Author's Note: This is all I have on this one so far and I'm suffering a bit of writer's block, so if you like it and have an idea for where it should go next, I'm open to suggestions and will definitely credit you if I use your idea!
DISCLAIMER: This story takes place in a mostly fictional version of a very real city, Clearwater, Florida. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, fictional or non, is purely coincidental. Fellow Clearwater residents and tourists, I made up a lot of landmarks for this story, so please do not go looking for them.
Truly, the sun-soaked city below looked like paradise. As he gazed through the window and onto the scenery below, Aaron couldn't stop his mind from wandering. It had been so long since he had been here... Would anybody remember him? Would anybody remember the real reason he left? Mostly all of the people who knew had a good reason not to tell, but he was hoping all the same that the past could remain in the past. Slowly but surely, the plane began its descent. He reached into his pocket and looked again at the note that gave him a reason to return.
"My dearest Aaron,
How long has it been since I last laid eyes upon your joyful face? It seems sorrow has pervaded its icy grip into your very soul. I do, however, have a reason for you to smile. Terra and I have brought a little girl named Rachel into this world. It simply would not do for her to never know her Godfather, the man whose name is on my lips nearly every hour. The events between us in days gone by will never be forgotten and I am eternally grateful to you. As a new father and a concerned friend, I implore you to use the $500.00 I have included with this note to come visit us in sunny Clearwater. And if there's any left over after the ticket, you may want to consider a cell phone. Isolation is no way to live, my friend. I want to show you life as it should be.
With abundant love,
Dylan."
To this day, Aaron still had no idea why his friend wrote and spoke as if he were living in the nineteenth century. Overly worded or not, however, the letter made it clear that his presence was requested in his old hometown. He reached in his pocket and retrieved the smartphone he had bought on his friend's advice. A fairly low-end model, its capabilities still amazed him after spending so long away from electronics as a form of self-isolation. The big, vibrant screen and intuitive touch interface were a joy for him, even just scrolling about his desktop. "Have to admit," he muttered to himself, "I really did miss this shit." After making sure the volume was lowered, he immersed himself into a high-octane action game he had downloaded before boarding the plane. The underworld atmosphere and frantic shooting action made his heart ache, yet he played on, entranced, until the plane landed and he was advised to power down his beloved device. Aaron shot the flight attendant a placating look as he reached for the power button on the phone. The girl's face showed clearly how enamored she was by his icy blue eyes. Hesitantly, she nodded and walked away from his seat. Aaron may have spent the last five years as a hermit, but he never gave up his appearance, working out daily and keeping himself groomed to maintain his good looks and overwhelming strength. The strength, he prayed, he would never have to use again.
Upon walking into the terminal, Aaron immediately switched his phone back to signal mode, waiting for the phone call to guide him to his destination. The call happened to come as he was sitting down to a beer at the airport bar. He let the sweet froth soak into his throat before answering. "What's up?" The voice on the other end was unmistakably eccentric, excited and impractically debonair. "Aaron, dear friend, news of your safe arrival brings me untold joy. I assume you've located the terminal bar?" "Yes. Who am I supposed to meet here?" "Just wait, your guide will arrive soon. I simply cannot wait to see you, my bosom buddy. There is much you've missed." Aaron rolled his eyes. "Cool, Dylan. I'll see ya in a little bit." He ended the phone call and took another sip of his double stout. "Good, cheap beer is hard to find, isn't it, sir?" The bartender approached and relieved Aaron of his empty bottle. Aaron sighed heavily. "Tell me about it."
He gave a surprised grunt as a pair of female arms flung themselves around his neck. "Oh my God, it's uncle Aaron!" Even after five years, she still sounded the same. "Good morning, Haruka." Aaron smiled and turned to give her a hug. "How's life, cutie?" She took his hand and, after successfully yanking him away from the bar, began to lead him. "All my friends from Japan are jealous of me. I talk to them online from time to time." "Even the ones in Kyoto? I hear it's beautiful out there." She gave a nod. "Yep! They don't have beaches like this out there!" Her zest for life was simply unmatched, making her a perfect match for the Florida lifestyle. "Not to mention, now that I'm all grown up, I look amazing in a two-piece. You wouldn't believe how many notches are on my bedpost!" Aaron couldn't help but giggle. "TMI, Haruka. T. M. I." . His brain couldn't fathom the cute, zippy thirteen year old he knew from five years ago turning into a seaside sex goddess, yet here she was.
Their reverie was put to a hasty end when a bullet whizzed by, inches from Haruka's face. In an instant, her entire demeanor transformed. She reached into her dress and managed to produce a small submachine gun. In a blazingly fast motion, it was trained upon the other bullet's origin and a single shot rang out. A man screamed and a gun dropped to the floor. It was about this time that the general populace figured out it may be a good time to scream and run away. "No." Aaron shook his head, "Haruka, tell me this has nothing to do with you!" His heart sank with the heavy knowledge of the answer he knew he didn't want to hear. Wordlessly, he scooped up the dead man's pistol and sidled it. "Uncle Aaron." He placed a hand on her shoulder, awaiting her next words. "We need to disappear. Now." He gave a nod and the two broke into a run. More gunmen seemed to come out of the woodworks, more than enough to keep the police busy as the pair made their escape.
When they reached the parking lot, Haruka's small red sports car was well-covered. Seven men stood nearby with their guns trained toward the two. Aaron leveled his weapon and Haruka hers. Blasts rang out and a cloud of smoke gathered as stone walls were hit. As expected, Haruka had nailed five of the men and Aaron the other two. One, having dropped his gun, lunged unseen through the thick smog and landed a punch on Aaron. Haruka recoiled and turned on her heel to throw the man a ferocious spinning kick, sending him sprawling. "Haruka, what the fuck is going on?" She sighed and unlocked the vehicle. "A lot. I'll tell you later." Two car doors slammed and the engine started. "And don't cuss around me, Uncle Aaron. I don't like it." He grinned and rolled his eyes. The beach-crawling, sharpshooting sex kitten that didn't like foul language definitely seemed like the kind of character that only his life would have.
"Aaron..." A sad look besmirched Dylan's jovial face. "I apologize for what happened. I had no idea old troubles were brewing yet again." Haruka put her hand up gingerly. "I'm sorry I didn't mention anything." Dylan squeezed Haruka forcefully. "Dear girl, what would Terra and I have done should anything have happened to you?" "I'm just glad I'm still a dead-on shot or we would have been toast! Uncle Aaron couldn't shoot his way out of a paper bag!" Aaron's face reddened. "I shouldn't have to shoot at all, Haruka." The door burst open with a sudden thud and in the same instant, four guns were trained on the doorway. Twenty uninvited guests poured in. Each man hefted a pistol in one hand and a combat knife in the other. One of them stepped forward. His gray hair fell in tresses, doing little to hide the scars and pock marks across his gaunt face. "Listen, you guys." His voice was sadistically jolly, almost casually so. "I don't want to shoot you... OK, I do, but I can only do that if you resist. So, by all means, don't hand Haruka over." Aaron turned to Haruka. "Little girl, if we make it through this alive, you have some explaining to do." She nodded. Without another word, the battle began. An overturned wooden table made an effective blinder and not much else as bullets flew this way and that with a sick, fleshy pop each time somebody ate brass. When the smoke cleared, nineteen men were down and Terra had taken a grazing blow to the left arm, holding her pistol one-handed in her right. Haruka's uzi was empty. "Well, well..." The man with the gray hair stood tall. "Looks like I still know how to take a hit." Four empty guns trained on him and clicked as he removed his bulky vest, now heavy with lead. He reached up and removed one bullet from his forehead. It had met its fate at the hands of metal plating. "Now then, you guys' guns are empty, my men are dead, my gun is empty... what a mess we've made." Dylan rushed forward and clumsily swung his great grandfather's sword, removed from the mantle during the confusion. The man with the gray hair made no attempt to move as the blade met his neck and clanged harmlessly off, drawing a minimal amount of blood. A followup blow headed for his face, but was dodged with laughable ease. "Jesus, is that how this family handles a blade?" He smiled and clicked his teeth. "Haruka's as good as mine." Aaron brazenly stepped forward. "Not if I have anything to say about it." He squared his fists as the old man settled into an aggressive Muay Thai stance. "Now shit gets interesting!", he bellowed as he leaned forward to feed Aaron his knee. With surprising agility, Aaron sidestepped the knee and leapt into the air for a dropkick. The devastating kick sent the old man reeling. As Aaron flipped his hip up and gathered himself, the man came at him with an upturned palm aimed to his chest. Aaron moved backward and raised his elbow, leaving the old man to bash his own face into it. The old man snickered and caught the limb, throwing Aaron savagely into the wall and knocking down some pictures in the process. Aaron clambered to his feet amid shattered glass. "You think that's all it takes to get me?" He cracked his neck pointedly. "You obviously weren't around five years ago." He ducked and swerved toward the man's rib cage, then slid right and landed a savage blow on his face. One punch echoed. Metal dented inward and blood sprayed like a fountain from the fresh head wound. Wordlessly, almost soundlessly, the old man fell to his knees. His eyes met Aaron's, silently pleading for his life. Aaron's only reply was an inhumanly vicious spinning kick to the head The man's spine popped, severed in that one blow, and he crumpled like a ragdoll. Aaron turned his bloodsoaked visage to Haruka. "I swore...", he panted, "Five years ago... I'd never stop protecting you... Did I not?" Haruka smiled through her tears at him. "I'll explain everything after we get you cleaned up."
Sudden applause echoed forth, accompanied by slow, deliberate footsteps. "So..." A feminine man with a small, toned body showing through an open shirt and coat made his entrance. "Good to see, Aaron, that you still have no problem taking a life." Aaron turned toward the newest visitor and spat. “Good to see you’re still a heartless, manipulative piece of shit, Victor.” The small man reached into the large trenchcoat he wore and produced a long, intricately decorated sword with a thin blade. In response, Aaron picked up the sword that had clanged to the ground less than a minute earlier. “Show me you’re still you, Aaron.” Without any further ado, the man and his smallsword flew forward with blinding speed. Aaron barely managed to dodge to the left fast enough to only receive a slice across the ribs, turning on his heel and slicing upward. With insulting ease, the smaller man leapt backward and out of harm’s way. “Come on, Aaron!” He swiped in a large arc and steel met steel, showering the area with sparks. “Where is the LOVE?!” Victor’s eyes took on a subtle change, but a disturbing one all the same. Aaron’s blade was the first to break the lock, his overwhelming strength sending Victor reeling with a small wound in his chest. In the split second before the next attack, Aaron looked in Victor’s pale eyes and pondered where the man had been the last five years, what had changed him into this inhuman monster. When Victor renewed his attack, Aaron dodged his clumsy lunge and tripped him. He sprawled on the ground only for a second before beginning to jump up, but that was plenty of time for Aaron to push his foot down onto Victor’s back and in one fluid motion, swipe his right arm clean off. The limb hit the floor and rolled until the sword, held in an icy grasp, clattered to the floor and stopped it. A psychotic glee lit up Victor's bloody face. With overwhelming power, he began to rise. Aaron was tossed aside and hit the wall with a thud, falling unconscious . Victor set his sights on Haruka. "Come, dear girl." His vicious grin turned warm and loving as he approached a frozen, stunned Haruka, trembling in horror, and kissed her with all the gentleness of a sincere lover. "There is much ground to cover." He swept her up in his arm and turned to leave. A wall of flame materialized before him with an airy "whud". "Surely you do not believe that we will simply allow you to take her." Dylan and Terra stepped forward. Victor stooped to take the sword from his lifeless arm. "So be it. You all DIE!" When released in favor of the blade, Haruka scrambled away. Aaron jumped to his feet and picked up the sword next to him. "Dylan, Terra." He walked within inches of Victor. "Get Haruka to safety. This battle is mine." With a reluctant nod, Dylan flipped a switch as they left, igniting the other half of the room and surrounding the combatants with a searing blaze. "How dare you?!" Victor's roar burst through the sound of the hungry fire. Aaron wordlessly lunged forward and heaved out a five slash chain. Victor dodged the onslaught and countered each blow, punishing any subtle misstep. Bleeding heavily, Aaron somehow caught him off guard with a clumsy and powerful kick. Before Victor could collect himself, Aaron had dropped his weapon and descended upon him with animalistic fury. Victor's blade hit the floor and he grappled with all his might. Try as he may, Aaron's power was too much for him and he ended up sprawled on a pile of embers, howling in pain. Aaron showered him with blows until he was barely conscious. Unable to take anymore, Victor wriggled free and leapt backward to escape. Cursing Aaron and God on the same breath, Victor stood in the flames as he calmed himself and issued his cold ultimatum. "Next time you see me, you will die and Haruka will be mine." Flesh charred and clothes alight, he stepped out into the night. It was clear in that moment that Victor was no longer completely human.
Aaron sat upon the charred remains of the living room couch deep in thought as Dylan poured glasses of wine. "I think I should go to him." Aaron stared blankly skyward as he uttered this, earning a look of curiosity from Dylan. "Who exactly, dear boy?" Aaron downed the wine he was presented in one gulp and clambered to his aching feet. "Who else? David." Dylan, panicked, placed his glass gently on the counter nearby and sunk into a barstool. The mere mention of David's name was enough to throw his heart into overdrive, but Dylan knew Aaron was right. "I believe..." He cleared his throat with some effort. Aaron cut him off. "I know the risks. We have no choice, to protect Haruka." Dylan giggled, a stress reaction to be sure. "Dear boy, I only wished to inform you we keep our bananas in the fridge. Every man has his price and we... Well, we claim to know David's." Aaron shook his head slowly. “Dylan…” He sighed. “This whole ordeal has you a bit unhinged. Leave everything to me.” Dylan gave him a pleading look. “No! Take Haruka and go. Don’t give me that damn look.” Dylan got up slowly. “If I do not receive a phone call from you the moment you have a chance, I…” A single tear rolled down Dylan’s cheek. “I will kick your ass!” Aaron hugged his shaken friend. “It’ll be alright, I promise. For now…” He let go and turned away. “We each have our roles and our orders. Let’s get a move on.” As Aaron left, Rachel awoke from a sleep like death and loosed a baleful cry into the night. Terra thought she wanted her parents. Dylan thought she wanted to be fed. Haruka thought she was scared. Aaron thought she just might regret having been born.
CHAPTER 2
Aaron’s icy blue eyes glimmered in the sunlight as he strode toward the mighty building looming ahead. Guards that nobody was supposed to know were armed eyed him suspiciously, but in the end did not challenge him as he made his way casually through the side door and into the Super Power Building. “Not getting paid enough to face down a genuine madman.”, one guard muttered. The other nodded silently and took a long pull of brandy from his necktie flask. The brandy warmed Ivan to his bones and back and he smiled. Allen shot him a knowing smirk. “That’s the bottom of the tie, isn’t it?” Ivan nodded blissfully, his wide mouth having been stuck in a drunken half-grin for the last hour and a half or so. Allen’s hazel eyes darted surreptitiously about. Upon seeing the coast was clear, he snatched Ivan by the ear, threw him to the ground and kicked him hard in the back of the head. The drunk was out cold. Allen took that chance to run down the street and disappear into the bus station crowd as a few men in white shirts poured out of the building to give futile chase. Once Allen, actually Chris, made it to his base of operations, he planned to release what he had learned to the world.
He slipped in the bus station restroom briefly to shed his disguise and came out unrecognizable. Long blond locks framed his thin, angular face and eyes that carried a blue-hot astral fire. His extra weight was also gone, his open red shirt showing the world a lithe, catlike frame with slightly defined musculature. His long, bony toes, ending in unnatural-looking claws, hung over the edge of his ill-fitting sandals. Upon donning shades and a fedora, he looked like just another European tourist. His thigh-high shorts were just long enough to hide the snub-nosed six shooter he never left home without, along with a small box of extra ammo for those days when nothing went as planned. The many favorable comments about the mysterious bulge in his shorts always went largely ignored. but never contested. Hysterical laughter erupted from the restroom. Chris took this as his cue to leave. Some poor sap was about to be hauled unwittingly into the Super Power Building, just another sacrifice to the long war raging just under the city’s bright and cheery surface. He began the long trek down Drew Street to his inconspicuous home on Saturn Avenue a few miles away, his hand never straying far from his gun. Thoughts of five years ago raced through his mind as he walked. What was that man doing back in town? Why was he going into the Super Power Building? Chris decided he needed to make some phone calls upon arriving at home.
A waifish, barely-dressed girl with a crimson smile and piercing green eyes flung open the door and pulled Chris into a passionate liplock that bordered on vicious, her shock of pink hair falling all over him as they walked through the doorway together. The door was kicked shut by a slender leg ending in a bright rainbow sock. Carrie’s glasses were flung carelessly onto a nearby table in the heat of the moment. She couldn’t have been more relieved to see her man back from his dangerous mission in one piece. Without a word from either of them, since none were necessary, clothing began to fly this way and that around the room until all they were wearing was each other. After about an hour in this passion-charged state, the young couple crumpled together into a sweating, panting heap on an anonymous beige easy chair. Between lightheaded breaths, they discussed what Chris had learned and devised a plan to get the information onto the streets through a few contacts. When Chris mentioned Aaron’s name, Carrie froze, speechless. He nodded to confirm her fears. “If he’s back, something is happening, or is about to.” Chris reluctantly untangled himself from his pink-haired goddess and ambled to his computer desk to begin his task. It was at this point he finally saw fit to remove the gun from his thigh, but left the telescoping sword on his hip where it was. In his line of work, you never knew when a weapon could be useful. Carrie waltzed about in the nude singing along to the radio in between bites of pocky, flipping around a double-sided pistol sword she had made by hand like it was a cheerleading baton.
After a few minutes of typing, an encrypted email containing a few documents made its way into a secure channel and on down the tubes. A few clicks later, a video chat window eased open to reveal a haggard and scarred young face topped with a mop of red hair. Todd shook his head and smiled. “I see why you love her so much.” Chris couldn’t help but smirk. “Look but don’t touch, old buddy.” Todd nodded. “Anyway, beautiful naked women with weapons aside, what is your wish?” Chris met Todd’s eyes on the screen. “I witnessed Aaron Emmerich’s return. I also need you to get those documents I just sent you public. People need to know what’s going on.” With a final characteristic nod, Todd closed the window and began his work. Chris turned and watched Carrie dance until he could no longer stand the sexual tension, then tackled her, disarmed her and began his own work.
Haruka eased her bedroom window open with a sigh. “I’m sorry, everybody.” The note she left behind explained clearly enough why she had to go, but she knew Dylan, Terra and Aaron would all be beyond worried. She lifted off her nightgown in one lithe motion to reveal a skintight black sneaking suit with weapons strapped to it ranging from handguns to throwing daggers and grenades. She pulled a black mask tight over her face to complete the ensemble. She dropped from the window, landing gracefully on the wet ground below. With minimal effort, she lifted the manhole cover in the adjacent street, closed it behind her and descended. Most only knew of the sewer walkway that her feet hit a few meters below. Only a few people knew about the projector screen showing a fake wall near the intersection of Drew and North Missouri. After a short walk, Haruka pushed the curtain aside, silenced a few surprised thugs with equally silent tranquilizer darts and began the mile-long trek to the underbelly of Clearwater. She had no idea Aaron was mere meters behind her in the shadows, gun and sword on his belt. She had fully intended to end the raging conflict over her on her own, but Aaron had an oath to fulfill and after reading her letter, he knew damn well he would have to live up to that oath.
Haruka’s twin shortswords sheared flesh and bone with vicious, professional arcs as she surprised or just outfought everybody that noticed her and didn’t get a dart in the neck. She didn’t enjoy killing, but there was no other way to survive at times, when it came to certain groups. Bullets whizzed by her every now and again, when somebody had time to unholster their gun or happened to have it out, but none came close to touching her. Aaron couldn’t help but admire the terrible precision of her attacks as his worries lessened with each stroke of her blades. He watched closely as Haruka approached a raised dais with a crude throne upon it. The man on the throne gestured sharply and two muscular, overconfident men signed their own death warrants by taking out their weapons. Their guns left their hands almost instantly with two quick pops of Haruka’s uzi. She grinned at the adrenaline rush as they charged her. She may not like killing, but she loved combat. Every fatherly cell in Aaron’s body demanded he intervene, but he decided to leave that for when and if Haruka needed the help. He simply looked on as she ducked under one sword swipe, parried another, then twirled around a particularly slow thrust to issue an arm break. The man howled in pain and was quickly silenced when Haruka used him as a shield for an incoming slash. She threw the corpse at her attacker with surprising strength, then ran both bodies through in one swift motion. “Ewww…” She flicked her blades about absently, trying her damnedest to clean them without touching the blood. The man on the throne realized he had nowhere to run and stood. He drew an ornate katana from the back of his throne and tore off bulky robes to reveal handmade samurai armor. “Oh, now this is just getting ridiculous.” Aaron scoffed from his hiding place.
They both heard and ignored the intruder, locking eyes and beginning to circle one another. “You won’t get anywhere by killing me, you know, Haruka-san.” The man spat. Haruka didn’t bother to reply. Blades lashed out almost faster than the eye could follow and steel met steel. The two did not move any closer, merely testing each other’s reflexes and defenses for the time being. With a sharp, sudden motion, Haruka lunged to make the first real move. Predictably, the man raised his blade to counterattack. Haruka whipped around him blindingly fast, drawing her uzi, and opened up his armor in less than a second with a string of bullets. As he turned, slashed and missed by nearly a foot, the last in the string hit the neck of the armor and revealed bruised flesh. Without hesitation, Haruka leapt into the air to avoid a low slice and after a hypnotizing swan dive, landed arms-first, swords out on the man’s neck. With a twist that spun Haruka’s entire body, the man’s head, bearing a shocked expression, flew into the air. Aaron found himself strangely fascinated. Blood fountained and Haruka scrambled to her feet then jumped back quickly to avoid it. She removed her mask slowly to reveal a strained, worried look. “You shouldn’t have come here, uncle Aaron.” He stepped out of the shadows slowly and walked over to face her. “Why is that?” Haruka grabbed his hand with surprising force and began walking toward a nearby stairwell. “I’ll explain later. For now, we need to get out of here.” As if on cue, the sewers came alive with the sound of running feet and shouts. Aaron and Haruka wasted no time making their exit.
The pair wound up coming out of the sewers at Fort Harrison and Pinellas, a long walk home, to be sure. Aaron pointed to the hospital sign. “Looks like they could use a trip this way.” Haruka grumbled and shook her head. “Don’t joke right now, Uncle Aaron. This is a serious matter, in case you can’t tell by the fact that I just got done killing a large number of people.” The pair ducked into the bushes alongside the roadway to clean their clothes the best they could. Haruka threw on a small dress from her backpack. Before she had a chance to say anything, she could hear Dylan’s voice on Aaron’s cell phone. A short conversation and twenty minutes of waiting later, they were in Dylan’s Corvette, headed to the new rental home in Pinellas Park, a bit more removed from the chaotic state that Clearwater was in.
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