[Nighthaven, Dystopian America]
Nighthaven is a city that was rebuilt 45 years after the War of The Four Monarchs, which left the majority of America devastated. It is located where Colorado once stood and is the only city that has a population over 25,000 people residing in it.
The majority of the country was left with nothing but dangerous wastelands that no sane person dared cross, leaving Nighthaven as one of the few major cities in Dystopian America, with only a few smaller settlements scattered throughout the regions.
In the past 75 years, Nighthaven has thrived, with its citizens having nothing to worry about from the surrounding areas, which bring nothing but unknown terrors. The area that was called Colorado had been overtaken by dozens of gangs of raiders, who at one point tried to take over Nighthaven but failed horribly.
Safe to say that despite being safe from the outside, most of the dangers in Nighthaven are brought from its interiors. The city's infrastructure is well-maintained and reminiscent of the Pre-War era, and society operates as it did prior to the world's fall, with its own laws that are heavily enforced. All of this said, humanity would still find a way to give birth to dangers, despite being in a dire position.
Crime was still quite rampant in Nighthaven, and the Enforcers could not do much to quell it completely, simply isolating it on certain quarters of the large city. No matter what they do, the nature of humanity would stay the same; some would prefer to sin rather than be at peace, even if they are faced with extinction.
Despite being called "Nighthaven", it is when the sun sets that all of these dangers rise from the shadows, bringing forth nothing but horror and paranoia. It was the normal routine for Nighthaven, which was a bit too large for its own good, and Enforcers tried to do their best to keep everything stable.
And that is exactly what was happening right now; a typical night in Nighthaven, where a violent crime would be committed. But unlike most crimes, this one would probably be swept under the rug as nobody wants to confront the ones behind it.
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A black vehicle slowed to a stop as it had pulled out behind a large warehouse where there were no lights outside, only those from the vehicle's headlights. It resembled a Pre-War SUV and despite being from an era before a time of pure destruction and devastation, it looked to be in proper condition.
The doors opened, and several men in grey suits got out of the vehicle, making their way to the back.
One of them opened the trunk and reached down, pulling out what looked like a young girl who had her arms tied with rope behind her back, her mouth covered with a rag that was tied around her head. She had blonde hair with purple streaks, her crystal blue eyes were widened with fear, and tears were forming. She seemed to be wearing a black sweater with a red skirt, her feet only covered by black socks as her shoes were nowhere to be seen.
She was shaking her head, and her muffled yells were heard as the Man dropped her on the hard asphalt. Her head nearly bounced off the ground hard as she let out a pained groan, her knees were scraped badly, and blood began to come out.
As another man reached for something else inside the back of the SUV, the man who dropped the girl reached down and ripped the rag off.
The girl let out a gasp, "Ah!" She said, her voice shaky with fear, "P-Please!! Don't hurt me! I didn't know them! I just wanted to buy some dope from them! I didn't know that they were involved with you!"
One of the men looked at the one who removed her rag, "The fuck you doing?" He said, "We're going to kill her, why'd you take her rag off?"
"No, don't kill me!!" She exclaimed
"Chris wants to know her last words." the Man said, "You know how messed up he is; wants us to write them down so he can keep em recorded like the sick fuck he is."
"Hey, he's the Don's nephew, calm down." the other said
The girl then watched as the other men pulled out three bodies wrapped tightly in garbage bags and dropped them on the ground before her, causing her to yelp and scoot backwards.
One of them stepped forward, quite shorter than the rest, and pulled out what looked like a hand-rolled cigarette from his pocket. The handkerchief in his coat pocket was bright blue, unlike the others, which were grey. He also seemed to have white cuffs on his sleeves, which made him stand out the most.
"Ey girl." He said, A certain accent was noticeable, "Want a smoke?"
The girl shook her head, "Please..." she said, "I swear I had nothing to do with them!"
The Man lit the cigarette up and began to smoke it, "Ah, shame." He said, "You know what these three dope dealers did?"
"No....." the girl sobbed, "Please, I beg you..."
"They were selling to the wrong side of town, kiddo." He said as he exhaled some smoke, "That.....and well, they stole from Chris. You know Chris, do you? I mean, he's a Captain, you should definitely know of him."
"I know of him...Chris Aconito...from the Aconito Family..." She said softly, "I would never do anything to disrespect Don Aconito, you must believe me! I am just a shopkeeper here in the Shadow Quarter....please..."
"What kind of shop?" The man asked as he kept smoking
"It's....a candy shop...." She said, tears running down her face, "My cousin's boyfriend owns it...."
"Ah....the one with the red mint as the sign?" One of the other men asked, "That one? That's Angelo's plug for his kids, Lucky. Them sugar things are quite good, Angelo likes em."
"Ho?" Lucky said, "Is that so?"
"Yes, yes!" the girl said, "I work there!"
"Well, not like we'll kill the owner, so it shouldn't be a problem." Lucky said as he reached for the inside of his pocket, pulling out a pistol, "Don't you boys think so?"
"Ehh, well....." the other said as he shrugged, "I don't really like sweets, so I won't care much."
"But I didn't do anything!!" She pleaded, "You have to believe me!! I just wanted to get high..!!"
"Oof, unlucky then." Lucky smirked as he pointed the gun at her, "Get it guys? Unlucky?"
There were some chuckles heard as the girl looked around, completely mortified of the situation she was in.
"Wrong place, wrong time, kid." Lucky told the girl as he placed his finger on the trigger, "Should've been more careful, some groups aren't meant to be hanged with."
There was sudden noise in the distance, which caused the others to look over in alarm.
"Oi." one of the men said, "Who else is supposed to be here? I thought Bruno wasn't having anyone in the warehouse?"
They pulled out their own pistols, looking around as one of them pulled out a flashlight, turning it on and shining it over to the wall of the building.
Lucky lowered his gun and looked at the men, "What is going on?" He asked, "Who's over there? Are your noses not working or something?"
One of them sniffed the air, "I'm getting nothing."
"Must've been a breeze, knocking down a can or something." another said
Lucky then heard footsteps to his right, off in the distance, within the shadows. He narrowed his eyes and turned to the side, lifting the pistol up and aiming it at the shadows.
"Who's there?" He asked as the footsteps got closer
The others turned to face the source of the sound, aiming their guns at them.
"Who the fuck is there?!" One of them shouted, "Show yerself or we're opening fire!"
The one with the flashlight aimed the light at the spot where they last heard the footsteps. As he aimed at the ground, the light revealed a pair of black boots and black pants. The light then slowly lifted upwards, revealing the figure of a tall man who had unsettling black eyes.
The man was wearing a long black coat that was over a grey button-up shirt. He had short, dark hair with some white streaks on it. His face was a bit pale and he had a scar running down his left cheek, across his eye.
"Who....?" Lucky said as he pulled the trigger
He fired a single bullet at the man, but to all of their surprise, the bullet was instantly deflected, leaving a quick spark in the air.
"What the fuck?" one of the other said, "What was that? A sword?"
They saw that the man was holding a sheathed katana, the handle was black, and the hilt silver.
Lucky frowned, "Who in the fuck are you??" He said, "A swordsman? Here in Nighthaven? Get the fuck outta here."
He pulled the trigger again, firing more shots at the man but the bullets were deflected as well.
"Holy shit!" the other men said, "He's drawing his sword faster than we can see!!"
"What are you imbeciles doing?!" Lucky shouted, "Shoot him!!"
They did as he said, shooting at the man but the man had suddenly disappeared, leaving them all disappeared.
Suddenly, he appeared behind one of the men, holding the katana with his left hand, raised slightly above his waist in front of him.
"What the-" one of them said
All of them collapsed to the ground as blood sprayed all over the air and ground, staining the asphalt red.
Lucky scowled, "What?!" He said, "You gotta be kidding me!! Do you know who we are?!"
The Man looked at him with, his black eyes piercing right through him, which unsettled him completely.
"Aconito." He said simply, his voice cold
Lucky glared at him, "So you know you're a dead man!" He shouted, "You cut down members of the Aconito Family, you ain't going to leave the city alive, you fucker!"
"I don't plan on leaving the city anytime soon." the Man said, "I've come for one thing and one thing only. And your Boss may know where to find it...."
He turned to face Lucky and placed his right hand on the handle of the sword, giving him a menacing look.
"Oh, you're a dead man!" Lucky dropped the gun on the floor and raised his hands up in a fighting stance, "Come on then!!"
Suddenly, his chest cut open, blood spraying everywhere as it splattered on the girl who was on the ground.
"Ahh!" She cried out, completely shocked
Lucky coughed out blood, stumbling back as he hit the SUV, "No fucking way....." he said, "Me? I couldn't see his swing? What the fuck is this guy??? Wait....a swordsman in black..."
He looked at the Man, who simply stood there, his eyes cold and menacing.
"Unseen sword attacks..." He managed, "It cannot be.....you're the Black Sun Swordsman!"
The Man took a step forward,
"That's right."