1 The night of the Bloody Phoenix

November 13, 2095- Port of Crystalia, Metro Phoenix In a dark room inside one of the port's abandoned storage buildings, fourteen armed men wearing suits stood next to a girl tied up to a chair. The girl, with a frightened expression on her face, had short, shiny, silver hair, and eyes as green as jade. The men in suits, however, had solemn yet petrified expressions as if they had done something terrifying. They stood patiently while waiting for someone. *Vrooom vroom!* Suddenly, the sound of a car engine was heard inside the room. The noise from the engine sounded like a very expensive muscle car. One of the armed men looked outside the window to find out who it was. "So... Who is it?" the person leading the armed men asked. "It's the boss," he replied. "Finally." "Everyone, go outside and greet the boss. Tell him we got the girl." He smiled as he stared at the girl. The girl looked away, she could not bear to see the man's spine grinning leer. As everyone was heading outside to greet the boss, the man inside the expensive-looking car slowly stepped out, revealing his colorful tattoos and expensive jewelry. "Good evening, Oyaji!" everyone yelled as they took a bow. "Did you get what I asked for?" the Oyabun asked. "She's inside. It took some time to take her." "Well, that is to be expected for such a valuable person." "What is it about that girl that you are so interested in?" "Hah! Now that I have that girl, there's no way I can fail at anything!" the Oyabun exclaimed with enthusiasm. "Uhm... I see. But what's the relation of this girl to our business? Why are we relying on her judgment?" the leader asked with uncertainty. "Hah, you'll see. Did she say something already?" "No sir, she refused to say anything at all." the leader replied. "Take me to her." As the Oyabun stepped inside the dark building, his footsteps echoed across its silent walls. The girl grew more anxious as she heard the footsteps draw closer to where she's at. Then she heard a voice. "So you must be her. The clairvoyant girl." Her eyes grew wide in disbelief that someone has found out of her hidden capability. As tears started to fall from her eyes, the man slowly revealed himself to her. The further he stepped inside the room, the more of his appearance was revealed. The moonlight passing through the window illuminated the bright colors of his tattoos and revealed the gold pistol in his right hand. He was smirking as he approached the girl. You could tell by the expression on his face that he is up to no good. He then crouched in front of her, staring at her teary eyes as if he was enjoying the girl's misery. He cocked his pistol and then pointed it to her head. "I assume that by now, you must have figured out what I want from you," he whispered to the girl. Upon hearing this, the girl started to shiver out of fear. Tears rolled down her cheek. She kept looking towards the window as if she was waiting for something to happen. "Hey now, let's not make it harder for everybody." The Oyabun said with a calm tone. "I just need to know the near future, and since you can see it, you just have to tell me. Sounds easy enough?" Despite the girl being afraid for her life, she refused to speak. She didn't want such a person to take advantage of her capability to see a glimpse of the future. "Come on. It shouldn't be that hard, right? All you have to do is to guarantee the safety of our shipments this week. It's worth a ton of money and I can't risk getting caught by the Phoenician government." The girl remained silent. With her eyes soaked in tears, she continued to glance at the window. The Oyabun was slowly losing his patience. Still, he tried to reason out with her. "If you don't want to end up like your parents, then maybe you should start talking." Still, the girl did not say a word. "I see. so you want to do it the hard way? Well then, we shall have a little fun." The Oyabun said with malicious intent. "Hand me my tools" he ordered one of his men. "Here you go sir," said the man as he handed a black briefcase to the Oyabun. He then opened the briefcase revealing all the tools he uses to torture his victims. "Ahh. There it is" said the Oyabun as he pulled out one of his tools. He took the one that seemed to be a surgical knife, and then gently brushed its blade across the girl's cheek. The girl flinched as she felt the cold metal blade come in contact with her skin, though the pressure exerted wasn't enough to pierce through her cheeks. "Such beautiful skin. I wonder how it would look like once I'm done playing with it." The girl shut her eyes thinking all hope is lost. The Oyabun smiled as he grabbed the girl's throat, staring at her petrified expression. The girl slowly fainted out of fear. She tried to glance at the window one last time before completely passing out. As the Oyabun was about to slash the girl's cheeks... "Crash!" Out of nowhere, someone crashed into the window. Dust filled the air and shattered glass flew across the room. It's a handsome young man wearing a suit and he's holding two pistols, one on each hand. He landed on his knees, looked up, and gave a terrifying death stare to the Oyabun. "What the..." The Oyabun said as his eyes widened for he was surprised. The boy slowly stood up. "Good evening, 'Mr. Nakamura.' It's been a while" the boy said to the Oyabun. "Yo...Yoshima!" The Oyabun stepped back, as he recognized the boy. His name, Ichiro Yoshima of the Yoshima clan. A renowned hitman and son of the most notorious Yakuza leader, Kaede Yoshima. "How... How dare you speak to me like that?!" Nakamura said with a dreadful voice. "Chk chk" All fourteen men cocked their guns and aimed them at Ichiro. "You have a lot of nerve coming here all by yourself young man!" the Oyabun said to Ichiro with a smirk. "I have this whole place surrounded by my men. they are on every corner of this building. Don't think that you'll be able to get out of here alive you brat!." Nakamura blurted with a demeaning tone. "Oh, you mean your men guarding outside? I already took care of them so...you won't be hearing from them any time soon." "What the... Why you little-" "chk chk" Ichiro cocked his gun as he pointed it to the Oyabun. "Choose your words carefully, Mr. Nakamura, for it might be your last" Ichiro warned the Oyabun. Ichiro's words provoked the Oyabun. "SHOOT HIM!" the Oyabun commanded his men with eagerness. As the men were about to shoot Ichiro... "Bang! Bang! Bang!" ... One by one... The fourteen armed men... slowly fell to the ground. Ichiro managed to shoot all fourteen men in a matter of seconds. The Oyabun was stunned by what he just witnessed. As smoke was still coming out of the barrel of his gun, Ichiro gave the Oyabun a menacing stare. The Oyabun felt a chill running down his spine as his sweat started to drip from his forehead. "What... what do you want from me?" the Oyabun asked with a trembling voice. "Pops wants you dead. You're causing too much trouble with your drug smuggling business. He wants to put an end to it" Ichiro answered. The Oyabun's eyes sprung and didn't know what to do. Ichiro took a step forward towards the Oyabun. "Just stay still so I can easily take your life." "Wa... wait for a second!" The Oyabun's heart pounded as if it was gonna jump out of his chest. Ichiro aimed his pistol at the Oyabun. He pulled the trigger and... "click-click"... "Oh... Looks like I'm out of bullets" The Oyabun took the opportunity and reached for his gold rifle. "DIE!" The Oyabun shouted as he pulled the trigger. "Bang! Bang!" "Hah! Take that you--" "What the!?" The Oyabun was confused. Ichiro suddenly vanished from his sight. "You made a huge mistake, old man." From out of nowhere, Ichiro appeared behind the Oyabun. The Oyabun couldn't react quickly enough. His whole body froze out of fear. "Farewell Mr. Nakamura" Ichiro then lifted his left hand, stretched out his fingertips, and revealed his claw-like fingernails. He then swung his left hand aiming towards the Oyabun's heart. "Wait! No, don't kill me--" Ichiro's left hand pierced through the Oyabun's chest, tearing his flesh and impaling his heart. Blood splattered everywhere. "Uhh...ahh..." The Oyabun was gasping for air as blood dripped down his body. Ichiro then pulled out his hand as the Oyabun took his final breath and finally passed out. Ichiro stood up as he wiped the bloodstains from his shirt. As he was doing so, he heard numerous footsteps coming towards him. Then, a voice called out. "Young master, are you there". " Yes, It's me. come inside," Ichiro answered. "Creek" the door slowly opened. It was Ichiro's men. There were five of them. "Good evening, young master." everyone greeted with enthusiasm. "Wait, where's your leader, Yamada senpai?" "Right here, young master," Yamada answered as he entered the room. He was wearing a Mon-Tsuki, a black kimono with the Yoshima crest. Yamada, a tall, muscular guy, is a wakagashira to the Yoshima clan. He acts as a lieutenant, making sure that the Oyabun's orders are carried out. "Did you secure the area?" Ichiro asked Yamada. "Yes. We already took care of Nakamura's men outside." Yamada replied. "We also checked the parameters. Looks like none of them escaped." Another man added. "I see. Good job then." Ichiro stood up and handed his guns to one of his men. "Wow, it looks like you made a huge mess again young master." One of the men said with a teasing tone. "Wait... Did you use "Kaede Style" to kill their Oyabun?" Yamada asked Ichiro. "Well...I ran out of bullets so I had no choice, Yamada senpai" Ichiro replied with an irritated tone. "Hmmph. Show off." Yamada joked while smirking. "Anyway, we should go before the cops get here." "But what about this mess you've made? Who's gonna clean all this?" Yamada asked as he was staring at the corpses lying down across the room. "Just leave it to the cops. We should leave now before they get here." "Okay then, we should--" . . . "Uhm... Ichiro, how long have you been in this room before we arrived?" Yamada asked. "A few minutes. Why?" "I see. So you mean to say that you haven't noticed that girl over there, tied up to a chair right next to the shattered window up until now?" "What girl--" "What?! There was a girl here this whole time?!" Ichiro yelled out of surprise. He quickly rushed towards the girl to check on her. She was unconscious. "Quick, help me untie her!" he hurriedly ordered his men. As soon as they've untied her, Ichiro carried the girl in his arms like a prince in a fairytale and took a knee. Ichiro grabbed the girl's hand to check for a pulse. "Is she... dead?" one of the men asked. "No. I think she just passed out due to exhaustion." Ichiro gently brushed aside the girl's shiny, silver hair, thus revealing her pale and doll-like face. As Ichiro was gazing at her, the girl started to gain back her consciousness. She lightly moved and slowly opened her eyes. Everything in her vision was still somewhat of a blur. She looked around as she tried to comprehend her surroundings. Once her vision started to settle, the first thing she noticed was Ichiro. "Hey miss, are you alright?" Ichiro asked the girl. The girl, with her eyes barely open, smiled at Ichiro as tears started dripping from her eyes. "It's... It's you. You came." The girl told Ichiro with a weak, soft voice. It was as if the girl knew he was coming all along. Ichiro got a little confused about what the girl said. "Uhm... Sorry, what--" The girl suddenly embraced him. Ichiro blushed as the girl caught him off guard. "I knew you'd come." The girl quietly whispered to Ichiro before she once again passed out right in Ichiro's arm. Everyone became speechless. Nobody understood the thing that just transpired within the room. Yamada scratched his head. "Uhm... what just happened?" The men looked at each other confusingly. "So sir...do you know this girl? Because it seems like she knows you." One of the men asked with a baffled look on his face. "I have never seen this girl in my life". Ichiro asserted. Ichiro's men looked at each other again, more confused. " But... she said--" "Let's not worry about that for a second. For now, we should take this girl to a safe place." Ichiro Implied. "Wait, we're taking the girl with us?" With a petrifying look, Ichiro just glared at him, not say another word. "Alright, I get it. Geez, you don't have to get angry with me." Yamada signaled his men to ready the vehicles. "Hey, Ichiro. Are you coming or what?" Ichiro then stood up while still holding the girl in his arms and carried her outside the building like a prince rescuing a damsel in distress. Three black sedans were parked outside. He then carefully placed the girl down in one of the car's bbackseats "Yamada senpai." "Ugh. What do you want now?" Yamada replied with an annoyed tone. "See if you can find more information about this girl and why she was taken hostage by Nakamura." "Fine. I'll see what I can do." "Are we all set?" Ichiro asked the person in the driver's seat. "Yes sir. We were just waiting for you." "Let's go then." The car which had both Ichiro and the girl onboard then drove off the port as they were followed by two black vehicles as convoys. Ichiro and his men left as if nothing had happened. All of a sudden, silence covered Port of Crystalia. Nothing can be heard inside the building except for the echoing sound of blood dripping to the floor. Darkness caused by the night sky covered its walls, therefore hiding the bloodstains and corpses that were left within it; thus, marking the beginning of a long, bloody night. A night that will be remembered for years to come. a night that will cause fear across the land. The night that will change Metro Phoenix forever. The night that will soon be known... as "The Bloodshed of Phoenix".

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