I skipped the Hall of Learning. Instead you get a double chapter of not-so-filler! No one wants to see Janga harass Japanese school girls anyway, right?

... Right?

Chapter 04: Anticipation

Janga didn't like his job anymore.

The only thing worst than being beaten by children is getting beaten by women. They weren't even attractive! Maybe that one with the blue hair if she lost the glasses and that stinky old man. Maybe. That's not even the point. The point was that he lost, horribly, and he was now too pissed to enjoy the room Joka gave him.

He still remembered what Joka said when he first returned: bloodied, bruised, and curses the nine gates of Hell that he lost. " You should beat yourself up about your loss, Janga-chan. You said yourself that it has been three years since you've fought, so you can think of this as a little warm up. It could have been worst. You could have died, again, but you didn't. In fact I can feel that the strength you had in life is returning to you gradually. I am sure you'll do better next time. "

Next time. Let's just saw he wasn't jumping off the walls at the thought of going out there again. Joka spoke the truth about his powers. Flexing his claws as he laid there on the bed could feel that poison pulsing through them again. With a little concentration he made some of the purple fluid drip down the tips and onto his bed, his jacket, and fur. He was immune to it, of course, and actually thought that it tasted a little sweet with an acidic aftertaste. Today it was bitter; a sign that it wasn't potent enough to take someone's life quickly yet -

Someone was coming. Judging by the tiny footsteps it could only be his 'partner'. Joka would be quite disappointed to know that Janga barricaded himself in his room immediately after coming back. He could hear the sound of the locked doorknob jingling anyway.

" Janga-chan ... "

The cat rolled over on his bed, fuming. " No. "

" Please don't be like that, Janga-chan. "

Janga was not in the mood to talk to anybody, let alone speak to them face to face. " This is bullshit ... " He was more speaking to himself than speaking to Joka. " I didn't come all the way here to get my ass handed to be by some mortals. Some little bitches. I don't like being beaten by bitches. "

He thought that would be enough to make the clown leave. " You are looking at this the wrong way, Janga-chan. " The thud he heard was presumably Joka sitting on the floor outside. " This is not a loss for us as much as it is a loss for you. This is an opportunity for you to reassess yourself. "

" ... The Hell does that mean? "

The cat's simplemindedness made Joka chuckle. " It means that instead of waiting for us to send you to slaughter again you should be training and thinking up new strategies. Judging by some interesting reading material I've found on you you're used to fighting your enemies one on one. You'll never win that way. It's a shame. You have the perfect ability to assist you in this situation. "

" ... What ability? "

Joka laughed again. " That's all I'm willing to tell you. " He made a motion to stand. " There is a place for training in the Tower's basement. And please hurry with it; we're planning another big assignment that will require your cooperation. "

Joka would be better liked if he didn't speak in riddles. Well ... Not really. It did get Janga thinking, though. A lone cat going up against an army of mortals wasn't going to end favorably for the cat, but maybe ...

" Well ... " An idea came to mind. " I'll be damned. "

Ten minutes of fiddling with the controls of the simulator finally yielded something promising. The markings on the dirt arena below began to glow with a brilliant light which soon formed into a demon of some sort. Not the most impressive looking thing, but a twenty foot serpent would hopefully provide some good competition.

Its shrieking was eerie enough to make him shiver in delight. " Ke-ke ... I don't believe in fighting fair - " He jumped on the railing overlooking the arena. " You little bastard! " And jumped off with his body aligned to land on the lizard's head.

He wasn't expecting something so big to be so fast. The force in which it snapped its head back to meet him with force comparable to being hit by a speeding car. Mere seconds later the cat's back snapped back from an outer wall, and was pinned by the tip of the serpent's tail. It seems the demon wasn't one for playing fair, either, and continued its assault without giving its foe time to recover.

Janga could feel the snake-like creature's body coiling around his waist, his stomach, and if it got his chest it'd likely crush his ribs. Not going to happen ... Janga hissed and pulled one arm free and impaled the demon with his claws. He pulled back to rip the skin open, then lunged in again relentlessly.

The pain was beginning to get to his opponent. It reared its head back and let out a roar of agony before twisting it's body around to throw it's tail, and the cat, to the arena floor. Slashing at the creature with his claws was not going to poison it. It might, but he'd die ten times over waiting for the poison to take affect on a beast this big. Already he could hear it circling around, stopping, and possibly hovering over him with that empty look in its soulless eyes.

" N-not ... " Janga was pinned on his stomach on the ground, tons of weight pressing down on his ribs and spine. Breathing was becoming an near unnecessary obligation, and he couldn't reach any part of the snake's body with his claws like this. " ... Gonna ... " He could feel the thing's heavy breath on the back of his neck, bristling his fur, and sending a chill down his spine. Then it's tongue, slithering out and rattling against one of his ears. It was disgusting ... It was tasting him, and after that there was only one possibility.

He did not want to be eaten.

" DIE! " Janga's cry was laced with pain but the anger in his voice and body far outweighed it. His energy went came bursting to the surface in the form of two identical clones of his original body. This was the technique that Joka was talking about earlier. It did have it's usefulness, like confusing the serpent long enough to stop it from eating the body that it pinned.

That was about it, though. His clones had limited ability without a soul attached to them. He could transfer, and did manage to transfer is to one of the freed bodies just in case the demon decided to chomp down on the easiest victim. How did Joka expect him to make this work? He heard stories about cats that were able to control all of their clones independently, but how the Hell did it work!?

Rearing back, the serpent opened it's jaws and released a green mist that suspiciously looked like poison. " Da-am ... " He wasn't sure if he was immune to other's poison, and wasn't about to take his chances here. The other free clone was ordered to high ground with a flick of the wrist. The same that came down to cover his mouth and prevent the gas from seeping through a few seconds longer.

Just enough to scramble up the side of the demon's body by digging the claws of his free hand deep into its flesh and using its scales for footing. As expected the serpent tried to twist its body around again to pin him, but Janga's natural balance made it easier to keep balance this time. He came to a stop on top of the beast's head, right between the eyes, while it shook its head vigorously in a futile attempt to knock him off.

Janga looked ahead to see that his other clone had made it to safe ground. He paused. This time he clone looked completely different; the eyes were no longer glassed over and false like they've been in the past. It felt a little unsettling ... Like he had a twin.

The clone grinned as he passed a thought to Janga's mind, which in turn made him grin.

" Hey, you snake bastard! " Janga slid down the serpent's head just enough for the creature to see him. " What's wrong? You scaaaared? "

Hiss. That certainly got his attention. The demon reared back and tried to smash the top of its head against the wall with the railing his clone was on. They'd make sure that was the last conscious thing it'd ever do. The second clone rushed forward, pulling back his claws to build up enough force to swing around and stab the demon in it's glassed over eye. It was a precise, clean, incision that made it hard to dislodge his curved claws. Perfect.

Pushing forward released three streams of that lethal poison into the demon's eye; a very vulnerable part of its body close to its extremely vulnerable brain. Pulling back ripped his claws free from the serpent's now useless eye, Janga fell back towards the ground. He was joined by the one clone who had acted as a distraction before, and the other who'd finally withered free of the demon's grasps.

They exchanged looks and sneers, then looked up at the beast who was struggling to stand tall against the pain raking through its body. Its other eye was covered with a foggy film that suggested the poison spread and blinded him. Those cries it made changed; they were no longer intimidating growls, but rather pleading and frightened whimpers that told of a now helpless creature.

Janga got his second wind just as the demon lost its will to live.

Joka was worried.

It's been about five hours since he left Janga alone to his thoughts, but the cat was nowhere to be found. He worried that Janga might have actually quit on them and ran off somewhere until he remembered what he said about the simulator downstairs. The smell of blood was overpowering as he stepped off the elevator, enough so to send his little body into shivers. In his business death was inevitable, but he never got used to the smell of what seemed like a mass murder.

" Janga-chan? " Peeking into doorway leading to the arena he was greeted with a most unpleasant sight.

The whole arena was coated in blood, flesh, and the innards of what appeared to be a giant monster. It was all fresh from the slaughter, and a few drops of blood hit him on the top of the head as he passed through the doorway. Joka ran forward, his hands gripping the bars in front of him so he could peek down into the arena. He wasn't concerned about the demon that had been slaughtered. Joka neglected to tell Janga about the strength of the demons in the simulator, so feared that he may have been injured.

Down below he saw now one, but three Janga simply standing there looking at the carnage they'd caused. The fact that they stood was a reliving sign, but there was something about the air they gave off that made the clown wish they were at least unconscious. It was so much like a demon's, a strong demon's, that the clown felt obligated to humble himself before him a little. Before he had a chance to speak the center Janga turned his head to look up at him. A lowly look, a frightening one, that made Joka back away from the bars slightly.

The two clones were pulled back into Janga's center body, and with a turn of the heel he jumped onto the railing and slid down the other side to join the smaller Lunatean on the platform.

Joka squeaked, rolling back onto his bottom in surprise. " J-janga-chan- "

" You said you had somethin' for me to do, right? " The cat cut him off swiftly.

" Y-yes indeed. I need you to accompany me on a s-s-pecial assignment. "

Janga looked down at the cowering clown. There was silence, then a toothy grin. " Rupurudu, Joka. "