Good afternoon folks! Here's the 5th chapter!
I gotta say, I'm really happy with all the questions and reviews I'm getting. I was afraid this was never going to get off the ground!
I'm also surprised that a lot of people have been asking me for a flashback chapter of what happened at the Capital. Well, ask and ye shall receive, I plan on doing just that somewhere down the road! But be patient!
Review time!
SulliMike23: Read on and find out!
Wayward Son: Due to certain plot points I don't want to reveal yet, I can't answer those but thanks for asking anyway.
Guest #1: Night Raid will meet the Ultrabots Eventually.
Thaqif: While I understand your reaction to Makoto's death; it's actually quick and painless if you think about it.
Believe it or not, I was originally planning to make Exdor the villain but when you look at him, he doesn't really come off as a bad guy. So I decided to make him identical to his canon counterpart. If he really was going to be the antagonist, then he would have to be a goofy evil scientist like Chester V from Meatballs 2 or Richmond Valentine from Kingsman and that wouldn't work in the world of Akame ga Kill. Awesome reference to DOOM though, that game is kick ass!
I won't spoil what weapons the Ultrabots wield yet but you are right on 2 of them. Concerning your interpretation about the doors, I will reveal that in an eventual flashback chapter somewhere down the road. And your right about Bols, that man deserved better.
Pyromania101: I will be doing just that sometime in the future.
Mythfan: Don't go counting her out just yet…
Junior VB: Read the chapter and you'll know!
NRG: I will be keeping the cannon pairings and you can also expect some Lubbock X Najenda but to be honest, I'm not really good at making romantic situations so forgive me if some of them feel rushed or half-assed. Some advice would really be appreciated.
Colossalblackening: Thank you for the suggestions and im glad you like my story!
Guest #2: I do plan on making several flashback chapters and you bring up a good point about Bols gasmask. I'm actually planning on looking into that more…
Red John: I will reveal his reasons for making the Ultrabots in the later chapters and thank you for reminding me about his high five gag. I had completely forgotten about it!
Akame ga Kill and Samurai Jack belong to their respective owners. I do not own either of them.
Chapter 5
Red Snow
NOTHERN TERRITORIES-1 DAY LATER
It had been a full day since Night Raid left the destroyed Capital and headed off to the north. They didn't even stop to rest, they just kept on riding. As they rode across the snow covered road to the ice capped northern mountains where the battle continued to rage on since last night, they noticed something strange. When they went to the northern gates of the Capital they saw the familiar rectangular footprints heading outside the gates. But as they travelled to the north they saw the footprints being replaced by deep indentations in the ground. It was like someone had recently rode carriages up there or rolled a bunch of boulders uphill. It only added more questions to the increasingly bizarre situation.
They traveled for hours until Najenda signaled everyone to stop. "The temperature is starting to drop. Let's take a quick break to put our winter gear on."
The team tied the horses to a nearby tree and Susanoo dug up several large coats out of his travel bag. As them team began putting on coats, gloves and snowcaps they noticed that the battle in the mountains had begun to subside until it finally stopped. It was now eerily silent, save for the wind gently blowing across the snowy ground.
"Who do you think won?" Chelsea wondered.
"Im telling you, it's obviously Esdeath." Mine huffed.
"But the ones who destroyed the Capital are probably just as strong as her so maybe they could've beaten her with superior numbers, right?" Tatsumi pondered.
"Then again, there could be they rare possibility that they both managed to kill each other." Akame pointed out.
"We'll probably never find out if we just keep standing here." Leone said.
After the team had gotten their winter clothes on, Najenda began to debrief them on their next course of action. "Guys…I know we've all fought difficult battles and skilled opponents before in the past but I'm going to tell you right now, Esdeath is on an entirely different level. Believe me when I say that she will test you to your very limits. Her strength and combat prowess are nothing to joke about; we need to be extremely cautious when engaging her. We can only hope that the fight has weakened her enough for us to-"
VWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM
Everyone looked up to see a massive tornado of black, inky smoke erupt from within the mountains it continued to climb higher and higher into the sky! It grew larger and larger as the team looked on in complete bewilderment.
"What the hell is that!?" Mine yelled.
"A tornado!? Here!? That's impossible!" Lubbock shouted.
The black cyclone continued to rise higher and higher into the air for several minutes until it eventually dissipated into nothing. Night Raid stood completely rooted on the spot; unable to make out what the hell they just saw. Najenda quickly snapped out of it and turned to her teammates. "We need to go! Now!" She barked.
The team began to quickly gather their gear and untie the horses when another sound assaulted their eardrums.
BAAAAAABLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHH
They turned around to see a geyser of water explode into the air and if that wasn't strange enough, a dark could suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the sky right over the geyser. A deep rumble emanated from the clouds before an enormous lightning bolt shot out and struck the geyser dead on!
SSHAAAAAKAAAAAAAKRRRRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMM
The geyser exploded into an enormous cloud of pure electricity, blinding Night Raid and almost deafening them. The team shut their eyes and covered their ears as the blast echoed throughout the valley. Then, all was quiet. Night Raid looked at each other in stunned silence before wordlessly mounting their horses and continuing their journey.
NORTHERN TERRITORIES-2 DAYS LATER
It would've taken several hours to get into the mountains of the north by air manta, but since they didn't have one, Night Raid had to make do with their horses. They had to rest the horses and themselves as the days went by; lucky for everyone they had plenty of camping supplies to make several tents and rest.
They traveled along the main road following the long indentations in the ground when they noticed something and stopped. A few of the tracks had gone off to the right, heading straight into the dense forest.
"It seems that some of them split up…but why?" Sheele wondered.
"I think I might have a theory." Bulat spoke up. "If this group is as dangerous as they are, then they are also very smart as well. Half of them went after Esdeath and if that smoke cloud over there is any indication, the other half must've gone after Prince Numa Seika as well." Bulat continued as he pointed to the thin trail of smoke that snaked towards the cloudy sky from the other side of the forest.
'A double pronged attack…these guys are professionals.' Najenda thought, weighing the situation heavily.
"Should we split up? We might be able to cover more ground." Akame advised.
Najenda thought hard. "No. For all we know, this group or Esdeath might be waiting for us if we do that. We'll stick together for now so let's go see if they are still alive and finish them off." She said as she signaled her team to move out.
NORTHER TERRITORIES-MAIN ROAD
(John Carpenter's The Thing soundtrack-Humanity part 1)
Night Raid continued along winding road while cautiously keeping an eye on their surroundings. The events as of late had everyone on edge and they weren't going to let anything sneak up on them. They followed the main road for several hours until they came upon a gruesome sight and stopped their horses.
Before them were dozens of slaughtered, masked Imperial solders (including a rather large one) littering the ground, all of them torn to shreds. The snow that covered the area was completely stained red. Swords, lances, shields and guns had been shattered to pieces and the bodies of multiple horses could be seen as well. The corpses of the soldiers had the same fatal wounds as the others back at the Capital. Some were crushed, cut to ribbons or blown to pieces.
Night Raid slowly got off their horses and silently walked through the snowy killing fields. The teams all had their weapons drawn and their eyes were darting around every second or so, expecting someone or something to jump out. They were all dreadfully edgy and their nerves were terribly frayed. Najenda knelt down and inspected one of the bodies. She noticed that there was a familiar looking brand on the back of the body's neck. She instantly recognized it as Esdeath's tattoo.
"There's no doubt about it, these were definitely Esdeath's elite soldiers." Najenda confirmed.
"I think these two over here might be a part of Esdeath's Beasts." She heard Leone call out. Najenda turned her head and walked over to see her team looking over two corpses. One was slumped against a pine tree and one was sprawled across the ground. They both wore an expression of agony on their faces, most likely their last moments.
The first body was a burly, heavyset male with a muscular build and spiky, blond hair. He wore a black suit and a headdress that made it look like he had horns. The most peculiar thing about him was his pupil-less eyes. A large, shattered battle axe had been lodged into his skull and there was a gaping hole in the left side of his chest. The perpetrators had ripped his heart out.
The second body was that of a short, petite young boy with yellow blond hair, golden cat-like eyes and pointed canines. He wore the same clothing and headdress as the other man. His legs were sliced off at the knees and a broken, red and black clarinet had been impaled through his throat.
"Jeez…this mysterious group really had it out for Esdeath and her cronies, huh?" Leone observed.
"Maybe some of them had families that were killed by her and they wanted revenge." Sheele guessed.
"It would make sense but they went after almost everybody in the Capital and even killed those who were innocent." Akame reminded her.
Susanoo looked at the bodies and the implements lodged into them. "These two were Teigu users." He confirmed.
He walked over and dislodged the yellow axe from the man's head. The humanoid Teigu studied the axe before it completely fell apart in his hands. "This is…or rather used to be Double Bladed Axe: Belvaac. It contains a tremendous amount of offensive power but can only be wielded by someone with a very high level of strength. It can also be separated into two axes and when thrown, will actively pursue the target."
Bulat searched the body and pulled out badge. He carefully inspected it. "His name is Daidara. It looks like Leone was right on the money; this guy was a part of the Three Beasts."
"Sweet! What do I win?" Leone asked cheerfully. Najenda face palmed.
Akame, Tatsumi, Chelsea and Lubbock began to inspect the other body. Akame held up the badge which belonged to the corpse. "This one is a part of the Three Beasts as well. His name is Nyau."
Lubbock pulled out the broken clarinet that was lodged in his neck and inspected it. "I wonder why he was carrying this around…did he have any other weapons on him?"
Chelsea showed Lubbock a small knife that had flecks of dried blood on it. "This was found near him. Hardly seems worth it to carry something so miniscule. But that doesn't really explain the flute."
"That flute is actually a Teigu." Susanoo informed as he walked over. "Military Music Dream: Scream is capable of instantly hypnotizing anyone who hears its melody. My previous master told me numerous accounts of this weapon; it was capable of bringing entire battalions of soldiers under the user's control."
"Wow! Who would've thought that something so inconspicuous looking to be so powerful." Tatsumi said, mildly impressed by it.
Chelsea flashed Tatsumi a mischievous smirk. "When it comes to Teigus you can never judge a book by its cover!" She said as she patted Gaea Foundation.
Tatsumi gave her a brief smile when he noticed something buried under the snow near Nyau's body. He brushed off the snow, revealing a brown colored satchel. Tatsumi picked it up and felt that there was something oddly wet inside it. He opened it and looked inside…only to immediately wish he hadn't.
"GAAAAAHHHH!" Tatsumi yelled as he threw the satchel away from him and fell flat on his rear. Most of the team heard him and quickly rushed over. Akame was instantly at his side, trying to help him get up. "Tatsumi, what's wrong?"
"F-F-F-F-FACES! THERE'S FACES IN THAT BAG!" He yelled, his eyes wide and pointing a trembling finger at it.
Everyone looked at each other, confused as to what Tatsumi meant. Lubbock and Chelsea cautiously walked over to the satchel. Lubbock carefully opened it-
The two of them instantly recoiled in horror. The bag was filled with flayed human faces!
Chelsea ran over to the nearest tree and began emptying the contents of her stomach onto the snow.
Lubbock staggered away from the bag, a look of disgust and pure mortification on his face. His eyes slowly drifted over to the small knife that Chelsea found near Nyau. It soon dawned upon him that it was not just a simple knife used for self-defense: it was a skinning knife.
Lubbock turned to the group who were wondering what was going on. "He's not kidding. This f***ing psycho slices people's faces off and keeps them in his friggin man purse!"
The team was shocked to hear that. It didn't surprise Najenda, however. She saw Esdeath willingly recruit that gleeful little maniac into her group a long time ago back in her general days. Back when Esdeath went from friendly rival to homicidal murderess who relished in mass slaughter and horrific forms of torture.
'So far we have two of the Three Beasts accounted for but the last one and Esdeath are nowhere to be found. Did she bail? No…Esdeath never runs from a fight. Ever.' Najenda thought inwardly.
Tatsumi and Sheele walked over to Chelsea who had finished vomiting. Tatsumi gently patted her back while Sheele got out a tissue and handed it to Chelsea. "Are you okay?" Sheele asked as Chelsea took the tissue and wiped her mouth.
"Yeah…I'm fine." Chelsea breathed. "Please don't tell Mine I threw up."
"Don't worry, our lips are sealed." Sheele reassured her.
Tatsumi suddenly noticed something and then became concerned. "Wait a minute…where is Mine?"
Everyone looked around to see that he was right: Night Raid's diminutive, pink-haired sniper was nowhere to be found!
"Mine? Mine where are you?" Najenda called out.
"Im here!" They heard her yell. They turned around to see Mine running towards them up ahead the road.
"Mine! Where the hell were you!?" Najenda angrily demanded.
"Were supposed to stick together! We don't know if Esdeath or those other guys are still out here!" Leone scolded, concerned for her friends safety.
"I know, I know, I'm sorry. I just wanted to do a little bit reconnaissance up ahead and then I stumbled on something you guys really need to see." Mine explained. Najenda's anger vanished. This was most likely the clues they were looking for that might shed some light on the situation.
"Lead the way then." Najenda ordered.
Everyone began to follow Mine as she led them through the main road. As they walked, heavy snow began to slowly descend from the clouds but it didn't impede their progress. They followed Mine for about 30 minutes when they came across an entire area that had been the scene of a massive battle. Trees and been splintered or chopped in half while numerous razor sharp ice spikes dotted the area. Splashes of frozen blood stained the ground as it became clear that Esdeath truly did fight the ones who destroyed the Capital.
"Woah…" Tatsumi breathed.
"That's not the half of it." Mine said as she pointed to her right.
The team looked to where she was pointing to see a mass of trees had been destroyed or clearcut, forming a path that led deeper into the forest. Coincidentally, a few flecks of blood could be seen trailing into the makeshift path as well as some footprints. Some looked like they belonged to someone who wore high heels and the others were the same rectangular footprints they found leading up here. Night Raid exchanged uncertain looks at each other before cautiously following the trail that led into the dense, snow blanketed forest.
NORTHERN TERRITORIES-SEVERAL MINUETS LATER
(John Carpenter's The Thing soundtrack-Solitude)
Night Raid continued to walk through the forest, following the trail that the intense fight had created. As they resumed their trek, they saw evidence that the battle was becoming more and more intense. More ice spikes cropped up everywhere, more trees where sliced in half or destroyed and multiple small medium sized craters caused by explosions were dotted everywhere.
They saw more instances of blood but they couldn't figure out if it was Esdeath's or this other group. They noticed a large, unmoving creature lying just ahead of them. There was a lot of blood around it, which meant that it was most likely dead. They moved closer and got a good look at the creature. It was dark brown it color, had long, hind legs that ending in razor sharp talons, bore distinctive reptilian features and had a triangular shaped head. Its wings were blown off and it had been decapitated. Its frozen blood stained the snow.
"A Mountain Wyvern! I've read about this thing before, its a species of Danger Beast that only inhabits mountainous regions." Tatsumi informed while looking over the corpse.
"But what's it doing all the way out here? It's way out of its element." Bulat questioned.
"It's Esdeath's pet." Najenda confirmed.
"She tamed this thing!?" Lubbock asked incredulously.
"Somehow I don't think I want to know what someone like her fed it." Sheele said, paling.
"Trust me. You Don't." Najenda warned. She had seen too many prisoners messily devoured by this horrid monster.
"Master! I have found something you need to see!" Susanoo called out. Everyone turned to Susanoo hurriedly walking over to them, holding something in his hands.
"What did you find?"
"Does this look familiar to you?"
Susanoo held out a rapier which had been snapped in half. Najenda's eyes widened as she swiped the broken weapon out of Susanoo's hands. She instantly recognized the handle of the rapier and her hands began to shake as she looked at it long and hard.
"Boss, what's wrong?" Akame asked.
"This is Esdeath's sword!" Najenda gasped.
Everyone's jaws fell open. It soon began to dawn upon them that The Empire's Strongest had fought a losing battle. Whoever this mysterious group was, they were stronger than Esdeath. Some of the members began to think that they were in way over their heads and they were starting to feel a little bit scared as to what kind of Teigus this group wielded to best the Ice Queen herself.
Najenda glanced behind her to see that the path continued and then branched off to a sharp right. She tossed the rapier onto the ground and looked to her team. "Let's keep going, we're burning daylight." She ordered.
NORTHERN TERRITORIES-2 HOURS LATER
(John Carpenter's The Thing soundtrack-Humanity part 2)
Whenever Tatsumi went on an assassination mission with his teammates they were calm, collected, and precise. They never fell under pressure and they always made sure the mission got done right.
This was not one of those times. Tatsumi could tell that they were all extremely paranoid about their surroundings. This was most likely the first time they ever felt actual, raw fear. They were tightly gripping their weapons, they were sweating profusely despite the cold weather and their heads were darting around at the slightest movement, as if expecting something to ambush them. Tatsumi had to admit, he too was feeling afraid. For all he knew, the ones responsible for this could be watching their every move from the shadows and waiting for a perfect opportunity to strike. But he couldn't chicken out. He and everyone else needed to stop whoever destroyed the Capital and end their campaign of carnage.
The day had already gone into the afternoon with heavy snowfall blanketing the ground in densely packed snow. The team continued to trudge through the pathway, with signs of the battle increasing in chaotic intensity. More trees were decimated, more frozen spikes dotted the forest and more craters perforated the snow. What really caught their attention were the massive spires of ice that rose into the sky.
They came upon a sizable clearing up ahead and as they got near, their eyes widened in amazement. Before them laid an utterly gigantic crater. The trees around it were completely blown over and there was some water in the very center of the crater. It seemed to take up half of the whole forest. "I think we've found the source of that black tornado 2 days ago." Bulat said.
"That explains some of it but where did that giant waterspout and the lightning bolt come from?" Mine questioned.
"There's a possibility that they could've been caused by a Teigu." Akame theorized. The wielder of Murasame had brought up a very good point. Only a Teigu could be capable of doing something like this.
"Do you know any that could do something like that, Mr. Su?" Sheele asked him. Susanoo cupped his chin and closed his eyes in thought.
"I don't know any that could've caused that tornado…but I think I know what summoned that geyser and the lightning. Thunder God's Rage: Adramelech and Water Dragon Possession: Black Marlin. The former allows the user to control lighting while the latter gives the user the ability to manipulate water." He explained.
Najenda remembered Black Marlin belonging to a certain general that she knew. One that Bulat used to serve under.
Liver.
In her Imperial days she knew that man was an honorable, well respected general in the army who cared deeply for his men. But when he refused to take numerous bribes from the Prime Minister, the fat bastard had him framed for crimes he never committed. After Esdeath bailed him out and recruited him into the three beasts, he was never the same.
She slightly turned her head to Bulat who was still transfixed at the sheer size of the crater. Najenda knew that Bulat had a deep admiration for Liver and one day she was going to have to break the news to him that the man he looked up to had sided with Esdeath.
But that was for another time. As of now they still didn't know if Esdeath was dead or alive but the latter seemed highly unlikely due to the scale of the battle. There had to have been some way to track her down if she escaped…of course!
"Leone, is there any way you can track her scent?" She inquired.
Leone, who was still in her Lionelle form, began to sniff the air for any kind of scent. After several seconds, she frowned. "Sorry boss, but I got some bad news for ya. I've never smelled Esdeath before and there are like 6 other scents in the air that I can't get a good bead on. The blood trail most likely belongs to her but's it's frozen over and the scent from that is gone too. Normally I'd follow the footprints but since its snowing so hard, it's pretty much covered up the tracks by now. The trail's gone cold."
Najenda silently cursed to herself. They were now back to square one. She looked up to the thin trail of smoke that most likely came from whatever remained Prince Numa Seika's fortress to the eastern part of the north, as Bulat had previously pointed out. She could've decided to go after Esdeath but for all she knew, the Empire's Strongest was most likely dead. They needed more answers as to who was responsible.
"So what's our next move?" Lubbock asked, with everyone looking to her.
Najenda thought for a moment before issuing her orders. "We can search for Esdeath another time. Let's head over to that smoke cloud, maybe we can find the prince and other survivors."
"I think that ship has already sailed, Boss." Chelsea remarked. If things were bad back at the Capital, she seriously doubted that there would be anyone else still alive.
"We've got no choice. We all swore to help those tormented by the Empire and that includes people in the outer territories. Let's head back to our horses and move out." Najenda commanded as she and her team started to head back. But in the back of her mind, Najenda knew that there were probably no survivors left. She looked upwards at the still heavily falling snow and sighed.
"First goddamn week of winter…" She grumbled.
To be continued…
Let me tell you something folks, I had a lot of fun making this chapter.
Mainly because The Thing was a huge inspiration for me. I really wanted to rack up the tension and suspense since Night Raid still doesn't have the faintest clue what they're up against or how powerful they are, hence the soundtrack taken from the movie as well as a reference I made Najenda say.
Why do I suddenly feel like shipping R.J. MacReady and Najenda?
Beyond that, it should be pretty obvious why I didn't let Daidara or Nyau live. But I do have some big plans for Esdeath and Liver…
Don't forget to review but please don't flame!