Fan Fiction ❯ Redemption ❯ And so it begins... ( Prologue )

Redemption

Written by Elvish Majicks and CG-I

Chapter One: The Beginning.

The Fate of us all;
Lies deep in the dark;

When time stands still at the iron hill.

Blind Guardian - When Time Stands Still.

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A figure, shrouded in darkness, stepped forward to the altar. He lowered himself down onto one knee, the knee-length coat he was wearing fell to his side. Two crimson bangs reside on either side of his face, covering his eyes from view. Hanging his head low, he began to speak to the iron cross, which sat proudly on the altar.

"Forgive me… my lord. For I have sinned…" the figure spoke, his words held a certain factor of angst to them.

"…Seems to be the trend these days." A robed man stepped from behind the door on the other side of the room.

The man stopped mid-speech, turning his head to face the robed figure, his eyes widened, azure in color, they seemed to glow.

"Father?" the man asked, rising from his spot to face the robed figure.

"Aye." Father Wright spoke, nodding in agreement.

"I didn't expect to see you here…" the man sighed, running a hand through his hair uncomfortably.

"This is gods house, I am always here," Father Wright started, "It's been ten years Katsuhiro…"

"Aye… it has." The one known as Katsuhiro nodded subtly.

The Father studied Katsuhiro, taking in his every detail before smiling.

"It would seem that you've changed your appearance somewhat." The Father's eyes wandered to Katsuhiro's hair, now Crimson in color.

"Yes… I couldn't leave it the way it was, for identification purposes." Katsuhiro let out a snort, briefly remembering what he'd looked like with his jet-black hair.

The two made some idle chatter for a few minutes, before Katsuhiro looked down at his watch, blinking once before excusing himself from the priest, bidding him farewell and walking from the only existing church in the Tokyo district.

As Katsuhiro stepped from the two giant, wooden doors, he looked out across the streets. They were littered with trash, burnt cars and a smoky haze. He sighed, slipping his hands into his pockets. Falling against the wall to the church, he pulled out a cigarette, drawing his lighter from his pocket and igniting it. Katsu let his head fall against the wall, staring up at the sky as he blew a cloud of smoke into the air, watching it dissolve into the smoky haze.

His thoughts began to wander, lightly touching on the topics of his past and then to his future, and then finally, to his mission. He had recently been having visions, blurry at first, but they were as clear as day. He began to recall his dream, a beautiful woman with dark hair. She was wearing a tight body suit, the kind that EDEN employees wore. He began to wonder whether he was just going crazy, or if this meant something. There was no dialogue in his dream, apart from her saying something about Teheran, which was the newly constructed colony just south of where Okinawa used to be.

Katsuhiro let the cigarette fall from his fingers, and to the ground, where he stepped on it, just like he did with his enemies. Of course, on the street, he wasn't known as Katsuhiro, he was known only as: Homicide.

Suddenly, his senses flared, he could sense something was coming. He leaned forward; looking at either end of the street and his gaze froze at the left end, staring in mild interest at the rapid approaching gang at the opposite end of the street. His eyes wandered to the other end, where another gang stood, their weapons raised and the banners high in the air.

Katsu smirked, folding his arms across his chest. It had been awhile since he'd seen a full-on gang war in these parts, but it was common now days. After the government fell, most police officers became either corrupt, or dead. The few remaining senators fled to the Gamma Sector, to escape the fury of the gangs. As much as the citizens hated to admit it, the gangs owned Japan.

As Katsu finished his thoughts, the leader of the Blue Smoke Clan stood in front of his men, his rather rustic sawed-off shotgun at his side, and at least forty men behind him. The opposite gang, which was known as the Clannads, stood tall, staring coldly towards the Blue Smoke. Without warning, the leader for Blue Smoke raised his weapon, firing off a volley, which took out two of the Clannads. In fury, the Clannads screamed, charging forward, bearing them arms until both gangs met in a brutal vice in the center of the street.

A gust of wind kicked up, blowing across the battlefield, as corpses flew left and right, men crawled out of the pit to their death, all were bearing mortal wounds. Katsu looked over the battle, shaking his head in disappointment. Turning on his heel, he slipped his hands inside his pockets and began to walk slowly from the battlefield. The wind kicked up his jacket, exposing the black dress pants he favored, and more importantly, the silver handguns residing on either side of his waist.

As he turned the corner and made his way downtown, the screams and howls of the feuding gangs seemed to fade into the distant, becoming no more than ambience. Looking up, Katsuhiro spotted one of the few places he enjoyed being in, in this filthy city. To some people, it was a scum pit, to Katsuhiro; it was a scum pit with alcohol.

He pushed open the door, taking a step inside and inhaling the thick, smoky air. The small bar wasn't as busy as usual today, which was always a benefit. Making his way to the barstool, he took a seat, nodding to the bartender for his usual drink. An attractive woman, with a large ponytail took up a seat next to Katsu, nodding to the bartender that she'd have whatever Katsuhiro was having.

"What do you want Seki?" he didn't' even spare her a sidelong glance; he merely kept his gaze focused on the wall in front of him.

Seki - as she liked to be called - was the information leech inside EDEN's private sector. She provided Katsuhiro with vital information regarding EDEN's activities in this region; she was a valuable asset to him, even if he never admitted it to her.

"Always so formal, Katsuhiro, or is it Homicide?" she started, with a mocking tone, "that is what they're calling you now, isn't it?"

The drinks were laid out in front of the two and Katsuhiro reached for his, bringing it to his lips and letting the amber liquid chill his throat.

"Correct… now answer my question," he muttered "what do you want?"

"I have news from the EDEN organization." She lowered her voice to a whisper, leaning closer to Katsuhiro, brushing her lips against his ear.

"I'm listening…" moving away from Seki, he tried his best to keep his cool.

"It seems that they've got a new front man." She chuckled, reaching over to take a sip of her own drink. "And it seems that you two have already gotten acquainted."

"What are you talking about?" he turned to face her, quirking his eyebrow in her direction.

"His name is Toujiro Sakimoto." She smirked, resting her hand on her stocking-clad thigh.

"Touji…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, seems that a family reunion is in order." She snickered, flicking a stray lock of hair from her face.

Katsu didn't respond, his eyes began to wander from hers and traced around the room, he felt like he was being watched. His azure eyes spotted two figures blurring into his vision from the front door, both bearing semi-automatic pistols, aimed directly at Seki's back.

"Shit! Get down Seki!" he yelled out, hoping she'd respond in time.

Seki gasped as three bullets tore through her body, sending a stream of blood hurtling through the air. She dropped her glass, and it shattered into a thousand pieces on the tiled floor. Slumping forward in her chair, she clutched at the wounds, before keeling over and falling to join her glass.

Homicide growled, pushing himself off his chair as a stream of gunfire followed in his path, narrowly missing him. He pushed himself up off the floor, he flung the coat back, drawing both silver pistols. The light reflected off the metallic surface, and the barrels came into focus. Pulling the triggers before the men had time to act, two bullets tore through the air, connected with the first mans chest. Homicide fired again, this time the two bullets connected with the other man's throat, which sent him crumpling to the ground to join his friend.

Letting out a small sigh, Homicide stood from the ground, slipping both pistols into their respective holsters. He spared a glance to Seki's body, walking over to her to check her pulse. His fingers brushed against her pale neck, checking for any signs of life. Sadly, he found no pulse.

"Damnit…" he brushed his fingers off on his jacket before he stood, leaving the fee for the drinks on the bar.

He then made his way from the bar, stepping over the corpses of the two men. He looked at either end of the street, to see four more men of the same division waiting on the corner for their colleges.

"Shit… looks like I'll have to take the back way out." He spoke through gritted teeth as he slid back inside the bar, he couldn't afford to get caught.

Katsuhiro ran through the bar, to the back door, slipping out quietly into the alleyway. He looked at either end and shook his head, knowing that each one led to a main street. Looking up, he spotted a fence; a small smirk crossed his features as he sized up the jump. Crouching, he used all the force in his body to propel himself up to the top of the fence, just making it, landing on his feet. From this view, he could see most of the street and terrain ahead. He chose to take the high-route, jumping from rooftop to rooftop of the business' and abandoned houses.

Finally, he reached a rusty ladder; he took a quick test before climbing down it and landing in the alleyway that led to his apartment. The rest of the journey went by rather uneventfully, as he pulled up in front of his apartment block. The manager had long since abandoned it, and nobody else lived there, to his knowledge. So he was the only one - still - he liked living there.

Tugging the keys free of his pocket, he took the stairs to the tenth floor of the block, and then stopping in front of his door. He slipped the keys into the lock and pushed it open, taking a step inside the dark room. A faint musky odor remained in the apartment from years of being locked up, but it didn't both Katsuhiro. Yawning, he pulled up his jacket, unclipping the holsters, which held his guns by his side and placing them down on the bench, next to the sheath of his Katana.

With a small grunt, he laid down on his couch, staring up at the water-damaged ceiling that held up the floor above this one. He tilted his head back, resting his hands on his stomach, and with a small yawn, he drifted off to sleep.

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Katsuhiro took a step forward, his footsteps echoing throughout the great hall. Four pillars lay on either side of the walls, each bearing a symbol. He couldn't read what the symbols meant, but by the way they glowed, he knew that they were powerful. His eyes focused on the end of the hall, taking small steps closer and closer to the bright light that wooed him.

His eyes widened as the sight was greeted before him, a tank full of a water-like substance. It appeared to be liquid oxygen, but what was inside the tank, was a woman, who looked no older than nineteen. She looked exactly like the one in Katsu's dream, apart from the fact that she was naked. Different wires and various connections came to and from the tank, all leading back to a small keypad. Slowly, numbers began to form on the keypad, first five, then nine, and then one…

But, as the last number was about to appear, a bright light surrounded the room. Engulfing his vision and blinding him, he was thrown into a pit of light he couldn't see a thing. All that could be heard was a soft, angelic voice calling his name, bidding him to come to Teheran. The light began to fade, and so did the voice, as darkness enveloped him…

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Light flooded Katsuhiro's room in the early morning, which burnt his eyes and forced him to wake up. He opened his eyes and sat up, looking around to check where he was. After he was sure he was at home, he let out a sigh of relief.

"Whoa… some dream…" he fell back against the couch.

Since this was the twelfth time this had happened in a month, he knew that it couldn't just be a coincidence. A hand rose to run through his hair, before it fell to the side of the couch. He sat, gathering his thoughts and pondered to himself. Holding his hand in front of himself, he began to twist and turn it in his vision, carefully studying the scar on the back of his hand. He smirked, remembering the power he once held, the damage he did, the people he killed…

Slowly, one by one, his fingers curled to form a fist. He grinned, turning the fist in the air, and then outstretching it, before bringing it back to his side. Standing, he nodded to himself in agreement.

"Well, looks like I'm going to Teheran."

To Be Continued…

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Authors Notes: Well, how do you like the story so far? This is just the prologue, and the chapters will be quite longer than this one. I'm hoping to turn this into somewhat of a saga, so it might take awhile to be fully completed. But you can expect the next installment to be released sometime next week, so until then, happy reading.

Feedback is always welcome at: Elvish_Majicks@hotmail.com