21Kill the New Beginning
I didn't exactly remember how or when it happened, but somehow a clan of strange ninjas found the block of ice a Woman named Esdeath and I were in, and brought it back to their temple. There we thawed out - Esdeath didn't make it, I, however, was surprised to find myself still alive. My mind replayed the last image of what happened before I was frozen; I was dressed in elaborate dragon-like armor. My entire body was covered in blood, and it looked like I could barely stand. A dark-haired girl with red eyes(Akame)approaching. "I'm sorry." I said to the girl, forcing a pained smile onto my face. "Looks like I couldn't keep my promise..." The girl rushed forward, and she caught me in her arms before he fell over. She embraced me tightly, as I seemingly died in her arms.
"You promised me! You said you'd survive!" The red-eyed girl screamed, her voice laden with sadness and grief. Tears began to pour from her eyes, and she began to shake slightly as she held me close.
After the memory ended, I focused my attention on why I was in the temple. At first, I thought it was to try and dissect me, even furthered by the fact that they seemingly attacked me. I managed to easily bring them down, and snuck my way to the door - or so it seemed. Suddenly, a gruff voice spoke behind me, "Do not be alarmed...", it really startled me, "you're not in any danger." I turned around to see a well-built, bearded man wearing an outfit similar to the others, only more pronounced, and he had a strange, Blue Scar on one eye.
"Who are you? And...where am I?", I asked the man.
"Lin Quei Temple, I am the Grand Master."
"Lin Quei? I've never heard of that name before!"
Another voice came from where the door was, "You'll know, soon enough kid!" This man had no beard, black, fingerless gloves, bandages wrapped around his forearms, a blue shirt covered by a grey vest, and seemed to have a tattoo on his chest.
I wondered to myself, "What have I gotten myself into this time?"
I was escorted to what appeared to be a Military camp. "Um...what am I doing here?" I asked the man. "Sub-Zero told me that you were able to take down half the men in his temple." he replied.
"That doesn't answer my question!"
"You're being recruited!"
"What?!"
"Not as part of the infantry!"
"Look, sir...I'm sorry, but I don't even know your name, or where I am, so...I really need more information...facts...for crying out loud, DETAILS, DETAILS!"
"Here we are!"
"What?!"
"This is your new team!"
He Guided me to a tent with four people, slightly older than me. "Now, why don't you introduce yourself to everyone?"
"Uh...I'm...Tatsumi." I said in a nervous manner.
"Really...he's joining us?", the guy wielding a bow with a small dragon skull on the top was speaking. "No offense, but you'll be dead in no more than a day."
"Um, was that encouragement or a threat?" I questioned with a deadpanned expression.
He replied, "Either way!"
I looked at the book he was reading, "Synonyms for dummies". I immediately thought to myself, "OH MY GOD, THESE GUYS ARE A BUNCH OF CIRCUS FREAKS!" A memory then popped into my head; The memory of the death of my friend, Sheele, "I'm glad that in the end...I could be of some use..."Sheele thought, as she closed her eyes and prepared for the ball of fire to consume her. The purple-haired couldn't help but smile, as she remembered her precious memories with Night Raid over the past few years. "Night Raid is truly where I belonged...It was my true home...I had fun...Sorry Tatsumi...but I won't get to hold you close anymore...Goodbye everyone...I loved you all!"
"You know looks aren't everything Jin." Said the African girl, which snapped me out of my thoughts.
"Ah-huh, yeah, alright.", the blonde girl replied in a sarcastic manner, "Just don't get the wrong idea."
I could've thought of alot of wrong ideas to be honest.
"Alright, that's enough." another blonde walked in, this time a woman.
"Whether you like it or not, Tatsumi is still a new member of this team! So I suggest you Suck it up, or get out of my office!" her voice was really stern, "Cage, introduce him to the smart alecks!"
"Sure thing, Honey!" He replied in an annoyed manner.
"Uhhhh!" I was lost for a moment.
"My ex-wife." He whispered to my ear, "Anyways, the girl wearing the metal gloves is Jacqui, the one with the bow is Kung Jin, Takaeda is the guy wearing a yellow sash, and the last one is my daughter Cassie."
"'Sup?", Takeda was friendlier in approaching me than the others.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?"
"Special Forces."
"Alright, what the hell is going here? Nobody's really answering my questions!" I was starting to panic. I had no idea how long I was frozen, what these people were doing, and what happened to the world and the people I knew.
"The Lin Quei Grandmaster said you have lots of potential. Yet, he's not so easily impressed by just anyone." The old man said. "I don't even know your name!"
"Cage...Johnny Cage."
"Well, Mr. Cage, can you at least tell me WHAT YEAR IT IS?"
"You're in the 21st century." The response came from Cassie this time, "Apparently, you were frozen for a thousand years, along with a slightly older woman, who didn't survive."
"Describe her, please." I said as politely as I could.
"Eh, long, blue hair, looked like she was in her early 20s."
"And she had this weird tattoo in her cleavage! Out of all the places..."
Jacqui sounded surprised. I wasn't. "Esdeath." I said, "Now I know how I got frozen."
"Was she a cryomancer?"
"Sorta, although she got her ice powers from an Imperial Arms instead of being born with them."
"Anywho..." Mr. Cage interrupted...well you don't wanna read through 2 hours worth of dialog