FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The day before Kiryu arrived back in Kaijurocho, a train from Yokohama came strolling in with Gen, Meiji and Khoumad. Ganbe felt a shiver of guilt beneath the towering shards of Tokyo, as they took a long walk into the city night. Where they saw the Millennium Tower, Gen saw a demon's castle, far out of his reach and looming above the world, a crackling storm of hatred swirling in the sky.

The rain kept pouring as the streets looked like black ice, some creatures struggling not to slip as Maung led them through Pink Street and to the bottom of Nagamichi Alley. Two bandages wrapped in a cross over his head, covering his scarred outer eyes whilst Gen and Meiji hid their own bruises under their jackets.

"This way," he gestured, "our base of operations."

"A mahjong place?" Meiji squinted. "Dude, we don't got time for that!"

"We're not here to play, we're here to hide, I know the owner well."

"Yanno I played a bit of mahjong with grandpa when I was a kid."

"Really?" the spider smirked. "Perhaps we can have a game, someday."

Gen said nothing, his thoughts trembling with anticipation as they entered the parlour. It was surprisingly cosy with a charming green carpet, some soft low lights and folding screens where kaiju huddled over the tiles. The owner bowed from her desk, a black cat who invited Maung to slip through the back door.

"Nice to see you Kumon-san."

"And you Kurone-chan," he bowed, "thank you for having me on short notice."

"No problem, just don't get into any trouble."

"No promises."

A dark chuckle came from the spider as they stepped into the basement. Garonba was expecting some sort of illegal high-stakes gambling ring, but was instead disappointed by a regular storage room with some spare tables and tiles. But the real surprise was at the very corner where a sewer grate could be seen.

"Yoooo we gonna go spelunking?!" gasped Meiji.

"In a sense," Khoumad opened it with a nearby tool, "there is no place safer than the sewers."

"You sure?" Gen grimaced. "It smells fucking gross."

"My leg-hairs are aware of that, Ganbe."

"Wait...you smell through your legs?"

"I smell through my horn!" Meiji rubbed it on Gen's face. "Mmmm smells warm!"

"F-fuck off dude jeez!"

"Neither the Toho nor Jinuchu come here," said the tarantula descending, "I have a place to hide whilst here."

"Damn dude," the beetle followed after, "you'd be a lot cooler if you weren't a murderer."

"Meiji, what the fuck?" Ganbe came last.

"What, I'm saying he would be!"

"He tried to murder ME!"

"Yeah and now he stopped, and now we're all friends cuz we're ex-Jinuchu pals and we're gonna stop the real bad guys, right?!"

"...I wish I could see the world like you."

"I do too," said Maung from below, "you're a good creature, Garonba-san."

As they climbed down into the depths, Khoumad led the two along the concrete paths where old boxes and tents hid the homeless and forgotten. No one dared confront them, and in turn they did not disturb the inhabitants as they crossed over rivers of rancid water.

Iron bridges groaned whilst railings creaked from their touch, as shallow trenches squelched underfoot in sickening chunks of semi-liquid. They soon found a dry haven, an old maintenance room that only Maung had the key to. Inside was a mattress in the corner, an old beaten desk, and a table at the centre with a vent rumbling over their heads.

"Daaaamn bitch you live like this?" Gen snickered.

"I see your fear of me has left," Maung smirked.

"Well now I know you're fucked either way, yeah."

"I could still kill you, you know."

"Try it, four-eyes."

"Heeeey come on!" Meiji patted them both. "We're all friends now right, we got bigger stuff to do and a friend to save, so let's cut it out alright?"

"Yeah...s-sorry," the bird nodded.

"I am sorry too," the spider bowed, "for what it is worth, you are an exceptional fighter."

"I'd hope so...you ain't that bad either, I thought you were one of those sneaky assassin shits, not some all-out brawler."

"Having six arms does help." Khoumad went to his desk. "Now, let us begin."

He brought out a blueprint and spread it on the table, showing a map of the district in full.

"Kaijurocho is small, but densely packed with businesses where many a foe can hide. Our objective is to find and stop the Destroyer, from whatever nefarious plan he has."

"What's this dude like?" Meiji leaned over.

"The cruellest demon you shall ever meet, remorseless, devoid of all empathy and would gladly exterminate your family, to make you suffer before dying."

"Joke's on him," Gen crossed his arms, "I hate my family, I'd pay him if he killed them."

"He would not kill your family," the spider looked at Meiji, "he would kill those you loved most."

"So how's that different from Gihei?"

"He is worse than Gihei. Trust me."

Both punks looked to each other with a gulp as Khoumad circled various sites on the map.

"The Destroyer plans to kill the head of the Obakimura family. I know not how, but he spoke of construction sites for a setting, so I have marked four of them in the area."

"But there's like..." Meiji pointed to each of them then counted his fingers, "there's like three of us!"

"We shall have to cycle our observations," the tarantula tapped his fingers, "I will map out the most discreet path to each of them, and our days in Kaijurocho will be spent observing."

"How do you know he's not already done it?" the bird scratched his neck.

"We would know the moment we arrived. The Destroyer has something of a sickening flair for theatrical tragedy. Doi gave him a deadline to finish by November the twenty-sixth, so that is how long we shall stay."

"What do we do when we spot him?"

"Do not engage him alone," Khoumad shook his head, "he is savage and highly-skilled, whoever finds him should call the rest of us, and we come down together. We do not have to kill him, only rescue his victims."

"Victims?" Meiji stiffened up. "You said he was just killing the patriarch!"

"Knowing him, he will have several targets. Now, Ganbe, you take Zennyo Avenue's properties. Garonba, you head to the Champion District and observe Little Asia. I shall scope out the Theater Square and its gymnasium-slash-bowling alley."

"Got it," the beetle cracked his knuckles, "soooo anyone want some Geiger King, sounds like we'll be here a while."

"A fine idea," Khoumad handed him some money, "you are the least suspicious of us, bring me two teriyaki burgers and a king geiger."

"Couple o' tuna burgs for me," the bird smiled, "thanks bro."

Heading back up top, Meiji went to the closest diner which was down on Nagamichi Street. The Tower stood judging him, his eyes twinkling over the neon paradise as he saw there was a long queue of burger-yearners at the fast food joint. As he pondered whether to wait or wander, a bell chimed from the west sharply in his hearing.

Looking down Tenkaiju Alley, he saw an orange flicker spark from a narrow pass that beckoned him with eerie sound. No one else seemed to notice it, all suits and dresses hurrying home or off to the dreaded night shift. He walked closer as the flame turned stronger, seeing that while there was a fire in a drum in the grotty little park, the odd mysterious light came from the back of a building opposite.

"Uhh, hello?" He looked round briefly. "Anyone there?"

"AH, a stranger approacheth from the sea!" cried a voice beyond. "You, friend, come closer, let me see your aura!"

"Well, gee I am a friend, that's what Gen-chan always calls me."

Scratching his horn the beetle stepped over trash cans and split-open bags, to find a small rectangular lot where a short muddy-scarlet creature wore nothing but a hooded purple mask, and a large red loincloth marked in kanji. His eyes were black, two open flames flickered either side to light his pudgy body, whilst a crystal ball sat in front of him.

"What exceptional aura you possess, stronger than that of your two friends!"

"Sh-shit!" Meiji clutched himself. "Are you with Jinuchu, or Toho?!"

"HO HO HO, I am beyond such mortal factions my dear friend! I am known simply as...Mister PLLLLAZMAAAAA!"

The flames rose higher as Garonba approached, the crystal ball enchanting the beetle with its shine.

"Are you a...a fortune teller?"

"Indeed I am my young friend!" said Mr. Plasma wagging a finger. "And who might you be?!"

"Uh, Meiji Garonba," he bowed, "nice to meetcha Plasma-san!"

"I shall not keep you long, only as long as the queue to the Geiger King clears, for your friends require fuel for the battle!"

"What...what battle?"

"The great and terrible crimson fiend, whose shadow hangs over you as a portent of DEATH!"

"D-...death!?" the beetle clutched his mouth. "Am I gonna die?!"

"Perhaps," the prophet smiled with his eyes, "and many more could perish with you, unless you learn a vital secret."

"But, I don't wanna die! I still haven't seen the ending of Lambton Abbey, they never told me what crumpets are!"

"Then I shall entrust upon thee a GREAT and arduous task! One that is worthy of thine skill as a warrior of this land!"

"Woah," Meiji gasped leaning back, "alright, what do I do? Beat up some thug, or find you a lost thing?"

"Nothing so mundane!" Plasma waved his hand. "You must perform one of the most challenging and terrifying tasks in this modern world! YOU...must complete, the final stage, of OUTRUN!"

"...like, the...videogame?"

"YES THE VIDEO OF GAME, a dreadful task that has long outreached the hands of many a child!"

"Oh, okay!" the beetle rubbed his neck. "But which route, there's like five of them."

"Hmmm...very well! Your task is to finish Route C of OutRun! Journey to that fabled arcade in the Theater Square, and provide me proof of thine victory, over that long and terrible road you shall face!"

"Uh...sure!" Meiji grinned. "I'm pretty good at OutRun so it won't take long."

"MAY THE POWERS OF PLLLLAZMAAAA GUIDE YOU TO VICTORY, YOUNG MEIJI!"

Stepping out of the alley, Garonba headed to the big arcade north with his hoodie up to keep out of sight. Just as Maung said, nobody paid attention as he wandered into the Stega arcade and found the OutRun machine. Shaped like a racecar, he sat himself in and started up the game, letting his muscle memory return as a suave open-shirted lizard raced off in a sports car along the gorgeous seaside bay.

The machine was complicated for its time, requiring two modes of high and slow speed through a clutch lever as he turned round corners that steadily sharpened With a boppy soundtrack and bright sunny colours, the beetle lost himself in a vibe and was almost thankful for the distraction, forgetting about the stress of his mission.

"Damn what is that, some kinda bossa-nova beat?" Meiji grinned tapping the wheel. "Wonder if Gen or Maung would play this sorta thing-OH, shit!"

He swerved round a huge truck and drove into the grassland stage.

"I get Maung-san had to do a lotta bad things but...he's not that bad a guy right? He's a great chef and always so cool talking weapon stuff with me, and he reads so much stuff! Even picked out good clothes for me, how can a guy like him be evil?"

Garonba sighed as he pumped his pedal carefully, tearing through ruins and avoiding huge pillars that whipped past his screen. The hot-rod kept tearing through different zones, from deserts to valleys to fields full of flowers. Soon he reached the end of the route, and pulled up his phone to catch himself hitting the goal where he was greeted by dozens of pixellated creatures, all cheering him in a gorgeous sunset.

"Aaaand done!" he grinned wide. "Alright that's route B done-wait...route B? Aww dammit, I knew I shoulda turned right at that junction. WELP!"

He slotted in more money and started a new game, focusing better as he tore down the beach and made a note to turn right at that junction. He swerved around signposts and dodged between traffic whilst keeping a dangerous speed, the timer strict enough that a single crash would spell doom.

"Damn, you're really good!" said a voice behind him.

"Oh thanks!" he never took his eyes off the screen. "Just practice yanno."

"I never even seen the goal of this, it's always super hard."

"I can give ya tips if you want!"

"Sure! I'm Leonardo Shoji."

"Meiji Garonba, nice to meetcha!"

Leaning over beside him was a young moth with orange and green wings, staring at the screen with compound eyes of shining blue whilst his fluffy antennae twitched with excitement. Garonba steered round corners with impeccable precision, hitting close to the end of route C that ended in an Arabian desert.

"So the trick is you pump on the accelerator," said the beetle, "if you keep on low you're not gonna make it before time runs out."

"But how do you not crash?" asked Leo.

"That's when you do a brake like this," he tapped quick on the other pedal, "the worst thing you can do is crash, slowing down is a hundred times better than crashing."

"So just don't be risky, but keep up high speed...got it."

"Hey can you do me a favour?" Garonba gave his phone. "Take a vid of me hitting the goal, I got a bet with somebody."

"Yeah sure!" The moth backed up gently. "You a local guy?"

"Nah I'm from Yokohama, just uhh...visiting."

"Oh cool, I never been, what's it like?"

"Ehhh...s'alright," Meiji shrugged turning a hard pike, "not a lot to do, but there's my best bro so he makes it all worth it."

"Ahhh, yeah," Shoji put up the camera function, "even the worst movie's fun with a pal."

"OH totally, Gen-chan makes anything worth it! Like okay he's kinda grouchy, but...I dunno, life's so much better since he's around I...I love him. I want him to be happy."

"You mean like, LOVE him love him or-"

"I-i can't explain it dude, I mean...we're not dating or anything but, do we have to?"

"Nah, I don't think so," the moth shrugged, "love is love, you don't need to put a label on that. What matters is you're there for each other, no matter what."

"Right! See you get it, OH oh, here I am, get a shot!"

The moth took a short video to chronicle the moment Meiji hit the goal. Much to Leo's surprise, the player was approached by a cobra who gave him a magic lamp, and upon rubbing it, was rewarded with several low-res beauties in skimpy clothes.

"Woah, they got different endings?!"

"Yep!" Meiji stretched his arms and got out the car. "You got it bud?"

"Sure did!" Leo handed the phone back. "Thanks for the tips."

"No prob, thanks for the talk, you're a cool kid."

"Haha, yeah, hope you enjoy your trip with your bud-"

"COME THE FUCK ON!"

A scream rang out through the arcade as heads turned to the crane machines. A flat-headed chicken with two antennae and a periscope-shape from his forehead, was rattling the glass and thumping fists as gamers smirked at his fury.

"THIS STUPID FUCKING THING!"

"HEY-EY, calm down!" a red wolf shouted from the counter. "Don't damage the machines!"

"THIS SHIT'S ALREADY DAMAGED!" screamed the metal bird. "YOU SEEING THIS SHIT?!"

"Ahhh, the humble crane machine," Leo shook his head, "the original gacha."

"Gotchas?" the beetle scratched his horn. "You mean like, when you give someone a fake tube of peanuts and shit pops out?"

"What, no, you don't know what gachas are, they're those little machines you turn the knob and get toys from."

"OHHH yeah! Hey, which one came first, the gacha or the crane?"

"Yanno, that...that's a good question."

"Wow...thanks!" Meiji beamed wide. "Nobody's ever said that to me before!"

"ARE YOU FUCKING SERIOUS?!"

The battle raged on between bird and machine, the savage chicken thundering the air blue when the claw tried to grab one of the toys inside the case. Some of them were soft cuddly birds, whilst others were hard-cast kittens in various stripes.

Taking a deep breath, the rooster frantically tried to purloin Chernobun, the charming sparrow with a smokestack-hat. But even with its extra grappling point, the crane was feeling tired today and decided no, actually, it wasn't going to do its thing and simply dropped the bird.

"_GOD, FUCKING! DAMMIIIIIT! _"

The bird had enough, an unholy fury trembling through as he grabbed the crane machine and violently shook it as if trying to strangle the glass with his bare hands. Everyone backed away from his space, the wolf clerk hurrying over to try and stop him.

"SIR, SIR! STOP DAMAGING THE MACHINE, I'LL THROW YOU OUT!"

"NNNRRRRAAAAAAAAARGH!"

"OKAY THAT'S IT, I'M CALLING THE POLICE!"

"I DON'T GIVE A FUCK ABOUT NO POLICE!" screamed the chicken. "THIS FUCKING MACHINE, HAS STOLEN EIGHT-THOUSAND YEN FROM ME, AND EITHER I GET A CHERNOBUN NOW, OR MY FIST GOES RIGHT THROUGH AND I GET ONE MYSELF!"

"Woah," Leo cringed, "eight-thousand?! Dude has a problem."

"Not even Gen-chan gets that mad over games," Meiji shook his head, "should we like help?"

"Ahhh, nah, if he starts hitting anyone then yeah I'll kick his ass."

"GIVE, ME, THE FUCKING BIRD!" the rooster kept punching.

"YES, HELLO POLICE?!" the wolf roared on the phone. "I WANT THAT GUY BANNED FROM THIS ARCADE!"

"_LIKE FUCK I'M LEAVING! I, WANT, MY FUCKING CHERNOBUUUN! _"

But karma had other plans. As he punched and kicked and screamed at the crane, a medium-sized tiger on the tallest shelf was jumping closer above the hole. When the chicken reared back for one last punch, the bold little kitten dropped through the chute, and went straight for his crotch.

The bird gasped a sudden scream, his eyes rolling up with a shriek causing every canine to cover their ears with a painful wince. The wind whistled out his lungs as he stumbled back against the cabinets, the tiger toy falling between his legs as he collapsed on his knees with shuddering gasp.

But the machine was not done wreaking its vengeance. Bun-chan was angry, and his retribution was at hand against such insolence to his home. The fluffy little bird rolled idly across the shelf to knock down three more tigers, that went down into the chute, and bash the chicken's head with a triple-blow that knocked him out completely. Everyone started laughing, between shock and concern, the wolf clerk looking stunned as the crane machine beeped with victory.

"Hohohoh JEEZ!" Leo cackled. "That dude got dropped by a tiger, that was CRAZY!"

"Damn that...that was..." Meiji rubbed his chin, "that was a perfect counter."

"Wait, what?" the moth squinted at him.

"Yeah, cuz he was about to hit that thing, and the machine just punched him right in the slit."

"You...you think the machine defended itself?"

"I mean, yeah? Those cranesthey got a mind of their own."

"Hehehaah, sure buddy." Shoji waved his four hands. "Well, thanks for the OutRun stuff, take it easy dude."

"No prob," Meiji stepped out with his phone, "thanks for being my cameradude!"

Stepping out the arcade as a cop car came whining, Garonba swiftly made his way back to Tenkaiju Alley, where the soothsayer waited tenting his hands.

"AHHH, my dear friend!" he cried. "Have you come with proof of thine conquest?!"

"Sure have, take a look!"

Crossing his legs in front of the crystal ball, the beetle showed the vid of him finishing the game.

"IN...INCREDBLE! You truly have bested that infernal game in such a short time?!"

"Well, yeah," Meiji shrugged, "told ya I was good at it."

"And such an ending, OH! Not even I would have foreseen such a bizarre twist of pixellated prophecy! You have done well, Meiji, now I shall honour my bargain with your future told."

"OH, cool, but no spoilers about Lambton! I still got half a season left!"

Plasma shook his hands and trembled through his hood, the fires turning a strange pallour of red that thickened to smouldering hue reflecting off the beetle's scales. An odd smoke wafted from the flames, thick but sweet as it caressed Meiji's face with tender fingers, swirling around the fortune teller.

"Mmmm abababa, mmmm abababa, mmmmm abababaaaaa PLLLAZZZMAAAAA!"

The ball suddenly blinded them in its crystal light, sparkling to bedazzle the walls like a planetarium on the fritz.

"A house of fortune shall become a grave," began Mr. Plasma, "a demon rises on the wings, a stepping stone to a king of evil. A king you shall not face, but aid others in clearing the path."

"A king?" gasped Garonba. "I thought Japan had emperors."

"You will stand at a crossroad of fate. One leads to the light of heaven, the other remains here on this darkened earth."

"Is...i-is that me dying?"

"By your choice here and now," the seer wagged his finger, "your friend must learn power, or else your doom becomes sacrosanct."

"What...what power's that?"

"From one mad bird to another...a fool's defeat has shown you power, that one other can learn."

"A mad bird...OH, WAIT!" Meiji clapped. "The arcade?!"

"A game of chance," Plasma smiled beneath his hood, "is that not life itself? Would we not all desire to tip the scales...with one single punch, lest we drop too late?"

Something awakened in Meiji Garonba. A startling revelation he had only felt whenever he crafted some amazing new weapon. But this was different. This was something greater, something far more powerful, his mandibles widening with a glint in his big golden eyes.

"I know it." He bowed standing up. "I know what I must do. Thank you, Plasma-san."

"I wish you luck...dear Meiji."

The fortune teller cackled a delightful sound as Meiji left, the fires soon fading in a gasp of a whimper, as the beetle dared not look back. As he stood in the shortened queue at Geiger King, he was forming an idea and moving his hands with little flinches to perfect the technique. The clerk taking his order silently groaned to herself, praying that this one did not start trying to karate-chop tables like the last time.

Finally returning back to the sewers, Meiji handed his friends their meals as they sat down together. Khoumad in that time had managed to procure another mattress for Gen and Meiji, that now sat in a separate corner.

"I know you two do not mind sharing," he nibbled away.

"Thanks," Gen pecked his burger, "so uh, if we are gonna do this, like...fuck up Gihei's plan, what are you gonna do after?"

"I do not know, possibly head south to Honshu."

"Just like that, just...stop killing folks?"

"I only did so because I was Gihei's minion. Without him I shan't have reason to kill...I think I'll become a chef in Okinawa."

"That's a great idea!" Meiji fed fries into his mandibles. "I'd totally come down and eat sometime."

"Dude you know how far Okinawa is?" Gen looked over to him.

"Yeah it's...like," he put two fries on the table, "like that distance."

"It's, what, dude you need a plane to get there!"

"Yeah and it ain't that long, we can come back!"

"It's like hours away!"

"Wow dude if you're that tired we'll just find a hotel."

"I would be glad to have you," Khoumad bowed chomping his meal, "despite what we went through before, I do enjoy both your company."

"I'm not forgiving you for trying to kill me," Gen snarled at him.

"I am not asking you to. I will let my actions prove better than words."

"OH, that reminds me!" Meiji stood up rubbing his hands. "Bro, I got a cool move I wanna show you!"

"Ugh, really?" the bird rolled his eye. "Come oooon I'm eating."

"Alright when you done eating, cuz I GOTTA show you this."

"Is this some stupid bat trick, or like some weird shit with a fork?"

"No it's really important!"

"Meiji, I don't wan-"

"Gen. Listen."

The beetle grabbed his shoulders with a piercing look, suddenly rooting the bird on the spot with a grave voice.

"This is the most important thing I will ever ask you. I can't let you go to bed without showing you this, and if I don't show you it now, you will regret it for the rest of my life."

"You...sh-shit." Ganbe gulped. "A-alright...okay Meiji."

Stunned by his friend's sincerity, the bird finished up his food and stood up ready to learn this mysterious move. Garonba would train him in this counter technique, which led to them sparring as Khoumad looked on in fascination. His four remaining eyes glinted as he feasted on teriyaki, the one long fang pulling food into his mouth.

After they ate and slept off their wounds, they went out in the morning and climbed onto various rooftops to scope the construction sites. Zennyo Avenue was mostly renovations, as well as Theater Square and Little Asia. But the Park Boulevard was still in development, and on that day of November 16th, something dreadful would come.

"Hey Sano," said Obakimura, "you make it alright to HQ?"

"I'm just rolling in now," said his subordinate, "what's this business you got anyway?"

"Sorry but, s'a private issue. You got all our accounts?"

"Yeah they're right here. You sure you're not just bunking off to play more Dragon Quest?"

"Don't smart-mouth me boy." He chuckled dryly. "All you gotta do is give Shisa-han them accounts, an' then you can do whutever you want."

"Sure, no prob Varan-san. See ya when I get back."

"See you." He hung up with a sigh. "I sure hope I do."

Standing before the construction site, the Toho patriarch stood at the corner of Park Boulevard with an ill wind fluttering through his jacket. Another casino/hotel to add to the cityscape, the red skeletal structure stood high above the roads with iron walls round the base, a large crane parked to the side, and the ground floor littered with sandbags.

The workers had left by the time he reached it, around 7:15pm as he marched up the ramps and on the industrial lift where a note had been left, telling him to come to the 80th floor. His heart was trembling, his chest burning from panic as the slowest elevator in the world made him fear every second.

"Aaah, there you are."

Obakimura stared upon the red-headed fiend, his black suit showing large spikes from his shoulders. The floor was fortified with girders and sturdy wooden base to give a large open space, buckets left hanging on nails with the odd power tool and sandbag laid about.

But Sanjin's eyes were focused on two figures. Standing on wooden planks, over the edge of a 120-foot drop, was a mother and son with hands behind their backs, and ropes round their necks.

"OBARA! OODA-CHAN!"

"VAH, V-VARAN-SAN!" screamed Gonkuro.

"S-sanjin?!" Oodaka yelped. "Whut...thuh HELL you doin' here?!"

"Wouldn't you like to know," the kidnapper smiled back at her, "I'm sure he'll tell you, after we've had our little test."

"WHO ARE YOU?!" shouted Sanjin. "WHO THUH FUCK ARE YOU?!"

"My name is Desmond, well, a better name than 'the Destroyer' which is my...business calling." The crimson fiend walked across the creaking floor. "I've been ordered by the Jinuchu to kill you, Varan-san."

"You call me Obakimura," the patriarch raised his finger, "whutever thuh Jinuchu want with me, that don't involve them two!"

"You're right, it doesn't. But I thought if you were going to die, it would be a shame to leave your heart so burdened with the sins you've carried for twenty-six years."

"S-sanjin!" the mother shouted. "Thuh hell he talkin' about, WHY DO YOU KNOW MY SON?!"

"I'M SORRY!" Gonkuro whimpered. "I'M SORRY MOM, I...I'M IN THE TOHO!"

"WHAT?!"

"VARAN-SAN'S MY PATRIARCH! HE'S A GOOD GUY, I KNOW YOU DON'T TRUST THEM BUT HE'S REALLY NICE!"

"You...g-gotdamn it, Gonny you STUPID BOY!"

"OODA-CHAN!" Varan cried. "Don't blame yer boy, he done nuthin' wrong-"

"SHUT UP!" she screamed. "Y-YOU...it weren't enough fer you...after whut happened in Ryukyon, now you hafta take my SON AWAY?!"

"I never put him in no danger, all he ever did wuz stuff on computers!"

"YER A GOTDAMN THUG, A CRIMINAL, YOU AT LEAST COULDA TOLD 'IM WHUT HAPPENED!"

"Tell me what?!" gasped Gonkuro with straining neck. "V-varan-san, why is this happening?!"

"Yes, why IS it happening?" Desmond put his hands behind him. "Perhaps we'll find out, just before you die."

"You think I'm sum old-ass bitch?" Obakimura cracked his knuckles. "You ain't worth shit, you red-headed fuck, I'm gonna break both yer arms an' shove 'em RIGHT up yer ass!"

"You're welcome to try." The killer spread his arms. "If you can defeat me, then you shall rescue them. But if not...I'll have to make you choose which one can go."

"THUH HELL YOU WILL!"

Lunging forth Varan swiped for Desmond's head, the killer grabbing his fist and punching the patriarch's stomach with such force, that Sanjin went flying across the floor in a heavy roll. Pushing back up, the triphibian came charging with a feint, and when the killer tried to counter, Sanjin grabbed his waist and tried to hurl him against a pillar.

But Desmond stood his ground, lifting the old kaiju's body to piledrive him hard with his skull ringing through the struts. The hostages winced when the killer kicked the patriarch across the floor, who stumbled up with another roaring swing. With membranous wings opened wide, he made a flying tackle to wrap his legs round the creature's neck, then threw him to the ground for a crushing elbow to the face.

The assassin barely flinched, laying down as he let Sanjin beat him with rabid punches left and right. He kept smiling no matter how hard he was hit, grabbing both of Sanjin's fists after the seventh punch before crunching them together with bone-shattering strength. Shoving him off, Desmond taunting with beckoning hands as the patriarch's hands trembled with spasms. Sanjin launched with a desperate dropkick, before the killer dodged to grab both legs and swing him with a crack against a pillar.

"A-AAAAARGH!"

"I thought you wanted to save them," Desmond tutted, "not practice your wrestling."

"SH-SHUT UP!" Sanjin groaned clutching his back. "YOU GOTDAMN PSYCHO, I'LL BREAK YER ASS!"

"For your sake, I hope you can."

With a darkening laugh he waited for the patriarch to stand, Obakimura heaving with a crick in his spine before rushing with a straight punch. The Destroyer parried with an elbow, then blocked the second punch before Sanjin kneed him in the stomach. The killer kept smiling without a twinge, grabbing the elder's throat with both hands and lifting him high in the air with a strangling grip.

He dropped Obakimura down on his knee, crushing between his legs with a gasp as Desmond choked him harder, watching him sputter and cough with heaving roar and all the air shot out his lungs. Sanjin grabbed the killer's horn and lifted himself up to doublekick the chin, causing them to separate before the patriarch made a double lariat.

Backhanding twice across the Destroyer's face, he followed with a thrusting kick that the killer grabbed with both hands. A violent twist of the foot made Sanjin scream, the murderer snapping his ankle out of joint then twisting even further to leave his foot dangling off his leg. The Obaras flinched with stuttering tears as they watched Obakimura hop on his good leg, heaving with fury in a frantic lunge to try and strangle Desmond.

Throwing all of his weight on top to try and hammer down his fists, desperation overcame him, savage blows relentless upon the murderer's face. His broken foot twitched with insufferable anguish, as he clenched his teeth with straining howl. But always the killer kept smiling, no matter how hard, nor swift and heavy the punch landed on his face.

After the seventeenth punch, the first signs of bruises on Desmond's face showing at last, his horn started to glow with a terrible light. A sharp golden gleam that stretched out like a katana when the Destroyer swung his head towards Sanjin's arm. The patriarch reared back for another blow, as light severed through his limb when he threw his shoulder forth, and found nothing below it.

"VARAN-SAAAAN!"

Gonkuro shrieked watching his patriarch's arm slump to the floor, black and cauterised as Sanjin shuddered with a halting anguish. The Destroyer rolled him off to the side, stepping on his broken foot to make him screech as he flattened the joint fully.

"You lose." A twist of the heel snapped shards of bone. "Time to pay the piper, Varan-kun."

"N-n-no...no-A-AAAARRRGH!"

"Oh come now, you're almost sixty and a patriarch. It wouldn't be good standing for your junior to witness you sobbing in your last moments."

"Y-you...FUCKIN' BASTARD!"

With a desperate lunge he grabbed the Destroyer's leg with his single arm, his other shoulder now burnt with a simmering charr. Biting the leg with savage roar, Obakimura tried to climb up and paw at Desmond's suit. But the killer simply chuckled, grabbed his throat, and punched his eye with such force that it popped into a bloody spurt.

Crumpling with a wheezing gasp, Sanjin trembled throughout his broken body as Desmond walked over to his victims. Oodaka sobbed quietly, her tentacles twisting behind in her restraints as both her and her son teetered on the brink.

"Are you thirsty?" he offered a bottle from his pocket. "You might not get another chance."

"G-go to hell," she snarled, "you...y-you fuckin' abomination."

"Well! Your son didn't get your manners from you, that's for certain...he looks so like his father, doesn't he?"

"DON'T!" Sanjin cried. "DON'T YOU DARE SPEAK HIS NAME YOU-A-AAARGH!"

"Why would you know who his father is?" Desmond looked at the patriarch. "Do you know something, Varan-kun?"

"STOP!" cried Obara the younger. "D-don't hurt him anymore, please! Wh-what do you want?! Money?!"

"Oh no, I don't do money," the killer stroked Gonkuro's face, "you really do look like your father, would you like some water?"

"...o-okay, thank you."

Carefully leaning close, Desmond offered him a drink. It tasted like fire, causing the youth to cough and sputter with eyes burning red.

"KHHH, KHH-GHAAH!"

"Ohh? You don't like mercury?" The killer pulled back. "I can't drink normal water anymore, it tastes wrong without it. The first time I tasted water was like drinking metal, on an industrial estate. I've never known life without it, the raw coal mist, the burning water."

"U-UUGH, nnnngh!"

"It's funny how you get used to things." He drank from his bottle. "Sleeping on the floor because the beds are too soft, the smell of ash helping you fall asleep...the red burn of fires on the wall just to stop thinking. But you get used to it. You'll get used to being alone, just like I did. Like you will be. Like... everyone will be."

He walked over to Sanjin and grabbed his face, forcing him to look at Gonkuro.

"Do you still see his father's face? Did you still feel his warm blood between your fingers, his last breath caressing your cheek? I wonder if it will it hurt you more, or less, to see his son die?"

"Y-you...you sick fuck," Sanjin spat.

"If he's lucky and you kept him weak, his neck will snap in seconds and he won't suffer. But if you made him strong...you'll have made him suffer for the longest minutes of his life. He'll suffer because of you...just like his father."

"Wh-what, what are you saying?!" whimpered Gonkuro. "What, what is he talking about, V-varan-san!"

"You will die here, Varan-kun," the Destroyer patted him, "but I'll give you one last chance of redemption. If you tell him about his father, I will let one of them go. If you don't...then we say goodbye to the Obaras."

"G-got...dammit," his face twisted with tears, "I...I can't, whut kinda f-fucking choice is that you psycho bitch?"

"I'll even let you choose who gets to go, because I'm generous. But all I ask, is you offer your sins, and tell that dear son of Obara, what happened."

"N-no, NO!" Gonkuro whimpered. "Varan-san, don't trust him, you have to keep fighting!"

With a twitching gasp from his remaining eye, Obakimura looked at both mother and son trembling on the edge. The planks of wood did not wobble, but the ropes round their necks felt tighter with every minute, tethered to the steel beams above the dizzying heights.

The Kaijurocho wind whistled past, threatening to blow them away as Oodaka looked fierce to Sanjin with a vengeful look. A face that would haunt him forever, that he would never refuse to answer. Hatred burned in her heart, but her plea was sincere as the octopus spoke.

"Sanjin. Tell him. Fer thuh love of gods just tell him."

"B-but...Ooda-chan, I-"

"S'not worth my son's life. You owe me this. You owe me fer Gonji."

"W-wait...Gonji?" Gonkuro gasped.

"Ob...Obara-kun." Varan gasped with a deepening breath. "Remember...that story I told you, when we were waiting fer Dragon Quest? Thuh story of Gonji, my best friend?"

"...no. N-no, you don't mean-"

"He wuz yer daddy. I'm sorry, we...we got in a fight, too big fer us to handle an'...he lost his life...I couldn't save him. I'm thuh reason you...you don't have a dad."

"V-va...Varan-san." The young Obara gave a hopeful grin. "I...I-i kinda thought that was the truth."

"Wait, whut?" Oodaka looked to him.

"You hate the Toho, mom...and when Varan-san told me that story, he never said it was my dad but...it made more sense if it was, why else would you know him, why else would you hate them?"

"Gonny...don't you understand? THIS is whut happens when you git involved with Toho, creatures DIE!"

"NO!" Obara shouted back. "I like being Toho, we help creatures who can't help themselves! I know we're criminals, I know we're yakuza, but I can't help creatures on my own, and Varan-san, he believed in me! He gave me a chance, and we're fixing Kaijurocho for the better! I don't blame you Varan-san, I...I understand why my dad did it. You can't let scum like the vasher walk free hurting others and...it wasn't your fault."

"...dammit." She shook her head. "You...y-you really are as stubborn as yer daddy."

"What a lovely ending," Desmond smiled walking over to them, "thank you for your cooperation. As promised, Varan-kun, I will let one of them go, at your behest."

"LET 'IM GO!" Oodaka struggled in her rope. "Let my son go, SANJIN YOU BETTER NOT PICK ME!"

"BUT, M-MOM!" Gonkuro screamed.

"I didn't live all them years raisin' you, just so you could die a common thug!"

"B-but...but, I-i-i don't want-VARAN-SAN, DON'T PICK ME!"

"IF MY SON DON'T WALK FROM THIS, I'LL KILL YOU MYSELF YOU SUNUVA BITCH!"

"SHUT UP!" Sanjin sobbed clutching his face. "Sh-shut...shut up...you know how f-fucking long I spent grievin' over Gonji? YOU DON'T THINK I SUFFERED!"

"HE WUZ MY HUSBAND!"

"HE WUZ MY HEART! MY SOUL, MY GOTDAMN LIFE! I had nuthin' else left in Okinawa once he wuz gone, HE WUZ EVERYTHIN' TO ME! An' I know just as you do, who he'd want me to let live."

Obakimura raised his hand and pointed towards Gonkuro.

"H-him. Please, kill me all you want, b-but please...let Gon-chan go."

"...alright." Desmond clasped his hands with angelic grin. "You made your choice. I'll let him go."

He walked over to the young Obara and put his foot on the plank. Then he kicked it hard, and watched Gonkuro fall.

" N-NO, NOOOOOOO!"

"GONNY NOOOOOOO!"

The rope snapped taut as the son screeched, his ears flapping as he kicked clenching his throat, hands twisting behind his back as he was hung over the edge. His cries of agony turned to a wretched cough, his teeth gritting tight with gasping pain as his lungs started to burn.

"YOU, YOU BASTARD!" Sanjin screamed. "_I CHOSE HIM, I CHOSE HIIIIIM! _"

"You did." Desmond looked back to him. "You chose him to go...so I let him go, off the edge."

"GONNY NO, PLEAAASE GONNY!" Oodaka shrieked. "DON'T DO THIS, MY SON DID NOTHING, PLEASE G-GODS GONNY NOOOOoooooo!"

She broke down into tears, howling with Sanjin who wept with bitter rage. The shadow of the Destroyer fell upon the patriarch, who forced up his head and pulled out a knife.

"Don't worry...I'm not unkind. You can go with him."

The blade pushed into his neck, then slowly pulled across his throat. Obakimura would suffocate as blood came bubbling from his neck, a shallow wound that made certain he would die slowly, watching Obara's swinging body. His eyes rolled up in a hissing snarl, whimpering his last regrets as the Destroyer smiled with a shuddering bliss.

Throughout all this, Gonkuro Obara felt his life fading. His mother's voice rang in his large ears that spread to their fullest, his lungs enflamed and his eyes turned bloodshot, rolling up into his skull as the noose tightened on his larynx. His tearful voice would disappear, mewling whimpers turned to a wretched gurgle until his tongue filled his mouth. The world would disappear from young Obara, his last fateful gasp before his legs turned limp.

From an office roof, Gen Ganbe leapt with arms open wide as his flaps caught the breeze. His eye glared towards the moon rising high, a pale eye that disappeared beneath clouds of thickening black. He braced against the searing wind as he slowed his descent down to the industrial site, skidding on the gravel when he stopped at the entrance.

On the girders up high he had seen the shadow of the Destroyer, a frightening visage with two other bodies at the edge, and a fourth the killer had been fighting. Gen clenched his fists. It started to rain as his friends soon arrived.

"Come on, he's up there!"

"You were right to wait," Maung patted him, "come, we face him together!"

"TIME TO BE A HERO!" Meiji cried charging in. "C'MON BRO, LET'S MAKE MORE MISTAKES!"

"RIGHT BEHIND YOU MEI-CHAN!"

Taking the stairs whilst the lift was still above, they hurried in a spiral through the construction zone with feet pounding together into a surge of adrenaline. They climbed ever higher, Garonba taking pieces of metal in his passing, a bucket here, some tools there, and an old power drill with ideas forming in his head.

Maung jumped ahead of them with his web-swinging shots, silken strands helping to climb faster over beams. Gen had never seen him like this, so determined with reckless speed that he was almost running vertical, his fine pale silk forming lines that criss-crossed through beams and let him bounce ever higher.

In their ascent they heard screams of desperation, sobbing pleas and the rasping cry of someone choking to death. The tarantula finally reached their floor, and shot a web for Desmond's face whilst he was hunched over Sanjin. But the killer turned immediately to slice the silk with his dagger, surprised with a smirk at the spider's entrance.

"Maung-san. What are you doing?"

"Defying Gihei, for once in my LIFE!"

With a flying leap he drew his twin blades and went for the Destroyer, the murderer shoving his horn out front to block both before grabbing one of Maung's arms and hurling him across. From behind he was tackled by two bodies, a bird and a beetle who took one arm each then piledrived him into the floor.

"MAUNG, WE GOT HIM!"

"KEEP HIM DOWN!" the tarantula wheezed. "I WILL SAVE THE HOSTAGES!"

"MY SON, PLEAAASE!" Oodaka screamed. "S-SAVE MY SON, OH GODS PLEASE!"

Khoumad leapt on the edge of the roof and grabbed the swinging body, holding Gonkuro up with four arms and slashing the rope with two more before jumping back to lay him down. Hurrying to the mother he did the same, taking her carefully back to the floor as she ran over to her son.

"GONNY, GONNY! HE'S NOT BREATHING!"

"Let me help!" said Maung carrying him. "We need to go, GANBE, GARONBA, SAVE THE PATRIARCH!"

"No you WON'T!"

The Destroyer lifted himself upright, with both punks dangling off his arms before tossing one after the other, then marching over to kick Gen in the face. Launched into the sky, the bird came down with his scythes that Desmond countered with a punch, crunching the flat of the blade against his knuckles to drive into Ganbe's face, and send him crashing against a wheelbarrow.

When the killer turned towards Maung and Oodaka trying to flee, he grabbed a brick readying to throw before something yanked him back. Garonba had swung out a rope, using a spanner like a grappling hook to latch on Desmond's arm that caused the murderer to spin round, and meet Garonba's punch straight to the jaw. The spider and mother ran to the lift, sending it back down whilst the Destroyer fought off his new targets.

"Oh gods, oh gods!" whimpered Oodaka. "Wh-who are you?!"

"A friend," said Maung putting Gonkuro down, "I know CPR, do you have a phone?"

"Y-yes?!"

"Call the hospital, tell them we're at Park Boulevard's site!"

As Oodaka started dialing, the spider pressed two hands on young Obara's chest to start pumping. Keeping the chin back, he moved a third hand under the mouth to check his breathing, then pressed his mandibles to the snout and breathed twice into his lungs. No response. He kept pumping the chest with all his weight and breathed again. Still no response.

"YES, HELLO!? My son, he-he's not breathing, s-some yakuza b-bastard choked him, PLEASE he needs help! Park Boulevard, Kaijurocho, thuh building site, P-PLEASE HURRY HE'S NOT BREATHING!"

"Come on, come on," Khoumad gasped, "stay with me boy! COME ON, KEEP TRYING!"

"Oh Gonny, G-gonny no don't leave me Gonny! He don't deserve none of this, not thuh Toho not anybody!"

"I will not abandon him!" the spider kept pumping. "Let us hope the ambulance arrives before it is too late!"

Back on the 80th floor, the Destroyer was facing off against Meiji who put up his drill-arms and came punching with a three-hit combo. The killer blocked twice and took one to the face, grabbing one arm to twist hard and drive down for the beetle's head. But Gen came from behind in that moment with a vicious blade, that Desmond blocked with a hard elbow slam before grabbing Gen's arm and throwing him down with a clang.

The murderer raised his foot to stomp him, but Garonba hurled a metal bucket underneath to stop him in time, the steel crunching flat to deflect his stomp and give Ganbe time to roll away. Both of the former Jinuchu went into battle stance, the body of Obakimura still bleeding out on the floor.

"What a pair of heroic fools," Desmond chuckled, "you've come too late to save one, but...a family is still alive at least."

"Yeah, and you're FUCKED!" Gen snapped. "I know what Gihei's planning, and we're gonna stop you!"

"You already failed. Varan-san is dead, my work is done."

"No it ain't!" Meiji put up his drills. "This is more than just one job, this is about stopping a demon like you from hurting anyone again!"

"Hah, hahahah...a demon?" the Destroyer spread his arms with constant grin. "Are you angels of deliverance?"

"I'm no angel," Ganbe snarled twirling his scythes, "I'm Gen Ganbe, and I seen what fucks like you do to the world!"

"Ahhh...Gen Ganbe." The killer rolled his arms with a crack. "Gihei told me about you...a frail little bird who silenced a little boy.."

"SHUT UP, I'LL FUCK YOU UP RIGHT HERE!"

"You've grown so much since then, haven't you Gen-kun? We've never met, but Gihei loved to tell me about that night when you refused to take orders from him, dealing with a witness who saw too much-"

"SHUT UP!" Ganbe flinched. "YOU DON'T KNOW SHIT ABOUT ME!"

"I know that Gihei beat you into a hospital because you're a little coward. You had one simple task, a child who saw him one night in a dark alley, hunched over a fool in debt. Were you frightened because of what Gihei made you do? Or was it because you liked it?"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP YOU PSYCHO PRICK!"

With a harrowing scream the bird came rushing for him, slicing up high to trick the Destroyer before sliding into a tackle for his leg. He barely staggered and kicked Gen's head with his other foot, Meiji coming after with his drill-shaped fists to bash twice across the face. Desmond grabbed both and headbutted the beetle hard, before kicking his stomach to send him back.

The bird rolled underfoot to jump from the side and slash the Destroyer's arm, who slightly flinched to turn with a sweeping backhand that Gen ducked. With savage shriek he made a Z-strike across the chest, scarring Desmond's front who in response punched his sickle back and shot it far past Ganbe's head, causing the bird to spin fast and hurl his other scythe with a lashing cut across the killer's shoulder spike.

"I'm fucking SICK of creatures like you!" he cried ripping out his scythe. "You and Gihei, fucking scum making me do shit that's killing me inside, I DON'T WANNA BE A KILLER!"

"But you are, Ganbe." The Destroyer brushed his bloody shoulder. "I can see that glint in your eye, the lust of battle, the thrill of violence. Don't tell me you didn't feel it, that wondrous power over someone's life, like the one you snuffed out in that dark alleyway."

"NO!" he slashed for the murderer who swerved out his path. "I'm never gonna kill again, I won't be anybody's bitch again, and I'm gonna prove it when I BEAT YOUR FUCKING ASS INTO THE GROUND, CUZ FUCK GIHEII"

"Hm hm hm...quite a resignation," Desmond cracked his knuckles, "try and stop me then. But I'm much more difficult to put down than an eight-year old...Ganbe-kun."

Thunder boomed on the horizon, the clouds gathering darker as rain scattered over the site. The one-eyed punk sliced for Desmond's chin, who headbutted the sickle to knock it to the floor and stomp on it with twisting foot. Pulling the chain towards him, he grabbed Ganbe's throat and slamdunked him to the floor, before he was shot in the face with a barrage of molten rocks.

Meiji came running with hot bursts from his mouth, peppering Desmond with burning blasts that made the killer recoil with gasping snarl from the sheer heat. The beetle rushed in to defend his friend, still firing as the Destroyer grabbed one of the floor plates and guarded himself before swinging at Garonba's head.

"OH NO YOU DON'T, PAL!"

Garonba made a sliding kick and crunched both feet in the killer's chest.

"Oh yes I do, pal."

He crushed Meiji's body with the plate, barely staggered from the kick and bludgeoning him with such brutal force the steel snapped in half. Now holding two jagged parts, he drove them down like a guillotine upon the beetle, who dodged fast to evade the shear cut as sparks ripped across the floor. Desmond hurled one half a plate at him, whilst lunging at him with the other.

It was enough a distraction for Meiji to try and avoid the deadly projectile, only to almost be cleaved in half by the second shorn metal plate. A tearing shred went down his arm, fresh yellow blood spittling free as his hoodie was sliced off completely.

In a panic Garonba swung off his jacket, wrapping it round Desmond's head before crunching both arms down on the killer's wrist to make him drop the metal plate. Ganbe leapt in to hook his sickle blade into the hoodie, wrenching the murderer back to try and overbalance him.

But then came the shine of an evil light, his horn sparking alight before Desmond swung his head and slashed through the polyester that melted like butter. The horn in its turning sweep would also sever a steel strut, cleaving through the pillar with a sudden groan burning their ears.

"SHIT, SHIT, MEIJI RUN!"

Part of the roof would collapse upon them, steel plates crunching down as both punks ran to the stairs. Desmond followed after with horrifying speed, grabbing Meiji's tail to rip him back and elbow his face to knock him down, before gripping Gen's wings and twisting them with the threat of tearing them off.

The floor beneath them shook with the falling roof, clanging plates and mock-ups of old slot machines causing them to wobble, as Meiji leapt up on Desmond's back. Bashing his drill-arms hard into the killer's head like a drum, he forced the Destroyer to release Gen who kept running upwards. His friend joined him by climbing off Desmond's shoulders, and dive-rolling to a running start to escape the destruction.

Higher they went to two stories above, a set-up resembling a casino with fake gambling tables made of wood and closed steel walls. The Destroyer marched his way up to meet them, his horn shining once again as Garonba ripped off a roulette wheel to hurl at his head. The killer slashed the mock-wheel clean in half, as Ganbe came from the side to gouge his sickle into Desmond's knee. A stinging pain came through him as he ripped it free, then hurled it back at Gen to stab him in his own leg, causing the bird to shriek.

"GEN, GANGWAY!"

Rolling hard out the way, the bird clutched his bloody leg as Meiji came rushing with a wheelbarrow left behind. In his furious charge, the beetle lifted the barrow just before he hit Desmond, who stepped back and carved it wide open with his horn. So deep did it halve through, it almost touched Meiji's face by a few inches. But in turn it also split the bag of concrete dust in the barrow, blasting the Destroyer's face with a harsh, heavy cloud of silver dust.

"HRRRKH!" Desmond coughed slightly. "Nnnhrrnngh, ohhh that's a familiar smell."

"Yeah, cuz you're a stone-faced jerk!" Meiji barked.

"Hah...hahah, I love jokes. Here's one for you, what do you call a dead, crippled beetle?"

"Uhhh, that's not funny-"

"Meiji Garonba."

He suddenly grabbed Meiji's horn and slammed his face into his knee, cracking his mandibles and almost gouging one of his eyes before the beetle swerved his head. Punching both drill-arms into Desmond's stomach, he hammered away as the killer started to flinch from the hardened blows, but kept his grip tight on the horn with a slow creaking shudder.

Trembling in panic, the beetle sparked with furious cry as his head burned with shock, blasting a pulse of lightning that forced Desmond to release him. But in turn Garonba staggered with a dull throbbing head, and eyes turning dizzy. Before the killer could grab him again, Ganbe wrapped his sickle-chain round Desmond's throat and wrenched him from behind.

"BRO, YOU ALRIGHT?!"

"YEAH!" Meiji cried. "GIMME A MINUTE, MY HEAD'S-"

"I DON'T GOT A MINUTE, HELP ME PLEASE!"

Pulling out the power drill he found earlier, the beetle had a fiendish idea as he pressed the battery to his horn and sparked another bolt of lightning, causing it to suddenly rev up with life. At that moment, Desmond elbowed Ganbe hard and threw him aside before charging at Meiji, dodging the power drill to make a vile uppercut in the beetle's stomach. Garonba puked a white spittle, crumpling hard on the floor and clutching himself with whimpering tears before Desmond grabbed his horn, and violently snapped it free with a screeching gasp from the beetle.

When the drill clattered to the ground, Gen ran for it in a diving tackle as Desmond readied a football kick for Meiji's head. Suddenly he felt a piercing gouge in his leg, gasping in something close to pain as the screeching tear of bone cracked above his foot. A horrible wet sucking sound could be heard above the growing thunder, staring down at his blood-drenched foot that Gen drilled deeper inside of.

Gritting his teeth with growing anger, he wrenched the drill free from his leg and kicked Gen hard against the roulette table, before crushing his beak with a thrusting foot. The drill had run out of power, but that did not stop Desmond from picking it up to bludgeon the bird hard with savage blows. The Destroyer's face twisted with malice, blackening Gen's skull with crumpling dents as the metallic curve on his scalp twisted with every blow, until the drill fell apart.

Grabbing him by the throat, he tossed him against the steel wall with such power, that it cracked open wide as Gen almost fell to his death. Grappling onto the ledge, the storm howled with crackling sparks, the rain turning thicker on his bloodied face and drenching his body.

He struggled to climb back up, until a pair of red demon arms lifted him up high and hurled him over Desmond's shoulder in a heaving toss. The floor shook when Gen landed, as Desmond lifted his good leg ready to come down for his skull. Suddenly a sandbag slammed into his stomach, causing him to stagger and almost fall off the edge, before the killer grabbed the metal wall in time.

"GEN-CHAN, HURRY!"

From the side Garonba grabbed his friend, lifting him up as they ran for the higher level. The Destroyer made a vile shriek, trembling through his skull as he watched them race for another stairway. Charging after, he couldn't grab them in time, but instead used his brimming horn to slice through the staircase support pillar.

Gen and Meiji jumped when the stairs began falling, a shuddering lurch before they climbed up onto the next level to see the stairway fall several dozen floors down. Desmond grabbed a fallen strut to make a ramp for himself, and with dangerous stromp caused the floor to shake with unstable force.

"What are you DOING?!" cried Garonba. "If this all comes down you'll die too!"

"I might," Desmond snarled with smiling rage, "but not before you BOTH die in this terrible accident."

"You...sh-shit dude you're crazy!"

"No, I'm perfectly sane, I know exactly what I plan to do to you."

A purple flame flickered from his tongue, lighting his face like the depths of hell as he licked his teeth in violet plumes. Both punks dodged opposite ways as a burning beam shrieked out of Desmond's maw, to tear through the construction site. Five support struts were severed clean in half, molten scars left in his wake as the entire roof started to tilt dangerously towards the south street.

"BRO, THIS WAY!"

With the stairs already fallen, Gen dragged Meiji towards a separate foundation of the site, a set of ramps leading to the hotel part of the future casino. They dodged the vile beam that blasted struts and punched through walls, a shotgun blast of pure white fuchsia that shot in random directions.

In the Millennium Tower, seven office workers had their faces ripped open by windows shattering through the cubicles; two families of tigers and owls in Shachifuku were buried when the mains exploded on the roof, causing three floors to collapse on top of them; and lastly, twelve guests in five separate rooms of the Hotel District, were violently incinerated by Desmond's beam igniting the gas pipes.

Higher the bird and beetle climbed to the separate tower, stumbling through mock corridors and practice hotel rooms with wooden faucets and framework beds. The site became more precarious with its crumbling foundations, falling steel burying through the roads and smashing walls nearby, driving stakes into concrete and business stores.

Gen and Meiji stopped in a room with only half its walls searching for some way to escape, an empty bed with closets and cardboard TV surrounding them. But Desmond was close, running up the ramps with a slight limp as he punched through walls searching through the hall.

"GEEEEEN, MEIJIIIII!"

"Sh-shit, SHIT!" Gen trembled. "This dude's fucking PSYCHO!"

"Yeah," Meiji nodded, "we gotta get outta here, can ya glide us out?!"

"I can't glide with you, you're too heavy!"

"What, dude I been watching my weight!"

"That's NOT the point!" the bird hissed.

"Yeah it is!" muttered the beetle. "Why else you think I was reading fashion magazines, I'm trying to get in a size ten!"

"What, dude you don't need to lose weight you are perfect the way you are!"

"Awwww, duuude!" Meiji hugged him. "If we get outta this, I'm buying you dinner."

"Yeah sure, GET DOWN!"

Pulling his friend down, they dodged a chunk of a plaster that crunched through the wall behind them, exposing the elements once again.

"HEEEERE'S DEZZY!"

Ripping off a piece of the wall, Desmond tossed another chunk as they dove for the killer in a desperate attack, the roaring typhoon spitting water into the hotel room. The Destroyer punched them both with a hammerfist each, grabbing both their heads and swinging them against the walls to crack their backs and crush their faces. With hungering snarl the murderer tossed them onto the mock-up bed.

"ISN'T THIS ROMANTIC?!" he screamed. "DYING TOGETHER IN BED WITH YOUR DEAREST FRIEND!?"

"OH, F-FUCK, FUCK!"

"NOW, which one of you shall weep more when the OTHER DIES?!"

"ME, ME!" Meiji shouted. "I-i cry at the drop of a hat!"

"Meiji DON'T FUCKING ANSWER HIM!"

"No, seriously, The Drop of a Hat is the saddest manga I ever read, shit hurts bro, who knew the circus was really tragic!"

"SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR BROTHER THEN!"

As Desmond proclaimed his sentence, this was exactly what Meiji wanted. When they had fallen on the bed, he felt a piece of plywood crack underneath, and when the Destroyer sparked his evil light, Garonba lunged with thrusting stab to block his throat with a plank. The murderer shrieked with a sputtering cough, pulling away hard to rip his foul beam across the room and burn the wooden block to ashes.

Screeching as he turned on them, the punks quickly rolled out of bed when his beam came down to split it in half. The floor would follow suit, along with the room itself when the killer's blast had ripped through more support struts down beneath, causing the hotel section to topple slowly. Taking advantage of the chaos, Meiji grabbed Gen and jumped through a hole in the wall, dashing through the hall to try and escape the crumbling building.

A wooden sink cracked the beetle from behind, causing him to fall, which in turn rolled past to trip Gen in a stumble. The Destroyer lurched towards the fallen Meiji, the hallway trembling in front of him as he limped closer. Garonba's head was burning, his horn snapped off and the concussion making the world turn faint. Desmond licked his lips with murderous, glee raising his fists high to savour the fear in the beetle's eyes.

Then he stopped. A blur of black and green he had not noticed in the midst of his joyous rage. The moment he came down for Garonba's head, a fist crunched in his solar plexus with such shocking force, that the Destroyer dry-heaved with a spasm through his body.

"Don't...you FUCKING TOUCH MY BROTHER!"

With a rising slash he carved his sickle through the Destroyer's chin. On its own it barely staggered him, the wide-open cut of bilious red trickling down his dusted suit. But the powerful counter to his stomach had weakened him just enough to make him stumble, long enough for Gen to grab his battered friend and race for the exit.

The face of the killer seethed with burning hate, a glimpse behind the curtain to his soulless form as he blasted a purple beam straight towards their backs. But then the building shifted violently forwards, throwing his aim off as it sharply banked across the floor and the ceiling, to carve the hallway in half.

As the hallway jutted downwards in front of them, Gen fell on his back and Meiji grabbed the wall as the Destroyer picked up sudden momentum. With a howling shriek he almost flew down the slope, his feet pounding faster as he spread his arms wide like the wings of Satan. His eyes widened with infernal rage, as he lunged forwards to try and land on Gen.

But the corridor shifted again, Ganbe grabbing onto a door that swung out over a sheer vertical drop. Desmond flew past him, a shock coming across his face when he saw the end of the hall pull apart, and reveal the abyss of 130 feet. In that moment, he finally understood death. The cold rushing winds, the rain scarring his face and the the fate he would not escape.

Desmond started to laugh. A laugh that haunted all who heard it that day, on November 16th. It was a laugh no creature should make, a demonic cackle that rose higher and higher the lower he fell. Directly below were several poles of rebar that had fallen from the midst of his chaos. All three of them turned red with a crunch of his body, his spine snapped through and his belly impaled.

But still he kept laughing, with tears in his eyes as he bled from the inside, his suit turning scarlet, and a crimson rain falling beneath to stain the sodden earth. A smile eternal on his face, to the very last laugh as he stared upon the twisting spires from his chest, bleeding across his suit, his body cracked in half.

When the hall almost collapsed, Gen felt Meiji's hand pull him up through the doorframe as they climbed through the rooms and took flight out of a window, onto a nearby platform and to the slightly-more stable casino. They hurried down ramps and hopped over beams with adrenaline, and in the midst of the falling plates, they found Obakimura's body.

"QUICK, GRAB HIM!" Meiji shouted.

"HOW WE GONNA GET OUT?!" Gen cried.

"I HAVE AN IDEA, TRUST ME!"

Amongst the various tools, Meiji had found some rope used to lift buckets like a dumbwaiter. Nearby was a large crane at the foot of the site, as he formed a lasso and hurled the rope with perfect accuracy towards the crane top. Tying the other end to the most secure strut, he tethered himself, Gen and Obakimura separately into makeshift harnesses, for all three of them to zip straight down.

"OHHHH FUUUUUUUUCK!"

Gen shrieked as he held Sanjin's body tight, the wind tearing past his eye as they shot straight to the crane and grabbed its top desperately to slide down onto terra firma. In a stumbling roll ,they staggered onto the pavement, the hotel and casino splitting fully apart across two whole streets.

The unfolding chaos was the Destroyer's last gift, as Shachifuku and Park Boulevard turned to a sea of debris. At first the kaiju had feared it was an earthquake, screaming in their beds and offices as they looked outside to witness devastation. Six buildings were completely flattened, as well as some of the Kaijuro Hills with a few complexes utterly crushed by raining beams.

Thunder continued with cracks in the sky, the streets awash with debris as locals poured out from their homes in dismay. Ambulances arrived with fire trucks and police cars, as in the midst of all this, Maung hurried to the first medic with the Obaras.

"QUICKLY, HELP HIM, HE'S BEEN HUNG!"

"What, what happened?!" gasped the shark attending.

"I gave him CPR, he's not breathing please save him!"

"I'm his mother!" cried Oodaka. "HURRY!"

"Alright alright, get him in quick!"

The octopus jumped in the back, with her son Gonkuro put on a stretcher and breathing equipment strapped in.

"WAIT!" She cried to Maung. "WHUT'S YER NAME?! I WANNA THANK YOU, WAIT!"

But he was gone. Out of her sight he hid behind a wall, waiting for the ambulance to drive off with mother and son. Once the coast was clear he walked away, searching for his allies at the foot of the disaster.

"GANBE! GARONBA! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"MAUNG, MAUNG-SAN!"

The beetle waved him over as the tarantula gasped at their state. Both of them were battered, bloodied and bruised with Meiji's horn completely, and Gen's metal mohawk all twisted up. But his heart saddened more upon the sight of Obakimura.

"We...w-we couldn't save him," Ganbe gasped, "fuck...that psychopath was crazy, he was really-"

"Did the other two get away?" asked Meiji

"The hospital is taking them," Khoumad rubbed his head, "where is the Destroyer?"

"Dead, I think...he fell off the tower, nobody's gonna survive that."

"I will check that he is." He pointed to the ambulances. "Both of you get some help, take the patriarch with you."

"Wait, what?" Gen picked up Sanjin. "What if they ask questions?"

"Then you tell them what happened. You arrived on the scene and stopped a murderer. The Toho will be alerted for their junior's condition, you shall meet them at the hospital."

The tarantula walked over to a sewer drain and pulled it off,

"I shall remain hidden in the area, I will inform you at a later time when you both recover.

"No prob, Maung-san," Meiji bowed with a wince, "nnngh...damn this...h-hurts to talk."

"Let's go bro." Gen nodded. "Thanks for being there."

"Heh...same."

They hobbled off to the ambulances arriving on the scene, keeping far away from the police as they tried their best to explain the body they found. In the streets of ruin, it would be hours until anyone found the Destroyer's remains, buried beneath the weight of his destruction, a smile forever upon his face.