aaaaay
@thecrystalrook @dsptss78 @Fuzed @amthecomic @surenlicious @Fuzzyman818
oke oke scroll up those of you who haven't seen designs for Suren and Red&Blue plus redesigns for Kaguyo and Dan
Otherwise, time for plot summary and backstories all mashed into one!
Begin!:
Blithe is hired to assassinate Reeves.
Blithe. In the late 90's to early 2000's, riding the tail end of a gigantic wave of organized crime, he builds himself legendary status as a hitman - unique, in that he's never fired a single round. Stalking, marinating his target, until the moment was right to strike with cold steel, he never missed; the wounds he left killed fast; and with all the patience going into his work, Blithe never left any forensic evidence. Where ballistics could've tracked down a gun and its owner, they were helpless to trail a kitchen knife, one among tens of thousands, sharpened to clean shaving edge - and although incriminated of many a murder, not once was he proven guilty.
Over a decade later, civilian, widower, lone father of a son soon to graduate highschool, Blithe finds himself between a hammer and a hard place when the feds come knocking at his door. Supposedly, new forensic technologies and an out-of-blue testimony of a former associate have him in trouble - and to get off the hook, he'll be serving the nation's interests. While Blithe's inclined to call bullshit on that, he knows that you don't just brush off a fed when they come with a deal. They'll get you to cooperate one way or another.
The thing is, people now have superpowers. Like, since autumn of last year. A gang underling in his youth, former co-worker of Blithe's, is now heading a regional hitman organization in the same city Blithe's trying to live a peaceful life. And he has to become a superpowered killer and right-hand-man of his old colleague in order to ensure the safety of the nation by acting as an inside agent.
Which he successfully does.
Reeves. About the same time as young Blithe was running around stabbing people in the kidneys, Reeves was enforcing law and order on the streets. Cartel law and cartel order. An ocean and several country borders away.
However, long before superpowers became a thing, he left - fled to another country. The cartel had no ire at him as a professional: Reeves did his work with due diligence, single-handedly reigning terror over entire districts and keeping most of the cartel's manpower on a tight leash. That was exactly why he chose to mums the word when his little bro joined the lower ranks: letting everyone know that the boogeyman's family was now in business would seed suspicion of an overtake and guarantee that if not the both of them, then his brother for sure would be walking under crosshairs.
Too bad that his bro joining in the first place was dictated entirely by envy; steamrolling competition and viciously clawing to reach the same heights as Reeves, he earned the ill will of one too many a cell head. In other words, he was wanted dead - and when Reeves decided to come clear and ask to spare him as family, it only made matters worse: accused of betraying the cartel's interests and supposedly endorsing his brother's unruliness, he's ordered to make sure that only one of them remains in the cartel's ranks. Unbeknown to him, the exact same orders were issued to his brother - and when Reeves realizes that lil' bro would rather take his spot than step down, he simply goes with the only decision that feels right: leaving.
And then escaping to another country before the cartel executes him as a rouge. Many years pass; Reeves now has a university diploma, dayjob, conceal carry permit and a gun under his pillow every night. Suddenly, superpowers - and deep in the underground scene, amidst a massive, global war between criminal organizations, his former cartel starts extending its influence overseas and reaching the city he lives in. Unforgiving and bloodthirsty as ever, before the cartel starts business in town, it wants to tidy it up first: and that means sweeping away not only rivals, but also dissenters like Reeves. Especially when those dissenters have trained their superpowers to the point of earning the coveted title of 'Ambassador of the Streets', meaning that they could potentially turn every single free-gunner of the city against the cartel.
Doing the dirty work from afar and with another's hands, the cartel requests the services of a most reputable mercenary and hitman organization; and eager to get on good terms with the new big gang in town, Blithe's boss puts his best to the task. Blithe just so happening to be one of those best.
And that... is where the story actually begins. Most of this is character background that gets sprinkled all throughout the actual narrative and subtly hinted at. Obviously, both backstories are references to the original works; and it's my decision to make them part of the character's past, so that i free myself up to spin my own drama from them in their present while retaining the connection.
Anyways, that should be a hecking truckload to read already - and i haven't even mentioned Kaguyo, Dan, Suren, or Red&Blue. Or the setting's lore. Or anyone's actual combat potential and powers. Or the main matchups: because spoilers! - Blithe doesn't actually get to fight Reeves, nuh-uh.
Sure was a hecking truckload to write though, so hah, cliffhangers. I'll be updating over the next couple of days.