Maldenia was founded by Dr. Rufus Scalia during the search to discover new energy in outer space. The core was brought back to Earth and was found to me an infinite source of mana, which provided both energy and new capabilities the people had never dreamed up. The greatest invention created by Dr. Rufus himself is known as a mana manipulator which converts the mana produce my Maldenia into a usable weapon. They range in size from arm bands to produce small forms of mana, to the Mana Ex Machina which is the giant gun of Lunar Base 5 able to wipe out an entire planet in an instant.
One hundred years after its discovery the Earth began to decay from the influx of mana use. Maldenia had grafted itself to the Earth draining it of all its life to produce mana. Earth now was nothing more than a wasteland and people once again took to space for new lands to colonizing and survive on. The colonies were born, large space stations usable as temporary colonies, able to sustain life and grow food capable of keeping the majority of the people of Earth alive.
The year is now 200 BM, Birth of Maldenia, and the Earth is now a complete wasteland home to the scum of the universe. The Bounty Hunter’s guild was formed ten years prior to give all citizens the opportunity to cut down on the criminal activity in exchange for money. One Bounty Hunter stood above the rest, Raxis. Him and his crew have brought in the most bounties bar none causing even the most dangerous of criminals to cower when he comes by.
I looked out across the open streets and how tranquil they looked. Like a calm before the storm. Out from a side street a car was flung crashing into a building. I flicked my cigarette into the gutter as I waited for my prey to reveal itself. I unclipped the holsters at my sides and placed my hands on them. A slight smile cracked across my face as the behemoth of a man rounded the corner behind the tossed car. He stared at me through the mask that covered his ravaged face.
“You! I am going to break you in half this time, small fry.” Baphomet boomed before charging full force towards me.
The ground shook beneath me as he approached but I didn’t flinch. I reached behind my back with my right hand as he approached. When he was right next to me I pulled it out from behind my trench coat. I rolled over his left shoulder. Slapped the device on his back. And pulled the pin out as I jumped back. Within seconds he was covered in cement up to his neck.
“There you are, Baphomet, that new little device designed especially for you by the gadgeteer extraordinaire, Skye. If you would like to see more gadgets like that please escape from prison again so I might capture you. Thank you and have a nice day.”
I drew my guns from the holsters then ducked down as a claw whizzed over my head. I tumbled forward as a second claw dug into the ground where I was. I spun around to look the assassin in the eyes. His attire was that of a jester with metal claws on each of his fingers.
Dagonet laughed hysterically as he removed his claw from the ground. “You’re gonna die now!” He rushed at me swinging his claw for my throat. I flipped backwards kicking him in the chin. While he was stunned I shot both pistols at his arms. The bullets opened up into forks which pinned his arms into the brick wall.
I walked towards him as he frantically struggled to pull his arms free, “Dagonet, you have just won a life time membership to crazyland.”
I dropped my guns and turned back around. I flexed my wrist to activate the light shield on my left forearm as bullets shot out towards me. I drew another gun from a holster in my trench coat. I dropped the shield once his clip was empty. I fired two shots back. Both bullets struck each of his hands. The guns clattered on the ground.
“Game’s up, Garen, now, just tell me where the ring leader of your rag tag bunch is and we can wrap this up before dinner. I think with your guys’ bounty I might be able to go somewhere nice. Actually, since I bring you four in so often the price on your heads has gone down…guess cup-o-noodles is good too.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you talk too much, Raxis?” Balin walked up the street and stopped. His twin swords were sheathed on his back, quite unusual. He was obviously up to something.
“Not even going to draw your weapons. I knew this job was easy but I still like a little challenge.” I saw a sword out the corner of my eyes coming towards my head and leaned back as it whizzed past. “Nice try, but it takes more than that to surprise me.”
He laughed eyeing the sword still. I turned and saw it hurdling back towards me. I turned back on my light shield to block it. The sword shattered then dissipated leaving no trace. Three more swords shot out from the darkness at me. I blocked two with my light shield then grabbed the third in my hand. As soon as I touched it it turned to vapor. These swords were constructed of pure mana.
“Shadow, enough playing around with him! Get rid of him!” Balin shouted.
Suddenly all around me ten swords appeared pointing their blades at me. I holstered my guns and scratched my head looking at all the swords ready to pierce my body. I pulled out my slip of paper I got from the hunter’s guild.
“Let’s see, Baphomet … check … Dagonet … check … Garen … check … Balin … almost, eh, let’s check that one too. But, hmm, looks like there is no Shadow on the list so he can go free today.” I folded up the paper and put it back in my pocket. “Now, Shadow, since this doesn’t involve you, where ever you are, can you remove these blades so I can finish or I might have to take you too.”
“You can’t weasel out of this, Raxis, we are going to finish you off this time.” Balin explained.
A man dressed in all black walked out from the alley holding out his hands obviously controlling the mana.
I smiled as he walked out. “You should have stayed in the shadows, cause now we got you.”
From the sky dropped a man with a huge sword as he slammed it through the ground around Shadow. The swords dissipated and I pulled a grenade from my pocket and tossed it between Balin’s legs. The grenade bursts into a sticky substance stopping all his movement. A leg came sweeping at my head. I ducked and fired a gun back at him. I looked back and no one was there. A glint of steel shined in my eyes from above. I tumbled forward spinning around to shoot back at him. As soon as I fired at him he disappeared in thin air. Teleportation, I hate teleportation.
Jecht’s sword swept over my head. I looked back but Shadow still wasn’t there.
“You realize we might have to fight together to get this guy?” Jecht said looking around for signs of him.
“You realize he is one of those mana manipulators and I have no weapon that I use the holds them down?” I stood up standing back to back with him. “You should also realize I am a bit hungry since I planned on finishing this about thirty minutes ago.”
“Don’t you think you should stay serious for a moment? We are a bit outmatched here.”
“I wonder if that place on the corner by the station still has those noodle cups.”
“Raxis!”
“I heard you, alright, don’t worry I have a plan for this.”
“Mind sharing it?”
“Well, you remember our hit in Paris, right?”
“You aren’t thinking of pulling that again? Last time I pulled a muscle in my left arm that I couldn’t shake off for a week.” He swung his sword at Shadow, but he disappeared again. “Alright, we’ll do it, just…let’s get this done.”
Shadow appeared and I ran after him shooting my guns. He teleported again. He reappeared behind Jecht who swung around at him. He moved and Jecht stopped his sword behind him. I leapt up onto the blade. Spring boarded off it into the air. Jecht fell to one knee dropping his sword. Shadow appeared over him to finish him. I fired a bullet into his back that let loose an electrical charge. Shadow collapsed face first on the pavement.
“Damn, I think you need to stay off the noodles.” Jecht told me stretching out his left arm.
“Or maybe you need to work out more. Last time you got me all the way to the second story.”
The Rosebud flew into view and landed on the street. The side hatch opened in the side of the ship and Skye walked out. “You know, the both of you act like a married couple. Why don’t you pull these guys inside so we can get our money?”
Between the three of us we were able to load up the five of them. We headed to the station to get paid, and just as I thought Shadow wasn’t on the list. Since he wasn’t worth anything I decided to let him go free.
Skye calculated what we earned as I opened my cup-o-noodles. “Looks like we made just enough to pay the finances on our next bounty.”
“True, but from the looks of it we might actually make some more money on this one. It also wasn’t like it was too much work.”
“Wasn’t too much…did you forget about that mana manipulator?”
“I’m not counting that, he wasn’t even worth anything.”
“Do you think it was a good plan to take him out then leave him there? I mean, he might rescue them and we will have to go through this all again.”
“First off, that would mean more easy money for us. Second of all…” I mumbled under my breath “I brought him with us…”
“Could you repeat that without the mumble, please?” Jecht stood up from his chair on the ship.
“He’s in the back, alright.”
“You realize we have no containment on this ship, hence why Skye’s gadgets usually of an ensnaring device.”
Shadow walked out from the back still in all black and made his way to the seat next to me.
“And so I should introduce you to the first expenditure for our next mission. Don’t worry, I left enough finances for the rest of our bounty.”
Jecht clinched his fists trying to think of what to say. I’d have been working with him for a while, I knew when he was upset. “Can I talk to you in private for a moment?” He said walking back through the door to the living quarters.
I stood up and walked towards the door, “This should only take a second. Shadow, make yourself comfortable and we’ll explain the bounty when I get back.” I walked in and saw Jecht pacing back and forth.
“What are you thinking!? You can’t just hire a new member without asking the rest especially when he just tried to kill us.”
“Fine, should we hire him?”
“No! He just tried to kill us!”
“Thus why I didn’t ask you because you would just shoot it down. Look, we are going after masters of mana manipulation and none of us know how it works or how to fight it. We got lucky with Shadow, honestly, and we need his expertise otherwise we either won’t get him or will all be killed.”
“I’ll give you credit, you actually thought one through for once… He can help, but if he betrays us even the slightest bit I am going to cut him in half without hesitation.”
“Don’t worry, if it comes to that I’ll assist you in bringing him down.” With that we walked back onto the bridge. “Alright, Skye, looks like it is time to set sail for Japan. Let’s make some money, folks.”
“That’s right, you always were the jokester, Raxis, and look where it got you, or have you forgotten how I hired your own son to kill your lover?” Jecht sneered with delight.
I shook my head still pointing my gun back at his head not taking my eyes off him. I was standing there, staring down my best friend who had caused me so much grief and pleasure through the tears. He was the reason Micaiah was killed just as he said, but I had already coped with her death. It all happened at that dreadful place on Lunar Base 5...
It was a normal mission that Micaiah and I figured we could handle ourselves. Some nut job wanted to take control of the Mana Ex Machina and threatened to destroy several Lunar Bases with it. When we arrived we found much of the colony leveled and no colonists to be found. I pulled out my gun as the sound of shuffling feet crept up behind me. I turned to see a man dressed in an Interpol uniform holding out his hands to ease tensions. Interpol was the police force on the colonies. After the incident with Maldenia they quickly rose to power eventually putting all other forms of order out of business.
“Aren’t you Raxis?” the officer asked.
“Yeah, but sorry, no autographs right now, I have a job to do.”
“I don’t want your autograph,” his arms reached back to a sword sheathed on his back, “I want your life!”
He lunged forward at me whipping out the katanas. I had just enough time to slide out of the way. The katana sliced my coat collar as I moved. I looked down at my coat then back at him. “You are going to owe me a new coat.”
“Do not toy with me!” He shouted.
“Raxis, he is building up high levels of mana!” Micaiah warned me.
I looked at her then back at the man, but he was gone. “Not this again…”
He appeared behind me so I ducked down as a leg swept overhead. I kicked back towards him catching him in the midsection. He caught my foot just as it connected. He laughed maniacally then swung me into a piece of rubble. “I know all your moves, Raxis.”
“Well, glad I could peak your interest.” I drew my gun to fire but he grabbed my wrist.
He wrapped his hand around my throat lifting me off the ground. “I will kill you, Father!”
“I think this is a misunderstanding…I don’t have…a son” I struggled to break loose. “Wait…Diego?”
Diego, the name of my only son from my first lover, Rose. She was a memory from years long ago. I could still hear the screams ring through my head as Balin killed her in cold blood. My only son was taken from me, I was powerless to stop him. I feared him dead after that point and never thought to look for him. A mad man like Balin never left any alive. After that moment I became a bounty hunter to take down scum like him. Balin would never best me again, but no matter how many times I beat him nothing I could do could bring her back or my son.
A bolt of energy shot out into him knocking me loose from his grip. I gasped as he released me lifting up my gun again. Diego swept towards me with ungodly speed punching me in the stomach. I was flung back into a wall of rubble. He increased his movements and speed with mana, it was too much for me to. He quickly dug his katana into my should pinning me to the wall.
“Raxis!” Micaiah cried preparing to blast him again.
Diego rushed towards her punching her across the face.
“No!” I struggled relentlessly to pull the sword out of the wall, but I could not break free.
He turned to Micaiah, his body glowing with gold mana. He held out his hand towards Micaiah. Metal reinforcement bars wrapped around her body trapping her against the wall.
“NO! Diego, stop!” I shouted trying to pull the sword from the wall frantically.
He held his sword up ready to plunge it into her chest. “Raxis…this is going to hurt you more than it will hurt me, but you deserve to watch every drop of her blood spill out.”
“Raxis…” Micaiah called out to me.
He laughed maniacally turning back towards Micaiah. With one strong plunge…she was taken from me forever. I looked down at the ground as rage built inside me. Tears poured down my face. The rage turned red and engulfed my body. The sword shattered which held me to the stone rubble. I rushed towards Diego with unimaginable speed and strength.
I killed Diego with unrelenting anger after that. I was unaware of what actually took place. Next thing I knew I was trapped in my own mind begging to die with her. She was everything to me. It wasn’t until Shadow told me all the others I had touched and was meant to help in the future. To let her die in vain would only mean that Diego had won.
So here I stood, deadlocked with Jecht, the one who claimed to orchestrate this all.
“But Jecht knew nothing of that incident. When we went to the planet it was just the two of us. He also never trusted the powers of mana after our fight with shadow.”
“You talk as if I’m not actually here, Raxis.” Jecht spoke.
Gold mana could be seen gracefully touching his skin. It was then I knew the answer. “Release Jecht from your hold, this accomplishes nothing Diego!”
“So you knew it was me all along?”
“Of course, I would never forget that mana you used to killed Micaiah. Your torment ends tonight!”
“You have ruined my life, if it weren’t for you my mother wouldn’t have died in sorrow and I wouldn’t have been taken by Balin!
“I did everything to try and defeat Balin. Your mother was my life before I turned to this life to hunt down people like him.”
“Liar! You never even tried to look for me!”
“Balin killed everyone he came in contact with. There was no way to know he would have left you alive.” My hand shook almost pulling the trigger. “You took Micaiah from me…you have turned into the man you hate most.”
“Shut up! You shall kill your friend as I kill you and all you have accomplished in life shall be ruined in an instant!”
“And if you kill me, what then? Where does it all stop? Will you just go on killing people?”
“I will inhabit a new body and my life shall be eternal. There will be no end to the torment I shall bring onto this world. It is all justice for those who allowed people like Balin to thrive.”
“I will not allow that to happen.”
Just one day before…
“Jecht was taken over by your son? How are we going to stop him!” Skye shouted.
“Calm yourself, I will think of something…” Honestly I had no idea what to do.
“Diego’s mana spirit has transcended the laws of Maldenia. He will not return even if Jecht is killed. He is, in essence, immortal as long as the mana spirit is intact.” Shadow walked onto the deck.
“Don’t talk like that! We can’t kill Jecht!” Skye shouted but I held out my hand to stop him from getting up.
“I don’t think that is Shadow’s plan.” I explained to him.
He looked away in disgust.
“There was a weapon created to absorb mana and destroy it. Interpol created it to fight the mana manipulator threat, but the weapon was unstable. The user would also be sucked dry of their life force in exchange. The weapon was discarded soon after.” He reach into his pocket pulling out an archaic looking gun. “This is the only way to stop this threat.”
“No! I will not lose you either, Raxis!” Skye turned back towards us.
I took the gun from Shadow’s hand then turned to Skye smiling back him. “What is one man’s life compared to the entire world. I devoted my life to stop people like him. If I can’t Micaiah’s and Rose’s memories would haunt me the rest of my days.”
I pulled back the hammer on the archaic gun and prepared for the final shoot out. A single droplet of rain fell from the sky, and we both pulled our triggers. I felt the bullet pierce my rib cage as my head flung back. The red droplets went up into the air just like before. I crashed on the ground my gun skidding across the ground. The rain poured down now on my face. It was the greatest release I ever had. I never knew how refreshing the rain was. I stared up at the rain drops as I inched closer to death, but my vision was soon blocked by Jecht’s face.
“You fired a blank…but why…why not kill us both?” he dropped the gun and fell to his knees beside me.
“You never really liked me, I could always tell. But you hung around me through thick and thin… If ever you wanted to…kill me…you had plenty of chances.” I coughed up blood onto myself. “You were the closest friend I ever had…I could never…want to hurt you…even if it meant my own death…
“You exchanged my life for yours…”
“That’s what…friends…are for… Man…I could use…another…cup of…noo…dles…” I smiled back at him as all faded to black.
