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yefiridwa
- Thread starter Cherico
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- original fiction sequal
Robert Kline
Cherico
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Robert Kline
I stared into the water.
"Mind if I sit down?"
I turned around and saw an overweight police officer.
"Sure."
The man sat down next to me.
"We don't get many visitors here in Hinata."
"Yeah..look, I'm."
"I know you're not up to anything but we have a couple old ladies from the mainland who live here and they're going to bitch and moan until I watch the suspicious foreigner. No offense."
"None taken."
He pulled out a book.
"Manga?"
"Yeah."
"How did you end up being um?"
"A cop? Joined the paranormal club when I was in high school, we got lucky and picked up some tricks. I put some effort into it and managed to pick up the lesser arts."
"Which one?"
He pulled out a spell book and I nodded.
"Yeah I wanted to be better and it worked, subtly but it worked. Faster, smarter, tougher, wiser, better looking... I know I'm not a good looking guy but I used to look even worse. It was nice, I had power and I was better and the club looked up to me."
"Then what?"
"Went to school, got a degree and decided I didn't want to become a salary man because... well doing so is kind of horrible."
"So you decided to become a cop?"
"Hmm, no. More like the unemployment office strongly suggested it, it came with free housing so I came here. Most cops here in the colonies have a similar story, losers or neets that sought out the secrets of magic and got dumped here."
"So it's bad?"
"No, it's peaceful here. It's a slower pace of life yes but that's a good thing. Living in Tokyo was like being a rat in a cage, everything is too expensive, every one is always pushing you around. The work culture actually kills people..."
"That's a thing?"
"Only on the islands, the colonies understands that you need more of a balance, a lot of salarymen move out here when they either burn out or retire."
He looked at peace and I noticed his ring.
"Married?"
"Yeah...A couple years back, fisherman's girl from the clone families."
He smiled.
"Good woman?"
"Way out of my league. Back home a girl like that wouldn't talk to me, magic or no. Here? Married and two kids, with another on the way."
"So magic made your life better?"
"I'd rather be a cop in the middle of nowhere with a good wife, good kids and magic than be stuck in Tokyo slaving away. How about you?"
I sighed.
"Magic....it wasn't something I wanted, it was this family thing, everyone learned the art of how to be a gunslinger."
"Oh you're the shooty magi."
I sighed.
"Yes, yes. I am one of the shooty mages."
"You don't sound happy about it."
"Magic is a personal thing, a personal choice, and I wasn't given a choice. I was born and then told 'you will become a gunslinger' when I was six, life growing up was farming, guns and books."
"It doesn't sound that bad. It was a legacy thing right?"
I closed my eyes.
"Seventh generation gunslinger, and legacies.."
I stared out into the water.
"Have a price. They constrain you in a way, take away options. Without a legacy, without the past, you can become anything. But with a legacy, with a family, you have less options and the person you can become is limited. You're chained to a fate that you can't control."
"A legacy means you also have a support network, a family that is there for you. It can make you a better person, make you stronger."
"It can also weigh you down, wear you down. It's better to cut those ties so you can be free."
He shrugged.
"I'd rather have a woman back home who loves me and my children."
"Fair enough."
I stared into the water.
"Mind if I sit down?"
I turned around and saw an overweight police officer.
"Sure."
The man sat down next to me.
"We don't get many visitors here in Hinata."
"Yeah..look, I'm."
"I know you're not up to anything but we have a couple old ladies from the mainland who live here and they're going to bitch and moan until I watch the suspicious foreigner. No offense."
"None taken."
He pulled out a book.
"Manga?"
"Yeah."
"How did you end up being um?"
"A cop? Joined the paranormal club when I was in high school, we got lucky and picked up some tricks. I put some effort into it and managed to pick up the lesser arts."
"Which one?"
He pulled out a spell book and I nodded.
"Yeah I wanted to be better and it worked, subtly but it worked. Faster, smarter, tougher, wiser, better looking... I know I'm not a good looking guy but I used to look even worse. It was nice, I had power and I was better and the club looked up to me."
"Then what?"
"Went to school, got a degree and decided I didn't want to become a salary man because... well doing so is kind of horrible."
"So you decided to become a cop?"
"Hmm, no. More like the unemployment office strongly suggested it, it came with free housing so I came here. Most cops here in the colonies have a similar story, losers or neets that sought out the secrets of magic and got dumped here."
"So it's bad?"
"No, it's peaceful here. It's a slower pace of life yes but that's a good thing. Living in Tokyo was like being a rat in a cage, everything is too expensive, every one is always pushing you around. The work culture actually kills people..."
"That's a thing?"
"Only on the islands, the colonies understands that you need more of a balance, a lot of salarymen move out here when they either burn out or retire."
He looked at peace and I noticed his ring.
"Married?"
"Yeah...A couple years back, fisherman's girl from the clone families."
He smiled.
"Good woman?"
"Way out of my league. Back home a girl like that wouldn't talk to me, magic or no. Here? Married and two kids, with another on the way."
"So magic made your life better?"
"I'd rather be a cop in the middle of nowhere with a good wife, good kids and magic than be stuck in Tokyo slaving away. How about you?"
I sighed.
"Magic....it wasn't something I wanted, it was this family thing, everyone learned the art of how to be a gunslinger."
"Oh you're the shooty magi."
I sighed.
"Yes, yes. I am one of the shooty mages."
"You don't sound happy about it."
"Magic is a personal thing, a personal choice, and I wasn't given a choice. I was born and then told 'you will become a gunslinger' when I was six, life growing up was farming, guns and books."
"It doesn't sound that bad. It was a legacy thing right?"
I closed my eyes.
"Seventh generation gunslinger, and legacies.."
I stared out into the water.
"Have a price. They constrain you in a way, take away options. Without a legacy, without the past, you can become anything. But with a legacy, with a family, you have less options and the person you can become is limited. You're chained to a fate that you can't control."
"A legacy means you also have a support network, a family that is there for you. It can make you a better person, make you stronger."
"It can also weigh you down, wear you down. It's better to cut those ties so you can be free."
He shrugged.
"I'd rather have a woman back home who loves me and my children."
"Fair enough."
Robert Kline
Cherico
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Robert Kline
Six days before being on a ship to Tokyo. it took a god damned week to get a ship to Tokyo.
"HALLO!"
I felt sick as I heard that familiar german accent.
"Nessa... you're here."
"Of course I am. So many scandals to be caught on camera and so little time. You know you're not a true paparatzi until you have successfully ended at least one marriage."
I stared at her and she continued.
"Have you ever been to Tokyo before?"
"Yes, to write a piece on the horrible working conditions of salarymen."
Nessa rolled her eyes and poked me.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for the off button, can't seem to find it."
"Very funny. Now what do you want?"
She looked up at me and smiled.
"Well the pay from my last pictures was pretty good so I thought....maybe you could crash with me?"
I sighed, I did need a place and Tokyo was expensive.
"What kind of place is it?"
"A love hotel."
I closed my eyes and grimaced. For some reason Nessa was breathing heavily.
"Let me guess, only one bed."
"Um....yes."
"I will grab the couch."
"Oh....yeah....that makes sense, yes."
She sighed.
"Always practical aren't you Kline?"
"I try to be, so how many celebrities did you humiliate?"
"15, I managed to get quite a few photos of idol singers without make up, one of an idol having a torrid romance with a pre-med student, who just became a doctor."
I frowned.
"And?"
"And it turns out they're in love and have been for years, got married in secret yadda yadda yadda. She's been kicked out of her singing group and her career is over forever."
She waved her hand.
"Made myself a mint off of that one."
I felt that sense of disgust come back as Nessa smiled at me.
"And you feel good about yourself doing that?"
"If it wasn't me it would be someone else. I at least got enough of the facts so her PR team could spin things graciously and her fans didn't completely turn on her. Which means she will get residuals from her group's most popular songs. Plus she's 23 years old, her career had maybe two more years tops."
The lack of guilt worried me.
"You destroyed her life."
"And you haven't done the same? You've done more than one hit piece without getting all the facts Kline, remember the reason you spent a year doing dog shows."
"I made a mistake."
Nessa shrugged.
"Everyone does."
"Why do this? You're a good photographer, you could find good work doing something."
"No, I could not."
I froze.
"What?"
"Kline, rob, I was a teenage runaway who stowed away on a ocean liner to escape my home town, I don't have a college education, I dont have some accreditation from some fancy art school. I dont even have an equivalent to a highschool diploma. The only thing I had when I ran away was a camera and the guts to go anywhere and do anything."
She smiled.
"Those fancy papers are not going to hire a teenage runaway, but tabloids? They didn't, and still don't, care. If you have the guts, the drive and the photos? You have a job. I crawled my way up from nothing and became one of the best in my industry."
I said nothing.
"Not everyone has a family that's willing and able to send them to college. You might play the part of the working class hero but you havent really lived the role Kline. I fought my way out of that world and let me tell you something, you don't belong there. Neither do I, we were born to be free as the dust in a solar wind."
She took my hand and I relented.
"You know of any places around here that have decent food?"
"Well there's a jollybee around."
I sighed.
"Why do we always end up going there?"
"Because they're everywhere."
She smiled as we walked side by side, every now and then her hand brushed against mine, it was annoying. There was plenty of room on the sidewalk and yet she felt the need to keep brushing up next to me.
As the neon lights of the city turned on I saw the glow of a fat bee in the distance as the sun died.
Six days before being on a ship to Tokyo. it took a god damned week to get a ship to Tokyo.
"HALLO!"
I felt sick as I heard that familiar german accent.
"Nessa... you're here."
"Of course I am. So many scandals to be caught on camera and so little time. You know you're not a true paparatzi until you have successfully ended at least one marriage."
I stared at her and she continued.
"Have you ever been to Tokyo before?"
"Yes, to write a piece on the horrible working conditions of salarymen."
Nessa rolled her eyes and poked me.
"What are you doing?"
"Looking for the off button, can't seem to find it."
"Very funny. Now what do you want?"
She looked up at me and smiled.
"Well the pay from my last pictures was pretty good so I thought....maybe you could crash with me?"
I sighed, I did need a place and Tokyo was expensive.
"What kind of place is it?"
"A love hotel."
I closed my eyes and grimaced. For some reason Nessa was breathing heavily.
"Let me guess, only one bed."
"Um....yes."
"I will grab the couch."
"Oh....yeah....that makes sense, yes."
She sighed.
"Always practical aren't you Kline?"
"I try to be, so how many celebrities did you humiliate?"
"15, I managed to get quite a few photos of idol singers without make up, one of an idol having a torrid romance with a pre-med student, who just became a doctor."
I frowned.
"And?"
"And it turns out they're in love and have been for years, got married in secret yadda yadda yadda. She's been kicked out of her singing group and her career is over forever."
She waved her hand.
"Made myself a mint off of that one."
I felt that sense of disgust come back as Nessa smiled at me.
"And you feel good about yourself doing that?"
"If it wasn't me it would be someone else. I at least got enough of the facts so her PR team could spin things graciously and her fans didn't completely turn on her. Which means she will get residuals from her group's most popular songs. Plus she's 23 years old, her career had maybe two more years tops."
The lack of guilt worried me.
"You destroyed her life."
"And you haven't done the same? You've done more than one hit piece without getting all the facts Kline, remember the reason you spent a year doing dog shows."
"I made a mistake."
Nessa shrugged.
"Everyone does."
"Why do this? You're a good photographer, you could find good work doing something."
"No, I could not."
I froze.
"What?"
"Kline, rob, I was a teenage runaway who stowed away on a ocean liner to escape my home town, I don't have a college education, I dont have some accreditation from some fancy art school. I dont even have an equivalent to a highschool diploma. The only thing I had when I ran away was a camera and the guts to go anywhere and do anything."
She smiled.
"Those fancy papers are not going to hire a teenage runaway, but tabloids? They didn't, and still don't, care. If you have the guts, the drive and the photos? You have a job. I crawled my way up from nothing and became one of the best in my industry."
I said nothing.
"Not everyone has a family that's willing and able to send them to college. You might play the part of the working class hero but you havent really lived the role Kline. I fought my way out of that world and let me tell you something, you don't belong there. Neither do I, we were born to be free as the dust in a solar wind."
She took my hand and I relented.
"You know of any places around here that have decent food?"
"Well there's a jollybee around."
I sighed.
"Why do we always end up going there?"
"Because they're everywhere."
She smiled as we walked side by side, every now and then her hand brushed against mine, it was annoying. There was plenty of room on the sidewalk and yet she felt the need to keep brushing up next to me.
As the neon lights of the city turned on I saw the glow of a fat bee in the distance as the sun died.
ninguem
Well worn.
- Joined
- Aug 5, 2014
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- 5,008
- Likes received
- 149,119
As I'm excited about this story, I made a little omake and wanted to share it with you all.
Grateful for the attention.
Things about the Spirits.
At the University of Sao Paulo, on the colony planet of Brazil, a group of Winter Mages is conducting a research focusing on the less famous aspect of Winter's arcane ruling, the Spirit.
Life is further explored for its immediate practical applications as healing, but since Brazil is a land of many religions of spirit contact, spiritual research is a basic research.
Merlin proved the existence of the soul and the terrible path that Nazi Germany used, proved that it is possible to contact extradimensional beings, in the case demons, from these facts this particular group is seeking to contact and catalog the beneficial nature spirits of this new world.
Because spirits most directly related to natural elements of the Earth, such as elementals of the great rivers, remained on Earth, the spirits related to the people and civilization, such as "Exus" and "Pretos-Velhos", migrated with the people.
In today's test, they are trying to get in touch with entities that assist the passage between lives.
Circles rituals are painted in indigo and silver, pearls, jasmim, lily and ginseng are in offering points.
The research leader is Dr. Ana Elisa, a Brazilian Winter Mage, is is directly in front of the circle, in Brazil it's easy for you to identify more experienced Winter Mages, they all look like supermodels, since Life's arcane mastery allows you to correct physical problems and this become a bit a cultural thing in the country.
In the summoning circle a Star Eshu appears.
"Laroiê Eshu, respected messenger, we called you here today to ask for your help in a dilemma."
"Ask."
He answer in a loud and serious voice.
"The government and the people are concerned about the souls of those who died in the void between the worlds, because there are people who do not believe in the spiritual, no matter what the evidence is presented, there are people who will not believe, it is part of human stubbornness, of these some may die out of the world and their souls may be lost among the stars."
"The government does not want to abandon any of its citizens, even beyond the material life."
"It's noble, I'll talk to my superiors, but it's a good cause."
"Thank you and we look forward for this, noble Eshu."
The days go by, and they again conjure up the Star Eshu.
"Laroiê Eshu."
"The answer was positive, Iansã's children will take every Brazilian citizen who is not promised to a god and is lost among the stars for their spiritual destiny."
The group then presents the results of this part of the research to university council and the government presents a new task to be considered.
"Verify if the demons keep their souls sacrificed to them, when using the forbidden path of magic, if so, to call spirits to rescue the unjustly imprisoned Brazilian citizens, with priority for women and children."
The dean says to Ana, in the note of the report presented to her.
And so the research goes on.
Grateful for the attention.
Things about the Spirits.
At the University of Sao Paulo, on the colony planet of Brazil, a group of Winter Mages is conducting a research focusing on the less famous aspect of Winter's arcane ruling, the Spirit.
Life is further explored for its immediate practical applications as healing, but since Brazil is a land of many religions of spirit contact, spiritual research is a basic research.
Merlin proved the existence of the soul and the terrible path that Nazi Germany used, proved that it is possible to contact extradimensional beings, in the case demons, from these facts this particular group is seeking to contact and catalog the beneficial nature spirits of this new world.
Because spirits most directly related to natural elements of the Earth, such as elementals of the great rivers, remained on Earth, the spirits related to the people and civilization, such as "Exus" and "Pretos-Velhos", migrated with the people.
In today's test, they are trying to get in touch with entities that assist the passage between lives.
Circles rituals are painted in indigo and silver, pearls, jasmim, lily and ginseng are in offering points.
The research leader is Dr. Ana Elisa, a Brazilian Winter Mage, is is directly in front of the circle, in Brazil it's easy for you to identify more experienced Winter Mages, they all look like supermodels, since Life's arcane mastery allows you to correct physical problems and this become a bit a cultural thing in the country.
In the summoning circle a Star Eshu appears.
"Laroiê Eshu, respected messenger, we called you here today to ask for your help in a dilemma."
"Ask."
He answer in a loud and serious voice.
"The government and the people are concerned about the souls of those who died in the void between the worlds, because there are people who do not believe in the spiritual, no matter what the evidence is presented, there are people who will not believe, it is part of human stubbornness, of these some may die out of the world and their souls may be lost among the stars."
"The government does not want to abandon any of its citizens, even beyond the material life."
"It's noble, I'll talk to my superiors, but it's a good cause."
"Thank you and we look forward for this, noble Eshu."
The days go by, and they again conjure up the Star Eshu.
"Laroiê Eshu."
"The answer was positive, Iansã's children will take every Brazilian citizen who is not promised to a god and is lost among the stars for their spiritual destiny."
The group then presents the results of this part of the research to university council and the government presents a new task to be considered.
"Verify if the demons keep their souls sacrificed to them, when using the forbidden path of magic, if so, to call spirits to rescue the unjustly imprisoned Brazilian citizens, with priority for women and children."
The dean says to Ana, in the note of the report presented to her.
And so the research goes on.
Robert Kline
Cherico
Connoisseur.
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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."
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
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- May 12, 2017
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Robert Kline
Cherico
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- May 12, 2017
- Messages
- 16,064
- Likes received
- 2,130,968
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.
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.
Robert Kline
Cherico
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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.
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.
Robert Kline
Cherico
Connoisseur.
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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.
"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.
ninguem
Well worn.
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"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".
First Style - Vancian Wizard?
Second - Ranger?
Third - Rogue or Assassin?
Four - Warlock?
Five - Gunslinger?
Six - Monk?
Seventh - Bard?
Of these if I were to choose a street magic style, the first one seems more versatile or maybe it's my researcher side talking.
First Style - Vancian Wizard?
Second - Ranger?
Third - Rogue or Assassin?
Four - Warlock?
Five - Gunslinger?
Six - Monk?
Seventh - Bard?
Of these if I were to choose a street magic style, the first one seems more versatile or maybe it's my researcher side talking.
Cherico
Connoisseur.
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- May 12, 2017
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"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".
First Style - Vancian Wizard?
Second - Ranger?
Third - Rogue or Assassin?
Four - Warlock?
Five - Gunslinger?
Six - Monk?
Seventh - Bard?
Of these if I were to choose a street magic style, the first one seems more versatile or maybe it's my researcher side talking.
in dnd terms
1st- wizard
2nd- fighter
3rd- rogue
4th- warlock
5th- ranger
6th- monk
7th- bard
it isn't an exact approximation they do different things in many ways but they use those archtypes for power.
Robert Kline
Cherico
Connoisseur.
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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."
"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
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Going to do an in universe commericial what do you guys want?
(X) Beer commercial
(X) Movie commercial
(X) Video game commercial
(X) Fast food comerical
(X) Magic item commercial
(X) Political add
The winner gets written!
(X) Beer commercial
(X) Movie commercial
(X) Video game commercial
(X) Fast food comerical
(X) Magic item commercial
(X) Political add
The winner gets written!
ninguem
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Good morning to the members of this topic, I made another little omake that I wanted to share with you.
Thanks for the attention.
First day in the work.
Detective Lucia Wania, autumn mage, are alongside Captain Francisco Nascimento on her first day after the academy to be introduced to her new role in one of the great cities of Brazil's colony planet.
They pass other busy detectives and assistants until they reach a cop who looks like a caricature, fit but almost thin with sunglasses, a 70's American film cop mustache, an orange social shirt and khaki pants, fiddling with an electronic pad.
"This is Caio Lucca, Lucia Wania, our most decorated detective, he's going to be your partner these first months, anything you need my office door is open."
Caio Lucca gets up from his desk greets them both and pulls a chair for Lucia. .
"So Lucia, may I call you Lucia? Tell me your specialties, so we know our synergies, I read the report, but you better talk about yourself. "
"Yes Caio, you can call me Lucia, well, I'm an Autumn Mage, with doctoral level training in Psychology, Criminology, Law, Logistics, Informatics and Forensic Science, plus basic police academy training."
She aswer with a smile at the end.
"Really? How?"
"Do you know the method of using accelerated study capsules that was used in some schools of magic like Compass during the war? Well the technology has been perfected and works very well for "mundane" knowledge as well, so the new generation of cops is coming out with a good theoretical foundation."
"Impressive, with your academic background, you must be on a fast track for captain."
"Your resume is impressive, too. Caio, street mage, 1st path, several awards, excellent case numbers resolved, you should be a colonel, but you're still a detective that I don't understand."
"Higher positions have more responsibilities and more headache, here I am in the balance of a flexible schedule, without the oppression of the rotine of the daily patrol officers and without the headcahe that bosses have, but now tell me, who did you piss off at the academy to be sent to be my partner? I'm almost retiring, sitting at my desk most of the time and having the easiest cases."
"One of the academy's teachers talked to Captain Nascimento to introduce me directly to you."
"It's Nadia, isn't it? "
"Yes, do you know her? "
"I was her partner a few years ago."
"Well then, let's get started."
He give the pad to her and says,
"Do you know the Grimorium site?"
"No, what's in it?"
"He's more famous for book mages like me, but in short it's a public spell-sharing site, book mages can cast the spells they have in their grimoire, so they have a great magic range to choose from when they have a quantity of limited spells to use per day to cast. "
"A group of wizards came up with the idea of writing some of their spells on the net and with translation spells, it spread around the world with book wizards writing spells and posting to diversify the grimoires and then everything was organized into a website, the contributions keep it and it's well organized, but while it may seem like something that's only useful for book mages like me, it's interesting for Seasonal Mages like you, for example of what can be done and their visualizations, a memorized magic is faster to be released than something you have to improvise, like as medicine helps winter mages and semiotics autumn mages in better exploiting their potential arcana."
"So go into the divinations section and read some of those that are listed as the most popular, then let's go think about how to apply your magic in a beach town where organized crime magically tries to disguise your biggest operations."
A little time goes by and they are in a police car driving around town because he wants her to feel the rhythm of the city."
He keeps talking to her while driving.
"Most major crimes are not easy to divine, but every kind of seasonal mage has the means to improvise with that, for example, get your gun."
She does as requested.
"Cast an augury to see if she'll be fired today."
She does it with a Fate spell and gets a probable yes.
"Okay, that's not what I expected for a first day, but go on, try to figure out the region where this is likely to happen."
She uses a Time spell and gets a region near one of the ports, they warn the central and go there, getting there, they are warned by a errand boy who that is someone suspicious loading something and Lucia immediately asks when the boys leave.
"Can't that be a trap?"
"The boy told the truth, I checked with magic, so whoever is carrying this load is not well regarded by the locals, enough to be greater than the fear they can generate, so that's a problem."
They wear their magic protective vests, put on their guns and wands, he has his book in attack position, warn the central and will investigate, he casts a stealth spell on both of them and due to lack of information they decide to advance because it is not known if you can expect reinforcement without let the suspects finish what they are doing.
When they discreetly enter a hangar through a side door, they come across a terrible sight.
Lucia will scream, but feels a hand in her mouth and she is dragged by her partner to behind boxes where they keep the stealth.
"Lucia, focus on me, this is a minor demon, so the people around must be cultists, let's keep the cover and attack him in priority, we're in advantage and we can't let this kind of shit go to town, okay? Bless us with lucky magic and shoot the demon."
She nods and they get ready.
He begins by casting a ventriloquism spell to make it appear that they are surrounded by forces outside the hangar and then a small visual illusion for sacred symbols to emerge to weaken the demon in the slightest.
The cultists immediately try to escape through the back door and the two begin to attack the demon.
Caio leaves the cover and begins to move, to keep the demon's attention in himself, transmuting the dust on the floor into salt quickly, shooting, speeding up himself with magic, the demon strikes back with illusions and Lucia focuses her firepower on the demon, relying on her luck to hit unlikely shots, is an intense battle of a few minutes but the demon is banished.
Coming out of the rush of battle, Lucia goes with Caio to look at some covered equipment in the hangar and see some complete clones in capsules.
"What? But why?"
"Order of Nine Angles, it's the method of them, fanatics and crazy, they believe that God will personally intervene and save humanity if humanity is collectively endangered by something external."
"Then they evoke minor demons of very specific heresies as cited in Nathan's heresy for example and sacrifice them, so that when they return to their own hell they are in a desire for revenge against humanity and organize reinforcements, they will repeat this until they reach the theoretical critical point of an invasion."
"And then God comes and saves us?"
"That's what they believe."
"But why the cloning equipment and the clones?"
"Easy sacrifices, the clones don't have to be perfect, or have any knowledge, they have souls, have no identity, are not searched for when they disappear, good victims to this dark business."
"The cultists escaped, so it was all in vain?"
"No, we stopped the demon, prevented the order to continue to use this expensive and difficult to replace equipment, the hangar is full of items that experts can use to reach the cultists through magic, and our winter wizards will summon the spirits of the "Ganga People", to rescue any lost souls from this situation."
"Congratulations Lucia, it was a good first day, much busier than mine."
Lucia can only smile a little emotionally exhausted from what happened.
Thanks for the attention.
First day in the work.
Detective Lucia Wania, autumn mage, are alongside Captain Francisco Nascimento on her first day after the academy to be introduced to her new role in one of the great cities of Brazil's colony planet.
They pass other busy detectives and assistants until they reach a cop who looks like a caricature, fit but almost thin with sunglasses, a 70's American film cop mustache, an orange social shirt and khaki pants, fiddling with an electronic pad.
"This is Caio Lucca, Lucia Wania, our most decorated detective, he's going to be your partner these first months, anything you need my office door is open."
Caio Lucca gets up from his desk greets them both and pulls a chair for Lucia. .
"So Lucia, may I call you Lucia? Tell me your specialties, so we know our synergies, I read the report, but you better talk about yourself. "
"Yes Caio, you can call me Lucia, well, I'm an Autumn Mage, with doctoral level training in Psychology, Criminology, Law, Logistics, Informatics and Forensic Science, plus basic police academy training."
She aswer with a smile at the end.
"Really? How?"
"Do you know the method of using accelerated study capsules that was used in some schools of magic like Compass during the war? Well the technology has been perfected and works very well for "mundane" knowledge as well, so the new generation of cops is coming out with a good theoretical foundation."
"Impressive, with your academic background, you must be on a fast track for captain."
"Your resume is impressive, too. Caio, street mage, 1st path, several awards, excellent case numbers resolved, you should be a colonel, but you're still a detective that I don't understand."
"Higher positions have more responsibilities and more headache, here I am in the balance of a flexible schedule, without the oppression of the rotine of the daily patrol officers and without the headcahe that bosses have, but now tell me, who did you piss off at the academy to be sent to be my partner? I'm almost retiring, sitting at my desk most of the time and having the easiest cases."
"One of the academy's teachers talked to Captain Nascimento to introduce me directly to you."
"It's Nadia, isn't it? "
"Yes, do you know her? "
"I was her partner a few years ago."
"Well then, let's get started."
He give the pad to her and says,
"Do you know the Grimorium site?"
"No, what's in it?"
"He's more famous for book mages like me, but in short it's a public spell-sharing site, book mages can cast the spells they have in their grimoire, so they have a great magic range to choose from when they have a quantity of limited spells to use per day to cast. "
"A group of wizards came up with the idea of writing some of their spells on the net and with translation spells, it spread around the world with book wizards writing spells and posting to diversify the grimoires and then everything was organized into a website, the contributions keep it and it's well organized, but while it may seem like something that's only useful for book mages like me, it's interesting for Seasonal Mages like you, for example of what can be done and their visualizations, a memorized magic is faster to be released than something you have to improvise, like as medicine helps winter mages and semiotics autumn mages in better exploiting their potential arcana."
"So go into the divinations section and read some of those that are listed as the most popular, then let's go think about how to apply your magic in a beach town where organized crime magically tries to disguise your biggest operations."
A little time goes by and they are in a police car driving around town because he wants her to feel the rhythm of the city."
He keeps talking to her while driving.
"Most major crimes are not easy to divine, but every kind of seasonal mage has the means to improvise with that, for example, get your gun."
She does as requested.
"Cast an augury to see if she'll be fired today."
She does it with a Fate spell and gets a probable yes.
"Okay, that's not what I expected for a first day, but go on, try to figure out the region where this is likely to happen."
She uses a Time spell and gets a region near one of the ports, they warn the central and go there, getting there, they are warned by a errand boy who that is someone suspicious loading something and Lucia immediately asks when the boys leave.
"Can't that be a trap?"
"The boy told the truth, I checked with magic, so whoever is carrying this load is not well regarded by the locals, enough to be greater than the fear they can generate, so that's a problem."
They wear their magic protective vests, put on their guns and wands, he has his book in attack position, warn the central and will investigate, he casts a stealth spell on both of them and due to lack of information they decide to advance because it is not known if you can expect reinforcement without let the suspects finish what they are doing.
When they discreetly enter a hangar through a side door, they come across a terrible sight.
"Lucia, focus on me, this is a minor demon, so the people around must be cultists, let's keep the cover and attack him in priority, we're in advantage and we can't let this kind of shit go to town, okay? Bless us with lucky magic and shoot the demon."
She nods and they get ready.
He begins by casting a ventriloquism spell to make it appear that they are surrounded by forces outside the hangar and then a small visual illusion for sacred symbols to emerge to weaken the demon in the slightest.
The cultists immediately try to escape through the back door and the two begin to attack the demon.
Caio leaves the cover and begins to move, to keep the demon's attention in himself, transmuting the dust on the floor into salt quickly, shooting, speeding up himself with magic, the demon strikes back with illusions and Lucia focuses her firepower on the demon, relying on her luck to hit unlikely shots, is an intense battle of a few minutes but the demon is banished.
Coming out of the rush of battle, Lucia goes with Caio to look at some covered equipment in the hangar and see some complete clones in capsules.
"What? But why?"
"Order of Nine Angles, it's the method of them, fanatics and crazy, they believe that God will personally intervene and save humanity if humanity is collectively endangered by something external."
"Then they evoke minor demons of very specific heresies as cited in Nathan's heresy for example and sacrifice them, so that when they return to their own hell they are in a desire for revenge against humanity and organize reinforcements, they will repeat this until they reach the theoretical critical point of an invasion."
"And then God comes and saves us?"
"That's what they believe."
"But why the cloning equipment and the clones?"
"Easy sacrifices, the clones don't have to be perfect, or have any knowledge, they have souls, have no identity, are not searched for when they disappear, good victims to this dark business."
"The cultists escaped, so it was all in vain?"
"No, we stopped the demon, prevented the order to continue to use this expensive and difficult to replace equipment, the hangar is full of items that experts can use to reach the cultists through magic, and our winter wizards will summon the spirits of the "Ganga People", to rescue any lost souls from this situation."
"Congratulations Lucia, it was a good first day, much busier than mine."
Lucia can only smile a little emotionally exhausted from what happened.
Riku
Cherico
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- May 12, 2017
- Messages
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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."
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."
Riku
Cherico
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- May 12, 2017
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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."
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."
Commericial break
Cherico
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- May 12, 2017
- Messages
- 16,064
- Likes received
- 2,130,968
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.
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.
Riku Dan
Cherico
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- May 12, 2017
- Messages
- 16,064
- Likes received
- 2,130,968
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."
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."
Riku
Cherico
Connoisseur.
- Joined
- May 12, 2017
- Messages
- 16,064
- Likes received
- 2,130,968
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.
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.
Riku
Cherico
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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.
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.
ninguem
Well worn.
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- Aug 5, 2014
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The macho view was very typical of Japan in the IRL, but even with loyalty to friends, the option of studying in Compass is very good, if only to come back later, one of the seasonal mages in the "family" would help a lot.
Cherico, what do spring wizards specialize in? Like those of winter with healing, those of autumn with divinations and buildings, and summer with living artillery.
Cherico, what do spring wizards specialize in? Like those of winter with healing, those of autumn with divinations and buildings, and summer with living artillery.
Cherico
Connoisseur.
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manipulation of space and matter, they control earth.
Very good at building stuff, and teleporting stuff, but their weak in forces so they cant go around slinging artlierty with out their magic screwing them over.
Autum is good at time and fate.
Basiclaly scrying, moving really fast, aging slower, and manipulating the odds in their favor, though the bigger the odds your changing the harder it is.
a autum mage in a fight is a lot like a john woo hero, with super powers fighting them is pretty nightmarish.
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