Legend of Snake Eye

The following is the prologue to my new upcoming book, Legend Of Snake Eye. Coming April 1st!

Before we begin our legendary story of Snake Eye's lost love, it is important to understand who exactly this man was. Therefore I shall start with how he became one of the most skilled assassins to ever walk God's green earth. His journey began in Birmingham, England in the year of 1978 when he was first born into the Sun family. His father, Hideo Sun, was a Japanese Martial Artist who made his fortune teaching Jiu-Jitsu to impressionable youths at the time, as the martial arts trend was at an all time high during the late 1970s. His mother (named Emily Bennett) however was an English native who fell in love with Hideo's exotic moves (not just on the mat, but in the bedroom too; the details of which I shall spare you out of respect for the mother of a legend such as Snake Eye). Long before Snake Eye got his famous nickname, his parents named him Ryan Sun. Hideo had fought in wars as a Japanese soldier, using both long range weaponry and relying on his close quarters combat skills. Because of this, Hideo raised his son like a soldier, even at the dismay of his own wife. It meant Ryan's childhood was more strict and difficult than most UK children, although it formed him into the deadly killer he would later become in life. Ryan was so disciplined in childhood, that when he first began military school at the ripe young age of 11, he was the only boy not to cry under the strict commands of the drill sergeants that trained them all into one day becoming great soldiers for the Great British Army. At 18, Ryan Sun became a soldier for the British government, later fighting in Afghanistan in late 2001 alongside American and European soldiers at the age of 23, by then he was a sergeant, although a young one he was incredibly reliable and stern, everyone respected him. Yet, it wouldn't be until 2005 when he first became the government assassin, at age 28, that would eventually lead to his ultimate destiny. His final mission took him to Tokyo, Japan in 2008 where he would go undercover, infiltrating the Yakuza who had recently been stirring up a lot of trouble internationally with the likes of sex trafficking and drug trades that even the British government were afraid of since many of the drugs that were flooding the likes of London, came from shipping containers and mysterious boats from Eastern shores. Ryan's job was to find the leader of this criminal organisation and put a stop to him, permanently. They chose Ryan Sun specifically for this task, as he already spoke perfect Japanese and appeared to be a local to Tokyo already. Ryan loved visiting Tokyo, in fact finally entering Japan after all these years fighting in Afghanistan and living in England was a treat! He always planned on visiting his father's homeland, yet being a soldier and government assassin kept him too busy for any holidays. He only wished he could have visited this wonderful country under better circumstances. Yet, that was not to be. He wouldn't even have time to be a tourist, as he set foot in Japan his first goal was to join the Yakuza and prove himself worthy of their gang. However, the flight there and travelling by taxi to the big city was wonderful. Nobody suspected Ryan even was a tourist, they treated him as a local, although some noticed is slightly more British accent even when speaking in their native tongue. This was something he did well to hide, yet it still stood out from time to time, it would be a bad situation if the Yakuza clocked onto his true origins. For a long time, it seemed his cover was secure, as the gang welcomed him into their ranks without problem, although he could not meet the boss of the Yakuza yet until he had proven his loyalty and reliability to them. So Ryan found himself doing despicable things in order to earn enough trust into meeting this evil businessman. He soon came to realise his target was known as Chan Lee, a name that would haunt Ryan for the rest of his life, he didn't know it yet, but the Yakuza were far smarter than Ryan had given them credit for. Unfortunately his accent did slip from time to time, proving that Ryan was of British origin and Chan knew too well that Western Governments from Europe, Britain and America were taking a great interest in him. So Chan set Ryan up for failure, they were to finally meet in his office for a chat, only for Chan to order his guards to lock the doors behind them, locking Ryan in with him.

"I shall allow you to die with honour!" Chan Screamed, jumping on top of his office desk, hands at the ready for battle. Ryan jumped into combat mode, attempting to strike the infamous crime lord, who was almost twice Ryan's age with a white moustache and balding head of dark grey hair, dressed in an expensive suit made of the finest white silk. He had dodged the young man's attack with ease.

"Your form is limp, like noodle!" Chan punched Ryan's forearm with an open fist, the impact so strong it made Ryan scream, crippling him slightly. He backed against the nearby wall and tried to roundhouse kick Chan across the face, only this also failed. Chan spun out of the way, then twisted Ryan's left arm, sending the young assassin falling across the office floor with a big loud slam!

"The military taught you well, but not well enough!" Chan laughed, kicking the fallen man unconscious.

When Ryan awoke, he found himself half naked and tied up against a cold metal pole, with his arms and legs wrapped around the metal with thick firm rope. He looked around, only to find himself in some dark basement, one he suspected he'd never escape from. Ryan tongue the back of his gums, looking for the cyanide capsule.

"Looking for this?" Chan walked into the light, holding the deadly pill in his hands before crushing it. Ryan felt utterly lost and defeated in that moment.

"Some spy you are, eh?!" Chan grinned.

"I'm an assassin!" Ryan replied, spitting mucus onto Chan's face. The crime lord calmly cleaned his face with a napkin from his blazer pocket, then karate chopped Ryan's neck making the simple act of breathing an absolute chore to achieve, gasping for air as he lungs began to fail him.

"Don't try that again!" Chan warned, all Ryan could do was shake his head and wheeze, coughing up blood.

"So..." Chan breathed deeply, circling Ryan, "they sent you to kill me?!" He laughed scornfully, "you are just a boy!"

"I- I'm 27!" Ryan replied with great difficulty.

"No older than my own son!" Chan mocked, "you are too pathetic. You're not Japanese, are you? At least not entirely. Your accent is... American?"

Ryan refused to reply, then Chan pinched Ryan's cheeks together within his cold, boney hand, "tell me!" He demanded, but Ryan was done talking and no amount of torture would make him do so. Not that Chan didn't try.

"You wish to take my life?" Chan asked, but still got no answer, "then I shall take something of yours!" He smiled evilly, picking up a tiny saw from the nearby medical table.

"Do your worst!" Ryan dared him.

"Don't tempt me..." Chan giggled, admiring the blade within his hands. Then without a moment's warning; Chan began sawing into Ryan's right eye socket, the young assassin screamed in agony, as Chan dug out his eye with the rusty saw blade, it stung like hell itself and blood burst everywhere, all over Chan's nice white blazer, staining it a dark, muddy red.

"Ah this old thing?" Chan stroked his now red blazer, "nothing to worry about, I can buy a new one..."

"Fu- fuck you!" Ryan cried in horror, as he could feel his own eye bulge out his socket and pour down his cheek and onto the cold concrete floor with an audible thud. Then Chan stomped on the fallen eye with an even louder pop! Even though Ryan's eye had already been dismembered from his body, knowing that it had been squashed beneath Chan's boot was so emotionally distressing it was like he could still feel it explode within his own body. Ryan screamed louder than he ever thought possible, the realisation of what just happened was beyond torture. Then he cried and sobbed, like a hurt child, while Chan mocked him, yet he still would not talk. Chan stabbed Ryan repeatedly with many different blades, even threatening to cut his balls and dick off, but Ryan still would not talk.

"I am done with you!" Chan finally accepted defeat and knocked Ryan out.

Ryan awoke again in hospital, the doctors told him a good Samaritan had noticed some Yakuza gangsters dumping a squirming body off a boat. The Samaritan had driven his boat towards Ryan's sinking body and fished him out, before unzipping the bag and calling an ambulance to pick Ryan up. He was extremely lucky to escape with his life. Although, when Ryan saw the new state of his once handsome face, he wished he was dead. Where his right eye had been, now remained a mess of haphazard flesh and a hideous scar that curled and curled, over where his eye was removed, somewhat resembling a snake (hence Ryan's nickname; Snake Eye). It was a brutal sight, like something out of a nightmare only horrifyingly true! He would have to live with this for the rest of his miserable life. So, Ryan decided to quit his career as a government hitman. He called his superiors and told them what happened. With great disappointment they accepted his resignation and informed him that they would hire another spy or assassin to take his place. Ryan felt humiliated yet free, at the very least he had made a small fortune working for the government for so long. It meant he could retire early, and he didn't want to stick around Japan or Tokyo any longer. He remembered some of his old army friends talking about a town named Magaluf, which was on a small island near Spain named Mallorca, a place by the beach with plenty of nightclubs and parties to attend. It would be far away from Japan or England, a fresh new start, perhaps there he could learn to enjoy life again. So he took a plane straight there and got a tattoo of a snake to cover his right eye scars. That really made him look like a real tough Japanese gangster, he even grew a ponytail and short beard to complete the look, you couldn't even see the skin damage or scars under his tattooed ink. As long as he wore mirror reflected sunglasses, nobody could see he had even lost his eye. For the next five years, Ryan Sun settled down into his new life in Mallorca. Everything seemed to be going fine until he met the wonderful Liza Garcia.