by WOTNOPOLIS 20
“Thanks,” Q said as Clair finished healing him.
“It’s not a good job,” Clair whispered. “It’s just something to hold you over. I’ll patch up the rest of your injuries later. I need to start on Bano.”
Q understood. Bano had tried to run to Clair as well but had passed out with his first step. Clair wanted to heal him first but Q had insisted on getting some of his injuries taken care of so he could move again. He needed to do stuff and it couldn’t wait.
“Just be careful,” Clair said to Q as he stood up. “Seriously, it’s not well done.”
Q patted her on the shoulder. “Thank you. I really appreciate it. I feel great,” Q lied.
Q looked at the group inside the bar. Knssquad was sitting at a chair staring off. Yoyo sat in a corner, head low. Temari was quietly crying. “What a mess,” Q thought.
He pointed toward the ceiling. “Everyone, I’m really sorry, but I have some things to take care of tonight. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Everyone looked at Q. Knssquad nodded and Temari frowned. Yoyo’s face hadn’t changed. “Anyway,” Q continued. “Consider the Eagle gang disbanded. Until tomorrow, we are no longer the Eagle gang. This means if you want to leave and never come back I can‘t stop you. However, tomorrow we’ll figure out our future.”
“Are you sure, Q?” Knssquad asked. Clair turned away and bit her lip as she continued to heal Bano. “We’ve already been through so much.”
“That’s exactly why, Knssquad,” Q said. “We’ve been through a lot. We’re not the Eagle gang right now. But we’re all still friends. No matter what we’ve done, and no matter how you feel about the gang, we’re friends. And we’re here for each other. When we’ve rested and had some time we’ll figure out the rest.”
Q walked towards the door of the bar and pointed at Yoyo. “Hey, come with me, Yoyo.”
Yoyo stood up slowly and picked up her swords. She frowned noticeably as she followed Q out the door. “Why do you need me to come with you?” she asked Q. “I really don’t want to do anything right now.”
“Eh, I think you’ll want to do this,” Q said.
****
Seshimazi laughed as the group raced down streets. The roar of their motorcycles was matched only by the sound of the explosions they had just set off. “That was crazy!” one man yelled.
“It was!” Seshimazi agreed. “And we’re just getting started. We’re not stopping until all of WOTNOPOLIS is ablaze and in ruins!”
The group cheered in unison at Seshimazi’s proclamation. People cowered inside buildings as the group hit street after street. Seshimazi’s flames would smash through a small store and the group would speed away. By the time the cops arrived the group had already moved to a different section of WOTNOPOLIS.
Pedestrians already were few and far between. Most people knew to stay clear of the streets of WOTNOPOLIS at night. But those that the group did catch were treated harshly.
“Help me!” a man called out. Seshimazi laughed as he turned to see who their group had picked on next. His composure changed as he saw a motorcycle crashing and a body flipping down the road.
Seshimazi shot a flame out of his hand that signaled the group to stop. “What’s the deal?” Seshimazi yelled.
Two figures walked out of the shadows. “You two do that to my man?” Seshimazi asked. “If you want to take on the bunch of us you can feel free to. But we’re just trying to have a nightly marauding. Why get in the way of that?”
“I see why you brought me out now,” Yoyo said as she pulled out her swords. She dashed across the street and sliced a motorcycle in half. She stabbed the rider through the heart and tossed him into another rider.
“Stop that!” Seshimazi growled. “Darnit, why are my lackeys always so freaking useless?”
Seshimazi jumped off his motorcycle. His left hand formed a ball of fire and he launched it at the girl. The flame engulfed the street. “Got her!” Seshimazi smiled.
“Not even close,” Q said as he grabbed Seshimazi by his shirt collar. Seshimazi’s eyes widened as he felt himself slam into the street. “You’re Seshimazi, hm? I’ve heard about you a bit from the others.”
Seshimazi rolled over and coughed into his hands. “Geez. Well who the heck are you?” Seshimazi asked.
“I’m Q,” he answered. Seshimazi jumped back in fear and shot a fireball at Q.
Q dodged it and shook his head. “No good,” Q said. He stepped on Seshimazi and looked him in the eye. “From what Bano told me you’re not completely a bad guy. Why are you working with a guy like Shugo?”
Seshimazi rolled his eyes. “That guy‘s a pain. I’ll work for Shugo until I find a way to leave. Whatever let’s me get to live a little longer. He saved my life so I owe him that. Now get off me before I kill you.”
Q nodded. “Then get ready. Because the time to leave is now. We’re going to rip your group to shreds for what they did to our friend. And so you know, I just spared your life by keeping you on the ground.”
Seshimazi pushed Q’s foot away and looked up. “What on Earth?” he asked at the scene before him.
Yoyo pulled her sword out of the last biker and whipped the blood off of it. She looked over at Seshimazi and pointed a sword at him. “You’re next,” she whispered and moved towards him.
“I’m getting the heck out of here!” Seshimazi screamed and ran away from the group.
“This is just the beginning,” Q said to Seshimazi as he ran down the street. “We’re not stopping till we avenge our friend. Don’t get caught up in it.”
Q stepped between Yoyo and Seshimazi. “What are you doing, Q?” Yoyo asked.
“That’s enough for now, Yoyo,” Q said. “Don’t do anymore.”
Yoyo slashed her blade in front of Q. Her eyes glared. “I don’t think you know how serious I am, Q. We’re not in a gang right now. You said so yourself. Step aside.”
Q shook his head. “I know just how serious you are, Yoyo. You’ve been running wild and slaughtering people like crazy lately. You used to be cool headed in a fight. Now you’re just a killing machine.”
Yoyo grinned. “And what if I am? It‘s made me stronger. And it‘s allowed me to get this far.”
“I know you wanted revenge for Jake’s death. I know of all of us, you’ve spent a lot of time with him. You trained him,” Q said. Yoyo looked away for a moment. “That’s why we did this. So you could get some of that out of your system.”
“But you’re letting one of them get away, Q. The ones that murdered Jake-”
“Will pay. Believe me. We will make them pay. But this demonic rage of yours? It ends now,” Q said and he stepped closer to Yoyo. “I don’t say that as your leader. I say that as your friend.”
“Step aside, Q,” Yoyo whispered. “I won’t back down.”
“Or what, Yoyo? You’ll cut me down, too,” Q asked. He put his hands up. “And then what, Yoyo? You’re just going to end up hurting your friends. What would Jake say?”
Yoyo stared at the ground. The swords trembling in her hands. Sliced through the air and put them away. “It’s too late, anyway. He already got away. You let him get away.”
Yoyo turned away and started heading back. “I’m going back to the bar.”
“Yoyo,” Q said to her. She stopped and waited. “I’m not saying the demon inside of you is wrong or isn’t powerful. I just don’t want it or revenge to eat you away. This is the limit of how far you let it go. Crush your enemies, but don’t let the monster you’re becoming take control of you. Have a boundary. Besides, I think you’re strongest when you’re cool-headed.”
Yoyo didn’t say anything but turned back to Q and smiled. “Maybe,” she said. “Thanks.”
She turned and walked away. Q smiled and felt a breath of relief hit him. “Well, looks like we may of stopped that in time.”
****
Q returned to the bar. Temari hugged Q and Yoyo as soon as they walked through the door. It was obvious she had been crying. “Where’d you go?” Bano asked from across the bar.
“I’m so glad you guys came back, I,” Temari started but closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Q said and patted her on the back. “We just delivered a message to Shugo, Bano.”
Bano nodded and looked down. “I wish I could of gone with you,” he said quietly. “I really want to kill them right now, too.”
“Guys, I have to get going again. Sorry, I know we just got back. I probably won’t be back tonight, but just rest. We all really need to rest,” Q said as he walked over to Jake’s body and picked it up. He flinched as he felt how cold it was. Through the sheet they had placed on him Q could see Jake’s face. He hated it.
Q turned towards the door with Jake’s body and stopped. “By the way. No one here is at fault for what happened. None of you are to blame yourselves. This is WOTNOPOLIS. We’ve been attacked countless times. We’ve all fought for our lives. So don’t think that if you had just done this or that, it would have been different. Jake was our friend. He would hate it if that was how you felt.”
Q left out the door of the bar and sighed as it closed behind him. “Besides,” Q whispered as he headed down the street. “That’s the kind of burden only the leader is allowed to carry. Because no matter what, the responsibility to protect you guys always falls to me.”
****
“That little!” Shugo yelled as he kicked a crate. “Stupid! I! He.”
“I’m sorry boss,” Seshimazi said as he backed away from Shugo. “I would of taken him on but that girl Yoyo was there again and she scares me.”
Shugo straightened up and smiled. “Well, it’s no matter. Besides, we were just planning on opening war with him. So it’s no matter. Really.”
Seshimazi backed away from Shugo. “You really ticked him off,” Blackrain said.
“He’s always ticked off whenever the Eagle gang is brought up. It’s not my fault,” Seshimazi panicked.
“Blackrain, did you at least manage your side of the affairs?” Shugo asked.
“Yes, I did. And don’t talk down to me I’m not your subordinate,” Blackrain hissed.
“Right. Sorry about that partner,” Shugo said. “I guess I kind of lost my cool.”
“What cool?” Seshimazi asked.
Shugo glowered at Seshimazi who quickly ran into a corner of the warehouse to hide. “You impertinent! I! We.”
“Where did Destinykil and Amaterasu go off to?” Blackrain asked.
“They’re at the next hideout already. We need to get going, too. If Q and them plan a counter attack we‘ll be out of here. For the plan to work we need to break up their forces,” Shugo explained. “After all, Clair joined their team so they’ve got a good number.”
Blackrain collapsed and choked. “No idea. I never told her. I’ve not been in contact with her, as you requested. I just wanted her to come back to me on her own.”
Seshimazi pat Blackrain on the back. “There, there, boss. I am sure she cares for you or something like that.”
“We were gonna be such a strong team. We were going to kill so many. Little sister, why did you leave me?” Blackrain cried.
“Well, even though you didn’t get to destroy as much as we wanted you to,” Shugo said to Seshimazi. “Tomorrow morning WOTNOPOLIS will hear about your attacks on the city and the entire city will blame the Eagle gang. Thanks to the aides Blackrain controls in the news, police forces, and politic of the city the entire city will be lead to believe they are the cause of all the crimes of WOTNOPOLIS. He already helped manipulate them into assassins in the TFK case. With their hearts broken over their precious lost friend, it‘ll be interesting to see how they react.”
****
Q closed the door behind him. The sun had risen a few hours ago and he knew he needed to get back to the bar. He sighed. That had been a long night. The person leaning against the wall nearby surprised him. “Oh, hey,” Q said.
“Yo,” Bano answered and waved awkwardly. “I was kind of curious what you were planning to do. I sort of followed you.”
“Yeah, I see that,” Q waved back slowly.
“Um, so,” Bano stammered. “How’d it go?”
Q smiled. “It was awful, but she didn’t blame us. Really. She just wanted us to protect ourselves, too. She cried a lot, but she really didn’t blame us for what happened.”
“Aw, she’s sweet,” Bano smiled. “Moonlightnights, right?”
“Yeah,” Q said. “She’s a good person.”
Q and Bano walked away from the apartment in silence. “So?” Bano said to keep the conversation going.
“Your smoke cloud thing is annoying as anything, you know that?” Q asked.
Bano laughed. “Well, you know,” he said. “Your punches are something else.”
The two continued walking in silence. “So,” Bano said and stopped Q. “I want to say this before we get back to the bar.”
Q turned around and looked back. “Yeah?” Q watched Bano a bit confused.
“I’m sorry. About all of it,” Bano said. “Really. Let’s forget it.”
“Don’t worry about it, Bano. We both acted pretty stupidly. And I’ve made some poor choices, you were right about that,” Q said.
“Yeah, but I mean,” Bano began. “It’s my job to back you up and to make sure your decisions work out. It’s not my job to question everything you do. I forgot that. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks,” Q smiled. “But really. Let’s just forget it.”
****
Q and Bano walked back into the bar. Q looked at the faces of the gang and shook his head. “Did anyone sleep?” Q asked.
No one raised their hand. “Geez, I was hoping we’d do this with you guys sleeping,” Q said.
“You’re one to talk. You haven’t slept either and you were out all night,” Yoyo said.
Q ignored her and walked toward the bar counter. “Alright. Everyone gather up. I want to talk with you all seriously about the gang for a moment.”
Bano sat at the bar stool closest Q. Knssquad sat down next to him. Yoyo got up and leaned against the wall closest to the counter. Clair and Temari followed her and sat down beside Bano and Knssquad.
“Well, there’s no doubt we’re all going to really miss Jake,” Q began. “He was a great guy. He started out as an enemy, like most of us did. But he gave his all, and when crunch time came he stuck with us. We’re all going to really miss him. There’s no doubt.”
Q stopped and closed his eyes for a moment. He reopened them and started getting glasses down. “We’ve had a lot of stuff happen since we entered TFK’s tower a few days ago. And I have a feeling we’ve still got some hard times ahead of us. If we stick together that is.”
Q looked at each of them. “I never want to let this happen again. And I don’t plan to. I don’t care what it takes. I am not losing anymore of you guys. I don‘t care what you did or what‘s happened between us you guys are all my friends. We’re not letting WOTNOPOLIS beat us. I don’t care if I have to punch The First Knight in the face myself. I’m protecting all of you. I won’t die till that happens. I won’t let anything get in my way.”
“I’ve always dreamed that we become the most powerful gang in WOTNOPOLIS. That was what Bano and I set out to do. We didn’t really have a reason to. We just wanted to. But now I know why we have to be the most powerful gang in WOTNOPOLIS. It’s so we can take down the thugs like Shugo, Punkfilter, and Venomu. If we’re on top then I can protect all of you. And maybe we can make WOTNOPOLIS safer for it.”
Q took the cups he had and started filling them up. Everyone was listening to him and he smiled. “We’ll protect each other. And all the other friends we’ve made here in this city. Moon, Titan, my stupid brother. We’ll all work together and get rid of the monsters of this city. Or at least. That’s what I want to do. If you guys are still in?”
Bano stood up and smiled. “I’m in, Q. Let’s do this.”
Knssquad raised her hand. “Count me in, captain!”
“I can’t really fight, but I’m not going anywhere,” Temari laughed.
Yoyo shook her head. “Geez, for a man you really talk a lot, Q. But yeah. You can count on me.”
“Me too,” Clair said.
Q smiled as he handed everyone drinks. “Fantastic!” he beamed. “Then drink up!”
Q downed his drink. Everyone picked up their glasses and followed.
“It hurts!” Bano screamed as he fell to the floor and grabbed at his throat. “It’s so icky!”
Yoyo grabbed at her heart. Her eyes widened as she froze in place. “What is this feeling? It’s getting dark. Am I finally going to Heaven?”
“If it’s getting dark that’s probably not Heaven, Yoyo,” Knssquad said.
“What’s wrong? Are we under attack?” Q yelled.
Bano punched Q. “Idiot! Giving a person Cherry coke can kill them!”
Clair grabbed Yoyo and laid her down. “She doesn’t look good guys.”
“My time is up, friends. I did it as long as I could. Who would of thought that a man in the kitchen would have been what did me in?” Yoyo whispered.
“That hurt, Bano!” Q yelled. “I served everyone’s favorite, Cherry Coke. You guys all love Cherry coke.”
Bano punched Q again. “Where have you been? We all hate it! Hate it!”
“I think it’s pretty good,” Knssquad answered.
Bano spun around and pointed. “You!”
“But I prefer ginger ale,” Knssquad said.
Bano’s point lost its energy. “Well, that’s just weird.”
Temari laughed as she patted Q on the back. “Um, maybe you should let a pro handle this.”
Q hopped onto the bar counter and frowned. “I don’t get it. If you guys didn’t like Cherry Coke why did you insist we name the dog that?”
“Idiot!” Bano yelled. “It was you that insisted we name the dog that! I wanted to name him something scary like Shadows of Infinite Death.”
“That’s a horrible name for a dog!” Q screamed.
“Oh and a soda is a better name!”
“A cherished soda loved by all is!”
“It’s not loved by all!” Bano grabbed his head.
“I wanted to name Cherry Coke the Friendly Rainbow of Love,” Clair said.
Q and Bano both shook their heads. “No, that wouldn’t of worked,” they answered in unison.
Temari picked Cherry Coke up, who had been wagging his tail after hearing his name so much, and handed him over to Clair while laughing. “Here, hand this Dr. Pepper to Yoyo, too. It should cure her.”
Yoyo looked at the soda and carefully put it to her lips. “The poor girl swallowed so much Cherry coke. After that heartwarming speech Q gave she truly trusted him with her life. It’s a wonder she made it through.”
“Everyone loves Cherry coke!” Q insisted.
“I’m going to be okay,” Yoyo said as she sat up. She looked up at Temari. “Thank you. You saved my life.”
“Oh I give up!” Q grumbled.
Temari laughed and nodded. Knssquad smiled as she sipped her ginger ale. “Thanks Temari! Don’t worry, Q. When the Zombies come you can probably use the Cherry coke as an acid bomb.”
Q looked around nervously and leaned in toward Knssquad. “By the way, investigative report 18. I have reason to believe Bano is a zombie. His heartless tendencies showed up again today when he attacked my Cherry coke. Since we all know Zombies are emotionless and brainless, the evidence is mounting.”
“What!” Bano yelled and hit Q. “I’m not a zombie!”
“Stop hitting me!” Q groaned. “Investigative Report 19-”
“Clair,” Yoyo asked as she leaned back against the wall. “Why did you go with Venomu in the first place? I know it’s your business, but I want to know.”
“Oh, that,” Clair said. “Venomu told me I could find my brother Blackrain. I originally came to this city looking for him. He had been a terror in my home town. He, well, he killed the only friend I had. He has to be stopped. I don’t want others to suffer. I thought if I joined with him I could wait for my chance and kill him. But he’s extremely powerful. I didn’t want you guys to get involved. I definitely didn’t think Jake would get involved. I’m so sorry, really, and Knssquad, I’m sorry I abandoned you.”
Knssquad shook her head. “Nothing you could of done. Venomu was there and Kotaro is powerful.”
“Jake was killed by Shugo. Not you,” Q said. “Bano and I have dealt with Shugo before. He’s a monster. And that is the next thing I want to ask you guys. How do we plan to stop Shugo?”
“Can he be stopped?” Temari asked. “Isn’t he a Mafia? Those guys are never defeated.”
“Plus he’s got Destinykil, Amaterasu, Seshimazi, and Blackrain working for him,” Yoyo added. “The Mafias are all really powerful. The fourth Mafia, though. We weren’t really sure if it even existed except in rumors. Finding it will be really hard.”
Clair raised her hand. “No. Venomu told me all the locations to look for the Fourth Mafia. Apparently Seshimazi had met with him at some point and ever since then Venomu’s been tracking them. So, I know where they probably are?”
“There’s a start,” Q smiled. “And we can beat them, Yoyo. We’ve beat them all in the past, well, except Blackrain and Shugo.”
“Yeah, and how did Amaterasu end up in that group?” Bano asked. “Wasn’t he all, ‘Justice forever!’ or whatever?”
“And Destinykil,” Q sighed. “That guy just never seems to stay down no matter how many times I beat him. But we can’t dwell on that. We‘ll stop them. Not only are they a danger to all of WOTNOPOLIS. Not only do I hate Shugo. But after what they did to Jake? No forgiveness.”
“Agreed,” Bano said. Everyone nodded their heads.
“Well guys, there’s only one thing left to do,” Bano said. He raised his glass into the air. “To Jake.”
Each member of the Eagle gang raised their glasses. “To Jake!” they yelled as the glasses clanked.
****
“We’ve got reports coming in from all over the city,” the man said as he handed him his cup of tea.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Little Shiro sipped the warm tea. “Ah, delicious. But it still doesn’t make any sense.”
KKQ opened up Little Shiro’s office door and shook her head. “Do you understand any of this?” she asked him.
“No,” Little Shiro said. “Up until now the Eagle gang has resisted us. But they’ve never gone off and attacked civilians. They’ve only ever been involved in battles with other gangs and us.”
“I know!” KKQ said. “Amaterasu may have been obsessed with them, but they didn’t really seem that bad. I mean, they had plenty of chances to kill Amaterasu but they always let him live. That alone made them kind of different. Most gangs kill and don’t think about it.”
Little Shiro agreed as he vividly remembered when Bano carried off Knssquad, at the time an enemy, so that she wouldn’t be captured by him. “The list of the Eagle gangs deeds are unbelievable. Not only did they apparently massacre a huge portion of the WOTNOPOLIS gangs after invading TFK’s tower, they then fought and defeated Kotaro the hit man of the Mafia, and then Q and Bano were said to have been seen fighting each other outside their hideout. Then afterward we are supposed to believe they went on a killing spree across the city? What group could possibly pull all that off? We either vastly underestimated the numbers of the Eagle gang, a mere six or seven people, or these guys are insane.”
“The group that did the attack on the city was said to have been on motorcycles,” KKQ said. “And I have never once heard of them using motorcycles. In fact, I heard that group was attacked and an eye witness said that one of attackers was a double swordsman girl.”
“Where’d you hear that?” Little Shiro asked.
“A report that came in early this morning. JJDomer quickly discredited it, but I never was sure why,” she said.
“Geez,” Little Shiro said as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands against his face. “Amaterasu letting them go surprised me. I thought he had the right idea. Up until now the Eagle gang seemed like the kind of gang that was doing more good than trouble. The East has seen it’s longest time of peace since the founding of WOTNOPOLIS thanks to them. And Amaterasu swore that the Eagle gang had challenged The First Knight to the death and barely survived.”
Little Shiro looked at KKQ and sighed. “I was proud of him. I was hoping these guys were the kind of guys we could work together with, you know?”
KKQ nodded. “I don’t think something is right here. I think the Eagle gang may of done some of the things accused, but not all of it.”
“But the Mayor is furious with the Eagle gang. He wants to bring down the hammer of justice hard on this group that’s been running rampant,” he sighed. “Have you heard anything on Ama?”
KKQ shook her head. “No one knows who attacked the police car but he’s completely disappeared. Some think it might have been a gang finally getting revenge on the man who’s killed or jailed so many criminals. That’s the best lead we have. Whatever happened, he’s disappeared for the time being.”
Little Shiro shook his head. “It sure is coincidental. One minute we think the Eagle gang is working for us. Then suddenly we find out they’re the bad guys and Amaterasu is tried in the fastest court case ever. And by the end of the day Amaterasu, the only person who came in contact with the Eagle gang after their attack on The First Knight’s Tower disappears completely. And now reports are flooding us that the Eagle gang needs to be stopped.”
KKQ smiled and handed Little Shiro a muffin. “Let’s admit. We both think this whole thing is a fraud. And we both also think that JJDomer is partially behind it.”
Little Shiro laughed. “Yeah, I guess we do. So what do we do?”
“We wait. We wait till we know more and we hope we figure this out. And if we get the chance to help them out, we will,” she smiled. “Nice chatting with you Squad captain.”
“You too, Lieutenant,” Little Shiro laughed as she walked out the door. Little Shiro turned toward the man standing next to him. “Fetch me more tea.”
****
“We’ll definitely be there,” Q said to the woman that had come to their door. “There’s no chance we’ll miss it.”
“Thanks. It means a lot,” Moonlightnights whispered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were all asleep. I probably should of called or something.”
“Not at all,” Q smiled. “Thanks for coming. And these cookies you made look amazing. I’ve heard all about your cookies from Yoyo. I can’t wait to try them.”
Moonlightnight’s eyes brightened a little. “Thank you so much. I just wanted you guys to know and didn’t feel right coming empty handed.”
Q shook his head. “We should be giving you food. Not the other way around. Do you need me to escort you back home?”
“No, I’ll be okay,” Moon nodded. “Um, so you’ll be there?”
“Promise,” Q said. “We’re going to be there.”
Moonlightnights smiled and stopped a tear running down her cheek. “Okay, thank you. I’ll see you guys later.”
“Take care, Moonlightnights,” Q said.
Q watched her walk away and sat the basket of cookies down on a table. “Geez,” Q whispered. “We’re the ones who should be comforting you, stupid. You should hate us.”
“She’s really sweet,” Knssquad said as she finished putting blankets on the group laying on the ground.
“Mhm,” Q said and handed Knssquad a cookie from the basket. Knssquad gobbled it and smiled a little.
“You know,” she said. “We were Jake’s family. She sees us that way, too. She doesn’t blame us for what happened.”
Q nodded absently. “Yo, Q,” Knssquad took his hand and shook it a little. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened, either.”
“Hm?” Q asked. “I don’t.”
“Yes, you do,” Knssquad said. “But don’t. Just like none of us are at fault neither are you. The only thing you did was be Jake’s friend when he needed one. The two of you got along really well. You could tell that Jake thought really highly of you. I know I haven’t been with the gang that long, but I could see even that much.”
After a minute Q looked at Knssquad and nodded. “You’re right. Thank you,” he whispered. “By the way. Quit saying you haven’t been with us that long. You’re one of us. Doesn’t matter how long. Cause starting today we’re officially reborn.”
Knssquad smiled. “Cool. Now, boss-man, that you’ve proven you’re the leader and you’ve taken care of us and all that, go to sleep. You need it.”
Q leaned his head onto the bar counter and closed his eyes. Sleep instantly overcame him and Knssquad shook her head. “Geez, these guys. Too stupid to use a bed,” she laughed as she put a blanket on him.
“Thanks,” Q said as Clair finished healing him.
“It’s not a good job,” Clair whispered. “It’s just something to hold you over. I’ll patch up the rest of your injuries later. I need to start on Bano.”
Q understood. Bano had tried to run to Clair as well but had passed out with his first step. Clair wanted to heal him first but Q had insisted on getting some of his injuries taken care of so he could move again. He needed to do stuff and it couldn’t wait.
“Just be careful,” Clair said to Q as he stood up. “Seriously, it’s not well done.”
Q patted her on the shoulder. “Thank you. I really appreciate it. I feel great,” Q lied.
Q looked at the group inside the bar. Knssquad was sitting at a chair staring off. Yoyo sat in a corner, head low. Temari was quietly crying. “What a mess,” Q thought.
He pointed toward the ceiling. “Everyone, I’m really sorry, but I have some things to take care of tonight. I’ll be back in a bit.”
Everyone looked at Q. Knssquad nodded and Temari frowned. Yoyo’s face hadn’t changed. “Anyway,” Q continued. “Consider the Eagle gang disbanded. Until tomorrow, we are no longer the Eagle gang. This means if you want to leave and never come back I can‘t stop you. However, tomorrow we’ll figure out our future.”
“Are you sure, Q?” Knssquad asked. Clair turned away and bit her lip as she continued to heal Bano. “We’ve already been through so much.”
“That’s exactly why, Knssquad,” Q said. “We’ve been through a lot. We’re not the Eagle gang right now. But we’re all still friends. No matter what we’ve done, and no matter how you feel about the gang, we’re friends. And we’re here for each other. When we’ve rested and had some time we’ll figure out the rest.”
Q walked towards the door of the bar and pointed at Yoyo. “Hey, come with me, Yoyo.”
Yoyo stood up slowly and picked up her swords. She frowned noticeably as she followed Q out the door. “Why do you need me to come with you?” she asked Q. “I really don’t want to do anything right now.”
“Eh, I think you’ll want to do this,” Q said.
****
Seshimazi laughed as the group raced down streets. The roar of their motorcycles was matched only by the sound of the explosions they had just set off. “That was crazy!” one man yelled.
“It was!” Seshimazi agreed. “And we’re just getting started. We’re not stopping until all of WOTNOPOLIS is ablaze and in ruins!”
The group cheered in unison at Seshimazi’s proclamation. People cowered inside buildings as the group hit street after street. Seshimazi’s flames would smash through a small store and the group would speed away. By the time the cops arrived the group had already moved to a different section of WOTNOPOLIS.
Pedestrians already were few and far between. Most people knew to stay clear of the streets of WOTNOPOLIS at night. But those that the group did catch were treated harshly.
“Help me!” a man called out. Seshimazi laughed as he turned to see who their group had picked on next. His composure changed as he saw a motorcycle crashing and a body flipping down the road.
Seshimazi shot a flame out of his hand that signaled the group to stop. “What’s the deal?” Seshimazi yelled.
Two figures walked out of the shadows. “You two do that to my man?” Seshimazi asked. “If you want to take on the bunch of us you can feel free to. But we’re just trying to have a nightly marauding. Why get in the way of that?”
“I see why you brought me out now,” Yoyo said as she pulled out her swords. She dashed across the street and sliced a motorcycle in half. She stabbed the rider through the heart and tossed him into another rider.
“Stop that!” Seshimazi growled. “Darnit, why are my lackeys always so freaking useless?”
Seshimazi jumped off his motorcycle. His left hand formed a ball of fire and he launched it at the girl. The flame engulfed the street. “Got her!” Seshimazi smiled.
“Not even close,” Q said as he grabbed Seshimazi by his shirt collar. Seshimazi’s eyes widened as he felt himself slam into the street. “You’re Seshimazi, hm? I’ve heard about you a bit from the others.”
Seshimazi rolled over and coughed into his hands. “Geez. Well who the heck are you?” Seshimazi asked.
“I’m Q,” he answered. Seshimazi jumped back in fear and shot a fireball at Q.
Q dodged it and shook his head. “No good,” Q said. He stepped on Seshimazi and looked him in the eye. “From what Bano told me you’re not completely a bad guy. Why are you working with a guy like Shugo?”
Seshimazi rolled his eyes. “That guy‘s a pain. I’ll work for Shugo until I find a way to leave. Whatever let’s me get to live a little longer. He saved my life so I owe him that. Now get off me before I kill you.”
Q nodded. “Then get ready. Because the time to leave is now. We’re going to rip your group to shreds for what they did to our friend. And so you know, I just spared your life by keeping you on the ground.”
Seshimazi pushed Q’s foot away and looked up. “What on Earth?” he asked at the scene before him.
Yoyo pulled her sword out of the last biker and whipped the blood off of it. She looked over at Seshimazi and pointed a sword at him. “You’re next,” she whispered and moved towards him.
“I’m getting the heck out of here!” Seshimazi screamed and ran away from the group.
“This is just the beginning,” Q said to Seshimazi as he ran down the street. “We’re not stopping till we avenge our friend. Don’t get caught up in it.”
Q stepped between Yoyo and Seshimazi. “What are you doing, Q?” Yoyo asked.
“That’s enough for now, Yoyo,” Q said. “Don’t do anymore.”
Yoyo slashed her blade in front of Q. Her eyes glared. “I don’t think you know how serious I am, Q. We’re not in a gang right now. You said so yourself. Step aside.”
Q shook his head. “I know just how serious you are, Yoyo. You’ve been running wild and slaughtering people like crazy lately. You used to be cool headed in a fight. Now you’re just a killing machine.”
Yoyo grinned. “And what if I am? It‘s made me stronger. And it‘s allowed me to get this far.”
“I know you wanted revenge for Jake’s death. I know of all of us, you’ve spent a lot of time with him. You trained him,” Q said. Yoyo looked away for a moment. “That’s why we did this. So you could get some of that out of your system.”
“But you’re letting one of them get away, Q. The ones that murdered Jake-”
“Will pay. Believe me. We will make them pay. But this demonic rage of yours? It ends now,” Q said and he stepped closer to Yoyo. “I don’t say that as your leader. I say that as your friend.”
“Step aside, Q,” Yoyo whispered. “I won’t back down.”
“Or what, Yoyo? You’ll cut me down, too,” Q asked. He put his hands up. “And then what, Yoyo? You’re just going to end up hurting your friends. What would Jake say?”
Yoyo stared at the ground. The swords trembling in her hands. Sliced through the air and put them away. “It’s too late, anyway. He already got away. You let him get away.”
Yoyo turned away and started heading back. “I’m going back to the bar.”
“Yoyo,” Q said to her. She stopped and waited. “I’m not saying the demon inside of you is wrong or isn’t powerful. I just don’t want it or revenge to eat you away. This is the limit of how far you let it go. Crush your enemies, but don’t let the monster you’re becoming take control of you. Have a boundary. Besides, I think you’re strongest when you’re cool-headed.”
Yoyo didn’t say anything but turned back to Q and smiled. “Maybe,” she said. “Thanks.”
She turned and walked away. Q smiled and felt a breath of relief hit him. “Well, looks like we may of stopped that in time.”
****
Q returned to the bar. Temari hugged Q and Yoyo as soon as they walked through the door. It was obvious she had been crying. “Where’d you go?” Bano asked from across the bar.
“I’m so glad you guys came back, I,” Temari started but closed her eyes.
“I’m sorry,” Q said and patted her on the back. “We just delivered a message to Shugo, Bano.”
Bano nodded and looked down. “I wish I could of gone with you,” he said quietly. “I really want to kill them right now, too.”
“Guys, I have to get going again. Sorry, I know we just got back. I probably won’t be back tonight, but just rest. We all really need to rest,” Q said as he walked over to Jake’s body and picked it up. He flinched as he felt how cold it was. Through the sheet they had placed on him Q could see Jake’s face. He hated it.
Q turned towards the door with Jake’s body and stopped. “By the way. No one here is at fault for what happened. None of you are to blame yourselves. This is WOTNOPOLIS. We’ve been attacked countless times. We’ve all fought for our lives. So don’t think that if you had just done this or that, it would have been different. Jake was our friend. He would hate it if that was how you felt.”
Q left out the door of the bar and sighed as it closed behind him. “Besides,” Q whispered as he headed down the street. “That’s the kind of burden only the leader is allowed to carry. Because no matter what, the responsibility to protect you guys always falls to me.”
****
“That little!” Shugo yelled as he kicked a crate. “Stupid! I! He.”
“I’m sorry boss,” Seshimazi said as he backed away from Shugo. “I would of taken him on but that girl Yoyo was there again and she scares me.”
Shugo straightened up and smiled. “Well, it’s no matter. Besides, we were just planning on opening war with him. So it’s no matter. Really.”
Seshimazi backed away from Shugo. “You really ticked him off,” Blackrain said.
“He’s always ticked off whenever the Eagle gang is brought up. It’s not my fault,” Seshimazi panicked.
“Blackrain, did you at least manage your side of the affairs?” Shugo asked.
“Yes, I did. And don’t talk down to me I’m not your subordinate,” Blackrain hissed.
“Right. Sorry about that partner,” Shugo said. “I guess I kind of lost my cool.”
“What cool?” Seshimazi asked.
Shugo glowered at Seshimazi who quickly ran into a corner of the warehouse to hide. “You impertinent! I! We.”
“Where did Destinykil and Amaterasu go off to?” Blackrain asked.
“They’re at the next hideout already. We need to get going, too. If Q and them plan a counter attack we‘ll be out of here. For the plan to work we need to break up their forces,” Shugo explained. “After all, Clair joined their team so they’ve got a good number.”
Blackrain collapsed and choked. “No idea. I never told her. I’ve not been in contact with her, as you requested. I just wanted her to come back to me on her own.”
Seshimazi pat Blackrain on the back. “There, there, boss. I am sure she cares for you or something like that.”
“We were gonna be such a strong team. We were going to kill so many. Little sister, why did you leave me?” Blackrain cried.
“Well, even though you didn’t get to destroy as much as we wanted you to,” Shugo said to Seshimazi. “Tomorrow morning WOTNOPOLIS will hear about your attacks on the city and the entire city will blame the Eagle gang. Thanks to the aides Blackrain controls in the news, police forces, and politic of the city the entire city will be lead to believe they are the cause of all the crimes of WOTNOPOLIS. He already helped manipulate them into assassins in the TFK case. With their hearts broken over their precious lost friend, it‘ll be interesting to see how they react.”
****
Q closed the door behind him. The sun had risen a few hours ago and he knew he needed to get back to the bar. He sighed. That had been a long night. The person leaning against the wall nearby surprised him. “Oh, hey,” Q said.
“Yo,” Bano answered and waved awkwardly. “I was kind of curious what you were planning to do. I sort of followed you.”
“Yeah, I see that,” Q waved back slowly.
“Um, so,” Bano stammered. “How’d it go?”
Q smiled. “It was awful, but she didn’t blame us. Really. She just wanted us to protect ourselves, too. She cried a lot, but she really didn’t blame us for what happened.”
“Aw, she’s sweet,” Bano smiled. “Moonlightnights, right?”
“Yeah,” Q said. “She’s a good person.”
Q and Bano walked away from the apartment in silence. “So?” Bano said to keep the conversation going.
“Your smoke cloud thing is annoying as anything, you know that?” Q asked.
Bano laughed. “Well, you know,” he said. “Your punches are something else.”
The two continued walking in silence. “So,” Bano said and stopped Q. “I want to say this before we get back to the bar.”
Q turned around and looked back. “Yeah?” Q watched Bano a bit confused.
“I’m sorry. About all of it,” Bano said. “Really. Let’s forget it.”
“Don’t worry about it, Bano. We both acted pretty stupidly. And I’ve made some poor choices, you were right about that,” Q said.
“Yeah, but I mean,” Bano began. “It’s my job to back you up and to make sure your decisions work out. It’s not my job to question everything you do. I forgot that. I’m sorry.”
“Thanks,” Q smiled. “But really. Let’s just forget it.”
****
Q and Bano walked back into the bar. Q looked at the faces of the gang and shook his head. “Did anyone sleep?” Q asked.
No one raised their hand. “Geez, I was hoping we’d do this with you guys sleeping,” Q said.
“You’re one to talk. You haven’t slept either and you were out all night,” Yoyo said.
Q ignored her and walked toward the bar counter. “Alright. Everyone gather up. I want to talk with you all seriously about the gang for a moment.”
Bano sat at the bar stool closest Q. Knssquad sat down next to him. Yoyo got up and leaned against the wall closest to the counter. Clair and Temari followed her and sat down beside Bano and Knssquad.
“Well, there’s no doubt we’re all going to really miss Jake,” Q began. “He was a great guy. He started out as an enemy, like most of us did. But he gave his all, and when crunch time came he stuck with us. We’re all going to really miss him. There’s no doubt.”
Q stopped and closed his eyes for a moment. He reopened them and started getting glasses down. “We’ve had a lot of stuff happen since we entered TFK’s tower a few days ago. And I have a feeling we’ve still got some hard times ahead of us. If we stick together that is.”
Q looked at each of them. “I never want to let this happen again. And I don’t plan to. I don’t care what it takes. I am not losing anymore of you guys. I don‘t care what you did or what‘s happened between us you guys are all my friends. We’re not letting WOTNOPOLIS beat us. I don’t care if I have to punch The First Knight in the face myself. I’m protecting all of you. I won’t die till that happens. I won’t let anything get in my way.”
“I’ve always dreamed that we become the most powerful gang in WOTNOPOLIS. That was what Bano and I set out to do. We didn’t really have a reason to. We just wanted to. But now I know why we have to be the most powerful gang in WOTNOPOLIS. It’s so we can take down the thugs like Shugo, Punkfilter, and Venomu. If we’re on top then I can protect all of you. And maybe we can make WOTNOPOLIS safer for it.”
Q took the cups he had and started filling them up. Everyone was listening to him and he smiled. “We’ll protect each other. And all the other friends we’ve made here in this city. Moon, Titan, my stupid brother. We’ll all work together and get rid of the monsters of this city. Or at least. That’s what I want to do. If you guys are still in?”
Bano stood up and smiled. “I’m in, Q. Let’s do this.”
Knssquad raised her hand. “Count me in, captain!”
“I can’t really fight, but I’m not going anywhere,” Temari laughed.
Yoyo shook her head. “Geez, for a man you really talk a lot, Q. But yeah. You can count on me.”
“Me too,” Clair said.
Q smiled as he handed everyone drinks. “Fantastic!” he beamed. “Then drink up!”
Q downed his drink. Everyone picked up their glasses and followed.
“It hurts!” Bano screamed as he fell to the floor and grabbed at his throat. “It’s so icky!”
Yoyo grabbed at her heart. Her eyes widened as she froze in place. “What is this feeling? It’s getting dark. Am I finally going to Heaven?”
“If it’s getting dark that’s probably not Heaven, Yoyo,” Knssquad said.
“What’s wrong? Are we under attack?” Q yelled.
Bano punched Q. “Idiot! Giving a person Cherry coke can kill them!”
Clair grabbed Yoyo and laid her down. “She doesn’t look good guys.”
“My time is up, friends. I did it as long as I could. Who would of thought that a man in the kitchen would have been what did me in?” Yoyo whispered.
“That hurt, Bano!” Q yelled. “I served everyone’s favorite, Cherry Coke. You guys all love Cherry coke.”
Bano punched Q again. “Where have you been? We all hate it! Hate it!”
“I think it’s pretty good,” Knssquad answered.
Bano spun around and pointed. “You!”
“But I prefer ginger ale,” Knssquad said.
Bano’s point lost its energy. “Well, that’s just weird.”
Temari laughed as she patted Q on the back. “Um, maybe you should let a pro handle this.”
Q hopped onto the bar counter and frowned. “I don’t get it. If you guys didn’t like Cherry Coke why did you insist we name the dog that?”
“Idiot!” Bano yelled. “It was you that insisted we name the dog that! I wanted to name him something scary like Shadows of Infinite Death.”
“That’s a horrible name for a dog!” Q screamed.
“Oh and a soda is a better name!”
“A cherished soda loved by all is!”
“It’s not loved by all!” Bano grabbed his head.
“I wanted to name Cherry Coke the Friendly Rainbow of Love,” Clair said.
Q and Bano both shook their heads. “No, that wouldn’t of worked,” they answered in unison.
Temari picked Cherry Coke up, who had been wagging his tail after hearing his name so much, and handed him over to Clair while laughing. “Here, hand this Dr. Pepper to Yoyo, too. It should cure her.”
Yoyo looked at the soda and carefully put it to her lips. “The poor girl swallowed so much Cherry coke. After that heartwarming speech Q gave she truly trusted him with her life. It’s a wonder she made it through.”
“Everyone loves Cherry coke!” Q insisted.
“I’m going to be okay,” Yoyo said as she sat up. She looked up at Temari. “Thank you. You saved my life.”
“Oh I give up!” Q grumbled.
Temari laughed and nodded. Knssquad smiled as she sipped her ginger ale. “Thanks Temari! Don’t worry, Q. When the Zombies come you can probably use the Cherry coke as an acid bomb.”
Q looked around nervously and leaned in toward Knssquad. “By the way, investigative report 18. I have reason to believe Bano is a zombie. His heartless tendencies showed up again today when he attacked my Cherry coke. Since we all know Zombies are emotionless and brainless, the evidence is mounting.”
“What!” Bano yelled and hit Q. “I’m not a zombie!”
“Stop hitting me!” Q groaned. “Investigative Report 19-”
“Clair,” Yoyo asked as she leaned back against the wall. “Why did you go with Venomu in the first place? I know it’s your business, but I want to know.”
“Oh, that,” Clair said. “Venomu told me I could find my brother Blackrain. I originally came to this city looking for him. He had been a terror in my home town. He, well, he killed the only friend I had. He has to be stopped. I don’t want others to suffer. I thought if I joined with him I could wait for my chance and kill him. But he’s extremely powerful. I didn’t want you guys to get involved. I definitely didn’t think Jake would get involved. I’m so sorry, really, and Knssquad, I’m sorry I abandoned you.”
Knssquad shook her head. “Nothing you could of done. Venomu was there and Kotaro is powerful.”
“Jake was killed by Shugo. Not you,” Q said. “Bano and I have dealt with Shugo before. He’s a monster. And that is the next thing I want to ask you guys. How do we plan to stop Shugo?”
“Can he be stopped?” Temari asked. “Isn’t he a Mafia? Those guys are never defeated.”
“Plus he’s got Destinykil, Amaterasu, Seshimazi, and Blackrain working for him,” Yoyo added. “The Mafias are all really powerful. The fourth Mafia, though. We weren’t really sure if it even existed except in rumors. Finding it will be really hard.”
Clair raised her hand. “No. Venomu told me all the locations to look for the Fourth Mafia. Apparently Seshimazi had met with him at some point and ever since then Venomu’s been tracking them. So, I know where they probably are?”
“There’s a start,” Q smiled. “And we can beat them, Yoyo. We’ve beat them all in the past, well, except Blackrain and Shugo.”
“Yeah, and how did Amaterasu end up in that group?” Bano asked. “Wasn’t he all, ‘Justice forever!’ or whatever?”
“And Destinykil,” Q sighed. “That guy just never seems to stay down no matter how many times I beat him. But we can’t dwell on that. We‘ll stop them. Not only are they a danger to all of WOTNOPOLIS. Not only do I hate Shugo. But after what they did to Jake? No forgiveness.”
“Agreed,” Bano said. Everyone nodded their heads.
“Well guys, there’s only one thing left to do,” Bano said. He raised his glass into the air. “To Jake.”
Each member of the Eagle gang raised their glasses. “To Jake!” they yelled as the glasses clanked.
****
“We’ve got reports coming in from all over the city,” the man said as he handed him his cup of tea.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Little Shiro sipped the warm tea. “Ah, delicious. But it still doesn’t make any sense.”
KKQ opened up Little Shiro’s office door and shook her head. “Do you understand any of this?” she asked him.
“No,” Little Shiro said. “Up until now the Eagle gang has resisted us. But they’ve never gone off and attacked civilians. They’ve only ever been involved in battles with other gangs and us.”
“I know!” KKQ said. “Amaterasu may have been obsessed with them, but they didn’t really seem that bad. I mean, they had plenty of chances to kill Amaterasu but they always let him live. That alone made them kind of different. Most gangs kill and don’t think about it.”
Little Shiro agreed as he vividly remembered when Bano carried off Knssquad, at the time an enemy, so that she wouldn’t be captured by him. “The list of the Eagle gangs deeds are unbelievable. Not only did they apparently massacre a huge portion of the WOTNOPOLIS gangs after invading TFK’s tower, they then fought and defeated Kotaro the hit man of the Mafia, and then Q and Bano were said to have been seen fighting each other outside their hideout. Then afterward we are supposed to believe they went on a killing spree across the city? What group could possibly pull all that off? We either vastly underestimated the numbers of the Eagle gang, a mere six or seven people, or these guys are insane.”
“The group that did the attack on the city was said to have been on motorcycles,” KKQ said. “And I have never once heard of them using motorcycles. In fact, I heard that group was attacked and an eye witness said that one of attackers was a double swordsman girl.”
“Where’d you hear that?” Little Shiro asked.
“A report that came in early this morning. JJDomer quickly discredited it, but I never was sure why,” she said.
“Geez,” Little Shiro said as he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his hands against his face. “Amaterasu letting them go surprised me. I thought he had the right idea. Up until now the Eagle gang seemed like the kind of gang that was doing more good than trouble. The East has seen it’s longest time of peace since the founding of WOTNOPOLIS thanks to them. And Amaterasu swore that the Eagle gang had challenged The First Knight to the death and barely survived.”
Little Shiro looked at KKQ and sighed. “I was proud of him. I was hoping these guys were the kind of guys we could work together with, you know?”
KKQ nodded. “I don’t think something is right here. I think the Eagle gang may of done some of the things accused, but not all of it.”
“But the Mayor is furious with the Eagle gang. He wants to bring down the hammer of justice hard on this group that’s been running rampant,” he sighed. “Have you heard anything on Ama?”
KKQ shook her head. “No one knows who attacked the police car but he’s completely disappeared. Some think it might have been a gang finally getting revenge on the man who’s killed or jailed so many criminals. That’s the best lead we have. Whatever happened, he’s disappeared for the time being.”
Little Shiro shook his head. “It sure is coincidental. One minute we think the Eagle gang is working for us. Then suddenly we find out they’re the bad guys and Amaterasu is tried in the fastest court case ever. And by the end of the day Amaterasu, the only person who came in contact with the Eagle gang after their attack on The First Knight’s Tower disappears completely. And now reports are flooding us that the Eagle gang needs to be stopped.”
KKQ smiled and handed Little Shiro a muffin. “Let’s admit. We both think this whole thing is a fraud. And we both also think that JJDomer is partially behind it.”
Little Shiro laughed. “Yeah, I guess we do. So what do we do?”
“We wait. We wait till we know more and we hope we figure this out. And if we get the chance to help them out, we will,” she smiled. “Nice chatting with you Squad captain.”
“You too, Lieutenant,” Little Shiro laughed as she walked out the door. Little Shiro turned toward the man standing next to him. “Fetch me more tea.”
****
“We’ll definitely be there,” Q said to the woman that had come to their door. “There’s no chance we’ll miss it.”
“Thanks. It means a lot,” Moonlightnights whispered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you were all asleep. I probably should of called or something.”
“Not at all,” Q smiled. “Thanks for coming. And these cookies you made look amazing. I’ve heard all about your cookies from Yoyo. I can’t wait to try them.”
Moonlightnight’s eyes brightened a little. “Thank you so much. I just wanted you guys to know and didn’t feel right coming empty handed.”
Q shook his head. “We should be giving you food. Not the other way around. Do you need me to escort you back home?”
“No, I’ll be okay,” Moon nodded. “Um, so you’ll be there?”
“Promise,” Q said. “We’re going to be there.”
Moonlightnights smiled and stopped a tear running down her cheek. “Okay, thank you. I’ll see you guys later.”
“Take care, Moonlightnights,” Q said.
Q watched her walk away and sat the basket of cookies down on a table. “Geez,” Q whispered. “We’re the ones who should be comforting you, stupid. You should hate us.”
“She’s really sweet,” Knssquad said as she finished putting blankets on the group laying on the ground.
“Mhm,” Q said and handed Knssquad a cookie from the basket. Knssquad gobbled it and smiled a little.
“You know,” she said. “We were Jake’s family. She sees us that way, too. She doesn’t blame us for what happened.”
Q nodded absently. “Yo, Q,” Knssquad took his hand and shook it a little. “You can’t blame yourself for what happened, either.”
“Hm?” Q asked. “I don’t.”
“Yes, you do,” Knssquad said. “But don’t. Just like none of us are at fault neither are you. The only thing you did was be Jake’s friend when he needed one. The two of you got along really well. You could tell that Jake thought really highly of you. I know I haven’t been with the gang that long, but I could see even that much.”
After a minute Q looked at Knssquad and nodded. “You’re right. Thank you,” he whispered. “By the way. Quit saying you haven’t been with us that long. You’re one of us. Doesn’t matter how long. Cause starting today we’re officially reborn.”
Knssquad smiled. “Cool. Now, boss-man, that you’ve proven you’re the leader and you’ve taken care of us and all that, go to sleep. You need it.”
Q leaned his head onto the bar counter and closed his eyes. Sleep instantly overcame him and Knssquad shook her head. “Geez, these guys. Too stupid to use a bed,” she laughed as she put a blanket on him.
Last edited by quater on Sun May 15, 2011 1:15 am; edited 2 times in total
They didn't stand a chance against a pissed-off Yoyo. 
