Beast - Prologue
OMG, I cannot believe I'm finally posting this. I think I'm never going to be satisfied (I just keep editing it), but I have to make a start at some point, don't I. Anyway, here goes my longest multi-chapter Takasugi fanfiction yet (should be around than 28k words at the end). It took me 18 months to write (and yet, I couldn't come up with a better title, haha) and it's already finished, I just have to edit it and put it online (and also still translate the second half). This is my very own theory of what might have happened during the war and afterwards.
Prologue
Series: Gintama
Characters: (Jouishishi) Takasugi, Gintoki
Rating: T/M (violence)
Lenght: 1,669 words
Summary: During a sudden Amanto attack, Takasugi finds himself in a fight against a figure from the past...
Warnings: You all know what's going to happen, right? But for the sake of it: violence!
Notes: Shiroyasha Koutan! Although I did expand and slightly re-write the scene on the roof and also put it in context. Enjoy =)
The battle surrounded him. Screams and the metallic clatter of swords were resounding endlessly in his ears and he could smell blood and the heavy stench of death everywhere. Another blow of a falling axe he had to avoid...another sword, slashing down in his direction that he had to block, another enemy who wanted nothing but his death. Over and over again.
In battles like this he only lived from one moment to the next; each new one was a gift and at the same time a challenge to survive and strive on for as long as possible. On the battlefield, nothing else counted, not even the reason, the purpose why they might have started this fight. Everything was swept away by a constant surge of fighting and killing and the pure desire not to die.
Suddenly, he found himself in the eye of the strom, an unexpectedly quiet moment in all the madness. He disarmed another Amanto charging at him and killed him with a quick strike of his sword. Around him, the battle was still raging with all its might, but it seemed like he would have some peace for a second.
“Takasugi!”
He turned around and saw Gintoki standing not far away, calling out for him. His white clothes and hair were covered in blood. Not all of it belonged to somebody else.
“Oi, looks like we’re not doing too badly this time...”
Takasugi nodded and pointed to the front lines stretching out to their right now, moving away from the large building behind them which had served as their latest head quarters.
Maybe this would be one of the few battles they’d actually win. Although their forces were much smaller than the overwhelming ones of the Amanto, they had still managed to resist the attack and even push the lines of their attackers back. He tried not to think of how many members of his Kiheitai would have to pay too high a price for this victory. No, he mustn’t think about it. He mustn’t.
“If we just keep standing around, they might break through our lines in the end.” he said and nodded to their fighting comrades. “Let’s-”
Without a warning, his words were suddenly interrupted.
A loud noise swept over them and the two parties engaged in struggle. It was followed by a shock wave only a few seconds later which pulled most fighters off their feet. However, it was neither the sound nor the blinding light that filled them with dread - it was the source of the explosion. It was located directly behind them.
Their head quarters.
Flames were leaping out of the roof of the building and quickly advanced through the all-too-dry wood with frightening speed. Within minutes, the entire building would be engulfed in flames.
“Damn! It was a distraction…” He was interrupted by Gintoki who was whispering, his eyes wide with terror: “They’re all inside…Takasugi, the wounded are all still inside! Zura, Yasuo…”
They haven’t had time to escape when the news of the Amanto’s newest attack had reached them. Therefore, all the ones too injured to fight had to be left behind in a room of the large building hoping that they would either win the fight or at least give them enough time to get away.
Takasugi and Gintoki both turned around at the same time and started running - towards the burning rooftops and courtyards covered in smoke. There, the fighting had already begun. By now, nobody was even thinking of winning anymore; survival was their only goal. They found people with swords in their hands who technically shouldn’t even have enough strength left to lift a weapon, let alone use it.
Takasugi saw Katsura trying to make a desperate stand against a few pig-headed Amanto, holding his own shoulder, blood seeping through his fingers from a re-opened wound. Behind him, two of their comrades where supporting a third one who seemed to be too weak to walk on his own. Takasugi killed two of their attackers with a mighty blow from his sword but he couldn’t prevent a third one getting by Katsura. The three fugitives were dead before he could even call out their names or pass them a warning.
There was no time to think, no time to mourn - Takasugi managed to clear a path to his friend, giving them both a short moment to catch their breath.
“How many are left in the building?”
Katsura only shook his head, his eyes clouded with shock, looking at the chaos around them.
“I don’t know…Yasuo, Kenta…all of them were still on the upper levels when the explosion happened. I haven’t seen them…”
Takasugi cursed. He couldn’t see Gintoki or the others but he trusted Katsura’s abilities enough to save his own life. At least he seemed strong enough to do so for the moment.
He darted forward towards the next entrance with a shout on his lips. The inside was nothing less but a complete inferno with flames and heat everywhere, searing his lungs each time he took a breath. But he continued running, leaped up the next set of stairs, still hoping he might be able to save at least one more life. Upwards, always surrounded by blazing flames and hot smoke which welled through the corridors and made him cough.
The terrible sound of steel cutting through flesh and hitting bone showed him that again, he was too late.
A large, broad-shouldered shape appeared in the doorway. A black cloak covered the entire body whilst the face was mostly hidden beneath the shadow of a massive hat so that Takasugi could only catch a quick glimpse of green skin, surrounded by long white hair.
He felt his heartbeat stop for a split second. Memories, unwanted, suppressed but always present suddenly flashed through his mind.
“No, leave them be! NO!” The scream, the fire, the blood, all mingling together into a stream of red…the enormous creature, only half-visible…green skin and white hair… and the head with those dead eyes looking at him every time he fell asleep.
He recognised him.
Takasugi ran towards the Amanto with a scream so loud that it seemed to sweep away everything within him. His thoughts were empty, there was nothing but a simple thirst for revenge, the pure and black will to kill the creature in front of him.
However, his calculations were wrong - the battle had left him weakend and his foe was as strong as could have been expected from his body size. He paried Takasugi’s strike with ease and a strength that made him go down onto his knees. Another slash of his gigantic blade and Takasugi was sent flying throug the thin wooden wall, on to the rooftop outside. A stab of pain went through his body and his sight was blurry for a moment- and a moment was all that the Amanto needed. With a single leap he moved right in front him, the next stroke aimed right at his heart.
Takasugi had just enough mind left in him to evade it, get out of reach before it could slice him in half. But his body was slow and his movements not fast enough. The sword slashed down, a clear, bright flash against the red fire behind it - and suddenly, the left side of his face seemed to be engulfed in flames, pain roaring through him like a beast, almost making his head explode. He stumbled backwards, his hand covering his left eye but there was only blood, nothing but blood.
He was breathing heavily, trying not to loose his balance. His other hand was clenching his sword tightly. He tried to see something, anything, but the world seemed to be covered in shades. The only thing he could do was stammer a few useless, seemingly unconnected words.
“You…I…I remember you! Back then. It was back then that you…you came…back then…” It was all in vain. All in vain…so this was what the end would be like.
The Amanto just charged towards him, a mad grin on his lips and the sword ready in his hands.
However, just before he could kill Takasugi, a shadow appeared right in front of him, blocking the other’s movement with his own weapon.
It was grey, no, white…
“Gintoki!”
So he had recognised the Amanto too. The whitehaired demon was frantically slashing and stabbing with his sword, placing one hit after another. “Bastard! He’s mine! I’ll be the one to kill him!”
For some reason seeing Shiroyasha fight so desperately against somebody he had wanted to kill with his own hands gave Takasugi some of his strength back. He let the anger surge through his body, let it set his muscles and tendons on fire and subdue the pain at least for a moment.
“Goddamnit Gintoki, get back! HE’S MINE!”
“SHUT UP!”
Together they attacked their foe, were beaten back, attacked anew. It felt like he was being caught up in a frenzy, a dark river carrying him away and giving him the strength to lift his sword again and again.
Afterwards, neither he nor Gintoki could remember who it was that had delivered the final blow. The only thing they could be sure of was the dead body of the Amanto lying between them, blood slowly starting to pool on the roof tiles beneath.
“Shinsuke?” It felt like Gintoki’s words were lifting a curtain covering him the entire time. Takasugi wanted to say something, do something, but suddenly, all the strength seemed to have left his body. The pain was descending down upon him like a landslide, burying him underneath.
He moaned and tripped over, but an arm caught him before he could hit the ground. He barely noticed. Somebody said something, but the words sounded far away and somehow muffled. “Zura and the others are safe…”
Relief was followed by agony and all the colours in his field of vision turned into red. And after red, they suddenly became black and then, he became engulfed in nothingness.
Prologue
Series: Gintama
Characters: (Jouishishi) Takasugi, Gintoki
Rating: T/M (violence)
Lenght: 1,669 words
Summary: During a sudden Amanto attack, Takasugi finds himself in a fight against a figure from the past...
Warnings: You all know what's going to happen, right? But for the sake of it: violence!
Notes: Shiroyasha Koutan! Although I did expand and slightly re-write the scene on the roof and also put it in context. Enjoy =)
The battle surrounded him. Screams and the metallic clatter of swords were resounding endlessly in his ears and he could smell blood and the heavy stench of death everywhere. Another blow of a falling axe he had to avoid...another sword, slashing down in his direction that he had to block, another enemy who wanted nothing but his death. Over and over again.
In battles like this he only lived from one moment to the next; each new one was a gift and at the same time a challenge to survive and strive on for as long as possible. On the battlefield, nothing else counted, not even the reason, the purpose why they might have started this fight. Everything was swept away by a constant surge of fighting and killing and the pure desire not to die.
Suddenly, he found himself in the eye of the strom, an unexpectedly quiet moment in all the madness. He disarmed another Amanto charging at him and killed him with a quick strike of his sword. Around him, the battle was still raging with all its might, but it seemed like he would have some peace for a second.
“Takasugi!”
He turned around and saw Gintoki standing not far away, calling out for him. His white clothes and hair were covered in blood. Not all of it belonged to somebody else.
“Oi, looks like we’re not doing too badly this time...”
Takasugi nodded and pointed to the front lines stretching out to their right now, moving away from the large building behind them which had served as their latest head quarters.
Maybe this would be one of the few battles they’d actually win. Although their forces were much smaller than the overwhelming ones of the Amanto, they had still managed to resist the attack and even push the lines of their attackers back. He tried not to think of how many members of his Kiheitai would have to pay too high a price for this victory. No, he mustn’t think about it. He mustn’t.
“If we just keep standing around, they might break through our lines in the end.” he said and nodded to their fighting comrades. “Let’s-”
Without a warning, his words were suddenly interrupted.
A loud noise swept over them and the two parties engaged in struggle. It was followed by a shock wave only a few seconds later which pulled most fighters off their feet. However, it was neither the sound nor the blinding light that filled them with dread - it was the source of the explosion. It was located directly behind them.
Their head quarters.
Flames were leaping out of the roof of the building and quickly advanced through the all-too-dry wood with frightening speed. Within minutes, the entire building would be engulfed in flames.
“Damn! It was a distraction…” He was interrupted by Gintoki who was whispering, his eyes wide with terror: “They’re all inside…Takasugi, the wounded are all still inside! Zura, Yasuo…”
They haven’t had time to escape when the news of the Amanto’s newest attack had reached them. Therefore, all the ones too injured to fight had to be left behind in a room of the large building hoping that they would either win the fight or at least give them enough time to get away.
Takasugi and Gintoki both turned around at the same time and started running - towards the burning rooftops and courtyards covered in smoke. There, the fighting had already begun. By now, nobody was even thinking of winning anymore; survival was their only goal. They found people with swords in their hands who technically shouldn’t even have enough strength left to lift a weapon, let alone use it.
Takasugi saw Katsura trying to make a desperate stand against a few pig-headed Amanto, holding his own shoulder, blood seeping through his fingers from a re-opened wound. Behind him, two of their comrades where supporting a third one who seemed to be too weak to walk on his own. Takasugi killed two of their attackers with a mighty blow from his sword but he couldn’t prevent a third one getting by Katsura. The three fugitives were dead before he could even call out their names or pass them a warning.
There was no time to think, no time to mourn - Takasugi managed to clear a path to his friend, giving them both a short moment to catch their breath.
“How many are left in the building?”
Katsura only shook his head, his eyes clouded with shock, looking at the chaos around them.
“I don’t know…Yasuo, Kenta…all of them were still on the upper levels when the explosion happened. I haven’t seen them…”
Takasugi cursed. He couldn’t see Gintoki or the others but he trusted Katsura’s abilities enough to save his own life. At least he seemed strong enough to do so for the moment.
He darted forward towards the next entrance with a shout on his lips. The inside was nothing less but a complete inferno with flames and heat everywhere, searing his lungs each time he took a breath. But he continued running, leaped up the next set of stairs, still hoping he might be able to save at least one more life. Upwards, always surrounded by blazing flames and hot smoke which welled through the corridors and made him cough.
The terrible sound of steel cutting through flesh and hitting bone showed him that again, he was too late.
A large, broad-shouldered shape appeared in the doorway. A black cloak covered the entire body whilst the face was mostly hidden beneath the shadow of a massive hat so that Takasugi could only catch a quick glimpse of green skin, surrounded by long white hair.
He felt his heartbeat stop for a split second. Memories, unwanted, suppressed but always present suddenly flashed through his mind.
“No, leave them be! NO!” The scream, the fire, the blood, all mingling together into a stream of red…the enormous creature, only half-visible…green skin and white hair… and the head with those dead eyes looking at him every time he fell asleep.
He recognised him.
Takasugi ran towards the Amanto with a scream so loud that it seemed to sweep away everything within him. His thoughts were empty, there was nothing but a simple thirst for revenge, the pure and black will to kill the creature in front of him.
However, his calculations were wrong - the battle had left him weakend and his foe was as strong as could have been expected from his body size. He paried Takasugi’s strike with ease and a strength that made him go down onto his knees. Another slash of his gigantic blade and Takasugi was sent flying throug the thin wooden wall, on to the rooftop outside. A stab of pain went through his body and his sight was blurry for a moment- and a moment was all that the Amanto needed. With a single leap he moved right in front him, the next stroke aimed right at his heart.
Takasugi had just enough mind left in him to evade it, get out of reach before it could slice him in half. But his body was slow and his movements not fast enough. The sword slashed down, a clear, bright flash against the red fire behind it - and suddenly, the left side of his face seemed to be engulfed in flames, pain roaring through him like a beast, almost making his head explode. He stumbled backwards, his hand covering his left eye but there was only blood, nothing but blood.
He was breathing heavily, trying not to loose his balance. His other hand was clenching his sword tightly. He tried to see something, anything, but the world seemed to be covered in shades. The only thing he could do was stammer a few useless, seemingly unconnected words.
“You…I…I remember you! Back then. It was back then that you…you came…back then…” It was all in vain. All in vain…so this was what the end would be like.
The Amanto just charged towards him, a mad grin on his lips and the sword ready in his hands.
However, just before he could kill Takasugi, a shadow appeared right in front of him, blocking the other’s movement with his own weapon.
It was grey, no, white…
“Gintoki!”
So he had recognised the Amanto too. The whitehaired demon was frantically slashing and stabbing with his sword, placing one hit after another. “Bastard! He’s mine! I’ll be the one to kill him!”
For some reason seeing Shiroyasha fight so desperately against somebody he had wanted to kill with his own hands gave Takasugi some of his strength back. He let the anger surge through his body, let it set his muscles and tendons on fire and subdue the pain at least for a moment.
“Goddamnit Gintoki, get back! HE’S MINE!”
“SHUT UP!”
Together they attacked their foe, were beaten back, attacked anew. It felt like he was being caught up in a frenzy, a dark river carrying him away and giving him the strength to lift his sword again and again.
Afterwards, neither he nor Gintoki could remember who it was that had delivered the final blow. The only thing they could be sure of was the dead body of the Amanto lying between them, blood slowly starting to pool on the roof tiles beneath.
“Shinsuke?” It felt like Gintoki’s words were lifting a curtain covering him the entire time. Takasugi wanted to say something, do something, but suddenly, all the strength seemed to have left his body. The pain was descending down upon him like a landslide, burying him underneath.
He moaned and tripped over, but an arm caught him before he could hit the ground. He barely noticed. Somebody said something, but the words sounded far away and somehow muffled. “Zura and the others are safe…”
Relief was followed by agony and all the colours in his field of vision turned into red. And after red, they suddenly became black and then, he became engulfed in nothingness.