Crimson Rebellion

Year: 1024

SOMETIME AFTER BUDOU'S DEATH

Power—the root of all corruption within the kingdom of men. Five years ago, a boy dared to accept such a dark and corrupting force. Walking through the fire and flames of his slaughtered clan, the thirteen-year-old boy named Raizo Arashi drank from the blood of a God. With the powers bestowed upon him, the boy set out on a quest to slay those who betrayed and slaughtered his friends and family. It's hard to grasp but, little more than five years have come and gone since that day when the weight of more than ten thousand souls fell upon him; the one who would later become known as the Stormbringer.

Now with the death of Budou, one of the Empire's strongest and most prominent warriors, Raizo's name would echo throughout the Empire. However such actions caught the eye of individuals beyond human reckoning. One such individual was someone Raizo had met before. Observing the horizon of the capital like a guardian angel, a man of imposing stature smiled as his long crimson scarf danced in the wind. His messy black hair covered one of his red eyes as his bangs danced in the breeze.

"Quite the mess you made here, eh Raichu?" Akaro remarked with the usual casual indifference seeing the extending vista ahead.

A large trail of smoke rose from within the Imperial Coliseum. In the few hours since the great battle word had already reached the wider populace that a battle had broken out between the assassination group known as Night Raid and the Empire's strongest Teigu users. Akaro turned his ruby gaze toward two spectators amongst the crowd that had gathered around the rubble of what was once a fully functional arena.

Covered by a hooded crimson cloak, there was a female with eyes just as red as her attire. Her gaze rested upon the commotion silently, analyzing as the people around her reacted to the damage done to what was seen as a public landmark. She was accompanied by a slightly taller woman dressed in what appeared to be a variation of General Esdeath's white uniform, but far more revealing in nature as it fully exposed her toned abdomen. This proud and powerful woman also had notable ruby-red eyes and long, raven-colored hair that resembled that of Akame. In fact, the two would look almost identical if not for the age difference.

The presence of this duo, especially this Akame doppelganger, was more than enough to gather a certain level of suspicion from the crowd who had seen the girl in wanted posters. However, it hardly mattered seeing as no one was brave enough to approach them.

"So, what do you think?" the mysterious general-attired female asked rather cryptically. The cloaked female responded with a serene tone.

"Raizo's certainly interesting, but his abilities have yet to mature."

Raising an eyebrow, the 'adult Akame' turned on her heel only to look up at the clouds. A rare smile appeared on her lips as she saw the man standing far above the heavens.

"Looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us… Akaro," she spoke under her breath with a subtle enough tone for the man above the clouds to listen. Though inaudible to others, the individual she was communicating with possessed auditory senses far superior to that of mythological predators.

In an instant, the man above the clouds appeared beside the Akame-look-alike in a flash so swift that the crowd was unalerted to his presence. Bringing his hand around the General's waist, Akaro casually regrouped with the mysterious pair.

"I leave that guy alone for two minutes and he gets himself into a deadly battle with Esdeath and Budou." he mused with a casual smirk.

"You didn't exactly provide a satisfactory explanation that would keep him out of danger when you first met him," the hooded girl keenly expressed.

"You're probably right about that. Either way, we have our orders here. We wait for things to settle down then pay Night Raid a visit," he laid out the plan which although simple carried a great weight to it, it was the smile of someone who has been through both the brightest and darkest of days.

"Fine by me, but we're doing this without getting the others involved. I don't feel like dealing with the gods right now," the girl in the hooded cloak spoke out as her crimson eyes finally came into contact with those of Akaro.

The Red-Eyed Hero then merely gave her thumbs up with one hand accompanied by a sarcastic 'Yes ma'am.'

The trio of crimson-eyed individuals shared some more friendly banter, which attracted some attention from the curious ones in the crowd. Nevertheless, it wasn't enough to cause any more commotion or take attention away from the events that took place around the group.

"Kimiko… keep a watchful eye on Night Raid while I go talk to Raizo," Akaro expressed whilst addressing the cloaked girl before turning his eyes to face Akame's doppelganger.

"As for you, Akame...make sure that Kimiko doesn't blow her cover."

Alas, their names were unveiled. The younger girl's name appeared to be Kimiko while the girl in white was named Akame.

The General brushed her black hair aside, her large bust jiggling in correlation to her movement. Truthfully it'd be bizarre to most that she not only looked like an older iteration of Akame but that she also shared Akame's name.

"Alright, girls… let's move."

With those words spoken, Akaro, the older Akame, and Kimiko disappeared into the dense crowd.

Yet this trio was not the only force keeping a watchful eye on the actions of the Stormbringer. Within the darkness of one of the many alleyways in the Capital—an ominous young girl scanned the crowd before seductively licking her lips. Her long white hair cascaded down her back in a graceful manner giving the young-looking girl a lustful yet illustrious appearance that contrasted well with her primrose-colored irises. With her long, dark, purple coat dancing behind her every movement, the peculiar teen spoke.

"So...you've finally come after me, Red-Eyed Hero. It does not matter… I will have him as my next meal even if you stand in my way… "her words were drenched in murderous intent, but that somehow didn't stop her from shedding a broken, psychotic smile.

As the curtains came to a close upon the battle with Budou—three new figures in the form of Akaro, Akame, and Kimiko appeared on the chessboard. Alongside them arose a girl who seemed way too ominous for her own good. Whatever fate had in store for Raizo and Night Raid could not possibly be good.

PRESENT DAY

It was a dark, stormy night. The heavens were flooded by falling strikes of lightning followed by the echoes of roaring thunder. Raizo Arashi slept calmly in the warmth of his bedroom. Night Raid's new headquarters reassembled their old home thanks to the excellent work done by Susanoo prior to his passing. Nevertheless even when enveloped by soft blankets Raizo's mind was troubled. In particular, he was bothered by the fact it felt odd that Indra's Judgment didn't make him go berserk despite the ongoing natural storm.

After a while, Raizo managed to fall asleep, but that was when a nightmare began to haunt him. In the depths of his mindscape, the Red-Eyed Stormbringer saw a burning cityscape. From beginning to end, from the outskirts to downtown, everything burned up in a tornado of bright, orange flames. The Capital was facing a true armageddon. At the heart of it was a little girl, barely five feet in height, calmly observing the inferno around her with a grinning face.

Then it all just ended in a white explosion of electricity that consumed everything within Raizo's view. The last thing that echoed in the young wolf's mind was the voice of Indra:

[Boy...you might want to take whatever help you can get because this time… not even I can help you through this]

For once, Raizo had the opportunity to hear the God of Thunder express fear. Jumping out of his bed with sweat running down his shirtless body, Raizo stood up breathing as if he was about to experience heart failure. With his eyes still wide open, the young assassin sat back on his bed. His head was now hurting like hell.

"What the hell?!" He exclaimed at the deity that resided within him, but all he received in return was a cold silence. The only solace he received was the sound of the heavy rain outside. For once in what felt like a lifetime Raizo could afford to just lay back down and enjoy the sound of the water droplets hitting the ground. However, before he could do so, Raizo was greeted by a familiar voice echoing from the now-open window.

"It's been a while hasn't it, Raichu?" Akaro spoke in a low tone of voice; his red scarf dancing in the storm behind him as a friendly smirk suddenly formed across his lips.

Akaro's physique was a lot more imposing than Raizo's despite their similar features. Even as he sat by the window, Raizo could tell that the Red-Eyed Hero was several inches taller than him, likely standing at around 6'6 or 6'7 in terms of height with a perfectly sculpted muscular frame and broad shoulders that tightly adhered to his white and black imperial-like attire. What the Stormbringer really focuses on though were the man's red eyes which matched his own and the red scarf which seemed to take a life of its own as it moved in the wind.

"You again… What are you doing here?" Raizo pondered as he stood up and quickly used his super speed to dawn his complete attire.

"Ah, no brotherly hug? No welcome-back party? Shame," Akaro joked casually. "To be honest… I'm still working on the same case. Not that I gave you too many details anyway, but things have escalated and I now need to bring you into the picture."

Raizo took a moment to think about those words. During their last encounter, Akaro had been exceptionally vague surrounding his origin and purpose in this world beyond terms Raizo couldn't possibly understand.

"Last time around you told me something about the Multiverse or something like that. If that's a matter that concerns me and my family then… Go on."

"Straight to the point eh? I appreciate that" Akaro reckoned. "Very well. Let's start with the essentials."

"This little blue rock we live in has far more going on than you know. You've probably felt it at this point… nature itself. We call it "Gaia" for simplicity. This is in essence the Will of the Planet."

"So you're saying… Earth is a living being?"

"In a metaphysical sense, sure. Gaia is the impetus behind every system created to defend this planet from threats to its existence. You can think of it as a system of pure consciousness. The same applies to another entity that resides within Earth… the Will of the Collective Unconscious of Humanity."

"The Collective Unconscious?"

"That's right. A collective pool sentience from which all conceptual or abstract existence derives. All of human history from across infinite sets of realities that are individually endless are housed within this metaphysical mindscape. The ideas contained within this pool are true abstractions. Platonic concepts, the Realm of the Forms, Jungian Archetypes… There are many names you could potentially associate with the concepts within the Collective Unconscious and it is only one layer of the Unconscious. Gaia and it form the underlying systems within the Planet's 'hardware'. Each Archetype or Platonic Concept contained within the pool is one in which an infinity of tens is latent between oneness and George Cantor's Absolute Infinity."

Akaro stopped for a moment, seeing that Raizo was extremely confused. The boy had his head tilted to the side and a look of utter confusion.

"I don't think I know what those names mean…" he muttered.

"Relax bro, you don't really need to wrap your head around the finer details. What you need to understand for now is that Gaia and the Unconscious form the two abstract wills that protect this planet from threats to its existence. The World of Men as you know it is merely one layer of a planet that contains unknowable realities foreign to all conceptualizations of space, time, mathematics, infinity, and ideations in general. Every other construct in space such as other planets, stars, solar systems, and galaxies follows a similar model, each possessing its defensive mechanisms in the forms of these abstract wills. This eventually culminates in a greater will that operates the Universe—a true embodiment of all that came before."

"But if the Universe is this greater will then that means the Multiverse you mentioned before would be…—

"That's right. There exist infinite sets of universes out there that share the same or exponentially greater and more complex mechanics. In those worlds, you may find alternate versions of the same reality you live in. Worlds where the Blood Wolves were never exterminated, others where you work for the Empire, and even some realities where we're all nothing more than characters in some Fantasy novel. Pretty neat isn't it? And even then that's just one Multiverse of unknowably many Multiverses," The Red-Eyed Hero explained as he got off the window's borders and took a few steps toward Raizo, who by now was just trying to follow along. Raizo's expression was stuck somewhere between feeling doubt and wanting to believe this man's words. Under any other set of circumstances, Raizo would've already attacked such a suspicious individual. However, this time he felt like doing so would be the greatest of mistakes, and the nightmare he had experienced just a few minutes ago reassured him of such a feeling.

"Beyond all that… I'm what you could call a Guardian. I work for the Wills of the Planet and the greater Multiverse at large. The Collective Unconscious of humanity and Gaia can see into all possibilities and even that which lies outside such notions to preemptively call upon its Counter Guardians—these being humans or living entities who became legendary enough to earn their positions of eternal protectors that'll forever be sent out across every universe to avert threats to stability."

Raizo was starting to get the bigger picture. It was surely something he was unfamiliar with, but if Akaro was an otherworldly guardian sent here to avert some huge threat then it would explain how his powers seemed beyond anything he could ever imagine when they first met.

"Where do Gods like Indra fit in all of this?" Raizo pondered with a hand under his chin. Akaro was amused that the young man was now interested in the topic.

"Those will vary wildly as there are theoretically an unending amount of Gods. Indra is what my group classifies as a Lesser God—a divine spirit that controls one particular aspect of whatever reality it partakes in. Lesser Gods are fueled by belief from sentient beings. In fact, it is what births them most of the time. This means all gods from all mythos and religions across every reality have the possibility of existing and likely did exist at some point. Keep in mind though that Lesser Gods are called that for a reason. There are higher entities such as Archetypal embodiments and Celestial Deities above them, and much much more… but none of that matters right this instant," Akaro concluded.

"Then… I'm guessing some kind of great threat to the balance is heading in my world's way," Raizo followed up.

"This is so goddamn bizarre… but then again I have a God of Thunder lending me his power so who am I to complain," Raizo additionally thought to himself.

"Bingo. Me and two others are here to investigate the presence of an entity powerful enough to wipe out not only this Earth but everything that I talked about as well," the Red-Eyed Hero put it plainly, now sounding more serious than before.

Raizo took a moment to absorb all of this information. Not long ago, the former Blood Wolf had unlocked his trump card: Fury of the Storm. Now cosmic guardians were knocking on his door and warning him of an incoming 'entity' that can destroy everything he holds dear. This game of assassins, revolutions, gods, and demons just kept escalating with each passing second, and Raizo couldn't do anything else but smile at the situation.

"Why come to me? I'm strong, but I'm not exactly on par with something that can end everything," Raizo inquired.

"Good question. Well to put it bluntly… this entity had been present the day you took out Budou and has been watching you since you joined Night Raid like a Predator waiting for an opportune moment to swallow you whole. So it's only fair to assume that it, whatever or whoever it is, has an interest in you and your friends. Given the kind of power that this 'something' must have… I'm sure you can imagine the potential outcome of a battle between your Night Raid and an Apocalyptic force," Akaro responded ultimately painting a clear message for Raizo.

Death and destruction were definitely something that Raizo had experienced repeatedly throughout the years. Yet to think that the new family he had found here in Night Raid and all he had gained in the last five years could be lost again in the blink of an eye? These thoughts alone were enough to push him into accepting Akaro's words as fact.

"Well… since you're the veteran here I'm following your lead," the younger of the two red-eyed individuals spoke out before extending his right hand out to Akaro. The man was certainly amused by the young wolf's ability to absorb such fantastical yet all too real concepts.

"Glad to be working with you, Raichu," the Red-Eyed Hero added before grabbing hold of Raizo's hand and accepting the handshake. With that final sign of partnership and agreement, the pair of assassins made their way out of the room only to later prepare themselves for what would likely be a long weekend.