My Name Is Justin

I got a call at 1 P.M.

I woke up and glanced at my clock. Realizing I had slept in, I snatched my phone off the pillow beside me, but it was already too late. I'd missed the call, which had gone to voicemail. I glanced at the caller ID and groaned upon seeing Ciel's name on the screen. A few seconds later, my voicemail notification went off. I played it, and the familiar sound of my teammate's voice played over the speaker.

“Damn it, Justin!” she snapped. “You'd better not be in bed still, you lazy fucking cunt! Get up! We need you here!”

Good ol' Ciel. Such a way with words...

I sighed and gave her a call back.

“Hey, Ciel,” I yawned once she answered.

“Did you just get up!?” she snapped. “Get over here!”

“Sure thing,” I said. “Just gimme, like, 30 minutes.”

“You have 5!” she said, hanging up.

I sighed again, and attempted to shove my phone into my pocket, before realizing that I was still in my pajama pants, which have really tiny pockets that I couldn't hope to fit anything bigger than a switchblade in. I slid them off and pulled on the same jeans I had worn the day before, and probably for the past week. I should probably switch to a different pair soon. Eh, it can wait a couple more days...

I dragged myself out of bed and made my way to the bathroom. Knowing that I couldn't possibly make it to the hangout in 5 minutes, I wasn't gonna bother hurrying up. I looked myself over in the mirror. My hair was a frizzy mess, but I guess that's to be expected when you grow it down to your shoulders. I'd have loved to take a shower, but I could only test Ciel's patience oh so much. So instead I splashed some water in my hair and pulled it back into the best ponytail I could, then splashed some more water on my face and armpits and applied some deodorant. I could wash up for real later.

I returned to my bedroom and, ignoring my closet, grabbed a t-shirt off the ground and pulled it on over my undershirt. I grabbed my biker jacket off the corner of my twin bed and put it on. I then walked to my kitchen and grabbed a Monster from the fridge. No time for a real breakfast, and I wasn't hungry anyway, so an energy drink would have to do. I cracked it open and chugged it quickly. I then grabbed my scythe that was leaning against the wall and slid it through the straps on the back of my coat, where it fit into place perfectly.

I walked out the door, taking note of the slip of paper taped to the outside. Something about pest control coming by sometime. I crumbled it up and shoved it in my pocket before making my way to the apartment's parking lot. I started up my motor bike, strapped on my helmet, and got going.

I arrived at the hangout significantly later than Ciel wanted. I parked my bike outside and went inside. Naturally, everyone else was already there. I suppose I should get to introductions...

Let's start with Ciel. She's an abrasive redheaded girl. She generally serves as our team's medic, which is good, because we get hurt a lot. It's also safer than going to an actual hospital. She's also pretty good at picking locks and she can handle herself pretty well in a fight.

Then we have Terrence. He's a lot more relaxed about things than Ciel is. He's a nice guy. Pretty quiet. He knows a lot about pyrotechnics.

Then there's Greg. Greg is Greg.

“What took you so long!?” Ciel demanded as I walked in.

“It's a long drive from my place,” I said. “Get off my back...”

“Morning, Reaper,” Terrence said, stifling a yawn. Guess he was tired too.

Greg gave me a short nod in greeting, and Ciel crossed her arms and glared at me angrily.

“You're face is gonna get stuck like that,” I told her.

“Good,” she hissed.

“So what's up?” I asked.

“Greg, explain,” Ciel said.

Greg stepped forward.

“I have good news and bad news,” he said. “The good news is, I found a proxy hideout.”

Oh goody. Slenderproxies. We sort of have a rivalry with them.

You see, me and my group of friends are Timberwolves. There's a lot of Timberwolves out there. All over the place. Our little group is just a small team of them. The Slenderproxies are like a rival gang to us. Their boss is a tall faceless guy in a suit, ours is a shape-shifting angel in a gas mask. We're just far too different to ever get along.

“So what's the bad news?” I asked.

“They're based in a residential neighborhood,” Greg said. “We'll have trouble engaging them without drawing in unnecessary attention.”

That could be a problem. We're not exactly a team of stealth experts.

“So are they worth engaging?” I asked.

“Depends,” Ciel said. “Does a safe full of cash and goods sound worth it to you?”

“Go on...,” I said.

“These guys are loaded,” she said. “Loads of valuables ripe for the taking.”

“Dunno about that,” Terrence said. “'Ripe for the taking' generally implies that it'll be easy to take it from them.”

“So what's the plan?” I asked.

“Stake them out,” Greg said. “Wait for them to leave.”

“Then bust in and steal all their shit?” I asked.

“Pretty much,” Ciel replied.

“How many?” I asked.

“I counted 13 men,” Greg said. “Could be more in town, somewhere.”

“Great,” I said. “So when do we head out?”

“We should have been gone already,” Ciel said. “But someone had to fucking sleep in today!”

“Let it go, would ya,” I sighed.

So the next several hours consisted of us sitting in a car down the street and waiting for the proxies to clear out. There were a few cars parked outside the house. Over the course of those several hours, the proxies filed out of the house, got into the cars, and drove off. Once all the cars were gone, we drove closer, got out of our car and approached the house.

“I doubt they'd leave their loot unattended,” Greg said. “We shouldn't be surprised if they left a few people behind to guard it.”

“Got it,” I said, as we made it to the front door. “You guys might wanna step aside.”

I grabbed the door knob and tried to turn it. As expected, it was locked. So I vigorously shook on the door, making as much noise as possible. I heard some shouting inside, followed by movement. I drew my scythe and raised it above my head, waiting for the sounds of people to reach the front room, beyond the door. Then I swung, plunging the blade through the door. I quickly drew it back out and jumped to the side. Just in time, too, as the men inside immediately opened fire, shooting through the door at where I had just been. I kept quiet and waited.

“Did we get 'em?” said a voice from inside.

“I don't know!” snapped a second voice. “Go check!”

There was some quiet bickering before one of the men opened the door and stepped outside. I stepped in front of him and swung my scythe in a broad arc, severing his head. I could see the other man inside, panicking as his partner's body fell to the ground. I charged toward him, swinging my scythe straight up. The blade met with his jaw before he could properly aim his firearm at me, and he went down.

I took a stance, with my scythe in a reverse-grip behind me, and looked around quickly, prepared to strike at anyone else who might be there. But I seemed to be alone.

“We're clear!” I called out.

The others entered through the damaged front door, weapons drawn. Ciel and Terrence both carried daggers, while Greg armed himself with a small pistol.

“Killed them both?” Terrence asked, looking at the body beside me. “Nice.”

“Stay on guard,” Greg said. “Just in case.”

“You're an idiot,” Ciel said, scowling.

“You're just jealous,” I said. “They had silencers, but I'm sure someone on this street heard that commotion.”

“We should hurry then.” Greg said. “Terrence, Ciel, find the safe. Quickly. Justin and I will stand guard here.”

Terrence nodded, and they both got to exploring the house. Greg nodded to me.

“Watch this door,” he said. “I'll keep an eye on the back one.”

“Got it,” I said.

It was a few minutes before I heard a loud BOOM from upstairs.

“What was that!?” I called up to them.

“Just getting this thing open!” I heard Terrence shout back.

“You found it!?” I asked.

“Yeah!” Ciel replied.

“Good!” Greg called out. “Pack whatever you can and let's go!”

“Already on it!” Terrence said.

As they got to work upstairs, I heard the sound of machine gun fire from the back room, accompanied the the sound of Greg crying out in pain. I rushed over to the doorway to see Greg's lifeless body on the floor, with a proxy standing over him, removing the empty clip from his weapon. My eyes met his.

“You killed Greg!” I snarled. “You son of a bitch!”

He quickly made to grab a new clip from his belt, but he wasn't fast enough. I rushed toward him, catching his throat with the arc of my scythe. I shifted my grip on the weapon as I darted behind him and drove the heel of my foot into his back. I pushed him away from me as I pulled the scythe toward me, causing the blade to slice through his neck, parting his head from his shoulders.

“What happened!?” Terrence said, as he and Ciel made it back down the stairs, both their backpacks full.

They both saw the bodies of Greg and the decapitated proxy and stepped back in alarm. I partially lifted Greg's body and dragged it over to them.

“Get him to the car and go!” I demanded.

“But why?” Ciel asked.

As she spoke, a pair of black portals tore open near the back door. I turned to face them and took a fighting stance as two proxies stepped through.

“Because they're coming back,” I said.

I swung my scythe in a wide arc, knocking the guns from the proxy's hands. Ciel and Terrence, no longer questioning me, lifted Greg's body and got to the front door as quickly as they could. I swung my scythe again, plunging the tip of it into one of the proxy's temples. The other one made to pick up his gun again. I pulled my scythe from his friend's head and turned my attention to him. He attempted to aim his gun at me, but before he could, I hooked the arc of my scythe behind his leg and pulled it forward, throwing his balance off and sending him sprawling to the ground. I lifted my scythe high and then plunged it into his chest, finishing him off.

I ran back into the front room, but 3 more portals opened between me and the door. More proxies stepped through. A couple more appeared behind me. I guess these ones couldn't afford firepower, because they all armed themselves with baseball bats and knives.

“Out of my way” I demanded.

They all charged at me. I swung my scythe in every direction, allowing the heavy blade's momentum to carry it. The proxies backed up a bit as the sharpened blade cut into their arms. I dispatched 4 of them in a series of quick slashes, cutting open their throats and torsos. Those 4 fell to the ground, dead, while the remaining 1 managed to step back enough to collect himself before rushing back in, swinging his bat. I quickly got into a defensive stance and blocked his attack with the pole of my scythe before stabbing him through the chest. He slumped over and I threw him to the ground with the others.

Another portal opened above me, and a proxy jumped through it, trying to take me out from above. I saw it coming and stepped to the side, hooking my scythe around him, and using gravity to assist my swing, I slammed him hard into the floor. He gasped in pain as several of his bones audibly snapped. I stomped down on his back, raising my scythe like a golf club, and took off his head with one swing.

Yet another portal opened up, and a man carrying a sawed off shotgun and wearing body armor stepped through. I dodged his gunshot and slashed at him. He just chuckled as my blade glanced off his Kevlar harmlessly. He wouldn't be laughing long, though. I swung the blade again, piercing into the side of his armor, digging several inches in. He gasped in shock, and I quickly kicked the end f my scythe, forcing the tip of the blade in even further. I twisted it a bit, causing him enough pain that he dropped the gun. I pulled my scythe out, allowing him to fall to the ground, bleeding heavily.

2 more portals opened by the front door, with a couple more proxies appearing through them, wielding bats. I swung my scythe above my head in a couple circles, building up some momentum before releasing it and sending it flying at them. The spinning scythe knocked the weapons out of both their hands and sliced one of their arms. I charged towards them and started throwing punches and kicks at them. I got in a strong punch to the back of the wounded one's skull, killing him, and then I grabbed the other one's head from behind and twisted hard, snapping his neck. I turned back to the rest of the room, where 7 more portals were coming into existence.

“Damn it!” I growled. “When will this end!”

“Justin!” I heard Terrence calling from behind me.

I turned to see him standing a few feet outside the door, with a lit Molotov cocktail in his hand. Seeing where this was going, I snatched up my scythe and bolted out the door. He threw the cocktail through the door, catching the proxies by surprise. We both turned and ran to the car, where Ciel was sitting in the driver's seat, ready to pull out. I could see Greg's body propped up awkwardly in the passenger's seat.

“Come on!” She shouted. “Let's go!”

Terrence got to the car first and threw open the back door. He slid to the other side and I got in after him, slamming the door behind me. Carla floored it, and we peeled off, putting distance between us and that now burning house.

“He's dead,” I said. “Isn't he?”

“Yeah,” Terrence said, glancing uncomfortably at Greg's body. “No pulse. I checked.”

“He's with the angel now,” Ciel said. I could be wrong, but she might have been fighting back some tears there.

With the angel. That's what we're always told. It's been drilled into my head over and over since joining the Timberwolves that those who die become one with the Archangel. Our great master, the Lord of the Fallen. So both Greg and all those proxies I just slaughtered are all with the Archangel now.

But it still feels wrong. We're always reminded by our higher ups that death is some kind of ascension, and that becoming one with the Archangel is a good thing, but something about life coming to an end still bothers me. I mean, Greg's not the first friend I've lost. Rillek, the man who recruited me into the Timberwolves, got killed pretty brutally. And then Daniel... Ugh, I don't even wanna think about that...

It never seems to get any easier.

“Hey,” Terrence said, patting me on the shoulder. “You gave those proxies hell. It's what Greg would've wanted.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I'm sure he would. Did anyone else see any of that?”

“Not sure,” Ciel replied. “We'll have to wait and see...”

“Hopefully there weren't any witnesses,” Terrence said. “It'd suck if we had to relocate again.”

We made it back to the hangout in silence. We moved Greg's body inside. We made plans to give him a proper burial tomorrow. Ciel and Terrence emptied out their backpacks on the table. There was some expensive jewelry, a couple switchblades, a sack of gold coins, a dusty old pocket watch, and several clips of money. None of us were really in the mood to count it all, so we agreed to deal with it later.

We decided to crash at the hangout for tonight. No one really had the energy to go home after all that. We keep a computer here, just in case, so I decided to start writing this, because... I don't really know why. Just because, I guess. Whatever...

My name is Justin Gremori Ferin.

And to quote a video game I haven't really played much...

This is my story.