Disclaimer: We don't own Shaman King, its fan made so don't try to sue .
For the longest time since Millie can remember, she was always fighting to survive.
Fighting because she knew it was that option or death.
Fighting to eat, breathe, and live.
Fighting for herself and everyone who she cared for.
A slingshot was a pathetic weapon against a gun, but with all the years practicing, shooting store windows, people, and anything else to survive, she was skilled enough.
She didn't know these people, but the woman and her son are all too familiar in the Slums. People in distress, people like her who have everything to lose.
The stone flew and smashed hard against the man's sneering face, changing it to a look of shock and agony.
"Argh!" howled the man, grabbing the side of his jaw; furiously he turned to his attacker, only to be smashed again by the same direction.
Adrenaline kicked in and now Millie was scared, she just attacked an X-Law and now there was no turning back. Furiously she launched another stone as hard as she can, rewarded by the man staggering back, cursing.
'How long can I stall him?' she told herself.
The man had recovered, and Millie was out of stones, "You little brat!" he hissed as he lunged at her.
The crowd was getting agitated and confused, and Elly knew something had gone horribly wrong.
When a gunshot rang out, followed by a mother's wail, she knew the X-Law had gone too far.
'Millie!'
Eyes widening, she knew perfectly all too well what Millie was planning to do.
Cursing at her own incompetence she heard the X-Law scream in pain, followed by another whack of a rock against bone.
She hated it when Millie lashes out, because she would also risk her neck in the process of rescuing her.
Still, Elly couldn't help but be appalled at what was happening in front of her. She knew Millie had just pulled out her stupid slingshot and was attempting to take on the man.
"Stupid Millie!" cried Elly, as panic took in, any second now the man could recover and shoot Millie too!
She knew she had to do something, but what?
Furiously she ran and shoved her way though the crowd, and brought her bag of stolen goods down hard on the man's head, right when he was about to tackle Millie.
People were starting to panic all around as the X-Law slumped unconscious; Millie's surprised expression told Elly that she was okay.
She knew there was no turning back on her actions, both she and Millie were just as guilty, but that didn't mean she was going to go down without a fight.
"People of the Slums!" she cried. "What you see in front of you is an injustice, a crime against the very citizens of this land!"
She felt some relief when the crowd actually cheered on her words, and feeling that new rush of hope she continued.
"Starting now, its time for a change!" her comment was followed by another cheer. "And The Rebellion claims responsibility for this act of good will!" she added quickly. With that she dumped her contents from her bag, and made a break for it, dragging Millie on one arm, ignoring the chaos that broke out as people clamored for the things.
One particular angry crowd was actually dragging the unconscious X-Law away.
"Elly!" cried Millie. "We have to save that woman and her son, they'll both get trampled to death at this rate!"
"Tough luck on them!" retorted Elly. "I can't save them all can I?"
"Please Elly, we just have too if we let them die than we are no better than the X-Laws!"
Elly stopped and cursed to herself, "Well run ahead then Millie, I'll get them then!"
"Elly?" whispered Millie, she felt so tired and confused, "why did you say the Rebellion was responsible for the riot back there? Even though it was us, the Lily 5."
"Idiot, the Lily 5 isn't the most powerful gang of thieves out there, or the richest," snapped Elly bitterly. "It would be suicidal to declare out existence in such a large crowd!"
"So you were throwing out the blame on the Rebels so the X-Laws would blame them instead?"
"Precisely."
Millie didn't feel like saying much else, but for once she was actually glad, as much as they want to make a name of themselves as a feared gang of thieves, being associated with a riot seems too dangerous.
"Hey, is the lady and her son okay?" asked Millie.
They were resting at an abandoned warehouse, the only safe place they can find, Elly was acting as a lookout, staring apprehensively at the broken windows, as if the X-Laws would come any moment.
Millie was aiding the woman, her son staring vacantly at Millie as she tended the woman's wounds.
"Don't worry boy," smiled Millie as she applied pressure to the woman's wounds. "The Lily 5 knows a doctor who can help your mom."
"He actually works for the Rebellion, but you got to give credit that the Lily 5 was the one who lead you to him."
"Cut it out Millie," sighed Elly. "There's no point anyone, Rebellion or Lily 5, we're all against the X-Laws and HAO, what's more important is getting the woman medical help soon."
"Tell me, what happened?" asked Elly to the boy.
The boy wiped his bruised face, suspicious, but started to talk.
"My mom was sick, and I decided to steal some medicine at a Capitol pharmacy because we can never afford to buy it."
"I didn't want to lose my mom along the way, since it was only me, big brother, and mom before," he continued with tears pouring.
"My brother was caught, accused of working with the HAO and shot." The boy fell silent, before continuing. "My mom was never the same again, she never did anything and became depressed, then sick."
"So you didn't want to lose her either," whispered Millie softly.
"Yes," sniffed the boy, his final stiff façade breaking as he broke down.
Elly ran up to the boy and comforted him, "Shh, its alright now, you and you're mom would be okay, Dr. Faust can help her, and the Rebels are kind people honestly, they can take both of you in."
"T-thank you!" hiccuped the boy, as he clutched onto his mother, as if his life depended on it.
"I hope they would be okay," whispered Millie as she and Elly walked away from the Slum's hospital building.
"Don't worry about them," scoffed Elly, her attitude back again. "As much as Dr. Faust is a weirdo and a Rebel, we Slum people all depend on each other. Plus he's a good doctor that charges cheap, so the mom and son can work as assistants at his hospital to pay back the costs."
"Why does he work there anyway?" asked Millie. "I heard he was from the Capitol originally."
"I'm not sure, probably one of the people who was swept away by the Rebels' beliefs of justice, or probably because he really enjoys handling with bodies, no doubt there's plenty here."
"Doesn't he also run a morgue, you know the place where the dead bodies turn up?"
"Probably... how am I suppose to know, why didn't you ask him when we dropped of the mom and her son?"
"Err, he was kind of wacko…"
"Humph, speaking of wacko…" Elly turned around and boxed Millie's left ear.
"Oww!" she cried, "what was that for?"
"For almost getting us all killed!" she frowned angrily as she stormed ahead.
Millie sighed, but knew Elly was right. But still, she knew they did the right thing, for thieves at least. Smiling she ran to catch up with Elly, clutching her arm. Elly didn't pull back so she knew she had been forgiven.
"Thanks Elly for doing the right thing back there…sorry we lost all the stuff we stole."
"Its alright," she replied sighing. "Another day, maybe I should distract the victims next and you steal, but only if they are cute!"
The two girls walked through the gloomy Slums, laughing softly to dispel the uneasy feeling of something sinister approaching.
The X-Laws had a very interesting history in the country. Founded by a man set on devotion and power, he offered the Government a new form of security after the constant attacks by the evil criminal syndicate HAO, when the government refused to allow this new form of defense, the X-Laws stormed the Capitol and practically now controls the land.
Over the years the X-Laws became corrupted, not by greed or by sins but by faith and righteousness.
They believe that their ends will justify their means.
They believe that it was their divine destiny to take out Evil and bring peace.
They believe that Zeke was that Evil.
Meaning they would take down anyone who dared side against them.
Already over zealous on their faith, the X-Laws turned into a cult practically. They worship purity and good, which they see in the form of their leader, The Iron Maiden, a girl gifted with extreme magic and charisma.
Marco was the commander of the X-Laws, a cold and calculating man skilled with the gun. He is a discipline and religious man, willing to follow the Iron Maiden till the very end. He has both a burning passion for divine justice, which can only be satisfy by the death of Zeke. He views the Rebels as merely traitors to the Government, and considers them no better than the HAO.
As Marco walked briskly onto the sight, boot smacking hard against the crumbling road, his solemn expression registered a shock at the carnage that lay waste at the Slum center.
"Oh my Lady have faith," he exclaimed softly before walking to the center that is now populated by soldiers and clean up crew.
"Sir!" cried one of the X-Law's "The citizens of the Slum attacked a corporeal earlier this morning, the man is in critical condition as we speak."
"I wonder who could possibly claim responsibility on this attack?" asked Marco calmly as he bend down on a wrecked stand.
"We arrested as many perpetrators as we can find, but it seems like from witnesses that the Rebels held responsibility for the riot and attack."
Marco's white-gloved hand reached and grasped a giant shard of glass, it reflecting his angry expression before being crushed by his fist.
"Sir?"
"Those Rebel's think that they have the right to take on Zeke, are no better than Zeke themselves!" seethe Marco, "Soldier, send a message to the Government of this newest information, never mind that the Rebels act like patrons for the poor earlier in the months, they now pose an official threat like Zeke's group."
"But sir, could it be possible that Zeke did this or some other small criminal syndicate?"
"It's quite possible, but the Rebels have always shown a …dislike towards the X-Laws in the past, and we had had occasional tense standoffs with each other."
"So you're suggesting…?"
"That it's appropriate for them to take the blame, after all it's better to kill a cub before it becomes a lion, a mistake that I regret making."
Marco paused to push up his glasses. 'I'll take you out Yoh along with Zeke for daring to taint sins onto this perfect utopia!'
" You are dismissed, Soldier."
As the man left, Marco surveyed the wreckage of the Slum center, such a shame that the Government has to know of what the X-Laws do, after all it was the Government's fault in the first place that the rise of Zeke came.
Something caught Marco's eye. Slowly bending down, he picked up a slingshot, beaten and obviously used many times. "A report did mention someone hurling stones…" he muttered. He knew this could play key evidence in deducting what happen, but it doesn't matter. He'll just present it to the Government as the evidence and let them sort it out; after all he has better things to do.
"Where have you guys been!" demanded Lilly, another member of the Lily 5, her face creased in worry.
"Oh we ran into a riot," said Millie with a yawn.
"Elly! I thought you said you were going to watch her," scolded Lilly, "let me guess she started it didn't she?"
"Well, I was watching her, until she decided to go Rebel on me," said Elly.
Lily glanced at Elly's annoyed expression and Millie's innocent one, before concluding with a sigh.
"Come on everyone, its time to get to work at the bar."
They all walked toward the rundown bar called the "Lily 5 Bar," where the Lily 5, Millie, Elly, Sally, Lilly, and Sharona run their operations.
It was a shady looking building, windows dirty and the sign barely visible. The dull appearance outside is about the same inside, drab walls with a couple chairs and tables and a dirty bar in the corner.
In the Slums, the food chain goes around with the top criminal syndicates, its members, the dealers, wannabe crime gangs, and the beggars. The Lily 5, was a gang that Sharona came up with, consisting of 5 young women, or girl in Millie's case, who had no where else to go in life. Abandoned by people, they vowed to rely on each other, and together steal, lie, charm, fight, and anything else in between to achieve their goal and become the top of the Slum's system.
Whether it was working, Millie doubted it, but the gang was like a family she never had, and she tag along willingly.
Sharona, their leader, was a tall, voluptuous woman, blonde curls and wearing a purple dress. Despite her attempts to give herself a rich, elegant, and sly look, she always manages to produce the opposite. She was sitting by the bar stool, legs crossed, and glaring at the girls as they walk in.
"Sooo, what took you so long Elly and Millie?"
Millie frowned at Sharona, 'what gives her the right to know anyways? Sharona is so bossy and irresponsible herself that she has no right to act like she's some queen!'
Elly merely gave a tired a sigh, "We didn't have any luck today with the address you gave us Sharona."
Sharona looked annoyed. "How are we failing so miserably anyways? We have the potential of doing great things and yet somehow it isn't going right? Lilly! Tell me the report for today!"
Lilly pulled out a large notebook, and leafed through the pages, "We earned 100 gold from work at the bar this week, stealing earned 200, the dealers paid us around 800 for the stolen goods, and rent is around 2000, so we owe 800 gold..."
The group groaned.
"Come on we have to take bigger risks instead of begging and pickpocketing!" fumbled Elly.
"What can we do anyways?" sighed Lilly, "the numbers don't lie..."
"Well ladies," interuppted Sharona, "I guess we have no choice but to sell our..."
"Sharona!" gasped Lilly. "We Lily 5 have more dignity than those women, plus Millie is still a kid!"
"...posessions."
"What? more furniture," mutter Elly. "We barely have any left for the bar..."
"I think its best if all of us go for another round of stealing tommorrow," sighed Millie, as she walked upstairs past her bickering gang and to their living quarters on the second floor."
For once she was glad to see their grim living area, consisting of a couple rooms and a living room in the center, tiny but it sure beats sleeping on the streets.
She climbed up to the next flight of creaking stairs that lead to the attic, her room.
Tiny, it had a window that brought moonlight down into the room, Millie flopped down, suddenly feeling very scared and anxious over the day's events...
"I could of died today," she whispered,the realization finally hitting her. She could of been shot right then and die. Trembling she changed into a night shift and hugged herself, feeling relief she thanked her lucky stars.
A soft yip could be heard outside, followed by a light scratching of the circular window of the attic. Millie reached out and pushed it open. Out jumped the red fox Onibi, her animal companion.
"Onibi," she smiled softly. Onibi wasn't just a regular fox, but a fire fox, one of the many magical spirit creatures that thrive on this land. Often these creatures, fire foxes, fairies, and many others are harmless, before technology came into this land, these creatures and mankind coexist perfectly. But when technology came, mankind became corrupted and slaughtered them, before realizing they can be extracted to create energy.
Often finding a magical creature is rare, often they are traded in the Black Market or kept in government hands as weapons.
Millie couldn't imagine Onibi being used as a weapon. Onibi looked like a regular fox, cute and orangish-red.
Onibi gave a yip before cuddling next to Millie. Onibi's warmth radiating off his fur, giving Millie reassurance and warmth.
That's when she realized that her slingshot was gone.
Finally updated to my imaginary audience, hip hip hooray! I hope the whole plot line isn't so confusing, but I'll try to clarify some stuff, its an alternate universe, where advance technology clashes with magic. Magical sprirt creatures, like in any rpg game, pretty much are just there, orginally they got along with the people, creating bonds with them that help humans survive. Pretty much the 'shaman concept' but they are now rare, and have been expolited for their magic spirit energy when man brought technology into the picture. Humans gradually lost that spirit connection and resorted to killing these magical creatures and extracting their energy.
Arrgh, school is coming soon, and I'm so so nervous . So I'm going to starting working on the next chapter soon.
I'm going to try to stay positive though, because there's no point in brooding and getting depress about it.
Reviews would be nice, and remember no flaming!
Wuchen