FSE

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formerly SoFurry search engine

The day Goro Saureno died on November 9th, Meiji Garonba hurried back to Issincho with the deed in his hands. The bus ride back to Issincho was hell, as he felt eyes from every direction whilst clutching the paper in his pocket. It was the longest trip of his life, the constant fear of what Gen had said still ticking over in his head.

"He...he can't...h-he can't be dead. No, Gen just, h-he got it wrong, he's not a doctor, he wouldn't know, maybe he just drunk too much! Ohhh jeez, ohhh shit, SHIT!"

"HEY, keep it down!" snarled a one-eyed rat. "I'm listening to a podcast!"

"UH, s-sorry! Wait, where's your headphones?"

"It's a podcast in my HEAD you dipshit, UGH, now I gotta rewind! KH-CHUK, KNNK, VVRRR-rrRRrrRRRrRrRrrRrRRRR!"

Meiji pulled back his neck watching the rat mimic a VHS tape, including the eyes that rolled counter-clockwise. Soon as his stop arrived the beetle jumped off, the cold fingers of night creeping over his back along Iyazaki Road. At the end of his shift, Gengo Tagasuki sat in the office of his Kusonami parlour, his rancid smoke filling the room from his cigar as he filed profits away.

His desk was a crummy wooden thing, and on the walls were pictures of him meeting local dignitaries. All of them had the most pained look of contempt for him, but underneath several photos were hidden safes where he stashed his profits, clicking each one open to put his deposits.

"Boss, Tagasuki-san!"

"Ehh?!" the roach slammed the safe. "Oh, Garonba. What are ya doing, shift's almost over."

"I, I-i got the deed!"

"You WHAT?!"

Garonba handed over the deed, the title of LOT ZERO above a long legal script that claimed whoever held this owned the estate of the R.O.S.E Facility. An odd stamp shaped like a rose sat at the bottom.

"Damn," the roach tapped his cigar, "you actually did it."

"Y-yeah," Meiji nodded, "Gen-chan's not back, but he'll be here soon."

"Good. You boys done well."

"What's that thing at the bottom?" the beetle pointed at a rose stamp. "That don't look like a wax seal-"

"Don't touch it," Gengo slapped him back, "Gihei wants this thing without a single mark, I'm heading over right now. Lock up the place while I'm gone."

"Wait, Tagasuki-san!"

The roach took his leave, darting out the door with a giddy cackle as he hopped down the street with the deed tucked in his pocket. His antennae twitched and his arms swivelled with glee as he raced towards Chinatown, marching up to the top floor of Gihei's base without even needing to ask. His power walk made everyone back off, along with the stench of his acid cigarettes until he reached his master's office.

"GIHEI-SAMA!" The cockroach kicked open the doors. "I'm about to give you the best news of your life!"

"...alright." The dragon in the red suit leaned back in his seat. "Hit me, I got nothing to do with my brothers off at Sha-Wujing."

Swaggering up to his boss, Gengo brought forth the Lot Zero deed and slapped it down on the black desk. He tried not to look at the battered poles for training limbs, or the skin-wrapped punching bag welted with deep blows.

"VOILA! One deed, as ordered, Gihei-sama."

"HAH! FUCK, FINALLY!" Gihei snatched it up. "Hahahahahaaaa FUCK YES, I gotta call Doi!"

"You're welcome," the cockroach bowed, "my boy Ganbe finally pulled through."

"Hahaaaah, so the little bitch finally did it!"

"Well...I may have helped encourage him a little."

"You read this thing?"

"Yeah, to make sure it's legit."

"Good." The Jinuchu head pulled out his phone. "Good job Tagasuki, you really did just make my day, YO Doi?! I got big news, remember that fucking deed? We got it."

His smile grew hearing his brother's relief as Gengo stood to attention.

"Yeah it just got here, little bitch Ganbe finally grew a dick on him. What?! Wait hold on, what happened to Rai?!" He sat up suddenly with a look of shock. "KIRYU?! That FUCKING CUNT'S IN MY FUCKING AUCTION?!"

His fist cracked the desk causing the cockroach to fall on his back.

"WHERE IS HE?! I'LL KILL HIM FOR TOUCHING MY BRO! EH?! ...shit, for real?! Hah! Well...damn, this is the best fucking day I ever had, alright I'll pick him up! Oh don't worry...I'll busy myself with him until X and Dezzy arrive."

He clicked off his phone and rubbed his hands, a widening grin terrifying his subordinate who slowly rolled up onto his feet.

"Alright Tagasuki, I've got a date with a certain bastard. You hold down the fort, I'll send Maung back here once things are settled."

"Yes, Gihei-sama!" the roach saluted. "Anything you want done while you're away?"

"Nah, just make sure nothing burns down," the dragon folded the deed in his pocket, "now that we can move forward, that means a lotta planning."

"What kinda planning, sir?"

"Moving out," Gihei patted his shoulder, "we're off to Tokyo, where the big money is."

"R-really?!" Tagasuki pumped his fists. "Oh HELL yes Gihei-sama, I'm gonna kill it out there, I'll get you the best damn pachinko parlour in the country!"

"Attaboy," the dragon waved, "alright see yourself out, I'll let you know where your place is."

"Yes sir! Th-thank you sir!"

After Meiji had finished locking up the pachinko parlour, he headed home and slept off his fatigue. The next morning he spent in the Forge, with no orders from his boss and even less word from Gen who had not yet returned from the Eight Wonders. As dawn cracked through the slats of his smithery, the beetle filed off orders and busied himself with blades.

The sounds of his hammer on the anvil helped dull his mind, trying not to think of his friend still out there. A fear crept round his heart, as he looked back to his office where scattered throughout the windows was a thousand paper cranes.

"Did I screw up?" he muttered to himself. "Did I...Gen said that dude got poisoned but...I-i don't think Tagasuki would lie to me, would he? No." He shook his head and kept hammering. "He just probably drunk a lot, yeah that's it. He'll wake up, things'll be fine. Gen'll come back and it's all a misunderstanding, like that one manga, I Got Turned Into My Girlfriend's Hairbrush."

Once he finished his orders, he stepped back out into the Red Light District. The afternoon was trickling to an early eve, the sky turning dark already in the grip of November. He shivered through his hoodie, heading over to Kusonami but finding no trace of Tagasuki.

"Hey, where's the boss?" he asked.

"Gone out somewhere," a kappa shrugged in a red vest, "place is getting done for renovations."

"Wait, really?" the beetle looked up at the wavy sign. "You know when he'll be back?"

"Check back when the guards change over, on the fourteenth, Tagasuki always likes to be around for that shit."

"Yeaaaah he likes to feel important for that. Alright, later."

With nothing else to do, Meiji wandered like a phantom, drifting from place to place throughout Issincho. Taking a long circular path, he sighed at the library, he slumped at the batting centre, and had a moment to cry at the golfing spot. A part of him wanted to jump on the bus back to the docks and storm the Eight Wonders, but he saw the look in Gen's eye still haunting his mind. What if he got found out? What if Meiji was marked too as an accomplice? Panic rose in his breast as he found himself at the homeless camp.

"Oh, hey there," Kiyo looked up from her tent, "not with your friend today?"

"Uhhhh...no," the beetle rubbed his neck, "howsit going?"

"Can't complain," the serpent shrugged, "need anything since you're here?"

"Yeah...actually, um, you know about the Eight Wonders right?"

"I thought you were in there already."

"Well, just that, I got real busy this week and uh, Gen-chan's not been back, I just wanna know if he's alright."

"Hmmm..." she tapped her chin, "I'll send a message through my usuals, since you helped us in the past."

"Thanks Kiyo-san," Meiji bowed, "a-also...do you know where Orama-san is?"

"Why are you asking?"

"Because he...he and I got some business and I really need to talk to him, can I just go see him?"

"I can't tell you that," she shook her head, "Diamond's in hiding."

"But, I gotta see him real bad."

"Can it not wait?"

"NO, I have to see him now, it means everything!"

"Listen, you might run the Forge and you done us plenty favours, but you're still Jinuchu. I can't compromise our network especially fer our vulnerable folks, so unless Diamond wants to talk to you, he's not coming out."

"Why's he hiding?!"

"Cuz he's planning on leaving the city and he can't be compromised-"

"NO, YOU CAN'T LET HIM LEAVE!" Garonba stomped his foot. "HE, HE'S GOT SOMETHING FOR ME!"

"Wh-what?!" the snake reeled back. "What the hell's your problem?!"

"Kiyo-san, PLEASE, I have to find him, don't let him leave Issincho, i-i-if you don't, it could ruin everything!"

"I don't keep folks here if they wanna leave, that's kind of against the whole point of this thing."

"BUT HE'S A THIEF!"

"Uh, yeah? We know, did he steal something from you?"

"YEAH, well, no, it...it's hard to explain, can I please see him before he goes, it means everything to me!"

"Sorry, the answer's no," Kiyo crossed her arms, "I don't know what went on between you two, but if he don't want to see you, I'm not keepin' him here."

"...fine." Meiji slumped with a heave. "Sorry...c-can you at least let him know I wanna talk to him?"

"I will. I'll look out for your friend Ganbe as well."

He walked off with a heavy horn, clutching his fists with a growing bitterness as frustration built up inside him. In his blinding tears he stumbled down an alley in Iyazaki Road, hitting his back against the wall and sitting with his knees huddled. Garonba started to weep, lost and confused with options running out as the bustling traffic faded from his hearing. Then he heard a thud, a stomping crunch of metal from the air.

"H-huh?! Who's there?!"

The shine of steel almost blinded him, as he looked up to find a pair of gleaming eyes piercing his soul, from a suit of red, gold and silver.

"Oh, sh-SHIT! IT'S YOU!" Garonba staggered on his feet kicking over the trash. "Wh-what are you doing here, is someone in trouble?!"

Jet Jaguar nodded crossing his arms, then pointed at Meiji.

"Wait...me? I'm not in any trouble."

The hero shook his head, stepping closer with something in his hand. A piece of paper that smelled like the homeless camp, written out to a "Diamond" with instructions to go under the bridge.

"Diamond...diamond that...hey, isn't that the name they give to Orama?"

The silver bullet nodded again with hands on his hips.

"Are you gonna beat him up?" Garonba gasped. "NO, don't do that! Okay sure he stole something from me, well, not FROM me, I mean i-is it stealing if I found it because of a treasure map?! That's like asking creatures to take it! But...I wasn't doing it for me, you know?"

Meiji sat back down with a deep sigh.

"You know how hard it is to keep folks happy? When everything sucks round here, because the Jinuchu keep making things worse. There's these kids who all got problems, and it's pulling them down, and I wanted to make them happy with just this fun treasure hunt cuz what else do they got?! And then there's Gen!"

The beetle welled up with tears as his mandibles tightened.

"H-he's had a bad life, he's not a bad guy he's just...j-just, he don't trust anyone to help him, it took me a long time to open him up and...a-and...I don't want him to die cuz he screwed up! I-i just wanted to help, I just want him to be happy, I wanna make creatures happy, a-and my own boss, thinks I'm such a s-stupid idiot, he tricked me to poison some poor guy's drink! I-i mighta killed someone and not even know it, WHY'S EVERYONE GOTTA BE SO MEAN?!"

He broke down completely, sobbing into his knees as the masked hero patted his shoulder. A handkerchief appeared out of his hand that Meiji blew into.

"Th-thanks...you know, nobody thinks you're real, but I seen you everywhere. I'm a li'l mad you keep disappearing before folks show up, I don't like getting credit for stuff I didn't do, Jaguar-san."

The superhero covered his eyes, then made a motion to veil his face before making a happy sigh.

"Because you...DON'T want to be seen? So why you letting me see you?"

Jaguar touched Meiji's chest, then his own before he shook his hand fierce with both mitts.

"You...you trust me? I thought it was cuz you thought nobody'd believe me."

The man of steel waved his hand as a little of Column A and B. Regardless he shook Meiji's hand, then tapped his chest twice before pointing at the note.

"I don't know," Garonba shook his head, "the hell am I gonna say to him, I don't wanna beat up some old guy who beat me to the punch, but...I just want those kids to be happy. They only get to be kids once, I don't want them to be like...like Gen turned out to be."

Meiji put a hand to his face, taking a deep breath as Jet Jaguar rubbed his shoulder. An idea came to the silver man who knelt down beside him, drawing a basic set of pictures that made Garonba gasp.

"Whah...yo that...that's uh...that's really risky! I-i don't think I can-"

But the hero insisted, giving a thumbs up and a hard tap to the chest.

"You really gonna help me?" the beetle gasped as the creature nodded. "A-alright! Sure, I'll do it! Damn Gen-chan's gonna love this, d-don't worry, I won't tell him! I'll keep your secret safe, even though I got no idea who you are."

" To punish evil forces," spoke the hero, " YOU have been charged."

Garonba smiled wide and headed off to West Djinnai, the central road that cut through Issincho from east to west where a bridge crossed the river. An old ladder was hidden behind some refuse that he shifted through, climbing down on a set of pontoons hidden at the side that floated across the wake. Somehow the tunnel was less cold than the outside world, the gasping winds of the undertow frightening him as shadows gripped the walls.

The water turned thick beneath his feet, a shallow sewage where he trudged through the depths. A campfire could be seen in the distance as he found another homeless camp, haggard creatures with large eyes staring out their tents in a frigid nook of concrete.

"Hey, Diamond?" asked Meiji.

"Mmmh?" A shuffling of tinfoil came from the back. "My ride come in yet, I been freezing my tentacles off down-...awww shit."

The jellyfish drifted into the light, the crackling flame of an oil drum with the roar of cars from above like the lungs of a dragon. The ghostly Orama shivered from the ragged cloak wrapped round him, bottles and cans and old shedded limbs from poorly insects littered the floor.

"Did Kiyo-san send you?" sneered Dogu.

"I'm here on my own," Meiji crossed his arms, "don't worry, I dunno anyone else here, this is all me."

"So what, are you here to kill me?"

"No! I wanna talk about that thing you stole, that box belonged to those kids who worked hard for it!"

"Kid, listen," the jellyfish spread his limbs, "what I took was not yours, and it wasn't those kids to begin with. You got mad because you got hoisted by a better treasure hunter."

"That's NOT the point, I promised those kids I would get that treasure!"

"Why?" Dogu shrugged. "What're you even doing with your life, playing silly-ass games with children?"

"I'm having fun!" cried Meiji. "Everyone's so damn upset nowadays, kids just can't be kids anymore! If it's not doomscrolling then it's worrying about their parents cuz they got dementia, or they're two weeks 'til they're homeless, or their mom beats them, and I just wanna make SOMEONE happy!"

"You can start by fucking off," the squid jabbed with a tendril, "that'll make me happy."

"I'm stuck in this town making weapons for everyone, weapons I know aren't gonna be used fer good, so I try to make others happy cuz...yanno, to balance it out! You really gonna be so heartless to not let a buncha kids just have ONE THING to themselves?!"

"This one thing is gonna solve all my problems."

"YOU'RE A MASTER THIEF! You can just steal from some rich guys who won't even notice, those kids found those clues before you did!"

"And I outsmarted you, cuz that's how the world is," Dogu shook his head, "if those kids'll be disappointed then fine, they learn that lesson early, their life'll be easier."

"NO IT WON'T!" Meiji stomped closer. "That's garbage and you know it, where'd you hide that treasure?!"

"Nowhere I'm telling you, now why don't you make like a tree and fuck off?"

"NO, I'M NOT LEAVING, I'LL FIGHT YOU FOR IT!"

The thief rushed him suddenly, the other vagrants scurrying back in their cardboard boxes as the fight broke out. Meiji blocked a swinging tentacle before kicking Dogu's leg, shoving him back before running straight for the hovel he came from.

Orama lashed out with a tendril to snatch Meiji's leg, the beetle kicking back until he grabbed a nearby bottle and hurled it dead-on like a missile. The thief roared clutching his head, then made a diving lunge to pile on top of Garonba and start savagely beating him.

In their struggle they rolled across the cement, hammering each other's faces and stomachs as Meiji grabbed anything he could, bottles, cans, a chunk of brick all of which Dogu blocked with his tentacles. But in the tussle, one thing Meiji grabbed would frighten the old thief, a discarded wasp stinger that scratched his face.

"HA-AAAARGH, NO!"

Crumbling in an instant, he let Meiji go who rushed over to the tinfoil-wrapped hovel, and found a small box full of medicine.

"Wait, what?!" Meiji rummaged through the bottles. "Auntie-histories?"

"D-DON'T, HRRRKH! TH-THAT'S MINE, GIVE IT BACK!"

"What, shit are you choking?!"

"M-MY MEDS, P-PLEASE, HRRRRKH!"

"A-ALRIGHT, alright!" He handed the box over. "Don't freak out, I got you."

Hurrying over to his side, Garonba followed Dogu's gestures to apply the antihistamines correctly. Stifling the faint traces of wasp venom that threatened to course through his veins, Meiji pulled back and sighed watching Orama sit up.

"Khhh...th-thanks...I...wh-why'd you do that?"

"Do what?"

"Help me after...th-thought you were gonna kill me with that old stinger."

"What, that thing?" the beetle looked at the old limb. "I thought it was a cool stick. I don't wanna hurt you Orama-san, I just want those kids to have something good in their lives."

"Why? You getting paid or something?"

"No! I just...why's everybody think I need a reason to help creatures, I just wanna do something NICE! Is that so bad, I know I'm not smart but you don't have to be just to be nice! I don't get you, everyone you met in Issincho's been nothing but good to you! Gen-chan and me saved your life, Kiyo-san kept you fed and hiding, and all I want was to give those kids the treasure they'd been searching, for MONTHS, to find, and you KNEW I was looking for it!"

"I never asked any of you to do me a favour," snarled Dogu, "besides you and that bird are fucking yakuza, and you're telling me you're nice?"

"We coulda left you to drown, and we didn't cuz we saw someone who needed help! So why can't you just give back one thing?"

"Because my friends died to get this fucking score."

Dogu laid back with a deep sigh, staring at the overpass above as shards of gravel trickled down on his face.

"I spent months casing that place, me and my gang. We first met in our youth, Maki, Tada, Sabu, we made headlines everywhere we went, stealing diamonds especially. This was before your time but at one point the Diamond Chiefs were the most wanted in Yokohama."

"Woah, that sounds cool," Meiji grinned, "did you guys just steal from the rich or-"

"Name one guy with a mortgage who owns a diamond," the jellyfish squinted, "anyways, we always made it a challenge to heist the richest fucks, but always only diamonds cuz it was our thing. Thirty years back, this governor bequeathed her wealth to the R.O.S.E. Institute for saving her son's life. When she died a couple years ago, all that money went, except for three treasures nobody found. The Sun Tiara, The Moon Bracelet, and the Ocean Ring."

"And that was...the treasure we found?"

"Exactly. We scoped out her place, Maki handled locks, Sabu dealt with guards and Tada was the map expert. We thought it'd be just some old guards on their pension. But then we found her mansion hired extra security, detail we didn't know, some security company called Resco and when they spotted us well...they opened fire."

"Shit...that...that sucks Orama-san."

"I lost all my friends in one single night. Sabu hit me the hardest, his head came apart like wet ashes. I fell into the river, but not before some bastard wasp hit me in the side and I toppled over choking to death. Then you found me."

"I'm...I'm sorry." Meiji shook his head. "I'm sorry about your friends."

"You get it now li'l guy?" Dogu looked to him. "If I don't get that treasure, they'll have all died for nothing."

"That...no, that's not true, you already got it once, what were you gonna do with it?"

"Sell it, find one of my old fences."

"Okay so...you had three friends who did everything together?" Garonba grinned. "Risked their lives to get the biggest score and do anything to help each other?"

"Yeah, we always did," the thief chuckled, "I still remember Maki and Tada arguing about all the locks on the map, Tada hated when he scribbled on them, but how else would we know!"

"Having three friends who stick together to the end...just like those three kids." The beetle crossed his arms leaning back. "Those kids are making their own story, and they were trying hard to do everything by themselves. Can't you let those kids have that same big score?"

"You want me to turn my back on my friends' sacrifices?" snarled the squid.

"No, I just...was it really the treasure that mattered, or the fun of having an adventure?"

"Hmm...well," Orama rubbed his beady eyes, "there have been times the score wasn't that worth it but...heh, it was always fun no matter what."

"It's always cool to do stuff with friends. You've had a lot of adventures, but those kids have only just started, you really wanna do them dirty like that?"

"It's not a club," Dogu sighed, "it's the better creature wins, them's the breaks."

"Orama-san...please." The beetle spread his arms. "I never asked for nothing, neither did Gen or Kiyo-san. Can't you just let 'em have this one?"

"Hmmmm...alright." The jellyfish put up his tendrils. "But I'm not a fool, I don't let nothing go for free, what are you willing to offer?"

"I got something for ya." Meiji rubbed his hands. "I got the biggest score in all the Jinuchu."

"The...Jinuchu?" Dogu squinted. "You...you're serious?"

Garonba leaned close and whispered something to the squid, his four beady eyes widening with intrigue.

"You can...get that? All of it?"

"Mmhmm, every penny," Meiji nodded, "I got a plan to ship it all out, I got a buddy to help me."

"But...no, no, why would you rob the Jinuchu so easily?"

"Because they hurt my friend." The beetle clenched his fists. "I...I got problems with them, they got too much money already, they're not gonna miss it."

"Heh...damn right." Dogu offered his tentacle. "You get me all of it, and I'll give you back the treasure."

"Promise?" Meiji squeezed his hand.

"I swear on my partners' graves." He shook hands with a nod.

After the death of Goro Saureno, Ganbe was kept prisoner in Kingston's quarters. Once the crowd had dispersed, and the pit was silent of battle, he was bound and dragged before his peers beneath the spotlight. All around him in a circle, was Konnor, Clover, Junior, Orga and Krystalf. The first thing they did was beat him to a pulp, each of them given a chance to only hit him three times.

Clover was first, her giant white fists punching twice before a mighty kick slammed him on his back. Krystalf went second, sitting on top and hammering his face to leave him bloody. Orga slammed the back of his head, and when Gen tried to stumble back up, she threw him towards Konnor who stomped on his chest with a wheezing gasp.

By the time it was Junior's turn, Ganbe was bleeding with a cracked beak and broken ribs. His stomach was turning bronze from a purpling sheen, a few of his belly spikes now bent as he waited for Junior's bat. But the monster never hit him, instead he would bend down on one knee and stare deep into his eye.

"I...trusted you. Thought you were friend. Fucking traitor."

The cruellest wound was the one in Gen's heart, which broke in a shuddering sob as he bent forwards with tears down his beak. He was grabbed by the sickle-top of his skull and wrenched up to stare at his jury.

"Now that we softened you up," began Kingston, "you're going to tell us what Jinuchu want, and why you killed Saureno. If you're cooperative, we won't kill you. But if not..."

He cracked his knuckles so sharp it deafened Gen with a wince.

"Geh...Gihei," he stammered, "Gihei told me to go undercover and get the deed from Saureno."

"Why?" asked Clover.

"I don't know! They don't tell me that shit, just get the deed and kill him cuz he knew too much about it!"

"Where is the deed?" Luzek grabbed his chin. "WHERE, is it?"

"I-i...I sent it away, it's with my boss!"

"You WHAT?!"

The crystal-beast slapped him hard before grabbing his throat, throttling the bird until Orga pulled him back with her huge hands.

"//YOU FUCKING IDIOT!//" he roared in Czech. "//YOU MORON, YOU'VE RUINED EVERYTHING!//"

"HEY-EY, LUZEK-SAN CHILL!"

"//DO YOU REALISE WHAT YOU'VE DONE?! AFTER I'M DONE WITH YOU, THEY WON'T FIND YOUR CORPSE WITHOUT A GEIGER COUNTER!//"

He wrenched himself free from Orga but Junior pulled him back, putting himself between Gen and Krystalf. His shining beard of gems bristled with anger as Konnor put a hand on him with a warning look.

"What is this deed exactly?" asked the gorilla. "I know you gave it to Saureno, but why is this so important?"

"It kept...it kept Japan safe," Luzek sighed, "I was scientist at R.O.S.E, my brother Obsald and me, we were trusted by Kuribayante to guard secret of Lot Zero."

"Lot Zero?" Lisa rubbed her neck. "So it's a property deed?"

"No. A key to a vault, for deadly weapon."

"W-weapon?" asked Zillatopoulos. "Big weapon?"

"They call it Atragon." Krystalf clasped his hands. "Built during Kankoran War by Japanese government. A submarine that drills through the earth, to invade cities."

"A...a what?" Gen gasped bending forward.

"Plan was to end war by driving it to capital, then detonate Absolute Zero. Cold fission bomb, kills everything in three miles from instant freeze. Anything up to six miles, dies of rapid pneumonia and neutron radiation."

"Oh gods," Orga shuddered, "that...th-that's the bad shit right? Th-the stuff that unmakes you or something."

"Yes," Krystalf nodded grave, "rips your molecules apart. But the war ended, Genshiro Kuribayante took over R.O.S.E. to seal it away, so no one else can use it. And you..."

He leaned close to Gen with fearful rage.

"You just gave your boss the key to a nuclear threat."

Everyone turned quiet. Ganbe's breaths became soft with trembling panic as he shook his head rapid.

"Y-y-you're lying, n-no...th-there's no way my boss would-...oh. O-oh fuck, why'd our government even make one?! WHY?!"

"Because they care more about strength than unity." Konnor crossed his arms. "Cold fission bombs were being experimented with in the World War by different countries, but none ever came close to finishing one least I've heard."

"Not strong enough to kill adults," Krystalf shook his head, "children, yes, contain gamma radiation, but only harms adults with lasting effects."

"If the Japanese government built one, it would cause a lot of problems for their reputation. This...this is terrifying."

"No shit," Lisa clutched her face, "this is...a lot to take in, bad enough this little bastard killed Saureno-san, but now you telling me a yakuza boss got a fucking nuclear bomb?!"

"But why?" Zillatopoulos gripped his bat. "What he want, he attack somewhere?!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" Gen screamed rocking on his knees. "I DIDN'T KNOW, I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT A BOMB, I-I JUST THOUGHT IT WAS SOME PROPERTY!"

"SHUT UP! YOU KILL SAURENO!"

"I DIDN'T MEAN IT!" he shrieked. "M-my boss, my patriarch, he knew I was a bitch who can't kill nobody, so he tricked me! He told me it was sleeping meds, HE TOLD ME IT WAS!"

"You really think we're gonna believe that?" Clover grabbed his chin. "You're just mad you got caught."

"I DIDN'T, N-NO, I DIDN'T MEAN TO KILL HIM!"

"Well he's fucking dead thanks to you, so it seems pretty clear who did it."

"I didn't KNOW about a fucking bomb!" Ganbe sobbed. "P-please, you have to believe me, I was tricked, I don't wanna kill, that's why I love it here!"

"So why'd you do it then?!" Orga wrapped her hand round his neck. "Why'd you fuck everything up?!"

"Because Gihei would kill my friend! He threatened me, said if I didn't do this, Mei-chan would die! Mei-chan's the only reason I wanna be alive anymore...I was meant to kill Saureno like months ago, but I kept putting it off hoping I could find a way out."

"So you said in my office," said the gorilla, "but now we have a problem. You can't stay here, and we can't trust you to go back to Jinuchu."

"Please...p-please don't send me back," the bird hugged Kingston's leg, "G-gihei's evil, he...I-i hate, I FUCKING HATE IT! He keeps making me kill creatures, and I h-hear them in my head, and everytime I gotta meet him I-i just...I just..."

He pushed his face onto the canvas with a screaming howl, the bird trembling through his back as he broke down fully in front of them. Ganbe's gliding wings laid flat, his cries of anguish filling the floor as Junior looked to his boss with a simpering look. Orga followed suit, then Clover with a sigh, but Krystalf had an idea that he whispered to Konnor.

"Get up." The ape kicked him lightly. "Let me get this straight, you despise working for Jinuchu?"

"Yes," Gen rolled on his back, "I...I was hoping I could just get away from them, and hide down here, maybe. But I fucked up. I know I did. I know nothing's gonna fix that so...fuck it, do what you want with me. If I'm gonna die either way, I'd rather you guys were the one to kill me than Gihei."

"What?" Junior rubbed his hand. "You want, to die?"

"I don't want to but...what else do I have left? I wronged you, I killed one of your best friends, I'm not gonna run away. I won't fight back, King-san. Just kill me. I won't struggle anymore."

"Hm. Well that's nice to hear," Konnor grinned with huge teeth, "but I got a better idea, thanks to Krystalf."

"Yes," Luzek stepped forward leaning over him, "we stop Gihei."

"What?" Ganbe winced. "But, b-but you can't, dude's a fucking demon."

"I don't care. That deed is too important, he must NOT have Atragon."

"Also," Kingston squatted beside him, "this was an attack on us by the Jinuchu, so whatever happens we'll need to retaliate. Now if you wanna help us so we consider not killing you, you tell us everything you know about Jinuchu."

"You...you want me to turn traitor for you?"

"You owe us," said the gem-studded beast. "Atragon is too powerful, Gihei must not have it. If he does...thousands, perhaps millions may die."

"So you need to buck the fuck up, and do what we say," said the gorilla pulling him up, "you want to make amends, you need to prove that by helping us stop them."

"Y-yeah...alright." Gen nodded. "Like, okay, this nuclear bomb thing sounds really fucked and I'm still not really believing that, but I'll help."

"Good." Clover dragged him off the stage. "We're keeping you locked down though, just to be sure until we get a plan."

"You try to escape," Luzek crossed a finger on his neck, "I kill you slowly."

"Yes, sir," Gen bowed, "thank you...for giving me a chance."

Dragged off still bound to Team Saurus' quarters, the one-eyed bird was locked inside Saureno's room with Orga keeping watch at the door. The bird sat back against the old fishing flags, Saureno's body now gone to be taken for burial. He wept to himself, shaking his head as his mind reeled back through the past day.

"I'm sorry Mei-chan. It wasn't your fault, you didn't know Tagasuki poisoned that shit, you were just...you were just trying to help me. I was selfish before about wanting to leave you so you could still be alive but...this time I have to. You don't deserve any of this."

Exhausted from the beatings, he fell asleep as the Eight Wonders' group spoke to each other. A plan was sorted, devised and eventually ratified through an agreement over several hours into the night, the door opening once more to wake him.

"Get up." Orga hoisted him on his feet. "Sleep well?"

"Not really," Gen shrugged, "hey, why are you still here?"

"Cuz I was your friend, and King-san said if you tried anything you'd be less likely to fight me."

"So you're what, laser fodder?"

"Whatever, I WAS your friend, remember that bitch." She slapped him out the door. "Why'd you have to kill him? After everything he done for you?"

"I told you, I DIDN'T want to," the bird sighed looking back, "my patriarch fucking tricked me, it's not like Jinuchu's got anyone else down here, who would know if he was dead?! I fucked up, that's all I can say."

"Yeah, you sure did."

They walked back to the arena, Konnor standing with Luzek, Clover and Junior as he was thrown to the canvas before them.

"We're attacking the Jinuchu," said Lisa with darkened eyes, "tell us what properties they own, and what's the best time to attack them."

"Best...time?" Ganbe squinted.

"When there's fewer guards, or when they gotta change shifts, we strike them at their most vulnerable."

"Oh, yeah! I actually do know that, Gihei changes his guards around every two weeks."

"And when's the next change?"

"November fourteenth."

"Alright, good," Kingston brought out a map, "mark all the properties they own, if there's too many then just mark the ones that're most profitable."

"You really gonna do this?" Ganbe's hands were untied. "There's only like, five of you."

"We have more," said Luzek stroking his beard, "we gather forces, attack their places."

"What about me?"

"You attack as well. Kusonami, you said you hated it, yes?"

The sound of a bat thunking beside him made him jump as Zillatopoulos leaned over him.

"Prove it." The monster snarled. "We smash it together. You betray me again, I beat your fucking ass."

"U-uh...alright." Gen nodded. "Sure, that sounds...good."

The bird marked down every location he remembered, working back from the most lucrative properties which unsurprisingly were all based in Chinatown. Various restaurants and brothels were listed, along with the pachkino parlour that haunted his nightmares every waking minute.

Four days of planning would come as the Eight Wonders went to war, every creature readying their weapons and training each other in the ring. There was no audience for the week, as Konnor would walk all his troops through dealing with various enemies and rooting out weaknesses. Everyone knew Gen killed Saureno, their eyes dirty with cut-throat gestures as muscles and blades threatened him.

The bird said nothing, keeping quiet and obedient under guard from either Junior or Orga in Saureno's room. A further plan was agreed by all of them, both sides of the circuit coming together under Konnor so that when the day would come, they would be ready.

"CREATURES AND PATRONS!" cried the gorilla in the centre. "The time has come to make those above pay for their transgressions! Many of you live down here in hiding, whether through crimes of passion, or unfortunate circumstance. My dear friend, Goro Saureno, was taken from us by a minion of the Jinuchu. He too was forced here through unfortunate circumstance. But that does not wipe his slate clean."

Gen was brought out one last time with eyes of hatred from every corner.

"But the Eight Wonders offers compassion, and a place of hiding for souls who cannot walk the surface. He has offered us his blades, and will prove now his loyalty, by aiding us in destroying his masters. And if he doesn't...then I shall stain my hands with his blood."

The map was laid out on the canvas as Gen was given his chance to speak. He had been drilled through days of training to ensure that he would speak proper for this moment.

"Gihei's base is in Chinatown, it's the restaurant here at the junction. It's got eight stories and they're full of offices with guards, all his nastiest fuckers live there. These restaurants here, they're his biggest earners but they got the most guards so you'll wanna do them last."

He marked four different points in the Red Light District.

"The real place to hit are his brothels here. They don't have guards, but this building here is an outpost for when there's trouble. Wreck these guys first, then smash up his brothels and free all the girls."

"The rules of the ring still remain," said Clover raising a finger, "do not kill. We may be pit fighters, but we have honour. If you end up killing one out of self-defence, then fine, just don't do it with the intent to murder, also watch out for civilians like the sex workers."

"We're splitting in two groups," said Kingston, "Team Kong's with me, we'll tear through the brothels. Team Saurus is with Clover, you follow her up to Chinatown. Let's take back this city, once and for all, OOORAAH!"

"OOORAAAH!"

With a pounding cheer the fighters braced themselves, Gen getting pulled with Zillatopoulos as they made their way up top. Some of them hadn't left the underground in years as the cold wind of dusk surprised them, sticking close towards the bus stop where several coaches were parked and waiting.

They fistbumped the drivers who nodded solemnly, a few words in Chinese between them as they rolled up to Issincho and began to spread out, all 57 of them. Junior kept Ganbe close, following Lisa north towards Chinatown beneath the darkening night. At Iyazaki Road, Zilla stopped with his prisoner outside the Kusonami parlour, the red-and-orange lights flickering off as the iguana looked at him.

"You ready?"

"...no." Gen shook his head. "But, the machines are off so, this is gonna be easier."

"We stop Jinuchu, we free you, right?" Zillatopoulos said. "You want be free?"

"I...I do."

"Prove it. Be brave. Stand up."

The look in the monster's eyes gave him an odd hope, a bold little smile as if pleading Gen to see the light. The bird smiled back, as they opened the doors to find the staff cleaning up along with Tagasuki and Garonba.

"We're closed, sorry, come back tomo-...shit."

"GEN?! GEN-CHAN!" Meiji ran through the aisles of slot machines and hugged him. "You're okay, ohhh SHIT!"

"Yeah...sorta."

"Shit I was so worried, what happened, everything alright?!"

"It will be. Maybe." Gen took a deep breath. "You remember Junior right?"

"Yeah, howsit going?"

"Hey!" the cockroach whistled at them. "Take your circlejerk outta here, I gotta close up."

"Tagasuki." The bird stepped forwards. "I got something to ask you. It wasn't sleeping drugs in that Mondo bottle, was it?"

"...heh." Gengo puffed his cigarette. "Might as well say it now. Yeah, it was poison, something I used to do back in the old days."

"But, wait," Meiji turned to him, "you told me it was-"

"I lied, Garonba. I knew you were just as much a little bitch as your boyfriend about getting your hands dirty. But now Gihei's got his deed, he can go off and do whatever, and I'm getting a big reward coming up tonight."

"Wait, tonight?"

"We're leaving." The roach dropped his stub on the floor. "Issincho's done, we're all setting up shop in Tokyo. Boss has got big plans and you bet I'm gonna follow that money."

"Heh...alright." Gen smirked turning to Junior. "Can I borrow your bat?"

"What?" Zilla sneered.

"You told me to prove it. Let me prove it. Please."

With a sincere hand reaching out, Gen pleaded to the monster who looked to his beloved bat with silver tail streaking on its side. Meiji looked confused but sensing something off as he step back towards the rear office. Zillatopoulos nodded, a grim look in his face as he gave Gen his bat, and the bird turned back to his former boss.

"I'm leaving Jinuchu," he began, "I'm done with all this."

"Pfft, what?" the cockroach scoffed. "You don't GET to leave Jinuchu."

"No? What if I did this?"

He swung his bat and cracked the pachinko machine, a violent spewing of tokens as it lit up with a scream before Gen bashed it from the top with shards of plastic flying through the air.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" screamed Tagasuki.

"B-BRO, GEN, NO!"

Meiji clutched his head watching Gen smash another machine, a cry of pixellated fear with more tokens scattering at his feet. He walked down the aisle beating one machine after another, a crash-bang-boom with violent sparks as lights would pop off the front and steel bits would crack past his face.

"HEY, SOMEONE GET IN HERE!" the roach pulled his antennae. "THIS FUCKER'S MESSING UP MY PROPERTY!"

"G-GEN-CHAN STOP!" Garonba cried. "YOU'RE GONNA RUIN-"

"_I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ANYMOOOORE! _"

With a desperate cry Ganbe ran through the hall of machines dragging the bat behind him, smashing each and every one-armed bandit with a tearing slash across their fronts. Slotwheels rolled and arms were severed from the beatings across every one, as a rabbit and a cricket came lunging from the staff room.

Armed with a knife, the hare came first as Gen pulled back to avoid the slash, and when the rabbit stabbed forth, the bird thrust his bat straight for the tip. Remembering Meiji's trick, the violent recoil crunched through the bunny's hand and shoved the blade back in his palm, slicing his fingers with a screech as the cricket jumped above to try and attack.

Ganbe pulled back and threw the bat like a missile, cracking the bug's jaw and throwing him down against Tagasuki. The bird caught Zilla's bat in mid-air to come striking down on another slot machine, vandalising every screen that came in his sights. With rabid scream he swung a circle of destruction, bashing slots against the wall or ripping them down in lines. Gasping with heaving breath, he marched back to Zillatopoulos, handed back his bat, and scooped as many tokens as he could in his fingers.

"You want your FUCKING TOKENS?!" He slammed them down on the roach's head like silver bullets. "HERE, TAKE YOUR _FUCKING FAKE MONEY, YOU FUCKING FAKE SHIT! _"

"YOU, GAAARGH! YOU LITTLE BASTARD!"

When the cockroach tried to jump up and strike, the bird dodged back in a spinning kick that knocked him against the counter. Ganbe was trembling, partly from fear and partly from fury as he dared not stop to think.

"Do you know how much I fucking hate this place? This FUCKING HELLHOLE I had to suffer all those years, while you cut my pay, make me stay overtime to clean your FUCKING GARBAGE CIGARETTES, THAT CHOKE ME TO FUCKING DEATH?!"

"You...you really gone off the deep end." Gengo pulled himself up dusting his orange suit. "And here I was, thinking you'd get a promotion outta-"

"SHUT UP!" Gen shoved him back. "I'm done with this clan, I'm DONE with you, and I'm gonna make this night the worst FUCKING NIGHT OF YOUR LIFE!"

"Oh yeah? You and what army?"

His phone rang off as he looked down with surprise. Ganbe smiled stepping back to let him take the call, the bug's eyes widening in horror.

"T-tagasuki-san! Someone found the outpost, we're being attacked!"

"WHAT?!"

"S-some fucking gorilla, he beat the SHIT out of-O-OH FUCK NO!"

A shattering crack ended the call as he turned back towards the bird. This smile of seething rage he had never seen in Gen before, who slowly pulled out his sickles and started to twirl them. Tagasuki looked towards the back door, and before the bird could grab him, he pulled out another cigar and blasted a thick smog of his vile tobacco.

Gen was blinded with coughing fits, and when Zilla tried to rush him, the cockroach dove out the back and fled into the street. Meiji and the monster hurried to Ganbe's side and cleared his face of smoke.

"Heh, GOOD!" Junior patted him. "We DOING IT!"

"Bro, what the fuck you doing?!" Garonba gasped. "Are you really leaving the Jinuchu?!"

"I'll explain later," said Ganbe, "right now, all you need to know is, we need to stop Gihei."

"Wha...why?"

"Meiji." The bird held his hand. "We fucked up. We fucked up real bad, and if we don't stop Gihei now, there's gonna be thousands fucking dead."

"B-bro, you're scaring me."

"Do you trust me?"

"I...totally," the beetle nodded.

"Then help me fight the Jinuchu. The Eight Wonders are all out there, beating the shit out of them, we HAVE to make this count."

"Yeah," Zillatopoulos nodded, "big BIG problem, let's go!"

"Uh...r-right!" Garonba headed to the back. "Hold up, I gotta get my drill-arms."

"Wait, you kept those?!" Gen smirked.

"Yeah, when I gave the deed to Tagasuki, he put me on as a guard, turns out those're my best weapons!"

"NO TIME!" Zilla grabbed Gen's arm. "We got fight, find Clover-san!"

"Yeah, you're right," the bird nodded, "MEI-CHAN, WE GOING TO CHINATOWN, MEET US UP THERE!"

"ALRIGHT, UHH...SEE YA THERE!"

The beetle gave a thumbs up out the door as he watched Gen and Junior hurry out. Heading back into Gengo's office, Meiji pulled down all the pictures to find his boss' safes, before bringing out a tub of play-dough and a lighter. Smearing the plasticine round each vault, he lit them up and blasted them all open safely, digging out every single stack of yen bills that he put into a rucksack.

"I hope you like this Orama-san," he muttered, "easier to carry, easier to cash in for all that treasure."

Running south through the Red Light District, he carried the bag full of money as the sounds of violence came roaring from every direction. Panic fluttered in his heart, as fires burst free from rooftops and windows smashed open with guards falling through in howling screams. At the entrance to his Forge he found Dogu Orama, rubbing his tentacles nervously.

"Here!" he handed the bag. "Now you promised!"

"Holy SHIT," the jellyfish gasped, "this...that's gotta be worth gotdamn millions!"

"Yeah yeah, and if you're lucky you can grab all the tokens to trade too, now where's the box?!"

"I got it." He handed over the treasure at last. "Mind telling me why half the district's on fire?"

"I uhh...I think the Jinuchu are getting their asses kicked." Meiji looked back at the rising flames. "All the more reason to take that money."

"Right." Dogu bowed. "Thanks fer the unmarked bills."

"Thanks for the treasure, and honouring your word. Stay safe!"

They both parted ways fast as they could, Meiji heading into the Forge to open the box, check the treasure was inside with relief, and quickly hide it underneath his giant anvil. In his office, he grabbed his blunt drill-shaped armguards, hardened steel covering his hands as he took a deep breath and clapped them together on his cheeks.

"Alright...GEN-CHAN! I'M COMING BROOOOO!"

In the Red Light District, an unmarked building was mobbed by a horde of kaiju and monsters who broke through the windows, and battered every single guard with overwhelming force. During the middle of guard change, there were twice as many thugs, but one half was too tired, and the other half too disorganised to fight back proper.

Punching down a door was Konnor Kingston, one meaty fist cracking it off its hinges before he flattened a boar's face into the floor. A kappa charged with a heavy club, but his arm was grabbed and violently snapped in half with screeching howl, before he was tossed down the hall into a wolf. Through every other entrance, the guards were beaten unconscious by goats with blunt axes, multi-armed ants who throttled them, and large lizards who swung their giant hands. A few of the guards were wired enough to fire back with deadly precision, blasting fire or shocking bolts that ripped through one of the invaders, or even melted a few faces.

But mob mentality drove them on without fear, with Konnor at the helm as he grabbed a badger's head and slammed it entirely through a wall that came crumbling down. A wild oni lunged with a katana, the gorilla barking at a goat to toss him a blunt axe in order to counter the sword. Sparks shined between their eyes before Kingston crushed the oni's head, the dull blade cracking his skull wide open that even without trying to murder, would render him comatose and bleeding.

"TO THE BROTHELS, GO!" he barked. "WATCH YOUR FIRE, THIS IS A RESCUE MISSION NOW!"

Marching from the outpost, the Eight Wonders' contestants surged onto the streets and kicked down brothel doors. The guards of Jinuchu were held at firepoint, ordered to surrender and those who fought back, were dropped and beaten with a hundred bruises. Workers were encouraged to flee into their arms, as hordes of battered females stumbled out with fright-filled adrenaline.

The locals were agasp and terrified, fearing some sort of gang war as Konnor's troops assured any residents to stay inside with calming words. Some of the Jinuchu enforcers came charging down the street, as Konnor cracked his knuckles and ordered his group to protect civilians. A wolf lunged with a bat, he snapped it in half and bludgeoned the fiend twice. A bear tried to grab his throat, Kingston slammed the arms away before a violent uppercut knocked the kaiju flat in one punch.

"YOU THINK YOU'RE HOT SHIT YANKEE BOY?!"

"No," Konnor grinned, "I know I am. Now who's next?"

"S-SOMEONE FUCKING KILL HIM GODAMMIT!"

The next fool to step up was a gator with a katana, swinging for his head as the ape ducked the slash and crushed the croc's snout with one brutal backhand. His jaw was left hanging as he fell to the street, as a bull came roaring down the lane that Kingston dodged once, then drove a single punch to the side of his head that sent him falling head first through the gravel.

"WHO'S NEXT?!" Kingston roared. " WHO AMONG YOU IS READY TO FACE THE KING?!"

He thumped his chest in a show of fury to frighten the lesser thugs. The few bolder bigger enforcers lunged with blades and clubs that he snapped, bent, or actively disarmed by a cracking twist of their limbs.

Over in Chinatown the chaos would truly begin, as the Jinuchu-owned restaurants were targeted with a sonic boom of shattering glass from a shrieking falcon. In the confusion, Lisa Clover charged in and slapped down the first guard with her mighty fist, the bull dodging her long muscular arm that snappied taut like a baseball bat.

When the bovine tried to kick her stomach, he was startled by a second, smaller pair of arms that slipped out from underneath her shirt, and grabbed his foot with a deathly grip.

"Oh, you thought I was going to be easy?"

"A-AAAGH, AAAAAAARGH!"

"I can't use these arms usually cuz they're too strong, orders from my boss to...restrain myself."

"A-A-A-A-AAAAAAARRRRGH!"

"But my boss isn't here...and now it's my turn to play ball."

A violent crack made the bull's eyes water, the powerful arms from Clover's belly snapping his foot in one single rotation. When two wolves tried to rush her from the kitchen, she held the bovine's leg and slammed him down to the floor to leave her other arms free. One giant swing slapped one wolf into the wall, before she released the bull's foot and countered the second mutt with a small-hand punch.

The wolf vomited blood, a shrieking cough as he clutched his chest and fell to the ground with Clover walking past to the kitchen. From inside a rooster cocked a shotgun, bashing one intruder with the butt before taking aim at Lisa. She grabbed a table and hurled it at the shooter, the furniture spun from the blasting buckshot perforating it in holes, as the monster came rushing behind with a hammerfist.

Her arms were like phantom whips, a giant fist cracking the bird's skull before ripping the gun from his hands to bludgeon with a home-run. Cocking the shotgun, Clover decimated the Jinuchu's property by punching holes through the walls and any signs of the clan's markings, before the gun clicked empty. She passed it to her smaller arms, who slowly bent it with a creaking force until it suddenly snapped like a twig.

"You boys and your stupid little toys," she chuckled, "come on, it's the bottom of the ninth, and you're all bunting like bitches, gimme a real swing!"

Said swing came from a lion who charged her with a katana, the monster blocking with both shotgun halves before a daring slash carved one of her bigger arm with a thick spray of red. Stumbling with surprise, she punched the feline's head with the barrel of the gun, then followed with a mighty brutal uppercut. Her hand dragged so low, so deep against the floor with knuckles dragging, that the moment Lisa connected with the yakuza's jaw, he was sent through a hole in the roof.

Orga joined in by running through the kitchen, calling staff to leave with promises they would not be harmed if they chose to leave Jinuchu. A few of the chefs however were loyal, and armed themselves with cleavers to come slicing for her tiny head. Grabbing woks in both hands, Orga spun like a tornado through the kitchen aisle, devastating cooks and guards with her windmill slams, and burying their heads through walls before tying them up to put in the pantry.

One hooligan tried to stab her with a katana, but she simply grabbed it in her giant hands and snapped it in half, then slapped the thug several feet out the backdoor and onto the street. All across Chinatown she saw heaving bodies, as guards piled out of the Jinuchu headquarters to attack the invaders. In the midst of this crowd, Gengo Tagasuki ran towards HQ, shouting at other members and pointing them back at Iyazaki.

"HEY, fuck's going on?!" said a tiger guard at the doors.

"THERE'S BEEN AN ATTACK!" cried the roach. "MY PARLOUR, IT, WE GOT A TRAITOR!"

"What?!"

"GEN GANBE, HE FUCKING TRAITOR'D ME, MY PARLOUR'S IN RUINS!"

"For real?! Fuck, alright get your ass in there!"

"Is Gihei inside?!" Gengo grabbed the guard. "He's gonna fix this right?!"

"Uhh, nah, he," the cat gulped looking back, "he sent someone else to handle the uh...the big move."

"Shit...fine, just get me inside so I can call him!"

"Alright." The tiger opened the door. "You asked for it."

The roach sneered at him confused before hurrying inside the restaurant base, the guard clenching his hands never moving from his spot. His fellow guards took on the creatures of Eight Wonders, as fire blasts ripped through pillars and bolts of lightning shattered the lights, with more than a few waterspouts and frosty shudders across the way.

But the one who would finally meet him was a familiar pair he did not expect. Gen Ganbe marched through the mob with sickles out, slashing through members of Jinuchu whilst Zillatopoulos came swinging with his bat, and Meiji punched with his blunted drills.

"HEY, YOU!" the feline snarled. "You're in hot shit now-"

"GET THE FUCK OUT MY WAY!" Gen screamed.

"I'm warning you, you better step down or it's gonna get wor-"

"_I SAID GET FUCKED! _"

Lashing out his scythes he hooked into the tiger's shoulder as he screamed, the chain yanking him forth into Gen's knee that slammed through the guard's chin. Zilla came following after with his bat to strike the guard's stomach, and send him flying through the double doors causing every thug in the former restaurant to come down straight to the foyer with steel knuckles, maces and guns.

"GIHEEEEIIIII!" Gen screamed with furious terror. "GUESS WHO'S FUCKING BACK?!"

"YOU COCK-EYED BITCH!" Tagasuki shouted from above. "I GAVE YOU THE BEST DAMN YEARS OF MY LIFE, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY US?!"

"OH DON'T WORRY, I'LL REPAY YOU AS WELL!"

"Dude, come on," Meiji whimpered, "you really wanna piss them off even further, we're already doing a traitor."

"//HEADS UP!//" Zilla cried in English. "//We gotta deal with these fucks!//"

"Alright," Gen nodded, "I got a plan. Junior! Can you fight these guys, while me and Mei-chan kick their asses upstairs?!"

"SURE!" the monster gave a thumbs up. "FUCK 'EM UP!"

"KILL THEM!" the roach cried. "WHOEVER BRINGS ME GANBE'S HEAD, GETS A PROMOTION OUTTA HERE!"

"Awww duuude," Meiji clutched his head, "I'm gonna regret this."

"Yep, so am I." Gen put on his bravest smile. "You ready bro? We got one shot to make it up there, but I can't do it without you."

"What if Gihei's up there?! We really gonna fight him?"

"We either kick his ass or die trying. And whatever happens, I'd rather be dead with you, than anywhere else."

"Hah...alright bro."

They bumped each other's fists, one wrist over the other in a cross as they nodded with deep breaths.

"Come on Meiji," said the bird, "let's make the biggest fucking mistake of our lives."

"Hah...nah, this ain't it," the beetle chuckled, "trying to lick my anvil in the winter, THAT was the biggest mistake."

"HAH, hahahaa, ALRIGHT YOU FUCKS, IT'S ROUND THREE, AND I'M HERE TO WIN IT ALL!"

The battle began as the three intruders put their backs to each other, readying themselves for the horde of Jinuchu who came down with a vengeance. Gen hooked his scythes through someone's knee to rip them forwards and drive a fist in their head, before turning fast with a chain round someone's throat to judo-toss them over his shoulder.

Garonba blocked every weapon that came for him, bashing with drill-arms that battered faces before he kicked a chair with an expert flick of his foot, crumpling three thugs at once who fell flat on their chests. Another punk aimed with his gun from afar, the beetle grabbing an ashtray to hurl it like a frisbee and bean them in the head.

At the centre was Zillatopoulos, taking them on in a whirlwind of destruction. Dodging knives with kickflips and sweeping legs with his tail, he was almost untouchable as he spun wildly on his head or hands to batter faces and kick through bodies, a vicious breakdancer with a deadly groove. One fiend came forth with a katana, that he blocked with his bat and became trapped in a duel.

"//OH, YOU WANNA GO?!//" cried Junior. "//ALRIGHT, LET'S DO THIS SAMURAI STYLE!//"

"FILTHY BASTARD, I'LL GUT YOU RAW!"

The tanuki armed with sword barked at his cohorts to give them room, a brief clearing in the centre of the restaurant as the statue of three golden dragons cradled the world above them. The kaiju charged with a savage sweep, Junior parrying with the bat in a clanging shriek as he jumped forth with slamming crush.

The raccoon dodged in a roll and slashed for Zilla's leg, but the monster front-flipped on his hand and spunkicked the kaiju's face hard before cartwheeling down with a mighty crunch. The sword blocked his bat, the tanuki roaring to shove the iguana back with all his might as he made a lunging stab.

Zillatopoulos spun out of harm's way, lashing with his tail to slap twice across the thug's face before he kicked Junior's back and carved down his spine. A screech came from the monster as he felt the sword bite his tail, cutting hard through the scales and severing the top layer in a bloody draw.

Clutching himself against a table, he waited for the kaiju to approach with a terrifying cleave before ducking down and sweeping the leg. The thug tripped as Junior spun himself twice, swinging a home-run straight for the gut as the tanuki screamed from being hurled across the room, crunching into the dragon statue, and splashing down into the pool.

"//HMPH! YEAH, some motherfuckers always tryna ice skate uphill!//"

He taunted the next wave of thugs with a beckoning hand and a twirl of the bat.

"//Any one o' you next?! Come on, step up to thuh plate, I wuz born in Madison Square, AIN'T NONE OF YOU FUCK WITH GODZILLA'S FRIENDS!//"

During this, the two traitors fought their way upwards, as Gen slashed an incoming thug to cripple their arm before tossing them over the stairs. Meiji was covering from behind, punching down fools and kicking punks down the steps. Tables were tossed and chairs were hurled along with knives and bullets in their direction. The beetle became a shield, blocking every gun that was aimed upon them as well as firing back molten shots of stone from his throat, before Gen rushed them down with a sickle storm that carved their suits in a dozen scars.

With the barest restraint Ganbe tore through the building, lashing thugs and dodging blades to counter with his own as he strangled, sliced and occasionally stabbed a Jinuchu member with non-fatal but painful wounds. The higher they climbed the more vicious their opponents with bats traded for swords, and guns traded for energy powers.

Meiji took on two thugs with katanas, blocking one each before headbutting one and kneeing the other. Gen dodged a savage flamethrower ripping past his eye, hurling out his sickles like bolas to wrap round the throat of the attacker, before jumping off a table to stomp their choking face. After an exhausting climb, their bodies shook with adrenaline as they finally reached Gihei's office. Gen never stopped to think for fear of stopping the momentum, as he slammed the door open startling the cockroach inside.

"GIHEEEEEI!"

"WHUH, F-FUCK!" Gengo staggered at the desk coughing on his smoke. "Y-you...how the FUCK you get here?!"

"I kicked EVERY ASS TO THE TOP AND NOW IT'S YOUR TURN BITCH!"

"You...wait, Garonba!? Why are you-"

"You lied to me!" shouted the beetle. "You said it was sleeping meds!"

"Are you FUCKING SERIOUS?! Why do you give a shit, there's bigger things at stake!"

"YOU MADE ME A MURDERER! I never killed nobody before, YOU TRICKED ME!"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Tagasuki pulled out a gun from his suit. "You two already fucked up, it's frankly the only thing you're good at and you're lucky Gihei's not here to turn you to ashes."

"Where is he then?!" snapped the bird. "Where's the fucking deed?!"

"Heh...wouldn't you like to- GHRRRKH!"

A knife suddenly appeared in the top of his head. Tagasuki turned stiff, his antennae paralysed and his cigar dropping from his mandibles.

"What...what the fuck?"

Both intruders gasped as Gengo's arms turned limp, his eyes becoming faint until the blade ripped out his head, pulling up on a silver wire as the roach collapsed on the floor with sudden twitches.

"Thank you for coming." A voice came from the ceiling as they looked up with fright. "It is unfortunate you made my task easier...Ganbe."

Hanging off of a webbed strand, Khoumad Maung dangled above to creep down the silk and land on Gihei's desk. The knife stained with Tagasuki's blood he wiped across his beige coat, a green smear as his eight gleaming eyes sparkled upon them.

"M-...Maung-san," Meiji gasped, "you just...wh-what are you doing?"

"The cleansing," said the spider, "Gihei plans to move all his business to Kaijurocho. As a result, I am tasked to eliminate those he considers worthless, for his grand scheme."

"O-oh...oh shit, that...so it's really happening."

"Not to worry, you are safe. Your skills at the Forge have proven invaluable. Unfortunately...Ganbe has been marked for death."

"Wha-...WHAT?!" Garonba grabbed his friend. "No, what?! NO, wh-what?!"

"Forgive me." Khoumad bowed. "You were right on what we spoke of before. I can only promise you, that if you lay your arms down, you shall be given a quick and painless death. It is the least I can offer you."

"But that's, NO!" Meiji stepped in front. "I don't want my bro dead, Gen-chan did everything he wanted!"

"Regardless, Gihei said-"

"I DON'T CARE WHAT GIHEI SAID! He's my bro, he did everything for you, he got you that stupid deed, and now the boss just gonna kill him?!"

"I understand this is upsetting," Maung took another step, "and were it up to me, I would want my aahpaw to live. But it is not."

"BUT, BUT THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

"Hhheh...hhhehehehe..."

They stopped to look at Gen, his head bowed with a soft little laugh.

"Bro?" Garonba turned. "Gen, you okay?"

"Hhhehehehee...HEEHEEHEEHEHE...doesn't even matter!" The bird's shoulders shook with a trembling cackle. "Didn't...f-fucking matter at all, did it HEEHEHAHAHA!"

"Gen, you're scaring me again, what are you-"

"I do what Gihei wants, I die! I don't do what he wants, I die too! I was fucked either way, no matter what I do!"

"I wish it was not so," said Maung shaking his head, "do not resist."

"So I'm just a f-fucking joke?!" Gen giggled louder. "Heh, HEEEHEHEE, I'M JUST A WORTHLESS LITTLE MOOK HUH?! HAHAHAHAHAA, _AAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAHA, AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAA! _"

He raised his head high with a screaming laugh, a vile sound that rang through the office as he clutched his face and kept laughing harder. Garonba stood back growing terrified, as Maung slit his eyes concerned when Ganbe wouldn't stop. His screeching guffaw rose even higher to a painful pitch, almost grating their ears as he dug his fingers into his cheeks so hard, that the flesh would pull from the corners of his eye.

"GAHAHAHA, AHAHAHA AHAHAHAA, I SHOULDA JUST FUCKING KILLED MYSELF HUH!? HAHAHA, IT DIDN'T FUCKING MATTER!"

"Wh-what?!" Meiji gasped.

"OH YEAH, I DIDN'T TELL YOU!??" Gen turned with sadistic smile. "I almost threw myself off a roof, the day after Gihei almost drowned you at Sha-Wujing!"

"B-but...WHAT?!"

"BUT THAT DON'T MATTER NOW, CUZ I'M GONNA DIE EITHER WAY, ISN'T THAT FUCKING HILARIOUS?!"

"Ganbe, enough!" Maung drew his machete. "I understand you are distressed, but have some dignity-"

"SHUT YOUR FUCKING HOLE YOU SPIDER-BITCH!" Gen jabbed at him. "You always scared the shit outta me, every GODDAMN TIME I had to deal with you, I don't GET you! I never fucking trusted you, not ONE SECOND, and I was right!"

"You are frustrated, I will not hold that against you-"

"DID KURASAWA DIE PAINLESSLY?! NO, HE FUCKING DIDN'T, SO DON'T FUCKING LIE TO ME CUZ I WAS THERE!"

"Ganbe, ENOUGH!"

"NO, I'M NOT GONNA DIE LIKE KURASAWA DID, SCREAMING AND BEGGING WHEN YOU MADE ME GUT HIS FUCKING NECK!"

The bird swished out his scythes with maddening grin suddenly twisting in pure rage.

"I'LL MAKE YOU PAY, I'LL MAKE ALL OF YOU PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID TO ME, MAKING ME SUFFER!"

"Hm. Very well." The assassin pulled out a second machete. "If that is the path you have chosen, then so be it."

"WAIT, NO!" Meiji tried to step between. "GEN-CHAN, M-MAUNG-SAN PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!"

"SHUT UP!" Gen shoved his friend back. "THIS IS BETWEEN ME AND HIM, _YOU WANNA MAKE ME A KILLER SO BAD?! WELL THIS IS FOR YOU, GIHEEEEEEEI! _"

With savage scream he came flying towards Khoumad, who blocked him with both machetes as the sickles scraped off the blades. Gen spun fast when he landed to whip out the chain towards Maung's leg, the spider parrying with his sword to shoved the bird back and make a lunging thrust. The bird spun out its path to bash his elbow on the spider's jaw, that Khoumad guarded with his limb and punched a third arm into Gen's side, kicking him away to slash both machetes for his head.

Ganbe blocked with both scythes, lifting his legs to slam both into Maung's chest and roll back up to lunge at him again. The tarantula grabbed Ganbe incoming, tossing him over his head with four arms to slam the punk on the desk.

"GUYS, STOP!" cried Meiji. "W-we can talk this out!"

"LIKE FUCK WE CAN!" Gen rolled off the desk as Maung's blade chopped the wood. "GIHEI FUCKED ME OVER FROM THE START!"

"IT'S NOT MAUNG'S FAULT, MAUNG-SAN STOP!"

"I have my DUTY!" Khoumad swung as Gen parried mid-roll. "If I fail this then Gihei shall kill me too!"

"S-STOP TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER FOR GODS' SAKE, STOP IT, STOP IIIIIT!"

But neither of them would listen, the one-eyed kaiju leaping back towards the wall daring Maung to come at him. The tarantula charged with a double-diagonal cut, left then right that Ganbe dodged twice. When Maung thrust with a brutal twin stab, the bird jumped above the blades to wallkick straight for the spider's jaw, but Maung grabbed his knee with two arms and hurled him across the room into one of the training poles.

Marching forth, he pulled out a knife and hurled it for Gen's head, the dagger thunking into one of the wooden arms when the bird turned the pole sharp towards Khoumad, who blocked and smacked it the other way. With their swords and scythes they knocked the training dummy back and forth in a spiral of wooden branches, ducking and parrying against hands and knees whilst trying to stab each other between, a battle of blades through a turnstile.

Maung got lucky with a thin slice of Gen's belly, the traitor screaming as he hurled his scythe overhead and it gouged into Maung's shoulder, before he pulled hard to slam the spider into the pole. The tarantula pulled back and unsheathed his pale blade, the sharpest of his knives to chop through the wood in a single cut, and leave Gen exposed.

Ganbe swerved to yank Khoumad forwards through the dummy's joints, hurling him in a wild swing across the floor until the sickle ripped out his shoulder, the bird still spinning to throw his other scythe. The spider parried mid-fall with his machete, landing with a skidding halt before rushing back forwards. The one-eyed thug kept spinning his blades on one foot, Khoumad blocking each time as he closed the distance with twirling machetes.

Sparks shimmered as he kept parrying with each step, before grabbing the chain of the sickle and pulling hard with two arms to drag Gen closer to stab. Ganbe suddenly ran towards him with suicidal glee, shocking the spider briefly until the bird jumped high and glided over him with his wings. The chain whipped round the spider's throat, but Maung was quick enough to untangle it as the goon yanked hard to make a spinning lash for the assassin's legs. Khoumad shot a web for the wall, yanking his body far and away from harm before he divekicked Gen in the face.

"Imbecile." His foot crushed on the bird's beak. "Now, stop struggli-A-AAARGH!"

"GO FUCKING BURN IN HEEEELL!"

In the midst of the divekick, Gen had hurled one of his sickles high so it would snap back and plunge into the spider's back when they fell. Ripping through his coat and digging in his thorax, the tarantula cried out when Gen pulled him off himself with blade tearing down the back, wrenching the sickle free before kicking Khoumad's face.

Rolling across the floor, Maung threw another knife that stabbed through Gen's leg, causing him to fall and shriek as he tore it free then threw it back at the spider's head. Maung caught it as he shot back up, pocketing it to come rushing with both swords in a cross-slash. Ganbe met him in the clash, twisting his sickles in a T-shape against the chopping blades.

"Do not make this harder," Khoumad warned with seething breath, "it will only be WORSE!"

"WAS IT WORSE FOR YOU?!" screamed Gen at his face. "How long're you gonna last 'til Gihei's done with you?!"

"This is NOT about me!"

"YOU'RE THE SAME AS ME, JUST ANOTHER BITCH HE FUCKS AND TOSSES AWAY, JUST LIKE EVERYONE IN HIS BROTHELS!"

With a hard stomp on Maung's foot, Gen drove his elbow through the blades and slammed the spider's chin. With a fresh cut on his arm, the bird pounced on Khoumad and wrapped his sickles round his throat, strangling him hard as Maung gritted his mandibles and clenched his thorax before pressing both machetes to Gen's throat. Suddenly both of them were kicked aside and pulled apart.

"STOP IT!" Meiji pulled his friend off and stepped between. "WE DON'T HAVE TO DO THIS, WE GOT BIGGER PROBLEMS!"

"Garonba do NOT INTERFERE!" barked Khoumad. "You are not marked for cleansing, do not risk your life for this!"

"GEN-CHAN DID EVERYTHING FOR YOU!"

"Mei-chan get back!" the bird put a hand on him. "You're safe, don't do nothing we'll regret-"

"NO, IT'S NOT FAIR!" The beetle stomped forth with drill arms bashing together. "I'm sorry Maung-san, you're a cool guy and...I don't wanna piss Gihei off but...I can't let you hurt my brother. He...he did all this to keep me safe, I can't abandon him!"

"Is this truly what you desire?" said the tarantula gripping his coat. "Be warned, if you say yes, you will die too."

"Fine." Meiji grabbed his friend's hand. "Wherever he goes...I'll wait for him there, cuz he...he's my home, right Gen-chan?"

"...yeah." The bird grinned with a tearful smile. "You're my home too, Mei-chan. We ride or die together!"

"If you INSIST!"

Maung threw off his coat high in the air, exposing his thin but bulbous body with muscular thorax and large abdomen, wrapped in a scarlet longyi skirt. From his coat pockets, four knives fell from above as he grabbed each and every one, spreading his arms wide like a Hindu statue. A dark aura trembled from the spider, seething off his back like rancid flames and a dark murmur darkly in Burmese.

"//What is but one more stain upon my soul?//"

With six blades out in force, he rushed them both as Meiji blocked two then parried four with a spinning bash of his drill arms. Gen whipped out his chain to one of Khoumad's arms and wrenched it back, the spider slashing three knives for the beetle's head. Meiji countered with his horn and drill-punched for the stomach, but Maung blocked with two machetes crossed and slashed down his arm with another two cleaving knives.

Gen slammed his foot in the spider's leg to knock him down, who swung back with his last two knives for the bird's head who blocked with his scythe, twisting one knife in his grip to wrench him back. The tarantula shot a web to the ceiling and lifted himself up, kicking both thugs away before severing his strand, and come spinning back down in a deadly carve. Both Gen and Meiji jumped back from his landing, before rushing him both sides that the spider blocking with three weapons each.

Garonba punched each blade back in a flurry of blows, trying to get in close as Khoumad made an infinity pattern with two knives, then thrust through the centre with a machete. The beetle sidestepped fast to kick Maung's thrusting arm, but when he lunged in close another arm wrapped round his neck, and threw him towards the desk.

Gen was far more savage, forming his own figure-of-eight that struck sparks off Maung's daggers and even catching the thrust of his machete in the loop. Ganbe caught his sword with one hooking scythe, and snapped it upwards to expose the waist and slash Khoumad's side. The tarantula shrieked after tossing Meiji back, spinning his whole body towards Gen with a hard turning kick.

"//THE LAW OF GIHEI IS _ABSOLUTE, GANBEEEE! _//"

Rushing for the bird, Maung drew back his sword ready to stab his throat, when suddenly half a drill-shape came flying that Khoumad parried with a triple-uppercut. Meiji came straight after with a thrusting forward kick to the spider's skull, grabbing his drill-hand from above to karate-chop his head, then shove him towards Gen who delivered a brutal knee to the jaw.

"IF I'M GOING TO HELL, I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME YOU CREEPY FUCK!"

When he tried to slash Maung's eyes, Khoumad shot him first with a blinding web causing him to fall back, as Meiji punched the assassin to keep him off-balance before ripping the hot strings off his friend. The spider roared with lunging strike, slashing six separate ways in a violent frenzy that tore at their arms and chests, a beautiful dance of violence that left dozens of cuts across their bodies.

Ragged with crimson streaks forming across their scales, Garonba finally blocked him on the seventeenth cut, clashing with both drill-hands before blasting a molten rock point-blank into Maung's face to stagger him. With a wild haymaker, he clocked the assassin and grabbed his arm to swing him towards Gen, the bird slashing him in a running strike and skidding hard back the other way to slash him again.

As Garonba kept him spinning, Gen kept on slashing, the bird like a shadow of cackling frenzy that sliced the arachnid's body with every swing his friend took him. After twelve shrieking cuts, Khoumad shot out a web to yank himself free to the opposite wall, grabbing the punching bag that he sliced off its stand and tossed towards Meiji.

When he ran straight for Ganbe, the beetle had grabbed the bag mid-toss and used it for a battering ram, roaring like a viking in thundering charge. The spider jumped on top and briefly rode it, backflipping off to slash for Meiji's back, until Gen swung his sickle-chain round the killer's wrist to pull him hard to the ground.

When the bird came down for his head, Maung shot another web that Gen blocked with his other scythe, but it saved enough time to stab the bird's leg with a knife and roll back up with a kick to the head. Suddenly the spider was bashed from behind by the punching bag still in Meiji's grasp, the beetle swinging it like a caber for a spinning strike.

The tarantula dodged to one side, and with his deadly pale knife slashed all along the side, ripping the bag open to expose the fluff. The sound of flesh tearing apart trembled through Meiji's ears as the spider's eyes came looming towards him, almost seething with fury.

"MEI-CHAN, YOUR HORN!"

Gen's scream alerted the beetle as he reared back his head, and with a howling scream felt a shining spark through his horn that set his brain on fire. The sharpest blade chipped through the horn's stem, but the power of Mieji's spark blasted Maung with electric force, repelling his knife from cutting through and shooting the tarantula back across the hall, where Ganbe stood waiting.

Opening his jacket, the bird smiled with sadistic grin and thrust his body forth to impale Maung on his belly spikes, ripping the spider's chest with a vile shriek as he tore through the shirt, and scarred his thorax like a grater with gouging thrusting wounds.

Trembling with unholy rage, Ganbe finished the fight with sickles raised high, and gouged through Maung's eyes to blind four of them completely. The tarantula screamed with gasping tears, clutching his face before the bird pulled his head down with scythes, and cracked his mandibles with a violent knee, to the point of shattering one of his fangs.

The assassin fell against the desk, half his senses lost, his arms drooping from the exceptional agony through his skull. Gen stood before him, his jacket open with his belly covered in bruises. The spider coughed as a golden liquid dripped from his face, the deep scars from his eyes trickling like amber.

"Do it." Khoumad gasped dropping his blades. "End this. K-kill me."

"You want it that bad?" said Gen with a twisting smile. "This was what Gihei wanted all along, wasn't it?"

"You chose to fight, now finish it. Kill me."

"No, Gen!" Meiji stumbled forwards beaten and bruised. "Don't do it bro! You're not like that."

"You already killed before," whispered Maung, "what is one more stain...this was but self-defence."

"Bro, come on, PLEASE don't, th-that's not who you are!"

"KILL ME!" the spider shrieked. "Prove you deserve to survive and END ME!"

"...nah." Gen sheathed his sickles stepping back. "Mei-chan's right. That's not who I am."

"What?!"

"I'm not you. I'm not gonna be Gihei's bitch and finish off his jobs for him."

"What...what do you mean?!"

"You're fucked arentcha?" Ganbe shrugged with a grin. "You couldn't do your job, Gihei's gonna toss you away, just like I said, or send you back home where you'll fucking die."

"...so it would seem." The tarantula bowed. "You...you are correct. It is the fate I truly deserve."

"Well before you do that, I just wanna know." Gen thrust his sickle still dripping with yellow. "Where's Gihei? Where'd he go with that deed?"

"He's in...Kaijurocho," Khoumad sighed, "he's in the Millennium Tower, plotting something terrible."

"You know what it is? Cuz I do."

"How?"

"I met the guy who had the deed, from the R.O.S.E. Institute. It's a key to some nuclear weapon, that's gonna fucking blast an entire city in some kinda...murder-freeze, like a...like-"

"A cold...death?"

The spider widened his remaining eyes. His one fang whistled as he pulled himself up with heaving retch, clutching with three hands.

"This...this was what Kurasawa learned."

"Yeah," Gen nodded, "I dunno about you, but I think a whole city getting fucked is more important than just the two of us, ya think?"

"Unable to defeat you, I am also damned the same as you. What are your plans, Ganbe?"

"We go to Tokyo," the bird stepped to the door, "we stop Gihei, somehow, maybe ask the Toho for help?"

"The Toho will not trust us," Maung shook his head, "the Jinuchu are planning to attack them, an assassination from two creatures more skilled than I."

"Wait, they going to war?!"

"Almost certainly. One aims to attack the Toho headquarters...the other plans to kill the head of the Obakimura Family."

"Shit...this shit's gotten fucked."

"It sure is," Meiji pulled his friend in a hug, "I'm really glad you're okay."

"Yeah, same to you." Gen smiled rubbing his pal. "I wasn't gonna let anything happen to you."

"C-can we talk about...that thing you said about...k-killing yourself?"

"I uh...I...I'm sorry Meiji." Ganbe turned away. "It was a stupid, selfish thing and...I was so frightened, I-i didn't want GIhei to hurt you."

"Gen." Meiji kissed him deep with a heavy sigh. "Thank you for still being here."

"Well...i-it was that Toho guy who saved me, you should thank Kiryu."

"Kiryu?!" Maung gasped hobbling forth. "That...that was the...Toho member Gihei captured."

"Wait, captured?!" the bird cried turning to him. "Where is he?!"

"He's dead. Rai-sama reported he fell into the river and...never surfaced."

"...fuck." Gen walked limping to the door. "He...he really didn't make it."

"The assassin Gihei hired," Maung continued, "he plans to attack Kiryu's patriarch to weaken the Toho's grip in Kaijurocho. I was the one who had to deliver his suit."

"Wait...Gihei's trying to kill Kiryu's family?"

The bird stopped at the office entrance, clenching his fist as something sparked in him.

"Would it fuck up Gihei's plans if...if this guy was stopped?"

"It would, yes," Khoumad nodded, "you...you are not planning to-"

"You wanna stop Gihei from blowing up that nuke? You know there's no way we can fight him head-on, he'd fucking tear us apart."

"Nor can you face his assassin!" the spider hurried close. "They call him 'the Destroyer', he is a vile, horrible demon, his acts are...they are, u-unspeakably evil!"

"YOU call him evil?!" Gen turned back to him.

"I always ensured my victims died swift and their friends and relatives never suffer egress! The Destroyer, he...he revels in suffering, he is truly an abomination and he WILL exterminate you!"

"SO WE JUST LET THEM WIN?! Gihei's gonna do something WORSE if we don't stop him, I'm not gonna kill this Destroyer guy, I'm just gonna fuck up their plans!"

"We could totally do that!" Meiji pumped his fist. "We're great at fucking up, Tagasuki said so!"

"Yeah..." Gen looked past to the roach's corpse, "we learned from the best, that's for sure."

"What you mean I-..." the beetle looked back, "awww dude, too soon!"

"What, he was a fucking asshole!"

"Enough." Khoumad stepped between them. "Ganbe, do you truly desire to interfere with Gihei's plan?"

"Yeah," the bird nodded, "not just to stop him doing something worse...but if they're attacking the Toho, I owe it to Kiryu to stop that too."

"You sure about this, bro?" Meiji leaned close.

"Kiryu saved my life. He...he wouldn't have died if it wasn't for me telling him about Sha-Wujing. I fucked up a lotta things in my life, but this one thing I won't. I can't. I have to stop Gihei from killing his family."

"...alright." The beetle gripped his friend's hand. "I'm real scared but...I believe in you Gen. I'll follow you wherever you want."

"Heh...thanks Mei-chan." He pulled his friend in another hug. "You coming too Maung? You might as well, if you're not gonna kill me."

"We are outcasts now," the spider offered his hand, "as you said, Gihei shall kill me either way. So for the good of saving countless lives...let us go."

"Nice." Gen took Khoumad's hand. "Sorry about your eyes."

"I have done worse. Consider that a fitting punishment."

They walked out into the central hall of the restaurant. Standing in the centre of dozens of beaten bodies, Niko Zillatopoulos was panting with ragged breaths, covered in bruises with more than a few scars.

"HEY, YOU STILL ALIVE?!" Ganbe shouted.

"YEAH!" Junior gave a thumbs up. "YOU OKAY?!"

"ALL GOOD! LISTEN, I GOT A PLAN TO FUCK UP GIHEI, WANNA HEAR?!"

"SURE! HEY MAUNG-SAN!"

"//HELLO JUNIOR!//" the spider waved calling in English. "//GOOD JOB!//"

"//THANKS BRAH!//"

"Wait you KNOW him?!" cried Meiji.

"I helped the Americans with a few favours," said Khoumad to them, "I assume the Eight Wonders assisted you?"

"Yeah," Gen nodded, "we need to tell King-san all this, and uh...you'll back me up, right?"

"Of course," the former assassin bowed.

As they walked together to the restaurant entrance, Maung gave a smile to himself despite his numerous wounds and deep pains through his skull and chest. He looked upon Gen from behind, a strange sense of hope that he hadn't felt in years and a warm relief in his heart.

"//Maybe he can stop Gihei,//" the tarantula muttered in Burmese, "//perhaps this...this mad bird could finally end this cycle.//"