Alright, this'll be an action packed chapter! Now, I must say this. This chapter will start the downward spiral. This is where the climax begins. Everything after this will be full of action, death, and tragedy. Enjoy.


Kaneki leapt down a flight of stairs, passing all of the building's residents. Soon, he would reach the Investigators. Hopefully, they hadn't gotten Tsukiyama yet.

"Where's Special Investigator Arima?" he heard a voice call. He stopped in his tracks, listening. Another voice answered the first.

"He's farther down, finishing any ghouls that may try to escape. They're trapped in here!" it answered. Kaneki sped up. This was worse than he thought.

Suddenly, he ran into a large room, with bodies strewn all over the place. There were ghouls and Investigators fighting all over the place. Kaneki scanned the room, but Tsukiyama was nowhere to be found. Before he could leave, a Dove came out of nowhere, attempting to stab him with his quinque. Kaneki leapt out of the way, but not before the Investigator called to his companions.

"It looks like we have a Clown here!" he yelled, following Kaneki. A Clown? Well, it would make sense. His mask resembled those of the Clowns immensely. He wondered if that was why Uta had made it for him.

It was there, in the midst of the battle, that he saw a familiar face. It was Urie, with the rest of his squad, fighting off a pair of ghouls. Once they were dead, Urie turned to look for more. Obviously, he was looking for credit. Surprisingly, it looked like he was looking for recognition for his whole squad, since he was moving with them.

Suddenly, Urie turned to Kaneki, noticing him for the first time. A strange smile appeared on the purple-haired youth's face. At first, Kaneki thought that the Investigator had recognized him, but no. He was smiling for a different reason. Killing a Clown would reap a huge reward, as they were usually incredibly powerful.

"Come on, guys! This is our chance!" Urie called, running towards Kaneki. Not wasting any time, Kaneki ran away, wondering where he could go. However, the QS squad was on his tail, and they were relentless. He figured that his best bet was to go back to the roof, so he changed direction and started running up the stairs.

He made it quickly, losing his pursuers for a while. There he stood, right where he'd started, on the edge of the roof, staring out at the city. He heard the footsteps of the Quinx squad come out the door and surround him, standing a few meters away.

"Gotcha…" Shirazu muttered, holding his quinque. The three others did the same, brandishing their weapons. Kaneki was silent, not even turning around to look at them.

He heard Urie run at him, slashing with Tsunagi. Kaneki moved like lightning. He would have to incapacitate them quickly, before more Investigators joined them. He kicked at Urie quickly, knocking him backwards, then landed on the ground, charging at Saiko and punching her in the stomach in quick succession. He leapt back, turning in the air and sending a powerful kick to Shirazu's head, felling him easily. That left Mutsuki, who still could not react in time. He chopped down at her neck, knocking her unconscious. He stepped back, waiting to see who would get up.

"Damn…" Urie gasped, picking himself up. He smirked, dropping Tsunagi. Revealing his kakugan, his arm was covered by his kagune. He seemed disappointed when Kaneki did not react to his transformation.

"So this is a Clown. Not bad, I must confess. But we can still kill you, if we use our kagune. Right, Shirazu?" he muttered, pointing his kagune at Kaneki. Shirazu nodded, revealing his Ukaku kagune as well.

"Are ye gonna fight too, Saiko?" Shirazu growled. The chubby little Investigator was on the floor, still groaning in pain. Urie sighed, rolling his eyes.

"It doesn't matter. The two of us can do it!" he yelled, charging. Kaneki crouched, preparing himself. Shirazu sent dozens of little pea-sized bullets at him from his kagune. The half-ghoul dodged them easily, tripping Urie and running at Shirazu.

He sent another punch towards the Investigator, burying his fist in his stomach. Shirazu coughed up blood, stumbling backwards and clutching at his abdomen. Yelling, Urie came up behind him. Kaneki never even turned around. He simply raised a fist, slamming it into Urie's face, knocking him down.

Walking away, Kaneki thought. He had finished them quickly, but he had still wasted time. Where was Tsukiyama?!

"Wait… I can still… fight…" Urie gasped. Kaneki tried to ignore him, but was unable to. He turned around to see Urie on his knees, gasping for breath. Using his kagune to support him, he fought to get up on his feet.

Suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, a helicopter came from the sky, lowering itself onto the building. He didn't react yet, waiting to see who was inside. Two men came out, walking towards Kaneki.

"Where's Master Shuu?" one of them growled. Kaneki cocked his head.

"I don't know," he responded. It was the best answer, and honestly, the truth. They charged at him, revealing a Koukaku kagune and an Ukaku kagune. So they were ghouls. And they were probably with Tsukiyama, so he couldn't kill them.

He moved quickly, leaping through the air and landing on the Ukaku ghoul, striking like a snake. Using the same technique that had felled Mutsuki, he knocked the man unconscious, before sprinting at the other man and punching right through his abdomen. His fist passed right through his body, and the man dropped, vomiting blood.

Kaneki ran back inside, not letting anything else distract him. He had to find Tsukiyama, and direct him to the roof. A few Investigators noticed him, and started giving chase, but he ignored them. He prayed that he wouldn't run into Arima. He had no idea how strong the Special Investigator had become, and didn't know whether he could face him now.

"They have a helicopter on the roof! Come on, let's go!" he heard voices call. Damn it! They knew about the helicopter. What could he do now?

Suddenly, a plan started forming in his mind. Yes, it would work, but he would have to be careful. He ran upstairs again, wondering where he had left it. He had put it in a corner of one of the rooms, just in case he had to join the CCG again. Yes, he'd found it!

He picked up his black coat from the floor, throwing it on himself. He pulled his mask off, dropping it on the floor. If he had time, he would return from it. Quickly, he checked himself, making sure that he was presentable. He had to make his story believable.

Kaneki ran up the stairs, making it up to the door that led to the roof. Using his kagune, he smashed down on the stairs, letting them collapse. Now, no Investigators would reach him for a time. Then, he ran outside.

What he saw plunged him into a deep sense of despair…

Kaneki saw the last remains of the burning helicopter fall off the roof, landing on the ground below. The two ghouls he had fought were gone, along with the Quinx squad. On the other edge of the roof stood the blue-haired ghoul that he had risked so much to find.

"Tsukiyama," Kaneki said outloud. The ghoul turned around, shock on his face, until he realized who it was. Relief showed on his face.

"Ah, hello Kaneki," Shuu said, a sad smile on his face. Kaneki returned the smile. How was he going to deal with this?

"The Doves are coming for you, Shuu. We need to get out of here," he said, but Tsukiyama shook his head.

"How? That helicopter was the only thing I could get away on, but the Doves shot it down from one of their passing planes," he answered. Kaneki put a hand on his face, almost conceding defeat.

Almost.

"How'd they find out about you?" Kaneki inquired, trying to think of a way to escape.

"Two of my servants were captured and tortured. Then, my most trusted servant, Kanae disappeared. They must have given up the information. I don't blame-"

Suddenly, something slammed into Kaneki, sending him stumbling. He leapt back, raising his arms to defend himself. He looked at his attacker.

It was a ghoul. It wore the robes of Aogiri, and a mask on its face. At first glance, it looked like Noro. However, the mask was slightly different, and its hair was purple.

"Borg," it hissed at Kaneki. Frowning, Kaneki stepped forward. Who the hell was this? Tsukiyama however, looked horrified.

"Kanae…?" he muttered. The purple-haired ghoul turned.

"Ya. Please, Master Shuu, let me take care of this filthy Dove trash," Kanae hissed. Before Tsukiyama could explain anything, Kanae charged. Kaneki dodged his first attack, and slammed his arms down, snapping the ghoul's right arm. However, that didn't stop Kanae. His left arm snapped upwards, slapping Kaneki in the face.

Wincing, Kaneki kicked at Kanae's chest, breaking a few ribs. Still, the ghoul would not stop. Kaneki frowned. This was annoying. He leapt at Kanae, punching right through his stomach, before dropping down and tripping the ghoul. Finally, he kicked him full on the chest, sending him flying into some of the steel beams. That would keep him down for a while, Kaneki thought.

He heard some Investigators trying to get through the rubble at the doorway. Damn it! He was stuck. Kaneki ran at Tsukiyama, trying to think of a plan to get them out of there. However, a large figure landed on the roof between them, spreading a shower of dust everywhere. Kaneki could barely see.

Suddenly, a large kagune slammed into Kaneki. He had never felt anything like it. It was incredibly powerful, and Kaneki couldn't stop it. He slammed into the steel beams with Kanae, struggling to get up before his incredibly strong opponent could renew the attack. All color left his face when he saw who it was.

It was the One-Eyed Owl. It was different this time. It was much larger, and covered in many more spikes and blades. The hideous face smiled at Kaneki, revealing a set of razor sharp teeth.

"Hello there, Kaneki! See how strong I've gotten?!"


Here you go! In apology for the short chapter before, I put this together quite nicely, if I do say so myself. I'll have the next chapter up and running as soon as I can. See you later!