Chapter 1: Demise

The year is 2019, inside New York during the darkness of night. If you listened closely throughout the late-night traffic and loud partying the sound of fighting could be heard in a shaggy alley covered in trash and smog. 

Two men could be seen both wearing black suits however one of them was covered in blood. A tall black-haired man with red highlights. His body was covered in gashes. The tall man towered over a short blonde man before throwing a powerful punch that grazed the other man's ear.

The punch narrowly missed as the blonde-haired man stumbled to the right bumping into a brick wall. The blonde man leaned on the wall staring at the giant horrified before he spoke in a shaky voice. 

" Joseph, w-we can talk this out- "

Before he could finish his sentence Joseph threw a swift knee into the man's stomach making him crouch over in pain before slamming an axe kick in his back propelling the man face-first into the cold dirty ground. 

Joseph glared down at the man with his eyes full of rage before he started to repeatedly stomp on the man's head. The sound of bangs rhythmically echoed out as Joseph curbed stomped onto the man making blood cover the bottom of his black dress shoes. 

Joseph smacked his lips before roaring out in a fit of rage. 

" Talk it out? Rick, you killed my damn family. The hell, you mean talk it out? I'm going to fucking slaughter you. "

Joseph's lips trembled with rage before he reached down grabbing onto Rick's blonde hair, effortlessly lifting him back onto his feet before palming the side of his face, and shifting his weight, violently slamming Rick's head onto the brick wall. 

The sound of a crack could be heard followed by a series of thuds. Joseph keeps on slamming Rick's head into the wall causing blood to splatter across the surface of the wall. After several minutes, the only sound that can be heard is Joseph breathing heavily before he lets go of Rick's head letting him collapse onto the ground back first. Rick's head is gruesomely contorted to the left with his spine sticking out the side of his neck.

Joseph glared down at the lifeless body with veins still sticking out of his forehead. Joseph started to walk towards the body until a sound he was too familiar with echoed out, bouncing off the alleyway walls.

*CLICK*

That click wasn't any ordinary instead it was the sound of a gun being pulled back. Joseph tiredly looked back seeing a white-haired elderly woman pointing a revolver at him. Joseph stared at the elder annoyed before a sad look appeared on his face, he knew this was his demise. 

A cruel chuckle could be heard from the elderly woman. Before she talked in a creepy calm voice. 

" Don't give me that look, Joseph. We told you the consequences of becoming an assassin. "

Joseph stared helplessly at the woman watching her finger slowly press down onto the trigger of the revolver until a thunderous gunshot rang out. The bullet twirled through the air until it slammed into Joseph's chest, destroying his heart.

Joseph's eyes began hazy as he stumbled back, blood pouring out of his mouth while he reached out to the side trying to grab onto a rustic garbage can, Joseph's legs buckled while his fingers grazed the lid of the garbage can, missing the can before he roughly fell back first onto the ground. 

Joseph lay back first on the ground with blood leaking out the side of his mouth. He slowly gurgled his blood while hundreds of thoughts ran through his head...

This is it? What a shitty life. Dying on my 21st birthday after getting my family killed. My life has been nothing but a big joke. My vision is only getting blurrier and whiter. I stare forward while my vision gets whiter and whiter. 

I don't know why I see white. I'm surely going to hell for all the murders I've committed. I stare at the pure whiteness until suddenly I hear a loud gasp. Out of pure instinct, I looked over towards the noise only to see a light blue-haired woman lying on her back a few feet away from me.

Well, she looks kind of like a woman except several cracks can be seen running through her body, and the outfit she is wearing looks like it from a sci-fi movie. But a better question is, how the hell was I able to move my head so freely? I glance down at my chest just to see that the bullet hole in my suit is gone. 

Is this the waiting room for hell or something? I look over at the woman before speaking.

" Hey, do you know what this place is? "

She looks over at me. Her eyes are emerald green. She looks at me confused before speaking in a proper elegant voice. 

" I apologize but I have no clue, sir. And if you don't mind me asking, where are your robotics? You look far too ancient. " 

I look ancient? Is she from the future or is she from a different planet? But if she's from a different planet surely she would speak in a foreign dialect but it wouldn't hurt to ask. 

" I don't use robotics but what planet are you from? "

She looks at me with a perplexed expression before responding to my simple question. 

" I am from planet Veula. Are you not? "

Just like I thought, we aren't from the same planet. The way she speaks is far too proper to be from a futuristic Earth. I shake my head at her before speaking. 

" No, I am from a planet named Earth. Did you get transported here after dying? "

She just nodded at me. So we both came here after dying. So, the theory of this being a waiting room for hell is still in play. I started to rub my chin before she suddenly spoke. 

" It appears that there is a microscopic object in this space that translates our voices. But I'm curious, what is your name? My name is Aziue. "

There's an object in this room that translates our voices? How the hell did she figure that out? I quickly speak answering her question. 

" My name is Joseph... "

I stand up from the pure white floor before continuing to speak.

" What was your profession on planet Veula? During my time on Earth, I was a feared assassin. "

The kind look from Azuie changes instead she looks at me with a serious expression. I start to see static electricity leak out of the cracks in her body. I stare at the cracks in her body as she speaks in a serious tone.

" Likewise. Why do you think we're here? "

She is an assassin as well? Then if we are both assassins that can only mean one thing. The air in the white room begins to crackle. I stare at her before I take a deep breath and she quickly hops up onto her feet. We lock eyes while both of our fingers begin to twitch. If there are two assassins in a room, there's a solid chance whatever entity that put us in this room wants us to kill each other. 

" Truthfully, this is either the waiting room for hell or whoever put us in this room wants us to kill each other. So, what are you trying to do?"

I tightly ball up my fists as the static electricity leaking off her body increases. Sweat begins to pour down my face. The chances of me killing a robotic woman with my bare hands are low but they aren't zero. If she's robotic she most likely has a core. But where would that core be? 

As we glared at each other a loud thud could be heard making both of our heads snap towards the noise. We look down at the floor and see a VHS player on the floor a couple of feet away from each other. There's a small monitor barely 10 ten inches wide and tall on top of the VHS player. 

A VHS player? I glance at Aziue and she has a bewildered expression. She most likely doesn't have VHS players in her world. But where is the VHS tape? I start to feel around my body before I feel a square object in my suit's pocket. I reach into my suit before pulling out a VHS tape. 

I feel Aziue's gaze staring at my body. As I flip the VHS tape around observing it. There isn't anything written on the surface of the VHS tape. Hopefully, I'll learn everything I need to know after listening to this tape. I start to walk towards the VHS player on the floor before I crouch down next to it. 

While I slide the VHS tape into the player, I hear Aziue's voice speaking to me. 

" What is this object? " 

The VHS player clicks after I fully insert the tape into the player. I glance up at Azie before speaking to her. 

" Something from my world. Think of it as something that transmits messages. We should wait for this message to fully play. Before trying to kill each other. Obviously, this isn't the waiting room for hell as I thought. "

She nods at me before the sound of static enters my ears and I look at the small monitor on the VHS player. I stare at a bunch of static before the monitor goes completely black. Is it not working? I glare at the black screen before a deep odd voice speaks. 

" Welcome to the Assassin Straight. "...