Remember my signature? How it said BV: LB would be out soon? Well, we've finally completed the first chapter for you guys. We're actually acting out our parts from the story in front of the video camera and writing it at the same time, so it's been taking a while. You'll notice in this story, contrary to the original Battle Vendetta series, Jason Haley is NOT the main character. No, he died in the last book of the original series. Instead, a kid named Ayumu Kirigana(that is an actual Japanese name, Ayumu. Not sure about Kirigana), a Japanese descendant of Jason Haley, is the main character. Oh, but don't think Jason's not still in this series. See, in the original series, it was said that because of the pact Jason made with the old guy, he alone held the responsibility of holding the universe together, and if he died, the universe would implode, taking all life as we know it with it. Well, that pact forgot to mention that this applied to ANY LIVING MEMBER OF THE HALEY BLOODLINE. So, even though Jason is technically dead, because Ayumu Kirigana is part of the Haley bloodline, he now holds the responsibility of holding the universe together. And how does he find this out? Jason tells him, of course. That's the sneak preview, now let's get to the actual story. +~~~+ BATTLE VENDETTA: LEGENDS REBORN Story by: Jason Haley Written by: Group effort from all of Team Ocefir Edited by: Bryce Emmet Prologue: The Bird and the Fruit of Eden "No!" Dusti screamed in a fit of rage. "He can't die! Somebody get a damn medic over here!" Jason's eyes flickered open. He could see people standing over him, screaming frantic orders to each other. Parora dropped into his line of vision. "You're gonna' be okay, Jase. We're not going to let you die." Parora Marks. He was always so hopeful for the best. I wonder why he never considered that there's no hope... Besides... It was already far too late to save me, Parora... "We're losing him!" "Get the defibrillator!" "Back off!" "Clear!" A jolt of energy sent Jason's body airborne for half a second, and then he flopped to the ground, as limp as a rag doll. "Damn it!" "Do it again!" "Clear!" Another jolt. Still, Jason's heart remained unbeating. He could feel his mind slipping into the void with each passing second. "Sir, there's nothing more we can do-" "Do it again! I will not lose him!" "But-" "Do it! Now!" It was dark. Very dark. But there seemed to be a form of tranquility he had not known in his life... In the void, he could see his loved ones who were lost. His mother, his father, his two younger siblings, now grown. Jason wondered if age mattered in the other world. And why was it that he could see them? Was he... he was back in his living room, in the outskirts of Moscow? Was this a dream? No, it couldn't be... "Nikolai, welcome back," his father said. His voice echoed in the endless abyss, even though the living room closed them off from the outside. "It's truly been a while, Nikolai. How have you been?" his mother asked. Jason could see their wounds still. His mother's face was still bruised and bloodied. His father still had the hole in his stomach where the clutch punctured his esophagus. His younger siblings wore bandages over their heads to hide their bloody scalps. "Why?" Jason yelled. "Why did you all leave me behind? Why did I have to live?" His father continued to smile. "It was destiny, Nikolai..." "Bullsh*t!" "Hardly," a quiet voice said. Jason turned with a start. It was, of all people, his Assassin counterpart, Jarreck. How had he gotten in here? Was it the Animus? Did he use Jason's mind? "Your destiny was written in blood the day you turned five. You were made to be the Bird. And your duty was to defend the Fruit of the Garden of Eden. The Eagle and the Apple. I'm sure you know this. It amazes me that you still ask questions after so many years of playing your part..." "But I never wanted this! I'm not an Assassin! And I'm certainly not a hero!" "Do you still not understand?" Again. Jason turned and saw that old man. The one in the hood. The one he made the pact with. He could see his white beard and his scarred, glowing, blood-red eye. His robes still flowed with the wind, though there was no wind to be had. "The moment you made that pact, Jason, you placed the responsibility of life on your own shoulders. If you haven't figured it out by now, then your mind is not working as fast as I would like. Then again," the old man touched Jason's chest, barely covered by his shredded and charred shirt, where the bomb had struck him. "You are dead. The mind tends to shut down when death takes hold, right?" "You lousy son of a-!" Jason never finished his sentence as he went to strike the old man in the face. But to his utter amazement, the old man disappeared, then reappeared right in front of him. A hand was placed on his forehead. Jason didn't know what was happening, but he felt like he was... changing... "I restore you to your health, but in a different form, so that you may continue to uphold your end of the pact. However..." The old man turned away as Jason continued to change. "Since you have died, I cannot continue using you. But there is another..." The old man turned back to Jason, his eyes lit with fear as he realized what was happening to him. And in the real world, Jason breathed his last breath, then slipped away from life's grasp. "God damn it!" Leif screamed into the sky, cursing the one responsible for this tragedy. +~~~+ Chapter 1: The Eye of the Assassin Ayumu woke up at the tone of his sister's voice, having gone from kind and gentle to stern and demanding. "What are you doing?! You will be late for school, Ayumu-san!" "Yes, yes, I know. I don't feel like going today," Ayumu replied, a bitter annoyance to his voice. "Ayumu-san, you know Mother would disapprove of this behavior..." "And I wish not to think of it!" Ayumu said, suddenly hostile. His sister's face turned red, and then she darted from the room. Ayumu looked down at his feet. Ever since Father died, Mother had begun to lose her mind, and she now resided in an asylum. It was hard for Ayumu to think about Mother when she was in such obvious pain. It was even harder for him to keep up with his own education. His life had been hard since Father had died. A terrible accident had occurred, and one where there was no way to avoid it. A deranged employee had entered the office toting an old sword and had began killing everybody within. Father had fought valiantly to retain his life, but it was in vain as the killer maneuvered around his arms and stabbed him straight through the heart three times. He was then shot down by the local authorities who had arrived a second too late. Father's funeral service was held later that week. Ayumu couldn't remember when he last cried. Was he crying now? Ayumu tapped his cheek gently. Yes, yes he was. "There's no time for any of that, kiddo." Ayumu looked up at his window in amazement. The bird that had sat there so quietly just... spoke to him? "What? Never seen a talking bird before?" Ayumu thought that this must surely be a sign. "Geez, do I need to spell it out for ya'?" The bird jumped into the room and, in a blinding flash of light, transformed. Ayumu was amazed to see a dark haired individual in military gear now standing in his room. Ayumu's eyes lit upon the man's shirt. It was torn and charred, and he was covered both in dirt and blood. "This is what happens when you step on a land mine," the man said, gesturing to himself. "But, a blast like that should kill a man!" Ayumu protested. "Call me Jesus," the stranger replied, leaning against Ayumu's desk. The youth gave him a look that plainly said he was thinking of calling bullsh*t. "Alright, alright, you got me. I'm dead! I'm as dead as your old man, except, without all the stab wounds." Ayumu glared at him. "Ah... too soon?" the soldier said, eyes shifting nervously. "Heh heh heh, sorry." "Why are you here?" Ayumu asked. "I'm glad you asked. This is going to sound a bit strange. See, now that I'm dead, because I made a pact with some old dude that somehow placed the responsibility of keeping the universe intact on my shoulders, this place should be nonexistent right now. Can you guess why it's not?" the deceased soldier asked. Ayumu shrugged. "Maybe your spirit's holding it up?" The man laughed, pounding his fist on his leg, his face turning red. Ayumu felt insulted. But he didn't know why. "No, no that's not it at all, kid. My spirit can't hold a spoon of cough syrup, let alone hold up the universe. No, the reason it's not imploding is, you ready for this?" Ayumu nodded. "You sure you're ready for this?" Ayumu nodded again, this time annoyed. "Are you absolutely sure-" "Just tell me!" Ayumu shouted. "Damn, boy, no need to be so loud about it." The soldier clapped a hand over his ear to make sure he could still hear anything. "Right then, here it is: The pact never mentioned that as long as anybody of my family's bloodline was alive, the Universe would be fine. And guess what? You and I are related!" The man wore one of the most imbecilic smiles Ayumu had ever seen. "Wait... but, I don't even know you," he said, shaking his head. "Ah, right. Well, name's Jason, Jason Haley. Your dad and my dad were brothers from different parents. Or rather, my dad was born from a Russian mother, and your dad was born from a Japanese mother. But their father was the same dirty-*ss son of a b*tch," Jason explained. Ayumu noticed his... colorful... description of his father's father. "So... then, we're cousins," Ayumu said, trying as hard as he could to make sense of it all. "And what you're trying to tell me is that somehow, now I'm responsible for the upkeep of the universe?" "Sounds about right, yeah," Jason replied. "...Do you want a different set of clothes?" Ayumu asked. "God, yes. These things hurt like a motherf*cker!" Jason stated. "I can imagine. Here, you can use these." Ayumu tossed him a Japanese school uniform. Jason looked it over. "Hm, you know, I've been out of school for about five years, now. It doesn't feel right wearing a uniform again. Oh, wait, I'm wearing one right now. Gotta' get out of these things! I'll be right back." Jason disappeared in a flash of light, and just as quickly reappeared, now cleaned up and dressed. He held his Marine uniform in one arm. "Sorry, but I'm keeping these," he said. "Now then, I didn't mention this, but with great power comes great responsibility. Yeah, and with great responsibility comes a sh*tload of guys who want to make it as hard as possible for you to do your job. You're going to find that a lot of people will suddenly turn their attention to you and try to kill you. Those guys are modern-day Illuminati," Jason explained. "Templars?" Ayumu asked, still not sure whether or not to believe his cousin. "Bingo," Jason replied. "Their main goal is to control the minds of the human race, and I don't care how well they try to sugarcoat it with the oh, we're just doing it for the good of the people story. I've heard it a million times. What they want is to force humanity to bring peace." "But, isn't peace something you have to agree to?" "Yep. But they think it's taking too damn long, so they used my memories to track down an artifact that may or may not help them achieve this goal. Meanwhile, I was busy becoming God, the nineteen-year-old teenager who has no clue what the hell is going on." "So, in other words, they tortured you until your mind gave up what they wanted?" "To put it lightly, yes. But, I wouldn't call is torture, so much as the Animus." "Animus?" Ayumu asked. "The Animus is a machine like... well, have you ever seen the Matrix?" Jason asked. Ayumu nodded. "Well, it's kinda like that. You get put in a simulator like in the Matrix. The catch is that it jumps ahead to the future, or goes way back to the past. In my case, I went so far back to the past that I learned our family heritage is an Assassin from the Third Crusade. He's now fully synchronized with my head. Then, there was an Assassin from sometime in Italy or whatever. Basically, up till now, our family has in some way been affiliated with a different part of this world, which is why I can talk to you in plain English, and you seem to understand what I'm saying." Ayumu had to give him points there. He definitely knew what Jason was saying. Not in context, of course, but language-wise? Yeah. "Well, I'd explain more to you, but I'd be wasting my time. We'll talk about it later. For now, we need to do some training..." "Training?" Ayumu asked. "Yep. We're going to open up the eye of the Assassin in you." Jason smiled deviously. Ayumu had a feeling he knew where this was going. +~~~+ Fun Facts: 1. The Fruit of Eden refers to the people of Earth. The Bird, on the other hand, refers to Jason and his family. Their crest has an Eagle in the middle of it. 2. Jason relates a story from way back in the first book when he was captured and "tortured" for information. You'd have to have read the first book to know what he's talking about. 3. Ayumu's not very information comprehensive. It takes him a while to get the idea. 4. the Eye of the Assassin refers to a special ability in Jason's right eye called the Eye of Control. He calls it Assassin's Eye because in the original series, when he was hired to assassinate somebody, he used the Eye of Control to make them kill themselves so that he wouldn't be found out. Handy, right? 5. I'm not sure how Jason changed clothes even though he's dead. enjoy.
Glad to hear it. This must have taken you forever to write though. I forget; am I writing chapter two, or is it Bryce?
