Blood Blockade Battlefront (血界戦線)

Hello, Michella.

How are you? I'm finally doing well.

Can you believe it's been half a year now

since your big brother came to this city?

These last six months have felt incredibly long,

yet they've still gone by really quickly.

And that feels as weird as it sounds.

I feel a bit awkward writing you after all this time,

and I'm guessing it's kind of a surprise for you.

Don't worry, nothing bad has happened.

It's just... I've got some things

I need to say, and you're the one person

that I'd want to share them with.

And that's all there is to it.

This place is as crowded and messy as it's always been.

A noisy city, where abnormal is normal.

I've managed to muddle through up until now,

living out both the worst and the best days of my life.

A year ago, before I left you behind,

I saw myself as worthless.

Someone who was insignificant

to the grand scheme of the world.

Just another powerless, idealistic little man

that you can find on any street in any city.

My feelings haven't changed much since then.

But every once in a while, I get a faint glimmer

that those feelings aren't true.

And today, I want to tell you all of the reasons

why I've begun to think differently.

I want to tell you about what I've seen,

what I've felt, and above all else,

about the people that I've met in this city.

This might turn out to be a long letter,

but I hope you'll bear with me and read it to the end.

This is my story, and the story of the people in my life,

and how they've given me hope.

This city really is the pits.

The world as we knew it

changed in the course of a single eventful night!

Get back here, monkey!

And the arcane city

of Hellsalem's Lot arose from that historic

juncture of events!

It's a melting pot

where the main ingredients are fight-picking

and wallet-lifting. The wages are lower than dirt,

and it's almost impossible

to make any friends.

Just three years ago,

New York City stood in this very spot!

Life is hard enough on its own.

But trust me, it's even harder here.

On that one fateful night,

the gate to beyond opened,

the alterworld swallowed New York City,

Hellsalem's Lot was reconstructed

in its place, and the barrier of fog

shrouded the entire island!

Isn't that right, Mr. Guabara?

Yes!

And life's that much harder for a nobody like me.

My only redeeming feature being that I'm normal.

It was already too late

for the American government to intervene.

By the time they arrived, the city was lost

behind the impenetrable fog.

Isn't that correct, Mr. Guabara?

Yes!

Once you get used to it,

the abnormal starts to feel normal.

...and a diet Blobb soda.

As a result of the Great Collapse,

we were given conclusive

firsthand exposure

to an alternate dimension, a theory long held

to be nothing more than the stuff

of science fiction.

Although we are now aware of its existence,

we don't really know much else about it.

Isn't that so, Mr. Guabara?

Yes!

So yeah, life is hard.

Three weeks after my arrival, I was barely getting by.

It's still yet to be seen

whether this encounter proves to be a comedy

or a tragedy for both our worlds.

I guess that knowledge is something

we can all look forward to, eh, Mr. Guabara?

Yes!

I was just about ready to give up.

My general lack of luck and the absurdity of this city

had taken their toll.

Oww!

Thanks for blowing me off,

ya freakin' noob.

The name's Zapp Renfro.

You know, the guy you were supposed to meet?

But I guess you were too busy with nearly getting killed

in the middle of the street to show up at the checkpoint.

The next time you need someone to pick you up,

you just call your mommy, okay, Landis?

I think you're confused--

--What? --No, sorry,

you know what you're doing!

Heh, you're kind of a pansy, huh?

You sure you got the balls to work for Libra?

My name is Leonardo Watch.

Libra?

It's not Landis.

But I guess I just blend right into

this godforsaken city.

I know you're sick

of hearing me say this,

but you've gotta call your sister

or at least write her a letter, you know?

Yeah. It's just--

It's just nothing. There's no excuse for it.

Oh... thank you.

Your family's always gonna worry

about you. Even when there's nothing

to worry about. Am I right?

Absolutely.

You've been coming in here for a while now,

so you wanna tell me your story?

I mean, what are you doing in this city all on your own?

Sightseeing? Here for work?

Well... you could say it's for work.

You see, I'm an aspiring photojournalist.

I'm here to train.

And this is the city you chose?

'Cause it looks like the only thing

you're training yourself to do is starve to death.

You're a weird guy.

You think so?

I always thought I was normal.

You do realize we don't offer free coffee refills

as an alternative to actually ordering our food, right?

I would if I could.

--Huh? --Mm.

--Uh-- --Yeah, it's not free.

You can wash dishes afterward.

But I-- No, I couldn't. I mean--

I don't deserve it.

Oh, come on, don't give me all that.

Feeling sorry for yourself ain't the same thing

as being humble.

And besides... we still need your daily coffee money

to pay the bills around here.

Thank you very much, really.

Hey, stop that monkey!

What the hell was that about?

The kid had his camera stolen. You mean you didn't see it?

Well, how could she? Sonic speed monkeys

move too fast for human eyes.

Hm? Wait, but he saw it.

You guys heard him shout "monkey," right?

And that was the start.

That day was just one long string

of happenstance.

I happened to be at my usual diner, just happening

to have a chat with my usual counter hop.

And then happened to fall victim to a thieving monkey.

And only then did I happen to get caught

in the middle of some psychopath robbing a bank.

And after I happened to get sent flying

and knocked to the street...

Oww!

Thanks for blowing me off,

ya freakin' noob.

The name's Zapp Renfro. You know, the guy

you were supposed to meet?

But I guess you were too busy with nearly getting killed...

...I happened to find the reason I came here.

And the people I've been searching for

this entire time.

Libra.

People used to be too scared

of this city to step foot in it.

But now it's teeming with scum, vicious criminals, terrorists,

big business, religious factions, mafia,

refugees, and intelligence agencies

from every country.

It's the kind of place where folks like to go

to set their sights on universal domination.

And our job is to put our lives on the line

against these dickheads.

So we don't need anyone slowing us down, Johnny.

The more he talked,

the more I knew I was headed to the right place

to find the truth.

Hang in there, sis.

Welcome. You must be our new colleague.

Glad to have you on board.

As you might have guessed, I'm Klaus Von Reinherz.

And this is Chain Sumeragi.

It's a pleasure to meet you, Johnny Landis.

Wait, Johnny Landis? But that can't be him.

After all, Landis just died.

How could you confuse him

with Landis?