Savage Stars

[tdc456]

RECAP SECTION

This is a small section to remind you of some key components in the story from Brittle Bullet.

The Zodiac
A secret military group formed to fight terrorism in secrecy. It's members had strange powers making them into almost perfect weapons. It was shut down due to secret experimentation on humans. They continued their work, but leading towards a different goal. Much drama and mutiny within the group has led to it's own demise. Today, there are only three surviving member: Leo, Scorpio, and Gemini.

The Guild
An organization created to destroy the Zodiac. It was mostly made up of ex-Zodiac members, including their former leader. The last remaining Zodiac members had manged to destroy it. Only four members survived, only to be defeated at the hands of the Zodiac.

Chris
At first, a confused youth. He was brought into the Guild after discovering his own powers, which grew and multiplied over time. He knew nothing of his past and was revealed to have also been in the Zodiac. His original name was Libra. He volunteered to leave the Zodiac and had his memory erased afterwards. Isaac retrieved him and together thay fought the Zodiac with every ounce of their power. Chris was killed at the end of Brittle Bullet by Gemini.

Isaac
The leader of the Guild and former Leo in the Zodiac. He found Chris and brought him back to the Guild to assist them in fighting. His specialty was using modified yo-yo's as weapons. Isaac fell by the hands of Scorpio in one of the last chapters of Brittle Bullet.

Kibo
An enigma of a person. He had a sniper scope for an eye and used knives in combat. Kibo was revealed early on to have been in the Zodiac as Sagittarius. Working for the Guild brought him solitude. His little sister, Kani, was in the Zodiac at the time as Cancer. He was forced to kill her just before the Guild was destroyed. Kibo activated his true powers while fighting Capricorn during the final chapters. Upon defeating Capricorn, he realized that using his powers so strongly after such a long time was killing him. He sat and let the explosion take him in the epilogue of Brittle Bullet.

Enka
The jokester and care-free "child" of the Guild. He used to be Pisces. In combat, he had his body modified so that his arms and legs were machine. With strange weaponry and fighting techniques, he was hard to follow in a fight. A lot of drama existed between him and Taurus, who Enka sacrificed his arms and legs to kill. After blowing Taurus away, literally, Enka realized that he couldn't move. Accepting that his life was going to become meaningless, he sat and died in the explosion which ended Brittle Bullet.

Leo
The leader of the Zodiac. He is known for always wearing two katanas in an "X" shape on his back. After esacping the explosion with Scorpio and Gemini, he revealed that part of his plan was actually eliminating the Zodiac from the inside. To this day, his powers and true intentions remain a mystery.

Scorpio
Leo's second-in-command. He and Gemini were the only two members of the Zodiac who knew Leo's plan. Scorpio wears strange bulletproof straps on his arms which he appears to control telepathically. They have hooks on the end of them as a sort of weapon. His shoes have guns attached to the heels so that he fire bullets while kicking. He killed Isaac as payback in Brittle Bullet.

Gemini
He once appeared to be friends with Chris in high school until they discovered he was a member of the Zodiac. Gemini has the most amazing and possibly disgusting power of any Zodiac member. He can absorb any weapon and alter his body to be an enhanced version of that same weapon. By absorbing a hand gun, his arm became a small minigun. When he absorbed Leo's sword with a gun hilt, his arm became a massive cannon which launched whole blades. This was how he killed Chris in Brittle Bullet. Now he, Leo, and Scorpio are attempting to carry out Phase 2 uninhibited not that the Guild is gone.

ATTENTION!!

This story is a sequel to a previous story I have written. I would strongly suggest that you read the other one first because you might not understand this one at all unless you know the characters.

To read the original story, Brittle Bullet, click >HERE<

Now that I've gotten that out of the way, please enjoy the sequel to my original story Brittle Bullet...

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His breathing was choked as his lungs filled with blood. It entered his throat and he spat it out onto the dirty tile floor. He had lost all feeling in his arms. Images flew through his head as his life faded slowly. The blade in his chest had pinned his heart to the back of his rib cage. Having his neck snapped just after being stabbed hadn't quite killed him, but it sure brought him close. Chris fought to stay alive as long as possible. Several floors below, the bomb finally detonated.

Savage Stars
Chapter 1: New Face, New Terror

The setting sun illuminated the small city one last time for today. People still walked the streets. Among them were several people who were on a mission. No matter what looks they received from the pedestrians, the three men kept walking.

The man on the far left had two katanas strapped to his back forming a big "X" behind him. The middle had black leather straps hanging from his arms and strange looking shoes with big bulges on the back. The third looked completely normal in every way, but he was now strange-by-association.

A man decided to ask why one of them was wearing swords on his back. As if on cue, a strap shot up from the other man's arm. The hook on the end caught the man's ear and pulled him to the ground. He then leaned down to face the man with the hook in his ear. His messy black hair covered his eyes only slightly and somewhat disgusted the stranger.

"Sir, I'm going to tell you this once." The hook unhinged itself and the strap returned to its original position. "Never ask about the swords. You're lucky I didn't hook you in the eye. Now run along, before you piss me off."

As soon as the strapped boy stood up, the man hit the ground running and disappeared into the evening twilight.

The normal looking boy laughed.

"Why you gotta be so hard on someone we don't even know, Scorpio?"

"Oh shut it, Gemini." He quickly followed with laughter as well.

The other boy turned to face them, his swords shaking slightly.

"You two are so stupid sometimes. Don't you realize that our mission is still far from over?"

*****

The convenience store echoed with footsteps as people exited and entered. The bell attached to the door rang every minute or so to let the cashier know that another customer had entered his midst.

People were looking through chips and candy. A man stood at the soda machine filling a "Super Big Gulp" size soda cup. A woman and her son were at the refrigerators at the back picking out something to drink on the road.

The bell rang again.

"GIVE ME ALL THE MONEY IN THE REGISTER!!!"

Everyone turned to see a man wearing a hoodie and jeans holding a gun to the cashier's face.

"NOW!!! PUT THE MONEY IN THE BAG!!!"

He turned to face the rest of the store. He fired a shot into the ceiling.

"EVERYBODY ON THE FLOOR NOW!!! GET DOWN OR GET SHOT!!"

They all obeyed. Except one man. He simply stood looking at the gum trying to find his favorite flavor. The robber approached him with his gun held high.

"I said get on the floor, bitch!!!" He put the gun to the man's head.

"You know?" The man, showing not even a bit of nerves or fear, turned to face him. "Shouting and swearing will get you nowhere in life. Be polite and people will respond with respect."

"Fuck that! I'm this close to putting a fucking bullet in the smart-ass head of yours. NOW GET ON THE FLOOR!!!"

He moved his gun to point over the man's heart. The man looked down at the gun and then back up to the robber.

"You really don't want to pull that trigger." The robber laughed. "It won't end well for you. Trust me. Just put it away and I'll be on my way."

"Bullshit!" He fired directly through the man's chest. Everyone flinched at the sound of the gunshot. Blood poured down the front of the man's shirt.

Suddenly, the robber dropped dead with blood erupting violently from a large gash in his throat.

The man's brown hair swayed as he looked to his chest. His vibrant blue-green eyes transfixed on the hole in his heart.

The blood began to run backwards back into his body. Then the wound vanished. He walked from the store and placed some money as the counter as he walked out the door.

*****

"What do you mean, Leo?" Scorpio leaned back in his chair.

The three boys now sat in a living room. Relaxed, they continued their conversation from before.

"I mean, that was only the first part to the plan."

"Damn it. But we killed them and now what do we have to do?" Gemini looked genuinely confused. "You brought us back from the dead to leave us in the dark?"

"No, I didn't. We still some loose ends to tie up. After all..."

He got up and walked to the window. Above the sunset, was the moon. Beyond that he saw the sparkle of the planet Mars.

"...who do the stars answer to, but the planets themselves?"
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To be continued in
S.S. Chapter 2

Please give me any feedback you have.
If you read this and are thoroughly confused, please read Brittle Bullet first, and I promise it will make sense.

[madammina]

The planets confused me, and the robbery scene.

A longer recap at the beginning would help catch everyone up on who is who, who's good, and what they are after... so far.

But, it does bring up some interesting things to look forward too

[tdc456]

It all gets explained later. This is exactly what this story is supposed to be. Confusing at first, then makes perfect sense later.

This is really something that I wrote that you need to have Brittle Bullet to understand. I know it's not fair, but I will be providing flashbacks and recaps in-story as it continues. Trust me, it'll work.

But besides all that, thanks for reading. I'm glad you are intrigued. Plus that robbery scene, I didn't leave anything out. What happened is a mystery for now. All questions, as in Brittle Bullet, will be answered.

[madammina]

I mean of the last story. Who Chris was, a brief info of the group that we know so far, etc.

I'm still confused on who everyone is. (Who are the heroes and the villains... at least at the beginning) and their powers.

And nice Lexaeus sig.

[Andillexe]

Great beginning, but I'm confused like madammina. Who's the dude that just healed himself after getting shot? Though I think I have a very vague idea of what the planets might be about.

Looking forward to being less confused in the next chapter. ^_^

[tdc456]

Like I said, it will all be explained.
That guy who healed himself, I consider him a character that I... uh, "left out" of Brittle Bullet. Haha

Thanks for the complement on the sig. :P

[madammina]

All I mean is if you had given one paragraph to recap Brittle Bullets it would have been great.

[tdc456]

I'm planning to edit in a recap/bio section. It'll define and explain key points from Brittle Bullet that lead to this story.
I'll have it up soon.

[madammina]

Thanks! That's all I ask.

[tdc456]

I have now added the recap section to the first post. I hope this helps.

[madammina]

PERFECT! Thank you!

limit....

[tdc456]

Today I'm planning on going to the movies with some friends so I'll post the next chapter when I return home.
It shouldn't be for a while though.

[kingdomkeylight]

All I have to say is wow. I just got done reading Brittle Bullet (also I really love that episode of FLCL) and I must say I really like it (though I had to read it twice to make sure I understood it). Hope to see it get just as crazy in this story.

[tdc456]

Glad to see I've picked up a new reader. Here is the second chapter. Sorry it's a little late.

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Light was scarce in the run down shack. His chair creaked beneath his weight. The incident at the store flashed through his head. He hadn't wanted to kill the man, but it was either kill or be killed. The veins in his right arm pumped a little faster. Turning his arm over, his gaze wandered to his wrists as he watched the blood pump through them.

Savage Stars
Chapter 2: The Waiting Room

The clicking of the keys on a keyboard was the only sound in the room. The walls were bare and most of the chairs were empty. Fluorescent lights lit the room a little too brightly. Some of the people that were in the room seemed a little disoriented and confused.

One wall only had four chairs along it. The light above it began to glow brighter and brighter until no one could see anything in the room. When the light faded back to normal, the four chairs were occupied. Some looked on for a second then turned away. Others didn't even bother to turn their heads. The receptionist peered over her high desk and scanned the chairs. She then returned to he computer typing a little faster.

The four newcomers looked to be asleep. They sat quietly for almost twenty minutes without even twitching. Then a small stir from the boy on the end.

His eyes opened slowly. They blinked quickly while adjusting to the bright light.

"What the-?" Chris sat up straight in his chair. "What just hap-?"

He looked next to him to see Isaac, Kibo, and Enka in the seats beside him. Chris reached over and shook Isaac's shoulder.

"Hey, Issac. Wake up, man." Isaac's eyes opened slowly. He turned to see Chris sitting next to him confused yet a little excited.

"Chris? What happened? All I remember is fighting Scorpio and then... black. Where are we?" Chris smiled a little.

"I don't know. I was impaled by Gemini and then I can't remember a thing either. Except for the sound of the explosion."

Issac and Chris then woke up Kibo and Enka. They all seemed very confused. But Enka started to tear up a little.

"Whoa." Kibo was surprised suddenly. "What's with the water works?"

"Look..." Enka grabbed his arms and legs one after the other. "They're all real. No machine. Just me. How is this possible? I haven't had normal limbs since almost three years ago. What is this place?"

Kibo and Isaac looked at themselves and realized something different, too. Kibo had two completely normal eyes in their sockets. Issac's right eye was completely normal as well. No tattoo of the Leo symbol. All of them now seemed to be completely "healed" in a way. That is, of course, except for Chris. He looked the same because he had nothing changed in him. Even the tattoos on Isaac's back were gone.

Chris finally asked the question that all of them had been thinking.

"Aren't we all supposed to be dead?"

*****

Scorpio stood up and stood next to Leo. He too was transfixed by the glow of the planet Mars in the twilight sky. Gemini only sat and stared at the two of them. Then a thought popped into his head.

"Hmm." Scorpio and Leo picked up on his change of thought and turned to inquire what had brought on his noise. "Something just occurred to me. Phase 1 may still be incomplete."

"What? How?" Leo seemed a little angered by Gemini questioning the plan.

"Did you know that there is a thirteenth Zodiac sign?" Scorpio smiled. Leo squinted in thought. "It is called Ophiuchus, the Snake Wrangler."

"Are you saying the Zodiac had been keeping a sleeper agent hidden from us?" Scorpio saw it as a little strange to be left out of the loop.

"Maybe." Leo walked back to the window and then turned away. Gemini went and stood next to Scorpio. "This is interesting. Plus you may be right in another respect. Did you know that whenever a Zodiac power holder dies, their sign appears in the sky for a short time?"

Gemini and Scorpio looked at each other and shrugged. Leo finished his thought with such an off-putting statement that Gemini and Scorpio had to sit down afterward.

"When that explosion destroyed the tower, I didn't see any signs appear in the sky."
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To be continued in
S.S. Chapter 3

[kingdomkeylight]

Ah yes the snake symbol Ophiuchus lol I only know the symbols because I was addicted to Megaman Starforce for a while.