Old thread was pruned, likely because of the fact I haven't had much time to be writing this. Chances are the fourth chapter will show evidence of the whole "getting back into the writing groove" thing. Hmm. Well, I guess I better make this clear right now, to save me some hassle.
This story isn't for people who get offended easily.
-Profane language
-Innuendo
-Likely racist/blasphemous comments
-Other things little children don't like.
So don't read this if you plan on whining, and if you read it and whine anyway, I'm going to tell you in advance to shut the hell up. Thanks.
Anyway, here are the first four chapters of the story, and chances are I'll be back into writing it properly from here on, I've had a lot of coursework and whatnot, so yeah, last chapter was posted on Christmas Eve. Anyway, here's the whole thing thus far. Enjoy, oh, and a review would probably make me pleased. We all like reviews. I like cake too, but a review would probably be better for the time being. Thanks for all readers and reviewers alike.
-Josh
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Prologue
Filtering through the barely lit window, the light of the moon shone across Reunion. It was just after 5am, and the music club had been shut for an hour. Outside, Solar remained as full of life as it did at any other time. It was the city that never slept, and there was always something going on, all night gambling, strip bars, seedy taverns, clubs. If after dark fun was what a tourist or resident of Solar wanted, they had never been in a better place. Police influence was minimal, and crime influence was seconded only to the influence of the Planetists.
The Planetists were the leading religious faction of the world. They barely had any competition. For centuries there had been undeniable proof of their belief. Every decade a Guardian Angel would appear within the city of Solar and expect gifts and sacrifice, for bestowing the planet of Charity unto the human race. It came to be that the Planetists ruled Charity, and that Solar was dubbed the Holy City. For it was there that the angels appeared. People came from thousands of miles away to witness the angels, and left feeling a better person within themselves. The turn of the decade was less than one month away. And the guardian angel that would appear was set to change the world of Charity forever.
Sage sat in his chair, looking out over the neon glow. His pipe smoked lightly, and the room held a lingering smell of sweet tobacco. His thoughts were of thought, and he was rarely seen outside of Reunion. His world was the music club, and the two small rooms above it that he called his home. A small window looking over all of Solar, a kettle placed upon a stove, a small bathroom, the age old rocking chair Sage loved dearly, and a bed, draped with crimson sheets, and fashioned out of the finest Redwood. His history stretched nine centuries, and yet was clouded in mystery. Nobody knew of who Sage was, or how he had managed to live up until he was Nine Hundred and Twenty Three. His smile was that of knowledge, and his eyes burned with a resolve of justice. His knowledge extended past the known cosmos, as did his intelligence. He was the bright star on a stormy night, and the guiding light to Reach.
Reach sat around a large table underneath reunion. Their headquarters were a small room, which led off to seven separate rooms. They were a group of Mercenaries, who took missions that only their leader deemed justified under her own morality. Beatrix, the merciless assassin, with her perfectly balanced sword, Eve, and her group of Mercenaries. They were the scourge of many, and the saviour of few, but Reach did what they were asked flawlessly, and were renowned throughout the deepest Underground sects of Solar.
The sound of ringing broke the awkward silence around the table. Beatrix reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, metallic object, and flipped up the cover, before bringing the phone to her ear.
“What?”
“I have a request of you, this is Reach is it not?”
“Yes, this is Beatrix. Who is calling, what is the pay, and what is the mission?”
“Who this is, is not important. The pay is Sixty Million, and the mission is to find and eradicate Leonardo Ronston, from the Red Light District downtown.”
Beatrix paused for a moment, Sixty Million? Absurd!
“How can I be sure I’ll be getting the payment?”
“Because it is right outside your door.”
Beatrix narrowed her eyes and looked at the trapdoor at the top of the staircase leading into the backroom of the bar in Reunion. Sure enough, a faint sound could be heard. She leapt up, still clutching the phone to her ear and jumped to the top of the stairs, opening the trapdoor and looking around to see who it was that had been there. A black briefcase was left to the left of the trapdoor.
“Do we have a deal, Beatrix?”
“Yes, yes we do.”
Beatrix closed the lid of the phone and returned it into her pocket, before pulling the briefcase over. She slid back down the staircase, closing the trapdoor behind her, and placed the case onto the table. Opening it up revealed that there was indeed, cash, plenty of it, all unmarked, One Hundred Solar Bills. The other members of Reach looked at her and then back to the money they were witnessing.
“We’re to find and eliminate Leonardo Ronston. We’ll go now. I don’t want to upset our client, especially since they seem to know where we live. Let’s go.”
End prologue.
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Chapter 001: Welcome to the Metropolis
Solar was wide awake, even in the early hours of the morning. The traffic never ceased. Downtown Solar was about an hour from the Reach Headquarters on the train system that interlocked the city, and as Reach headed to the station, the early morning twilight began to creep across the sky.
At the Northern Central station, several homeless people lay underneath cardboard boxes, and graffiti lined the walls. There was a distinct smell of urine in the air, as there was with most enclosed areas within Solar. Red bricks, eroding with age, lined the entrance of the station, and a titanic clock was the ceiling. It was a majestic sight, even if the atmosphere was that to be questioned. The clock was fashioned out of glass, and was extremely well kept. Each of the central stations contained one of these clocks, a minor pride and joy of the Solar architect division. Behind the glass of the clock face were several lights, positioned at each of the hour points.
Reach entered the station, stirring several of the sleeping homeless people. The electronic time display stated that it would be another seven minutes, and the clock read that it was just after 5:20. The artificial lighting of the station beamed down and lit up the entire group.
At the front was Beatrix. Her brown hair flowed behind her as she walked. She smiled lightly at the stares from the people within the station. Her black leather suit clearly identified her slim figure. Flicking her hair back she looked up towards the large clock on the ceiling, the light from behind it catching her deep hazel eyes and making them sparkle lightly, almost dancing. Upon her waist was a decorated leather hilt, sticking out from a black sheath. She flipped her hair back and came to a halt, a few feet away from the edge of the tracks.
To the left of Beatrix, was a young girl, with short brown hair and fair skin. She looked around the station and sighed at the amount of homeless people stood looking at her. She shook her head and walked over beside Beatrix. She was Mikoto, an adept in oriental sword art and an aspiring musician. She looked younger than she actually was, sixteen, and stood only 5 foot 5 inches tall. She wore a midnight Blue tank top, which exposed a small tattoo of strange patterns on her arm, and black jeans. Fastened to her back was a curved sheath, or saya, which housed a medium sized Katana. It was evident from the day Mikoto received her sword it was strange, half of it was missing, and it glowed with a blue aura whenever she held it in her hands. Fastened around her neck was a small gold pendant, with the letters “BG” engraved upon it and a small lock without a key. She closed her deep green eyes and looked to the floor, smiling at the thought of the amount of money Beatrix had placed on the table earlier.
“Damn Boss, you look fine in that outfit.”
“This is the closest you’ll get to seeing me naked Gala; go to a strip club or something.”
Beatrix sighed and smirked a little at the remark from the seventeen year old Gala. He laughed to himself and walked over to a bench, parking himself on it and looking around the station. The artificial lighting beamed down as he looked towards the electronic timer, the train wasn’t due for another three minutes. The light shone across his styled blonde hair and illuminated his sky blue eyes. His jeans and white jacket were immaculate, and on either side of his waist were two silver guns, each engraved with his name. Gala sighed and closed his eyes, awaiting the roar of the train entering the station.
Edge entered the station, a little ways behind the rest of Reach. He grunted at Gala’s attempt to admire Beatrix and walked away from the group. Standing on the edge of the platform, underneath the light, his features were visible. His face was one full of age. Black sunglasses that not even the bright station lights could pierce through were placed comfortably over his eyes, and on his body, a black overcoat, and black trousers. Atop his head was a black hat, which clashed with his straight black hair. The only thing upon him that wasn’t black was the skin that was visible through all of the clothing. Edge shook his head at the homeless people, who were by now transfixed upon the strange group of people entering the station at such an early hour.
The station was filled with the rustling of papers as Reach stood in an awkward silence waiting for the train. The electronic timer indicated it was due, yet there was no sign or sound of it coming. Mikoto began pacing around, growing restless. She wasn’t one who enjoyed sitting around, and always needed to be doing something. She stopped as the tracks began to rumble and the sound of the train nearing the station began to grow louder. Reach edged towards the end of the platform, and stood waiting. The train burst out of the tunnel that led into the station and slowed to a halt.
Several of the carriages were covered in graffiti and a lot of the train seemed like it hadn’t been washed for nigh on twenty years. What white colour there was left had now turned into a musky grey, and gave a sense of foreboding to Reach as the doors opened. The gangway within the train was relatively clean, a few newspapers were strewn about, but it was otherwise empty. The windows were barely transparent, due to the amount of grime, and the lights were yellowed. Reach made deal with what was a common event in Solar, and entered the carriage. Outside, the electronic display read that the train was due to leave in 3 minutes.
Edge sat opposite Beatrix and smiled weakly at her, before narrowing his eyes behind his black sunglasses and asking the question that had been burning in his mind ever since Beatrix had announced the latest mission.
“Why did you accept this mission?”
“Edge… you aren’t going to let your views get in the way again I hope. The reason is because I know of whom we are supposed to kill. Leonardo Ronston is one of the richest drug and women traffickers in the Red Light District. Ask Gala, I’m sure he knows all about him.”
“Beatrix, you know I trust your judgement, however, I cannot say that this mission is all that… worthy. However, so long as I am getting paid, I won’t hassle you.”
Beatrix smiled and looked up at him, “Of course you will Edge, and this is a team isn’t it? We all get an equal share of the payment. One thing worries me though, and that is how our unidentified client knows of the location of Reach.”
“Some things are better left unknown Beatrix.”
Edge got up and walked off, staring out of a barely see-through window. Beatrix admired him for the way he stood up for what he believed in, yet remained secluded and silent at the same time. Edge was a Convict, and had been framed for a crime he didn’t commit. He had been placed under bounty several years ago by The Planetists for the murder of their leading scientist, and had been on the run for two years before Reach caught him, and chose to believe his side of the story. He was now a full fledged mercenary, working under command of Beatrix and member of Reach. It was plain to tell he yearned for his innocence and right to freedom back, however reclusive he decided to keep himself.
The speakers lining the ceiling of the train carriage crackled into life as the voice of the driver sounded through. He seemed old and frail, judging from his voice, and announced the train to be leaving, and that the next stop was Downtown Solar. Beatrix shuffled about in the seat until she felt comfortable, and closed her eyes, drifting off into a dreamless sleep. It would be another hour before the train arrived downtown, and she had been awake all night.
The train picked up speed and entered the underground network of Solar. A large electronic map on one of the windowless walls of the carriage indicated where the train was within the system. A small, red blinking light indicated the train, which moved through a tremendous network of train tracks. The display was labyrinth like. Mikoto stood looking at it, as she always did when she rode the train network of Solar. She had seen the map hundreds of times, yet never grew tired of looking at the enormous infrastructure. The train network was made up of a mainline that went to the five main areas of Solar, the north, south, east, west and downtown districts. Within these districts, a further train line ran connecting key areas within them to one another. Each district was roughly two hundred square miles in size, and the total size of Solar was well over one thousand square miles. It was the second of the great cities of Charity, yet it paled in comparison to the amazing size of High Charity, which was the size of the continent it was named after. Mikoto remembered hearing that it would take a little over six years to traverse the entire rail network of Solar on foot, a fact that she found incredible.
As Mikoto watched the blinking red light make its way from the Main station of the Northern District, she began to wonder what High Charity was like. She had read about it in the Solar Central Newspaper, and had heard of the palace of lords, in which the world government resided, yet had never set foot on the Continent of High Charity, let alone the mega polis that it was. She sighed at the thoughts of leaving Solar one day and continued to navigate the train routes. They were all underground, save for the main stations, and the main network was complimented with an eight lane highway, which stretched out across the Zodiac continent, and around the city of Solar.
At the end of the carriage, Gala sat alone, reading a magazine he bought each week, even if it killed him. ‘Queens’ was the name of the greatest pornography magazine to ever leave the printing houses in the Red Light District. It contained everything from readers’ ratings of prostitutes down to the latest headlines. The magazine was critically acclaimed not only as an adult entertainment source, but also as a fantastic source of information on world events, and as such was the best selling magazine throughout the city of Solar. Gala was devastated at the news of the latest target of Reach, ‘Queens’ magazine was published by a company Leonardo Ronston owned. He sat, and placed a happy face, as he turned the page to a picture of a blonde woman wearing nothing but a small fluffy scarf. He was only seventeen, but Gala was terrible for womanizing.
***
Beatrix opened her eyes after being shaken a few times by Mikoto. She looked around, forgetting where she was, and then back at the smiling face of the 16 year old girl standing over her.
“We’re here Beatrix, let’s go.”
Beatrix flicked her hair back as she stood, smiled at Mikoto and walked off of the train and into the central station of Solar.
End chapter 001.
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Chapter 002: Kill Game.
A light rain had picked up and the morning sun had made it’s first appearance of the day, creeping over the horizon and illuminating the eastern face of Solar with it’s Orange glow. The clock that made up the majority of the ceiling of the station stated it was just after 6:30 in the morning. The station was already full with commuters, and several of the stores within the station were opening up for the day. Reach walked out of the main exit and out to the street outside.
Gala looked up into the sky, feeling the light rain wash against his face. He closed his eyes and yawned, stretching his arms into the air. He felt a brief movement behind him, and saw a thin man in a brown coat run off, clutching his “Queens” magazine in his hand.
“Damn pickpockets…”
He stood and kicked the ground, thanking the train ride for allowing him to read the magazine from cover to cover. Edge walked up and stood next to Gala, turning his head in his direction slightly.
“Gala… you’re getting soft, since when did you let people get away with stealing?”
“Eh… I’m tired, and I’ve read it anyway. So sod it, not like it matters.”
“Stealing isn’t right though Gala, no matter who it is from, or why it is done.”
“Edge, I’ll thank you for not saying that again, I had to live stolen bread and water for two years after my parents died. People do steal for reasons sometimes. It’s all they can do…”
Edge nodded and walked over to a large map, which Beatrix had been looking at for some time. Gala shook his head at the twenty nine year old edge, and looked around, a blonde haired woman catching his attention. He traced her figure down, sublime, as many women of the downtown district were. He smirked and continued scanning the area, making the most of the time he had downtown.
“Have you figured out the best way to get there yet then?”
Beatrix jumped at the sound of Edge’s voice, and broke out of the trance like state of looking at the downtown map. It was huge, showing all of the streets of the district, along with a colour code showing whether they were a main road, highway, or a simple street.
“I think so; the Red light district isn’t that far by foot, about three miles. I say if we go through the main street until we reach this club here, and then follow this road west, we’ll be there in the quickest time possible.”
Edge followed where Beatrix was mentioning and nodded in agreement. Beatrix gave a weak smile before turning around, and shaking her hair slightly. She walked across the road when the traffic stopped, as the rest of Reach followed. Mikoto was always in awe at the size of the Downtown district. A large white building stuck out in the middle of it all, the Planetist main Headquarters. The building stretched further into the sky than any other building in the city of Solar, and housed everything from the government house of the city, to the military base. Visitors were allowed to visit the central floor of the building, however the floors above and below ground level were strictly prohibited. Conspiracy theorists had, upon several occasions, decided that below the building was a huge complex of military structures, with more fire power than even the grand military of High Charity.
Mikoto came out of her thought as an ambulance raced down the street with its sirens blaring. She shook her hair, and allowed the light raindrops to fall upon her face. As Reach continued walking, the rain seemed to quicken, and gradually became heavier. The skies above turned a grey shade and the morning sunlight slowly faded, leaving the city under a tone of grey shades.
Reach eventually arrived at the club Beatrix had pinpointed on the map. Gala perked up as he saw what was above the entrance. Three enormous ‘X’ letters were glowing vividly with posters of strippers lining the entrance. Below the three X’s was a smaller sign, stating “Ronston Strip Club.” Edge quickly walked over to Beatrix, before being joined by Gala and Mikoto.
“It seems we’re in the vicinity of what he controls.”
“Yeah. Gala, you want to go inside and ask about the owner, Mr. Ronston?”
Gala grinned; Beatrix always used him for things like this. He winked at her and walked over to the entrance. One of the posters read out that it was a 24 hour club, as many within the area were. The two large doors slid open, revealing a crimson carpeted entrance hall. The walls were lined with small, shell shaped lights, emitting a gentle pink glow. The ceiling heralded a painting portraying a mass of female bodies, all naked and in some way linked to one another. Several framed issues of the “Queens” magazine were along the right hand wall. The 1st issue, with a girl dressed in a white cat costume and the name “Katherine” across the bottom, the 50th issue was next to it, with a front cover not of a woman, but of a large explosion. No headline was present, but a small plaque at the bottom, upon closer inspection, stated that it was the only issue of Queens to have been published without a woman on the cover.
Gala continued down the corridor, which seemed to go on for ages, until he finally reached a doorway which heralded a sign saying ‘reception’ above it. He entered the foyer, a faint ambience dancing around on the air. A woman dressed in a black dress was at the desk. As Gala approached her features came into view, she was young, with brown hair that grew down to her shoulders, her face was young and well kept, and her figure, was something that especially caught Gala’s eye.
“Hello, and welcome to Ronston’s. How may I help a fine man like you?”
The way in which she spoke was seductive, and her body language was nothing short of arousing for Gala. As she spoke she leaned over the desk, placing her hands under her chin, and looking directly into the eyes of Gala.
“Um… hello, I’m here to inquire about the manager and owner, unfortunately. Is he around?”
“You’d be the first person to come in here asking for a man… he’s here. I’ll call him through for you. Can you give me five minutes?”
This is too easy… “Yeah sure I can, take your time.”
The woman sat up and walked through a lace curtain behind the desk, walking in such a way that all parts of her body seemed to move, in perfect rhythm. Gala stared at the lace curtains, gently swaying from side to side, for a brief moment, before pulling out a small phone from his pocket and typing in the number to Beatrix’ phone. As the phone rang, several cheers came from a doorway to the left of the desk, before the room returned to the peaceful ambience. The phone was eventually answered, and Gala could hear from the receiver, that outside, the rain had taken a turn for the worse.
“Hello Gala, is he there?”
“He is boss; you guys want to come in?”
“We’d love to Gala, really we would, but it seems we can’t, the place has been closed. The streets out here are flooding, this rain is pathetic.”
“Are you for real? Then what the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Finish the mission yourself; you can have 90% of the pay. Kill Leonardo Ronston, and then find a way out of there before his men find and kill you.”
Fuck she think I am? “Are you serious?”
“Do it Gala, that’s an order. Beatrix out.”
The phone went dead, as Gala slowly removed it from his ear and wondering how the hell he was going to kill this man, who he treated as some form of idol, himself. He replaced the phone and looked down at the carpet. The crimson and black patterns were hypnotic, several spirals forming one large spiralling shape after the other. He looked up as he felt himself get dizzy, and took out one of his two Silver pistols.
They were handcrafted from pure silver, and bore an engraving of his name upon their sides. The barrel held 16 rounds and fired 2 shots per pull of the trigger. The handle contained several electronic security devices, which executed if anyone but Gala held the gun in the action position. Fingerprint encoding ran across the trigger, and if the prints weren’t recognized, the gun locked itself down, before releasing a toxic gas, that eroded the lungs of whoever was handling it. The gun was as dangerous to anyone but Gala both at gunpoint and if the gun was in their hands.
He checked the barrel, fully stocked. He quickly replaced it into it’s holster as footsteps came from behind the lace curtain. The woman that had been at the reception entered through the curtain once more, and resumed sitting down in her seat behind the desk. She looked up at Gala and sighed,
“He’s down there, just go through, he’s too fat and lazy to come up here.”
She motioned to the side of the desk, and turned away from Gala, pulling out a nail file as she did so, and entered a world of her own. Gala was taken slightly aback by the lack of security Leonardo had with him, but then remembered nobody would dare kill the man behind Queens’s magazine. He sighed, feeling the pistols in his pockets, and walked behind the desk and through the lace curtain.
Before him, a purple neon glow led the way down a staircase. The colour of the floor was uncertain, as the lighting created an eerie darkness. As Gala neared the bottom, voices and laughter could be heard, gaining volume as he proceeded downwards. Another lace curtain came into view as the voices came into full hearing distance. Gala picked up speed as the lights allowed more vision the closer to the bottom he got. He stood before the lace curtain, and slowly opened it up, stepping into a smoke filled room.
“Ah, you must be the kid that wanted to see me, what is it my boy?”
A round, obese man was sat opposite the doorway, a cigar sticking out of his mouth. His hair was greying brown and combed backwards, and over his torso was a black pinstripe suit, complete with a crimson tie and black velvet shirt. Behind him were two women dressed in outfits exposing areas of their body Gala didn’t even know existed. One was holding a tray of drinks, and the other a tray of cigars. Sat on the table around him were several men, all threatening in their own unique way. They all glared at gala, in contrast to the huge grin spread across Leonardo’s face.
“Yes, you’re Mr. Ronston, aren’t you?”
“That’s right my boy! Richest guy in town! Well, that isn’t a Planetist leader of course! Gyahahah! How may I be of service?”
Gala looked around the room, behind him was the staircase, and to his left was a doorway. He was aware he was underground, the staircase was long enough to warrant that. He felt the guns rub against his legs, and began sweating slightly, realising he had no idea of how he was going to escape. The question Leonardo had asked rang in his ears, and he took a moment to think of what to say.
“I have a message, from who I’ve got no idea, but I’ve been asked to send you it nonetheless.”
“Well my boy, what is this message? As you can see, ha-ha, I’m a busy man!”
Leonardo walked around the room towards the door on the left hand side, under the cold stare of the men sat around the table. He hadn’t noticed until now that each of the men was abnormally abundant in muscle mass, and all had distinct blonde, spiky hair. He sighed, and reached into his jacket, placing his hand on the gun handle,
“The message is…” I can’t believe I’m about to kill this guy… damn it! “The message is that you need to be killed.”
As the word ‘killed’ left his lips, Gala took out his guns and brought them up to level with Leonardo Ronston’s head, before pulling the triggers and sending four bullets searing through the air. The sound that erupted was deafening and enveloped the room, causing the men around the table to duck down and the two women to drop what they were carrying and run to the opposite side of the room.
Gala looked towards Leonardo, the four bullets had made direct contact with and ripped through his skull, leaving a bloody mess across his clothes and body. As Leonardo collapsed to the floor, much to the disbelief of the men around the table, Gala pulled open the door and bolted through, replacing his guns into their holsters.
As he exploded down the corridor, Gala heard shouts from the room he had just left, and the sound of footsteps entering the corridor he was running along. He had no idea as to where it led, all he knew is that he couldn’t face up to the challenge of eight or nine men, each one as muscled as the other. He gritted his teeth and pushed onwards.
A green light erupted from behind him and began to take over the entire corridor, a tremendous group of roars followed and the sound of steps began drawing extremely close to Gala, causing him to press on, increasing his running speed as much as he could.
With the green light illuminating the corridor, a staircase came into view, less than a hundred and fifty yards from where Gala was. He reached the staircase and began climbing them as fast as his legs would allow, taking some stairs as much as five at a time. As he climbed he pulled black his sleeve, revealing a small watch with several buttons on it. He pressed in one of them, causing a small green light to blink, and pulled his sleeve back to its original position. He felt a little more secure, knowing he had activated the Reach GPS system, now the rest of the team would know where he was, or at least where he was going.
The feeling of safety was shattered as he felt something rip at his leg and then fall away once more. He wanted to turn and look what those men had changed into, but decided against it in the favour of speed. The stairs seemed to be going on forever, the lights on the sides of them bearing extreme resemblance to those on the other staircase he had descended only a few minutes earlier.
He began to feel a slight pain in his legs as he continued his way up the stairs, his body was becoming oxygen starved. Damn it, I won’t be able to keep this speed up much longer… Gala felt another grab at his ankles and a loud snarl, and a thought struck him, he almost slapped himself for not doing what he planned before hand.
He reached for his guns, and took them out of his pockets. He grinned slightly and spun around, falling to a seat on one of the steps, before shooting straight down the staircase. He heard several howls of pain and emptied the barrels of both guns. He quickly replaced them and stood up once more, resuming his sprint up the stairs, and praying that he was near the end of the climb.
He slowed down slightly, feeling a little safer, in the knowledge that he had just shot the hell out of whatever it was pursuing him. Eventually, after another few minutes had passed, he reached level ground, which held a doorway, similar to the one he had entered this corridor and staircase from. He opened it up and stepped out of the corridor, finding himself outside, atop the roof of a building. The rain came down in torrents, drenching him almost instantaneously.
Gala walked over to the edge of the building, and looked down to the streets below. Sure enough, they were almost like a river. In such a short time the rain had increased enough to turn the mighty sewers of Solar into a waste. He shook his head violently, allowing some of the water to escape from his hair, before sitting down on the edge of the rooftop, and allowing the rain to fall upon him, as he rested his legs, which were burning from the extreme exercise they had just partaken in.
He closed his eyes as the water continued to stream down his face, as Gala wondered where the rest of Reach had gotten to. The GPS system had been running for long enough to enable them to locate where he was by now. He guessed the rain had stopped the group from accessing him easily, especially considering his location. As he felt the rain, it seemed as though something else was in an instant of his face. Opening his eyes, he was confronted with a pair of large yellow eyes. He fell back in shock, and began falling from atop the building he was perched upon.
End of Chapter 002.
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Chapter 003: Peppered Steak
Gala attempted to grab onto the roof of the building, but found himself plummeting to the river below. Above, through the rain, Gala could make out one of the creatures that had been chasing him jump off the building and fall downwards directly towards where he was. The building, however high it was, seemed to go on forever and the descent never ceased as Gala pulled out his guns and loaded them whilst plummeting downwards. The guns were both quickly loaded and Gala took aim at the creature that was now only a few feet above him.
The sound of Bullets erupting from both of the guns pierced the air and a split second later, a screech of pain from the green creature. The four bullets Gala had fired had all hit their target in the chest, causing blood to explode out of the creature’s body and join in the descent towards the planet. Gala quickly placed both of the guns back into their holsters and spun around, only to see that the ground was not a river at all, and had just looked like water from the top of the building.
As the ground came into clear view, Gala closed his eyes, and awaited the impending doom that awaited him upon impact. He expected thoughts of his life to begin rushing through his head, however none came, and all he saw within his minds eye was nothingness. He felt a sudden jolt, yet didn’t open his eyes and assumed it to be the creature colliding with him as they fell.
The feeling of moving downwards escaped him, and Gala felt as if he were moving with the winds. He opened his eyes to see the arm of someone around his middle. He traced the arm to the head of what appeared to be a girl, and saw Mikoto, a look of determination in her eyes, clinging to a rope.
“What the hell?”
“Aww don’t worry Gala, you blacked out, a little fall was all it was, and we’ll be on solid ground soon enough.”
Mikoto grinned, a playful look of sarcasm in her eyes, contrasting to the determination from a few minor seconds before. Gala sighed and shook his head, knowing that Reach was going to mock him for quite some time for blacking out and being scared of falling from a building, when he knew that the GPS was activated. He looked at the streets below, rushing by as he and Mikoto swung around the building on a large rope.
“Uhh… Mikoto, what’s this thing attached to?”
“Oh, just one of the rooms, we’re almost back to where we started.”
Sure enough, a few moments later, Mikoto swung into a large, well-lit room of the building, in which the rest of Reach stood, looking towards Gala. He and Mikoto both stood up after a landing graceful enough to win the Olympics ten times over.
“Did you kill him then?”
The voice was that of Beatrix.
“Yeah, he’s dead, something gave chase, but I killed three of them on my way up to the roof and one of them just as I was falling. I get Ninety percent of the pay right?”
Beatrix smirked and walked towards the door, flicking a little of the rainwater left in her hair to the floor and motioned for the rest of Reach to follow.
“Yeah, you get Ninety percent; now let’s go see what it was chasing you.”
As he left the room, Gala realised how wet his clothes were. He looked out of the window of the room at the rain outside. It was as if a grey sheet had enveloped the entire city, the rain was torrential. He shook his head and followed the rest of the group along a small corridor lined with apartment doors and into a stairwell. The faint smell of cabbage gave the air a distinct aroma that set apartment blocks from any other building. The walls of the stairwell were painted yellow, and were rotting in several areas, mostly closest to where wall met ceiling and floor.
“Don’t I get any thanks for saving you from falling then Gala? I risked my life with that rope too you know.”
“Sorry Mikoto, I owe you a lot for that, but I have one other thing to ask. Don’t tell the others about me… you know… fainting.”
Mikoto grinned and winked at Gala, and continued her descent down the staircase. Gala shook his head and smiled, Mikoto stuck to her word in all situations, the weight of the rest of the group taking the piss was one he didn’t need to bear any longer. He continued walking down the stairs, followed closely by Edge, who had not said anything since Gala had rejoined the group, but had merely gave a nod of recognition towards Gala at the news of Leonardo Ronston’s death.
The streets outside were less busy than usual, due to the heavy rain, but a small crowd indicated where the creature had landed. Reach walked over and struggled through the growing crowds. On the ground in front of them, a reptilian-looking creature lay motionless. Turquoise scaled covered all of the creature’s body. Its face looked like that of a wolf crossed with an iguana. Yet the creature was an arthropod, although the fashion of which it’s hands and feet were indicated it used all four in order to walk. The crowd around the creature talked in a hushed tone, asking one another varying questions about what the creature was and where it had came from.
“Is this what attacked you Gala?”
“Yeah it is Edge… there were five of them; I’ll tell you all about it when we get back to Reunion.”
Beatrix rolled her eyes and walked away from the creature. She glanced down the street towards the club gala had just assassinated Leonardo Ronston within, and caught the sound of police and ambulance sirens upon the air. She turned to the rest of the group and snapped her fingers, instantly grabbing their attention.
“We’re leaving.”
Mikoto and Gala both gave a confused look towards the sudden serious undertone of Beatrix, and followed her as she advanced down the street. Edge simply shrugged and also began to follow.
Beatrix walked briskly along, kicking up water as her feet connected with the drenched floor. The rain had made her hair fall down onto her face, and she was struggling to keep it out of her eyes. Mikoto cursed every now and then, both at the rain for exposing her chest through her thin vest, and at herself for not wearing a coat. Gala forgot all about what had happened at the club and with the lizard men that had given chase during his less than gallant escape, and focused on Beatrix. The rain had caused the leather to tighten against her skin, revealing more of her perfect figure than ever before. Edge walked along behind the rest of the group, with his eyes narrowed, and his hat tilted so that his face was completely covered from the rain. While his clothes were soaked through, within them, Edge remained warm and dry. A little ways ahead, the train station had come into view.
As Reach entered the train station, Beatrix and Mikoto both shook their heads, shaking droplets of water out of their hair. All of the group were soaking wet, and the floor of the train station had become slippery due to the amount of people walking across it. The clock that was the ceiling still glowed with the blue lighting, and read out that the time was just after 8 A.M. The skies were the shade of grey that they had been two hours ago. Gala looked around the station, the train headed for the Northern district was due in less than two minutes. Mikoto smiled at the timing, it was impeccable.
“Hey, Gala! Gala!”
Gala turned around to the location of the voice and his heart sank, running towards him was Pepper. She wasn’t very tall, around 5’4”, and her black hair came down to her shoulders. She was clutching onto a brown paper back, held close to her chest. Underneath her light brown jacket was a cream coloured blouse, and a matching pair of jeans. He blue eyes caught the neon glow of the clock on the ceiling and sparkled as she walked towards Gala, with a huge grin spread across her face.
“Great… Perfect even. Mikoto… help.”
Mikoto laughed at Gala and shook her head, walking away from what was bound to become a scene. Gala sighed, and felt the remains of his heart and stomach crash into the floor; he was tired and really couldn’t be bothered with an obsessive girl talking to him non-stop.
“Hello Pepper.”
“Gala, where have you been? I’ve been shopping! See? I bought, some fruit, and some tea, and some biscuits, and, oh look I have this for you!”
Pepper reached into the brown paper bag and pulled out an apple. Gala went to speak but found the shiny red fruit being forced into his mouth, much to the happiness of Pepper. He narrowed his eyes and took the apple out of his mouth, he tried speaking again but was cut off,
“By the way, are you headed back to Reunion? You don’t mind me sitting with you on the train do you? You don’t? That’s great! You’re so sweet Gala!”
Pepper took the bag into one hand and placed her arm around Gala, squeezing him so he could barely breathe. She didn’t even give me time to answer… Once Pepper had released Gala from the lung-destroying hug, she took his hand into her and paraded towards the train, dragging Gala behind her. As the two neared the platform edge, the ever familiar rumble of an approaching train sounded throughout the station, and a few moments later, a silver train came rushing out from the right hand tunnel.
“Wow, that looks… different.”
Beatrix watched as the train came to a stop, slightly confused. The train was different to all the other trains, and was immaculately clean. The station speaker sounded, informing the passengers the train was due to leave for the northern central station in five minutes time. Edge stood a little behind Beatrix, and looked up and down the train, as the doors opened.
“It’s one of those new models all the news reports are harping on about. It cost the planetists six million to make 6 of these trains to run around the central network, I guess this is their induction day.”
“Edge you’re a fountain of knowledge my dear, come on then Mikoto, seems Gala is sorted with his girlfriend.”
Beatrix smiled and rolled her eyes at Gala, who was struggling to leave Pepper’s grip, boarding the train and looking around. Inside was all silver and steel blue. The seats and floor were like the rest of the train, clean. The cushions upon the seats upon closer inspection revealed to be incredibly comfortable. Mikoto sat down and was surprised at the amount of comfort the seats offered,
“Wow, the Planetists really outdid themselves on this, wonder how long it’ll take before these trains are screwed, like the rest of them…”
Gala had by now given up on trying to get away from Pepper, her grip was like a titanium handcuff. He sighed and allowed her to choose a seat and lead him like a mere dog on a leash wherever she wanted. Gala sighed and rolled his eyes every now and then, silently expressing his distaste for the situation. Why me? Of all the bloody men in Solar, pepper has to do this with me…
After a few minutes had passed, and the remainder of the passengers had boarded the train, Edge bolted up from his seat and looked out of the window and across the station. The green creature that Gala had killed earlier on stood at the entrance, it’s eyes glowering, and red blood dripping at it’s feet from the Gun inflicted wounds. The creature glared around the station, causing a state of panic to erupt. The panic was fed more so as three more of the creatures smashed through the ceiling of the station, destroying the clock in the process, and landing next to the creature that had emerged beforehand.
“Gala, I thought you killed those bastards?”
Gala turned around, much to the dismay of Pepper and looked out of the window at the havoc within the station.
“Shit… these things are harder than I thought… Pepper for Gods sake, GET THE FUCK OFF MY ARM.”
Pepper loosened her grip instantly at the look of anger in Gala’s eyes, and shrunk down, her eyes making contact with the floor. Gala shook his head and walked to the door of the train, the creatures were slowly advancing towards his location, a glare in their eyes, which seemed to pierce through the fabric of his soul.
“Okay, four bitches, one each. Simple. Mikoto, you take the left, Gala, you take the right, and me and Edge will take the middle two.”
Mikoto cocked her head and smiled at Beatrix’ ability to make sense of a difficult situation, before drawing her sword and standing next to her boss. Edge fixed his hat and stood a little behind Beatrix, drawing his weapon, a rare occurrence. Edge refrained from using his 9mm Chain gun whenever possible, because at times it had managed to cause more damage than a Rocket Launcher, and also the ammo it used and needed was a massive hit on his wallet. Gala shook off the glare from the creatures, and ran over to join his comrades, reloading his two silver pistols in the process and flicking his hair out of his face.
Several TV crews had entered the station, to cover the panic situation. The sign for the trains departure time displayed the word ‘delayed’ upon the electronic notice board, and the rain rushed into the station from the newly formed hole in the ceiling. The Television reporter for channel six huddled himself in a bright orange jacket, holding a microphone as close to his face as possible. Another man stood in between him and the camera, with a large black umbrella, and the camera man gave the thumbs up to indicate the film was rolling.
“I’m coming to you live from Central Station downtown on Channel 6, where a strange situation has occurred. Four unknown creatures have entered the station, and we are unsure of what is going to happen yet. The four creatures have into made a move on anyone as of yet, however people are evacuating the station as fast as possible. This reporter will attempt to bring you the best coverage he can, while risking his own life, this is Channel Six news.”
End of Chapter 003
This story isn't for people who get offended easily.
-Profane language
-Innuendo
-Likely racist/blasphemous comments
-Other things little children don't like.
So don't read this if you plan on whining, and if you read it and whine anyway, I'm going to tell you in advance to shut the hell up. Thanks.
Anyway, here are the first four chapters of the story, and chances are I'll be back into writing it properly from here on, I've had a lot of coursework and whatnot, so yeah, last chapter was posted on Christmas Eve. Anyway, here's the whole thing thus far. Enjoy, oh, and a review would probably make me pleased. We all like reviews. I like cake too, but a review would probably be better for the time being. Thanks for all readers and reviewers alike.
-Josh
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Apotheosis
Prologue
Filtering through the barely lit window, the light of the moon shone across Reunion. It was just after 5am, and the music club had been shut for an hour. Outside, Solar remained as full of life as it did at any other time. It was the city that never slept, and there was always something going on, all night gambling, strip bars, seedy taverns, clubs. If after dark fun was what a tourist or resident of Solar wanted, they had never been in a better place. Police influence was minimal, and crime influence was seconded only to the influence of the Planetists.
The Planetists were the leading religious faction of the world. They barely had any competition. For centuries there had been undeniable proof of their belief. Every decade a Guardian Angel would appear within the city of Solar and expect gifts and sacrifice, for bestowing the planet of Charity unto the human race. It came to be that the Planetists ruled Charity, and that Solar was dubbed the Holy City. For it was there that the angels appeared. People came from thousands of miles away to witness the angels, and left feeling a better person within themselves. The turn of the decade was less than one month away. And the guardian angel that would appear was set to change the world of Charity forever.
Sage sat in his chair, looking out over the neon glow. His pipe smoked lightly, and the room held a lingering smell of sweet tobacco. His thoughts were of thought, and he was rarely seen outside of Reunion. His world was the music club, and the two small rooms above it that he called his home. A small window looking over all of Solar, a kettle placed upon a stove, a small bathroom, the age old rocking chair Sage loved dearly, and a bed, draped with crimson sheets, and fashioned out of the finest Redwood. His history stretched nine centuries, and yet was clouded in mystery. Nobody knew of who Sage was, or how he had managed to live up until he was Nine Hundred and Twenty Three. His smile was that of knowledge, and his eyes burned with a resolve of justice. His knowledge extended past the known cosmos, as did his intelligence. He was the bright star on a stormy night, and the guiding light to Reach.
Reach sat around a large table underneath reunion. Their headquarters were a small room, which led off to seven separate rooms. They were a group of Mercenaries, who took missions that only their leader deemed justified under her own morality. Beatrix, the merciless assassin, with her perfectly balanced sword, Eve, and her group of Mercenaries. They were the scourge of many, and the saviour of few, but Reach did what they were asked flawlessly, and were renowned throughout the deepest Underground sects of Solar.
The sound of ringing broke the awkward silence around the table. Beatrix reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, metallic object, and flipped up the cover, before bringing the phone to her ear.
“What?”
“I have a request of you, this is Reach is it not?”
“Yes, this is Beatrix. Who is calling, what is the pay, and what is the mission?”
“Who this is, is not important. The pay is Sixty Million, and the mission is to find and eradicate Leonardo Ronston, from the Red Light District downtown.”
Beatrix paused for a moment, Sixty Million? Absurd!
“How can I be sure I’ll be getting the payment?”
“Because it is right outside your door.”
Beatrix narrowed her eyes and looked at the trapdoor at the top of the staircase leading into the backroom of the bar in Reunion. Sure enough, a faint sound could be heard. She leapt up, still clutching the phone to her ear and jumped to the top of the stairs, opening the trapdoor and looking around to see who it was that had been there. A black briefcase was left to the left of the trapdoor.
“Do we have a deal, Beatrix?”
“Yes, yes we do.”
Beatrix closed the lid of the phone and returned it into her pocket, before pulling the briefcase over. She slid back down the staircase, closing the trapdoor behind her, and placed the case onto the table. Opening it up revealed that there was indeed, cash, plenty of it, all unmarked, One Hundred Solar Bills. The other members of Reach looked at her and then back to the money they were witnessing.
“We’re to find and eliminate Leonardo Ronston. We’ll go now. I don’t want to upset our client, especially since they seem to know where we live. Let’s go.”
End prologue.
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Chapter 001: Welcome to the Metropolis
Solar was wide awake, even in the early hours of the morning. The traffic never ceased. Downtown Solar was about an hour from the Reach Headquarters on the train system that interlocked the city, and as Reach headed to the station, the early morning twilight began to creep across the sky.
At the Northern Central station, several homeless people lay underneath cardboard boxes, and graffiti lined the walls. There was a distinct smell of urine in the air, as there was with most enclosed areas within Solar. Red bricks, eroding with age, lined the entrance of the station, and a titanic clock was the ceiling. It was a majestic sight, even if the atmosphere was that to be questioned. The clock was fashioned out of glass, and was extremely well kept. Each of the central stations contained one of these clocks, a minor pride and joy of the Solar architect division. Behind the glass of the clock face were several lights, positioned at each of the hour points.
Reach entered the station, stirring several of the sleeping homeless people. The electronic time display stated that it would be another seven minutes, and the clock read that it was just after 5:20. The artificial lighting of the station beamed down and lit up the entire group.
At the front was Beatrix. Her brown hair flowed behind her as she walked. She smiled lightly at the stares from the people within the station. Her black leather suit clearly identified her slim figure. Flicking her hair back she looked up towards the large clock on the ceiling, the light from behind it catching her deep hazel eyes and making them sparkle lightly, almost dancing. Upon her waist was a decorated leather hilt, sticking out from a black sheath. She flipped her hair back and came to a halt, a few feet away from the edge of the tracks.
To the left of Beatrix, was a young girl, with short brown hair and fair skin. She looked around the station and sighed at the amount of homeless people stood looking at her. She shook her head and walked over beside Beatrix. She was Mikoto, an adept in oriental sword art and an aspiring musician. She looked younger than she actually was, sixteen, and stood only 5 foot 5 inches tall. She wore a midnight Blue tank top, which exposed a small tattoo of strange patterns on her arm, and black jeans. Fastened to her back was a curved sheath, or saya, which housed a medium sized Katana. It was evident from the day Mikoto received her sword it was strange, half of it was missing, and it glowed with a blue aura whenever she held it in her hands. Fastened around her neck was a small gold pendant, with the letters “BG” engraved upon it and a small lock without a key. She closed her deep green eyes and looked to the floor, smiling at the thought of the amount of money Beatrix had placed on the table earlier.
“Damn Boss, you look fine in that outfit.”
“This is the closest you’ll get to seeing me naked Gala; go to a strip club or something.”
Beatrix sighed and smirked a little at the remark from the seventeen year old Gala. He laughed to himself and walked over to a bench, parking himself on it and looking around the station. The artificial lighting beamed down as he looked towards the electronic timer, the train wasn’t due for another three minutes. The light shone across his styled blonde hair and illuminated his sky blue eyes. His jeans and white jacket were immaculate, and on either side of his waist were two silver guns, each engraved with his name. Gala sighed and closed his eyes, awaiting the roar of the train entering the station.
Edge entered the station, a little ways behind the rest of Reach. He grunted at Gala’s attempt to admire Beatrix and walked away from the group. Standing on the edge of the platform, underneath the light, his features were visible. His face was one full of age. Black sunglasses that not even the bright station lights could pierce through were placed comfortably over his eyes, and on his body, a black overcoat, and black trousers. Atop his head was a black hat, which clashed with his straight black hair. The only thing upon him that wasn’t black was the skin that was visible through all of the clothing. Edge shook his head at the homeless people, who were by now transfixed upon the strange group of people entering the station at such an early hour.
The station was filled with the rustling of papers as Reach stood in an awkward silence waiting for the train. The electronic timer indicated it was due, yet there was no sign or sound of it coming. Mikoto began pacing around, growing restless. She wasn’t one who enjoyed sitting around, and always needed to be doing something. She stopped as the tracks began to rumble and the sound of the train nearing the station began to grow louder. Reach edged towards the end of the platform, and stood waiting. The train burst out of the tunnel that led into the station and slowed to a halt.
Several of the carriages were covered in graffiti and a lot of the train seemed like it hadn’t been washed for nigh on twenty years. What white colour there was left had now turned into a musky grey, and gave a sense of foreboding to Reach as the doors opened. The gangway within the train was relatively clean, a few newspapers were strewn about, but it was otherwise empty. The windows were barely transparent, due to the amount of grime, and the lights were yellowed. Reach made deal with what was a common event in Solar, and entered the carriage. Outside, the electronic display read that the train was due to leave in 3 minutes.
Edge sat opposite Beatrix and smiled weakly at her, before narrowing his eyes behind his black sunglasses and asking the question that had been burning in his mind ever since Beatrix had announced the latest mission.
“Why did you accept this mission?”
“Edge… you aren’t going to let your views get in the way again I hope. The reason is because I know of whom we are supposed to kill. Leonardo Ronston is one of the richest drug and women traffickers in the Red Light District. Ask Gala, I’m sure he knows all about him.”
“Beatrix, you know I trust your judgement, however, I cannot say that this mission is all that… worthy. However, so long as I am getting paid, I won’t hassle you.”
Beatrix smiled and looked up at him, “Of course you will Edge, and this is a team isn’t it? We all get an equal share of the payment. One thing worries me though, and that is how our unidentified client knows of the location of Reach.”
“Some things are better left unknown Beatrix.”
Edge got up and walked off, staring out of a barely see-through window. Beatrix admired him for the way he stood up for what he believed in, yet remained secluded and silent at the same time. Edge was a Convict, and had been framed for a crime he didn’t commit. He had been placed under bounty several years ago by The Planetists for the murder of their leading scientist, and had been on the run for two years before Reach caught him, and chose to believe his side of the story. He was now a full fledged mercenary, working under command of Beatrix and member of Reach. It was plain to tell he yearned for his innocence and right to freedom back, however reclusive he decided to keep himself.
The speakers lining the ceiling of the train carriage crackled into life as the voice of the driver sounded through. He seemed old and frail, judging from his voice, and announced the train to be leaving, and that the next stop was Downtown Solar. Beatrix shuffled about in the seat until she felt comfortable, and closed her eyes, drifting off into a dreamless sleep. It would be another hour before the train arrived downtown, and she had been awake all night.
The train picked up speed and entered the underground network of Solar. A large electronic map on one of the windowless walls of the carriage indicated where the train was within the system. A small, red blinking light indicated the train, which moved through a tremendous network of train tracks. The display was labyrinth like. Mikoto stood looking at it, as she always did when she rode the train network of Solar. She had seen the map hundreds of times, yet never grew tired of looking at the enormous infrastructure. The train network was made up of a mainline that went to the five main areas of Solar, the north, south, east, west and downtown districts. Within these districts, a further train line ran connecting key areas within them to one another. Each district was roughly two hundred square miles in size, and the total size of Solar was well over one thousand square miles. It was the second of the great cities of Charity, yet it paled in comparison to the amazing size of High Charity, which was the size of the continent it was named after. Mikoto remembered hearing that it would take a little over six years to traverse the entire rail network of Solar on foot, a fact that she found incredible.
As Mikoto watched the blinking red light make its way from the Main station of the Northern District, she began to wonder what High Charity was like. She had read about it in the Solar Central Newspaper, and had heard of the palace of lords, in which the world government resided, yet had never set foot on the Continent of High Charity, let alone the mega polis that it was. She sighed at the thoughts of leaving Solar one day and continued to navigate the train routes. They were all underground, save for the main stations, and the main network was complimented with an eight lane highway, which stretched out across the Zodiac continent, and around the city of Solar.
At the end of the carriage, Gala sat alone, reading a magazine he bought each week, even if it killed him. ‘Queens’ was the name of the greatest pornography magazine to ever leave the printing houses in the Red Light District. It contained everything from readers’ ratings of prostitutes down to the latest headlines. The magazine was critically acclaimed not only as an adult entertainment source, but also as a fantastic source of information on world events, and as such was the best selling magazine throughout the city of Solar. Gala was devastated at the news of the latest target of Reach, ‘Queens’ magazine was published by a company Leonardo Ronston owned. He sat, and placed a happy face, as he turned the page to a picture of a blonde woman wearing nothing but a small fluffy scarf. He was only seventeen, but Gala was terrible for womanizing.
***
Beatrix opened her eyes after being shaken a few times by Mikoto. She looked around, forgetting where she was, and then back at the smiling face of the 16 year old girl standing over her.
“We’re here Beatrix, let’s go.”
Beatrix flicked her hair back as she stood, smiled at Mikoto and walked off of the train and into the central station of Solar.
End chapter 001.
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Chapter 002: Kill Game.
A light rain had picked up and the morning sun had made it’s first appearance of the day, creeping over the horizon and illuminating the eastern face of Solar with it’s Orange glow. The clock that made up the majority of the ceiling of the station stated it was just after 6:30 in the morning. The station was already full with commuters, and several of the stores within the station were opening up for the day. Reach walked out of the main exit and out to the street outside.
Gala looked up into the sky, feeling the light rain wash against his face. He closed his eyes and yawned, stretching his arms into the air. He felt a brief movement behind him, and saw a thin man in a brown coat run off, clutching his “Queens” magazine in his hand.
“Damn pickpockets…”
He stood and kicked the ground, thanking the train ride for allowing him to read the magazine from cover to cover. Edge walked up and stood next to Gala, turning his head in his direction slightly.
“Gala… you’re getting soft, since when did you let people get away with stealing?”
“Eh… I’m tired, and I’ve read it anyway. So sod it, not like it matters.”
“Stealing isn’t right though Gala, no matter who it is from, or why it is done.”
“Edge, I’ll thank you for not saying that again, I had to live stolen bread and water for two years after my parents died. People do steal for reasons sometimes. It’s all they can do…”
Edge nodded and walked over to a large map, which Beatrix had been looking at for some time. Gala shook his head at the twenty nine year old edge, and looked around, a blonde haired woman catching his attention. He traced her figure down, sublime, as many women of the downtown district were. He smirked and continued scanning the area, making the most of the time he had downtown.
“Have you figured out the best way to get there yet then?”
Beatrix jumped at the sound of Edge’s voice, and broke out of the trance like state of looking at the downtown map. It was huge, showing all of the streets of the district, along with a colour code showing whether they were a main road, highway, or a simple street.
“I think so; the Red light district isn’t that far by foot, about three miles. I say if we go through the main street until we reach this club here, and then follow this road west, we’ll be there in the quickest time possible.”
Edge followed where Beatrix was mentioning and nodded in agreement. Beatrix gave a weak smile before turning around, and shaking her hair slightly. She walked across the road when the traffic stopped, as the rest of Reach followed. Mikoto was always in awe at the size of the Downtown district. A large white building stuck out in the middle of it all, the Planetist main Headquarters. The building stretched further into the sky than any other building in the city of Solar, and housed everything from the government house of the city, to the military base. Visitors were allowed to visit the central floor of the building, however the floors above and below ground level were strictly prohibited. Conspiracy theorists had, upon several occasions, decided that below the building was a huge complex of military structures, with more fire power than even the grand military of High Charity.
Mikoto came out of her thought as an ambulance raced down the street with its sirens blaring. She shook her hair, and allowed the light raindrops to fall upon her face. As Reach continued walking, the rain seemed to quicken, and gradually became heavier. The skies above turned a grey shade and the morning sunlight slowly faded, leaving the city under a tone of grey shades.
Reach eventually arrived at the club Beatrix had pinpointed on the map. Gala perked up as he saw what was above the entrance. Three enormous ‘X’ letters were glowing vividly with posters of strippers lining the entrance. Below the three X’s was a smaller sign, stating “Ronston Strip Club.” Edge quickly walked over to Beatrix, before being joined by Gala and Mikoto.
“It seems we’re in the vicinity of what he controls.”
“Yeah. Gala, you want to go inside and ask about the owner, Mr. Ronston?”
Gala grinned; Beatrix always used him for things like this. He winked at her and walked over to the entrance. One of the posters read out that it was a 24 hour club, as many within the area were. The two large doors slid open, revealing a crimson carpeted entrance hall. The walls were lined with small, shell shaped lights, emitting a gentle pink glow. The ceiling heralded a painting portraying a mass of female bodies, all naked and in some way linked to one another. Several framed issues of the “Queens” magazine were along the right hand wall. The 1st issue, with a girl dressed in a white cat costume and the name “Katherine” across the bottom, the 50th issue was next to it, with a front cover not of a woman, but of a large explosion. No headline was present, but a small plaque at the bottom, upon closer inspection, stated that it was the only issue of Queens to have been published without a woman on the cover.
Gala continued down the corridor, which seemed to go on for ages, until he finally reached a doorway which heralded a sign saying ‘reception’ above it. He entered the foyer, a faint ambience dancing around on the air. A woman dressed in a black dress was at the desk. As Gala approached her features came into view, she was young, with brown hair that grew down to her shoulders, her face was young and well kept, and her figure, was something that especially caught Gala’s eye.
“Hello, and welcome to Ronston’s. How may I help a fine man like you?”
The way in which she spoke was seductive, and her body language was nothing short of arousing for Gala. As she spoke she leaned over the desk, placing her hands under her chin, and looking directly into the eyes of Gala.
“Um… hello, I’m here to inquire about the manager and owner, unfortunately. Is he around?”
“You’d be the first person to come in here asking for a man… he’s here. I’ll call him through for you. Can you give me five minutes?”
This is too easy… “Yeah sure I can, take your time.”
The woman sat up and walked through a lace curtain behind the desk, walking in such a way that all parts of her body seemed to move, in perfect rhythm. Gala stared at the lace curtains, gently swaying from side to side, for a brief moment, before pulling out a small phone from his pocket and typing in the number to Beatrix’ phone. As the phone rang, several cheers came from a doorway to the left of the desk, before the room returned to the peaceful ambience. The phone was eventually answered, and Gala could hear from the receiver, that outside, the rain had taken a turn for the worse.
“Hello Gala, is he there?”
“He is boss; you guys want to come in?”
“We’d love to Gala, really we would, but it seems we can’t, the place has been closed. The streets out here are flooding, this rain is pathetic.”
“Are you for real? Then what the hell am I supposed to do?”
“Finish the mission yourself; you can have 90% of the pay. Kill Leonardo Ronston, and then find a way out of there before his men find and kill you.”
Fuck she think I am? “Are you serious?”
“Do it Gala, that’s an order. Beatrix out.”
The phone went dead, as Gala slowly removed it from his ear and wondering how the hell he was going to kill this man, who he treated as some form of idol, himself. He replaced the phone and looked down at the carpet. The crimson and black patterns were hypnotic, several spirals forming one large spiralling shape after the other. He looked up as he felt himself get dizzy, and took out one of his two Silver pistols.
They were handcrafted from pure silver, and bore an engraving of his name upon their sides. The barrel held 16 rounds and fired 2 shots per pull of the trigger. The handle contained several electronic security devices, which executed if anyone but Gala held the gun in the action position. Fingerprint encoding ran across the trigger, and if the prints weren’t recognized, the gun locked itself down, before releasing a toxic gas, that eroded the lungs of whoever was handling it. The gun was as dangerous to anyone but Gala both at gunpoint and if the gun was in their hands.
He checked the barrel, fully stocked. He quickly replaced it into it’s holster as footsteps came from behind the lace curtain. The woman that had been at the reception entered through the curtain once more, and resumed sitting down in her seat behind the desk. She looked up at Gala and sighed,
“He’s down there, just go through, he’s too fat and lazy to come up here.”
She motioned to the side of the desk, and turned away from Gala, pulling out a nail file as she did so, and entered a world of her own. Gala was taken slightly aback by the lack of security Leonardo had with him, but then remembered nobody would dare kill the man behind Queens’s magazine. He sighed, feeling the pistols in his pockets, and walked behind the desk and through the lace curtain.
Before him, a purple neon glow led the way down a staircase. The colour of the floor was uncertain, as the lighting created an eerie darkness. As Gala neared the bottom, voices and laughter could be heard, gaining volume as he proceeded downwards. Another lace curtain came into view as the voices came into full hearing distance. Gala picked up speed as the lights allowed more vision the closer to the bottom he got. He stood before the lace curtain, and slowly opened it up, stepping into a smoke filled room.
“Ah, you must be the kid that wanted to see me, what is it my boy?”
A round, obese man was sat opposite the doorway, a cigar sticking out of his mouth. His hair was greying brown and combed backwards, and over his torso was a black pinstripe suit, complete with a crimson tie and black velvet shirt. Behind him were two women dressed in outfits exposing areas of their body Gala didn’t even know existed. One was holding a tray of drinks, and the other a tray of cigars. Sat on the table around him were several men, all threatening in their own unique way. They all glared at gala, in contrast to the huge grin spread across Leonardo’s face.
“Yes, you’re Mr. Ronston, aren’t you?”
“That’s right my boy! Richest guy in town! Well, that isn’t a Planetist leader of course! Gyahahah! How may I be of service?”
Gala looked around the room, behind him was the staircase, and to his left was a doorway. He was aware he was underground, the staircase was long enough to warrant that. He felt the guns rub against his legs, and began sweating slightly, realising he had no idea of how he was going to escape. The question Leonardo had asked rang in his ears, and he took a moment to think of what to say.
“I have a message, from who I’ve got no idea, but I’ve been asked to send you it nonetheless.”
“Well my boy, what is this message? As you can see, ha-ha, I’m a busy man!”
Leonardo walked around the room towards the door on the left hand side, under the cold stare of the men sat around the table. He hadn’t noticed until now that each of the men was abnormally abundant in muscle mass, and all had distinct blonde, spiky hair. He sighed, and reached into his jacket, placing his hand on the gun handle,
“The message is…” I can’t believe I’m about to kill this guy… damn it! “The message is that you need to be killed.”
As the word ‘killed’ left his lips, Gala took out his guns and brought them up to level with Leonardo Ronston’s head, before pulling the triggers and sending four bullets searing through the air. The sound that erupted was deafening and enveloped the room, causing the men around the table to duck down and the two women to drop what they were carrying and run to the opposite side of the room.
Gala looked towards Leonardo, the four bullets had made direct contact with and ripped through his skull, leaving a bloody mess across his clothes and body. As Leonardo collapsed to the floor, much to the disbelief of the men around the table, Gala pulled open the door and bolted through, replacing his guns into their holsters.
As he exploded down the corridor, Gala heard shouts from the room he had just left, and the sound of footsteps entering the corridor he was running along. He had no idea as to where it led, all he knew is that he couldn’t face up to the challenge of eight or nine men, each one as muscled as the other. He gritted his teeth and pushed onwards.
A green light erupted from behind him and began to take over the entire corridor, a tremendous group of roars followed and the sound of steps began drawing extremely close to Gala, causing him to press on, increasing his running speed as much as he could.
With the green light illuminating the corridor, a staircase came into view, less than a hundred and fifty yards from where Gala was. He reached the staircase and began climbing them as fast as his legs would allow, taking some stairs as much as five at a time. As he climbed he pulled black his sleeve, revealing a small watch with several buttons on it. He pressed in one of them, causing a small green light to blink, and pulled his sleeve back to its original position. He felt a little more secure, knowing he had activated the Reach GPS system, now the rest of the team would know where he was, or at least where he was going.
The feeling of safety was shattered as he felt something rip at his leg and then fall away once more. He wanted to turn and look what those men had changed into, but decided against it in the favour of speed. The stairs seemed to be going on forever, the lights on the sides of them bearing extreme resemblance to those on the other staircase he had descended only a few minutes earlier.
He began to feel a slight pain in his legs as he continued his way up the stairs, his body was becoming oxygen starved. Damn it, I won’t be able to keep this speed up much longer… Gala felt another grab at his ankles and a loud snarl, and a thought struck him, he almost slapped himself for not doing what he planned before hand.
He reached for his guns, and took them out of his pockets. He grinned slightly and spun around, falling to a seat on one of the steps, before shooting straight down the staircase. He heard several howls of pain and emptied the barrels of both guns. He quickly replaced them and stood up once more, resuming his sprint up the stairs, and praying that he was near the end of the climb.
He slowed down slightly, feeling a little safer, in the knowledge that he had just shot the hell out of whatever it was pursuing him. Eventually, after another few minutes had passed, he reached level ground, which held a doorway, similar to the one he had entered this corridor and staircase from. He opened it up and stepped out of the corridor, finding himself outside, atop the roof of a building. The rain came down in torrents, drenching him almost instantaneously.
Gala walked over to the edge of the building, and looked down to the streets below. Sure enough, they were almost like a river. In such a short time the rain had increased enough to turn the mighty sewers of Solar into a waste. He shook his head violently, allowing some of the water to escape from his hair, before sitting down on the edge of the rooftop, and allowing the rain to fall upon him, as he rested his legs, which were burning from the extreme exercise they had just partaken in.
He closed his eyes as the water continued to stream down his face, as Gala wondered where the rest of Reach had gotten to. The GPS system had been running for long enough to enable them to locate where he was by now. He guessed the rain had stopped the group from accessing him easily, especially considering his location. As he felt the rain, it seemed as though something else was in an instant of his face. Opening his eyes, he was confronted with a pair of large yellow eyes. He fell back in shock, and began falling from atop the building he was perched upon.
End of Chapter 002.
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Chapter 003: Peppered Steak
Gala attempted to grab onto the roof of the building, but found himself plummeting to the river below. Above, through the rain, Gala could make out one of the creatures that had been chasing him jump off the building and fall downwards directly towards where he was. The building, however high it was, seemed to go on forever and the descent never ceased as Gala pulled out his guns and loaded them whilst plummeting downwards. The guns were both quickly loaded and Gala took aim at the creature that was now only a few feet above him.
The sound of Bullets erupting from both of the guns pierced the air and a split second later, a screech of pain from the green creature. The four bullets Gala had fired had all hit their target in the chest, causing blood to explode out of the creature’s body and join in the descent towards the planet. Gala quickly placed both of the guns back into their holsters and spun around, only to see that the ground was not a river at all, and had just looked like water from the top of the building.
As the ground came into clear view, Gala closed his eyes, and awaited the impending doom that awaited him upon impact. He expected thoughts of his life to begin rushing through his head, however none came, and all he saw within his minds eye was nothingness. He felt a sudden jolt, yet didn’t open his eyes and assumed it to be the creature colliding with him as they fell.
The feeling of moving downwards escaped him, and Gala felt as if he were moving with the winds. He opened his eyes to see the arm of someone around his middle. He traced the arm to the head of what appeared to be a girl, and saw Mikoto, a look of determination in her eyes, clinging to a rope.
“What the hell?”
“Aww don’t worry Gala, you blacked out, a little fall was all it was, and we’ll be on solid ground soon enough.”
Mikoto grinned, a playful look of sarcasm in her eyes, contrasting to the determination from a few minor seconds before. Gala sighed and shook his head, knowing that Reach was going to mock him for quite some time for blacking out and being scared of falling from a building, when he knew that the GPS was activated. He looked at the streets below, rushing by as he and Mikoto swung around the building on a large rope.
“Uhh… Mikoto, what’s this thing attached to?”
“Oh, just one of the rooms, we’re almost back to where we started.”
Sure enough, a few moments later, Mikoto swung into a large, well-lit room of the building, in which the rest of Reach stood, looking towards Gala. He and Mikoto both stood up after a landing graceful enough to win the Olympics ten times over.
“Did you kill him then?”
The voice was that of Beatrix.
“Yeah, he’s dead, something gave chase, but I killed three of them on my way up to the roof and one of them just as I was falling. I get Ninety percent of the pay right?”
Beatrix smirked and walked towards the door, flicking a little of the rainwater left in her hair to the floor and motioned for the rest of Reach to follow.
“Yeah, you get Ninety percent; now let’s go see what it was chasing you.”
As he left the room, Gala realised how wet his clothes were. He looked out of the window of the room at the rain outside. It was as if a grey sheet had enveloped the entire city, the rain was torrential. He shook his head and followed the rest of the group along a small corridor lined with apartment doors and into a stairwell. The faint smell of cabbage gave the air a distinct aroma that set apartment blocks from any other building. The walls of the stairwell were painted yellow, and were rotting in several areas, mostly closest to where wall met ceiling and floor.
“Don’t I get any thanks for saving you from falling then Gala? I risked my life with that rope too you know.”
“Sorry Mikoto, I owe you a lot for that, but I have one other thing to ask. Don’t tell the others about me… you know… fainting.”
Mikoto grinned and winked at Gala, and continued her descent down the staircase. Gala shook his head and smiled, Mikoto stuck to her word in all situations, the weight of the rest of the group taking the piss was one he didn’t need to bear any longer. He continued walking down the stairs, followed closely by Edge, who had not said anything since Gala had rejoined the group, but had merely gave a nod of recognition towards Gala at the news of Leonardo Ronston’s death.
The streets outside were less busy than usual, due to the heavy rain, but a small crowd indicated where the creature had landed. Reach walked over and struggled through the growing crowds. On the ground in front of them, a reptilian-looking creature lay motionless. Turquoise scaled covered all of the creature’s body. Its face looked like that of a wolf crossed with an iguana. Yet the creature was an arthropod, although the fashion of which it’s hands and feet were indicated it used all four in order to walk. The crowd around the creature talked in a hushed tone, asking one another varying questions about what the creature was and where it had came from.
“Is this what attacked you Gala?”
“Yeah it is Edge… there were five of them; I’ll tell you all about it when we get back to Reunion.”
Beatrix rolled her eyes and walked away from the creature. She glanced down the street towards the club gala had just assassinated Leonardo Ronston within, and caught the sound of police and ambulance sirens upon the air. She turned to the rest of the group and snapped her fingers, instantly grabbing their attention.
“We’re leaving.”
Mikoto and Gala both gave a confused look towards the sudden serious undertone of Beatrix, and followed her as she advanced down the street. Edge simply shrugged and also began to follow.
Beatrix walked briskly along, kicking up water as her feet connected with the drenched floor. The rain had made her hair fall down onto her face, and she was struggling to keep it out of her eyes. Mikoto cursed every now and then, both at the rain for exposing her chest through her thin vest, and at herself for not wearing a coat. Gala forgot all about what had happened at the club and with the lizard men that had given chase during his less than gallant escape, and focused on Beatrix. The rain had caused the leather to tighten against her skin, revealing more of her perfect figure than ever before. Edge walked along behind the rest of the group, with his eyes narrowed, and his hat tilted so that his face was completely covered from the rain. While his clothes were soaked through, within them, Edge remained warm and dry. A little ways ahead, the train station had come into view.
As Reach entered the train station, Beatrix and Mikoto both shook their heads, shaking droplets of water out of their hair. All of the group were soaking wet, and the floor of the train station had become slippery due to the amount of people walking across it. The clock that was the ceiling still glowed with the blue lighting, and read out that the time was just after 8 A.M. The skies were the shade of grey that they had been two hours ago. Gala looked around the station, the train headed for the Northern district was due in less than two minutes. Mikoto smiled at the timing, it was impeccable.
“Hey, Gala! Gala!”
Gala turned around to the location of the voice and his heart sank, running towards him was Pepper. She wasn’t very tall, around 5’4”, and her black hair came down to her shoulders. She was clutching onto a brown paper back, held close to her chest. Underneath her light brown jacket was a cream coloured blouse, and a matching pair of jeans. He blue eyes caught the neon glow of the clock on the ceiling and sparkled as she walked towards Gala, with a huge grin spread across her face.
“Great… Perfect even. Mikoto… help.”
Mikoto laughed at Gala and shook her head, walking away from what was bound to become a scene. Gala sighed, and felt the remains of his heart and stomach crash into the floor; he was tired and really couldn’t be bothered with an obsessive girl talking to him non-stop.
“Hello Pepper.”
“Gala, where have you been? I’ve been shopping! See? I bought, some fruit, and some tea, and some biscuits, and, oh look I have this for you!”
Pepper reached into the brown paper bag and pulled out an apple. Gala went to speak but found the shiny red fruit being forced into his mouth, much to the happiness of Pepper. He narrowed his eyes and took the apple out of his mouth, he tried speaking again but was cut off,
“By the way, are you headed back to Reunion? You don’t mind me sitting with you on the train do you? You don’t? That’s great! You’re so sweet Gala!”
Pepper took the bag into one hand and placed her arm around Gala, squeezing him so he could barely breathe. She didn’t even give me time to answer… Once Pepper had released Gala from the lung-destroying hug, she took his hand into her and paraded towards the train, dragging Gala behind her. As the two neared the platform edge, the ever familiar rumble of an approaching train sounded throughout the station, and a few moments later, a silver train came rushing out from the right hand tunnel.
“Wow, that looks… different.”
Beatrix watched as the train came to a stop, slightly confused. The train was different to all the other trains, and was immaculately clean. The station speaker sounded, informing the passengers the train was due to leave for the northern central station in five minutes time. Edge stood a little behind Beatrix, and looked up and down the train, as the doors opened.
“It’s one of those new models all the news reports are harping on about. It cost the planetists six million to make 6 of these trains to run around the central network, I guess this is their induction day.”
“Edge you’re a fountain of knowledge my dear, come on then Mikoto, seems Gala is sorted with his girlfriend.”
Beatrix smiled and rolled her eyes at Gala, who was struggling to leave Pepper’s grip, boarding the train and looking around. Inside was all silver and steel blue. The seats and floor were like the rest of the train, clean. The cushions upon the seats upon closer inspection revealed to be incredibly comfortable. Mikoto sat down and was surprised at the amount of comfort the seats offered,
“Wow, the Planetists really outdid themselves on this, wonder how long it’ll take before these trains are screwed, like the rest of them…”
Gala had by now given up on trying to get away from Pepper, her grip was like a titanium handcuff. He sighed and allowed her to choose a seat and lead him like a mere dog on a leash wherever she wanted. Gala sighed and rolled his eyes every now and then, silently expressing his distaste for the situation. Why me? Of all the bloody men in Solar, pepper has to do this with me…
After a few minutes had passed, and the remainder of the passengers had boarded the train, Edge bolted up from his seat and looked out of the window and across the station. The green creature that Gala had killed earlier on stood at the entrance, it’s eyes glowering, and red blood dripping at it’s feet from the Gun inflicted wounds. The creature glared around the station, causing a state of panic to erupt. The panic was fed more so as three more of the creatures smashed through the ceiling of the station, destroying the clock in the process, and landing next to the creature that had emerged beforehand.
“Gala, I thought you killed those bastards?”
Gala turned around, much to the dismay of Pepper and looked out of the window at the havoc within the station.
“Shit… these things are harder than I thought… Pepper for Gods sake, GET THE FUCK OFF MY ARM.”
Pepper loosened her grip instantly at the look of anger in Gala’s eyes, and shrunk down, her eyes making contact with the floor. Gala shook his head and walked to the door of the train, the creatures were slowly advancing towards his location, a glare in their eyes, which seemed to pierce through the fabric of his soul.
“Okay, four bitches, one each. Simple. Mikoto, you take the left, Gala, you take the right, and me and Edge will take the middle two.”
Mikoto cocked her head and smiled at Beatrix’ ability to make sense of a difficult situation, before drawing her sword and standing next to her boss. Edge fixed his hat and stood a little behind Beatrix, drawing his weapon, a rare occurrence. Edge refrained from using his 9mm Chain gun whenever possible, because at times it had managed to cause more damage than a Rocket Launcher, and also the ammo it used and needed was a massive hit on his wallet. Gala shook off the glare from the creatures, and ran over to join his comrades, reloading his two silver pistols in the process and flicking his hair out of his face.
Several TV crews had entered the station, to cover the panic situation. The sign for the trains departure time displayed the word ‘delayed’ upon the electronic notice board, and the rain rushed into the station from the newly formed hole in the ceiling. The Television reporter for channel six huddled himself in a bright orange jacket, holding a microphone as close to his face as possible. Another man stood in between him and the camera, with a large black umbrella, and the camera man gave the thumbs up to indicate the film was rolling.
“I’m coming to you live from Central Station downtown on Channel 6, where a strange situation has occurred. Four unknown creatures have entered the station, and we are unsure of what is going to happen yet. The four creatures have into made a move on anyone as of yet, however people are evacuating the station as fast as possible. This reporter will attempt to bring you the best coverage he can, while risking his own life, this is Channel Six news.”
End of Chapter 003
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