A troubled moon was falling on the city. The half steel, half dust of R.I.S City gleamed in the dim blue neon that bounced back off wet streets. There was a scent of smoke, sweat and something sharp, like in the atmosphere before a storm. Kaiser was leaning over a deserted subway tunnel, with his jacket on one side and his breath was making white clouds in the cold air. Taj, Wasif and Comet came in behind him, and their footsteps bounced off the wet walls. No one spoke for a while. The quiet was even more oppressive than the darkness. Now Kaiser smashes it up.Training begins. It fell on the ground, and the bag struck the concrete, piercing the reverberation. Bro, at this time, it is 1:43 a.m., sir, claimed Taj in a little chuckle of a smile. You sure we're not insane?" The smile of Kaiser flashed in the flicking lights. "Craziness conquers wars. Comet cracked his neck. "Fine. Train somewhere, not haunted next time, can we? His voice was low, and Wasif chuckled. "Ghosts don't scare me. People do." There was a puff of wind in the tunnel as a omen. Kaiser had no more time to lose. He swept his gloves, made a white line in the ground with a piece of chalk and said, Tonight we fight without names. No school. No sides. Just skill." Taj smirked. "And what's the point?" Kaiser stared at him with half-shaded eyes. Since when the moment comes no one of you will find time to think. You will go by your instincts-- or you will go. The lyrics are a blow of a challenge. Then Taj came forward, darkening the expression of his face.<|human|>then see whose judgement is the better. Sneakers scrapped against the concrete. A light flickered above them. The first fight began. Taj leaped, first, - quick, pure, effective. Kaiser just leaned his head as Taj plunged his fist through the air in the place it was. The reverberation went round the tunnel in the nature of gunfire. Kaiser replied-- calm, tolerant. He dodged, whipped round, low sweeping knee. Taj blocked, swung, elbowed back - crack. It wasn't friendly. It was survival. Comet watched, wide-eyed. They are even attempting to kill each other. Wasif did not reply--merely crossed his arms, like a coach, analysing the rhythm. "No. They are attempting to know one another. The eyes of Kaiser shone like a polished glass. Each gesture of his frame shouted of restraint, - each impact of his hand was a challenge. Taj, however, was not like that, he was wild and calculating, his energies are stormy: fierce and unpredictable. Then Kaiser falsified, twisted and thrust his shoulder forward. Taj just escaped, - and the wall behind him broke. Dust fell like rain. The two stood still-- then grinned at the same time. Kaiser: "Not bad."Taj: "You too. Old man." Kaiser: "Old? I am two months older than you.Taj: That still counts. Comet burst out laughing. You both are talking like a married pair. Taj: "Hush, Comet.Kaiser: You as well. The tension was gone, there was a moment of queer warmth. The laughs did not last very long. Footsteps rang, far at the other end of the tunnel-- heavy, slow, deliberate. The band swung around and a figure appeared, the only light upon which fell as flicker of lights. A gray-coated tall man came forward with half his face covered by a mask. The words of Kaiser hardened on his face, and he said, You followed us. The man didn't reply. His voice, where it came, was deep and cold. They are now the owners of the old R.I.S line. Taj frowned. "Them?" The stranger full came into sight. His mask was covered with a red mark - the same which they had painted on the ancient walls: two intersecting fangs. Comet whispered, "That's… Fang Division. The East District gangs. Kaiser's pulse quickened. "So they're back." The man smiled under his mask. You kids still think that this city is yours? Wasif came forward, and his voice remained unvarying. "We don't care who owns it. We just train here." The man tilted his head. Then take this as thy last lesson. And then — chaos. Leaped the masked man, coat like smoke. Kaiser parried the first blow but the strength of the blow propelled him backwards. Taj did not need any encouragement and, throwing himself on the side, the man swung around and kicked, both fell in a heap of dust. Wasif sprang into the building, held a metal rod he had taken out of the ground, and Comet went behind a pillar, seeking an opening. It was no longer training. It was war. The tunnel was bursting with activity, punches, kicks, echo, sparks. No one they had experienced was faster than the masked fighter. Not clumsy movements he made, but surgical ones. Kaiser struck him a right hook in the air, one, one, thud! but the fellow did not stir in the least. He then struck him a back hand that dashed Kaiser against a wall. Blood dripped from his lip. Ok He wiped it off slowly, smiling at the pain. Now it's fun." Taj was standing beside him, with bruised but smiling face.Guess we are all crazy after all. Kaiser nodded. "Let's go insane together." they dashed in--two lightning flashes on the darkness. Taj went high, Kaiser went low. The masked man stopped both - but here came Comet at the back, waving a broken pipe as a baton. "Surprise!" CLANG! The hit connected. Sparks scattered. It was the first time that the man staggered. Wasif got his way in taking Kaiser by the shoulder. "Now!" They attacked in concert--Kaiser, with his knee, Taj, with his elbow, Comet, with his pipe,--all hitting in perfect harmony. The disguised gentleman fell to the earth. For a second, the world froze. Then he laughed. An ominous chilled laughter that rang down the tunnel. "You think you've won?" he whispered. His next move was to hurl something, a little metallic ball, before they could respond. A flash. Smoke. Soundless explosion. The air had cleared before he could see — he was gone.
The four of them were standing there, gasping, coughing, with the adrenaline still coursing in their veins.
Comet rubbed his tearful face. "That… wasn't normal training."
Wasif nodded, serious. "No. That was a message."
Taj frowned. "A message from who?"
Kaiser stared to where the masked man had vanished on the wall. The sign - two red fangs - was now new in color, and seemed faintly to shine in the light.
He softened, it was something to himself, not to anybody, Fang Division. What are you saying R.I.S City is going to burn again.
Outside, dawn was creeping in. The skyline of the city was the shattered glass. The four friends stepped out of the tunnel without uttering any words, though tired and bruised, they were stronger than ever.
The wind was whispering behind them--or perhaps it was only memory.
In any case, the city had been roused up that night.
And it was not going to sleep again.
The rain was falling once more.Slim, chilly, silent--the sort that did not make a noise and yet had the scent of metal and streetlights.
Kaiser led the group, his jacket wet through and the lower part of his white shirt at the edges of his collar diverted with the dried blood. His heart was beating, his mind not. Each movement was returning as a reminder of the man in the mask.
Fang Division, I said to myself, half. "After all this time…"
Taj was strolling along with him, with his hands in his pockets, and his eyes shut.--You really think it was them? Some would-be-thug of theirs.
Kaiser stopped walking. Turned slowly. "Nobody uses his mark.
Wasif spoke in a low and wary voice. You are talking of the gang that ripped through East R.I.S a decade back? The one that had hooted after-
Kaiser completed, "After the warehouse explosion." "Yeah. That one."
Comet blinked. Do you remember being alive then?
The smirk of Kaiser was keen and fatigued. What the hell do you think I am a grandpa?
Comet grinned. "Maybe."
Taj even laughed a little — but the sound was soon discontinued. They could all feel it: the moving of the air, the change of the rhythm of the city. There was something going on under the smooth surface that was unknown.
They came to the alley which divided two half-completed apartment blocks. R.I.S City at night was a painting, gone bad, high towers bent over narrow lanes, selling machines flashing next to wrecked bicycles, cats lying on burning billboards.
Wasif paused at the termination of the alley. "Let's split here. School starts in four hours."
The gray dawn between buildings broke as Kaiser looked up. His eyes were far, as though he saw a something that no man could see. Yeah. Go.
When Taj and Comet had gone he lingered behind. The air felt heavier again.
Then — buzz.
His phone vibrated. No name. No number. Just one message.
Unknown Sender:-- You ought not to have been to the tunnel.The city never forgets.
The breath of Kaiser stopped half a moment. He looked over the roofs- nothing. The streets — empty.
Then another message.
"They're watching you. You four.Don't go back to R.I.S High tomorrow.
He typed back instantly.
"Who are you?"
No reply.Then a second message was shown.
Check beneath the ancient subway clock.
When he came back to the subway, the morning was hardly in progress. The sky was pale, the roads damp and silent. He crept down the same broken steps, which had been used the previous night, with a soft step.
The tunnel was empty. No one. No sound. Only the dripping of water.
He touched the old station clock - the one that stood at 11:43 forever.Something was under it - a black envelope.
Cowering down, he took it up and opened it. Inside, there was a photo.
A blurry image. But evident enough to show four figures, himself, Taj, Comet, Wasif standing in the tunnel, photographed overhead.
Someone had been watching.
and scribbled in red marker on the photo:
It is a game in the city. And you have just come back.
Kaiser froze. The odor of the paper, the slight bit of dust, the bleeding of the letters on the photo — all was too recognizable.
It wasn't just a threat. It was a signature.
A ghost is the only individual who said that a few years ago. A legend.The name uttered by all the warriors in the ancient city conflicts - Raze.
Kaiser gave a short, half-laughing, half-growling sigh. "No way…"
[A little later on that morning - R.I.S High, rooftop].
The school came alive once more, the students talking, uniforms trim, the morning announcements being announced in faint tones through speaker. Kaiser was not listening. He stood over on the roof, and looked at the clouds floating across the city skyline.
Taj came first, with two cans of cold coffee. Gave him one of them. You look like you were not able to sleep.
"I didn't." Kaiser picked up the can blindly.
"Bad dreams?"
"Worse." He handed over the photo.
Taj's eyes scanned it. His jaw tightened. "Who the hell took this?"
Kaiser shrugged slightly. Who they are, they are sure to know where we are. What we do. And what's coming."
Wasif entered behind them with his notebook. "Any leads?"
"Yeah," Kaiser said. "One name."
"Raze?"
Kaiser nodded.
The voice of Comet was heard behind him. "That guy's a myth. My cousin replied that he was a legend in the first R.I.S City fights - single-handedly knocked down gangs, and was never seen again afterwards because of the Midnight Collapse.
Kaiser remained gazing at the horizon. "He's not a myth. He was real. I've seen him once."
Taj turned, surprised. "You met him?"
Kaiser darkened his face. "No. I saw what he left behind."
Silence. Even the wind seemed to stop.
Wasif broke it quietly. "So what's the plan?"
Kaiser swiveled around, and it seemed all the sound was choked out of his words. We train harder. Smarter. We discover the man who wrote that message. And if Fang Division's back…"
He made up his fists. "Then we complete what R.I.S City began years ago.
Comet heaved a sigh and threw aside his bag. "Great. So essentially we are battling ghosts.
Taj grinned. "Then let's make them bleed."
The four were there a moment, the city wind blowing their hair, the sky-line flaming gold in the morning sun.
There was something unspoken.
Nobody uttered it, yet all four of them experienced it:This was no longer school.
A larger thing was underway.
[Nightfall — East R.I.S District]
The city changed after dark. The lamps were like dying stars, and the rain made the alleys the reflections.
A black van dragged slowly across the district. Men in dark suits were inside looking at a monitor. The camera stream was occupied displaying four students walking on the school rooftop.
One man leaned forward. "These are the ones?"
Another nodded. "Yes. The next generation. The ones Raze marked."
The first man smirked. "Then it begins again."
He turned off the monitor, and the display became black.
The city was like a living heart beating.
The rain had come unannounced.It did not beat softly, but crashed down, cutting right through the thin neon fog that was suspended over the R.I.S City, the suburban metropolis of shattered glass buildings, leaning power lines, and narrow streets that were so close that stigma was an alien concept. The city was Japan and Bangladesh--a weird moulding of two souls, cut together with steel, and ambition and unrest. Below, on the wet asphalt, there was flashing bright holographic kanji and Bengali shop signs that flaked the wet asphalt with color of confusion.
Kaiser was looking out of the window of an old apartment at the north side of the city.The rain was creeping down his image, the placid and the tempest, two half-faces of his face. His shirt, which was his uniform, was loosely hanging on one shoulder, but tinged with the slight tincture of blood of last night. He wasn't looking at the city. He was looking through it.
Taj was bending over the couch behind him, tossing a metallic coin with his fingers.The room was dark, a flickering bulb that was waving just a little on the ceiling, the sound of dripping water somewhere in the corner. Comet sat on the edge of the bed with his arms side by side, looking weary and alert and mind ablaze at what had happened since he had come there, and Wasif stood very quietly by the doorway, his head low and scrolling through something on his tablet -school files, gang maps, scraps of student networks which appeared less like a school registry than a war grid.
Kaiser at last broke silence.
Taj no longer tossed the coin.Wasif and Comet jerked a finger. "Raze?"
Kaiser didn't turn around. His tone was low as though he was addressing a ghost.He is the one who made R.I.S what it is today. Why gangs are the kings of school. The reason why there are people like me is because of this.
Comet shivered.Something crawled along his spine.Once he heard the name mentioned somewhere - Raze, in the cafeteria, and then no one ever replied. A myth, they said. One of the legends that paced on shadows. Some said he was expelled. Some Maintained that he never existed.
Taj sprang, crossed his arms and drew an angry scowl. "then that shows us have lost time should he really be back.
Wasif raised his eyes, his voice low but cogent."He's already working in the east sector. Not all the ex-Black Fang members disappeared, but instead switched sides.
One looked at another--it was unclear to Comet whether it was a nightmare or a suppressed past that he had blundered into--who was Raze, who was Raze?
Kaiser at last wheeled about. His eyes were illegible, with something in them that was not befitting to any one of his years.Raze was me, Raze was me, he said to himself. "Or maybe I was him. Once."
There was a silence in the room--a silence that seemed like an explosion in mid-air.
Taj pulled himself straight and tightened his jaw. You think you want to tell him that? he deserves to know, Kaiser answered. "Before everything repeats."
Flashback.
Methadone R.I.S.Back in 20XX, five years prior to Comet being transferred, the school was not a nightmare. It was worse still, systematized disorder.
Each and every corner, every single hall, every single student, was a part of a system, a chain of command, a chain of control constructed not by teachers, but by students themselves. The gangs were not haphazard at the time. They were all one--in one name.
RAZE.
It wasn't a person then. It was a symbol. A movement. A storm.
And the lad who began it all--had the same black hair and quiet eyes Kaiser had.He had been class-leader, had never lost in a fight, and had as many friends as foes. But he was not like that, he did not struggle to gain ego, or power. He struggled to create equilibrium, to prevent the increasing violence among groups before it would engulf the school.
Initially, it was successful.He brought together the gangs of the Silver Hounds, the Fang, the Shadow Ring, and placed them under the same flag. For a year, peace held.
Until it didn't.
Peace in R.I.S City was a luxury people did not believe in.As soon as one head of state appeared, another one aspired to take his position.The cohesiveness broke. Betrayal came--so sudden, so fast.
The fog whirled.then the first stroke was paid.
Kaiser had been prepared Raze then. Someone spread a lie. He had turned in the gangs to the government, he had become an informant.In a single night it would all be burnt up.The cafeteria would be a battleground. Blood on tile floors, desks broken, glass falling out of the windows.
He struggled with them all, every one of his own recruits, till he could not stand any more.When he opened his eyes, the school was quiet. The name "Raze" was banned. And the student who was their leader now was away.
Or so they thought.
The rain outside muddled the lights of the city.Comet looked at Kaiser as he was looking at the ghost of a god. "So… you were Raze all along?"
Kaiser nodded faintly. "Was. However, now someone else bears that name. Somebody who would make me complete what I could not.
Wasif closed the tablet. "And we think we know who."
Taj smirked bitterly. "Rex."
Comet's mind spun. "Rex? The Silver Hounds leader? Kaiser did not refute it. He turned his head and looked, and a storm lurked behind still water. My right hand. Until he betrayed me."
The sentences seemed to hang in the air.A crack of lightning tore the room and in a moment the Comet had glimpsed Kaiser in the glass; still the same shadowy form of the alley fights, a leader who was bearing too many ghosts.
As the night passed on, the rain became misty.The group used the quiet streets of R.I.S City. Neon was bouncing off the puddles and throwing some red and violet shards over their faces. The noises of the city were remote,-- only the humming of the motor cycles and the vending machines going hum along in the night.
They came to a deserted subway-way, blocked with rusty bars of metal. Kaiser pushed them aside. There was a long passage leading into the black, illuminated by the dim blue glare of old bulbs. The walls were covered by graffiti, names of killed gangs, erased threats, crowns and flames.
Welcome to the underlevel, Taj said to himself, This is where it was born, Kaiser said. "And maybe where it'll end."
Comet, his breath coming shallow, came after. The air reeked of iron, wet dust, time.On their way down, the dripping water sound like heartbeats. Wasif was sweeping the walls with his tablet, coded messages, identities of other groups. There are other people here below, you see, he said.
At the end of the tunnel Kaiser paused in front of a huge metallic entrance. It had a symbol etched into it, nearly effaced by rust, a broken crown, with fire all around it.
The emblem of RAZE.
He stroked the mark with his fingers. "This was ours once."
Taj stood and gazed about him, a feeling of discomfort in his voice. It is like walking through the bones of a dead empire.
Kaiser's tone was quiet. "It's not dead. Just sleeping."
He addressed Comet.--Listen. Raze, the new Raze, will attack us, first, in case he desires control. Especially after last night. Now you are one of this whether you like it or not.
Comet had a sensation in his chest, but this time it was not fear but determination.I am not turning back, he said. Not yet when I have a glimpse of things to come.
A smile, almost proud, almost sad, pulled at the lips of Kaiser.--Good.
The city changed outside.Over the tops of the rooftops a lens on a drone flashed red. One of them stood in the darkness of a tall billboard in the rain falling off his coat. Silver hair, stinging grin, eyes in the glow of the screens below. Rex.
He was viewing them over their drone feed. "Good. There is no fun battling a dead person who is not alive.
Behind him came a girl out of the mist, and she was tall, with a mechanical headset shining a faint blue. Her voice was low, impersonal.--Should we play, Rex?
He chuckled. "Not yet. Make them know how it is to taste fear. Tomorrow evening, we will remind them of who the real Raze is.
The following day in school was weirdly silent.Students were muttering with Kaiser on his way to school. The history of the alley fight had already gone round like wildfire. However, nobody knew that the true war was yet to begin.Comet, in his school room, gazed at the clock but his thoughts were elsewhere, in the tunnels, in the rain, in the picture of Kaiser under that broken crown.
Taj dropped a wrapped sandwich on his desk when lunch time arrived. "Eat. You'll need it. Tonight we move."
"Move?" Comet hesitated.Wasif leaned forward. "According to Intel, Rex and his crew have something in mind. We are not looking forward to their going at us first.
Kaiser came to the door of the room, like a ghost. "Midnight. East docks. Be ready."
Comet nodded. His heart beat quickened-- half of fear and half of excitement. It was no longer merely survival in the world which he had fallen into. It was war.
In the same night the fog came heavy, and the city was gulphed in gray-white.There was not a ship at the docks, or a crate, or a crane, but looked like an iron giant sleeping. The fog was pierced by the moonlight in streaks.
Kaiser and his crew passed quietly one after another between containers, each step being reckoned.Then a voice was heard in the mist.
"Missed me, brother?"
Rex got out, and his silver hair fell glittering in the lights of the dock, and his coat was flying in the breeze. There was a score of figures around him, the Silver Hounds, all masked and armed.
Kaiser muttered to himself, shoulders subsiding in a poised attitude, Rex. You could never resist dramatics.
Rex smiled. "I learned from the best."
There was a sound of metal against metal--knives being pulled out, chains turning.Comet could feel the beat of his heart in time with the sound of waves.Wasif shifted his position; Taj moved his knuckles.
Rex held his arms open with a laugh. Let us complete what we had started five years back.
To be continued…