"Can you tell us where Blocken, Jr. lives? It's very important."

"Oh, Herr Blocken! Vell, he ist living in za big houze down za road dere. Za houze namber ist 201."

"Danke schoen! Come on!"

They made haste in the direction the man pointed out to theme, their bodies burning in the cold rain. Angry didn't even come close to describing Gazelle Man at that point. His was furious. They were practically there, they were all right there… Then Jade suddenly got it in him to take off before the rest of them awoke... Damn him! This isn't the time to go rushing in blindly!

"Gazelle!" Mantaro shouted, pointing to a dwelling ahead of them. "That's the house over there! 201, right?"

Sure enough. The house that man described was in full view, rusty Arabic numerals 2-0-1 mounted on the door. They leapt the stoop, the crimson stag first to wrap his hand around the knob. The door swung open and in they ran. "Jade?!"

Their only answer was soft, male sobbing. Gazelle's ears shifted left, toward the staircase, at its bottom, Blocken, Jr.. All three young men breathed sighs of relief, but was it he who was crying. The muscle prince approached. "Blocken..? Oh…… Oh, no…"

The old man buried his face in the crook of Jade's neck, putting a cheek to his rhythmless chest and wept, his water mixing with the boy's blood and dancing to stain both their skins. Between his sobs, they could make out something about him going to the store-- the liquor store judging by the broken bottle of Cognac beside him-- and returning to find this… The spear tip pierced his heart. He'd been shot through the back in that old familiar tactic of Blood Arms. "Why…?" Blocken asked the sky. "Why my boy..?"

The old Legend was inconsolable, barely seeming to notice the others' presence. Life had been so terrible until Jade showed up, and for the first time since they defeated the dMp and its Akuma Chôjin, he could put down his wino ways and be happy. Fighting was all he knew, fighting was all he could do. He loved the boy as if he were his son. He actually started to believe his was his son. It wasn't fair. Parents weren't supposed to outlive their children…

Mantaro could only look up him, brokenhearted, but Checkmate was furious. "Is this how it's done?!" He roared. "Show thyselves! SHOW THYSELVES!!" His shouts echoed through the house.

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"That's enough of this. Let's put the old man out of his misery. And don't screw up this time. There's only one spear left."

"I got trigger happy. So sue me. Don't worry. I've got a clear shot. This time, his head comes off."

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Gazelle Man breathed a heavy sigh. There was no discernable emotion spread 'cross his face as he knelt beside the old man. "Blocken…"

And that was all she wrote. He was the only one who could have heard it, the reloading of their gun. Jade Jade been murdered, albeit a case a of mistaken identity, and so, the promise to Crione Man had been broken. And come to find that the Bloody Arms boys had stuck around to try again… Hercules needed instructors, Blocken needed to be protected, so what was his life in the matter, anyway? As soon as the shot rang, he threw himself in front of Blocken, that Gazelle, the impartial spear penetrating his heart in an echo of Jade's murder. His body, on its knees, wobbled for a bit, then fell forward, landing on the fist and driving it in deeper. Mantaro and Checkmate gathered around him, the king propping his back up with his arm.

"You knew of this, didn't you..?" Check began, abandoning his olde English speak for the time being.

The buck chuckled. "Yeah, that's why I talked… with you last night… I figured… It wouldn't matter, anyway…"

"Gazelle, don't die!" Mantaro cried, his eyes already brimming over with saltwater.

"Now's… not the time for… tears, Mantaro… Get Blocken to Hercule… Uck…" Gazelle Man threw up blood and began to sputter. His beautiful, black eyes rolled back into his head and he exhaled, as if to signal his release from that life.

"Gazelle..? Gazelle Man?!" Mantaro shook him violently, but he wouldn't be waking up, not for him, not for anyone he left behind. The muscle prince covered his eyes with a single gloved hand and choked back a sob. Checkmate laid down the buck's body gently and rose to stand. Jade's death had been the dynamite, and in taking Gazelle's life, those bastards just lit the fuse. The trajectory of the spear fist, the shooter had to be before him on the second level.

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"Shit. We better peel out of here."

"The boss isn't going to like this…"

"Hm? Hey, what's that Checkmate guy doing?"

They found out soon enough. In one breathtaking stunt, the chess set wrestler bounded the banister and kicked to the top of the second level's guardrail. Though the light was dim, he could make out those painfully familiar faces of Hoffman and Rhodes.

"Murderers…" Checkmate growled, backed by ungodly rage. "I won't forgive you!!"

Enraged, the king rushed the two. Hoffman slipped into a well-timed portal, leaving his rooster buddy to fend for himself. He caught the bird by surprise and plowed him into the adjoining wall, that Checkmate. Red Island Rhodes managed to shove the king away and leapt to the first level. That sort of thing was no great shakes for Check, who simply gave chase to the outside.

The rain was weighing him down, that giant rooster, his plumage was swelling with water, making it difficult to get good speed. Running wasn't his strong suit to begin with, but the inclement weather made things ten times worse for him. But, of course, one man's loss is another's gain as Check was closing in and closing in fast. Once the gap was closed, the king tackled Rhodes to the hard, cold street. Rhodes tried for dear life to scramble away, but Checkmate slammed him to the ground again, flipping him around so that their eyes met. The king took a fistful of drenched feathers and pulled the rooster up by his chest, then sent his free fist crashing into his face.

The rooster gave a broken cry as Checkmate's fists pummeled his face again and again, to the point of splitting his nose. "Stop!!"

"Would you?!" He moved to send a pile of knuckles to his mouth, knocking out a good three teeth and jarring loose many others. Blood began pouring out of the oral orifice, his eyes clenched shut from the pain.

Checkmate wasn't done, though. Far from it. This time, he clutched the bright red crest on Rhodes's head and turned his body to face the cobblestone again. Mercilessly, the king slammed his forehead into the street with all his power, breaking the skin (and hopefully cracking skull) and deep down, enjoying his enemy's blood spilling from it.

"Please, don't kill me…"

"How dare you!!" He slammed his head again. "You dare plead for your life to me?! After killing Jade--" Slam. "and Gazelle--" Slam. "and especially Master Sunshine?!" The rooster just wept, his face drenched in blood.

Don't be hateful, don't be angry.

Gazelle Man's words came to him clear as day. At this point, he was no better than the person he was beating to death. He hadn't felt such rage since his days in the dMp. But this guy… he killed Jade and Gazelle… He saw the gun in his hands. He pulled the trigger. It would be so easy just to switch to Knight and trample him or to Rook and crush his skull. So why…?

Checkmate released his grips on the dirty bird. He stood over him imposingly and said in a quiet, angry voice: "Death is too good for you. Leave here, but I swear, if you come back to bother us, I'll kick your chest till your heart explodes."

Rhodes didn't look back. He took off, heavy feathers and all down the street, just thankful to be alive.

The king headed back to Blocken's house with mixed emotions. He'd felt no sort of attachment to Gazelle Man, even though he had begun friendship ties with him and the others of the New Generation some weeks ago. Maybe it was because they'd just talked the night before, or maybe it was the sad look in his eyes before he approached his death. Whatever the case, Blocken was saved and that was the important thing, wasn't it..? Even if his friends died, they were only doing as Justice Chôjin should, right..?

Checkmate dropped to his knees. It was so unfair. Why was everyone dying like this..? What did any one of them do to deserve these actions against them..? "We could have been friends… We could have been… the very best of friends……" It was uncertain whether the water streaming down his face was rain or tears, but either way, after all these years, even after all the training to abandon feelings in the negative, he roared out his sadness to the sobbing clouds above.