Insanity: Chapter One

Insanity

Chapter One

~How We All Met~

Before Day One

Ring!

A bell rang shrilly as the door to a pawn shop was pushed open. The enterer looked around the little shop, his gold eyes scanning the room, committing everything to memory. As he walked, his black coat flared behind him, the silver hilt of a gun occasionally visible. His silver and black hair fell down his shoulders to about his lower back, and his face barely showed any emotion as he looked at the merchandise.

A small creature, a Neuw, sat on a large desk. It was pearly in color and about six inches tall when it sat on its haunches. A blue and white lace bow was tied around its neck and tail, and a small gold bell was fastened to the latter. It looked up at the stranger and blinked. The Neuw twitched his tail, ringing the bell, then continued recording profits in a large book.

            A door on the left wall swung open and a man walked in, glancing at the Neuw, then at the stranger. He smiled widely and snickered almost hysterically. The newcomer wore a long grey cloak with a purple sash, held in place by a skull and crossbones--which was fake, of course. The man’s hair was a silvery grey, and its length was much longer than that of the stranger’s. A long scar traveled over the ridge of his nose and snaked under his right ear, another two visible on his neck and little finger. A hat kept his hair in place, a long piece of purple cloth draping down from the brim. He grinned at the stranger.

“So nice to see you in here this week,” he said. His voice had a hint of an English lilt. “Always a pleasure.”

“Someone bought the reindeer,” the stranger observed casually.

The shopkeeper turned to look where he was looking. “Yes, I suppose someone did. Amazing memory you have there. If you wanted one, I can see what I have in the back, or special order one for you.”

“No, thanks,” the man said, walking over to the man at the desk. “Undertaker, I need a job.”

The Neuw looked up at the shopkeeper, who smiled widely with a trace of mischief. “Now, young lad, as much as I would love to hire you, there isn’t much to do around here. Besides, there is no one here with the name of Undertaker.”

“Funny,” the stranger replied, “I’m never wrong.”

He stared evenly at the shopkeeper, who smiled knowingly back in response. There was a moment of silence, broken when the shopkeeper laughed hysterically.

“What is your name, boy?”

“Fang.”

“Fang? I was told I’d be expecting someone by that name in a few days,” the shopkeeper said. “It’s been a while since I’ve been called that; the Undertaker. I don’t do that anymore. Now I’m just a lowly shopkeeper.

“I’m here for a job,” Fang repeated, getting back to business.

“Right, right,” a large smile appeared on the Undertaker’s face. He pulled out a set of keys and opened one of the drawers of the desk. From it, he withdrew a folder, setting it on the table.

“The Tower says they could use an ex-assassin like yourself in their ranks. But….” he paused as he paged through the files.

The Tower was a secret organization hidden on an island known to no one except its inhabitants. The Tower’s job was to keep peace in the world. The inhabitants, some of whom were Agents, possessed special abilities that they were born with or acquired through temporary death. The Tower did what they could to prevent any threat of world unrest.

“ ‘But’ what?” Fang asked.

“But they have more than the need. However…” the Undertaker smiled.

Fang stared at the older man. “ ‘However’ what?”

“For that information, you’ll have to give me something,” he laughed.

“How much to you want?” Fang sighed, reaching for his wallet.

“Oh, no, I don’t want that,” the Undertaker said quickly, sticking his tongue out. “I want a joke.”

The Neuw shook its head. If one were listening closely enough, they might have heard a sigh.

“Hush now, Reighn, I’m listening to my joke,” shushed the Undertaker.

“You must be joking,” Fang stated incredulously.

There was a long silence.

“You know,” Undertaker muttered to Reighn, “He isn’t the funny type, is he?”

“Neope,” the Neuw nodded.

The Undertaker sighed sadly. “No fun. But I’ll tell you anyway. The Tower might not be looking for new Agents, but they are looking for a ‘Black’ team.”

“Black sounds good.”

“Black is a secret team that doesn’t officially exist, even to the Tower. They send the Black teams to take care of very sensitive missions that need to be done without being linked to the Tower. Currently they have one such team, but would like to have a few more.”

The Undertaker smiled, seeing that Fang was thinking. Fang was intelligent, he knew. Give him any problem and he could figure it out instantly. If his kind were more accepted, he would be considered to be the next Isaac Newton. His mind thought through pros and cons in an instant. He seemed to space out for only a moment when he made up his mind.

“Sure, why not,” was his answer.

“You’re willing to be a dog for the Tower?” the Undertaker said with a large smile.

“Yes,” Fang said, “All I need is a team.”

“I think I can help with that,” Undertaker said with a playful snicker. “But first I’ll need to tell the Tower they have a new dog. After that, I think I can be of great help. Excuse me while I make a call.”

With that, the Undertaker left.

***

Fang’s Past

“That’s enough,” a voice said with a hint of pleasure.

A boy in his mid-twenties stood amidst a field of fallen assassins. The red glow of the alley lights gave the scene a certain grave seriousness. The boy’s white and black hair stirred slightly as he turned to look at the speaker.

An older man smiled back at him. His black hair swayed as he walked slowly over. Others stood just behind him but didn’t move unless commanded to. Their leader had a large sword showing just behind his right shoulder, but he made no move to use it.

“What’s your name, boy?” he asked.

“Fang,” the boy answered solemnly.

“I’m impressed. You’ve managed to take on twenty trained assassins without even harming any of them. And you say you have never fought before? Why do you want to join our ranks?”

“I’m bored,” Fang said. “I did everything I was expected to but I wasn’t happy.”

“Interesting,” hummed the man. “I like you; I guess I could take you in as my apprentice. My name is Alpha. At least, that’s what you’ll be calling me.”

Alpha smiled.

“Okay,” Fang said. “When do we start?”

“Right away,” the man laughed.

Fang ran through a burning building. He coughed, squinting through the smoke and flames. It had been about ten or eleven years since he first became an agent, and had been showing increasing promise of taking Alpha’s place.

Alpha had heard the rumors and didn’t like the idea of his position being challenged. Fang, however, had no intentions of taking Alpha’s place, but nothing he said could make his former master believe him.

He looked over his shoulder and coughed violently. The building was coming down around him. He couldn’t find a way out.

“Fang!” Alpha shouted, “Where are you!?”

Fang coughed once more and staggered down the hallway.

He had been summoned to an abandoned building, and had been ordered to go inside and await further instructions. It was there that Alpha had met him, trying to attack him several times. In the conflict, some cases of old gasoline caught fire, and soon the whole building was in flames.

“Fang! I will find you!”

Fang pulled himself up a flight of stairs, still untouched by the rising flames. His breathing was becoming more and more labored, and he knew that he wasn’t going to last much longer in this condition. Finally, he reached the top of the stairs and saw an open window. He was practically running to the window when he felt a rough hand grab him from behind.

Alpha grabbed his collar and threw him backwards, leaving Fang gasping for breath as dark smoke rose up the staircase.

“I have no intention of becoming the leader, Alpha. I don’t know who told you that I did, but I swear, I have never wanted to become a leader,” Fang pleaded.

“So you’re calling Beta a liar?” Alpha roared.

Fang was silent. He didn’t know how to answer. He and Beta never got along well. Fang suspected that Beta was jealous that Alpha paid more attention to the new kid than him, or that he felt threatened by the newest protégé. Either way, he had managed to make Alpha believe that Fang was nothing more than a backstabbing, conniving mastermind that posed an imminent threat to his position.

“I’ll teach you to mess with me!”

Alpha drew his sword and charged at Fang, who rolled over just before the blade ran him through. The floorboards were warm under his hands and knees.

Fang quickly sprang to his feet and dodged another attack, reaching for his weapon only to find that it wasn’t there. He remembered with a pang of worry that he had lost it somewhere on one of the floors below.

“Alpha! You have to understand! I’m not the one you should be worried about!” Fang shouted.

Alpha’s eyes glowed with rage and anger. “You keep your mouth shut!”

The room was growing warm, and the floorboards were smoking. Just as Alpha took a step forward, the floor gave way. Reacting quickly, Fang lunged to save his master and mentor, managing to grab his hand and keep them both from falling into the raging inferno below.

“I’ve got you!” Fang cried out.

Alpha was silent. The old building began to creak.

“It’s alright! I’ll get us out of here!” Fang shouted, more to reassure himself than his master and friend. Sanity seemed to return to Alpha’s features, and he looked past Fang for a moment, then into his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he said over a loud snapping sound. “Don’t let him win.”

Then everything went black.

In that moment of darkness, Fang died.

For a good thirty minutes, his body lay lifeless. He was human, but possessed a special gene. A gene that separated humans from Others.

When Fang opened his eyes again, he felt different; stronger, faster, smarter, alive. Everything seemed brighter in color, and the sounds he heard seemed more piercing, and the smells more real. It was as if his senses were all heightened dramatically.

Fang looked around in wonderment. Charred wood lay all around him and on top of him. He managed to get the wood off of him and crawl into a more open space. Despite his search, Alpha was nowhere to be seen. But somehow, Fang already knew that. He did find, however, one of Alpha’s belongings. It was a silver gun, which Fang kept as a gift. He made his way out of the half-standing building, still alive and beginning to realize what had happened to him.

Then he set out for the nonexistent island to look for a job.

***

The Pawn Shop

“I wish I could have saved him,” Fang muttered to no one in particular.

“Can’t have our way all the time,” the Undertaker said as he reentered the room, six folders tucked under his arm. “All we can do is plan the future. And I’m here to help you with yours.”