Greetings from SeekerMeeker. This is a brand-new story that I have decided to try out. This should be similar to, but also different from, other stories that I have written so far.
Plus, rating may change from T-rating to M-rating, depending on how I want to explore the topic.
[And one important note: I have been struggling VERY much to try and get the first chapter out. This first chapter will be an attempt at trying out something new. Please review, so that I know what to expect. If you believe that PM is a much better way to review, please review first, then PM me. Thank you.]
[I am open to criticism, in order to improve this story.]
Alright, let's get started.
Rise of Senshazonia
By SeekerMeeker
TABLE OF CONTENTS I
Chapter 1: Calling
Chapter 2: The Waiting
Chapter 3: A New Base
Chapter 4: Once Upon a Time [The "True Introduction"]
Chapter 5: Realities
Chapter 6: Rise of a New Nation
Chapter 7: New Ooarai
Chapter 8: Double Revelation
Chapter 9: - Fog and Tears
Chapter 10: Shoukai Shimasu I
Chapter 11 and beyond: Table of Contents II starts at Chapter 11.
Chapter 1: Calling
It's been 40 days, and I have lost sight of my sister.
That stupid apocalypse...we thought...we were just there to showcase our native sport, the sport of Senshadou, the way of tanks. Although various forms of it are practiced from around the world, it has lapsed to a various degree. Indeed, in the US, it lost much prestige, due to all the shootings and vehicular terrorist attacks. In countries like North Korea, girls are literally trained to kill on sight. In some countries like Saudi Arabia, women are not even allowed to drive tanks...
Ah, sorry for the rambling.
After that apocalypse, we-
"Nishizumi-san?"
"Hmm?"
It was raining outside, lightning striking and thunder roaring. Every time it flashed, the whole room inside lit up. It was a wide, dark blue room, more like a museum space. Lined on the walls were trophies of all kinds, from dull bronze to bright gold. On one of them, nine trophies stood, all of them with the Iron Cross etched onto them. On the other wall was an exhibit, showing two of the most famous schools of style in Japan:
NISHIZUMI AND SHIMADA: THE TALE OF THE LEGENDARY LEADERS OF SENSHADOU
"I am sick of seeing that," a tall girl with short, dark brown hair muttered, glaring at the exhibit. On it, only she, her mother, and two other people were shown: their rivals.
Her rival was in front of her.
"Nishizumi-san," a young girl with light brown eyes and light grayish-blonde hair mumbled. She had her hair tied into ponytails with black ribbons. She sat on a dark blue bench, opposite of where the Nishizumi girl was sitting down.
"Yes," she sighed. "I know, Shimada-san. This has been heavy in my heart..."
"Mine too," the Shimada girl said, sighing. She held her doll very tight, which looked like a light brown teddy bear, but covered in bandages. On top of it, the bear's head was a little wet.
"I have said this a thousand times," the Nishizumi girl replied, sighing. "No kidding; we've been meeting up a lot, just to share our thoughts and hearts together, ever since..."
The two were silent, then both looked at each other, square in the eyes.
Two dark brown eyes and two light brown eyes stared at each other.
"The Apocalypse," both declared simultaneously.
The two girls sighed, leaning on their own chairs. The rain continued to pour, firing into the glass windows like bullets from a machine gun. The thunder roared in the distance, vaguely reminding them of the explosions of tank shells slamming into tanks.
However, all those now felt...dull.
"I don't know," the tall finally spoke, breaking the silence. "But Senshadou feels so...old, now. I mean, I did it all, obeying my mother in everything. How do you feel, Shimada-san?"
"Nishizumi Maho-san," she replied. "Please, you can just call me Alice-san, since we are equals."
Maho sighed.
"And I can't keep up my stoic facade for long," she grumbled. "I am honest with you, only because we both share the loss."
"Don't mention it," Alice replied, sniffing as she cuddled her doll. "But by the way, why did you still remain with your mother?"
"Ah, I did not tell you," Maho mumbled. "Remember the 62nd National High School Senshadou Tournament?"
"Umm...yeah," Alice said, trying to sound enthusiastic. "But...wait, is that why?"
Alice stared at her, eyes wide open. Maho slowly nodded.
"I maintained my belief in my mother's style," she replied, looking down. "I am the official heir to the Nishizumi style, the 'official' style. So that my sister...can be free."
"And now," Alice uttered, hugging her doll tightly. "She's..."
The two looked away, not wanting to say it.
"Miho..." both mumbled.
The storm continued to rage outside, rain pouring, thunder raging, lightning flashing.
"But what really happened?" Alice asked. "The Apocalypse is all we know."
"All we know," Maho replied, sighing. "Is that the Apocalypse covered the entire area of Latin America-Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean, and South America-in a strange, massive cloud that prevents air travel and communications. Even the seas around them are now off-limits."
"I don't really know about those areas," the girl with the doll replied, hugging her doll tight. "All I care is...our friend."
"Miho..."
Both were silent again, and the storm continued to roar, to moan, to cry.
Maho then sniffed, then smashed her right fist into the table, causing it to tremble.
"We-we should have never been to Brazil!" Maho finally uttered, gritting her teeth. "Brazil was not the safest of places, but the President of Brazil invited us! And then, suddenly, all that craziness happened!"
Both sat in silence, trying to make sense of it all...
The Apocalypse was a colloquial term for something that happened in the entire Latin America. Much of Mexico, most of the Caribbean, and all of Central America and South America got hit by some meteors. However, instead of causing a worldwide crisis, these meteors somehow caused some strange clouds to cover the entire areas. Even from space, no satellite could even penetrate its strange clouds. Hence, everything within was mysterious...
"We were just invited to showcase our Senshadou," Maho muttered. "And we were just there for supposedly for a few days..."
"And the Apocalypse struck..."
"And we were in the parade when it happened..."
"Man," Alice said, shaking her head. "So many things happened, that it's hard to remember what REALLY transpired there!"
Maho looked at her, and sighed in agreement.
"And remember the stupid helicopters?" Maho asked. The word "stupid" was said with some subtle hostility.
Alice understood why.
"While we're escaping," she said. "Rescue helicopters came, and one of them dropped down its ladder. The men told us that they're going to save all of us."
Maho gritted her teeth, her fists tense and shaking.
"I thought they were there to do so," Alice muttered, sniffing. "A-as so-soon as we're safe...th-they just...they just..."
"Took off without SAVING THE OTHERS!" Maho roared, slamming her fists into the table. It wobbled and shook.
"We watched in horror..." Alice muttered, crying into the doll's head. "An-and...no helicopter even came...an-and...they did not ev-even...save the..."
She trailed off, her tears drenching the doll's head. Maho sat still, her own tears falling down. She wiped them off with her black uniform sleeve.
"After the rescue," Maho growled. "We were back onboard one of the JSF ships, and thought that the others were going to be saved. Unfortunately, the stupid Brazilian government lost too many helicopters...somehow...and they could not rescue the others."
"And left us here," Alice groaned. "Then...by the time our ship left the coast..."
"Those strange clouds," Maho uttered. "Then covered the entire lands, and storms suddenly appeared, forcing our ship and others to leave."
They remembered those. The ships that avoided the strange storms traveled all the way to Europe. There, Maho took a flight from Germany, while Alice took a US airline. Long story short, they were now here, but 40 days passed as if they were moments.
"And now," Maho said. "We're here, meeting each other almost everyday if possible, just to...mourn."
The two girls looked down. The storm outside raged, although it felt a little...calmer.
"I tried to get down," Maho said, sniffing. "An-and...try to escape, but..."
"They restrained you," Alice said. "Didn't they?"
Maho looked at her.
"You too?"
Alice nodded.
"I tried," she said. "But I was too small and weak to resist."
She looked down at her doll. The teddy bear's head was quite wet; it also wore a white-and-green serafuku uniform with a black ribbon on its chest.
"Who would expect," Maho said, more to relieve her chest. "That a simple invitation to a not-so-safe nation, parading around with tanks, will turn into a fight for our lives?"
"We survive," Alice curtly said. "And we don't know the others..."
"Now that I say it," Maho continued. "I recall that some of our peers complained about getting some stuff stolen. Too many of us were naive about what was really going on."
"And many were remarking," Alice chimed in. "That Brazil was so magical."
"Magical," Maho replied, gritting her teeth. "Now magic became voodou or something worse."
"How many students were stuck now?" Alice asked.
"About half of our students," Maho replied. "Half from each school carrier was on land when it happened. Now, each school carrier is struggling to go by..."
"Like us," Alice replied.
The girls were silent, but the storm outside...was now silent. Rain became drizzle, tapping into the windows.
"Miho..."
Maho sniffed.
"Miho..."
Her eyes were wet.
"Miho...sister."
A single tear fell down.
All was still outside, as if the storm was listening. Suddenly, a single ray of light pierced the dark clouds, and it shone on a plain phone. It was an antique phone, a rotary dial telephone, black as the outside.
"Say," Alice said, looking at it. "Why is that phone here?"
"It is an old phone," Maho replied. "But it turned out to be an original copy of an actual one. Now, although it is still on display, it is no longer valuable."
"Then why is it here?" Alice asked, curious.
"I don't know," Maho replied, sighing. "And I don't care. All I care is hearing her voice again."
Ring...
Both girls jumped with a start, turning to stare at it.
"Wait a second!" Alice spoke. "It-it-did it ring?"
The girls stared at it.
Ring...
"It's working?!" Maho asked, aghast as she got up to look more closely. Alice stood up and followed.
Ring...
The light continued to shine, brighter and brighter. The lone light pierced the dark, black sky outside. The light looked so golden, so pleasant, so holy.
Ring...
The two then looked at each other, slightly puzzled.
"What should we do?" Alice asked, shaking a little.
Ring...
Maho breathed, got up, and slowly took up the phone.
"Moshi-moshi?" she asked.
Then, she heard something that made her heart skip a beat.
"Onee-chan!" a sweet voice echoed. "I have found you!"
Finally, it's here. The official, massive REVISION of my older stories.
I give a shout-out to der Jagdexperte for his clarification on the term "reboot." Since the terminology has a potential to be confusing, I decide to change that. I originally intended for this story to be a "remake" or "reboot," but since those words can be confusing, I decide to replace it. Thank you for your advice.
I also give a shout-out to Ghost recon-Bryan Uzimaki and aGuestfromGreece45 for checking my chapter before publication. It was not easy, so thank you so much for your efforts!
The main reason for doing this story was...because I realize that I made a few crucial mistakes in some of my previous stories:
One, a good story does not need too many details. Two, a good story needs to focus on something; Anime Psychologist did this marvellously well, by focusing on a imagined but realistic portrayal of psychological distress. Last but not least, a good story does not need to tell about everything; a good story matters more than just making a colossal world. J.R.R. Tolkien, one of my favorite authors, did not even finish his worldbuilding before passing away. I want to build a world that is comprehensive, but not excessively so.
Hence, I intend to write a story that is comprehensive, like "Girls Wild Rise," but still focused on specific themes, like Anime Psychologist's story.
NEW UPDATE: Saudi Arabia has recently lifted its ban on women driving (in June 2018), thus allowing them to drive cars. However, I don't know whether that lifting also includes driving a tank in GuP.
So, please review, PM, like, follow, or whatever you can, so that I can learn to hone and be an actually better writer.
Thank you, and may God bless all of you, and panzer vor.