XXXI- Dawn Of Conflict
While the rest of the school was in their respective classes, standing near the very back were six boys, seemingly of a similar age, squatting in a group. Many knew who they were and tended to steer clear of them. Though they could be helpful at times, most in the school would rather not mess with the gang of delinquents that claimed North Shima as their “Turf.” As one would expect, the two leaders, Tadashi, and Kenzo stood with the group as well. Tadashi’s eyes moved across the area around him, searching for someone they'd certainly expect to show up, given how he normally was. Elsewhere, the subject of these thoughts slowly strolled out of the school door, his hands shoved into his pocket. In the distance, he saw the same people he was coming to meet, and, just like that, began walking to his left. They were all left unaware, until Tadashi and Kenzo alike looked up, as the sound of heavy footsteps crunching on the grass, became more evident. They looked toward the source, and soon, so did the rest.
“Corde, you’re here... That makes this a lot easier.”
Kenzo stood up as Tadashi spoke, putting his hand out, and soon, so did Arctaius, as the two bumped fists.
“Where were you at these past few days?” Kenzo Questioned.
The two put their arms to their respective sides.
“Had some personal business to take care of. Doesn't matter all that much. We’re going after those Yama Academy guys, right?”
Now, Tadashi stepped forward, bumping his fist as well.
“Yeah… They’ve been getting a little too bold for my liking. We're supposed to meet near the South Shīma border…”
Arctaius nodded.
“Let's get moving, then.”
The men who were squatting soon stood as Tadashi began walking. Kenzo and Corde followed, along with the rest... They began to walk along the side of the school until they’d reached the front. As they reached the fence, Arctaius jumped over soon followed by Tadashi and Kenzo, with the rest of the gang following. Now, they began walking to the south, onto a road that led into one of the many elevated roadways... This, of course, did not go unnoticed, though, from most of the classrooms, it was merely by those who sat by the windows, not giving it much mind. In one specific one, it was a different story. Goutou observed this take place from the windows of class 1-B. Even without seeing the scowl on his face. It was as if one could sense his seething. He would dare do this again?!
“That Corde… This time- he's getting suspended for sure… No, he would like that…”
As he schemed in his mind, attempting to think of a way to get back at him. The constant thorn in his side who always managed to make him look bad. An entirely different reaction happened among the students. In the back of the class, one of the students, a purple-haired woman smirked at this, glancing toward her friend.
“Goutou-sensei looks pretty angry, huh.”
The considerably taller green-haired man glanced back at her smirking as well.
“I’m Not surprised considering Corde left again. He even ignored his warnings. “You’d best not try that again!” Though he attempted to retain his composure, his words were constantly broken up by snickers. “Man, that was hilarious!!” the woman responded. Soon, the two continued snickering, though it wasn’t noticeable at first it promptly turned into laughing. Something that did not go unnoticed by the rest of the classroom. Soon, yet another student began laughing then another and another. Until it spread through the room like wildfire. Eventually spreading into the entire class. Much to Gotou’s chagrin. He turned on his heel, pointing at the class.
“Delinquency is not "Hilarious"!!!” He barked.
While this continued, two of some of the only students who weren’t laughing sat by each other. Zhao fiddled with a pen on his desk as his eyes moved over the class. To him, it seemed like Corde was nowhere near the only one to dislike Gouto, especially if this was the response that came. Straight away, he placed his eyes upon Yudei.
“So this is the"Reputation" that Von Zaisen was talking about?”
Yudei nodded.
“He's known all over the school for how he acts... it was the same back in middle and elementary school. Especially elementary- he was even colder back then than he is now.”
The mentioned proto-human continued his walk through Shima. Tadashi’s gaze began to move around the streets around them. Which, as one would expect, had become notably more empty.
“Alright, they should be around here, keep an eye out.”
As he spoke, the others did the very same, until one of them took note of something. Nudging the shoulders of his fellow members. And, just like that, they all stopped. He pointed to one of the many alleys that remained between the decrepit buildings. Now, they finally saw them. Four students wearing one of the local school uniforms. Their blue blazers open, revealing the white shirts underneath. Exceptionally loose ties around their neck. As one of them noticed, he tapped the others, which caught their attention, they soon looked at the oncoming group as well. Stepping forward was the largest of them all. An orange-haired youth, with a small amount of hair dotting his upper lip.
“There you are- North Shīma… to keep us waiting like that… Who's this one here, he wasn't with you before. “
“Oh, You mean him?” Tadashi started, Gesturing back at Arctaius.
“This guy right there is our Ace in the hole…”
Soon, another one of the Yama students stepped forward, balling his fists and placing one up, protecting his chin and another just in front of it. Before shifting his left foot back and right foot forward.
“It doesn't make a difference. The only reason you got rid of us last time, is because the police came… It's over for you this time.”
Just behind Tadashi, Arctaius observed this with his expression unchanged... It was very clear to them that he wasn’t impressed. Even so, if they wanted a fight, he’d give it to them. “A bold claim… let us see if you can defend it… I'll take you all on at once.”
Another one of the students stepped forward, placing his left foot in front before he cracked his neck and his knuckles.
“Mouthy bastard, aren’t you? We'll take you down a peg-” However, he soon paused, as he took a closer look at the man’s face.
“Wait a minute. I know that face.”
His face turned to one of fear as his eyes widened, and his body stiffened. THAT was why he recognized him. How did those punks from North Shima get him to roll with them?!
“NAKAHARI, That's Corde Arctaius! THE 10TH DEMON PILLAR!!”
The apparent leader of the group, “Nakahiri’s” face was covered in surprise with his allies' statement. His eyes widened as he began to pace backward.
“This ain’t good. Don’t you know what happened to those Tekken-Dan guys when they fought him?!”
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
And, Of course, he did... Back then, the delinquent world was turned upside down. With Corde beating the 10th demon pillar, one of the ten strongest fighters in Tokyo, dispelling the myths about their apparent power, things had already gotten crazy. Upstarts shooting for the top, the former pillars getting thrown out of their previous rankings. This much was coupled with the Tekken-Dan(Iron Fist Gang) making rounds. Their group numbering in the hundreds. Strong fighters at the head, like Seo Hiroki of the Mach Punch. Who’s left hook supposedly had the speed of a railgun. And that foreigner who was at the head of the organization... This couldn’t end well for them, not at the least. Nakahari finally snapped out of it, no longer frozen with fear, he began to move backward.
“RETREAT!!! we can't do anything against a guy like that!!”
With this, Nakahiri turned tail, dashing in the other direction. Swiftly followed by the rest of them doing the same thing, unwilling to battle such an opponent either. Just like that, the battle was over before it even started. Tadashi scratched the back of his head as he watched them all leave.
“Well we know one thing, they won't be messing with us again.”
Now, Arctaius turned on his heel, wading past the members of the group. Stopping as he reached the sidewalk before he began to walk off once more.
“What a waste of time… I'd hoped that at least one of them would be another pillar... Though I should've expected that they weren't.”
Soon after, he was joined by Kenzo, Tadashi, and the rest. Kenzo was the one to step to his side, placing his hand on his shoulder.
“Maybe not completely… We're going to Platinum Burger, my treat, you coming?”
Arctaius put his hand on his chin, contemplating this for a few seconds. Until he removed his hand, placing it back into his pocket as he nodded.
“Not like I have anything better to d-”
However, he suddenly paused, as he began to feel something… The space between his shoulders began to tingle, the feeling quickly spreading through his body. His eyes darted to the right, the direction of the reading, or at the least, where he thought it was. Now, he stopped walking, something that made the rest of them stop as well.
“I’m sensing a large amount of Protomis...And I’m well aware of who it is.”
Arctaius stepped forward once more, now, at the very front of all the members. Before he pivoted, facing them all.
“Actually… Thinking about it- I do have something I need to take care of. I’ll come with you guys next time.”
He waved, leaping off the road, and landing on the roof of one of the numerous buildings around them. Soon, he began his advance through the city, jumping between the rooftops across the city, his laser focus on his apparent target. Even as the buildings began to get taller and taller. Until he finally reached him. Standing on the edge of the roof of a building, about 50 meters up, was a white-haired Yakuza, Jirou Hashimoto. A smirk made its way onto his face as he saw his rival approaching. And, in the same way, did a smirk come to Arctaius as well as he focused his gaze onto him.
“There you are… So- what do you say to doing what we haven't been able to do before.” Jirou questioned.
“Believe me- I'm certainly not in opposition.”
Now, it was finally about to happen… The thing that both of them had been anticipating for a while now. Something that they both hoped for. Arctaius almost immediately began his preparations, balling his fists, and placing them in front of his chin, before he shifted his left foot forward. Jirou brought both of his up as well, bending his arms, and placing both in front of his body, ready to throw punches at any time. Now, they were both ready, nodding at each other in silent acknowledgment. The two stared each other down and bent their knees. Though, before either of them made their attempts at an attack, a ringing sounded from Arctaius’ pocket. Something that resulted in Arctaius straightening his legs, getting out of his stance.
“Now of all times?” He asked, the annoyance in his tone clear. Before long, Jirou got out of his stance as well, walking over to Arctaius’ side. He grasped his phone, pulling it out. As the display was projected, the name on it, Taiki Watanabe. Arctaius raised his eyebrow. It was very rare that the man actually called him, usually he just showed up at random. Arctaius tapped it, answering the call.
“Corde… Check the news. There’s something you need to see.”
As soon as the sound of his voice went silent, Watanabe promptly ended the call. Arctaius narrowed his eyes as he tapped the display once more, closing the phone app and swiping through the screen until he reached the app that contained the news. Tapping on a live report...Promptly, he had gone silent, seemingly, forgetting about the battle that was about to take place. It was only a few moments later that he looked up, glancing at the Yakuza.
“Jirou, Check your Holo-phone…”
Part B
“Great… What’s happening this time.” Jirou murmured.
He scrolled through the Holo-phone's display and selected a Live News Report as well. Soon after, appearing on screen was an older woman, with straight shoulder-length purple hair, sitting at a desk, filled with papers, and a microphone. Her full lips parted as she began to speak.
“The Shīma inferno, Battle of Niopolis, and Attack on Kingston were all at first thought to be small-scale attacks on a world scale. But now- major cities around the world are being attacked all at once.”
As she paused, she disappeared from the screen, instead, a different scene was shown. In the Federation’s Capital of New York City, AA guns on the rooftops of the towering spires across the city fired at HAUS that zipped through the sky. Almost appearing like green blurs on camera, due to their pure speed. Even so, one could see very clearly that the assault was failing. As the machines unloaded bursts of fire, Sigma Particle, and Kinetic alike, that destroyed the turrets within moments.
Elsewhere, in the West African Federation’s Megapolis of Yantza, civilians scrambled to run for safety, while soldiers, fully armored, began to run through the streets, shooting at each other with Gauss rifles. Brutal house-to-house fighting had since begun, with soldiers on both sides dropping like flies. On one of the main roads, the WAF’s troops advanced through the street supported by the black tank that trudged along with them. Its profile was low, somewhat higher than the troops flanking it.
The WAF tank, known as the Hira, lobbed hypersonic shells with its 150 MM railgun at another, who fired shots back. The tanker crew within quickly made evasive maneuvers, managing to avoid shots from the Hira.. But, their luck would run out soon after, as with a shot from another tank rolling behind it, the hypersonic shell tore through its back, and crushed the armor and engine alike.. Undoubtedly killing the crew. It looked like the Skirmish had been won. At least until, above them, in the ruins of a building a squad of soldiers kneeled with a downright gigantic cannon held over their shoulders. They took aim at the tank, their intent clear. As the squad's CO waved his hands, the rails within the gun electrified, emitting a low hum. Continuing for a few moments, until the round flew out, the shockwave nearly threw the troops back, emitting a loud boom, as the sound barrier shattered. The round crashed into its tracks, immobilizing it almost instantly.
Now, the display changed once more, above the Skies of Beijing, Titanic warships exchanged fire over the city. Red bursts of light and rounds alike flew across the sky, again and again. Ships on both sides began to bail, descending to the ground. All the while, their allies took evasive maneuvers, not willing to go down with them.
Naturally, Arctaius and Jirou were nowhere near the only ones to observe this take place. Within Gotou’s class, rather than having their faces in the books or whatever program the school made them use, most of the students had their holo-phones out. The displays of their respective devices showing them different accounts of the very same report. Watching this as well, was one Zhao Lei, examining this with narrowed eyes. He recognized it all, those uniforms, those warships… There was no other explanation. Beside him, Yudei looked up from his Holo-Phone, removing his attention from the report. Instead, he glanced over at one of the only ones who knew of their existence.
“That must be…” Yudei began, trailing off.
Zhao glanced at him in response.
“Yes…”
It was but a moment after that Alarick burst into the classroom, slamming the door onto the wall. Almost immediately, his gaze flew to Zhao and vice versa.
“It looks like they've begun to make their move at last.“
Two rooms down, Kazimir sprang from his desk, gripping the attention of all of those in the room. But, it was something he brushed off, he instead rushed out of the classroom and ran out. Until he arrived at the back door of Class 1-B, peeking his head in. Now, the three exchanged glances.
“Let’s get moving!!” He exclaimed.
“Right!!” Yelled Alarick.
Now, Zhao stood up, pushing his chair in as he rushed at the door. The moment he reached it, Kazimir and Alarick began rushing down the stairs, with Zhao promptly going to follow them… In the midst of all this, Gouto watched this from his desk, shaking his head.
“First corde- and now him… What kind of students do I have?” He mumbled.
Asami sat at her desk all the while, saying nothing… The small taste of combat she did get was unpleasant… It was downright horrifying. Those memories were burned into her head, just like much of the city. She could say that much, and she wasn’t even the one being targeted per se... It wasn’t something she was exactly willing to experience again. At that moment, the only thing she could think about was.
“If Fighting has started... Will it spread here?”
Now, as an anxious expression began forming on her face, she shifted her eyes back to the news report. But, after she did, the image of the reporter promptly disappeared. The screen visibly glitched, as the sound began to stutter. Something that only proved to add to the confusion that raged across the planet.
Whether it be conversations on the street or a rapid stream of posts about the subjects running through the world’s social networks, and forums alike. This continued until across the world, the display changed once more. As was seen in Shanghai. On the Holographic displays that were projected upon the towering skyscrapers of the city, was the silhouette of a man, sitting on a throne. Though the citizenry knew nothing of the situation, given how they spoke. Two certain Youths did. Bijan and Liang glanced at each other before they put their gazes into the display.
“That’s…” Bijan began, trailing off.
“Indeed. The so-called Emperor himself.” Liang mumbled.
After a brief pause, a deepened, regal voice reverberated through the streets. With captions displayed directly below him.
“Humanity…. Humanity is a sinful race. Ever fighting- ever disunited… We claim full responsibility for the recent attacks, our message, our crusade, must be spread by any means necessary.”
Now, he stood, as the camera panned up. Revealing a flagpole. At the very top, was the flag of the, as of then, unknown group. With dark green stripes going horizontally, with a black strip in the center. Within the strip, was what looked like an eye.
“The many travesties committed by humanity are evident, as we have seen with our lord’s all-seeing eye. Even so, as we speak, their crimes remain unpunished… We will serve as the hammer of justice, for WE have the support of the divine Ardam! No longer will humanity struggle, we will bring structure, security, and order!” He preached.
Now, he paused, as he began to step toward the camera, and almost on cue, the camera began to elevate itself.
“Those who have had your homes destroyed, lost your family, turn your despair into rage and your rage into power! Come to us, so that we can transform this world of sin! We will not falter, and we will not fail!”
It was but moments after that Minoru appeared on the camera, his blade in his sheath.
“For we, are unity”
Followed by the second, third, and fourth appearing by him.
“We Are Power…” They stated in unison.
Soon after, the view changed, and now, the four apostles and their leader were not the only things visible. Revealing a line of towering buildings surrounding a long black street, with 10 lanes at the very least. But that was not what was of notice. Rather it was the legions of armored soldiers that stood directly behind the five heads. And just behind them, were the large, dark gray tanks that towered over their infantry counterparts. On the sides of the street, stood Towering HAUs. Looming above, were the Warships seen in Santa Maria, and Kingston alike. Something that would cast away much of the doubt to their claims. Soon enough, soldiers with poles, with cloth rolled up, stepped forward. Followed by flags, identical to those seen around the street, unfurled. Soon followed by a chant resounding from the Heads, and the troops alike.
“We Are Kaemerge!!! Kaemerge Est Aeternum(Kaemerge Is Eternal), Gloriam, Ardam!!!” They shouted.
With this, the men, and the apostles alike, perform their salute towards the camera, as the troops continued their chant.
“Gloriam, Ardam! Gloriam, Ardam! Gloriam, Ardam!”
The deafening shouts only stopped as Arctaius and Jirou alike tapped the side of their holo-phones, turning off the display... It was quite apparent why they did that. It was a show of force… Given the number of messages he was getting about the very same subject, this was not an isolated incident... Who knows how many channels they’d taken over by this point? He muted his phone, as he looked at Jirou.
“ "We are unity” My ass. We need to regroup with the others…”
To Be Continued