Part I: Awakening
Today is my birthday, and the first year since my death. I was formerly an assassin for the Cyborg Army, but things seem to change when you come back from the dead. I was attempting to stop a samurai freak and his psychotic stepsister from killing the Judge, but it may be obvious how that turned out for me. Somewhere around three hours after my death, I awoke in a dried pool of my own blood, and my face on the screen of the Justice Summit's lobby jumbotron. Loyal assassin, turned murderer, and then I realised why the three CEOs had to be killed: corruption spreads like a virus.
Since then, I've been surviving in a former crypt near the slums of this foresaken moon-city. The "people" are becoming restless now, as rumors of two men causing chaos begin to surface. According to the reports in our news, one man wears a red skull mask, while the other looks like a Blue-Eye gone haywire. As of an hour ago, I was invited to the worst club in the city; The Junkyard, which happens to be built inside of one. Couldn't be any worse than where I've been staying now, though.
Upon my arrival at the meeting place, I noticed two security drones: small, fragile robots with no real defensive capabilities. I attempted to sneak past them, so as not to draw any attention. As I was almost past the couple, one drone turned my direction and sounded an alarm. I quickly smashed both robots and rushed through the door, but not even five feet in, did I get stopped by three bouncers. Fun. Before they could make the first move, I leapt at one bouncer, and tore out his heart. The second attempted to swing at me, but was quickly countered with a bite to his neck. Tearing at his jugular, I sent his blood spraying onto his ally, who I tore the arms off of as he rushed at me fearlessly.
With the last of the first wave of bouncers finished, I waited for the next group, only to be spotted by the manager of these worthless meat puppets. The manager stepped closer, brandishing his newly sharpened katana; a work of beauty, I might add. I studied his every move, watching for any weakness, any chance that could give me the upper hand. "Mara," the manager called, "why don't we stop with this violence, and you just let me arrest you?"
"I'm in a bad mood, and I'm looking for something to relieve the stress," I taunted, "killing you would be much more fun."
"Always want to do things the hard way," the manager mumbled, "alright, we'll do this how you like." As he finished his sentence, the manager quickly sliced at my midsection, only to find me behind him. Quickly taking the opportunity to attack, I began clawing at the back of his vest, tearing off pieces to reveal any weakness. The manager then spun around, and sliced at me, this time attempting to cut me into two long strips. This time, I leapt backwards, and drew out the holstered pistol from the corpse of one of the bouncers I brutalized. I quickly fired several shots at the manager, not caring whether the shots connected or not. Quickly taking advantage of the distraction, I dashed forward -narrowly avoiding another slice by a hair- and kicking in the manager's knee. After shattering his knee cap, I grabbed the back of his head, and slammed it into a nearby table twice, his head slipping out of my grasp before I could get a third to connect. Suddenly, a large piece of I-beam welded to a metal rod smashed both the managers head and the table into hundreds of pieces. Taking the sword and sheathe from the manager's corpse, I quickly dashed backwards, readying for another fight. Before I could take a swing, a hand clutched my arm.
"Easy, Mara," a man's voice said, "we're on your side."
"I'll give her one thing, Loic, she certainly doesn't lack subtlety," the other man joked.
"And, who are you?" I demanded, still in the mood for blood.
"Hargreaves; former cyborg, turned vampire," the masked man answered.
"Would either of you care to explain why you helped me kill the manager?" I inquired.
"We invited you," Loic replied, "why else do you think there were only three bouncers to fight you?"
"Slipped my mind," I admitted, "was more worried about killing the manager than doing a head count."
"With the pleasantries aside, can we get moving?" Hargreaves ordered, "we don't want the Green-Eyed Freaks on our tails." Nodding, Loic and I followed as Hargreaves lead the way toward the back entrance. I had no idea where we were headed, but didn't care to ask; we were bound to be up to our necks in cyborgs at a moment's notice. Loic raced ahead and scouted for possible entrances for which the cyborgs could ambush us. Upon reaching the back door, Loic rushed back, and announced the situation.
"We're surrounded," Loic pointed out, "and they're the lower-end Green-Eyes."
"This day just keeps getting better and better," I mumbled sarcastically. Before anyone else could get a word out, the cyborgs came smashing through every window and door they could fit through. When they finally ended their show of force, we were met with twenty pairs of glowing green eyes hiding behind the filters and chambers of gas masks. "I'll take the ugly ones," I announced, readying my new blade. My joke was met by the whining of Loic, discontented by the comment.
"Relax, Loic, you're too ugly for her to kill," Hargreaves teased, "We keep you around to make us look better."
"Couple comedians, you two are," Loic mumbled, just before taking the first lunge and hacking the nearest cyborg to pieces with his meat cleavers. I blocked one cyborg's attempt at cutting me with his knife, then kicked him back. Before I could move in to swing, I was struck from behind with the butt of a rifle. Growling, I stood up to my knees, only to see the brains of the same cyborg splatter onto the ground next to me. Taking Hargreaves' hand, I used his help to launch myself upwards, then pounced onto one cyborg. Using his rifle, I fired a few rounds at one of his allies before tearing his head off, and tossing it at another. I then watched as Loic took one green-eye by his collar, then cut him in two, from one shoulder to the opposite side's waist. I dashed after a nearby cyborg, attempting to dodge his knife swing, but catching it with my left arm. Angered, I drove my sword into his chest, then became annoyed as Loic decapitated him. I cut the corpse into pieces, with nothing left to do.
"That was my kill, Loic," I complained.
"Mara, get a tournequit on that arm, now," Hargreaves ordered.
"Oh, right!" I exclaimed, suddenly remembering the cut. I knelt down and tore a decent strip off the bottom of my skirt, then tied it over the wound I sustained.
"We may be 'vampires' but we're not invincible," Hargreaves chastised, "We may be able to fight more fiercely than any cyborg, but we can still bleed out or die like any other."
"Not only that, but I'm sure as hell not going to carry you," Loic joked, only to get punched in the arm.
"You better carry me, or I'll find and kill you myself," I threatened.
"Anyway, we better keep moving," Hargreaves ordered, taking the back exit into the alley. We continued for some time before Hargreaves stopped to hand us small chunks of a bread loaf. "For energy, we'll need it where we're going," he announced. I took no time in tearing apart the piece I was given, as it was the only meal I had eaten all day. After our short break, we picked up the pace, and kept to the shadows as patrols came searching for the group that massacred a night club. Eventually, we came to a locked gate, leading to another crypt. "We need to head through here to get to our ride 'home,'" Hargreaves pointed out, "but not without bigger weapons." He then kicked out a panel of the wall, revealing an assortment of blades. Loic picked up a pair of unneccesarily large scissors, Hargreaved dropped his hammer in favor of another that had barbed wire wrapped around the head, and I took a short sword with unusual notches along the sides.
"And now, we descend into the pits of hell," Loic muttered as Hargreaves smashed the gate with his new hammer.
"For us, there are no gods, no masters; only men and the evil they spread," Hargreaves replied, leaping into the gaping maw of the crypt.
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