Dread Naganaki [F]

A picture of Dread before he lost his smile.

Dread always to smiled. Not the kind of Malicious smile but the kind of mischievous or pure joy smile. He wasn't a bad child. He just had a knack for getting in trouble. Usually for a poorly planned prank or shaving the neighbors cat. Dread grew up in a normal home for exactly twelve years. His mother and father were always around to play with him, read him story about dragons, pick him up from soccer games or track meets. Then It all changed. On Dreads 13th birthday his parents began to become cold. They no longer wanted to play or read him stories. They began to yell at each other all the time. They would argue for hours and take turns beating their son until he fell asleep from the beatings then they would argue some more.
At the age of 14 his parents began to argue over the smallest thing. The temperature was one degree too hot or the food was one degree too cold. They began to miss his soccer games and his track meets and eventually stopped taking him all together. Still Dread smiled. He hoped that his pearly whites would wake them up from this nightmare and remind them of the happy family they were and that they would get help.
And they did, In the form of Meth. His parents became addicted to the substance and would spend hours, even days making or shooting the stuff. They would stop beating him when they were high and resume beating him when they were sober. Dread recalls one incident when his father struck him with a glass bottle leaving a scar that ran down the left side of his face over the eye. The fact the eye wasn't harmed at all is nothing short of a miracle. At the age of fifteen Dread's grades dropped to just passing and he would be left alone for hours after school before having to walk all the way home. Once home he would have to clean and cook for the family while leaving the meaningless report card or invite to school functions on the couch. It didn't matter anymore. When he made straight A's he would get no praise only more beatings and more abuse. He began to join underground fight clubs at the school to keep busy before he was either picked up or it was late enough to go home. He met his beloved Trish "The Fox" Edogawa During this time. She was a smart and cunning girl who helped keep the smile on Dread's face.
At sixteen Dread moved out of his Parents home and into an abandoned warehouse he paid for every month with the money he made from working part time at Shiki's Sporting Goods. Trish soon moved in after him and it became their home. A place where he could be worry free from his drug addicted parents. The two became a duo that started to take over the school from the underbelly up. During all this he became friends with Seji Tentakume a psychotic student who preferred to fight with stealth. Izuru a non combative Guy who acquired information and often helped plan what Dread's next move would be. And Chaz "The Gorilla" Mathis. A guy with a large appetite and even larger stomach . The group came together and became a gang known as "The Dragon Hearts" Partially because of Dread's love of the creatures and because they put their hearts into everything they did. Dread's parents ended up on the streets begging for money to feed their addiction. Dread did not care. To him his parents were long dead. The parents that sat up and read to him every night, took him to his games or meets, played with him, loved him, and praised his hard academic work. They were dead. They were murdered and those two abusive drug addicted monsters replaced them.
The gang soon romped the schoolyard day and night as well as a reasonable region close to Dread's home and the gangs headquarters. Each a specialist of their respected area. Chaz worked the front lines bashing up the enemy while Seji worked from the shadows to get deep behind enemy lines. Izuru bought and sold information to help plan and coordinate the next attack a scout position if you will. Trish was the brains planning every move of the group on how to expand both numbers and control. Dread was the one man army, the king. He was the gangs Ace in the hole. He dealt with other leaders for negotiations. or simply wanted to annihilate the enemy. Dread had it all. He had the girl of his dreams, friends, a new family, and leader of a revered gang. What more could he ask for?....Turns out there was one thing.
Shortly after Dread turned seventeen give or take a few months Dread was returning from some shopping for food for the warehouse and was greeted with a gruesome surprise. What he saw was his home covered in streaks of blood, scratched and carved into, trashed, and the dead bodies of his friends and beloved. He dropped the food and checked their bodies looking for anyone who may be alive. They all looked like rag dolls after a dog had torn it to pieces. Dread was familiar with the way AT's were being used now a days and the marks on their bodies were proof Storm riders had done this. Seeing the dead bodies of his family was coupled by a message that was stapled to Trish's stomach. It read. "Hell's hounds devour heaven's dragons." Dread's smile disappeared. He cried. He cried for his parents, his friends, his beloved, and himself. He cried for the years of abuse and the death of his new family. He cried until his voice was gone and his throat was filled with invisible lumps. He cried until his eyes burned as if they were being scraped away by sandpaper tears.
Their bodies were laid to rest beneath a garden of Cherry trees that sat in a park near Dreads home. He carved their names into each tree they were buried under. On Trish's Grave he placed a small black velvet box. The box sat open with an engagement ring nestled inside a white cloth. That day beneath those trees he vowed revenge. He vowed to get back at the storm riders responsible for their deaths, even if it cost him his life. Later that day while he sat in his home its walls and floors cleaned of the horror that had occurred. he found the boxes of 4 AT's. Inside each was a letter of how much money was left before a fifth and join pair would be bought for him. They wanted to become storm riders. Dread bit his lip and took the At's apart taking the wheels from each and saving the other parts for repairs. He would wear those AT's to exact his revenge and would use them to keep his friends alive.