Original Fiction yefiridwa

[Cherico]

Robert Kline


We made our way through the neon lit city In silence, Nessa continued to brush up against me, smiling as she bumped into me.

"So....um...any one special in your life?"

Why did Nessa of all people sound nervous?

"What do you mean?"

"You know dating any one I mean I know you dated that one girl M something."

"Maria."

"Yeah...how did that end?"

"Was sent to an out of state college never saw her again."

I clenched my fists and felt the anger return.

"So now?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not with anyone, my job forces me to travel a lot and how many women would be willing to put up with that?"

Nessa leaned against me.

"I don't know, I can think of a few girls who wouldn't mind."

I shook my head taking deep breaths to push away the anger.

"Yeah until they actually had to deal with it and then poof their gone."

"Well maybe....maybe if they lived a similar lifestyle they would understand."

"I doubt it and anyways who would be interested?"

"Maybe there is some one interested in you...maybe some one who's very close to you."

I looked at Nessa she blushed as she looked into my eyes.

"I don't need you to set me up with anyone Nessa."

She frowned and her left eye started twitching.

"Oh....yeah but um can you at least humor me and tell me what kind of girl you like?"

"So far its been Maria."

"And you haven't talked to her in years....."

"Yes."

"And your still hung up on her."

"A little bit."

She closed her eyes and clenched her fists.

"If she was interested in you really interested then she would have tried to talk to you. She would have moved heaven and earth to be with you. So maybe you should you know give some one else a chance. Some one who maybe has known you for years, who knows about your best side, and has seen you at your absolute worst and still wants to be with you."

"While were at it I also want a pony."

For a moment I thought Nessa's eyes were watery as if on the verge of tears but I disregarded it, Nessa was too hard for that nonsense, and what ever fay emotion possessed her would pass soon. She grabbed my hand.

"I'm....serious Kline, don't waste your time on some girl who blew you off, there are people who care about you who well after some time have grown to love you."

Her voice cracked just a little, and her face got red as we got to the hotel.

"Room 13."

Why was she acting so nervous we had shared hotel rooms for years. She took a deep breath as she opened the door.

"Um so do you want some thing to drink Kline?"

"No, its all over priced crap at these places."

I headed towards the couch and put my pack on the ground.

"Oh....my treat."

"Don't worry about it."

"Ugh ok, I'm going to slip into some thing more....comfortable."

I shrugged and went into a closet and put on some PJs, Nessa came out of the bathroom in some thing skimpy she smiled at me.

"What do you think?"

I shrugged.

"Its not nearly as practical as what you normally wear to bed."

Her face turned red and she took deep breaths.

"So theres only one bed."

"I got the couch."

I got on it.

"Nice and comfy."

Nessa sighed.

"Theres plenty of room....for both of us."

"I toss and turn in my sleep."

She glared at me.

"Fine..."

She got on the bed, and turned out the light after some time had passed she decided to talk again.

"I'm really cold Kline can...you warm me up?"

"Put on more blankets Nessa its not that hard."

She was silent for a bit and then spoke up.

"Some times you really are a louse Kline."

 

[Cherico]

Robert Kline


The room had a kitchenette, I bought some eggs and other ingredients from a vending machine and started cooking. Nessa snored as I made an omelet. As the smell wafted through out the hotel room Nessa woke up. She limped towards the table and I put some food in front of her. Then I sat on the other side with my food. There was silence.

"Kline."

Nessa looked at me.

"I guess I should have been more clear but I."

"I know....I know exactly what you were trying to do and what you think you feel."

Nessa blinked.

"What."

"And I don't appreciate what you were trying to do at all."

"Look Kline."

She put her hand on mine and I glared at her, she took her hand off of me.

"Nessa, we have known each other for three years. I have heard you complain about your failed relationships quite a few times now, and each and every single one of your love life disasters start out the same way. You throw yourself at some guy, put everything you have into him then burn yourself out and the relationship crashes and burns."

Nessa blinked.

"What?"

"I actually do listen to your complaining. As far as I can see this is at minimum the fifth time you have pulled this stunt. You pulled it with Jack, with George, With Bill and with Britney."

I took a bite of my meal.

"Look they."

"Don't tell me they were all assholes, Jack is one of the nicest people we know and you straight up broke Britney's heart."

She looked away.

"I didn't want to."

"Say no? hurt her feelings? There was a very big orientation issue there Nessa, you should have been honest with her from the start."

She stabbed her plate.

"I really do like you though."

"I'm not exactly in a mood for a relationship and my baggage has baggage."

Nessa smiled at me.

"We both have baggage."

I sighed.

"I'm trying to let you off easy, Nessa. I don't want to have a relationship with you period."

She took a breath.

"You don't want to destroy our friendship, I, you're intimidated by me. You're."

"Or I just don't want to have a relationship right now period."

Nessa stared at her plate.

"It's Maria isn't it? Look she doesn't care about you Kline. She doesn't want you like I do, doesn't love you like."

"I'm sure you have convinced yourself that what you feel is love, I'm less than convinced."

She looked up from her plate, her eyes filled with a kind of desperation.

"I can get Maria's number for you! once you have closure maybe, maybe you can give me a chance right?"

I got up.

"Nessa, this is not a romantic comedy, I don't need or want some manic pixy girl to teach me how to enjoy my life. I like my life the way it is."

"But I can make it better, the two of us against the world, against the system."

"I'm going to get dressed and then I'm going to leave."

I got up and she grabbed my hand.

"Please....Kline....I will get you the number and then then maybe you can give us a chance."

I shook my head.

"Fine....go ahead, get the number."

I didn't believe she would pull it off and maybe, while she was trying, she would get the hint. I got dressed, got my stuff and left the hotel. I wandered the streets of Tokyo for a while and called my editor.

"So how long until the next report?"

"They're still getting stuff together so maybe another week? They're stopping in Tokyo so they will pick you up. Speaking of that, how did things go last night?"

I felt anger.

"You knew."

"Every one knows how Nessa feels about you, she doesn't do subtle."

"I said no, obviously."

"She's the single closest thing you have to a friend Kline."

"And yet I still despise her."

"Of course you do, she's the person you pretend to be."

With that my editor hung up and I was left alone in the streets of Tokyo.

 

[Cherico]

Robert Kline


I stared up at the ceiling, the place was cheap, didn't ask questions and let Gajin in. I was in a hotel in Kabukico, hotel Seina. Had three stars, but if you wanted some place that had space and was affordable you needed to go to rougher places. I headed towards the hotel restaurant.

When I got in I froze, a man strummed a guitar. he looked at me and our eyes locked upon each other.

"Break the chain."

The movies make it seem like the world slows down when you turn on your gunslinger eyes. Its not like that, its more like you see math. You know how much every thing weighs when you look at it, you see the odds, written calculations follow people as they walk by.

I looked at the man, the music on his guitar was wrong, it played the drums, it played a sax, a bunch of instruments rolled into one. The guitar wasn't magic, I could tell that much. The musician though was a mage.

He looked at me, his eyes on my hands. I looked at him and there was a mutual nod as I took my seat. I ordered something simple for breakfast and he walked over to me after his set was done. He took a seat.

"Don't meet people who practice the 5th style very often."

"Japan isn't exactly a gun friendly place."

"You a cop?"

"Reporter."

I pulled out my press card.

"I'd really appreciate it if your yak friends would put down their knives before I have to do something drastic."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to start any drama?"

"I plan on having breakfast, drama tends to ruin a meal."

"Good."

He motioned with his hands and i heard the sound of metal being sheathed.

"So where did you learn your style?"

He smiled.

"Saved my yen and spent a summer in graceland, learned under Lisa Marie."

I took it in.

"You're lucky, she only teaches the most promising students."

"I may have begged and groveled a bit....she taught me every thing I know and you?"

"Family style."

He nodded.

"Lucky, most people have to go to a police academy to learn the 5th style."

"Why learn? the 7th qulipothic magic isnt exactly popular."

"If I went to Compass or one of the other schools I would get attention, attention my family wouldn't like."

He didn't have tats.

"I'm biologically in the family, not in the family."

"Oh! Makes sense, why not the others?"

"First style screams Otaku, second requires you to carry a bow everywhere, learning the third would require me to join the family and I want to go straight, 4th style never should have been created in the first place. The 5th style requires me to go to a police academy, which isn't going to happen, and the 6th style would require me to ether learn it in china or Hongkong."

He paused.

"And there isn't a way in hell the students and heirs of IP man's work would let anyone from Japan learn their style."

"Been generations since the war."

"Not going to take it personally, the black prince basically destroyed our rep in china. Saying you're sorry really doesn't cut it after what we did..."

He looked away.

"So had to go with the newest art, the King's art."

"Hows that going?"

"It's more of a support thing than what you do but it's been good to me, playing some tunes, earning money, healing up the family whenever they get themselves hurt."

He got up.

"Well I have to go."

"Going to play some more?"

"No going to inform the others that you're not a cop. This is where all of the new guys hang out and they haven't quite learned the rules of how this world works. Don't want some idiot flying off the handle."

"Thank you."

"Oh and in the future?"

"Yeah?"

"The pancakes here are dog shit, stick to the omelettes."

I took a bite, it really was horrible.

 

[Cherico]

Robert Kline


"So I tell you what the most dangerous place in the city is."

"Yes."

"And you immediately tell yourself 'Hey I should get a room there'."

Nessa stared at me.

"I also got an interview with a Yakuza elder lined up."

She put up her hands.

"I...Yeah, I should have expected this."

She pulled out a piece of paper and I looked at it.

"I already have your phone number."

"Maria Sanchez....rings any bells?"

I stared at the phone number.

"It's Maria Ruiz now by the way, she got married three years ago."

I felt Nessa's remark hit me like a gut punch.

"You're sure about that?"

"She moved after high school, went to some nursing college in Arizona then dropped out and married a tech guy, they have kids now."

"And you know this all because?"

"Look, I'm a reporter too. I have to be good at digging up stuff on people, it's my job."

She sighed.

"Look, I like you and I want you Kline. But I won't have a chance with you until you deal with this problem."

"Or maybe I'm just not that into you."

"Please, I have the body of a damned pin up model! Of course you're into me."

I rolled my eyes.

"7 out of 10."

She smirked.

"Someone's feeling saucy today but seriously call her up and get this emotional stuff dealt with. And afterwards, you know... Maybe give me a chance."

I shook my head and took the number, Nessa gave me a quick hug and I went back to my hotel room. I calculated time zones and dialed the numbers. As the phone rang I felt sick to my stomach.

"Hello?"

"Um it's Robert, Robert Kline?"

"Who is that?"

"We dated in highschool.."

"Oh, that Robert....look um I'm married so if you're looking to find romance, well."

"No, I think we both know thats not going to happen. I guess I'm calling for closure. Finding out where we went wrong."

"Can I be honest with you Kline?"

"Yes?"

"I know this sounds very bad but I basically just dated you to make my papi angry."

I blinked.

"What?"

"I was a freshman in highschool, I wasn't exactly the most mature person and you were this muy smart senior who had skipped a couple grades and papi was so controlling so I asked you out to make him angry. It was a very bad thing to do."

"So you didn't have feelings for me?"

"We dated at most for a month, I'm sorry but I didn't really have feelings for you. Not to say you were not cute, you were very cute, but I wasn't very mature and I did a lot of hurtful things."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have led you on like that, used you like that."

She paused.

"I'm glad we had this call, I....I really hurt you and I never had a chance to apologize. I came between you and your family and that wasn't a good thing to do."

I felt a little sick.

"I...I forgive you, we all do things that we regret when we are teenagers."

"Thanks for understanding, and once again I'm sorry."

With the phone call over I stared up at the ceiling, I didn't cry but I did feel a little lost. When I heard the knock at the door I opened it. Kaz smiled.

"The interview's set up!"

I looked at the toughs next to him.

"Blindfolding me?"

"Um yes we have to do that."

"Trunk or backseat."

He blinked.

"What? Why would we do that?"

"It's happened before."

"No, no. Backseat....the trunk is for people the family doesn't like."

With that I was blindfolded and put into a van. I spent the ride staring at the ceiling thinking about Maria.

 

[Cherico]

Robert Kline


"Ok we're getting closer to old man Riku's place, you know rule number one there."

"NO PINK LADY!"

The other yakuza laughed at the inside joke.

"So we have to play it now, so pick a song people."

"UFO!""

"Kiss in the dark!"

"S.O.S!"

"South Paw!"

Then the music started, it was odd listening to these hardened criminals sing along to this cutesy music. As they drove on someone sighed.

"Getting closer to old Man Riku's place."

"Awe."

"Abba?"

"He doesn't like it, says music should be manly!"

They laughed as the van stopped, the darkness went away and I could see light behind my blindfold.

"Go ahead, take it off."

I was in a Japanese garden. A man walked out in a suit, he looked pretty young, around my age. He looked at the people behind me.

"I heard music, what did I say?"

The toughs behind me shrank.

"No Pink Lady."

"Right."

He shook his head.

"Welcome to my home, care for some tea?"

"Um sure."

I walked in next to the man in his fine suit.

"They played Pink Lady didn't they?"

"Yes."

"I apologize. I hate their music, loathe it... Is Earl Grey all right? I ran out of green tea."

"It's fine."

He looked and watched as the others left.

"Ok, they're gone. Want some coffee?"

"The tea?"

"The earl grey they got me is crap."

"So why not offer coffee first?"

"Because it's a korean thing. Right, westerner um yeah... Officially we were treacherously betrayed by the korean gangs in some meeting yadda yadda yadda and all murdered."

"That yadda sounds important."

"It's lies so it's not, what really happened is that the korean gangs kicked our asses back to the home island and the families hold grudges about that kind of stuff. So drinking coffee is frowned upon."

He rolled his eyes.

"So no one drinks coffee?"

"Oh no, we drink coffee all the time. You're just not supposed to get caught doing it. It's not even a rule our family created or enforced, it's more the biggest families issue. We got together after the war but they're old and ancient and hold grudges like crazy."

"So you're scared of them?"

"We wanted some territory in tokyo and the 'no coffee' thing was the price of getting it. The rule is more about official meetings than anything else."

"Oh."

He offered me a seat and pressed a button, doors slid away and an expensive coffe machine rose out of the table. I stared at him.

"Trick about the life style. If you're going to break the rules, break them in style."

I nodded.

"So you're the elder?"

"Yeah, I'm about to turn 60 pretty soon."

"But you look."

"So young? Magic, kid. I'm a 1st ranker, it cuts the aging process down. I age 1 year for every 3, it's great."

"You trained hard?"

"I hunted whenever I could, got into fights, trained, fought in the war."

"Which one?"

"World war 3 of course, volunteered for that one and the government wiped my slate clean. Got out of the game after that, these days I just teach the new guys the way."

"Let me guess they're young punks?"

"Kid I'm yakuza! All of us are young punks then you grow into being an old punk if you're lucky. But yeah... Going to be honest most of them are actually all right, to be blunt they're a lot less crazy than we were."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, it's all rules this, code that. Sure they get into fights but it's all so scripted, so safe... It's not spontaneous. These days you go out to fight another family, you know what happens? They email the time and place, they limit the weapons if any and when the fight is over everyone shakes hands."

He shook his head.

"It's not even a real fight at that point, it's just a fucking spar."

"But people say there's a gang war and."

"Small ritualized fights, held in out of the way locations so civilians won't get hurt, don't count as a gang war. Trust me on this I've been in actual gang wars and actual wars."

He sighed.

"Kaz brought you here?"

"Yes."

"Good kid, not a mean bone in his body."

"So you approve of him?"

"You dont force people into the family, that's bad for business. He just wants to play music, entertain people and help people. He doesn't have what it takes to be a yak and he admitted it."

"You think he will be a success?"

"Tried out for some boy band, they wanted him to be the edgy one but the kids too fucking nice to pull that off."

"So it failed?"

"No they haven't made a final decision, they're trying out other people first but I think he could get in."

"Why?"

"Because he shows up to rehearsals on time, is polite to his fans and can fake any instrument with magic."

The man shrugged as the machine whistled.

"Want anything in your coffee?"

"I drink it black."

"You know what, Kline-San? I think I like you."

 

[Cherico]

Riku Dan 1978


I glared at the traffic.

"Ooh ooh I know this song."

I glared at Tanaka.

"No."

"Come on man, UFO is awesome."

"My car my rules, no pink lady EVER!"

"Come on lets have a vote."

"I spent three fucking years of my life trying to get this shitty renault to work, this is not a democracy. No Pink Lady."

Sato woke up from his nap.

"Come on man, it's UFO."

"Sato I can and will turn the station to classical before I listen to another pink lady song. Do you understand that? DO YOU?"

"Ugh fine."

I turned the station and sighed.

"Ami Ozaki."

"It's rock."

"This is not rock Sato, this is fluffy crap."

The three of us sweltered in the sun as we inched forward.

"The airconditioning isn't working."

I turned towards Sato.

"You think? This car was built before air conditioning was a thing."

I turned off the radio and sighed.

"MOVE FUCKERS!"

I punched the car's dashboard and sighed.

"Fucking traffic jams."

"You know, if you had gotten a better car."

Sato snorted and I turned to Tanaka.

"With what fucking money? This was the only thing I could afford."

"This car is shit."

"Of course it's shit, it's older than all of us. You think a cop car would be good..."

"Shit this belonged to the cops? you know how fucking."

"It belonged to the cops when we owned Korea, we smuggled out all the cop cars before the fucking Jayu kicked us out."

I looked at the name carved into the dashboard, who the fuck was Kim Boo-Kyum? I shrugged, he probally wasn't important. I bought this thing before it got scrappped when I was in middle school and it took three fucking years to get it running. Only thing left original to the car was the body, everything else had to be replaced bit by bit.

"We should have taken our bikes."

I shook my head.

"The pigs are on a Bōsōzoku hunt, and anyways we're trying to graduate to the big leagues Tanaka."

"And disobeying a direct order is the way to do that? This order came from a Shateigashira-hosa."

I shrugged.

"Look, we're not disobeying. We're just clarifying, we're going to the office and making sure that he really wants this."

"He gave us an order, you chicken?"

"I'm using common fucking sense, maybe somebody fucked up the order or maybe he changed his mind. We have time before we go in swinging so lets make sure we don't fuck this up."

I took a breath, I hoped this wouldn't cost my ass a pinky.

"If shit hits the fan... I will take responsibility all right?"

"Your pinky, not mine."

My mouth got dry as we stopped the car, got out and went into the plain office building.

"We need to talk to the boss."

"He's busy."

"It's about business, official business."

The woman sighed.

"If you waste his time he will beat the shit out of you."

"Your terms are acceptable."

I worked for boss Ito, I liked his operation. The man was a straight shooter, didn't believe in the overly formal bullshit and didn't beat around the bush. He was a hardass but he was fair.

"The boss will see you now."

We followed her to the boss's room as she smoked a cigarette, she put it out in a ashtray and the boss looked at us in his white suit.

"Ok, why are you wasting my time?"

I took a breath.

"It's about your orders we just want to make sure they're legit."

"What orders?"

"The order to beat up that actor....Bruce Lee."

The man stared at me, his face turning red.

"Who relayed these orders?"

"Kato...we have the letter."

I put the sealed letter on his table and the redness went away. Ito's face became deathly calm.

"Yuki....get the boys now."

He carefully read the letter and clenched his fists as his breathing got heavier.

"Boss."

"Scramble everyone. Some idiot decided to create fake orders."

The man winced.

"How bad."

"They're planning to attack Bruce Lee and his family at a resturant bad. I want this idiocy stopped now, no stopped yesterday! And I want this Kato prick in my fucking office now, I want every one involved in my fucking office. We have three hours, we need to act now!"

The men scrambled and Ito cracked his back and took out a baseball bat.

"Yuki will take you to the guest room, restroom is down the hall to the left if you need it."

He took a deep breath.

"Oh and for the record? My personal seal has a triangle in it, not a circle."

He stormed out of the office and I grimaced, my friends looked at me. Tanaka's face had a grimace on it.

"I think that could have gone very badly."

"You think?"

"So...we owe you one, a favor."

"No Pink Lady in my fucking car ever."

"Deal."

 

[Cherico]

Riku Dan


There were 20 of us in the room, the doors were locked and barred. Half of the people here looked pretty beat up and they glared at Kato who was by far the most bruised person here. Boss Ito clasped his hands together.

"Good news, Mr. Lee has decided not to press charges."

He walked back and forth, his baseball bat lazyly hanging behind him.

"Mostly because we were able to stop you idiots before you did anything stupid, well except Kato who challenged him to a fight."

The boss shook his head.

"Thank, thank the gods, we were able to tackle you dumbasses to the ground before you started anything."

"We could have gotten so much rep from."

The boss slapped Kato hard.

"I'm talking you little shit, that means you listen."

Kato nodded.

"All right, for those of you who are wondering, half of you decided to do something incredibly stupid. You know what would have happened if you had succeeded? No, you wouldn't have gotten any rep."

He looked up at the ceiling.

"What would have happened is that people would see a ten on one fight where a man was defending his kids. His fans, which are global, would be pissed at us, not just our local branch but all of the branches of the yakuza as a whole. There would have been a nation wide crack down."

"YOU COULD HAVE FUCKED US ALL!"

He took deep breaths.

"But I also understand that you were lied to, that this fucking prick lied to you and you have already been roughed up."

There were sighs of relief.

"So this is what is going to happen, summer just started and the 9 of you will be doing charity runs every weekend. Actual charitable work, do some shit around the community, when it's over you will still be associates."

He cracked his neck.

"The seven of you who decided to bow out? That showed judgement, good judgement but not good enough to actually come in and talk to me. Since you're just starting out in the game I forgive you. As a reward for actually thinking? You're being promoted to little brothers, you're going to get your tatts and be shadowed by a big brother until you learn the ropes."

He turned to me and my friends.

"Dan, Sato, Tanaka.... the only 3 people in this disaster who thought 'hey maybe we should talk to the boss and find out if this is legitimate'... A big brother? His job is to look out for his little brothers, to make sure that no one does anything stupid. He serves his boss by making sure he's actually serving his boss. If you hadn't talked to me this could have screwed us all. You're going to spend the summer training in the Way, you're going to get your tats and you're officially promoted to big brothers."

I couldn't help but smile as I got the news.

"Kato...you little shitstain, you betrayed my trust, you betrayed the trust of your brothers and of the family. I should fucking kill you right now... but you're not the first person to do something stupid when they're wet behind the ears."

He put a knife on a table and a woman came from behind us and stepped next to him. she had a small box in her hands and put it on the table. I felt a shiver.

"I talked to the boss, the big one. Entire pinky, left hand, now."

Kato's eyes opened in horror but he got up, he took the knife and we heard the sickening crackling sound of a knife cutting through bone. Kato held back the tears and gritted his teeth. Blood spurted from his missing finger. The woman poured a glowing red liquid on his wound and the boss nodded.

"20 years."

Kato blinked.

"What?"

"You're not allowed to grow that back for 20 years. That's the price for your fuck up. Now we're going to put that finger in that box and you're going to present it to the elders, you're going to apologize. And if you do what I say, it will just be a pinky. Try to be a tough guy? It's going to be more than just a finger."

Ito sighed.

"Future little brothers, pick a club and get out of here, the boys will cover the drinks. Future big brothers you're going with Hanzo, he's going to talk to you."

A man with an eyepatch looked at us, we followed him. He opened up his car and we got inside. He turned on the radio and I grimaced.

"Fucking shit."

I sighed as he changed the station, enka.

"Lesser of two evils."

"What did you say?"

"I hate Pink Lady sir."

The man looked at me with his one good eye.

"Dan...I knew there was a reason I liked you but keep your mouth shut for a bit. I need to tell you how things work. All right?"

I nodded my head.

"Alright, I'm going to level with you guys, as one big brother to another."

He lit a cigarette.

"You're not nearly as badass as you think you are."

I blinked.

"I'm not saying this as an insult, I'm saying this to keep you alive. Some guys... they get a taste of power and they think they're a hard piece of real estate. That's why we normally do this in stages. First you start out as an associate and when you get some self control they bump you up to little brother."

He took a deep drag.

"That's a testing phase. It gives you a taste of magic, a taste of power. That's where you learn the ropes and how things really work on the streets. Once you have proven your mettle you're promoted to big brother and trained in the Way."

He nodded and we drove through the night.

"So we're going to be bosses?"

Fucking Sato.

"Back in the old days big brothers were local bosses but that was before magic. Now being a big brother means you're trusted to have mystical power. It means you're officially a member of the family and if you work hard you can get to management. Not going to lie you got a pretty good start, being promoted directly to big brother is a big deal. So, you know, don't fuck it up."

 

[Cherico]

Commerical break


Call of duty: Siege of Moscow

---

"Over two billion people died."

Image of snow and marching men and women in uniform heading towards a glowing dome.

"September 26, 1983 the world ended, the soviet union sent out nuclear weapons, biological weapons and every weapon they had. Friends, neutrals, Foes... They didn't care."

The troops walk through dead cities, corpses line the streets.

"However just because the world ended, it didn't mean the war ended, didn't mean that we died. We...we survived, we struck back and now it's time. Moscow is the single most defended city in the world. Every enchantment, every bit of technology, everything they had went into protecting their capital."

The flags of 70 nations are unfurled as the troops marched.

"They thought that they would be the masters of the ashes, they thought wrong. We will bring the hell they brought to the world right back to them. The last city of Russia will fall..."

Music plays.

"Turn around every now and then I get a little bit lonely
And you're never coming 'round."

Artilery strikes the glowing dome.

"(Turn around) every now and then I get a little bit lonely
And you're never coming 'round."

Jet fighters rush towards the city.

"(Turn around) every now and then I get a little bit tired
Of listening to the sound of my tears."

They explode as Russian fighters fly out.

"(Turn around) every now and then I get a little bit nervous
That the best of all the years have gone by."

A man in a Brazilian army uniform yells as fire comes out of his flamethrower, giant crabs screech as they die.

"(Turn around) every now and then I get a little bit terrified
And then I see the look in your eyes."

Giant crabs head towards a men in polish uniforms, their guns sputter out of ammo.

"(Turn around, bright eyes) every now and then I fall apart
(Turn around, bright eyes) every now and then I fall apart."

Explosions destroy them before german soldiers walk out of the ashes. The goles nod as the german troops give them a thumb up.

"And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight."

Images of gun fire and explosions.

"We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
'Cause we'll never be wrong."

An American trooper in a purple uniform moves her hands, an eagle made out of fire flies towards Russian positions.

"Together we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (all of the time)
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks."

The Russian machine gun nest explodes.

"I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight."

Images of battle.

"Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart."

Images of soldiers' faces as artillery flies over their heads.

"There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart."

They yell, men and women from 70 nations in a trench.

"Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark."

They get out of the trench and rush towards the city.

"Nothing I can say. A total eclipse of the heart."

The energy dome falls as the troops rush inside.

"The world is over, we can't save it but we can sure as hell avenge it. Call of duty: Siege of Moscow."

"Pre order now to get the Swiss avenger unit DLC free!"

------

Image forms on screen

"YEE HAW"

A car speeds through an empty desert as two moons fill the sky.

"From the folks who brought you Superbad."

"TURN IT UP!"

Electronic country music blares.

"And Daytrippers comes Moon over Madison."

"We're going to get our selves laid TONIGHT!"

"Starring Pittbull and Johna hill."

The fat man looks nervous.

"I don't know, maybe."

"WOOO!"

The fat man's eyes widen in horror.

"CANYON! CANYON!"

"We can clear it mon."

"BUT!"

The fat man screams while the latino raises his hands as they fly over the canyon.

"In theaters this fall!"

-----

A man walks out in a business suit, he smiles as he walks out.

"Here at Mc Coy long boards."

An image of a punk as he flys through the air on a surf board.

"We believe in tradition."

Punk music plays.

"Since 1880 we have crafted the finest flying boards in the United States."

The punk smiles as he sees a canyon.

"With our new quartz crystal array our boards can now hold even more mana."

The punk yells as he flys into the canyon.

"That means more speed, longer duration and, of course, better handling."

The punk moves through the canyon at blinding speed, flying around obstacles quickly.

"Mc Coy long boards, when you want speed you want the real Mc Coy."

The punk lifts up his fists and yells as he exits the canyon.

 

[Cherico]

Riku Dan


Hanzo stopped at the light and frowned at an advertisement, a man dressed up like a samurai under it a phone number and the words 'I will fight for you'. He shook his head and took another drag on his cigarette as the enka song died.

"Ok, the song I like is over."

He shook his head at the billboard and continued to drive.

"Ok so any one here a fan of history?"

We shrugged.

"Great...I'm going to give you the facts of life, and I do not want to have to repeat myself."

He turned off the radio.

"All right, long story short we picked a fight with well pretty much every one, and we lost bad. That was the official end of the Japanese empire, fortunately for us the only ones with the money, ability and focus to care about occupying us were the americans."

He paused.

"The brits were focused on germany, the australians wanted to go home, China was going through a civil war, Korea had to rebuild their everything. So the americans were in charge but they didn't get us, not really."

He paused.

"Take the Samurai, the europeans saw them as their equivalents to knights, the yanks saw 'em as their equivalents to magi and gunslingers. The government during the war made a big show of using bushido as our national code and well....we lost."

"So why do we have samurai then?"

I grimaced as the words came out of my mouth.

"Emperor Meji ended the samurai class in 1873, officially there were no samurai for around 74 years. The yanks had looked into our history to find out where things went sideways and found out that the courts had tried to reign in the military in vain."

"But we just have a self defense force."

"Yeah that's right nobody wanted the military in control after their fuckups, but the yanks really wanted to make sure they wouldn't have to fight us again. So they looked up the remnants of the old samurai families, and looked for people who didn't fuck things up."

I leaned in.

"The yanks made a deal, the emperor took away your titles, your rights and in many cases your lands and money. We're setting up a new government, in return for swearing alliegance to the constitution we are crafting you guys get control over the new legislative branch."

Hanzo flicked his cigarette into the street.

"That means all lawyers, defense and prosecutors have to be samurai. Judges? Samurai. You get to carry a sword again in public, you get your title back. You don't have all your old powers back, like the right to kill anyone who insults you, but it's more than what you had under the emperor."

His hands jerked as if missing the cigarette.

"Also magic, all of you get to learn the path of the warrior. The old families, who thought they would be fucked sideways by the yanks, took one look at that deal and signed right up. In exchange for giving them control over the courts, their old titles and some of their old rights they collaborated their hardest."

"Government can't like that."

"Oh they don't but every time they try to fuck with the judicial branch suddenly there are corruption investigations everywhere and politicians go to jail. That's one of your fellow magi groups, the samurai. They're the lawyers and the judges so if you're thinking about fucking with a judge, don't. Not because of the cops but because they can and will fight back."

He leaned forward.

"Next bunch of magi, the wannabees, the AKs. They come in several flavors but they use the very oldest form of magic. They're people who wanted to be magi but couldn't get into one of the legit schools. Don't underestimate them, they're the only type of qulipothic magi who can do alchemy, they can store spells on scrolls and they can use more spells than any other art. They start out weak but their 1st rankers are no joke. Fortunately they mostly keep to themselves."

He nodded.

"Third type of magic, our type, is the one you're going to be dealing with the most. The families don't see eye to eye on everything and there are fights over turf and what you can and can't do. Roughing people up that's all right but actually killing them? Don't do it unless your boss orders it."

Hanzo stepped on the gas.

"Next type of magic is the fifth, gunslingers. During the occupation the yanks realized real quick that the pigs couldn't keep up with us. So they wanted to teach the cops to be shooty magi but the politicians didn't want that so a compromise was hatched."

He sighed.

"A minimum of 10% of the police force had to be magi. during the academy the piggy's are given a test, top 10% they go to a special military academy. Now most piggies? You can take them easy, they're not that tough. These pigs... they're dangerous. They can snipe people half a mile away, with a pistol and in the dark. They're tougher, they're stronger, and they do not miss shots."

He shuddered.

"When we fuck up, the government sends them in to clean house and they are scary as hell. Some times they patrol the city and if you fuck with them they will end you. So you probably want to know how to recognize them. Normal piggies wear dress shoes, these ones they wear cowboy boots and that's their nickname."

He turned around.

"When someone says the pigs are here, that means you have options. When someone says the boots are here, you fucking run because most of the time there isn't just one of them."

"Aren't we tougher?"

"No...Boots...look noone in japan gets tatted up because they know that's our thing so the boots they do things differently. They get hot irons and brand the enchantments into the skin. So all of the bullshit a younger brother is capable of? They can do it too. Boots do not accept bribes, Boots can't be intimidated, and if you see one you leave them the fuck alone."

We stopped in front of a building.

"Well time to get you your tattoos people."

 

[Cherico]

Riku Dan


Hanzo nodded at a man and moved his hands he then looked at us.

"So he's um.."

"Deaf yeah, but he does damned fine work. Alright it's time to go over your options, what they mean and what they do."

He opened a door and we followed him into a room he opened a book.

"See, back in the old days you could get any tattoo you damned well pleased on your back. Those days are over, these tats are there to be practical got it? You can do whatever you want with the rest of your body but the upper back, that's for the job."

We nodded our heads.

"Magic Tattos require reagents and we have limited resources so you have a grand total of seven options."

He opened the book.

"All tattoos give you an option of three abilities, spiritual armor is standard as we don't want you dying from some cheap shot."

We nodded our heads. It made sense, every one knew that Yaks were tough.

"Alright first two are land options. First tattoo is a dragon it represents bravery, strength and wisdom. We use cameleon scales as reagents so it allows you to blend into your environment like one and walk on walls and ceilings. This tatoo is about stealth."

He flipped the page.

"Tiger, we have a deal with the zoos and get tiger fur from them, tigers represent protection against disease, demons and bad luck. This tatoo makes you stronger and gives you the ability to see in the dark."

We took that in as he flipped the page.

"Sea builds are next. Koi represent good luck and good fortune, the tatoo lets you breath underwater, walk on water and swim really fast. I know that doesn't sound impressive but some times we need to move product under the water. Some of our best people use Koi tattoos."

He turned the page.

"Octopus, it represents secrets, this tatoo lets you breath underwater and multitask."

We stared at him blankly.

"It lets you think about two different things at the same time, concentrate on two things at the same time. I know that sounds stupid but it can save your life in a fight, and it will help you if you go into management."

He nodded at the open page.

"Tengu uses crow feathers. tengu represent protection of rules, of the code. This tattoo gives you the power of flight, for whatever reason it also gives you a resistance to toxins. Never challenge a man with a tengu tat to a drinking contest, it will not end well for you."

He nodded.

"Phenix, we use owl feathers for this one, gives you the ability to fly and see in the dark, very useful for ditching the pigs."

He smiled at the book.

"Last one, any kind of plant. Cherry blossoms, Lotus, go wild, they all do the same thing they let you regenerate damage, make you tougher and give you more endurance. It's popular for guys that want to be able to take a hit. Our toughest guys get these tattoos. Those are your options."

Sato the lazy bastard yawned.

"Koi, need all the luck I could get."

And he liked hanging out at the beach, Tanaka studied his options.

"Tiger, I've always been a fan of taking the fight to people."

I was last.

"Well might as well make a theme of it, Phenix."

Land, sea and air, it was a good team.

"Good. Now that that's done, why do you want to join the family?"

We froze.

"Be honest, I don't want bullshit. If you're in it for the money thats legitimate, this is a judgement free zone."

I frowned as Tanaka spoke up.

"Girls, I'm in this for girls."

We cringed but Hanzo nodded.

"I respect that, some of our best people joined because they wanted girls. Lot of them find a special one and settle down, have a family and become better because of that. So yeah I respect that."

Hanzo turned to Sato.

"Why do you want to join?"

"I'm burakumin. Officially we're now equal but... Well I don't think anyone else will give me a fair shake."

"I understand, lots of us are Burakumin, nothing wrong with that. Dan?"

I took in a deep breath.

"I want to be strong, the world's full of this crazy shit that can end you and I want to be strong enough to take it on."

Hanzo looked at me as if studying me and then laughed. I clenched my hands, feeling angry.

"Oh, not laughing at you. The master....the man we have who trains you guys, he's always bitching that people are not motivated to learn the way. If you're in this to become stronger then he might actually like you."

"Really?"

"Hey first time for everything right?"

Those words did not fill me with confidence.

 

[Cherico]

Riku Dan


I bit down onto a rubber belt as the mage tattooed my upper back. To my credit I didn't cry, I heard some guys did but I kept my cool. I was made out of tougher stuff. Hanzo watched each of us as we got tatted up, paying attention to our reactions. Someone came in and brought in paperwork and he sat down and read through all of it. He raised an eyebrow at times but continued on.

When we were finished he nodded.

"Come on get up."

We did so, men came in and got out measurements. We were then seated in our underwear, Hanzo continuing to read through his files. Every now and then he would look at me and raise an eyebrow. Then he called on his phone and boxes came in. The boxes were opened, revealing armor and motorcycle helmets. We were then led into a separate room and put onto ritual circles and then it started.

The pain...oh god, the pain. No one tells you about that. The metal, leather and plastic melted onto us and it took every ounce of willpower not to scream. When it was over we were naked, dazed. We were given new outfits to wear and my friends were taken away by other men but Hanzo put a hand on my shoulder.

"You're going with me."

I felt dazed still but I followed him into the car, to my surprise he didn't turn on the radio.

"Riku Dan, born 1960, unlike your friends you didn't drop out of highschool you finished it. Your father was Japanese, a mechanic who did some work for the yanks, your mother was lance corporal Betty Goodwitch of the US Marine Corp. She died in India when you were 6 years old, your father was devastated and started drinking. He killed himself when you turned 16. You managed to hold onto the appartment for a bit but lost it and were forced to live in your car on the outskirts of town."

"I was raised in Japan, my father was Japanese. I am Japanese and."

"Don't. Look lots of people in the family are ethnic Korean, or have some Korean blood or yank blood. We're not going to judge you for being a halfy, thing is though."

He sighed.

"Do you know anything about your mother?"

"She abandoned me and died."

Hanzo stopped the car and stared at me.

"She was a soldier, she fought in a war and she died. I really doubt she wanted to die at all."

"She was a woman. If she had done her womanly duties she would still be alive."

"If she had been like that you would not exist. Look your mother's side of the family... They're actually a big deal in the States, hell you're directly related to a former US president. You're related to one of the first students to be enrolled in compass."

He held out a letter.

"This right here? It's a standing offer from Compass, we found it in your car. They're offering to pay for a plane ticket over to the states. Housing, clothing, all of it would be taken care of. You can do this and write yourself a ticket to wherever you want."

He looked at me.

"I'm going to be honest Riku. You have damned good marks at school, much better then your other two friends had. You finished highschool, something a lot of yaks never do. You could have more power by taking that offer, get yourself a good education. Your mother's a yank so you can claim American citizenship and."

"And Leave my friends."

Hanzo studied me.

"They might be stupid and they might grate on my nerves but when I was in elementary school and no one wanted to be friends with the half breed they were there for me. When my mother died they were there for me. When my father drank himself to death they were there for me. When he died they were there for me. When I found him hanging from the celing they were there for me. When I was sleeping in my car they were there for me. So what ever happens I'm there for them."

Hanzo nodded.

"I never asked you why you wanted to become strong, I think I understand now."

He turned the key and started driving.

"I'm going to talk about the business side of things then. Our big money makers are gambling, prostitution, smuggling and construction. We do other things as well, but there are some things that are off limits."

"Like what?"

"Theft. If you stole before...that stops expecially from civilians. We do not steal from businesses. We do not steal from the government or from foreigners. It pisses people off and it's the kind of shit that small timers do, we are above that."

I nodded my head.

"Alright."

"Ever hear of the Dojin-kai?"

I shook my head.

"They used to be the second biggest family in the country, then they started selling drugs. Cocaine, weed, Meth, name a drug they sold it. The guy in charge, our Oyabun, he told all of us not to get into the drug business. He was firm on that, had a few guys beat up for it. Seemed stupid to some people, especially since we were weaker back then. We were the 10th largest family."

His face got serious.

"The Oyabun however was right, the government didn't like that shit and sent in the Boots. There are cops on the take, politicians who arrange for people to look the other way, judges that are friendly, but they all have one thing in common. They don't want drugs in their community. And after they were finished families that had been around for generations or centuries were gone and we expanded. Now we're the third largest family in the country."

He looked at me.

"No drugs, no pot, no cocaine, no meth, no nothing. I don't care if you think you could make money off of it or if it could make the family rich. It isn't worth it and if you do sell drugs."

He put his hand on my shoulder.

"We won't just take a finger, we will kill you."

He nodded his head and I remained silent as we drove on.

 

[Cherico]

Robert Kline


"You're a descendent of Glenda Goodwitch?"

Riku shrugged.

"No, Merlin gave the surname of goodwitch to a lot of kids that were just abandoned at his school. I'm related to a few of the later ones. You have to remember that we didn't have the internet back then so information was often spotty."

I nodded my head and sipped the coffee, it was good.

"So what happened for the next couple days?"

"Well in my case, I shadowed Hanzo for a couple days, learning more about things were really done and what our roles would be."

"And learning how to commit crimes."

"Do you realize just how restrictive japanese trade was during those days? We had one of the most protectionist economies in the world. A shirt that cost you 5 dollars in the US, could cost 50 in Japan. And food prices were insane because our agricultural industry simply could not keep up with demand and there were huge tarrifs on every thing."

"So you smuggled."

"Yes, we did. Pretty much every restaurant in tokyo, hell most japanese cities period, used smuggled food. They had to, the margins were too tight to survive just on domestic stuff. Even today with the colonies the price of food in Japan is 20% higher than what it is in America. it was even worse back then."

He yawned and looked at a text.

"Ok you probably want to see this."

He turned on the television and my eyes widened, Ethiopia had been awarded Venus. The two of us were silent.

"Didnt think they would pull it off."

"They have been using every trick in the book....my money is that some serious backroom deals were done Kline San."

I shrugged.

"Probably. You think the rest of the worlds will go quickly?"

"Yes...I think the big five have worked out some kind of deal, don't know who the ethiopians made a deal with. Yanks, Brits, France, but they pulled it off."

"So you're thinking its some kind of neocolonial deal?"

"Probably... Smart money is that the big five will take turns until we run out of worlds. Refugees will get planets in exchange for being proxies for their needs."

"You dont think they want those worlds?"

"You honestly think the minor powers would allow it?"

I shrugged, it was a good point.

"The old order died with the soviets, everyone has just been coasting on fumes. The new order is being built now."

"And Japan?"

"Will stand with America."

"Because we're old friends?"

"Because no one else wants us on their side."

 

[Cherico]

Peter Zweilander -the new solar order


Eithiopia and what it means.


So the Ethiopian vote went through, what does that mean for the order and why did it go through? If you want to understand why it happened look at the diplomatic deals and military deals and remember your history.

Ethiopia, unlike most african countries, enjoyed one special benefit, the love and affection of America's african american community. Ethiopia at the time of the exchange had around 35 million people. The communist regime was firmly allied to the soviet union and when the war happened the nukes flew.

Adis Ababa, the capital, was nuked completely, destroying the central government and about 80% of their military. The only intact organisation left in Ethiopia was the orthodox church whose leadership had been kicked out of the capital and forced to live in the hinterlands.

Baha had long had fans of Ethiopia and they rallied to save what few people remained but resources were limited and saving Ethiopia meant that resources wouldn't be spent on other people.

So the state mobilized its coast guard, volunteers and national guard and twisted the arms of other states to get the aid. The Ethiopian orthodox church rallied hard and used the fact that they were the only intact organization left to get aid to their people and get them off world. Leaving other religious groups to die.

Eithopia would in the end lose 90% of its population to the war. Most countries in Africa and the rest of the planet lost far more than that. The 3.5 million survivors were placed on one of Trition's largest islands and then lived off of the largess of the winners for an entire generation.

They worked hard to get their own world and managed to strike a deal. They would become an American vassal state and settle on Venus. In exchange France would be able to choose the next winner who would also become a vassal, then China, then India and then the British Empire. They would take turns until all of the worlds were claimed.

so why was this deal hatched? In the end it was about trade, as in who would be allowed to trade.

Extraplanetary trade requires lots of magi in order to successfully trade with others. America, due to its long tradition of magic, has those kinds of magi. The British, through the common wealth alliance, has those numbers. Both India and China engaged in crash mass teaching operations to get magi during and after the cold war. Both of them can trade with the outside system without help.

France can't, they have magi but they don't have enough of them and they know it. However there is a region that has the magi needed to make them independent if they become a vassal state and that's Quebec.

Canada defined itself as not being american and tends to be light on magi because of it, Quebec defined itself as not being canadian and decided to invest heavly in magic. Before the war each province got 10% of the clones. Quebec threw a stink and the other provinces gave them 20%.

Education was determined by each province and in a move other people would consider mad Quebec gave all of their clones magical training and their education and culture was crafted by Quebec nationalists of the most extreme sort.

Right now Quebec has a 5th of canada's population and 95% of its magi and they want to leave, a move canada does not want but its something that is going to happen. First because France needs Quebec's magi to acess larger markets, second because Quebec wants to leave and third because Canada has made noises about leaving the Commonwealth and the British empire will step aside and allow this to happen to punish them.

China and India dont care and America wants to secure their sunward flank in case of a grand alliance of powers beyond the asteroid field. The new order is being built and Canada will be its first victim.

 

[Cherico]

Riku Dan


I looked at the newspaper as the three of us sat in the van.

"First Japanese Rocker."

My friends looked at me.

"What? We have lots of rockstars."

"No, you know how Elvis invented a new style of magic when he was in the military?"

They nodded their heads.

"Well after his divorce he decided to start teaching people how to do it."

And clean himself up, stop with the drugs and tour less.

"Yeah so?"

"So Keisuke Kuwata just finished his training."

"The head of Southern All Stars? how did he get Elvis to do that?"

"Apparently he just went to graceland and asked, said that the king was actually a pretty good teacher. A bit preachy about drugs though, said the stuff ruined his life and he doesn't want that to happen to anyone else."

We nodded our heads, all of us had received the talk about drugs and about the consequences. To me it made enough sense. The van stopped and the doors opened, revealing the Japanese country side. An old man walked towards us in an old fashioned yukata, he looked at us as if judging us and finding all of us wanting.

"The next three months will be absolute hell for you, you get one request. One."

"Beer."

"Decent food."

My two friends spoke up instantly the old man rolling his eyes.

"You the first one you will get a single can of beer a day, you the second I will have my daughter make something that doesn't taste like shit once a day for you and you the last one what do you want?"

"No Pink Lady."

The man blinked.

"What?"

"Their music... It's terrible sir, I hate it...I hate it so much.. it's garbage."

He stared at me and I saw the faintest outline of a smile.

"You sure you don't want any comforts?"

"Not hearing their shitty music is comfort enough sir."

He nodded.

"Granted, I am sure you want to introduce yourself. Don't. You haven't earned that right, instead you will be given numbers 1 to 3 while I will try to turn each of you into some one useful."

He paused.

"Once you have finished my training then, and only then, will I bother learning your names."

He pointed at a shack and we followed him, we saw dirt covered mats on the ground.

"That is where you will sleep at night, welcome to hell."

He looked at us.

"Well? Clean the place worms!"

We snapped to and started immediately as he watched us.

 

[Cherico]

Riku Dan


The three of us were seated, we were all tired from cleaning our shack. The old man looked at us, his tattoos visible behind his open shirt.

"So why are there only three of us?"

"Because 4 is an unlucky number."

We blinked at the man.

"Look at our arts, the qulipothic arts. The first art is useful, the second is a great way to better yourself and the third path, our path, is great. The fourth turns you into an evil monster. The arts after that? Perfectly fine."

"But there are 4 seasonal arts."

I felt a need to interject.

"Autum magi are useless and everyone knows it."

He looked at us and nodded.

"So, any of you dabble in magic before?"

I shrugged.

"All right, you pick three spells."

My friends picked spells that looked cool or were good for a fight but as I looked through the long list I settled on three.

"Healing touch, mending and a cleaning spell?"

The old man raised an eyebrow.

"Sooner or later someone is going to get hurt. Sooner or later someone is going to break something important and sooner or later a mess is going to be created and it will need to be cleaned stat."

I paused.

"Plus it removes blood and fingerprints, we both know that will come in handy sooner or later."

The old man smiled at me briefly, it was replaced with a frown.

"There's no combat utlity to this magic you know."

"I know, but someone has to handle that stuff and pick up the slack."

He nodded his head as if I had passed some test.

"Very well."

He pulled out tatoo needles and glowing crystals, simple tatoos were put on our left wrists then crystals were pressed to the tatoos. I flinched as I felt a burning sensation but I worked through the brief pain.

"Normally dabblers just use a bracelet but we use some thing more permanent."

I flexed my hand and cleaned some dust in the distance.

"Lame."

I shrugged at my friends comment.

"Yes but useful."

I would have to fight smarter yes but that would just make what victories I had that much more impressive. My mind thought over options as the old man got up.

"We're still collecting reagents, you will spend the rest of the day cleaning... Well, everything."

Suddenly my choice of spell seemed to be a much better idea than I thought.

 

[Cherico]

Commercial break


An image of Earth's moon.

"Mare Imbruim…. 1984...."

Men in space suits grip railings.

"Russia had a series of bases there, it was a collection of the last holdouts of the soviet union."

The astronauts load their weapons.

"An estimated 70,000 Russians. Scientists, government officials, military personal and everyone who was able to flee to the Mare Imbruim bases."

They land on the surface of the moon and nod at each other.

"Earth was gone, billions of people were dead and dying. There would be no respite for the destruction of earth, no forgiveness, and in the empty void of space we would fight the final battles of world war 3."

An image of the moon.

"Mare Imbrum, based on a true story and coming to a theatre near you."

 

[Cherico]

Robert Kline


"So are you going to tell me about your awakening?"

Riki sipped his coffee.

"There isn't much to say, you're given your foci, you're given a chunk of quartz that has been charged with mana. Then you put it into some tea, or water or something, and drink the water while thinking real hard about your archetype."

He paused.

"Then you pass out for a couple hours, have something akin to an acid trip and then wake up different. Whole process takes maybe three hours at most."

He took another sip.

"Can you tell me about what you saw?"

"Um not really, I don't remember. Well not quite true I remember colors and lights but not much beyond that, and the effect is different for every one who does it."

"So your training?"

"I'd rather kind of skip over it."

"Painful memories?"

"Not really, most of the time we just butchered animals for the local farms."

I grimaced remembering my own childhood, how father had us kill animals for food every day.

"You went through it too."

"Didn't care for it."

"It works though, fastest way to rank up."

He leaned back in his chair.

"Yeah it is, so you mastered the style that way?"

"I did other things but yes we were all given part time jobs in a slaughterhouse. From the look in your face you did something similar."

He closed his eyes.

"I didn't stop that when I finished my official training."

"Why?"

"I wanted to be the best, get stronger, I wanted to finish walking the path."

He smiled.

"You're not just a huckster."

"An American term, we follow the same path but we go about things differently. And Hucksters.....I've actually visited the States and I understand why you Yankees despise them."

"Can you explain why?"

He sipped his coffee and closed his eyes.

"So the way of the thief, the third path... When you awaken you start out slightly stronger, more agile, smarter, wiser, tougher and more charismatic. Not by much but it is there. You feel that difference. You gain an instinctive skill with knives, clubs, any melee weapon that just uses a single hand and also lock picking, stealth, deception, persuasion, sleight of hand, stealth. And when you ambush people it hurts."

He pauses.

"Then you hit that next plateau, you're a little faster. Then you hit that next level that's when the world opens up. You gain this hand of mystic energy that starts off being able to hold up to 13 kilos worth of stuff. You can cast more spells on top of any petty ante stuff."

He opened his eyes.

"In America the path is called hucksters. They have a well deserved reputation for being criminals and are historically aligned to some really horrible things."

He took a sip of coffee.

"I read your history, they were slave hunters and overseers during the antebellum era. War criminals during the civil war, members of the KKK after it. and they still have a reputation for being con artists and criminals. Though to be fair a lot of 3rd pathers are involved In something shady."

I decided to let him continue.

"Hucksters pride themselves on being illusionists, on using sleight of hand, on using their head and tricking people. This is because seasonal mages can, and historically did, rip them apart easily in an actual fight and they're not rare. In America there are lots of them."

He yawned.

"In Japan it's different, the Yakuza took the art but we put a more macho slant on it and, because magi are rarer in Japan, we are able to kind of delude ourselves into thinking that we are complete magical badasses. So we tend to load up on combat magic which can mostly be used once a day instead of the illusion and utility spells a huckster would use."

He leaned forward.

"When the two of us meet in the real world, we dislike each other. Hate each other really."

"Why?"

"Hucksters think of Yakuza as dumb thugs and Yaks think of hucksters as effeminate wimps. I mean seriously when they aren't up to some scam they like to dress up like the steamboat era never ended. But in the end we just can't stand each other for lots of reasons besides that."

"Like what?"

"The selfishness is a big one....when a disaster happens Yakuza are expected to help out, to give out aid and charity. Hucksters either leave people to rot or try to profit off of it."

"Really?"

"Yes really, charity during disasters has always been important."

"Why?"

"Organized crime can not exist long term without the consent of the people."

"The Mexican cartels."

"Have the military on their butts, have to deal with growing vigilante groups gunning for them. Sure fear will work well for a little bit but once that turns into hate you're screwed."

"I doubt it."

"I don't. Hate....hate is one of the strongest forces in the world. When a man hates you, truely hates you, then fear stops being a factor and what he can lose stops mattering. Consequences stop mattering... And when the entire community hates you, then you lose."

"The Hucksters?"

"They survive in part because they are cowards. They don't like fighting and, for a huckster, if you got in a fight it was because you were too stupid to avoid one and they make sure to pick their victims carefully. They exist because they're considered to be a nuisance to their communities."

He took another sip of cofee.

"Imagine what they could be if they were respected instead."

 

[Cherico]

Riku Dan


When we woke up from our awakening our sensei of sorts gave us options.

Take things easy, go a more moderate path, or go through his training from hell. We picked the last one. He smirked at us and told us that we had the option to quit. But if we completed the hell march... well, people would respect us. So naturally we picked the hardest option. For the next 90 days we woke up to having cold water splashed on our bodies, we ate a simple breakfast exercised and were then driven to a slaughterhouse and killed cows for the next 12 hours. When we came home there was more exercise followed by dinner and then we slept, exhausted.

All of us had moments where we thought about giving up, but the three of us were friends and we supported each other. When the 90 days were over we felt exhausted and frustrated because we really hadnt trained ourselves how to use magic, we just felt tired.

"90 days."

He looked at us.

"The summer is almost over, you managed to survive. Now a normal hell march...well pig farms are easier to get our people into but the boss pulled some serious strings."

We stood up straighter.

"A normal hell march turns a man into an 8th ranker, that's actually pretty impressive. The medium path turns out a man who is a 11th ranker, and the easy one leaves you a 17th ranker. You three however are 5th rankers."

He looked at us.

"Killing cows gives you a little more spiritual ompth then killing pigs, I know its been hard work, unpleasant and horrible, but."

He threw a rock at me, I dodged it and then all of our bodies moved as a shock wave went threw the building, we got up and the man nodded.

"You got stronger. Right now you can build a deck, and have the spiritual might to handle 14 spells. On top of your little dablers tricks, your deck will be the most important thing you create. It will be your foci, your hold out weapon. A good deck can and will save your life, a bad deck will fuck you."

He walked back and forth.

"You only have enough gas in your tanks to handle so many spells a day and, unlike a seasonal mage, once you're out you're out, but that doesnt mean you're helpless."

He tossed me a dice and I caught it and then I fell to my knees as a ghostly hand rose out of my fore arm.

"That....my friend is your ghost hand and I'm going to train you boys on how to use it."

I couldn't help but smile at his words.

"We have 3 weeks people, lets make 'em count."

 

[Cherico]

Richard tide water


11 countries of America.

In order to understand American politics one must understand the alliances that underpin it and the cultural foundations of its various regions.


Yankeeland- founded by puritans. The residents of the northeastern states and the industrial Midwest tend to be more comfortable with government regulation, they value the common good and education more than most regions. When Compass was about to be built there were vicious fights about where to put the school of magic. Yankeeland lost the fight but got a paragraph in the constitution that would end slavery more than 70 years later.

Faced with the fact that the first school of magic was placed right in their strongest regions yankeeland at first deeply resented magic but, with the war of 1812, they embraced it and have a thriving magical tradition.

The new Netherlands- situated around New York. This region was founded by the Dutch and historically accepted persecuted minorities and is known for its tolerance and economic skill. This tolerance however does not transfer to magic. The new Netherlands region is hostile to magic, seeing it as something that disrupts what they feel to be the natural equality between people. Magi and magic are often officially and unofficially persecuted and kept at arms length.

The Midlands- stretching initially from Quaker territory, the midlands is centered around a pluralistic and organized middle class government. Intrusion is not welcome and ethnic and ideological purity is likewise not held in high regard. When the country was planning for the end of the world the New American was based around the midlands culture. After the transport they became more than half of the country. The region is now dominant in American politics and drags the country towards political and ideological centrism.

They historically see magic as just another tool, to be used to better life or for commerce, neither fetishising it nor holding it in disdain.

Tidewater - these regions are composed of the East coasts of Virginia, Carolina and Delaware. They value tradition and respect authority. The region has been in decline since the beginning of the Westward expansion. A cultural mistrust of seasonal magic is a part of the make up of the region, with most preferring to use the older qulipothic arts if they use magic at all.

Greater Apallachia- extending from Western Virginia, holding north of the great magic dead zone of the south and extending deep into Texas, these regions were founded by Irish, Scots, and northern English settlers who had left a warzone. They greatly prize individual liberty, deeply despise southern aristocrats and distrust yankee social engineering.

When Compass was created its teacher purposefully reached out to this region, providing zero interest loans, donations and financial incentives to get their children into his school. In return greater Apallachia fetishises magic and considers it a key part of their personal identity. They treat an attack upon magic as an attack upon themselves.

Deep South- south of Kentucky. This region traces its lineage to the people who tried to replicate the West Indies caste system in America. The region is magic poor and tends to deeply despise magic and magic users. They value social control and a system where people know their place.

El Norte- The south west and the area just above the border regions. These were the areas that were owned by Spain before the war of 1812, Hard Work and self-sufficiency are prized. Magic and magi are often barely tolerated.

The left coast- Yankee social utopianism and apallachian independence mixed together. This region owns the Western coast of america. Mixing social ingeneering while having a respect for personal liberty the region combines the best and worst of the two societies. By its nature it has a deep love and respect for magic.

The Far West- A region historically controlled by industry, the Far West gained a firm dislike of big institutions and are very libertarian. Magic is considered to be a useful tool and a part of life, much like in the Midlands.

New France- The former French colonies in and around New Orleans. The region's culture deeply influenced the freed slaves who looked for a way to rebel against their former owners. After the civil war the slaves were given land, guns and settled in Baha and the border regions between America and Mexico.

The region is deeply egalitarian and values education and consensus, it also has a deep abiding loathing of the deep South and El Norte who are considered to be their historical enemies. Magic is beloved as both a cultural touchstone, a way to defend their lives and property and a way to thumb their noses at their perceived enemies.

The First Nations- Mostly centered around Alaska, Arizona and New Mexico. These regions are places where the native tribes made deals with the federal government. In exchange for keeping their property they accepted the united states sovereignty.

The regions learned how to use American laws and institutions to their benefit and work to maintain a balance of power that prevents people from abusing them. Government is seen as a tool and balance is prized. Magic is deeply respected, with Magi often taking the places formerly held by shamans.

American Politics.

The Modern Republican party was created by an alliance between greater Appalachia and Yankeeland. Yankeeland thought that slavery was immoral and greater Appalachia deeply resented the hipocrisy of the Deep South who proclaimed their way of life to be immoral while keeping slaves.

When the war began the Deep South allied to El Norte and Mexico in order to gain independence. No region on the Union side suffered more casualtues, endured more atrocities and had more destroyed than greater Appalachia. When the war was over they wanted revenge.

Yankeeland wanted to take the former slaves and create an ideal society. The First Nations wanted to create a buffer zone between themselves and Mexican banditos and Apache raiders armed with mexican weapons. The slaves just wanted to be free.

The Deep South found that the labor pool of slaves they depended on was removed from their territory and with this action New France became the tip of the spear aimed at El Norte. Both regions found that they had lost land and property in the creation of New France and deeply resented it.

The two, despite their cultural differences, allied to one another and bonded in their mutual hate and resentment. New Netherlands was contacted and became the bankroll for this alliance. This forms the foundation of the democratic party. But resentment alone can not create a lasting political party and the alliance drifted until Huey Long created the philosophical underpinnings of the democratic party.

The democrats would propose a paternalistic kind of socialism, that respected a social hierarchy. Yankeedom and Appalicia brought in New Francerance and the Left Coast to oppose these ideals. With other regions becoming the battleground between the two ideologies.

This explains the oddities of American culture compared to Europe.

In europe ethnic chauvinism is associated with the right. In America this behavior is deeply associated with the left, with several democratic congressmen caught doing things like blackface in the modern era.

With the rapture American politics is driven towards the center, with both parties forced to moderate their behavior in order to gain and hold onto power.

 

[Cherico]

Riku dan


"Interesting."

The master looked at me.

"Is there a problem?"

"You are aware that all of your cantrips are not combat based."

I shrugged.

"audio illusion, sense magic, sense composition, crafter's eye."

"Some times I might need to create noise or go silent. We gamble a lot, sensing magic means sensing cheaters. A part of our business is smuggling goods, knowing what those goods are made out of and if they're broken and need to be fixed is important."

The master nodded, I was worried.

"That's....not what I expected."

I blinked.

"Why not?"

"Your friends went with more, well flashy basics. Looking at your requested spells they're all utility and illusion spells with some healing mixed in."

"Someone has to keep the team safe."

He nodded his head.

"All right."

He pulled out a blank six sided die.

"You're going to carve runes into the dice, the two you have tatooed on your body and the four others. Here are the runes for the spell."

I looked at it.

"Looks difficult."

"It takes time but it's worth it."

I went through a couple dice before I carved one up to the old master's standards.

"Now cut your finger."

I did so.

"And press the blood onto the runes."

I blinked as the dice glowed.

"You see how there is a hole drilled in the corner? Put a string in it and tie it to your wrist."

I did it and blinked, my senses shifted. I knew what the table was made out of, knew where it was fraying, knew where I could break it.

"Wow."

"What you're feeling is a small portion of what a spring magi feels."

He looked at me as if sizing me up.

"That path isn't possible for me."

"Not true."

I blinked, he smiled at me.

"But I chose this path."

"Follow me."

I followed the old man outside into his zen garden, he raised his hand and a stone pillar rose out of the ground. He then took a seat on it, his hands moving turning it into a throne. I stared at him.

"You're not like us?"

"I am, but qulipothic magic and seasonal magic are not opposed. I learned the same tricks you did and then learned more."

"How? I, I didn't think it was possible."

"You must become a first ranker then, when you have finished a qulipothic path, you can walk another path. But you cant learn thid until you finish your current journey."

"So it's possible to have both?"

"Yes but it takes a lot of hard work."

He closed his eyes and faced towards the sun.

"I was there when we were kicked out of Korea...there when my power wasn't enough."

"So you."

"Fought a Jayu."

He opened his robe, revealing an ugly gash, and I grimaced.

"I could get that fixed, the injuries from that fight, but I chose not to. These scars... they forced me to get better, forced me to up my game. I had been conscripted into the Japanese army and, after fighting in the war, I had finished walking the path of the thief and had awakened myself to the path of Spring."

"We lost."

"That we did."

He closed his robe.

"We had never fought magi before, you see."

"The jayu?"

"They fought in small squads, never more than seven of them. The Jayu would hit and run, me and my division we fought the silent legion."

I grimaced.

"I..."

"They deserve their reputation, an entire unit of magi working as one coherent whole. Most militaries, if they were lucky, had a single mage in a squad. To face an entire batallion, an entire legion of them, with perfect teamwork...it."

He shuddered.

"It was slaughter. The few of us who survived either made it back to the boats or fled into the jungle, hunted like animals. I managed to make it back to the boats, I served under Sakae Oba on Saipan after that..."

I studied him.

"The war made you strong."

"No....It did not. War, real war, takes pieces out of you, your innocence, your peace of mind, your time. When I returned home my biological family was dead or wanted nothing to do with me. All I had left was the family, our little organization, my brothers."

I nodded my head.

"You think about them, your friends. They think about glory, about being tough guys, but you... Your choices show that you care."

"And?"

"And we have been thinking about what to do with the three of you."

I stood ramrod straight.

"You will be positioned in the new airport, in Narita."

I blinked.

"What?"

"There have been attacks on the airport, it's been happening ever since 72. Our organization does security."

"Really?"

"Yes. The airport has been targeted by activist groups, the worst of them the Chūkaku-ha has been a problem."

"How bad?"

"They firebombed the airport, caused 60 million yen's worth of damages, killed two police offficers, maimed several pilots and put gasoline on a stewardess after tying her up. Locals were able to stop them before they set her on fire."

My hands clenched.

"Who are these animals?"

"A communist organization, officially they're anti-stalinist but they accept weapons and arms from both the People's Republic of China and the Soviet Union. Their stated purpose is to overthrow the Japanese government, end the American Japanese alliance and install a communist state."

He narrowed his eyes.

"And where do we come in?"

"The Chu's, as we call them, get their funding from three sources, donations, money from the Soviet Union and drugs. They have tried to smuggle drugs through the airport, we use that airport for our own smuggling operations. if they are successful in turning the airport into a drug operation..."

"The government will crack down."

"Correct. The deal is under the table, we provide security and prevent drugs from being sold on the streets and in return they turn a blind eye to our other smuggling operations and get paid for the security work on top of that."

"Is it dangerous?"

"There have been attempts to smuggle weapons and planejack the jets. We have successfully foiled all attempts. There have also been more attacks."

"So keep the Chu's from messing with the airport."

"Yeah, I know it's not glorious, but it's important work. You up for it?"

"Of course."