Quick links to chapter titles

| Prelude | chapter 1- No Sex Appeal | chapter 2- Don't Forget | chapter 3-Thirty Pieces | chapter 4- Conflict and Accord | chapter 5- Don't Fool Yourself | chapter 6- The Thin Line... | chapter 7- Travels |

Archives and Summary

Summary and links to the title pages for each chapter.

Prelude

Scot, Dryas and Lyanka, members of the rebel group Ascending Heaven, decide to hire more fighting power for their next mission. Scot knows somebody, and they send Lyanka to go meet him. After she leaves, Dryas is a bit hesitant, knowing who they are hiring, after all, but Scot dismisses his concerns.

prelude title

Ch. 1- No Sex Appeal

Julian is moping in a bar, waiting for his contact to show up. He notices a cute gal in the bar, who just happens to be Lyanka, and he hits on her. (this is far from the last time this is gonna happen...) She calls up Scot and Dryas to yell at them cause they sent her to a place where slimeballs are hitting on her, but is rather horrified to learn that the slimeball hitting on her is her contact.

Julian (barely) escapes and they go thru the streets until they notice that they are being followed by OMNIcorp thugs... who want to stop them. Lyanka decides to blow off some steam by using her dance magic to knock them into a silly trance. Julian enjoys the show. Once they get to Purgatory and to the secret headquarters, a happy reunion between Scot, Dryas and Julian takes place.

chapter 1 title

Ch. 2- Don't Forget...

First mission with Julian. There's a lab where OMNIcorp has been doing icky things to people- and Scot needs some info from the lab that he can't get thru hacking. So off to the lab! Julian blows stuff and himself up a bit, then finds a mysterious guy in a tube. Somehow he's still alive, so they take him back to headquarters... though perhaps... he knows Julian somehow. Julian has no clue, of course... again.

Dryas and Julian get yelled at by Scot for bringing home stuff, and attracting attention... and happens to think Rain is a girl. (tho somehow I doubt this is the last time someone thinks he is a girl. heh.) Lyanka thinks she's gonna need more beer.

chapter 2 title

Ch. 3- Thirty Pieces

Julian's up brooding on the rooftop when Rosewood shows up. They talk for a bit, alternating between talking calmly and Julain trying to throttle him. Rain wakes up, rather confused about everything.... espcially since he really can't remember much other than being in the lab... and he really would rather not recall that.

Dryas tends to the rather exhausted Rain, and then Rosewood shows up. They have a rather cryptic and mysterious conversation, since they are like that. As time goes on, Julian and Rain train- and find out that Rain is rather good with weapons... the effects of the experiments to make excellent soldiers worked. Then Rosewood and Julian fight (again), and when Julian loses, he has a flashback. He wakes up and goes to the roof to brood again, ending up where he started this chapter.

Lyanka notices, and she goes up and talks with Julian. Both reveal a bit about their pasts, and decide to work together. The moment loses his charm when Julian its on Lyanka again, and next morning when the others are eating breakfast and discussing the next days mission, Julian comes down with 2 black eyes instead of one.

chapter 3 title

Ch. 4- Conflict and Accord

Rain dreams of his time in the labs... there is some one he seems to have glimpses of in his memory, but that is all he can recall. However, Vaughn Ellis, the man behind AH, and the guy with the money, has been captured by OMNIcorp. AH decides to rescue him. Julian, Lyanka and Dryas go to the location, while Rosewood watches Rain create a distraction.

Julian ends up killing lots of guys, which seems to really bother everyone else. It's business as usual for Julian, however, and he doesn't really understand the fuss. Meanwhile, Rain is devastatingly effective, defeating 2 members of Section 12. (there's a lot of nifty special effects in this fight.) However, one of them stirs the same memories in Rain as before.

Lyanka and Dryas move to discover the results of Julian's little "game." Vaughn is rescued, and everyone heads back to the HQ. Julian gets a chewing out for being so brutal, but he shrugs it off, mentioning that it's easy, and that he's been doing it his whole life... which worries the others...

chapter 4 title

Ch. 5- Don't Fool Yourself

Rosewood is up to something naughty with Valerian- Julian's older brother... though he was supposed to be dead? Meanwhile, Julain and Rain talk. Rain is troubled by his dim memories, and how one of the men he fought looked just like Julian. Julian doesn't take it so seriously, however, and ends up pissing Rain off.

There's a meeting, where Vaughn explains that he is grateful for the rescue, but to not use so much bloodshed in the future. This makes Julian angry, since he knows Vaughn in the days of Vaughn being a major drug lord, and a not so nice one at that. He stalks off to the bar, where Vaughn follows and talks to him, revealing that OMNIcorp has targeted him for death. He doesn't mind, since Julian's brother Lucian, a sharpshooter, will probably be taking him out. He already lost what he lived for...

Julian returns, and apologizes for being an ass during the last few days, and goes to bed, where nightmares wait to pounce... memories of the past, as a child, during happier times. An inner voice reminds Julian of how his promises turn out. The promise he gave to protect his brother ended with Julian killing him.

Julian goes up to the roof again, where he vows to kill his brother Lucian once and for all. But Rain happens to be up there, and so Julian finally reveals to Rain that the man he is probably looking for is Julian's younger brother... and not only his brother, but his twin, Lucian. Julian wonders why Rain seems to recall Lucian and no one else, but Rain hopes to find out more about his past from him. But Julian has a warning... if Rain wants to talk to Lucian, he'd better reach him before Julian does.

chapter 5 title

Ch. 6- The Thin Line...

Lyanka is trying to teach Julian some non-lethal combat methods, but she makes the mistake of giving Julian a taser... and Julian runs off on a taser spree. Scot has found a little of Rain's past, but after age 15, all traces of Rain's existance has been erased... but by who? Bigger worries are coming, it's time for the speech, and Vaughn is a marked man. They must work to save him!

The day is rainy, cold and terrible. But Vaughn still gives his speech to a large crowd of people who are willing to stand up against OMNIcorp. Ascending Heaven thinks that the hitman will come from the crowd, using a single shot and slipping away... Rain feels like something isn't quite right, and he gets a memory.. or flash... of his former life. He runs for the building as Vaughn looks up and sees his fate.

Ascending Heaven scatters to the stage and surrounding buildings, but it is too late. The shot rings out, and Vaughn falls. Julian speaks to him one last time, and Vaughn asks for Julian to keep fighting... and he will. Julian knows... the only one who could have done a shot like that- was his brother.

Rain has run to the roof, where the masked sniper turns and shoots him 3 times... but oddly, when he sees it is Rain, he stops. Rain attacks, throwing the man to the ground... but the mask is pulled off, and Rain sees- it's Lucian! Not only that- but Lucian knows him... and seems to miss him. Before anything else can be explained, they have to flee the angry mob on its way. Rain heads back, confused.

After some medical care, the group heads to Vaughn's funeral, but not before Julian is humiliated nakedly and publicly thanks to Scot. (ha!) At the funeral, an old enemy is seen by Lyanka- the colorless man who killed her clan... but Julian stops her from attacking now. The time isn't right yet... Dryas leaves to meet a new mysterious person outside- but it's actually Valerian!

Back at the headquarters after a happy renunion between brothers, Valerian tells AH about the plans the vice president has in mind- involving some ancient prophesy and the need for travel to Nippon, far to the east... to visit their grandmother. Julian doesn't want to go, but after some "convincing" he decides to. It's time for a road trip!

chapter 6 title

Ch. 7- Travels

The group heads out towards Nippon and the city of Heian-Kyo, far to the east.... but will the trip go as smoothly as hoped? Not with Julian there!

Overland and through a few fights, the group makes it in time to board a steamboat that will take them east. On the journey, they go over new information about the colorless man that they saw in the church... but it stirs some old memories in Rain. As he ponders them outside, more memories seem to assualt him. Rosewood steps in and sets things back to normal in a very disturbing and odd way. Dryas dissaproves, and so Dryas and Rosewood argue- in fact, their arguement distubs the whole ship! But these hidden words, what meanings do they really have?

Landing in Heian-Kyo, the capital city, the group is puzzled at where to go at first. But Julian knows that his grandmother runs the city from the shadows, and isn't really suprised when their ride shows up... a yakuza car. Off to grandmother's high security compound they go, where more about Julian's role in the scheme of things is revealed... now he just needs to figure out his second, true element for the group to prevail. But can he do it?

chapter 7 title