by WOTNOPOLIS 25
“Mr. Commissioner,” the gangster said. “Do you really plan on throwing me in jail?”
Teikiatsu glared at the girl. “You bet. But not today. It’s my day off.”
The girl laughed. “Aw, you didn’t play along today, Teikiatsu.”
“Yeah, well,” Teikiatsu shrugged. “We actually have something important we need to discuss.”
“You know the rules,” Brinck said as she watched the man in uniform enter their shack. “If you’re coming back to the old neighborhood you have to give us food first.”
Teikiatsu pulled out a basket of fried chicken and handed it to the girl. Brinck and her gang ripped into the food and smiled. “Always good to have you back, chicken. I mean Tei. So where’s that guy that always hangs around you?” Yoyo asked.
“This doesn‘t concern Amaterasu,” Teikiatsu said. “We’re being threatened by some pretty high up guys. It seems the idea of cops working together with some gangs is not well liked.”
“The Mafia?” Brinck asked pointedly. Teikiatsu looked at the ground and Brinck knew she had hit the mark. “So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to keep doing what I think is right. These guys don’t scare me,” Teikiatsu said nervously. “But I wanted to warn you guys that you were probably in danger. So I won’t be coming around here anymore.”
“Yeah,” Brinck said. “Forget that. Tell them to bring it on. We’ve been keeping this neighborhood safe for years. We’re more than strong enough to handle our own.”
“Heh,” Teikiatsu smiled at her. “Alright. I figured you’d say something like that. But I had to at least warn you about what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Teikiatsu,” Brinck shook her head. “We’ve been friends for years. Till you suited up on us you were out on these streets just like the rest of us. We’re not going to betray you or leave you in the cold. You’re vision for the city is right. And we stand behind you.”
“Even if you are a guy,” Yoyo pointed at Teikiatsu. Teikiatsu laughed at her statement and nodded.
“I see you’ve got this one following your man-hating footsteps well. Thanks. I’ll let you know if things get too dicey,” Teikiatsu said. “Anyway, I need to get back to work. Lots of paper work in this job.”
Teikiatsu turned toward the door but stopped. “Hey, that Punkfilter kid. He’s from around here, right?” he asked. Teikiatsu looked back and saw that everyone had stopped talking at the mention of his name.
“Oh yeah, him,” Brinck frowned. “What about that guy?”
“I heard you didn’t let him join your group?” Teikiatsu asked. He was a bit surprised by the reaction. Not much unsettled Brinck and her gang.
“Well, we’ve seen him throughout the years, I guess. He was from near here, or something. Always wearing a suit so he kind of stood out. He asked to join our gang but he was really weird about why. He never gave a clear answer. When he asked us we told him there was no more room. A lie, yes. But we’ve heard rumors about him and trust me, none of them are pretty. A guy like that isn’t the kind of guy you want hanging around you,” Brinck explained. “We haven’t seen him since. That was several months ago.”
“Alright,” Teikiatsu said. He felt relieved to hear that they haven’t heard from him in a while. That was promising. “I just thought I’d let you know that there’s a rumor going on that Venomu left TFK and has formed his own Mafia. And that the guy hired to replace him was Punkfilter.”
Brinck’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me? Two Mafias in the city? Is that even possible? And why would TFK pick a kid like that?”
“No idea,” Teikiatsu shrugged. “There’s actually rumors that there’s another Mafia out in the rural districts that formed a while ago, but no one’s sure. The Punkfilter thing is pretty certain, though.”
“I don’t know if even WOTNOPOLIS can survive that,” Brinck said as she thought about the different Mafias. “Still, that doesn’t explain Punkfilter.”
“It’s most likely because he’s really powerful. Someone you better watch out for,” Teikiatsu said as he left. “Take care guys! I’ll be back in a couple of days and we can hang out longer.”
****
“So what’d I miss?” Bano asked after waking up from his near-death run. Temari had recharged him with a Dr. Pepper and he was feeling much better. He had even played with Cherry Coke.
“We’re going to go attack the scary mad man that lives underneath WOTNOPOLIS,” Yoyo explained. “Should be fun.”
“Why?” Bano asked. “And who is that?”
“That’s Mikel. He asked us to,” Yoyo said, recapping the conversations that Bano had missed.
“So?” Bano asked. “That doesn’t really seem like something we should do.”
“It is something we should do because he’s offering to help,” Yoyo pointed at Mikel. “And if we don’t, it’s likely Venomu’s going to run an army across WOTNOPOLIS which will be a total pain.”
“He‘s doing what?” Bano asked. “You’re not very clear.”
“You’re not very smart,” Yoyo countered as she clasped her blades to her back. “Do better in the one mile next time. Oh wait, it was three. Why‘d I think it was one? Oh yeah, that‘s because you only finished one.”
“Ah, that’s funny,” Bano said. “Now give me a high five. Oh wait, you can’t. A high four then?”
“Don’t say five!” Q yelled from across the bar. “That number is cursed.”
“Of course it is,” Bano nodded. “Can someone with more intelligence explain to me what’s going on?”
Yoyo rolled her eyes and walked away muttering about the slowness of males. “Anyone else want to help clear this up?” Bano pleaded again.
“Well you see, Mikel was like, ‘Do this and that,’ and we were all, ‘Okay,’” Knssquad said as she bit into an apple. “And now we’re doing something.”
“That was helpful,” Bano groaned.
“According to Mikel Venomu has an army of people that he‘s been training under the city. When the Military invaded people needed safety so he snatched them up. Then after he found success in Destinykil he transplanted the same experiment onto these people. So now there‘s basically a big army of mutants that Venomu has been planning to unleash on the city. And since Shugo‘s gone Venomu feels safe enough to start his plan. So he attacked Mikel‘s mafia last night by surprise and destroyed Mikel‘s forces. Mikel wants vengeance and we kind of like living, so we decided to team up against Venomu now before things get worse,” Clair summarized to Bano.
“That actually makes a lot of sense. When it‘s explained to me properly,” Bano glared at Yoyo and Knssquad.
“Plus Venomu’s the guy who captured Temari, helped lead Clair astray, helped get Knssquad captured by that Kotaro guy, and has overall been a bit of a jerk,” Q said.
“Well darn it all if he’s being a jerk!” Bano yelled.
“Yeah, I liked it better when you were asleep,” Q said to Bano as he sipped the last of his cherry coke.
“As did I,” Bano said. “So what’s the plan for defeating Venomu?”
“No real plan,” Knssquad said. “Just don’t die and win your fights.”
“Sounds like we’re doing a splendid job here,” Bano sighed.
“Hey guys,” Mikel interrupted. Everyone looked up at the tall man and waited to hear what he had to say. “I just wanted to say thanks.”
The bar got quiet as Mikel headed out the door. “Oh, I guess that was his thanks,” Q said.
“Yeah, that was weird,” Yoyo said. “Take care of Crispi, Temari.”
“Will do,” Temari smiled. “Come back safe, okay?”
“Promise!” Q waved to her as the group left the bar. Cherry Coke barked at them as they left.
****
“Yay, sewers,” Yoyo cheered as they each dropped into the space below the city street. Very little light was available to them and each had stumbled around in the dark for a bit before adjusting.
“Well, um, on the bright side,” Clair stuttered for a moment as Yoyo walked into her.
“You don’t have anything, do you?” Yoyo asked Clair as she continued to mumble for words.
“No, it really sucks down here,” Clair admitted as Yoyo patted her on the back.
“Yep,” Yoyo agreed . “Which way, Q?”
“Why are you asking me?” Q asked.
“Because you’ve been there before!” Yoyo growled. “Which way did you and Knssquad go?”
“We’ve been there before?” Q asked. Yoyo thwacked Q with her sword handle.
“Go that way,” Mikel pointed from the manhole above them. “You’ll eventually hit it. Probably. See ya.”
The group stared up through the hole as Mikel disappeared from sight. “You know, if I was the judging type I’d say that guy’s a bit off,” Bano said.
“It’s this way,” Knssquad smiled. “I can smell it.”
“Well if that’s not a solid lead,” Yoyo sighed. “It’s nice to know your nose is verifying what Mikel already told us.”
“Hey guys,” Clair said. “From what we’ve seen of Venomu he’s really intelligent. He was the one who knew I was after Blackrain and set it up so that I would leave you guys and go after him. He’s the Scientist of WOTNOPOLIS and we’ve entered his laboratory. So it’s probably best if we proceed with caution and try not to caused a commotion. If there’s any chance he hasn’t spotted us yet then it’s definitely to our advantage to keep quiet. Follow me. He lead me here when he told me how to find Blackrain.”
The gang went silent as Clair lead them deeper into the city’s underground. A river of dirty water ran alongside the group and occasionally one of them would spot a body of an animal or a person floating down it. Lights that had been installed and long forgotten lit up the path, but it was often the group was walking in complete darkness. “Yo, Clair,” Knssquad whispered after a while.
“Yeah?” Clair said as they moved through the dark. The group had been traveling for what felt like miles under the city. But with the twists and turns it was very possible they hadn’t gone very far from their start inside the labyrinth.
“You said Venomu took you here?” Knssquad asked.
“Yes, he did,” Clair said. “But I was only just barely inside his base and I only stayed there for about a minute before I went off to find my brother.”
“Yeah,” Knssquad said as she looked around them a moment longer. “And do you remember there being no guards? When Q and I came here there were guards waiting for us.”
“Now that I think about it,” Clair pondered. “Yeah, you’re right. There were people patrolling on boats and people stationed all over the underground.”
“Right,” Knssquad said. “Something’s definitely up.”
“You know,” Yoyo began. “Venomu isn’t exactly the kind of guy who would show you his base by accident. If he took you here then it was an invitation directly to you. In other words, he’s probably expecting us.”
“And if that’s the case we need to be even more careful than before,” Bano said.
****
Seshimazi wandered down the streets of WOTNOPOLIS. It had been a few weeks since his fight with Q. Since then he hadn’t really worked for anyone. Life had been rough. He felt like every turn he took the police were there. And to make matters worse he now had no one to boss around. He missed bossing around people.
Screams from a nearby alleyway only barely got his attention. He looked up from his mindless walk around the city to check if there was any real danger. It had been months since the Military had tried to seize control of the streets so it wasn’t uncommon to see crime returning. Those who had fled were back and they had brought friends.
Seshimazi gave the scene a double take. The men surrounding the area had tubes sticking out of them. “Those look like Destinykil’s?” Seshimazi asked. “What’s going on?”
A car swerved off the road and smashed into a wall. Seshimazi had barely moved in time to avoid it. Across the street other men were appearing with the same configurations as Destinykil. “This doesn’t look good,” Seshimazi thought as he started to run away.
The driver of the car yelled out for help. Seshimazi wavered. “Aw, geez,” Seshimazi grumbled to himself. At the door of the driver’s car was a large man with tubes sticking out. He grabbed the door and ripped it off. The driver screamed and tried to run but was dragged out by his foot.
Seshimazi’s fire knocked the assailant to the ground. The driver was dropped and ran away. “Heh, that felt good,” Seshimazi smiled. “I always did want to drop that Destinykil guy after all.”
Seshimazi dodged a fist as several large men with the same tubes appeared around him. “Man, that really wasn’t worth it,” Seshimazi said to himself. “I guess this is the end of me. I do one good deed and this is the thanks I get.”
Seshimazi watched as the men fell back. Seshimazi was confused at what had just happened. A tall man was standing in front of him. There were no tubes attached to him. “Yo,” the guy said. “Go get the police and tell them to block this area off.”
“Sure,” Seshimazi said to his savior. “But what’s going on here?”
“Venomu’s army is coming out,” the man said as he grabbed a man with tubes and smashed him into the ground. “Go.”
Seshimazi ran for it. He didn’t want to get in the way of that guy or the group of men rampaging back there. “But do I really have to get the cops? Geez,” Seshimazi whined.
“Jan,” Mikel said. “I need your help.”
He inwardly groaned as she started to get excited. “Just focus on the men with the tubes coming out of them. You and I have to defeat them all.”
****
The group had been stumbling along in the dark for a while now. No signs of anything other than regular sewers was starting to worry the group. They definitely didn’t want to be going in the wrong direction. “Are you sure it’s this way?” Q asked as they continued.
“This was the way Mikel pointed, Q,” Yoyo said. “And this was the way Knssquad smelled the base.”
“That might not of been totally accurate,” Knssquad confessed. “It may have been a dead body I smelled.”
“Well, this is still the way Mikel pointed,” Yoyo sighed.
“Yeah, but what if Mikel was trying to get us lost under the city forever?” Q asked. “Think about it.”
“I don’t want to,” Yoyo shook her head. “Stupid theories shouldn’t be thought about.”
A blast of light ahead of them made the group jump. A second later a spark of lightning flashed past the group. “Holy,” Bano started.
“Crap,” Q finished.
“What the heck was that?” Clair asked.
“Darnas,” Knssquad said as she pointed ahead of them. A purple light was moving toward them. “We’ve fought before.”
“Eagle gang!” a man shouted. “I’ve no interest in stopping you. But one of you defeated Destinykil. I want to duel them.”
“I don’t have time for you,” Q yelled.
“No, I think he means with a sword,” Bano said. “Like, you know, the girl who carries blades that follows us around and hits us a lot?”
“Oh yeah,” Q said.
“Yeah, I defeated him,” Yoyo said as she pulled out her smaller sword. Yoyo wasn‘t ready to pull out Destinykil‘s blade as it was a lot larger than she was used to. On the other hand, despite it’s size and power it was surprisingly light weight. She assumed it was due to the smoke inside of it. It explains why Destinykil was able to wield it with speed that rivaled hers.
“Good,” Darnas smiled as he came into view. His own sword glowed purple against the dark room. “I see you’re now using his sword. That’s a pretty trophy. I think I’d like to see what’s better. The Cursed sword, or the Lightning blade.”
Yoyo smiled. “Only one way to find out. You guys go on ahead. Leave me to it.”
“Are you sure? I know you don’t need us to give you a hand, but we could lift a finger since you only got nine,” Bano said.
Bano could feel Yoyo glaring at him through the dark. “You’ve been waiting to use that one, huh? Just get out of here. My swordsmanship is on the line here. Besides, Mikel’s counting on you to get to Venomu.”
“Let’s go,” Q said and the group ran past Darnas. “Just remember, Yoyo. Try not to overdo it this time. By the way, can we get directions to Venomu? We‘re a bit lost.”
“Just keep going straight. You’ll hit it eventually, idiots,” Darnas answered.
“Yeah, yeah,” Yoyo said as she waved her hand to dismiss them. “Let’s do this, Darnas was it?”
“Yes,” he said. “I am Darnas, the Lightning Samurai.”
****
Temari finished wrapping bandages around Crispi and smiled. She knew Clair’s healing had taken care of her but Temari still liked to do her part. Crispi had taken a fairly rough beating but it looked like she’d recover soon.
“Mikel,” Crispi whispered. Temari jumped back in surprise. She had been pretty sure that Crispi was unconscious.
“Yes?” Temari asked. “What’s wrong?”
Crispi’s eyes opened and she focused on Temari. “Who are you? Where’s Mikel? I need to get to Mikel.”
“I’m Temari. You need to relax. You were wounded pretty badly,” Temari said as she tried to calm her down.
Crispi sighed. “Geez, Venomu came out of nowhere. But if I don’t stop Mikel, well. Jan will take over.”
“Jan? Huh?” Temari asked the girl. “Are you sure you don’t need more sleep?”
“Look, Jan takes over Mikel, okay? And I’m the only one who does any good stopping it. If he doesn’t stop her, he could die. Or worse,” Crispi warned.
Temari shuddered. She wasn’t sure what to do or what to make of what the girl was saying. Still, she knew Crispi needed to rest so she wasn’t about to let Crispi get up.
****
Little Shiro walked up to the line of cops who had surrounded the area. “What’s the news?” Little Shiro asked as he took a sip of tea.
“We’ve got a perimeter set up. It’s a really large area, though. So far the fighting hasn‘t tried to break out of the perimeter,” the captain answered.
“Why?” Little Shiro asked. “And why don’t we have more cops out here yet?”
“Because they’re dealing with an animal infestation of some sort. Apparently monstrous creatures were set loose in the Rural district. Plus JJDomer requested a bunch of cops as back up in his is plan to raid Venomu‘s lair,” Little Shiro heard a man say behind him. Little Shiro straightened up and saluted his boss.
“Endless Nothing,” Little Shiro said. “What are you doing here, sir? It’s very dangerous right now.”
Endless Nothing stared at the buildings in front of them. Smoke was drifting into the sky and screams could be heard within. Explosions mixed with shouting as battle waged. Occasionally the cops would fire off bullets whenever they caught sight of a target. “This is my brother’s fault. I can’t stand idly by.”
“Then you can count on me to protect you with my life, sir,” Little Shiro said as he pulled out his hammer. “Who is in there fighting all these guys?”
“Mikel,” the captain answered. “Seshimazi the fire gangster might be in there as well. But the fighting is being done by one man.”
“Amazing,” Little Shiro praised as he listened to the sounds of the fighting going on between the buildings. The group watched as one of the buildings collapsed before them. Endless Nothing kept a tight grip on his sword. “Let’s hope he can keep this up, then.”
****
“So, what’s the plan, boss?” Jose asked their superior. Draco and Punkfilter stood to Jose’s right. TFK sat behind his desk and looked down at the men gathered before him.
“For now we’ll let Mikel and the Eagle gang handle Venomu. Venomu’s plan won’t be enough to stop us, or likely harm us. But it has the potential to shake the people of WOTNOPOLIS up. And if they rise up against a weakened Venomu and us it could lead to trouble,” TFK stated.
“Sweet! I’m goin-” Jose started but TFK held out his hand.
“Jose, you’re not going. Punkfilter and Draco can handle this. The goal here is to contain Venomu’s chaos. Not to cause even more,” TFK ordered. Jose bowed low and walked away. Punkfilter smirked as he watched the man leave.
“Sounds like an excellent plan,” Draco said. “We’ll handle things if they get out of hand.”
Punkfilter nodded and turned toward the exit. Draco bowed to TFK and followed Punkfilter to the elevator. TFK smiled as he watched them leave. “I might get to say goodbye to Mikel and Venomu on the same day. What a treat.”
****
Yoyo smashed her sword against Darnas’s. Lightning sparked from it and she jumped back as it exploded. She took a moment to catch her breath as Darnas eyed her a safe distance away. He was fast. “I get it,” Yoyo said. “Your sword shoots lightning when it makes contact with something. And it also fires out the tip whenever you strike?”
“You’re good,” Darnas said. “Now enough playing around. I want to see the power of the cursed sword for myself.”
Yoyo slowly reached behind her and pulled the massive blade off her back. Up until then she had been fending Darnas off with her regular blade. She could tell he had been holding back on her. “Alright,” Yoyo said as she pointed the blade at Darnas.
“Have you used it before?” Darnas asked as he watched her. “You haven’t, have you? You’re scared of the blade, huh? I don’t blame you. They say it consumes the individual wielding it.”
“Great,” Yoyo said as she thought about her fight with Destinykil. He had definitely been crazy. She watched as smoke started to leave the blade. “Now I just have to figure out how to use this thing without letting it kill me.”
“I’ve got some time,” Darnas volunteered. “Venomu said I don’t have to kill Punkfilter for a few hours. So let’s enjoy this. Besides, I would feel dishonored if I didn‘t defeat you at your best.”
Yoyo stared at Darnas and laughed. “Please,” she said. “I’m not fighting you for a few hours. We’ll finish this soon. And the one who’s going to kill Punkfilter? That’s going to be me.”
****
“I’m a little worried about Yoyo,” Clair said as the group moved deeper into the catacombs of the city. “I mean, I know she’s super strong, but so are the guys we’re facing against.”
“She’ll be okay,” Q smiled as he looked back at Clair. “We’re all really strong and getting stronger. We’ll be okay.”
“We’re there,” Knssquad said as she pointed to a door.
“Who’s going to open it?” Q asked. “I’m kind of scared.”
“Eh, just be a man about it, Q,” Bano said and gave him a push.
Q pulled at the handle and opened the door slowly. To his surprise the door was unlocked. He poked his head in the blackness of the room. “Hey, all those animals that were here? They’re gone.”
“That’s right,” Venomu said from inside. Q screamed as he jumped back into a karate pose.
“Goodness!” Q said as he caught his breath. “I didn’t see anything.”
Venomu leaned his head out the doorway and smiled at them. “Hello, Eagle gang. Come on in.”
He motioned with a finger for them to enter. The group hesitated but followed Venomu inside. He lead them down a hallway and into an enormous room. Knssquad groaned as she looked around Venomu’s laboratory.
Venomu‘s smile was unbroken. “Well, it’s not often I have guests, you see. By choice. As you can see I rebuilt it from last time where you and Destinykil got a bit rough. Well, more like he threw you from one end of the room to the other. By the way, you owe me for making me lose my chief of defense. So I think we’ll just have me take away one of your members.”
Venomu snapped his fingers. Q saw a boy flash past him. Q instantly snatched him by his arm. “Nice,” Arashi Ryu said. “But a little too late.”
Clair fell to the ground. She hadn’t seen the boy’s punch but she had felt it hit. The boy’s grin changed as he watched her stand back up and smirk. “Yeah,” she said. “I had my armor up.”
Arashi jumped away from Q and nodded. “Arashi Ryu, why don’t you go ahead and take your new friend away from us?” Venomu commanded.
Q felt Arashi move past him but didn’t see it. An instant later Arashi had reappeared with Clair over his shoulder. “Where am I going with her?” he asked.
“Anywhere that isn’t here,” Venomu said. Arashi disappeared again.
“Yo,” Knssquad said to Q and Bano. “I’ll go after Arashi and Clair. Take care of Venomu.”
“Be careful,” Q said to Knssquad. Bano waved to her as she disappeared.
“Ah, much better,” Venomu said. “I do hate crowds. Noisy and bothersome. Plus if Arashi kills Clair and Knssquad then that’s two less people I have to bother with. Clair will make an interesting test subject, too. What an exciting day.”
“Not likely,” Bano said as he pulled out his kama. “For starters Clair and Knssquad are not going to lose to that guy.”
“And for seconds, you’re not going to survive the two of us,” Q said as he stepped back into a fighting stance.
Venomu looked at the two of them and laughed. “Interesting.”
“Mr. Commissioner,” the gangster said. “Do you really plan on throwing me in jail?”
Teikiatsu glared at the girl. “You bet. But not today. It’s my day off.”
The girl laughed. “Aw, you didn’t play along today, Teikiatsu.”
“Yeah, well,” Teikiatsu shrugged. “We actually have something important we need to discuss.”
“You know the rules,” Brinck said as she watched the man in uniform enter their shack. “If you’re coming back to the old neighborhood you have to give us food first.”
Teikiatsu pulled out a basket of fried chicken and handed it to the girl. Brinck and her gang ripped into the food and smiled. “Always good to have you back, chicken. I mean Tei. So where’s that guy that always hangs around you?” Yoyo asked.
“This doesn‘t concern Amaterasu,” Teikiatsu said. “We’re being threatened by some pretty high up guys. It seems the idea of cops working together with some gangs is not well liked.”
“The Mafia?” Brinck asked pointedly. Teikiatsu looked at the ground and Brinck knew she had hit the mark. “So what are you going to do?”
“I’m going to keep doing what I think is right. These guys don’t scare me,” Teikiatsu said nervously. “But I wanted to warn you guys that you were probably in danger. So I won’t be coming around here anymore.”
“Yeah,” Brinck said. “Forget that. Tell them to bring it on. We’ve been keeping this neighborhood safe for years. We’re more than strong enough to handle our own.”
“Heh,” Teikiatsu smiled at her. “Alright. I figured you’d say something like that. But I had to at least warn you about what you’re getting yourself into.”
“Teikiatsu,” Brinck shook her head. “We’ve been friends for years. Till you suited up on us you were out on these streets just like the rest of us. We’re not going to betray you or leave you in the cold. You’re vision for the city is right. And we stand behind you.”
“Even if you are a guy,” Yoyo pointed at Teikiatsu. Teikiatsu laughed at her statement and nodded.
“I see you’ve got this one following your man-hating footsteps well. Thanks. I’ll let you know if things get too dicey,” Teikiatsu said. “Anyway, I need to get back to work. Lots of paper work in this job.”
Teikiatsu turned toward the door but stopped. “Hey, that Punkfilter kid. He’s from around here, right?” he asked. Teikiatsu looked back and saw that everyone had stopped talking at the mention of his name.
“Oh yeah, him,” Brinck frowned. “What about that guy?”
“I heard you didn’t let him join your group?” Teikiatsu asked. He was a bit surprised by the reaction. Not much unsettled Brinck and her gang.
“Well, we’ve seen him throughout the years, I guess. He was from near here, or something. Always wearing a suit so he kind of stood out. He asked to join our gang but he was really weird about why. He never gave a clear answer. When he asked us we told him there was no more room. A lie, yes. But we’ve heard rumors about him and trust me, none of them are pretty. A guy like that isn’t the kind of guy you want hanging around you,” Brinck explained. “We haven’t seen him since. That was several months ago.”
“Alright,” Teikiatsu said. He felt relieved to hear that they haven’t heard from him in a while. That was promising. “I just thought I’d let you know that there’s a rumor going on that Venomu left TFK and has formed his own Mafia. And that the guy hired to replace him was Punkfilter.”
Brinck’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me? Two Mafias in the city? Is that even possible? And why would TFK pick a kid like that?”
“No idea,” Teikiatsu shrugged. “There’s actually rumors that there’s another Mafia out in the rural districts that formed a while ago, but no one’s sure. The Punkfilter thing is pretty certain, though.”
“I don’t know if even WOTNOPOLIS can survive that,” Brinck said as she thought about the different Mafias. “Still, that doesn’t explain Punkfilter.”
“It’s most likely because he’s really powerful. Someone you better watch out for,” Teikiatsu said as he left. “Take care guys! I’ll be back in a couple of days and we can hang out longer.”
****
“So what’d I miss?” Bano asked after waking up from his near-death run. Temari had recharged him with a Dr. Pepper and he was feeling much better. He had even played with Cherry Coke.
“We’re going to go attack the scary mad man that lives underneath WOTNOPOLIS,” Yoyo explained. “Should be fun.”
“Why?” Bano asked. “And who is that?”
“That’s Mikel. He asked us to,” Yoyo said, recapping the conversations that Bano had missed.
“So?” Bano asked. “That doesn’t really seem like something we should do.”
“It is something we should do because he’s offering to help,” Yoyo pointed at Mikel. “And if we don’t, it’s likely Venomu’s going to run an army across WOTNOPOLIS which will be a total pain.”
“He‘s doing what?” Bano asked. “You’re not very clear.”
“You’re not very smart,” Yoyo countered as she clasped her blades to her back. “Do better in the one mile next time. Oh wait, it was three. Why‘d I think it was one? Oh yeah, that‘s because you only finished one.”
“Ah, that’s funny,” Bano said. “Now give me a high five. Oh wait, you can’t. A high four then?”
“Don’t say five!” Q yelled from across the bar. “That number is cursed.”
“Of course it is,” Bano nodded. “Can someone with more intelligence explain to me what’s going on?”
Yoyo rolled her eyes and walked away muttering about the slowness of males. “Anyone else want to help clear this up?” Bano pleaded again.
“Well you see, Mikel was like, ‘Do this and that,’ and we were all, ‘Okay,’” Knssquad said as she bit into an apple. “And now we’re doing something.”
“That was helpful,” Bano groaned.
“According to Mikel Venomu has an army of people that he‘s been training under the city. When the Military invaded people needed safety so he snatched them up. Then after he found success in Destinykil he transplanted the same experiment onto these people. So now there‘s basically a big army of mutants that Venomu has been planning to unleash on the city. And since Shugo‘s gone Venomu feels safe enough to start his plan. So he attacked Mikel‘s mafia last night by surprise and destroyed Mikel‘s forces. Mikel wants vengeance and we kind of like living, so we decided to team up against Venomu now before things get worse,” Clair summarized to Bano.
“That actually makes a lot of sense. When it‘s explained to me properly,” Bano glared at Yoyo and Knssquad.
“Plus Venomu’s the guy who captured Temari, helped lead Clair astray, helped get Knssquad captured by that Kotaro guy, and has overall been a bit of a jerk,” Q said.
“Well darn it all if he’s being a jerk!” Bano yelled.
“Yeah, I liked it better when you were asleep,” Q said to Bano as he sipped the last of his cherry coke.
“As did I,” Bano said. “So what’s the plan for defeating Venomu?”
“No real plan,” Knssquad said. “Just don’t die and win your fights.”
“Sounds like we’re doing a splendid job here,” Bano sighed.
“Hey guys,” Mikel interrupted. Everyone looked up at the tall man and waited to hear what he had to say. “I just wanted to say thanks.”
The bar got quiet as Mikel headed out the door. “Oh, I guess that was his thanks,” Q said.
“Yeah, that was weird,” Yoyo said. “Take care of Crispi, Temari.”
“Will do,” Temari smiled. “Come back safe, okay?”
“Promise!” Q waved to her as the group left the bar. Cherry Coke barked at them as they left.
****
“Yay, sewers,” Yoyo cheered as they each dropped into the space below the city street. Very little light was available to them and each had stumbled around in the dark for a bit before adjusting.
“Well, um, on the bright side,” Clair stuttered for a moment as Yoyo walked into her.
“You don’t have anything, do you?” Yoyo asked Clair as she continued to mumble for words.
“No, it really sucks down here,” Clair admitted as Yoyo patted her on the back.
“Yep,” Yoyo agreed . “Which way, Q?”
“Why are you asking me?” Q asked.
“Because you’ve been there before!” Yoyo growled. “Which way did you and Knssquad go?”
“We’ve been there before?” Q asked. Yoyo thwacked Q with her sword handle.
“Go that way,” Mikel pointed from the manhole above them. “You’ll eventually hit it. Probably. See ya.”
The group stared up through the hole as Mikel disappeared from sight. “You know, if I was the judging type I’d say that guy’s a bit off,” Bano said.
“It’s this way,” Knssquad smiled. “I can smell it.”
“Well if that’s not a solid lead,” Yoyo sighed. “It’s nice to know your nose is verifying what Mikel already told us.”
“Hey guys,” Clair said. “From what we’ve seen of Venomu he’s really intelligent. He was the one who knew I was after Blackrain and set it up so that I would leave you guys and go after him. He’s the Scientist of WOTNOPOLIS and we’ve entered his laboratory. So it’s probably best if we proceed with caution and try not to caused a commotion. If there’s any chance he hasn’t spotted us yet then it’s definitely to our advantage to keep quiet. Follow me. He lead me here when he told me how to find Blackrain.”
The gang went silent as Clair lead them deeper into the city’s underground. A river of dirty water ran alongside the group and occasionally one of them would spot a body of an animal or a person floating down it. Lights that had been installed and long forgotten lit up the path, but it was often the group was walking in complete darkness. “Yo, Clair,” Knssquad whispered after a while.
“Yeah?” Clair said as they moved through the dark. The group had been traveling for what felt like miles under the city. But with the twists and turns it was very possible they hadn’t gone very far from their start inside the labyrinth.
“You said Venomu took you here?” Knssquad asked.
“Yes, he did,” Clair said. “But I was only just barely inside his base and I only stayed there for about a minute before I went off to find my brother.”
“Yeah,” Knssquad said as she looked around them a moment longer. “And do you remember there being no guards? When Q and I came here there were guards waiting for us.”
“Now that I think about it,” Clair pondered. “Yeah, you’re right. There were people patrolling on boats and people stationed all over the underground.”
“Right,” Knssquad said. “Something’s definitely up.”
“You know,” Yoyo began. “Venomu isn’t exactly the kind of guy who would show you his base by accident. If he took you here then it was an invitation directly to you. In other words, he’s probably expecting us.”
“And if that’s the case we need to be even more careful than before,” Bano said.
****
Seshimazi wandered down the streets of WOTNOPOLIS. It had been a few weeks since his fight with Q. Since then he hadn’t really worked for anyone. Life had been rough. He felt like every turn he took the police were there. And to make matters worse he now had no one to boss around. He missed bossing around people.
Screams from a nearby alleyway only barely got his attention. He looked up from his mindless walk around the city to check if there was any real danger. It had been months since the Military had tried to seize control of the streets so it wasn’t uncommon to see crime returning. Those who had fled were back and they had brought friends.
Seshimazi gave the scene a double take. The men surrounding the area had tubes sticking out of them. “Those look like Destinykil’s?” Seshimazi asked. “What’s going on?”
A car swerved off the road and smashed into a wall. Seshimazi had barely moved in time to avoid it. Across the street other men were appearing with the same configurations as Destinykil. “This doesn’t look good,” Seshimazi thought as he started to run away.
The driver of the car yelled out for help. Seshimazi wavered. “Aw, geez,” Seshimazi grumbled to himself. At the door of the driver’s car was a large man with tubes sticking out. He grabbed the door and ripped it off. The driver screamed and tried to run but was dragged out by his foot.
Seshimazi’s fire knocked the assailant to the ground. The driver was dropped and ran away. “Heh, that felt good,” Seshimazi smiled. “I always did want to drop that Destinykil guy after all.”
Seshimazi dodged a fist as several large men with the same tubes appeared around him. “Man, that really wasn’t worth it,” Seshimazi said to himself. “I guess this is the end of me. I do one good deed and this is the thanks I get.”
Seshimazi watched as the men fell back. Seshimazi was confused at what had just happened. A tall man was standing in front of him. There were no tubes attached to him. “Yo,” the guy said. “Go get the police and tell them to block this area off.”
“Sure,” Seshimazi said to his savior. “But what’s going on here?”
“Venomu’s army is coming out,” the man said as he grabbed a man with tubes and smashed him into the ground. “Go.”
Seshimazi ran for it. He didn’t want to get in the way of that guy or the group of men rampaging back there. “But do I really have to get the cops? Geez,” Seshimazi whined.
“Jan,” Mikel said. “I need your help.”
He inwardly groaned as she started to get excited. “Just focus on the men with the tubes coming out of them. You and I have to defeat them all.”
****
The group had been stumbling along in the dark for a while now. No signs of anything other than regular sewers was starting to worry the group. They definitely didn’t want to be going in the wrong direction. “Are you sure it’s this way?” Q asked as they continued.
“This was the way Mikel pointed, Q,” Yoyo said. “And this was the way Knssquad smelled the base.”
“That might not of been totally accurate,” Knssquad confessed. “It may have been a dead body I smelled.”
“Well, this is still the way Mikel pointed,” Yoyo sighed.
“Yeah, but what if Mikel was trying to get us lost under the city forever?” Q asked. “Think about it.”
“I don’t want to,” Yoyo shook her head. “Stupid theories shouldn’t be thought about.”
A blast of light ahead of them made the group jump. A second later a spark of lightning flashed past the group. “Holy,” Bano started.
“Crap,” Q finished.
“What the heck was that?” Clair asked.
“Darnas,” Knssquad said as she pointed ahead of them. A purple light was moving toward them. “We’ve fought before.”
“Eagle gang!” a man shouted. “I’ve no interest in stopping you. But one of you defeated Destinykil. I want to duel them.”
“I don’t have time for you,” Q yelled.
“No, I think he means with a sword,” Bano said. “Like, you know, the girl who carries blades that follows us around and hits us a lot?”
“Oh yeah,” Q said.
“Yeah, I defeated him,” Yoyo said as she pulled out her smaller sword. Yoyo wasn‘t ready to pull out Destinykil‘s blade as it was a lot larger than she was used to. On the other hand, despite it’s size and power it was surprisingly light weight. She assumed it was due to the smoke inside of it. It explains why Destinykil was able to wield it with speed that rivaled hers.
“Good,” Darnas smiled as he came into view. His own sword glowed purple against the dark room. “I see you’re now using his sword. That’s a pretty trophy. I think I’d like to see what’s better. The Cursed sword, or the Lightning blade.”
Yoyo smiled. “Only one way to find out. You guys go on ahead. Leave me to it.”
“Are you sure? I know you don’t need us to give you a hand, but we could lift a finger since you only got nine,” Bano said.
Bano could feel Yoyo glaring at him through the dark. “You’ve been waiting to use that one, huh? Just get out of here. My swordsmanship is on the line here. Besides, Mikel’s counting on you to get to Venomu.”
“Let’s go,” Q said and the group ran past Darnas. “Just remember, Yoyo. Try not to overdo it this time. By the way, can we get directions to Venomu? We‘re a bit lost.”
“Just keep going straight. You’ll hit it eventually, idiots,” Darnas answered.
“Yeah, yeah,” Yoyo said as she waved her hand to dismiss them. “Let’s do this, Darnas was it?”
“Yes,” he said. “I am Darnas, the Lightning Samurai.”
****
Temari finished wrapping bandages around Crispi and smiled. She knew Clair’s healing had taken care of her but Temari still liked to do her part. Crispi had taken a fairly rough beating but it looked like she’d recover soon.
“Mikel,” Crispi whispered. Temari jumped back in surprise. She had been pretty sure that Crispi was unconscious.
“Yes?” Temari asked. “What’s wrong?”
Crispi’s eyes opened and she focused on Temari. “Who are you? Where’s Mikel? I need to get to Mikel.”
“I’m Temari. You need to relax. You were wounded pretty badly,” Temari said as she tried to calm her down.
Crispi sighed. “Geez, Venomu came out of nowhere. But if I don’t stop Mikel, well. Jan will take over.”
“Jan? Huh?” Temari asked the girl. “Are you sure you don’t need more sleep?”
“Look, Jan takes over Mikel, okay? And I’m the only one who does any good stopping it. If he doesn’t stop her, he could die. Or worse,” Crispi warned.
Temari shuddered. She wasn’t sure what to do or what to make of what the girl was saying. Still, she knew Crispi needed to rest so she wasn’t about to let Crispi get up.
****
Little Shiro walked up to the line of cops who had surrounded the area. “What’s the news?” Little Shiro asked as he took a sip of tea.
“We’ve got a perimeter set up. It’s a really large area, though. So far the fighting hasn‘t tried to break out of the perimeter,” the captain answered.
“Why?” Little Shiro asked. “And why don’t we have more cops out here yet?”
“Because they’re dealing with an animal infestation of some sort. Apparently monstrous creatures were set loose in the Rural district. Plus JJDomer requested a bunch of cops as back up in his is plan to raid Venomu‘s lair,” Little Shiro heard a man say behind him. Little Shiro straightened up and saluted his boss.
“Endless Nothing,” Little Shiro said. “What are you doing here, sir? It’s very dangerous right now.”
Endless Nothing stared at the buildings in front of them. Smoke was drifting into the sky and screams could be heard within. Explosions mixed with shouting as battle waged. Occasionally the cops would fire off bullets whenever they caught sight of a target. “This is my brother’s fault. I can’t stand idly by.”
“Then you can count on me to protect you with my life, sir,” Little Shiro said as he pulled out his hammer. “Who is in there fighting all these guys?”
“Mikel,” the captain answered. “Seshimazi the fire gangster might be in there as well. But the fighting is being done by one man.”
“Amazing,” Little Shiro praised as he listened to the sounds of the fighting going on between the buildings. The group watched as one of the buildings collapsed before them. Endless Nothing kept a tight grip on his sword. “Let’s hope he can keep this up, then.”
****
“So, what’s the plan, boss?” Jose asked their superior. Draco and Punkfilter stood to Jose’s right. TFK sat behind his desk and looked down at the men gathered before him.
“For now we’ll let Mikel and the Eagle gang handle Venomu. Venomu’s plan won’t be enough to stop us, or likely harm us. But it has the potential to shake the people of WOTNOPOLIS up. And if they rise up against a weakened Venomu and us it could lead to trouble,” TFK stated.
“Sweet! I’m goin-” Jose started but TFK held out his hand.
“Jose, you’re not going. Punkfilter and Draco can handle this. The goal here is to contain Venomu’s chaos. Not to cause even more,” TFK ordered. Jose bowed low and walked away. Punkfilter smirked as he watched the man leave.
“Sounds like an excellent plan,” Draco said. “We’ll handle things if they get out of hand.”
Punkfilter nodded and turned toward the exit. Draco bowed to TFK and followed Punkfilter to the elevator. TFK smiled as he watched them leave. “I might get to say goodbye to Mikel and Venomu on the same day. What a treat.”
****
Yoyo smashed her sword against Darnas’s. Lightning sparked from it and she jumped back as it exploded. She took a moment to catch her breath as Darnas eyed her a safe distance away. He was fast. “I get it,” Yoyo said. “Your sword shoots lightning when it makes contact with something. And it also fires out the tip whenever you strike?”
“You’re good,” Darnas said. “Now enough playing around. I want to see the power of the cursed sword for myself.”
Yoyo slowly reached behind her and pulled the massive blade off her back. Up until then she had been fending Darnas off with her regular blade. She could tell he had been holding back on her. “Alright,” Yoyo said as she pointed the blade at Darnas.
“Have you used it before?” Darnas asked as he watched her. “You haven’t, have you? You’re scared of the blade, huh? I don’t blame you. They say it consumes the individual wielding it.”
“Great,” Yoyo said as she thought about her fight with Destinykil. He had definitely been crazy. She watched as smoke started to leave the blade. “Now I just have to figure out how to use this thing without letting it kill me.”
“I’ve got some time,” Darnas volunteered. “Venomu said I don’t have to kill Punkfilter for a few hours. So let’s enjoy this. Besides, I would feel dishonored if I didn‘t defeat you at your best.”
Yoyo stared at Darnas and laughed. “Please,” she said. “I’m not fighting you for a few hours. We’ll finish this soon. And the one who’s going to kill Punkfilter? That’s going to be me.”
****
“I’m a little worried about Yoyo,” Clair said as the group moved deeper into the catacombs of the city. “I mean, I know she’s super strong, but so are the guys we’re facing against.”
“She’ll be okay,” Q smiled as he looked back at Clair. “We’re all really strong and getting stronger. We’ll be okay.”
“We’re there,” Knssquad said as she pointed to a door.
“Who’s going to open it?” Q asked. “I’m kind of scared.”
“Eh, just be a man about it, Q,” Bano said and gave him a push.
Q pulled at the handle and opened the door slowly. To his surprise the door was unlocked. He poked his head in the blackness of the room. “Hey, all those animals that were here? They’re gone.”
“That’s right,” Venomu said from inside. Q screamed as he jumped back into a karate pose.
“Goodness!” Q said as he caught his breath. “I didn’t see anything.”
Venomu leaned his head out the doorway and smiled at them. “Hello, Eagle gang. Come on in.”
He motioned with a finger for them to enter. The group hesitated but followed Venomu inside. He lead them down a hallway and into an enormous room. Knssquad groaned as she looked around Venomu’s laboratory.
Venomu‘s smile was unbroken. “Well, it’s not often I have guests, you see. By choice. As you can see I rebuilt it from last time where you and Destinykil got a bit rough. Well, more like he threw you from one end of the room to the other. By the way, you owe me for making me lose my chief of defense. So I think we’ll just have me take away one of your members.”
Venomu snapped his fingers. Q saw a boy flash past him. Q instantly snatched him by his arm. “Nice,” Arashi Ryu said. “But a little too late.”
Clair fell to the ground. She hadn’t seen the boy’s punch but she had felt it hit. The boy’s grin changed as he watched her stand back up and smirk. “Yeah,” she said. “I had my armor up.”
Arashi jumped away from Q and nodded. “Arashi Ryu, why don’t you go ahead and take your new friend away from us?” Venomu commanded.
Q felt Arashi move past him but didn’t see it. An instant later Arashi had reappeared with Clair over his shoulder. “Where am I going with her?” he asked.
“Anywhere that isn’t here,” Venomu said. Arashi disappeared again.
“Yo,” Knssquad said to Q and Bano. “I’ll go after Arashi and Clair. Take care of Venomu.”
“Be careful,” Q said to Knssquad. Bano waved to her as she disappeared.
“Ah, much better,” Venomu said. “I do hate crowds. Noisy and bothersome. Plus if Arashi kills Clair and Knssquad then that’s two less people I have to bother with. Clair will make an interesting test subject, too. What an exciting day.”
“Not likely,” Bano said as he pulled out his kama. “For starters Clair and Knssquad are not going to lose to that guy.”
“And for seconds, you’re not going to survive the two of us,” Q said as he stepped back into a fighting stance.
Venomu looked at the two of them and laughed. “Interesting.”
Last edited by quater on Sun May 15, 2011 1:42 am; edited 1 time in total
I just hate being confused for a man.
