Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ To Rule Hell ❯ Chapter One ( Chapter 1 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

There is a planet known as Pandora. On this planet there has been war for as long as time can remember. In some ways more than time can remember. The planet has been ravaged by lasers, bombs, machines, and drones. Eventually the world nearly came to an end until a group of scientists formed Heaven. It was a scientific masterpiece. An orbital platform which circles the planet and sustains life. It is a modern paradise, complete with all the wonders of a new age. People lived longer, they never went hungry or thirsted, there was no crime only happiness. This peace and tranquility was maintained by the Guardians. People who were genetically altered to become super soldiers, a process which involves months of grueling work to create the perfect soldier. They were angels, complete with wings which would let them soar the sky. They were the protectors, the judge and the jury for those who did wrong.

However, that was nearly a thousand years ago. The few remnants of Pandora's society which remained on the planet began to grow, but the war machines and huge cities were mostly dormant and over time they forgot how to use the technology of their forefathers. The sand reclaimed the dessert. The jungle reclaimed the cities. Wildlife roamed free as it always should have. Giant war machines and robots laid covered in dust and vines.

Heaven became a place of wonder and amazement. However, it had also become corrupt. The angels did the bidding of their masters, bringing resources from the planet up to the paradise. Bandits and criminals roamed the planet, holding their own territories while cities thrived in the wastes of a once great civilization. Most spent their lives trying to earn enough money to buy their way into Heaven. Others became bounty hunters to take out the crime and collect the bounties so that they too might enter Heaven. The bandits and criminals couldn't care less about Heaven, and others just want to live their lives however they can. This is Pandora. This is their way of life, whether they like it or not.





He slowly opened his eyes, but closed them to block out the glare of the fire. He couldn't move, though he couldn't quite remember why. His body ached, and he tried to focus on why he hurt. The sound of jarring metal filled his ears and he looked up just in time to see a large piece of metal falling down toward him. On pure instinct he managed to roll away just in time to avoid being cut in half by it.

It was then that things began to come to him in flashes. He was captured by the Guardians. They had him bound and chained in their transport vessel, taking him to Heaven to execute him. For what? He couldn't...remember.... He couldn't remember that at all. It was then that he started to panic. Who...was he? That thought made his head hurt more than anything else. He tried to reach up to touch it, feeling warm blood drip from it, but he couldn't. Not with the chains that still bound him. He couldn't remember anything before being captured, so instead he tried to remember what happened after that.

He was being transported, people were laughing, talking to him.... Then there was a loud eruption and here he was. What was happening? He heard something and looked up, seeing someone standing before him. "Who...are you?"

A young girl held her bleeding arm as she limped over to him. He was alive. Not everyone survived the crash... She had managed to get out of her chains. Something she learned a long time back. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine... I think. My body hurts and my head is a little fuzzy," he said, struggling against the restraints which were slowly stretching beneath his flexing muscles.

The girl reached in her pocked and pulled out a metal tube. It was only the size over her finger. It beeped as she ran her finger over it then flashed when she held it over his body. Her eyes widened as a digital screen came up in front of her but there was no information. Everyone had information. Everyone. Why didn't he? She looked over the screen for anything and finally found only one word. Shinigami. What...?

Looking down at him she took a deep breath. It was better to help him than let him die. Wincing, she leaned down and the little tool she had beeped again and transformed into a hand pick. She undid his cuffs.

As soon as she did that he stood quickly, perhaps a little too quickly as he stumbled back and held his hand to a piece of burning metal, completely oblivious to the heat of the flames. "Wow...head rush..." He touched his hand to his forehead, wincing at the large gash which ran across it. "Thanks.... Now who are you?"

"Aura..." she said softly.

"Aura right... Right...and who am I?"

"I don't know... Your information only says Shinigami."

Something about that name made him wince and hold his head. More images. More flashes. Though none of them made sense. Blood. Feathers. Rush of wind. Falling. "Heaven! I need to get to Heaven!" he said. That name kept echoing in his mind.

Great. Another person wanting to go to Heaven. She huffed. "Well, maybe you should work hard like the rest of Pandora and you can buy your way in." She stuck the tool back in her pocket and started off.

Just then the shouting started. Men began yelling and laughing as gunfire erupted into he afternoon air. Something deep within him told him that it was a bad sign, his body automatically tensed and he started in the opposite direction of the girl.

Aura froze. "No...I don't want to get captured again..." She pulled out her tool and it beeped. Her lips tightened as the tool transformed into a bow. The ring on her finger flashed an energy arrow formed. Arming it to the bow, she pulled back and shot it off. It nailed one of the bandits in the forehead, giving her enough time to run. She caught up with the man she had helped and pulled out a collar from her bag. "I'm really really sorry about this. It's nothing personal. But...I just want to get home. And you are going to help me," she said and clasped it around his neck.

He quickly turned around and tugged at the metal collar forced onto his neck. He groaned as the metal bit into his flesh but wouldn't budge. His eyes became hard as he glared at her, his body acting on instincts he didn't know he had. "What did you just put on me!?"

"A binding collar. If you want to live, you have to keep me alive. I die, you die. That's how it works."

His arm shot out and grabbed her by the throat, lifting her up into the air. "Like hell. I can't even remember who I am, but something tells me that I have to go in that direction to find out. So that's where I'm going."

Her legs wrapped around his neck and she tossed her body back. He flipped in the air and landed on his back with her on top of him. Her tool beeped and transformed into a gun. She pressed it to his forehead. "Let me make this clear. If I die, you die. If you die...I live. Don't make this harder than it has to be!"

He glared daggers into her, his hand grasping the ground beneath him as the sound of men grew closer. "I need something...."

She stood quickly. "We have to get out of here."

"No. Something is missing. Something’s wrong." He stood and looked down at his hand, frowning as he examined the wreckage. "There's something I had. Something I held... It's here. I'm not leaving without it."

She held up her gun and fired, hitting a bandit in the head. "Hurry up! I'll run out of energy!"

"I don't know what I'm looking for!" he snapped. A blast of energy flew through his shoulder, sending pain echoing through his flesh. The force of the blast caused him to spin around, his mind flashing before him as he glared at his assailants. Something snapped within him, their laughter echoing in his mind. In one leap he was on top of them. Grabbing his gun, he snapped his arm, shattering it before jabbing the bone which jutted out from the flesh into his neck. He then took the man's body and tossed him into the others.

Picking up a large piece of metal, he yanked it from the ground and whacked someone across the face with it, effectively shattering their skull. Blasts came toward him, but the piece of metal acted like a shield. He didn't know how he knew what he was doing, but his body seemed to have a mind of its own. Kicking the metal outward knocked one of the men back, in that time he flipped over it and crushed him, kicking two more men down and ripping through them like shreds.

His right hand twitched and he looked down. Something still wasn't right. He wasn't feeling right. What was he missing!?

Aura's eyes were wide. She had seen a lot of things...but nothing like that.

He growled to himself and turned back to her. "There. Problem clear. Get the collar off of me so I can look for...whatever it is I'm looking for!"

"No... With that power...I'll get home safely."

"Aura? Right? I...I don't think that I'm the kind of man you want to play around with. I will kill you myself."

"Then...you will die. Are you just not getting what I'm telling you? Our hearts are bonded now! If my heart stops, yours stops!"

"How is that even possible?" He grabbed at the collar again, trying to pull it off with all his might but it wouldn't even budge.

"Tech is a very lovely thing." Her tool beeped and she started flashing it around the field. After flashing a few things, it started beeping. A screen popped up and a sword came in view. "There is a sword under this metal that has your signature waves on it."

"Sword?" He walked over to where she was pointing at and reached directly into the flames. Tossing a piece of scrap behind him, he pulled out a large blade which was the size of a person. No normal person could wield a weapon of that size and mass, yet he held it as if it was nothing. This...felt...right. "Yes. This is what I was looking for...."

"Can we go now?"

"Yes. You can come with me." He sheathed his sword on his back and got ready to leave. "I am not going to be your babysitter. A young kid like you shouldn't be out here in the first place."

She shook her head. "You don't know anything. You have to be from Heaven... Arrogant and self centered. The only thing you know about Pandora and it's people is that we live down here and you live up there," she groaned. She turned from him and pulled up at digital map. She was so far from home. Getting caught from stealing old tech and being transported to Heaven for a trail was not on her to do list for the week. She was weeks from home... At least the transporter crashed and she didn't have to be taken to Heaven.

"I'm not from anywhere," he muttered. Slowly he sat down, feeling a little weak after moving so much. "What is the quickest way to this Heaven place?"

She pointed up and kept walking. After she got about ten feet away his collar began blinking and something started coursing through his body causing him immense pain. A slew of curses flew from his lips as he stood up and raced after her.

"So you finally get it?" she said while walking. "You have no choice."

His sword sliced the ground in front of her, cracking the earth and causing her to jump back. "I'm not taking another step and neither are you until you promise me that this thing comes off once I get you to where ever it is you want to go."

"Get me home. And you'll never have to deal with me again."

"Fine." He flipped his sword back into its sheath and started walking ahead of her, his long legs easily overcoming her shorter ones. "Now how far do you live?"

"A few weeks away...maybe months if we have to hide out..."

He said nothing, but inwardly he was screaming. He didn't know why, but that seemed long, far too long. Did he not have much time for something? Aura shifted her bag on her back as she watched the digital map. Turning it off she frowned. The sun was already going down. They needed to find a place to crash.

He watched as she scanned the area. She was looking for something. "What is it?"

"The sun is going down. We shouldn't be out at night. We need to find somewhere to take cover and sleep."

"We'll be fine. If we keep walking we can make better time."

She ignored him and went to an abandoned building. She scanned it finding no signs of life and moved inside. Going to the third floor, she found a room and went inside to search for food or blankets.

He frowned and followed after her once his collar started beeping. "Fine. I guess we will be staying here after all." She only found a few cans of food and only one blanket. Opening the cans, she offered his some food. He set his sword across his lap and took the strange food. "What...is this? It smells like a decaying corpse." How he knew what that smelled like kind of bothered him.

"I can assure you...it's not Heaven sent and it's all there is."

"Heaven sent? That's an odd expression." With great trepidation he nibbled the strange meat. He nearly threw it back up. It tasted worse than it smelled. Of course, beggars couldn't be choosers, so he ate in silence.

Afterward, she moved next to him and put the blanket over them. "Try to get some sleep...and ignore the noises outside."

"It takes more than the bumps in the night to bother me," he assured her, shifting as he felt her press against him.

They fell asleep but outside, a war raged. Screams and gunfire filled the air. Aura sat up and moved to the window. A girl was out too late and was now getting raped by a gang. She wanted to save her, to help her. But she had too many scars for trying to be a hero. Aura looked away as the girl fell silent with her throat was cut. But that didn't stop the men. They just kept going.

"Sleep. There's no point in looking at the war ravaged people. It will only make your heart heavy."

"My heart was born heavy..." she whispered. Slowly she moved back to him and got under the blanket.

"Is it always like this?" He could hear all the war going on around him. It was...horrendous.

"Every single night," she said.

"I see. This place which you want me to take you to. Is it any better? Is there any less violence, malice or despair?"

"It has it's days," she said. "But it's green and peaceful most of the time."

"I find peaceful to be boring," he said softly, his thoughts hurting his head. "I mean...if there's nothing to fight then what is there?"

"Living."

"So I see. Though living, doesn't seem to qualify for what you do."

"You're right. I'm trying to live. This place makes it hard."

"Look on the bright side. Life can always get worse." He leaned against the dilapidated building, his eyes were closed though he was having a hard time falling to sleep. His head was throbbing and his ears picked up every last sound of the battles. Beneath the blanket, he held on tightly to his sword lest trouble come their way.

Aura, on the other hand, fell back to sleep with little trouble. She was use to the sounds, screaming and gunfire. It was so common that she was sure she wouldn't be able to sleep without it sometimes.

The sounds of slaughter carried way out into the morning air. Of course, just because it was day light out didn't mean that the fighting had stopped. It only meant that most were either passed out drunk or back in their holes asleep. He stood and stretched, his body sore and tired, but he could push on. He could persevere. "We should leave now."

Aura sat up. She folded the blanket and put it in her bag then pulled her hair up. Going outside, she pulled out her tool and it beeped. She pressed it to her head and it formed into a form of goggles. The goggles scanned everything as she walked, feeding information to her, telling her everything about the area she was in. He watched in marvel of the tiny device. It was quite odd, but then so was she. He walked ahead of her, his pace quick with long strides wishing to cover as much ground as possible.

"You shouldn't be in such a rush. You will only waste your energy and when you really need it you won't have any to spare."

"I have plenty of energy to spare. I am just trying to make up for our lost time that we spent resting."

"Lost time..." she whispered to herself. She shook her head. He was from Heaven. What did he know about lost time? She heard that people live forever up there...

He stopped and looked back at her, noticing that she had stopped. "Are you coming or not?"

"Yeah. Sorry," she said and hurried after him.

"You're too slow," he lamented, her short legs barely able to keep up with his strides.

"Oh...I'm sorry. I'll try to keep up."

"Good." They walked in silence for a while, the heat of the land beating down on them. His long coat blew in what little wind there was to cool them off. "So since I'm risking my neck to protect you, tell me about yourself."

"Fifteen. Name is Aura. That's it," she nodded.

"Great... So family? Friends? What worth traveling back home for?"

"No family. Friends...well...it's hard to keep them when there isn't much around where I live. I just want to go home. It's the only life I have and I want to make due with what was given to me. I really have no reason to be this far from it..."

"I see." He stopped and held out his hand, her small frame running into it and falling back onto the ground.

She looked up at him. "What was that for?"

"Something isn't right. The air smells funny." He frowned and drew his sword. Taking a step forward he sliced into the empty space. Suddenly thing wires snapped beneath his blade launching several explosive discs into the air. As soon as he realized what it was, he threw himself over her frame. He wrapped his body around her as the bombs detonated, sending shrapnel into his back and legs. He lurched in pain, but didn't cry out. His body was shaking as he waited for the shock wave to settle before slowly moving off of her.

She gasped as she looked at him. "Are...are you alright?"

He leaned back gingerly against a wall, his back arching as he reached behind him and pulled out a large piece of shrapnel. Just one of many. "It looks worse than it really is."

She set her bag down and dug through it until she found a small kit. "This...is going to hurt. But it works. I promise," she said. She pressed the button on the kit and it popped open. Her goggles scanned him, reading his wound. Taking them off, they beeped and turned into a chip. She stuck the chip in the kit. After a few seconds a needle popped out. She took it. "I don't know if you know what this is but I'm going to explain it. This is one of the very few medical kits left on Pandora. I found it in a hospital a year ago. After scanning you and recording your wounds, I transmitted the information to the kit. It gave me this needle. This will target your wounds and it will hurt...badly...but it will speed the healing up in no time. In only a few hours you will be as good as new." She moved to his arm and stuck the needle in him. It injected some fluid in him then she pulled back. The chip in her kit popped out then beeped, changing back into it's original form before she put it in her pocket. The kit snapped shut and a number popped up on top of it. Only five uses left for it... She frowned before putting it back in her bag.

No sooner did the liquid slip into him then he felt an intense burning sensation course through his body. His hands fisted the ground, cracking the earth beneath his grip. He didn't scream. He didn't move, other than his hands clawing the ground around him. Closing his eyes, his breath began to pant and grow heavy. Slowly...bit by bit small pieces of shrapnel began to slide out of his body.

She shoved something in his mouth. It was a rubber mouth clinch. "Bite. It helps," she whispered as she got on her knees in front of him. She cupped his face, watching his eyes. She felt so bad for dragging him into this. She was starting to think that she should just let him go... Was it work harming an innocent just to get home?

He bit down hard and watched her gaze. It took time. Time they didn't have. Hours passed before the pain subsided. His flesh like new, however. Even his head injury was gone. Slowly he relaxed and pulled the mouth piece out. Arching his back, he stretched and looked back at her. She had remained by his side until the med kit had done its thing. "Okay," he said slowly. "I'm...good now. Thank you."

"I should be thanking you... You saved my life," she said softly and sadly. She stood and continued on.

"Yes, well now we've lost even more time. At this rate it will take forever to reach your home. Though I'm more worried about whoever set up that trap. If we run into many more we'll be in trouble."

"That's Pandora. There are traps everywhere like that. Walking out of your home is risking your life."

"I see. Pandora? Is that the name of this place?"

She stopped. He was so... So... He didn't know anything. "Yes."

He nodded slowly. "I see. Pandora. What an odd name." He found it interesting how when she mentioned Heaven he had images, but none of Pandora. None of this place. He couldn't remember this place at all.

"I'm assuming you were born in Heaven if you don't know Pandora. I hear it's beautiful up there. No crime or death..." She smiled softly as she walked. "I think, I would like to see it someday. But it would take me a lifetime to save the money up to get there. And that's a waste. But you and I...we are kind of the same. We both just want to get home." She looked at him. "Get me home and I'll get you to a shuttle back to Heaven."

He shook his head slowly. "You mistake me.... I don't want to get up to Heaven to live there. I want to destroy it. I can't remember why...or much of anything...but I know...that is what I want to do."

She froze. "You can't! Heaven is the only peace people like me can look forward to! People down here work their whole lives just to sent their last breaths up there! Just because you hold some grudge doesn't mean you can kill everyone else's life."

His grip tightened on his sword as he faced her. "Yes...I can."

Her eyes hardened. "I have lived my life feeling that everyone has some good in them...but you have proven me wrong..." She turned from him. She picked the wrong person to help her, but at least this way she can keep the people in Heaven safe. Once she was home, she would take care of him herself...then pray that the Gods wouldn't hold it against her...

He sheathed his sword once more and started ahead of her. Something about what she said made him angry. It infuriated him to the point to where he was seeing red. Heaven was going to come down by his hands. He knew that much. He felt it in every inch of him. But...maybe his reasons weren't good? Was he the kind of person that would do something on a whim, or would he do it because it had to be done? Just...what kind of person was he?

She didn't speak to him for the rest of the day. When night came, she forced him to follow her to another building and sleep.